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<blockquote data-quote="Lwaxy" data-source="post: 5731823" data-attributes="member: 53286"><p>Traditions, the bane of the youth. At least that was what Zaza was thinking when she, her brother, her best friend and his best friend had been volunteered to undertake the oh so traditional Quest for the Everflame. They all knew it was just a way to try and set them straight. The 4 of them had caused some mischief lately; particularly some items had vanished and a shed had burned down and while nothing could be proven, the Kassen folks knew who was behind it all. No doubt they thought that going on this fake adventure together would make them more responsible or something. All that it would achieve was to make the rest of the town's youth jealous. As if it was fun to travel in cold weather, or worse, camping outside. No, Zaza was a girl who liked her comforts. </p><p></p><p>The same was true for Samin, who would always say he wouldn't leave town before he had a secure means (including the money) to travel to some place where he could study more. Which was whenever his sufficiently rich father, the town's current bard, would decide to leave. Considering Samin was living here for 4 years now, it might as well be never. Zaza had the feeling Samin's dad was hiding from something or someone and found the remote place of Kassen perfect for this purpose. </p><p></p><p>Her half brother now, he was eager to undertake the adventure, however fake. It must be his orc blood. The curious mix of halfling and orc stood twice as high as she, but had the slender build of their mother. Despite the reason for his existence – an orc raid with lots of casualties – he was well enough liked in town, especially as he was already a good blacksmith and didn't mind helping people for free or for favors if they couldn't pay. </p><p></p><p>Mook looked more than bored. The aspiring oracle of nature and her bonded wolf were out and about for days at a time. Of course, being in the open was normal for them. </p><p></p><p></p><p>The bells atop the Temple of Erastil rang their midday song, echoing throughout the quiet town. As the peals begun to fade, the first of the townsfolk madse their way into the square, dressed in black, as if attending a funeral. They slowly filled the square, moving quietly across the cold, hard ground, their eyes downcast and mournful. After a few moments, a murmur passed through the crowd as it slowly parted to let Mayor Uptal through. He lead the way with a tarnished silver lantern. Behind him, an old pony dragged a cart laden with backpacks and supplies.</p><p></p><p>Once he reached the center of the crowd, Mayor Uptal stopped and called out to the assembled townsfolk. “Once again the winter winds blow through the Fangwood, marking the end of another harvest. There are wolves in the woods, howling at our walls, and serpents in our shadows, waiting to strike. Just as it was one hundred and seventy-four years ago, when Kassen himself left these walls to protect us, so it is today. Where are the heroes? Where are the brave folk that will venture out to Kassen’s tomb and retrieve the flame to keep this community safe for another winter?”</p><p></p><p>As if any of it mattered, Zaza thought. Silly tradition, silly fake drama. But as the others, she answered by stepping forward, mumbling something about honor and duty and accepting, then took the meager supplies. The mayor handed the dark lantern they would need to bring back the flame to Samin – no big surprise there – asking him to bring the fire back and all that. </p><p></p><p>The mayor once again spoke to the townsfolk. “I present to you the brave heroes who will follow in Kassen’s footsteps to retrieve the Everflame! Some of them may not return, but I say to you that their sacrifice shall not be forgotten. Go, brave heroes, and do not return until you have the eternal fire.” With that, the mayor pointed to the south, the direction of Kassen’s tomb. The townsfolk begun waving goodbye with cold, solemn looks on most of their faces.