"A Living Calamity"

Leonard shot to his feet, adrenaline surging. "That's not normal..." he thought, his hand instinctively going to the hilts of his swords. He glanced down at Kaleb's unconscious form. "Damn it, worst possible timing to pass out."

Then it came again. The sound. Not a roar, not a growl, but something in between. 

It was deep, guttural, undeniably masculine, but with a rasping, grating quality that sent shivers down Leonard's spine. It was a sound filled with power, but also with a chilling control. It wasn't the mindless rage of the Ursulos Rex; this was something far more unsettling. 

It echoed through the swamp, seeming to vibrate the very air.

Leonard's curiosity warred with his caution. "What if it's Fleshripper? What if it's something else entirely?" He couldn't leave Kaleb alone, unconscious in the middle of a destroyed Gnoll encampment. But he needed to know what was out there.