Chapter 309

SPREAD ACROSS A FLUFFY KNIT rug that swelled out in stripes of taupe, tan, and cream over the wood floor, Sian frowned at the page of the book she read.

'A zu-gyn, zugyn.'

The strange word matched the curious looking creature which to her eyes looked like an upright horny shell backed snail. It had a wide spread foot that looked more like a jagged edged flipper, with a split in the centre that allowed the creature to hobble and hop from lake to lake.

'Won't be seeing any here then,' she mumbled while turning the page to the next creature.

A thud outside made her look up from the pages. With a gasp of delight, she froze, not wanting to startle it. Moving just her eyes down, she fumbled back several pages with her index finger, moving as little as possible until she found it. Looking up, she compared it. Same wings by the looks, same colouring for sure, bit of a mane though – sexual dimorphism perhaps? Looking back down to the page, she mouthed the name, hyxn.

A sudden ear-splittin