The tall dark trees embraced Valiant into their cold home, welcoming him as a
brother.

Valiant leapt from the broad open plain into the underbrush, the beasts following
close behind. Though it was as dark as pitch, he didn't stop running; The creatures
wouldn't be stopped by the darkness, and they were far too close.

Branches whipped by as he ran, leaving red welts over his blood-stained body.
Blistered feet sought purchase on the loamy floor; The damp, dead leaves made
him slip and fall more than once. Desperately, he scrambled back to hsi feet and
raced off faster than before.

He forged deeper into the silent woods, where the ancient grandfather trees grew so
huge as to blot out the starlight. Many of the trees here had fallen, so he leapt up
onto the logs, hugged his bow to himself, and scrambled down its length. He
jumped off the end, and landed back on the forest floor, a wide stream flowing
before him.

A branch snapped behind him. Risking a glance back, he saw a haze of mist
obscuring the way he had come, and the foul stench of sulphur already reached
Valiant's nostrils.

Fighting down the impulse to retch, he waded waist-deep into the ice-cold water.
Then, securing his bow to his back, he held his breath and sank into the water.

The shock of the chill running throughout his body nearly caused him to cry out.
Only his iron will kept him from losing the life-giving air. He crawled along the
riverbed, the current tugging him along, loosening his tenuous grip on the slimy
rocks. Hands raking the loose pebbles, he let the stream carry him downriver, the
sluggish current carrying him this way and that. Then he slammed into a jutting
rock, the impact forcing him up above the water with a gasp of pain.
 

Numbly clutching the boulder, he breathed deeply of the forest air. He realized that
the sulpheric stench was gone. Valiant smiled a humourless smile, and let go of the
rock, soundlessly swiming to the far bank.

He climbed up onto a stone, making sure he made no footprints in the soft mud
around him. Warily he glanced up and down the river, checking for more signs of
the creatures. Satisfied, he restrung his bow, and rushed back into the forest.
 

Low shrubs hindered his passage, entangling his cold feet, tripping him and sending
him sprawling more than once. Yet still he ran. Through shrubs, through groves,
over hills, and into the rocky country. For four days Valiant ran, never stopping.
 

Finally, the land began to rise. Naked rocks jutted out of the rotting loam, covered
with soft green moss. White trees were scattered about Valiants' newfound glade,
their lush, leafy crowns reaching for the sun. A small babbling brook sparkled as it
wound its way through the greenery. All in all, the picture of paradise.
 

Valiant knew of many such glades in Enchantica, but most of them were now
behind enemy lines. He didn't know of this one, and had stumbled upon it purely
by chance.
 

His weary body and foggy mind yearned for rest. Four days without sleep was
more than too much. Valiant stumbled across the clearing, and bedded down
underneath a flowering bush, against the base of one of the boulders. He fell to
sleep quickly, his mind forgetting the dangers at hand, remembering happier times,
happier places.
 

                             * * *
 

The choking stench of sulphur soon banished the dreams, waking the warrior and
instantly clearing his head of sleep. He wanted to crawl out of the bushes and
breathe a breath of fresh air, but his instincts warned him not to.
 

Even so, Valiant parted the leaves before him, anxious to see what awaited him in
the peaceful glade.
 

A bone-shattering chittering sound came from the woods across the glade. It was
only then that he realized the birds had stopped singing. All was silent save for the
chittering.
 

A small black beast warily skittered into the clearing. It was hunched over on four
legs, and its wiry body oozed some fluid that stained the forest floor wherever it
trod. Curved fangs protruded from its dog-like mouth, dripping the foul ichor from
its lolling pink tongue. Long sharp claws tipped the ends of all four of its padded
feet, their ends softly clicking on the boulder it had just jumped upon.
 

The beast looked about, its glowing, otherworldly eyes never resting in one place
for long. It breathed deeply of the forest air when it saw nothing, and when it
exhaled, the sulphurous stench magnified so much that Valiant had to breathe with
his cloak over his mouth to keep from coughing out.
 

"Killl...." The beast hissed, "Smellllls manssszzz..." Its feral eyes locked onto the
bush where Valiant hid, and it raised its head to the morning sun and howled. The
gutteral baying froze Valiants heart, and leeched his hope away.
 

The beasts' howl was answered in turn by others, not far away. It lowered its head
back down, and its lips slid back to reveal its deadly fangs as it growled. Lithely, it
jumped down from the rock and landed soundlessly on the grassy ground. It started
walking slowly toward the bush.
 

Uneasily, Valiant looked about; The howls were getting closer, and that twisted
hound-creature was getting closer still. He opended the leather uiver on his hip, and
extracted a long black arrow. It was a little scratched from the long run, but was still
straight, and the good steel head was unmarred. He also pulled the bowstring from
its waxed pouch, and with a mighty effort, bent his horn bow back and pulled the
string into place.
 

"Findsss you nowzz, huuumaaanzz..." Valiant could have sworn the beast was
grinning. He placed his arrow on the string, then pulled it back to his ear, took aim,
and let fly in one smooth motion.
 

The arrow flew truly, and the barbed tip sank deeply into its chest, black blood
erupting out of the gaping wound. And still the beast stalked on. It was now
weaving back and forth, eyeing the bush with a new respect.
 

The beast snarled, and bent its neck to put its jaws around the bloody shaft. Dark
saliva dripped onto the arrow, and the fine wood hissed and steamed as the foul
liquid burned into it. Melted, the ruined arrow fell to the ground.
 

"Manssszz hasss shrrrp teeeethsszzz..." It hissed again, grinning its demonic grin at
the bush.
 

The beast was almost at the bush now, and the howls were getting closer. Oncw
again, chittering erupted from the woods across the glade.
 

Valiant desperately nocked another arrow to his bow, drew it back and took aim
once again. He tried to trail the creature, but it was moving too fast, weaving back
and forth, sprinting towards Valiant with a howl of anticipation.
 

He briefly lost sight of it, yet still kept his bow taut, the steel head never wavering.
He kept staring at the glade, but the demon-hound was nowhere to be seen.
 

A gutteral shriek was all that alerted him when the beast leapt clear of the bushes,
legs and claws outstretched, gaping maw open wide in for the thrill of the kill.
Valiant brought his bow up with a scream of rage and let fly.
 

The arrow flew straight up, and drove deep into the base of the creatures skull. It
screamed, and it fell on top of Valiant, throwing him to the ground.
 

He lay there for a moment with the dead weight pinning him, the breath knocked
out of his lungs. He opened his eyes, to see the bloody face of the beast not a foot
above him. The brilliant red light of its eyes faded to a dull glow, and its sulphurous
breath came in weak gasps.
 

"I... Gone..." It breathed, "Many... Many more... Bewarezzz..." Then then the
glow in its eyes died, and the beast was still.
 

With a grunt of effort, Valiant heaved the corpes off of him. He shakily got to his
feet, and realized that his clothes and skin were all smeared with the smelly black
ichor from the beasts' skin. He retrieved his bow from the bushes where it had
fallen, and checked the arrows remaining in his quiver. He frowned. The quiver
was badly torn, and his fall had broken all but threee of the arrow shafts. With a
grimace, he fished the useless shards out, and csat them on the ground.
 

Chittering once again sounded from the forest, and the sulphurous stench grew
even more overpowering. Valiant stood up from the twisted carcass, glancing about
for cover. The bush had been flattened by the body of the slain beast, and so was
no protection.
 

He saw movement at the fringes of the woods as he contemplated his next move.

Onaeus
Patriarch of the Druidic Order
Praetor of Draconia Duke of Nova Q'lynnesti