The feline innkeeper of the Red Dragon Inn was out back helping out with some of the more tedious of the chores associated with managing an Inn. It was an early spring day, the sun was high and bright making the remaining snow around the area shimmer and gleam. The air was still crisp, but the suns rays were very refreshing, between them and the fur covering his body, Panth was far from cold.

The work of hauling hay bales into the stables was far from glamorous, and there was plenty of hired help to get such things done, but he didn't mind. It gave him an excuse to be outside, and hoisting the bales up onto his shoulder and tossing them around was a nice work out. He would save the mucking for the others though, his position did afford him to avoid such things when he wanted.

He was making a trip from the storage area of the barn up to the stable area, a bale of hay balanced on his shoulder, the claws of his right hand digging into the dry material as he walked, when suddenly the hair on back of his neck bristled...Instinctively the bale was dropped, he made no notice of the mud splashing over his legs as the hay landed in a puddle. He spun into a crouch, his ears laid back against his head as his eyes darted around, nostrils flared. All his senses straining to pick something up....anything. All he heard was the sounds of the others in the stables...there were no unusual scents....nothing around him was moving.

Slowly he stood, his muscles relaxing one by one. Something happened....he *felt* it. He cautiously glanced around once more as he bent to pick the hay bale back up, tossing it back onto his shoulder. As he moved towards the stable once again, something deep inside him started tugging at him, one of those gnawing feelings, telling him...no....warning him. Now if he could just figure out what it was warning him about.