Artholath saw the well just before monsters began to crawl from it. Based on what he had seen in the lab, they were obviously of Lance's creation. One alligator headed tiger crawled out in particular and sniffed in the direction of Artholath before attacking out of his sight.

Moving through the trees closer, he could see two people under attack, and a shimmering a little ways behind them. He made no attempt to conceal himself as he watched; his quest could possibly end the moment one of the two died. It would have to be quick and rely on them not running the moment they saw his demon form, which would be required for him to do anything on that spectrum.
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The captain brought Diego back to the castle to talk with the king... however, there was yet another delay as the King had to finish some appointments with others.