Dance Macabre: Tales from a Cursed Land

V: Mystery of the Misty Island (4/6)

While Raviel had been out seeing the town, Saska had woken up. With the elf nowhere in sight, now seemed like a perfect time to do some investigating of his own. The fact was that Raviel knew very little about this realm, and he didn't feel like explaining every little thing to make any progress. He'd just solve this case on his own, Raviel would get the information he wanted from the Lady, and they could get out of here. Frankly, this island unnerved him more than a little.

Since the dwarf was with him – information gained from the old female -, Raviel would not leave the town. And if he had understood the elf's character at all, he wanted to find connections. Clues to point him to the right direction. Personally...Saska was going to take a look outside the town and see where his Outcast instincts told him -not- to go.

He checked that the blue pearl the Lady had given Raviel - and he had snatched from the elf's belongings when Raviel wasn't looking – was securely inside his vest pocket and headed outside. That might come in handy.

He walked past the fields outside the town and had a brief chat with a shepherd tending to a flock of sheep. He couldn't really tell anything useful, only that every evening when the mist started rising he'd quickly take the animals to a shelter built nearby, hurry to his home and pray that nothing would find his flock during the night.

Saska continued on his way, steadily heading inland. If something was working hidden outside where the Lady could see, it couldn't be near the shore. Gradually the grasslands where the animals grazed gave way to shrubbery and then to a forest with thick underbrush.

A faint chill ran across his skin, making the hairs on his arms stand on end. The coldness of the grave. Something that was not alive had passed through here recently.

After a brief moment of searching he found a well-trodden path in the underbrush, starting a hundred feet or so inside the forest border. An animal trail? Not likely. For a moment he debated going back to tell Raviel, but in the end decided to check it out himself. He wasn't going to fight or anything. See what the cause of this feeling was, find its lair and get out of here. The people in town should be able to kill whatever it was on their own.

There was a faint trembling feeling in his chest as he carefully moved along the trail. "Sasha? What's wrong?" he asked in quiet voice.

There was no reply, just a distinct feeling on unease.

'Yeah, I feel it too.'

He stopped as he saw the path widen into a small clearing and scooted to the side to stay out of sight in the undergrowth.

The clearing was completely barren, not a blade of grass growing on it. The coldness creeping into his very bones was almost enough to make him gasp for breath. How had the elves, with all their magical abilities, failed to notice this? Unless...it was their work all along.

In the middle of the clearing was a black stone slab, probably closer to 10x10 feet in width and three in height. Standing in front of it was a man with wavy golden hair down to his shoulders – an elf judging by his height and the pointed tips of his ears. He didn't look like he had noticed Saska, intent on studying the stone slab. The gray cloak he wore made it impossible to tell if he had any weapons, but the sheer feeling of death emanating from him was plenty enough for the boy to want to keep his distance. He'd only need to see the elf's face and they'd have their culprit.

Just then something pushed him on the back. He slowly turned his head to face a very big dog's face. Well, at least it looked like a dog. This close it had a strange musty smell, and he couldn't feel its breath.

Saska tried to inch away, but the hound grabbed his arm on its jaws – not hard enough to break through his clothes – and pulled him to his feet. Then it herded him to the clearing.