FrivYeti/CalinPg4
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"Ah! A monster! Oh, wait, it's just a hawk." Brewan chuckled. "Why are we doing this, Bryce? It's silly. Adar just got spooked by something - it's not a serious issue."
"I don't know." Bryce glanced back for a moment as he pressed through the undergrowth. "I've never seen Adar that scared before. I mean, yeah, he gets distracted easily, but that's it. He... hello, what's this?"
Brewan walked up as Bryce stopped, kneeling over a patch of rock. It looked like the rock had been scorched clean, leaving no traces of vegetation in a two-foot radius. He frowned, looking down at it. "Okay, that's a bit odd, I'll grant you." He looked around, a hint of nervousness finally showing on his features. "Localized brushfires aren't perfect circles, and there's no reason for it not to have spread. Lightning strike, maybe?"
"It's still warm." Bryce tapped the rock, and then stood. "Could be it's only a few minutes old, and it wasn't very hot to start. Or it could be from before Adar showed up, and why he went looking." He frowned thoughtfully, standing. "Or it could be we've got a magic beastie in the valley again." He sighed. "I hate magic."
"Yeah. Think we're going to have to call the Hunt?" Brewan looked around, his hand once again on the hilt of his sword. "I mean, we can't handle serious magic. Remember last year?"
"Hey, no one died. They chased the Lunar thing off." Bryce smiled, and turned. "Come on. There are plenty of weird creatures that we can handle just fine, and this might not be a serious problem. We don't want to call down the Blooded for nothing; that would be trouble for sure."
The two armsmen pushed ahead, a trickle of fear in them despite the balmy day. A rabbit slipped out of its burrow, running across the brush, and an eagle cawed in the distance. Bryce worked his way up the slope, looking for any traces of something that didn't belong.
"Bryce, we can see half the mountain from here. Whatever was here, it's gon... hey, do you hear something hissing?" Brewan stopped, looking around, and swallowed. "Sounds like a snake or something."
"Yeah. It's coming from just ahead." Bryce levelled his spear, and looked back with a wry smile. "Coming?"
"I swear, you're insane."Muttering under his breath, Brewan drew his saber and followed the other armsman.
Moments later, the two found themselves crouching behind an outcropping of rock, listening carefully to the low hissing. Bryce hazarded a glance over the rock, and whistled softly. "Would you look at that."
Curled up in a depression in the rock was what appeared to be a gray snake, at least twelve feet long. Bits of it seemed to be fading in and out of existance, and it hissed softly, steam rising from its eyes, as it slept. Something leathery and black curled about it, and it seemed surprisingly content. Bryce felt a chill run down his spine just looking at it, and he suddenly had a good idea why Adar had been so panicked.
"Bloody hell." Brewan spoke at barely a whisper, and looked to Bryce. "You win, that's one big beast."
"Yeah. We'd better get back, and quick. We're going to need to call up the garrison, deal with this thing before it attacks the town. Looks like some sort of mutant." Bryce glanced over the rock again as he whispered, trying to memorize every detail about the creature.
"Uh, Bryce..."
"Right. We'll get going before it wakes up. Don't want to have to fight that monster..." Bryce smiled wryly as he turned, and then his smile fell away. Brewan was facing the opposite direction, where four strange creatures were standing. Each stood over six feet tall, covered in black feathers, with eyes glittering red and mouths glistening with sharp teeth. They were holding elegant silver axes, and one grinned a needle-toothed grin as it raised it in a salute. Bryce blinked, connecting the monsters to the beast behind him.
"Hobgoblins. Aw, hell."
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