The light from the morning sun reflected off the thin ice that had broken under the weight of Eargrif's boots as he passed between two boulders half again his height. The road that had been there the night before had become lost in the mud and partially frozen puddles that now covered the world around him. The cloak retained Eargrif's body heat keeping him comfortably warm in spite of the constant wind. It was this reason that made Eargrif believe it was too warm for him to have to worry about ice, until he slipped down a small hill. Luckily he had not fallen and was sure to keep an eye on were he stepped.
Even though the road had been washed away, some signs of it remained. By starting where he had last remembered being on the road the previous night Eargrif could see a rough outline of it through the hills and larger boulders. The condition of the ground slowed Eargrif considerably; however the change in scenery was a welcome relief. Unlike the grasslands that he had been traveling through this hilly region was constantly changing. The hills began to become longer, leveling off for awhile before descending into the rise of another. At the crest of larger hills he could see a towering cliff in the distance with snow capped mountains behind it. Every time Eargrif saw this he reassured himself that what was left of the road would lead him to a pass or maybe even a town at the bottom of the cliff.
At mid-morning Eargrif passed through what was once a gate in a man made stone wall. The wall itself was only thirteen hands high in the places where stones hadn't become loose and fallen away. The gates had been made of wood long since rotted away, the metal hinges and bars still remained in one piece the only damage evident on them were rust. On the inside of the wall were various plants and crops grow wildly amongst weeds. The road became more defined here, because the roots held the earth together. The crops had long since wilted; even the weeds had dried out and turned brown. Eargrif was able to identify most of the plants while navigating his way down the roadway. The remains of dead vegetation crunched under his boots, while live weeds pulled on his cloak.
By afternoon the ground had begun to firm up, as if the storm dissipated before reaching this far into these abandoned fields. Stopping to catch his breath and readjust his pack Eargrif scanned ahead for any sign of change in the landscape, ahead the road continued to split the dried flora beyond his sight with the cliffs rising far off in the distance. Looking to the left of the road he caught sight of a stone pile atop a slight rise in the otherwise level ground. Still quite far from where he was standing, Eargrif decided the rise would be as good a place as any to make camp for the night. Once his pack felt comfortable on his shoulders Eargrif began moving again at a light run in order to make the rise before night.
Even several hours later the cliffs appeared no closer than they had when Eargrif had stopped to rest. If not for the stone pile Eargrif would have been sure he had been running in circles. The stone pile landmark however had remained to his left, growing ever larger as he approached. When the sun began to fall he left the road, cutting a straight line to his destination. Eargrif final reached the rise by dusk, the sun casting long shadows as it began to slip behind the cliffs. Picking up his pace Eargrif ran up the small hill wanting to reach the stones before the sun's light was gone. On top of the hill the stones rose higher than he expected them to, their silhouette a long black rectangle shape.
Eargrif passed into its shadow and as his eyes adjusted to the lack of light he could see the stones had been carefully stacked into a wall. Some of the top stones had fallen but for the most part the wall looked to be in good shape. Going around to the right side where there would be more light he was not surprised to find another section of wall connected to the first one. This wall however was only half standing, a large section had fallen into a pile of rubble.
The first building Eargrif had found since waking in the ditch looked as if something had torn down one of it corners. Two of the walls were in good condition, while the other two were half fallen out ward and half standing. In the middle of the building were the remains of timbers and thatching that had been the roof. A hole in one of the whole walls had metal hinges pushed inward, the remains of a sagging door hanging from them. To the left the other full wall metal studs held tools of various types commonly found on a farm, these tools had also become victims to rust and rotting. In the corner to the right of the door was a stove with a half rotted wood pile next to it, both half buried under thatch. In the corner with the fallen walls where Eargrif stood held evidence that a bed may have been there. Cloths made of wool could be seen under the fallen timers and thatch from the roof.
