Renato was jolted out of his meditation. In his perception, a black shadow was closing in, thick with malice, like cold reptiles crawling over his skin.
A powerful stench hit him in the face, enough to make his head split. It smelled of rotten meat mixed with the musk of wild beasts, churning his stomach.
Renato slowly opened his eyes, his right hand quietly tightening around the Silent Lady.
The campfire had long since gone out, leaving only a few dark red embers. Balin was still fast asleep, snoring steadily.
The smell only made the old dwarf rub his nose, mumble in his sleep, and roll over before sleeping on.
Just as Renato was about to call out a warning, the female drow leaning against his shoulder suddenly pressed down hard on his arm. Tristana's head still rested against him, but her purple eyes were already open.
"Cave lizardfolk." Her voice was almost inaudible, her breath brushing Renato's neck. "Don't rush. Let them come closer."
Renato kept still and narrowed his eyes, scanning ahead.
In the darkness, he could just make out vague shapes moving. They seemed to blend into the rocks, almost impossible to notice unless he looked for them deliberately.
Invisibility? No. Invisibility shouldn't be this clumsy.
He hadn't even drunk a potion, yet he could make out their blurred outlines... It had to be some kind of camouflage, like a chameleon's protective coloring.
Renato could see spears and machetes floating in midair, while the bodies holding them almost merged with the darkness. The enemies were about eighty feet away and still drawing closer.
Tristana held a small piece of some unknown spell component, her purple eyes fixed on the moving shapes.
The enemies were about to come within sixty feet, but Balin still hadn't woken.
Renato didn't