Anton shivered as the howling wind pierced through his slender outer garments. The rain had started lashing down several minutes ago and he now sought shelter underneath some of the large trees which were situated at the edge of the forest also overlooking the sea. He ran one hand through his now drenched short blonde hair as he considered his predicament.
He looked down at the raging ocean beneath him and knew that the sensible thing to do would be to return home to the town of Hillerthorn, but with a twelve year olds temper he was determined to stay out all night in order to cause his parents maximum distress at this mornings hot words.
Hillerthorn was Roldor's most north western town, it was a major sea port on the Western ocean and was also situated very close to the Great forest which spread all the way from here many hundreds of miles eastwards.
Anton considered his situation, he was crouched beneath two towering tree's which at first had offered some shelter against the storm. But it was clear that rather then relenting after a short period, the storm was only gaining in ferocity. He was already cold and wet but he had no desire to spend the whole of the night like this. One thing he wasn't going to do however was return home tonight, he had only run away that very morning and it was not in his nature to back down so quickly. After a few moments of thought he turned and headed deeper into the forest.
As he entered deeper into the forest glade the wind lessened until it was now only a howling moan in the distance. Some of the raindrops still danced their way through the canopy above him to make it to the ground but for the most part the rain had lessened to a distant beating above his head.
This was not the first time he had ventured in here, for as long as he could remember he had held a facination with the place. Like all children of his age he had often been warned of the dangers hidden inside. Tales of goblins who would come and take children away in the night were mainly dismissed as old wives tales, but it was well known that the forest was still home to many wild animals such as Bears, Wolves and Tigers. However he had the confidence of any Roldor twelve year old in his ability to fight off danger with the help of the short dirk he always carried at his side.
As he continued walking something ahead caught his attention, the deeper he got inside of the forest the darker it became but ahead he thought he could see a small pin prick of light. Curious he headed towards it, being careful to tread as silently as possible. After several minutes he got close enough to make out three figures huddled around a camp fire, he was still not quite close enough to make them out clearly but they certainly didnt look human from this distance. Intreagued he drew his dirk and crept further forward, curiosity overriding his sense of caution.
As he crept closer still he began to hear a faint hissing which he imagined must be coming from the creatures. He was now close enough for the first time to detect the smell of something cooking above the fire, although it was not a smell he recognised.
Before the camp area was an ideally placed boulder just large enough to hide him from view whilst allowing him to get a clear look at these creatures from only a few feet away. He crept towards it, sure at any moment that the beating of his heart would give away his presence. As he reached the boulder he took a few moments to compose himself. The hissing was now louder then ever, it was clearly a form of communication that the creatures were using, he noticed that each one hissed in a slightly different pitch. Conflicting emotions battled inside Anton, his plan had been to get close enough to take a good look at these strange creatures but now he was here a sense of caution was taking hold. The sensible thing to do would be to turn around and leave, to be honest with himself that would have been the sensible thing to do from the very start. However it was not in Anton's nature to always follow the sensible option, however he was not stupid and he realised just what a dangerous position he had put himself in. After a few moments thought he came up with a plan, he certainly wasn't going to leave without getting a good look at the creatures but he wasn't going to risk being seen himself whilst they were awake. Surely they had arrived at this place to camp for the night? He would remain hidden until the creatures were asleep then it would be much less risky to take a look at them.
So he waited... until finally after several minutes had gone by without a single hiss he was convinced the creatures had finally nodded off.
Gathering up all the courage he could muster he peered from around the side of the large rock.
A nightmareish scene awaited him...
He almost let out an audible gasp as he peered around the rock. The nearest creature was only a couple of feet away from him! He had not realised it was there as it was sprawled out leaning against the very large boulder that Anton was couring behind! Luckily this meant that it had its back to him and he remained undetected. After a few seconds frozen in place Anton regarded the other two creatures. They were huge, it was difficult to tell exactly how tall they would be standing up but at a guess they would be at least two feet taller then any human Anton had ever seen. They were covered in a green reptilian scales, the most strikeing thing about them was that each had one huge eye in the middle of their foreheads. None of them seemed to have hair on any part of their visable bodies, each wore a kilt like garment around the waist which was the only cloathing was apparent.
