"What is it?" Barry yelped.
Xintel laughed and threw her arms around his neck. "The curse, Barry! The curse Komso put upon us!"
"Huh?" he grunted.
"Everyone knows those beasts follow the smell of blood, and that a man wounded in the Outside is as good as dead. They follow other smells too!"
At once he understood. "So Komso's curse is some powerful lure that will bring every monster within miles to attack, but has a smell we ourselves can't detect."
She nodded. "That one we saw leaving our house—he did it."
Xintel put down her skirt and even unclasped her precious metal necklace. Stark naked and unarmed she started up the slope.
"Come back!" he yelled as he sensed her intention.
She paused, but then continued upward.
A shadow swooped.