Paladin got no chance to prepare himself.
The vibration of the foreboding growl had barely resonated through the repulsive walls of the chamber before something emerged from the darkness of the tunnels beyond. Scraping and crawling over the rough earth, the creature seemed to shrug its massive form from the night, a deathly warrior called to a long awaited battle, the hunger for flood dripping from its forked tongue and the desire to maul itching over its chain of curved claws.