Graniel was not a happy elf. As the leader of what was left of the guards, he had inherited the duties of the hunters. This situation was caused by a visit by the greenskin fleet in the middle of the night. The had taken the harbor, then proceeded to lay siege the city. The city guards had held the walls for a while. Until the greenskins unloaded and set up their war engines. Most of the guard fell that day. He was tasked, with a small contingent of the surviving guards, to get the civilians and the lady Haladoria out of the city to “somewhere safe”. They had fled up river in the boats they had on the river side of the city. There were not that many. Most of the males had taken off across land with an agreement to meet up several miles up the river.

  It had been about a month and of the males that left on their cross country trek, only about a third had trickled in to the new… town. If that was what you wished to call it. All in all, about a tenth of their population had survived. They had little in the way of resources and the hunters had provided a rear guard action. That left them with too few hunters. Add that to the fact that the greenskins didn’t stay put, game had fled or was killed by the monsters. Reports had come in from several other towns and races that they had spread out and were taking over the region. So far, none had found where they had fled, but they were actively seeking a new location that was more sheltered and farther from the river.

  So far they had found several game trails, but little in the way of game. They had followed several as best they could, but they were guards, not hunters. So few had survived. They kept traveling away from the city into the heart of the territory. This land was avoided for reasons. There was suppose to be a dragon that lived somewhere in the middle of the lands. A big dragon. No one had heard or seen it in his lifetime, however, so it was his hope that the damn thing had just gone away. He knew better than to think it was dead, those things didn’t die. He shuddered at the thought.

  They left the forest about a half hour later and came upon the sight of a chain of mountains. To Graniel they just didn’t look right for some reason. There were no hills leading to the chain, just mountains rising up from a plain. He could see across the wide expanse and nothing moved. He felt that he had a choice at this point, turn around and try another direction, or see if there was something in the mountains. Maybe the game had fled and hidden itself in the valleys and rills. He didn’t like it, but they hadn’t seen anything on the way here. He relayed his thoughts to the others and none had a better idea.

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  So they made their way to the chain. It was quiet and it seemed as if nothing moved. Too damn quiet. None of them had the desire to enter any of the valleys and there was a sense of foreboding that seemed to hang over them. The chain curved evenly away, broken only by the ridges that jutted out onto the plain. As they traveled around it, in his minds eye, Graniel could image it as a giant ring. It was getting into the afternoon and none of them wanted to stay close to the mountains. The quiet was unsettling. It was that quiet that allowed them to hear the low sounds of what sounded like cattle down one of the side valleys.

  They followed the sounds back into the valley which doglegged to their right. Rounding the corner, they found a large herd of cattle. They stopped cold. A heated discussion followed. There was no way that this herd did not belong to someone. The valley was a too convenient corral. So they sent two scouts out on either side of the valley. Two hours later, they returned. No habitations, and no signs of life. So, they had a herd of cattle in a valley with no one around. Another debate follow. They needed those cattle, but if they belonged to someone? Graniel finally decided that they would be better as live bandits than dead and honorable. Besides, the tribe needed the meat.

  They organized to herd the cattle quickly. They felt rushed and somewhat guilty. They couldn’t seem to get out of the valley quickly enough. Several riders took the flank to turn them as they left the pocket and Graniel felt a sense of relief as they saw the plain ahead of them. He relaxed slightly only to freeze as suddenly the sun was blotted out. The world seemed to stop for him as he saw the reason. Whoever had said it was a large dragon was not saying half of the story. Graniel had never seen anything that big. It was silver which tickled at the back of his mind. Unfortunately, his mind was not working quite well at the moment. Both the cattle and the horses slowed to a stop as they watched the dragon do a loop in the air then land in the mouth of the valley.