Eargrif had no intention of trying to entering the building in its current condition. He was tired from a day of walking and running and the materials from the roof covered the entire floor requiring too much work for him to clear in the fading light. Eargrif chose instead to make a small bed of straw to sleep on outside of the fallen wall which he could make before nightfall. The thatch from the roof would make a much more comfortable place to sleep than the ground had been the past few nights. While he was pulling out the straw he was also able to pull a blanket out from under the timbers that he used to cover the straw.
By the time Eargrif finished constructing his makeshift bed the sun had disappeared behind the cliffs sending the world into darkness. With his job complete Eargrif sat down to relax while pulling his cloak from his pack. The wind from the previous night had returned, bringing the promise of another cold night. Eargrif removed the baldric from over his shoulder before lying back on the blanket, above him the stars spread across a moonless sky. The night was filled with silence broken only by the wind that rustled the tall grass. Eargrif watch as the stars twinkled; every now and then some seemed to blackout entirely before reappearing. The day’s activities and the comfort of the straw had Eargrif asleep in minutes even though he was still dressed in all of his gear.
Eargrif had only been asleep for a few minutes when he awoke with an uneasy feeling. He tried his best to feign sleeping while he looked out the sides of his eyes for anything that seemed out of place. To his left the building block him from threat just like it block the light from the stars. To his right he could see the tall grass under the starlight swaying rhythmically in the wind. The wind moving the grass was still the only sound he could hear, just as it had been when he first lay down.
The feeling grew stronger the longer he lay there, he felt as if he were being watched. Eargrif could not figure out how it could be possible for someone to be watching him. From the top of the rise the fields had been empty as far as the eye could see no more than an hour ago. This feeling was unnerving Eargrif more than he thought it should, he felt that holding his sword would help calm him. He slowly raised his left arm under his cloak and started moving it toward the side of the bed where he left his sword propped against the wall. The sound of stone being scraped on and a strong gust of wind sent Eargrif diving for his weapon.
Stones came crashing down on him as grabbed the sword, drawing it as he came up into a defensive stance. In the darkness Eargrif saw the huge shadow of something coming over the crumbling wall. Massive wings beat the air sending down gusts of wind as the creature came to rest on the ground in front of him. The creature that now stood in front of Eargrif was a manticore, a great monster with the body of a lion with huge featherless wings and a long scorpion tail. The head however was that of a man with shape black horns extending behind its head. Eargrif was stunned that such a beast would be in this waste land where nothing lived.
The monster let out a cry as it lunged forward attacking with its right claws. The attack amazingly fast but Eargrif matched the creature's speed and countered by swinging his blade into the its paw. The manticore gave a horrible cry as his paw was cut wide open by the sword. Eargrif was not injured in the exchange, but the force of the blow was enough to knock the wind from his lungs and make his arms ache. As he brought his sword back to his front the manticore raised up onto his hind legs now standing over 20 hands high. Feeling confident that such a monster could be so easily be hurt Eargrif moved to attack, this time the left claw came down at the top of his head. Eargrif dodged to the right, spinning and bringing the blade down into the arm of the beat. With that much force Eargrif's cut went deep into it arm bringing forth another cry.
Pulling his weapon free Eargrif saw too late the mistake he had made as the great tail of the manticore came at his back. Yanking with all his might the sword came free in time to meet the attack. This time the force of the blow was too much and the sword went flying from his hands landing among the fallen wall. Before he recovered from the impact of the tail Eargrif felt a warm moist paw grab him around his middle and squeeze the air from his lungs as he screamed in pain. Blackness began to encircle his vision as he was crushed with unbelievable strength; Eargrif felt a few of his ribs crack. At this point he gave into panic; he knew he could not get free and that he was going to die.
The manticore then threw him at the building; flying through the air on the edge of consciousness Eargrif saw that the emblem on his necklace had been broken. Beyond the silver chain was the hideous creature that had killed so easily. Then to either side he saw white leathery wings and from below he saw a great blast of blue fire racing toward the manticore. All of this made no sense to Eargrif as he left out one final scream before being slammed into darkness.
