I should have been used to finding monsters lurking near me by now, but honestly some of them were so shocking in appearance I still started when I encountered them. Case in point, as I crossed into my realm and set foot on the bridge, I jerked back from the small, pale creature hovering against the rough rock entry. She had tucked herself so carefully against the stone I almost didn't see her and would likely have stepped on her if she hadn't moved, looked up, her blood red eyes weeping more of the same down her corpse-white face. Thin strings of black hair clung to the crimson stains on her cheeks, the dark gray and rotting sheath of fur covering her dragging over her gnarled and b****y toes. When she flinched away from me I drew a breath and forced myself to smile and nod to her. She wa
