Encounter

The crunch of something moving across the dead leaves of the forest floor jostled me awake. I bolted upright and listened. Something was moving outside of the cave I had sheltered in.

Cave was a generous word, it was more like a small gap that I had squeezed myself into. I moved my hand slowly to the pouch where I kept the invisibility potion. I slowly untied the string and pulled the glass vial from inside.

Very slowly, I shuffled myself towards the entrance to my "cave", doing my best to avoid anything which would make a noise if I stepped on it.

I had walked for about two more hours following the encounter with the dragon last night. I kept moving until every part of my body ached and demanded rest. As much as I wanted to continue, I knew that I probably would have injured myself stumbling around exhausted in the woods in the dark. I could hear flowing water in the distance so I began to walk towards it. I soon found a stream flowing through a small gulley. As I drank my fill of the cool and clear mountain waters, I spotted the small opening to the cave. I gathered branches from the gulley floor and did my best to camouflage the entrance to the cave as best I could. I then crawled inside and covered myself in my cloak and did my best to sleep.

I got close enough to the entrance where I could see some of the surrounding area through the camouflaging. The gulley lay in lightening shadows, the result of the sun just starting to peak over the horizon to start a new day.

I waited and listened. The crunching of the leaves came again and then stopped. It sounded like the movement was coming from above me. Something was moving about on the lip of the gulley.

I continued to listen. Whatever it was followed a patter of moving, then stopping for a minute or so, and then moving again. It had to be an animal.

"Maybe it's a deer," I thought, remembering that I was nearly out of the jerky that I had brought with me. My stomach rumbled at the thought of fresh meat.

One by one I moved the branches away from the mouth of the cave, trying my best not to make too much noise. I pulled myself outside and peaked just the very top of my head over the top of the gulley wall to try and look at whatever had awakened me.

I couldn't see anything at first, but after a few moments, movement caught my eye. I was wrong, it wasn't a deer, but a small woodlands rabbit, its brown coloring helping it to blend into the surroundings.

"Ok, so now what?" I asked myself. I thought about the small knife I carried, but at first, I could only picture the animal making a quick get away as I ran after it haphazardly.

As I thought about what to do, the rabbit moved further away. If I didn't do something soon I would lose it.

I returned the potion to a pouch and then withdrew the knife from my belt. With my other hand, I opened another pouch. I took a small pinch of the grounded Emberstone and sprinkled it over the weapon. The knife gave a faint glow for a moment.

The rabbit moved again. This would be tricky.

I closed my eyes and visualized the knife. Then in my minds eye, I pictured the weapon leaping from my hand and impaling the rabbit.

I felt a sudden tug as the knife flew out of my hand. I heard a thunk in the distance.

I blinked one eye open. The rabbit lay crumpled on the forest floor, the sharp edge of my knife embedded into its head.

I felt a sharp pang of sadness as I walked towards its limp form. I took no pleasure in killing for food, but I needed to do it to keep myself going. I made a vow to myself to look for edible plants as I continued onward.

"Fancy trick you done there," a voice came from behind me. I froze. "But I'm grateful. Saves me from looking for breakfast."

"Caught like a scared rabbit yourself," the voice continued. "How ironic. Turn around."

I held my hands up and slowly turned towards the voice.

A woman dressed in leather and furs stood about 20 feet away. She held a bow and had an arrow notched, but it was pointing downward and away from me. Even from this distance I could tell that she towered over me. Giantkin.

She stood watching me for a moment. I looked to her left and right. She was alone. Could I make a break for it?

"Don't," she said.

I was about to speak, but saw a blur of motion. I suddenly felt air rush past my face. There was an audible thunk and groan behind me.

The woman slung the bow over her shoulder, and with long strides walked towards me. "You can move," she said, her voice possessing a smoky deepness.

I turned as she strolled passed me. Laying face down on the sloping hill next to the dead rabbit was a figure in robes, a large arrow protruding through its back. "Friends of yours?" she asked.

The robes were the dark green of the Jall cultists. They had caught up to me.

"No," I said. "Not friends at all."

The woman flipped the cultist over and began patting the body. After a moment, she reached inside the robes and pulled out a small money purse, which quickly vanished into her leathers.

She hunched down and picked up the rabbit, it looked tiny in her massive hands.

"Hold out your hands," she said.

"What?"

"Your hands. You made the kill, you gotta skin it."

I nodded dumbly and did as she instructed. She bent down and placed the carcass in my outstretched palms.

"I don't wanna waste any more arrows today," the towering woman said. "And I'm assuming you don't wanna stand around here waiting to die. We should go."

It suddenly struck me.

"Eplash." I said. This woman was the very one that I was stumbling around in the woods searching for.

"The one and only," the giantkin grinned. "And you, you are the splitting image of your mother."