</p><p></p><p>"As if a-a-nything w-w-would h-h-happen," Mook mumbled almost inaudible, and Zaza couldn't help but snort. Cajun chuckled. Samin stared at the dark lantern and sighed. "Let's get this over with." </p><p></p><p>As the group made their way out of town, a human figure shouldered a backpack and made to follow them. Teltz the bard tended to have premonitions, and he had a strong one now. Neither the 4 selected nor the rest of the town took any of this serious, it was mainly a distraction from everyday life. But he knew something would happen, and he would not leave his son or his friends to their inexperienced selves. </p><p></p><p>About two hours later, their feet already hurting – well, except Mook's who was riding her wolf most of the time – something unexpected happened. </p><p></p><p>The narrow path winds through the raking claws of the trees, now bereft of their leaves, which crunch loudly underfoot. Up ahead, a fallen tree trunk blocks the path. Suddenly a trio of snarling humanoids leaps up from behind the log, all greenish skin and fearsome tusks, bellowing vulgar challenges.</p><p></p><p>Samin burst out laughing while Cajun's hands moved to the hammer he always carried. "Don't mind, it's an illusion. Wilbur is somewhere above and says Master Holgast is hiding in the trees west of us."</p><p></p><p>Mook had trouble calmin her upset wolf down, but within seconds, they noticed the young wizard apprentice was right. They could see through the illusion now, and Mook's noce picked up smoke the scent of the tobacco the older wizard usually stuffed his pipe with. "Nice t-t-ry, at least they att-tt-empt to m-m-make it somew-w-what interesting." </p><p></p><p>Zaza groaned. "More tiresome is more like it."</p><p></p><p>Cajun looked disappointed. "I admit I was worried, I'm just not a good fighter, but you could have let us have some fun." He threw an accusing look at Samin. </p><p></p><p>The three-quarter elf shrugged. "And waste more time? Let's hurry, I'm hungry and tired already."</p><p></p><p>The rest of the day was spent complaining and comparing several townspeople to other beings. No one noticed the man still trailing them. Except the hawk, of course, but he had been told to notify of any possible danger. Teltz sure was no danger to them. </p><p></p><p>"It is getting not only dark, but also colder," Zaza reminded them while limping along. She was sure there were blisters forming on her feet. Shouldn't we find a place to camp or something?"</p><p></p><p>"Or so-so-something," Mook agreed. "I know a g-g-good s-spot not too far f-f-from here." </p><p></p><p>"You actually sleep out here?" Cajun asked, surprised. </p><p></p><p>"O-only once or t-twice," Mook replied. "When w-we w-were running with the w-wolf p-p-packs and mother." Her mother, a druid, tended to live a weird life like that. </p><p></p><p>While the camping side proved sheltered by rocks and bushes, it was still not comfortable enough for Zaza or Samin. While Cajun was setting up the fire and prepared a meager meal from their few rations, the two of them tried every spot on the ground around for comfort but had to admit it was too hard everywhere. At least there was no need to set a watch. Dadawin the wolf would take care of that. The wolves howling in the distance held no worries for them – they were friends of Zaza after all – but the strange noises of the night scared the hell out of Zaza, and she had the feeling Samin was oly pretending not to care. </p><p></p><p>None of them had set up a tent before. Twice did they have to pull Cajun out from under before Mook and Samin figured it all out. "I would think you knew how to do this in the first place," Cajun complained. Mook shook her head. "Mother and m-me do -not usually use t-tents. Nature provides everyth-th-thing." Cajun grunted. Once more he wondered how it was that this girl was his sister's best friend. For Zaza, even Kassen seemed to be too much of a hassle to live in. He always thought she would be most happy in a large city. </p><p></p><p>The night would have gone fine, except for Zaza and Samin taking turns jumping up in their bedrolls, asking "What's that?" at one sound or the other until Mook felt like knocking them out. Cajun had taken care of the small bottle of brandy he had found in the backpacks earlier and was snoring badly, which didn't add to comfort. </p><p></p><p>The morning found Samin and Zaza with pains all over thanks to the uncomfortable ground and Cajun with a hangover. Despite haviung an orc's appetite for spirits, he had a halfling's head for it. Luckily, breaking down a tent was easier than putting it up, and after a meager breakfast, they were on their way again.</p><p></p><p>Taltz, who had made camp in a comfortable enough tree, kept following them. </p><p></p><p>"I need something to drink," Cajun groaned a bit later. "All the waterskins are empty." </p><p></p><p>"If you hadn't decided to drink all the alcohol you'd not be so thirsty," Samin repeated for what must be like the 20th time. </p><p></p><p>"We'll b-be at Gray L-lake in a moment." Mook was pointing ahead. "M-more than e-e-enough water f-for everyone there."