There was a roar and a snarl and Ivkarha felt the lethargy upon her slough away, her eyes snapping open. Aedmorn had succumbed to the beast, and rage driven had leapt upon the back of the snake’s head, one white furred arm wrapped around its throat, while with the other he raked across the snake’s head. Sharp s his claws were, as ferocious his attack, they could do little against the hardened scales of the beast, doing little more than scratching them.

Ivkarha scrambled back up to her feet, searching around for her sword. The burning brand she had carried had fallen to the ground and now a first few flame were creeping across the fallen leaves there, threatening more than just a small fire, for the whole place could be caught up in it. Even if the snake was defeated, the flames could take them if not dealt with quickly.

She began to stamp upon them, trying to extinguish them before the danger became too much. Aedmorn was snarling and howling, holding on for grim life as the snake thrashed about, trying to dislodge him, whipping his head back and forward. If not for the strength of the beast he had become, he would have been thrown clear already, yet even so his grip remained precarious. Any moment the grip might break.

As she stamped down hard, Ivkarha watched on, and a thought came to her; the snake had not liked the flames near his face. “The eyes!” she called out. “They are vulnerable.”

She could not tell if the growl was an acknowledgement or not but the next raking blow of Aedmorn’s razored claws came near to the snake’s eyes.

It reacted with a desperate fury, slamming its body against trees in an effort to dislodge him, to protect its vulnerable eyes. Splintering filled the night's sky and the crash of falling branches. Aedmorn began to slip as he was flung about, but one last surge of effort drove claws into the snake’s eye, tearing it apart.

The snake went into a frenzy, twisting and rollings it body; Aedmorn at last lost his grip and was tossed tumbling through the air to land out in the darkness. With its assailant gone, the snake began to weave away, disappearing into the dark, defeated and wounded.

Ivkarha stamped out the last of the flames, grabbed up her sword, and with the burning branch in hand, hurried off in the direction that Aedmorn had been thrown.

She found him a short distance away, where his flight had been broken by a tree, slumped against it, cradling his side. He snarled, eyes flashing mad with rage and pain.

“Easy now,” Ivkarha said gently. “It has gone; we scared it away.”

Another fang bearing growl followed before Aedmorn shuddered and began to melt back into his human form, the beast being released. Aedmorn grimaced as he stood up, feeling his side. “I may have cracked a rib or two,” he said.

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“We got off lightly, all things considered,” Ivkarha said. “One hopes that it was alone here; I do not fancy meeting others.”

“For a snake of that size, it would need plenty of prey,” Aedmorn noted, slowly walking back towards their campsite. “Even so, to come at us like, that…” He shook his head. “This place likes our presence not at all. We had best be cautious as we press forward. Who knows what it shall throw our way next time.”

“We shall be ready for it, no matter what it is,” Ivkarha vowed.

When back at the camp, they piled more branches up on the fire to get it blazing again, in a hope that it would deter any more visitors for the rest of the night before returning to sleep, or an attempt at it. The adrenaline from the fight, the concern of what else might be out there, meant that they only had a fitful sleep and it was just before dawn, or as best as they could tell in the gloom of the place, that they arose, packing away their camp and extinguishing the fire. They partook of a simple breakfast and headed out from the trees, following the path of destruction left by the snake as it fled.

The grey mists were still present, shrouding the land about when they reached the edge of the trees.

“Which way then?” Ivkarha asked as they stood there looking about.

“One way is as good as another,” he replied. “We have no real idea where we are, or where the tower is in relation to us.”

“As long as we don’t end up walking in circles, this place trying to trap us in here so that we can not ever escape.”

“That would be a concern,” Aedmorn agreed. “All we have to go on is the snake’s trail. It, at least, leads somewhere.”

“It may be a place we do not wish to go though.”

Aedmorn smiled wryly. “Or the very place. Still, it is a direction at least.”

Along the trail of broken foliage they followed, with crushed shrubs and gouges torn out of moss and grass and earth, a trail that indicated haste and a desire to get away, obvious enough that anyone could follow. Aedmorn’s skills were not needed to keep it in sight.

Through the mists and the shadows they made their way, with small bushes cropping up around them, and windswept trees, while waters trickled around through small rivulets that cut deep into the earth, feeding the ponds and pools and tarns that dotted the meadows.

Standing stones they passed as well, worn and moss covered, remnants of glacial ages that had been swept along and deposited within the valley.

There were insects about, a constant buzz of them as swarms hovered above the water, darting this way and that, but beyond that there was neither sight nor sound of any other animals about, not even birds. Aedmorn frowned as he studied the ground, searching it out.

“No game trails,” he noted. “No signs of anything that you would expect. You would think this would be a haven for rabbits and the like, but I can see no signs of any.”

“Perhaps the snake has reduced their numbers.”

“One snake, even that size, could do little to dent the numbers of rabbits that should live here. No, this is more of the mystery of the valley at work here, and I intend to find out what it is.”