Liz flinched when Bastian's necklace started to glow. The light wasn't bright just unexpected. She looked around but couldn't see much. She had a bad feeling about this. It wasn't just a hidden stairwell. There was something more here. She didn't know what though. She hoped it wasn't some demonic creature. She saw Bastian kick the wall. She frowned when she heard nothing. That wasn't good. There was no reason, other than magic, that she shouldn't have heard something. 

She shook her head when he asked if she heard anything. Why was there a sound spell here? The walls were thick enough that they would muffle any sound made in the stairway. How could see hear Bastian? Nothing made sense. She simply didn't know enough about the world to know what to expect. 

Liz didn't ask Bastian to put her down. She wasn't sure she wanted down and she was still too afraid to ask him for more than she actually had to. She barely stopped herself from screaming when the other woman appeared. If Liz had been paying attention she would have seen the woman there but she hadn't so the woman's appearance had startled her. 

It took Liz several minutes to figure out what the woman was saying. She had never heard anyone talk like that. She wondered where the woman was from. But she supposed it didn't matter. How had they gotten the horse and wagon down here? Or was this just a tunnel that lead to where the horse and wagon were? How had they been able to move the horse? It had reacted negatively to the thieves. Had it known that these people meant them no harm? There were too many questions and not enough answers. 

Liz worried when Bastian followed the woman without hesitation. Did he know her? Why did he trust her? Did he sense something that she didn't? She didn't know what beastkind could pick up. But she didn't like this place or this woman. Something wasn't right.