Twice more Nevin caught sight of small animals, but each time they disappeared into the brush before he could get a bead on them with his weapon. If it was not for his limited success already he might have given up in disgust by now - a few hours had gone by since his last encounter with an animal that had actually produced something of value. At least he hadn't been rash enough to waste his shots in frustration.

He froze in place as a strange sound reached his ears. It was a sizzling, popping noise - almost like something was being cooked, but not quite right for that. This was…. Strange. Nevin tightened the string on his bow and began slowly stalking in the direction that the sound was coming from.

He came upon what he ranked up there as one of the weirder sights that he had seen in a while. There was a… lizard? It looked like a lizard at least, four legs, long tail, scales, the works. Problem was, this lizard was approximately the size of a dog, and a larger one at that. The thing looked like it weighed at least sixty pounds if not more. It was currently crouched on top of a large rock - and underneath the rock, Nevin could see a small hollow that looked like it had only recently been dug.

Instead of trying to dig in after whatever had gone under the rock though, the abnormally large lizard was on top of the rock - and was drooling onto the stone. The goop that trailed from its fanged mouth was the source of the unnatural noise - the yellow-orange fluid was falling onto the grey surface of the rock, and wherever it connected it fizzed and popped, and Nevin was astonished to see it eating away at the stone. He'd worked with acids before - but never had he seen a lizard that drooled it.

He had to have it. The blood of this creature was sure to be capable of holding the essence of that acid, and while he had no clue what he would do with that essence blood, he wanted, no he needed to have it. It was too new, too unusual for him to be able to pass it up. If he had been in his right mind, Nevin would most likely have left well enough along - he didn't know what else the beast was capable of, he had no support, and only the one essence of vitality that he had taken from the rabbit earlier.

But the blood mage was most definitely not thinking clearly - his obsession of making new discoveries and advancing his blood magic held him too strongly in its thrall. Up came his crossbow, seating the stock firmly against his shoulder, and he sighted down it, aiming for the unusual lizard.

The thing must have heard his movement, or felt the shift, or something - its head twisted around, giving Nevin a clear view of its gaping maw, and the surge of yellow-orange acid that was bubbling forth from deeper in the creature’s throat. He reflexively pulled the trigger before recoiling in shock at the sight.

The bolt flew through the air, propelled forwards by the force of the string. The lizard tried to avoid it, twisting itself to one side - but it was too large, and got pierced in the side by the bold. Instead of a direct impact though the bolt sliced through the beast’s flank, carving a bloody furrow along its chest and side. The shrieking noise that ripped from the lizard’s mouth was unlike anything Nevin had ever heard before - and he never wanted to hear it again after today.

It warbled in pitch, the sound like to plates of glass grinding against each other. The noise drove spikes of pain into Nevin’s brain, immediately creating an intense headache that nearly sent him to his knees as the sound washed over him. He looked up in time to see the injured lizard charging at him, yellow orange fluid staining its fangs as it lunged for his neck.