Rane did not have much time to ponder his question when his thoughts were interrupted by another inquiry from the beast.

Rane saw himself in the river, flowing backwards. Eventually, the river faded out, leaving only a profound sense of question.

It wanted to know where he came from, specifically how he got here. Rane decided to start with specifically how he ended up in the river.

He thought of himself, training in the woods, when he grew frustrated and began striking the tree under which he was to sleep.

Rane felt pity from the creature… And condemnation. Rane was too weak to make such noise.

The creature was right, and Rane thought of the serpent that chased him along the creek.

Rane’s thoughts were cut off by a sense of boredom. It already knew of the serpent, and did not care. Additionally, Rane’s sense of taste was stimulated by an overpowering gamey and bitter meat.

The creature rested its body on its massive tale before sending another mental message.

Rane saw the sun over the valley move in reverse across the sky, and then repeat several times over.

And so Rane decided to tell the creature about Kelston, and his expedition.

Rane conjured the image of Kelston’s central plaza in his mind, where everyone gathered, and he felt the interest of the strange creature increase, as if Rane’s mind were a book caught in the grip of a child’s anticipation.

Rane thought of his comrades, whom he walked alongside, and could not stop the great sadness that accompanied their visages. The creature did not show a reaction to his accidental foreshadowing.

Rane thought of the axtl village, and their assault on it. When he thought of the axtl chieftain and the commanders, the grip on his mind became tighter still. Rane felt his head begin to ache, but thankfully, the sensation went away as the creature realized that Rane had not stayed around to witness that fight.

Then, with dread, Rane thought of the final moments of his squad. He remembered that dreaded sound that carried through the air. He remembered the brief disagreement about what to do. Then, he remembered the fleeing squad that brought them the news of the orders to retreat. Then, he remembered their screams. Finally, he remembered the suffocating presence of the abomination, and then its horrifying visage.

Rane’s own scene fell apart here from the visceral response of the creatures with whom he shared the cave.

Pride, indignation, and anger. Furious, murderous anger.

For the first time, Rane began to feel the presence of the creature in front of him. And it was in no way inferior to any of the other seltient presences he had felt in his life. Maybe some were different; he could not tell. To him, it was as if he were an ant trying to compare the sizes of mountains while only able to stand at their base.

Rane wanted to close his eyes, but he could not. They were locked onto the creature in front of him as he watched it undergo visual changes in response to its anger.

The dull glow of ambient made manifest covered key points of its body like armor, and its claws that nearly reached the floor before had doubled in length, each on like a scythe capable of reaping countless lives.

Its featureless tail now sported spines of seltience, ending in a wide double blade like that of a woodsman's axe.

The creature was a bit territorial, so it would seem.

It turned away, reeling in its presence as its form flickered like that of the four eyed serpent. So it can do that as well, Rane thought. Rane couldn’t even hear the noise of the creature’s footsteps on the hard, uneven floor as it left. It could have also arrived like that. It could have been some display of hospitality, or perhaps it may simply have felt no need to sneak around. It struck him as a creature with no small measure of pride.

Only when the hair on the back of his neck lay down did he relax. He felt relief, but now that he was alone once more, he again felt his hunger. Surely there would be something to eat here.

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And so he began to explore the cave. He hugged close to the right wall, deciding to first move in the direction from which the creature had entered, hoping to get a sense of direction by finding the entrance to the cave. It was still dimly lit, and he held his hand on the wall and he tried not to lose his footing on the uneven floor.

Soon enough, he began to see the light of day peaking out at him from a bend in the cave. He hurried his pace and immediately lost his footing, barely catching himself on a ledge hewn into the rock like a shelf. He slowed his pace and continued forward, a cold breeze flowing in towards him.

The light of day greeted him with nearly immolating intensity. His eyes took almost a minute to fully adjust to what he was seeing. He could not fully see from his own vantage; however, Rane could conclude that he was on the face of a cliff, at least 50 yards from the next outcropping, which was covered in slowly melting snow.

