Chapter 1 – Unholy Ash

"I don't know if that's such a great idea Robateli."

Eroan said somewhat condescendingly to the troll as he stood just slightly off the dirt road they had been traveling on for days. Looking down at Robateli as he squatted, hunched over tracks left in the mud.

"Ah what you know? You so caught up in your head sometimes you miss the world around you aye? Ol' Robateli know what he doin now hush a moment hu? let me tink.”

Robateli mumbled to himself a moment in his native language, then closed his eyes and waved his hand several hands lengths above the marking in the mud.

“Dis not human, nor beast Eroan, dis be what messed up the caravan for sure, and here, look at this too around the edges of the prints”.

Eroan, pursed his lips and did as was suggested. He knelt down beside Robateli, and he looked at the prints.

“They just look like large bear prints Roba….” He trailed off

“You see now ya? With dem arcane eyes ay?”

Robateli laughed aloud in short guttural grunts.

“All dem years and still can’t see what’s right in front of you unless it’s pointed out to ya. HA!”

Eroan rolled his eyes and looked more intently. It was true he had missed this at first glance. But the arcane energy was already mostly gone, only a look this close would have revealed anything different. Robateli was right, though Eroan would never tell it to his face. Standing this close now though, it was clear, nay unmistakable of what this was. Unholy ash.

“A Fiend Eroan. It’s a fiend ya? Dats my guess.”

Robateli said as he stood up to his full height. Stretching backward slightly, to the left, and the right. Standing at least a head and a half taller than Eroan, but rather lanky and thin in build. All sinew and muscle under his bluish tinted skin.

Eroan collected some in his hands, it lined the outside of the track in the mud. Like the mud had dried on contact, and burnt slight. Eroan closed his eyes for a moment, and when he opened them and looked again, the ash glowed with a reddish hue. Eroan pulled a small glass ampule from the satchel at his waist, and poured the ash from his hand into it.

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“Then we know what we need to do then. Which direction did it go?”

“The tracks lead of deh trail and into deh woods. Probably should follow it hu? Or else it will just keep causin a mess”

Robateli said as nodded his head to the east into the woods.

“I reckin dat it couldn’t have been more than a few hours ago, we could still catch’em”

Eroan stood back up and rubbed at his white beard and closed his eyes for a moment. He nodded in agreement, opened his eyes and waved his hand in the air in a downward fashion toward the ground, a wispy trail of blue and white magic hanging in the air.

“Yes, I agree. Let us deal with this while it may still be manageable by just two people”.

The trail of blue expanded in that moment to engulf him in mist for just a moment. In that moment, his robes changed into travel garb more befitting traversal of an old growth forest.

“Ho ho, I see you getting serious now hu? Just follow me and try and not uhhhhhh breath so heavy eh ha haha!”

Robateli laughed a little under his breath as he stepped further into the forest.

The trees off the trail were mostly Maple, walnut, and birch trees covered the early spring forest floor in more open light than scattered, the ground still wet from a cold rain the night before. Robateli’s footsteps fell silently even at a brisk pace and Eroan found it hard to keep up without breaking the silent stalk. Robateli slowed after some time being ahead though, he could sense Eroan’s distance without even turning his head. As he matched pace, Robateli went to speak. Before he could though, a bird landed on his shoulder and chirped into his ear. He nodded and nuzzled the sparrow like bird slightly before it flew away.

“The birds say deh seen this thing not far, just one tick of the sun. We should be ready for when we get der.”

Robateli whispered to Eroan as he drew his bow from his back and put an arrow into his hand.

“I will take his attention, then you dispatch him”

Eroan looked back at him and nodded as he prepared as well.

Eroan silently put his palms together in front of his chest and closed his eyes. As he pulled his hands apart a dark, electric-like spark surged between the now extended palms, and from its center a staff was being pulled out of what appeared to be a now plate sized dark void in the space. At his arms apex, the staff whirled around several times and flew into his hand.

The staff made of a dark purple wood. Topped with a blue, faintly glowing crystal wrapped in the gnarls of the staff.

“Like we have done so many times before heh he he” Robateli laughed quietly before setting back out again.

“Yes, like so many times before.” Eroan said back, smiling ever so slightly.

Over the next 20 minutes, the two tracked the creature, following the tracks, and the damaged trees along its path. The creature must have been incredibly large, as many trees had been uprooted rather than broken to be moved out of the way in such a fashion. It wasn’t long however, before the source of the tracks was found.

Robateli stopped with a sudden, but silent step. His arm shot up in a motion to have Earon stop as well.

What laid just beyond, in a dip of the terrain, made him grip his bow just a little harder as an instinctive reflex.

Robateli, with his free hand, signed to Eroan that the creature lay just out of sight, here, below them, and to move on his signal.