</p><p></p><p>"I feel I can drink the whole lake," the half-orc moaned again. </p><p></p><p>The trees begun to thin, revealing a field of short, green grass that lead to the shores of a wide, calm lake reflecting the overcast sky above. A dense fog hung over the center of the lake, obscuring the far side. Near the shore of the lake, a dark form was lying next to the water.</p><p></p><p>"Now what do we have here?" Samin wrinkled his nose. "Looks like it's been decaying for a while."</p><p></p><p>"De... what?" Cajun scratches his head. </p><p></p><p>"R-r-rotting, he means." Mook threw a look at the corpse. "Th-that's been h-here last t-t-time mother passed this p-place, she m-mentioned an aba-ba-bandoned campsite s-somewhere close. Must h-have been go-gotten by the giant s-serpent in the l-lake." </p><p></p><p>"Serpent??" Zaza and Cajun asked at the same time, jumping back from the shore. </p><p></p><p>"Oh c-calm down, it's m-mostly harmless. It p-probably only def-fended itself. C-can you p-please fill my skin, t-too?" Mook grinned and handed it to Zaza. The halfling snorted and passed it on to Samin. </p><p></p><p>"Yeah sure, endanger the wizard. The wizard probably has a spell for it. The wizard is probably indigestible." Samin filled the skin and his own and came back grumbling, ignoring the giggles of the others. "Why did your mother just leave the corpse?"</p><p></p><p>"So n-nature c-can devour it. And why g-going through all the t-trouble of a b-burial, anyway?"</p><p></p><p>"Devour?" Cajun looked confused again. </p><p></p><p>"Eat," Zaza and Mook explained together. Luckily, the half-orc had a good enough memory and only needed each new word explained once. </p><p></p><p>With water replenished, the 4 moved on, still unaware of being shadowed. </p><p></p><p>The trail lead ever deeper into the Fangwood, through a twisting maze of trees and confusing ravines. As it topped a small rise, a broad valley spread out before it, the opposite side of which looked like a writhing serpent. Yet between the two was a steep hill sloping down into the valley. A cold rain started to fall, making the ground slick and treacherous.</p><p></p><p>"How do we get down there?" With hurting feet, Samin struggled through the thick bushes. "That slope is rather steep." They had been walking for some more hours now, and the young wizard really wished he could escape the walking and the weather and sit at a nice warm fire, feet up and with a book to read, and he had mentioned the fact several times now. </p><p></p><p>Mook got off her wolf and, walking next to him, had no trouble getting down the slope with only a few stones coming lose. "I'll s-send Dadawin b-back up. Hold o-on to h-him," she told Zaza before she took the long way down. "He'll g-get you d-down safely." </p><p></p><p>With a bit more difficulty, Zaza slithered down the slope to join her gnome friend. Cajun, who rightfully deducted he was too tall to hold on to a wolf, was meawhile trying to walk down Some 10 minutes down the slope, he proved he could not. In a flurry of flying arms and legs and curses, he came tumbling down head over behind to finally land in a heap in front of the wolf, who in turn made a sound which sounded like a wolf version of utter amusement. "Ouch," Cajun grumled and sorted out his appendixes before getting up. "I hope getting up will prove easier. There must be an easier way into the valley." </p><p></p><p>"Yeah th-there is," Mook said. "B-but it is a few hours on and a-anyway, we were t-t-told to fo-follow the map."</p><p></p><p>"Since when do you care what we are told?" Cajun wondered. </p><p></p><p>"Good p-point." As they wanted to move on while discussing this further, a shout from above reminded them of something. Samin was still up there. He was too tall to grab on to the wolf as well. </p><p></p><p>"Can't you, like, fly down or something?" Cajun shouted up. "Your master must have taught you how!" </p><p></p><p>"What?" The distance was too much for Samin to understand clearly. "Flatten the one ring with alabaster tomatoes?" Certainly not, but that was all he had heard. It took Cajun 3 attempts among bouts of laughter to get his point across. </p><p></p><p>Yes, in theory, Samin could do a fly spell already, partly thanks to his hawk familiar. He had, after all a "sensational affinity to all things magical" according