Anton continued to watch them for several minutes, determined despite the danger to find out as much as he could about the creatures and gain as much information as he could as to their possible purpose here so that he could gave a full and detailed report when he returned home to Hillerthorn. The creatures did not seem to be terribly active however, the one nearest to him leant against the rock was clearly asleep, and given the thing's loud and heavy breathing Anton wondered at himself for not recognising its presence earlier. The other two were similarly motionless, however it was difficult to tell if they were actually asleep as they did not seem to posess eye lids of any kind. There was just this one forever open unblinking eye disturbingly and constantly stareing out into space. After a few more minutes of this Anton decided to leave, it was tempting to think that he could continue watching from his concealed hiding point for many more hours as the creatures showed no sign of sturring but eventually Anton knew they would once again be on the move and despite the fact he was confident in his ability to outrun any normal man in his native woods, he still had no idea how fast these creatures could travel or indeed what their intentions towards him would be should he be discovered. He had a feeling that discovery would not be pleasent and he certainly didn't want to find out, nor have to put his pursuit theories to the test.
As he was about to turn and leave something caught his eye. In his study of the creatures Anton had so far failed to notice a small leather bundle which lay next to the dosing creature slumped against the rock nearest to him. The bundle was certainly reachable but he would have to expose himself momentarily in order to obtain it. Given the fact that none of the creatures had shown any sign of life for several minutes he was fairly confident that they were all currently asleep and it would certainly add merit to his story when he returned to Hillerthorn if he could bring back some token to prove his version of events.
He leaned out from behind the rock, sweat poured down his brow as he did so. this was the moment when he really would find out if those forever open eyes were actually asleep as he was now exposed to the creature directly opposite the campfire. He held his breath ready to spring away at the slightest sign of movement... there was none so far. Encouraged he leant far enough out to lay a hand on the bundle, the matirial it was made of was rough to the touch and seemed to be made of the same scale like matirial that coated the creatures skin. As he slowly lifted the bag he was surprised by the weight of it, it was much heavier then he expected. Finally he slipped both himself and the strange bag back behind the relative safety of the rock.
Anton knew that he now had to get away quickly as should any of the creatures rouse they would be almost sure to notice the bags disapearence and begin a search of the area which would more then likely proove disastarous unless he could open up a large enough gap between himself and his pursuit. He had no idea if they were skilled at tracking but ideally Anton wanted to be safely back behind the tall castle walls of Hillerthorn before morning.
Slowly Anton crept away, not dareing to walk upright until he had crawled far enough away so that the creatures camp fire was just a faint glow in the distance. Once he had got far enough away that he could no longer hear their hiss like breathing he stopped and opened the bag.
Inside he found several pieces of paper, he did not look at these in great detail, some appeared to be maps which undoubtably would be useful to someone older and undoubtably alot wiser then himself back home. There were other parchments covered in a strange writing, Anton did have some writing skills which he had learnt from his tutorlidge at Hillerthorn but none of this was readable to him.
At the bottom of the bag was he found the heavy object he'd been looking for. It was some sort of purple stone which was extreamly cold to the touch. He picked it up out of the bag and examined it in the failing light on his palm. It was perfectly smooth to the touch and surprisingly heavy for its size.
To his astonishent after a few moments of contact with his skin something strange began to happen, the purple stone seemed to grow warmer in his hand and then it began to emit a purple glow. Faint at first but after a few seconds it grew brighter until the surrounding trees nearby began to reflect the purple light such was its brightness. Hurridly Anton shoved it back deep inside the bag worried that it might give away his position, there would be better times and places to examine the bags contents he decided.
With a last worried glance over his shoulder he turned and began to head for home.
He had not travelled far however when an earsplitting howl split the night, it had come from the direction of the creatures camp it seemed the bags absence had been discovered, then a few seconds later to his horror a second answering howl was heard, this time from a different location further to the north. "Damn! What the hell was i thinking" he murmered to himself. It was certain they'd find his trail on the mudsoaked ground, and he had hoped to be at least twice as far away as he was currently before the theft was discovered.
