There was another roar, blood spraying wetly through the air to decorate the wall. The wavering lights caught something massive, scaly, painted liberally with blood. It kept in constant, surging movement, form uncertain.

But it had something head-shaped, something that might have one been human but was now decidedly misshapen, overgrown and serpentine. And here and there, a few shreds of the familiar Landel's clung to its skin, the smily face pasted on with a coating of blood to one side.

It slurped down a leg, another crunch filling the air, and then it disappeared into one of the doors further down the hall, leaving on the sound of dripping in its wake.