"Wraithcaller, you say?" you scoff. "Veno's plaything?"
More cackling ensues, and you didn't expect much else. The dark cloud keeps some distance from you, but has engulfed the other fully.
"You would wish... But it was my power luring him, contrary to what you might think. And I see daring statements are somewhat your thing... Well, what is your answer?"
"I would rather suffer the wraith than let YOU, and your master, have him! He was my friend, and he deserves to rest in peace."
The sorcerer doesn't laugh this time. He is silent, but not for long.
"For as promising you seem to be, thrice as much stubborn you are. But I am not quite finished with you. I shall meet you again."
The flame puts itself out, and you're trapped in darkness once again.
You wake up in a bright day, fortunately, to a sight of your two companions setting a fire.
"Huh?"
"These plains are outright seeping with hares!" says Sas. "Even got us one for later!"
You snicker, and slowly stretch your body to sit.
It seems it all was a dream, and you truly came out safe and sound. You check your belongings just in case.
The makeshift blade pebble, the two mushrooms... The blood vial. You was thinking of disposing of it before, but the thoughts got lost in recent events. On one hand, it doesn't seem to have any negative effects carrying it, but you're approaching a human city, they might not like it... You really need to decide, and soon.
You creep to the main food distributor Sas for your ration, and have a good time. But there's not much place for sitting and talking on a quest, and so you swiftly embark.
The woods Flax described are indeed in close vicinity, so you and Sas start looking out for a stick. And while picking amidst the young trees, you can soon hear the hunter calling.
"Here, check these!"
You turn your head and are on to check his findings, when an unfamiliar, soft voice bites you in the ears.
"These! Eee!"
Your companions also notice the sound, and look around in confusion.
"An echo?" says Flax. "How is an echo here?"
The voice is going on, its words seem very sharp and definite, but hardly can you make something out of it.
"Udeihh! Gêlkr! Oebra! Check, call, here!"It follows with a barrage of clacking sounds and growls.
"This can't be an echo..." you say. "But it's coming from there."
You carefully advance to the source of all this. There is no creature in sight, instead, a strange place ahead.
An area looking artificially even, snow spread across it with no trees, only a few tiny seedlings are scattered in this white field. In the middle, there is a standing stone, smoothed into a cylinder.
"Bespoken! Nightmares! These! Gaze upon, can't be!" the voice cries out, but not so loudly as before.
"What is this supposed to be?" mutters Flax, approaching the stone.
You walk further to the other side, following the voice. As you advance, it starts whispering, and is quieter and quieter. But it is still making all kinds of sounds, so it is rather easy to locate.
There is a serpent lying in branches, its eyes staring into yours.
Its appearance is oddly alluring, though its body doesn't seem alien at all, as far as you can tell, anyways. You haven't seen much snakes in your lifetime...
You gesture to your fellows to come, and point to the tree without saying a word.
"Eh?" utters Flax, raising his head up. "What's up?"
"Shhh." you whisper.
The man comes to you, and looks where you show him to.
"Huh? A tree. You want this for a sta..."
"There's a serpent up there."
Flax his eyes, and inspects its closer.
"That's a twig."
...
"Hey, what would a serpent do here anyway? There's nothing there!"
Thundering laughter overwhelms you all, and new jolly chatter as well.
"Told you, check! Gêlkr, dine on, a twig, silly! A tree, a tree! Shhhh!"You can tell for sure the voice is coming from the little critter, though it isn't opening its mouth, nor doing any other synchronized movement. Both Flax and Sas erratically look around in confusion.
"It's it doing it, see?" you say.
"But what?" the warrior asks.
"The serpent is making the echo!"
"I don't see no serpent, what are you talking about?"
The creature drops itself onto the snow, and drifts away, still cackling and laughing.
"Here, it moves!"
"Well this place has some trickery to it, can tell you that much..." Flax mumbles. "But I still don't understand."
"Can you see it, Sas?"
The hunter shakes his head, while trying to follow your gestures with his eyes.
The serpent swirls into the snow and disappears, without leaving a trace. You could swear its swirling body was leaving dents in the ground, but no such things can be seen now.
"Peculiar... Must've been a spirit of some sort, it's very presence was rather otherworldly..."
"Cool. But I don't like this place at all. Let's go."
Flax turns around and wants to return to the original path, but nearly stumbles over. There's something hard hidden in the snow.
"Huh?" he mutters.
The warrior brushes the snow off the object, revealing it's the same stone as the standing one, just shaped differently. He lifts it, it seems to be some sort of a wide, shallow bowl, engraved with symbols.
"This ain't normal... Should ask locals about it, perhaps, unless... You recognize any of this, Black?"
The appearance of the stones seem somewhat familiar to you, being man-made with pretty standard runes as far as you can tell. You can't pick up any spirits right now, but you would bet the serpent was one, if only it wasn't so distracting with its alluring aura. You are rather intrigued by all of this, but the atmosphere of this site has a sense of dread and uncertainty, too.
What do you want to do? 
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Topic: Dwarf Fortress -Drawings- : Tales of the Deer Wizard (Read 169980 times)