Sure pursuit would now be hot on his heels he said "Ok lets find out if those ugly bastards can run..." and he set off at break-neck speed towards home.
He looked down at the raging ocean beneath him and knew that the sensible thing to do would be to return home to the town of Hillerthorn, but with a twelve year olds temper he was determined to stay out all night in order to cause his parents maximum distress at this mornings hot words.
Hillerthorn was Roldor's most north western town, it was a major sea port on the Western ocean and was also situated very close to the Great forest which spread all the way from here many hundreds of miles eastwards.
Anton considered his situation, he was crouched beneath two towering tree's which at first had offered some shelter against the storm. But it was clear that rather then relenting after a short period, the storm was only gaining in ferocity. He was already cold and wet but he had no desire to spend the whole of the night like this. One thing he wasn't going to do however was return home tonight, he had only run away that very morning and it was not in his nature to back down so quickly. After a few moments of thought he turned and headed deeper into the forest.
As he entered deeper into the forest glade the wind lessened until it was now only a howling moan in the distance. Some of the raindrops still danced their way through the canopy above him to make it to the ground but for the most part the rain had lessened to a distant beating above his head.
This was not the first time he had ventured in here, for as long as he could remember he had held a facination with the place. Like all children of his age he had often been warned of the dangers hidden inside. Tales of goblins who would come and take children away in the night were mainly dismissed as old wives tales, but it was well known that the forest was still home to many wild animals such as Bears, Wolves and Tigers. However he had the confidence of any Roldor twelve year old in his ability to fight off danger with the help of the short dirk he always carried at his side.
As he continued walking something ahead caught his attention, the deeper he got inside of the forest the darker it became but ahead he thought he could see a small pin prick of light. Curious he headed towards it, being careful to tread as silently as possible. After several minutes he got close enough to make out three figures huddled around a camp fire, he was still not quite close enough to make them out clearly but they certainly didnt look human from this distance. Intreagued he drew his dirk and crept further forward, curiosity overriding his sense of caution.
As he crept closer still he began to hear a faint hissing which he imagined must be coming from the creatures. He was now close enough for the first time to detect the smell of something cooking above the fire, although it was not a smell he recognised.
Before the camp area was an ideally placed boulder just large enough to hide him from view whilst allowing him to get a clear look at these creatures from only a few feet away. He crept towards it, sure at any moment that the beating of his heart would give away his presence. As he reached the boulder he took a few moments to compose himself. The hissing was now louder then ever, it was clearly a form of communication that the creatures were using, he noticed that each one hissed in a slightly different pitch. Conflicting emotions battled inside Anton, his plan had been to get close enough to take a good look at these strange creatures but now he was here a sense of caution was taking hold. The sensible thing to do would be to turn around and leave, to be honest with himself that would have been the sensible thing to do from the very start. However it was not in Anton's nature to always follow the sensible option, however he was not stupid and he realised just what a dangerous position he had put himself in. After a few moments thought he came up with a plan, he certainly wasn't going to leave without getting a good look at the creatures but he wasn't going to risk being seen himself whilst they were awake. Surely they had arrived at this place to camp for the night? He would remain hidden until the creatures were asleep then it would be much less risky to take a look at them.
So he waited... until finally after several minutes had gone by without a single hiss he was convinced the creatures had finally nodded off.
Gathering up all the courage he could muster he peered from around the side of the large rock.
A nightmareish scene awaited him...
He almost let out an audible gasp as he peered around the rock. The nearest creature was only a couple of feet away from him! He had not realised it was there as it was sprawled out leaning against the very large boulder that Anton was couring behind! Luckily this meant that it had its back to him and he remained undetected. After a few seconds frozen in place Anton regarded the other two creatures. They were huge, it was difficult to tell exactly how tall they would be standing up but at a guess they would be at least two feet taller then any human Anton had ever seen. They were covered in a green reptilian scales, the most strikeing thing about them was that each had one huge eye in the middle of their foreheads. None of them seemed to have hair on any part of their visable bodies, each wore a kilt like garment around the waist which was the only cloathing was apparent.