to everyone who knew what they were talking about. But he could not hold on to it for long, and right now, he could only do very few spells a day. But what was he saving them up for? After all, they just had to get in, get the flame out, and climb up again. </p><p></p><p>The rest of the group saw him "waving at the air" as Cajun kept calling it, and a moment later he came flying down the slope, rather close to the ground. A wise precaution, as the spell already faded out half the way down, causing the aspiring magical wonder child to slowly but steadily slide down the rest of the way through some thickets and over uncomfortable stones. With a grimace, he allowed Cajun to help him up. </p><p></p><p>"Well, at least you arrived down here with your head up," the young blacksmith grinned. Samin nodded, trying to ignore the scratches and bumps and his dirty pants. </p><p></p><p>"Do you smell that?" Cajun asked as they walked on. "Like a dead animal rotting somewhere."</p><p></p><p>A moment later the source of the scent became clear. An archway of stone was set into the side of a small hill at the bottom of the valley. Moss hadf overgrown many of the details, but one was still quite clear. The keystone of the arch was carved with a flame symbol with a stylized rune in the middle. Beyond the archwaywas a darkened tunnel that leads to a pair of massive wooden doors, one of which was slightly ajar.</p><p></p><p>A pair of horses and a trio of ponies were lying slaughtered next to the archway, each corpse still tied to a post set into the ground nearby. A swarm of flies hung lazily in the air above them.</p><p></p><p>"Ewww." Zaza covered her nose with her shirt. "A predator attack?"</p><p></p><p>"L-looks like it." Mook had gone to check out the cadavers. "Th-there is a hu-humanoid ske-ske-skeleton here, too – w-weird, it could be the o-owner of the h-horses but then w-why is it a-already a ske-ske-skeleton?"</p><p></p><p>"I know those horses!" Cajun blurted out after taking a good look at them. "And the ponies, too. They are from our town. I've done the hooves of all of them before."</p><p></p><p>"What? Why would they be here?" Zaza wondered. "S-some m-more pranks for u-us to f-feel threatened, maybe?" Mook mused, looking around highly alert now. "W-wonder what w-went wrong? I can't th-th-think of a p-predator big enough to k-kill them, it w-was certainly n-not wolves, a-and they d-do not look l-like anything has f-f-feasted upon them."</p><p></p><p>"What does your hawk see?" Zaza asked Samin, trying to push aside the sudden fear. </p><p></p><p>"Nothing he thinks suspicious, but there's a rider coming this way." Samin pointed to the opposite end of the valley.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Lwaxy, post: 5731823, member: 53286"] Traditions, the bane of the youth. At least that was what Zaza was thinking when she, her brother, her best friend and his best friend had been volunteered to undertake the oh so traditional Quest for the Everflame. They all knew it was just a way to try and set them straight. The 4 of them had caused some mischief lately; particularly some items had vanished and a shed had burned down and while nothing could be proven, the Kassen folks knew who was behind it all. No doubt they thought that going on this fake adventure together would make them more responsible or something. All that it would achieve was to make the rest of the town's youth jealous. As if it was fun to travel in cold weather, or worse, camping outside. No, Zaza was a girl who liked her comforts. The same was true for Samin, who would always say he wouldn't leave town before he had a secure means (including the money) to travel to some place where he could study more. Which was whenever his sufficiently rich father, the town's current bard, would decide to leave. Considering Samin was living here for 4 years now, it might as well be never. Zaza had the feeling Samin's dad was hiding from something or someone and found the remote place of Kassen perfect for this purpose. Her half brother now, he was eager to undertake the adventure, however fake. It must be his orc blood. The curious mix of halfling and orc stood twice as high as she, but had the slender build of their mother. Despite the reason for his existence – an orc raid with lots of casualties – he was well enough liked in town, especially as he was already a good blacksmith and didn't mind helping people for free or for favors if they couldn't pay. Mook looked more than bored. The aspiring oracle of nature