Even though the trail crossed a creek, picking it up on the other side was easy.

This time, a handprint had survived the rain. It was small, likely that of a woman, but the width and length of palm and fingers reminded Delziel of Celestia, and he was still wounded from that when they came across the dead rabbit.

Whatever had killed it had left it in a melting puddle, much the way Lemon had been. This time, though, the skin was intact, giving Delziel and Peachy a fair contrast as to what Lemon's corpse would have looked like with skin.

"Punched a hole straight through it oso," Peachy noted, hovering nearby as Delziel squatted beside the rabbit.

"The woman and whatever did this are not friends," Delziel hazarded to guess. "Why else would it make an example like this and leave it?" He knew he was getting emotionally involved in a woman he'd not even met yet. Just because her handprint was the same size as Celestia's... Though her hair was the same color, too.

Peachy gave him a look with a head tilt. "You're getting worked up oso."

Delziel frowned. He wanted to deny it, but the prickling on the top of his head let him know he'd grown the nubs of horns.

Fluttering closer, Peachy put a hand on Delziel's shoulder.

Standing, Delziel left the berrykin where he was and mounted the gant again.

Peachy refused to let it go, though, and flew up to block Delziel's view. "Delziel."

That drew Delziel up short. Peachy had never called him by his name, and for a berrykin to leave off their verbal tic... took some concentration on their part.

Satisfied that he'd gotten Delziel's full attention, Peachy said, "I wasn't going to say it before oso... but she smells like Celestia oso. Back at the oshu, she got hurt oso. It wasn't much, but I caught it oso." Flying forward, Peachy pushed Delziel's chest with his smaller arms. "Please keep your head about this oso? You're the only one who knows for sure that she's dead oso. So tell me, what do you think we're following oso?"

Delziel swallowed, tipped his head to look up at the canopy as it swayed in the wind. "I saw it... tear her apart," he admitted. "Whoever this is... isn't her. It's not possible. Then why does she smell like Celestia?" He looked at Peachy.

"We'll have to find that out when we find her oso," Peachy said. "But you need to keep your head oso. Whatever this thing is we're dealing with is dangerous oso."

"I think... it's a demon," Delziel admitted, since they were being honest with each other now. "The gant doesn't like following it. I've been... uneasy as well."

Peachy nodded. "Tracks with what I've been feeling oso. Should we go get backup oso?"

"Let's lay eyes on it once," Delziel said, feeling more in control now that they'd talked.

Peachy nodded. "If it attacks, we're running oso."

Delziel nodded, gaze resting on the rabbit carcase. Getting hit by this thing once looked deadly. They'd have to figure out a strategy to deal with it before facing it.

Picking up the trail was easy. It went in a straight line through the woods, only deviating around trees. However, the more concerning part was that it was heading north, toward Mt. Pallin.

Further, the trail got more obvious the farther it went. The further they went, the more unmanageable the gant got. It thrashed its head, fighting the reins and Delziel's control. He was having to pay more attention to the beast than to the path they were following, leaving Peachy on the lookout.

"I think this is when the rain started oso."

Delziel pulled his attention back to their situation and nodded. The footprints slipped and slid further, and there were more broken bushes. The idea of Celestia having trouble in the forest was laughable. Her being caught out in the rain? Impossible. This was not Celestia.

"I doubt she made very good time like this oso," Peachy remarked, hovering close to the ground to look at the tracks. Flying up to hover near Delziel's shoulder, Peachy folded his arms, pompoms sparking. "The demon smell is stronger, coming from up the slope oso. Also, I smell someone else and fear oso."

"Is it fresh?"

"No oso. But they stayed somewhere protected, and the smell soaked in oso."

Delziel nodded again. "The gant isn't going to tolerate much more of this."

Peachy flitted down to catch the gant's broad head. "You may need to leave it behind if we're going to continue oso."

With Peachy rangling the gant, Delziel had the chance to glance ahead. "Looks like they stopped briefly here," he said. Dismounting, Delziel tied the gant to a tree and followed the woman's trail by walking beside it. She'd clearly struggled to get this far. Rounding a thick tree, he was hit by the smell of a corpse.

Worried it was her, he pushed through the growth and found the corpse of an adventurer. Given the tears and bites on the arms, face, and chest, Delziel guessed death by oshu. The corpse was at least several days old. He wore a National Guard uniform, but didn't have his standard-issue sword or pack.

Mentally going through his list of missing people, Delziel settled on this possibly being Ulratch, a scout from the first mining outpost from that morning. Stepping closer, Delziel tore the badge off the uniform to take back with them. This was clearly not where Ulratch had died.

It was clear that the woman had been terrified by her demon companion dropping a corpse on her, though. The trail went around the tree, thrashed through the underbrush, and collapsed. She'd picked herself up again and started walking, though.

Peachy fluttered closer, turned his head slightly to give Delziel a worried look, then glided ahead.

Deciding that, because she clearly wasn't making good time in the rain and with her lack of forest travel skills, catching up to her wouldn't be hard. Leaving the gant behind, Delziel started walking.