Bruce and Zoya stood quietly beside a breach in the collapsed wall, gazing into the darkness ahead.
From inside the manor came the faint sound of hollow wind and echoes.
It looked like the rogue goblin skeleton had gone in through here.
"Should we go in?" Zoya watched the dark entrance, her fingers already resting lightly on the dagger at her waist. Her voice was soft and sweet, but carried a hint of eager anticipation.
The elven girl was as bold as ever.
He Xi nodded, and a gentle orb of light appeared in his hand, driving back the darkness around them.
"Bruce, watch for scents," he said, looking at the fellow panting at his feet. "And don't stray too far from us."
Bruce's moist black nose twitched slightly. He lowered his body and went through the breach first.
He Xi and Zoya followed close behind.
As they entered the manor, a damp, dusty smell swept over them.
The faint crunch of small stones beneath their feet mingled with a distant clacking sound.
The clacking grew slower and slower, then stopped altogether.
"Did it stop?"
Following the direction from which the sound had disappeared, they came to a spacious hall.
The manor's interior looked even more dilapidated than its exterior.
The ceiling had caved in, leaving a hole. Moonlight poured through it, joining the light in He Xi's hand to illuminate the rubble and rotting furniture scattered across the floor.
The light and their footsteps startled the bats roosting there. They flew up from the rafters, hanging upside down, and vanished into the night sky through the hole.
Bruce paced back and forth across the hall, his nose pressed close to the floor as he sniffed repeatedly.
"What is it?"
Bruce: "The scent... stops here."
Holding up the orb of