and her bonded wolf were out and about for days at a time. Of course, being in the open was normal for them. The bells atop the Temple of Erastil rang their midday song, echoing throughout the quiet town. As the peals begun to fade, the first of the townsfolk madse their way into the square, dressed in black, as if attending a funeral. They slowly filled the square, moving quietly across the cold, hard ground, their eyes downcast and mournful. After a few moments, a murmur passed through the crowd as it slowly parted to let Mayor Uptal through. He lead the way with a tarnished silver lantern. Behind him, an old pony dragged a cart laden with backpacks and supplies. Once he reached the center of the crowd, Mayor Uptal stopped and called out to the assembled townsfolk. “Once again the winter winds blow through the Fangwood, marking the end of another harvest. There are wolves in the woods, howling at our walls, and serpents in our shadows, waiting to strike. Just as it was one hundred and seventy-four years ago, when Kassen himself left these walls to protect us, so it is today. Where are the heroes? Where are the brave folk that will venture out to Kassen’s tomb and retrieve the flame to keep this community safe for another winter?” As if any of it mattered, Zaza thought. Silly tradition, silly fake drama. But as the others, she answered by stepping forward, mumbling something about honor and duty and accepting, then took the meager supplies. The mayor handed the dark lantern they would need to bring back the flame to Samin – no big surprise there – asking him to bring the fire back and all that. The mayor once again spoke to the townsfolk. “I present to you the brave heroes who will follow in Kassen’s footsteps to retrieve the Everflame! Some of them may not return, but I say to you that their sacrifice shall not be forgotten. Go, brave heroes, and do not return until you have the eternal fire.” With that, the mayor pointed to the south, the direction of Kassen’s tomb. The townsfolk begun waving goodbye with cold, solemn looks on most of their faces. "As if a-a-nything w-w-would h-h-happen," Mook mumbled almost inaudible, and Zaza couldn't help but snort. Cajun chuckled. Samin stared at the dark lantern and sighed. "Let's get this over with." As the group made their way out of town, a human figure shouldered a backpack and made to follow them. Teltz the bard tended to have premonitions, and he had a strong one now. Neither the 4 selected nor the rest of the town took any of this serious, it was mainly a distraction from everyday life. But he knew something would happen, and he would not leave his son or his friends to their inexperienced selves. About two hours later, their feet already hurting – well, except Mook's who was riding her wolf most of the time – something unexpected happened. The narrow path winds through the raking claws of the trees, now bereft of their leaves, which crunch loudly underfoot. Up ahead, a fallen tree trunk blocks the path. Suddenly a trio of snarling humanoids leaps up from behind the log, all greenish skin and fearsome tusks, bellowing vulgar challenges. Samin burst out laughing while Cajun's hands moved to the hammer he always carried. "Don't mind, it's an illusion. Wilbur is somewhere above and says Master Holgast is hiding in the trees west of us." Mook had trouble calmin her upset wolf down, but within seconds, they noticed the young wizard apprentice was right. They could see through the illusion now, and Mook's noce picked up smoke the scent of the tobacco the older wizard usually stuffed his pipe with. "Nice t-t-ry, at least they att-tt-empt to m-m-make it somew-w-what interesting." Zaza groaned. "More tiresome is more like it." Cajun looked disappointed. "I admit I was worried, I'm just not a good fighter, but you could have let us have some fun." He threw an accusing look at Samin. The three-quarter elf shrugged. "And waste more time? Let's hurry, I'm hungry and tired already." The rest of the day was spent complaining and comparing several townspeople to other beings. No one noticed the man still trailing them. Except the hawk, of course, but he had been told to notify of any possible danger. Teltz sure was no danger to them. "It is getting not only dark, but also colder," Zaza reminded them while limping along. She was sure there were blisters forming on her feet. Shouldn't we find a place to camp or something?" "Or so-so-something," Mook agreed. "I know a g-g-good s-spot not too far f-f-from here." "You actually sleep