Anton continued to watch them for several minutes, determined despite the danger to find out as much as he could about the creatures and gain as much information as he could as to their possible purpose here so that he could gave a full and detailed report when he returned home to Hillerthorn. The creatures did not seem to be terribly active however, the one nearest to him leant against the rock was clearly asleep, and given the thing's loud and heavy breathing Anton wondered at himself for not recognising its presence earlier. The other two were similarly motionless, however it was difficult to tell if they were actually asleep as they did not seem to posess eye lids of any kind. There was just this one forever open unblinking eye disturbingly and constantly stareing out into space. After a few more minutes of this Anton decided to leave, it was tempting to think that he could continue watching from his concealed hiding point for many more hours as the creatures showed no sign of sturring but eventually Anton knew they would once again be on the move and despite the fact he was confident in his ability to outrun any normal man in his native woods, he still had no idea how fast these creatures could travel or indeed what their intentions towards him would be should he be discovered. He had a feeling that discovery would not be pleasent and he certainly didn't want to find out, nor have to put his pursuit theories to the test.
As he was about to turn and leave something caught his eye. In his study of the creatures Anton had so far failed to notice a small leather bundle which lay next to the dosing creature slumped against the rock nearest to him. The bundle was certainly reachable but he would have to expose himself momentarily in order to obtain it. Given the fact that none of the creatures had shown any sign of life for several minutes he was fairly confident that they were all currently asleep and it would certainly add merit to his story when he returned to Hillerthorn if he could bring back some token to prove his version of events.
He leaned out from behind the rock, sweat poured down his brow as he did so. this was the moment when he really would find out if those forever open eyes were actually asleep as he was now exposed to the creature directly opposite the campfire. He held his breath ready to spring away at the slightest sign of movement... there was none so far. Encouraged he leant far enough out to lay a hand on the bundle, the matirial it was made of was rough to the touch and seemed to be made of the same scale like matirial that coated the creatures skin. As he slowly lifted the bag he was surprised by the weight of it, it was much heavier then he expected. Finally he slipped both himself and the strange bag back behind the relative safety of the rock.
Anton knew that he now had to get away quickly as should any of the creatures rouse they would be almost sure to notice the bags disapearence and begin a search of the area which would more then likely proove disastarous unless he could open up a large enough gap between himself and his pursuit. He had no idea if they were skilled at tracking but ideally Anton wanted to be safely back behind the tall castle walls of Hillerthorn before morning.
Slowly Anton crept away, not dareing to walk upright until he had crawled far enough away so that the creatures camp fire was just a faint glow in the distance. Once he had got far enough away that he could no longer hear their hiss like breathing he stopped and opened the bag.
Inside he found several pieces of paper, he did not look at these in great detail, some appeared to be maps which undoubtably would be useful to someone older and undoubtably alot wiser then himself back home. There were other parchments covered in a strange writing, Anton did have some writing skills which he had learnt from his tutorlidge at Hillerthorn but none of this was readable to him.
At the bottom of the bag was he found the heavy object he'd been looking for. It was some sort of purple stone which was extreamly cold to the touch. He picked it up out of the bag and examined it in the failing light on his palm. It was perfectly smooth to the touch and surprisingly heavy for its size.
To his astonishent after a few moments of contact with his skin something strange began to happen, the purple stone seemed to grow warmer in his hand and then it began to emit a purple glow. Faint at first but after a few seconds it grew brighter until the surrounding trees nearby began to reflect the purple light such was its brightness. Hurridly Anton shoved it back deep inside the bag worried that it might give away his position, there would be better times and places to examine the bags contents he decided.
With a last worried glance over his shoulder he turned and began to head for home.
He had not travelled far however when an earsplitting howl split the night, it had come from the direction of the creatures camp it seemed the bags absence had been discovered, then a few seconds later to his horror a second answering howl was heard, this time from a different location further to the north. "Damn! What the hell was i thinking" he murmered to himself. It was certain they'd find his trail on the mudsoaked ground, and he had hoped to be at least twice as far away as he was currently before the theft was discovered.
Sure pursuit would now be hot on his heels he said "Ok lets find out if those ugly bastards can run..." and he set off at break-neck speed towards home.
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