52. Quiet

You stare at the bushes ahead for a few minutes. Something seems wrong, but you can’t spot anything dangerous. Then, slowly, you make out the large lean body covered in a white coat of fur. The paws, each as big as your hand and sporting shining black claws. One of the ears, shredded and covered in lumps of pink scar tissue. And finally, the shining red-yellow eyes, staring back unblinking.

You’ve heard stories about the bearded lynx they call Quiet: that she hunts bearsloths for sport; that she relentlessly stalks prey from one end of the Valley to the other; that she attacked and killed the traveling artist Mars Keller, leaving only his sketchbook to bury at the Grove. Now, seeing her for yourself, you believe them.