out here?" Cajun asked, surprised. "O-only once or t-twice," Mook replied. "When w-we w-were running with the w-wolf p-p-packs and mother." Her mother, a druid, tended to live a weird life like that. While the camping side proved sheltered by rocks and bushes, it was still not comfortable enough for Zaza or Samin. While Cajun was setting up the fire and prepared a meager meal from their few rations, the two of them tried every spot on the ground around for comfort but had to admit it was too hard everywhere. At least there was no need to set a watch. Dadawin the wolf would take care of that. The wolves howling in the distance held no worries for them – they were friends of Zaza after all – but the strange noises of the night scared the hell out of Zaza, and she had the feeling Samin was oly pretending not to care. None of them had set up a tent before. Twice did they have to pull Cajun out from under before Mook and Samin figured it all out. "I would think you knew how to do this in the first place," Cajun complained. Mook shook her head. "Mother and m-me do -not usually use t-tents. Nature provides everyth-th-thing." Cajun grunted. Once more he wondered how it was that this girl was his sister's best friend. For Zaza, even Kassen seemed to be too much of a hassle to live in. He always thought she would be most happy in a large city. The night would have gone fine, except for Zaza and Samin taking turns jumping up in their bedrolls, asking "What's that?" at one sound or the other until Mook felt like knocking them out. Cajun had taken care of the small bottle of brandy he had found in the backpacks earlier and was snoring badly, which didn't add to comfort. The morning found Samin and Zaza with pains all over thanks to the uncomfortable ground and Cajun with a hangover. Despite haviung an orc's appetite for spirits, he had a halfling's head for it. Luckily, breaking down a tent was easier than putting it up, and after a meager breakfast, they were on their way again. Taltz, who had made camp in a comfortable enough tree, kept following them. "I need something to drink," Cajun groaned a bit later. "All the waterskins are empty." "If you hadn't decided to drink all the alcohol you'd not be so thirsty," Samin repeated for what must be like the 20th time. "We'll b-be at Gray L-lake in a moment." Mook was pointing ahead. "M-more than e-e-enough water f-for everyone there." "I feel I can drink the whole lake," the half-orc moaned again. The trees begun to thin, revealing a field of short, green grass that lead to the shores of a wide, calm lake reflecting the overcast sky above. A dense fog hung over the center of the lake, obscuring the far side. Near the shore of the lake, a dark form was lying next to the water. "Now what do we have here?" Samin wrinkled his nose. "Looks like it's been decaying for a while." "De... what?" Cajun scratches his head. "R-r-rotting, he means." Mook threw a look at the corpse. "Th-that's been h-here last t-t-time mother passed this p-place, she m-mentioned an aba-ba-bandoned campsite s-somewhere close. Must h-have been go-gotten by the giant s-serpent in the l-lake." "Serpent??" Zaza and Cajun asked at the same time, jumping back from the shore. "Oh c-calm down, it's m-mostly harmless. It p-probably only def-fended itself. C-can you p-please fill my skin, t-too?" Mook grinned and handed it to Zaza. The halfling snorted and passed it on to Samin. "Yeah sure, endanger the wizard. The wizard probably has a spell for it. The wizard is probably indigestible." Samin filled the skin and his own and came back grumbling, ignoring the giggles of the others. "Why did your mother just leave the corpse?" "So n-nature c-can devour it. And why g-going through all the t-trouble of a b-burial, anyway?" "Devour?" Cajun looked confused again. "Eat," Zaza and Mook explained together. Luckily, the half-orc had a good enough memory and only needed each new word explained once. With water replenished, the 4 moved on, still unaware of being shadowed. The trail lead ever deeper into the Fangwood, through a twisting maze of trees and confusing ravines. As it topped a small rise, a broad valley spread out before it, the opposite side of which looked like a writhing serpent. Yet between the two was a steep hill sloping down into the valley. A cold rain started to fall, making the ground slick and treacherous. "How do we get down there?" With hurting feet, Samin struggled through the thick bushes. "That slope is rather steep." They had been walking for some more