"I..." Cade stammers, and the scuttling grows louder, the slap of flesh on the stone, "...I can't be here."

What emerges in front of them is unthinkably disgusting: a misshapen head, neither human nor animal, jaw agape and dragging a hideous tongue as long as the four arms that propel it.

Throwing a hand over his mouth and squeezing his eyes closed, Cade looks like he's about to retch.