Further out still, he could see the tops of the trees that packed the valley like many people standing packed together in a courtyard, awaiting the news of the herald's cry.

The rock surface he could now see was a deep, slate black, which only made the melting snow even more blinding. When Rane looked directly at it, he winced, sunlight refracting directly into his eyes.

Well, he thought as he scanned the view from the cliff-face, I guess I’m not leaving anytime soon. With that thought, he turned once more to head back into the caves in search of food, now with a renewed sense of direction in his mind.

Eventually, he found a set of furs that covered the entrance to a room that hit him with an intense smell. There were meats hanging from the ceiling as they dried, and various fruits and nuts that filled basins carved into the floor. Some were smashed into liquids that produced a large section of the intense smells that permeated the room. He now understood why there were so many layers of furs covering this section.

It crossed his mind that this food was not his own, but he had little choice in the matter. The creature had clearly been willing to share with him earlier, and it would do Rane little good if he were to starve to death before the creature even returned to be angry with him. That was if it returned at all.

The Kelston Great Wood would soon feel the devastation of two monsters fighting for supremacy. Rane never thought that he would find himself rooting for one of them.

He shook his head and began browsing the storeroom. Eventually, he found more of the spiny fruits that the creature had given him previously. He grabbed two, as they were just slightly larger than his enclosed fist.

Then, he glanced at the hanging meat, and decided to cut off a few thin strips with the only blade that he still had: a small hunting knife shorter than the length of his forearm.

He sat near the exit of the storeroom to consume his bounty. This time, he used the knife to remove the foul tasting exterior, not making the same mistake twice. The meat was actually curiously not bland, tasting vaguely of the fermenting fruit within the storeroom. Rane was impressed. The creature apparently had class.

Rane ate slowly, savoring the succulent fruit before taking small bites of the chewy and savory strips of dried meat. He sighed and looked up at the ceiling from which the glowvines provided their dim light, wondering if it was even alright for him to be comfortable like this.

It was not. He needed to get stronger. If he could not get stronger, he could at least become adept enough to survive. Currently, he was neither of the two. Even the lowliest of creatures that could provide him with sustenance here in the Great Wood were apparently skilled enough in their detection skills to immediately sense the presence of one seizing control of their surrounding ambient.

When he finished his meal, he began searching again, this time for another purpose. He needed a room where he could practice again. Any room large enough to facilitate his full area of direct control would suffice; however, while most of the rooms and side caves he found were neither cramped nor low, they were not often wide.

Eventually, he found a shaft leading down. He felt like an intruder in someone else's home, but in fact, he was more like a pet, he simply did not want to admit that. He began descending down into the shaft, for the first time grateful for the uneven floor, which made it impossible to lose one’s footing to sliding.

Soon, the glowvines started to become sparse, and sooner still, they lost their dull luster completely. Rane flared his area of direct control in order to sense his footing instead of seeing it, and continued on.

He walked down, down, and still down. He must have walked down for nearly a half an hour. Just as he considered turning back, he felt at the edge of his area of direct control that the tunnel opened up, and he continued forward.

He heard the echoing drips of water falling into another still body, and soon took a step that submerged him in water to his knee. He could not sense the other side of the room, and so he continued forward sensing some semblance of a path beneath the waters of this strange cistern. The path took him around and about, and he was now unsure as to exactly the direction of the exit. He could simply follow the path back. Eventually, the path took him back above the water, and onto smooth stone.

It was pitch dark, but from what he could see with ambient, he was on a small stone section about 15 yards across, though it was uneven and not perfectly round. He could not sense any of the walls from this platform, though he could feel that there were some rocks that stood above the waters as if they had been rent from the ceiling of the cavern.

In the center of the platform, there was a large mat made from furs. He had not sensed it so much as simply felt it when he stepped on it. Rane removed his boots and knelt on the mat, breathing deeply and trying to clear his mind of the gravity of his situation.

He focused on the comfortable sensation of the mat under his knees and feet.

He focused on the drips of water from stalactites into the pool below.

He focused on the silence between the drips, letting it clear his mind.