hours now, and the young wizard really wished he could escape the walking and the weather and sit at a nice warm fire, feet up and with a book to read, and he had mentioned the fact several times now. Mook got off her wolf and, walking next to him, had no trouble getting down the slope with only a few stones coming lose. "I'll s-send Dadawin b-back up. Hold o-on to h-him," she told Zaza before she took the long way down. "He'll g-get you d-down safely." With a bit more difficulty, Zaza slithered down the slope to join her gnome friend. Cajun, who rightfully deducted he was too tall to hold on to a wolf, was meawhile trying to walk down Some 10 minutes down the slope, he proved he could not. In a flurry of flying arms and legs and curses, he came tumbling down head over behind to finally land in a heap in front of the wolf, who in turn made a sound which sounded like a wolf version of utter amusement. "Ouch," Cajun grumled and sorted out his appendixes before getting up. "I hope getting up will prove easier. There must be an easier way into the valley." "Yeah th-there is," Mook said. "B-but it is a few hours on and a-anyway, we were t-t-told to fo-follow the map." "Since when do you care what we are told?" Cajun wondered. "Good p-point." As they wanted to move on while discussing this further, a shout from above reminded them of something. Samin was still up there. He was too tall to grab on to the wolf as well. "Can't you, like, fly down or something?" Cajun shouted up. "Your master must have taught you how!" "What?" The distance was too much for Samin to understand clearly. "Flatten the one ring with alabaster tomatoes?" Certainly not, but that was all he had heard. It took Cajun 3 attempts among bouts of laughter to get his point across. Yes, in theory, Samin could do a fly spell already, partly thanks to his hawk familiar. He had, after all a "sensational affinity to all things magical" according to everyone who knew what they were talking about. But he could not hold on to it for long, and right now, he could only do very few spells a day. But what was he saving them up for? After all, they just had to get in, get the flame out, and climb up again. The rest of the group saw him "waving at the air" as Cajun kept calling it, and a moment later he came flying down the slope, rather close to the ground. A wise precaution, as the spell already faded out half the way down, causing the aspiring magical wonder child to slowly but steadily slide down the rest of the way through some thickets and over uncomfortable stones. With a grimace, he allowed Cajun to help him up. "Well, at least you arrived down here with your head up," the young blacksmith grinned. Samin nodded, trying to ignore the scratches and bumps and his dirty pants. "Do you smell that?" Cajun asked as they walked on. "Like a dead animal rotting somewhere." A moment later the source of the scent became clear. An archway of stone was set into the side of a small hill at the bottom of the valley. Moss hadf overgrown many of the details, but one was still quite clear. The keystone of the arch was carved with a flame symbol with a stylized rune in the middle. Beyond the archwaywas a darkened tunnel that leads to a pair of massive wooden doors, one of which was slightly ajar. A pair of horses and a trio of ponies were lying slaughtered next to the archway, each corpse still tied to a post set into the ground nearby. A swarm of flies hung lazily in the air above them. "Ewww." Zaza covered her nose with her shirt. "A predator attack?" "L-looks like it." Mook had gone to check out the cadavers. "Th-there is a hu-humanoid ske-ske-skeleton here, too – w-weird, it could be the o-owner of the h-horses but then w-why is it a-already a ske-ske-skeleton?" "I know those horses!" Cajun blurted out after taking a good look at them. "And the ponies, too. They are from our town. I've done the hooves of all of them before." "What? Why would they be here?" Zaza wondered. "S-some m-more pranks for u-us to f-feel threatened, maybe?" Mook mused, looking around highly alert now. "W-wonder what w-went wrong? I can't th-th-think of a p-predator big enough to k-kill them, it w-was certainly n-not wolves, a-and they d-do not look l-like anything has f-f-feasted upon them." "What does your hawk see?" Zaza asked Samin, trying to push aside the sudden fear. "Nothing he thinks suspicious, but there's a rider coming this way." Samin pointed to the opposite end of the valley. [/QUOTE]
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