A scream in the night . . .

    Freyja lay on the loft floor near the others, staring at the sloped ceiling and listening to the rain pelting down against the roof above her. In the bed nearby, Sussanah snored quietly, snuggled next to Magnus, who had decided that there was more than enough space on the bed for himself as well as the young woman, even if he was a giant wolf.
     Magnus sat up suddenly, growling. Derek and Kat immediately awoke, and all three waited in silence. As they listened, they heard Ulla come out of her room and move through the main space, straightening objects left out of place by the council that evening. Then the woman shrieked.
    Freyja grabbed her sword and pounded down the stairs as Katayn vaulted the railing, landing with a roll in the main room, and Derek snatched his axe, following closely behind Freyja.
Freyja jumped down the last three steps joining Kat as the Tau stepped between Ulla’s terrified form and the thing outside the window. Derek took a position opposite them. Just beyond the windowpane. An animated corpse stared back at them, mud dripping from its decomposing flesh, one hazy but still present eyeball fixed on Freyja as the thing stepped backward toward the rain and raised its arm, beckoning her outside.
   She knew she must follow. She knew who had sent it.