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Windhammer, Copyright Wayne Densley 2001 - 2007 All Rights Reserved
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285
In the gathering darkness the cabin proves to be more difficult to find than you would have hoped. After turning to the south the grasslands give way to isolated patches of low scrub and the first scattered areas of light forest. It is within these patches of woodland that you begin to lose your way. Somewhere in amongst these trees is the cabin but the terrain has changed since you last passed this way, the trees sparser, many of the familiar trails lost to neglect and a thick blanket of fallen leaves. In this wide land a small cabin can be an easy thing to miss.
For a short time you take a path that leads through the trees and then into a series of wide areas of open, stony ground. Beyond these clearings the forest closes in, thick areas of undergrowth crowding the ground beneath an increasingly dense canopy of high trees and arching branches. Within this darker world you guide Pallenten carefully southwards, aware that night will soon descend and the cabin is still nowhere to be seen.
In the half-light of the evening you persist on your heading until you are brought to a halt by a confronting discovery. Spread about the trees and through the undergrowth are the torn remains of a Hordim, a Jotun you think, but shredded in a manner you have never seen before. No piece of the giant Hordim remains intact and the entire area is covered in arcing sprays of its drying blood. For a moment you try and understand what has happened to the creature, but there are no clues to its demise except for the overwhelming violence that must have been used to kill it. You are certain no man could have inflicted such wilful damage and you can think of no predator that would dare attack a Jotun and leave so much of it behind. All you can be sure of is that whatever killed the Hordim did so with great vigour and with considerable malice. Quickly you ckeck your surroundings and skirt the carnage, not willing to risk the possibility that whatever did this might return. In the deepening gloom you urge Pallenten forward.
Continuing on due south you finally intersect a trail you recognise which heads directly west. Following this trail brings you to a small clearing, within which stands the dilapidated but still functional hunters' cabin.
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This book, and its associated books and other documents in the Chronicles of Arborell series are the intellectual property of the author, Wayne F Densley, and all rights are reserved by him. Windhammer is best viewed at 1024 x 768 resolution. Any questions regarding the Chronicles of Arborell can be answered by emailing the author at densleyw@shoal.net.au
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Windhammer, Copyright Wayne Densley 2001 - 2007 All Rights Reserved
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