Kaleeth moved as silently as she could alongside Janius. Just as she had been trained to do, she did her best to keep herself more silent than her surroundings, in this case the stream flowing alongside them. Without it, their footsteps would quite obviously echo throughout the cave, so she was glad it was there. Nevertheless, she was growing nervous. Her breathing grew more heavy and irregular, but at least her hands were steady enough. She had her bow ready and an arrow nocked so she could fire as quickly as possible, if need be. 

The pair needed to move slowly through the cave to make sure their eyes stayed adjusted to the darkness. They could still see the light of the entrance behind them, so it wasn't complete darkness, but it was growing more difficult to see. The smell of ogre grew strong and unmistakable, but once they were close enough to the end of the cave, Kaleeth saw something she did not expect. There was indeed an ogre, but it was lying on the floor of the cave on its back, quite dead. Walking up to the body, she could see that there were large chunks bitten out of its flesh, with bones and bits of organs strewn around it. Kaleeth quickly grew concerned. It had not been dead long enough for it to be a scavenger that mutilated the body, and there were few creatures in the marsh that could take down a fully-grown ogre. Even worse, a loud, echoing sound suddenly sounded out behind them, from the entrance of the cave. As Kaleeth turned to look at the source, she spotted a small form just to her right in the shadows. In such low light, she had to lean in to get a good look, but once she did, she gasped and had to physically cover her mouth to stop herself from screaming.

"I stupid! I stupid! I stupid!" She said in a frantic whisper to Janius. "We should not have come in here. Dead ogre must have masked scent. In the corner, the eggs, this is..it is wamasu nest. We need to get out, quickly!" 

Unfortunately, the time to escape had passed, as the wamasu had returned to its home, following the scent of intruders. Looking back up at the entrance, they could see its silhouette in the light, raising its nose to the air as it followed their scent. With how large it was, there was no way they could get past it in such a narrow cave, and Kaleeth knew it. "Oh no, no time. Maybe...I don't know." She whispered, looking around frantically for some kind of option. Her eyes followed the stream down to the point where the cave narrowed like a cone to its smallest point, certainly too small for a wamasu to fit its sizable body. As quickly as possible, she rushed to the very end of the cave and laid down, sliding feet first into the narrow part of the cave and trying to position herself behind some rocks to break line of sight. "Quickly, hide here!" She whispered frantically to Janius, seeing no other way to survive but to stay out of sight. 

---

[i]"Stop!"[/i] Shaleer-Za's voice rang out, and was quickly echoed in Cyrodilic by Thorantilth. "You have completed the Trial of Heart."

Once Sabine had stopped moving, Thorantilth let go of his son, who stood on both legs as if nothing was wrong. The treeminder charged a green ball of magicka in his hand and started to wave the energy over his son's leg. "Hold still while I remove the illusion." He ordered, allowing his magic to weave through Tuxeek's leg until there was no trace of anything being wrong. After he was finished, he stood up and began to interpret for Shaleer once more. 

"To commune with the Hist, one must show that they are of a pure heart, which you have demonstrated excellently. Even with the stakes as high as they were, you showed a willingness to sacrifice your own well being for one who is, essentially, a stranger, with no guarantee of reward, and indeed, no request for it. You showed the wisdom in your judgement to select the path that led to your success, the path to return and aid another. I apologize for any stress the deception may have caused you, but you have demonstrated the strength of your character. Through the first two trials, you have shown your wisdom, and your heart. Now, all that remains is to show that your body is strong enough to undergo the ritual. You will need to be in good health for the Trial of Body, so it will be held tomorrow, after you have had a chance to rest and recover." Shaleer explained.