A brief silence met Crann's words as she and Jimmory turned to peer in the direction of the threatening growl. It was a pause filled by Jimmory turning on his hooves, causing the grass and leaves under him to hiss and crunch, and then a gasp at the creature lurking in the shadow of a dying tree.

It stalked forward, shoulders rolling supply on its back. Its eyes should have gleamed dangerously, but instead they seemed glassy as they stared at the dryad and her companion. A long tail swished silently through the air behind it. It was a cougar, though twice as large as it should have been, and it bared its teeth in another wet growl. Hard, bony plates protruded from its collarbone and down its spine, giving it an even more fell appearance. Even if she hadn't eyes to see that there was something wrong with the dire beast, she would known it. Its tawny coat hunk loose and dull against a plague-wracked skeletal frame. Dark patches of scabbed, bloody fur squirmed with maggots. Even as it pulled back its lips she would see the broken teeth and the pale receding gums. And on top of its tortured condition, the druid would be able to feel that the life force inside it was gone, replaced by something deathly and unnatural and full of a vile hatred.

The dire puma sprang without warning as all cats were want to do, racing right towards Crann. It should have been staggering from the pain and weakness of its abused state, but instead seemed to ignore it completely, gathering itself to spring with claws out.

Jimmory hadn't the time to draw his bow, and against nearly 500lbs of undead feline it was a miracle that the cold terror in his gut even allowed him to move his hooves. In a pure panic, the faun sprang away, bounding towards the thickest of the forest.