of reach. Jumping, she could touch them, and she jumped repeatedly, grasping and clawing at the smooth, flinty surfaces, but she could get no hold. The two creatures continued approaching, and she gave up and backed away.

    When she retreated the beings stopped, and she strained to see what she was dealing with, but could make out only obscure outlines. Neither she nor the others moved, and she was beginning to feel more uneasy about their intentions when one shuffled forward and stopped under the hole. With rays illuminating it from above, she saw it in its entirety.

    Clad in a garment of roughly woven dark red cloth was a being no taller than her. The odor, she assumed, came from the cloth. The creature’s limbs and torso were covered by the cloak. Its feet did no...

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