Aiko Chapter 2

Chapter 2:

Akio wakes to a warm sun by the large bushy area and Sahar shades him as he drinks from the nearby pools of morning water flow which is common throughout the lands. He proceeds to continue across the north area of Fool’s Fall to see if he can indeed find the elder woman’s cat, he mounts Sahar to follow this trail he found last night, the day seems calm and quiet for a change. As he rides closer to the trails supposed ending, he comes across a gruesome scene, a caravan lays here with dead horses plus the people in this group also seem to have perished, from the clothing it would seem to be a band of bards, their clothing plus many musical instruments would point to that conclusion.

As Akio rides closer he is interrupted by hissing, down below is a strange lizard like creature with jagged fangs, spittle sprouting forth with each hiss, he is slightly startled and realizes it’s going to pounce on him if he does not act fast. Deciding to take it off-guard hopefully he charges on Sahar towards this creature, this creature is much faster then the last plus it seems to anticipate a move and Akio loses his advantage, so he dismounts to engage defensively. As he moves around to grab this creature which is not too large, the size of a small alligator he notices it is caught up on some thing attached to the ground, maybe a set of strings from a lute or a strong root source, this helps him avoid the creature better to gain an advantage in the fight. With a strong elbow down on the creatures maw it hisses back and uses it’s tail to reposition itself a little better, Akio is an experience brawler but he knows if this creature was not tied down somewhat he would be hurt bad or worse, with a swift grapple akio manages to wrench the neck of the beast and force the air out so much that it falls and eventually drifts into lifelessness, as Akio looks down the tail was caught on a lute string set however the lute is now bashed in with something shiny laying inside.

Akio's eyes widen as he realizes some sliver pieces stashed here inside the lute but after examining further he notices a piece of the ground that has been washed away a little revealing a rune encrusted wedge of sorts attached to a stony section of ground now pushed away from the aftermath of this battle. He pockets the silver then examines this stone wedge, seems there is a hum and vibration on this rock platform, when he grabs this wedge it lights up and a sound of rumbling occurs in the nearby bush and rocky area. Looks like there is some passage that has formed a little ways from where he stands that he has never seen before, same runes are on this opening that match the wedge.

Perhaps these bards were looking for this passage or stone? Now he is unsure about his current quest and this new one that should be addressed as soon as possible, he thinks about this for a moment, Akio decides he can keep looking for the cat once he sees where this leads, or maybe the cat is down there? He walks with Sahar close to the opening, pats him on the side as he looks to explore this vast unknown place he has uncovered.