Something In The Dark

At least the sky was clear on this Saphédinó night. Small mercies. Calyrra was still having problems wrapping her mind around the idea, even a whole day after the news had hit them all. The temple service today had done little to calm her down. Hopefully this would... and anyway, she should better get used to watching the stars on her spare time.
There it was again, this lump in her throat. She took a deep breath of the cold autumn air, set down the red-tinted lantern and unlatched the pouch on her right hip. When was the last time she had really used the pocket telescope? Would she ever use a proper one again? She might need to move to a different town...
Enough of those dark thoughts. Calyrra pointed the telescope to the sky, focusing on the first constellation she could find. Tracing the imaginary lines, reciting the names of the main stars in her head. Then on to the next, and the next. Her mind wandered to the legends attached to the figures, when a sudden rustling shook her out of her thoughts.
Calyrra froze on the spot, holding the telescope like a shield in front of her chest. Something had been moving behind her. Something big, judging from how the trees were still swaying at the edge of her vision. She slowly turned around for a closer look, but try as she might, there was nothing to see. Which was really odd, given how open the space was - whatever had moved there couldn't possibly be hiding behind the sparse vegetation. There should at least have been a shadowy blob somewhere, some shape of a person or animal.
Immediately, Calyrra started to question the wisdom of coming out here on her own. Sure, it was ideal for stargazing - a wide clearing, sufficiently far away from the lights of the town, yet close enough to civilization to keep the wild animals away. Most of the time. She had never heard of bontibané or daóné so close to Ondalin, so that was good. Probably.
But what if it wasn't an animal? The nearest road was frequently patrolled by the town guards, but still, there could be robbers out here. Maybe someone had followed her car? But she would have noticed that... right? Or maybe not, given how distracted she had been all day...
A cracking of twigs, further to the side. Another tree swaying. Whatever that was, it had to be huge. That would rule out people and most animals. Maybe she should make a run for it, back to her car. But she could feel curiosity creeping into her thoughts. Part of her really wanted to know what creature could hide like this despite its size.
Calyrra picked up the lantern by her feet, breathed in deeply and opened the front shade. As soon as the light hit the trees, another movement followed. Away from her. Was the creature... retreating? That would be good, right? It could mean that it was just as nervous as her. Or maybe it preferred lurking in the dark, ready to pounce on her. Just in case, Calyrra raised the telescope like a club. Not that it would do her much good - a creature of that size might not be deterred by being hit with a brass tube. But it might buy her enough time to escape.
Step by step, Calyrra approached the source of the noise, careful not to provoke whatever was there. "Oh Saphéne," she half thought, half whispered, "this could be the worst idea I've ever had."