"Are you sure there's only one?" I panted. "Sounds like a herd."
In the darkness, the Hog laughed. That is, he rapidly grunted, "Huh, huh, huh, huh!"
I stopped in the middle of the dirt road and squinted at indistinct shapes. A field bordered the road on one side, and an area of fresh stumps and scattered vinetrees, the other. "Do you have any night goggles?" I asked.
"No," Toal said.
"I may have a light in my pack."
"No light! The Hog will charge it. He tracks by scent, but has poor sight."
I imagined I saw a great shape in the brush. "Let's climb a tree," I said. "There's a big vine. We'll wait until someone comes for us."
"No one will search. Ordinance 921 forbids anyone to go outside the walls at night."
"Fine. Rasmussen deliberately left us for the Hog. I can understand he may dislike me, but why you?"
"Eeet oo Keenlogh!" the Hog squealed, almost shattering my eardrums.