Cynter barely took even two steps before he discovered the flute.
It was a simple, wooden flute, intricately carved with a pattern that looked like a vine trailing down the side. Cynter examined it quietly before he noticed the blood splatter.
His eyes widened and he knelt down, placing his fingers into the blood splatter. "Fresh," he mumbled. Whatever animal had been injured here, it had gained the injury quite recently.
There wasn't just this one splatter, however. A whole trail led to a deeper part of the forest. Cynter knew that area to be blocked off by a cliff, with an opening that served as a cave.
Cynter squinted his eyes and began following the trail.
Cynter slowly approached the opening of the cave and glanced inside.
It was not terribly dark, at least at the entrance. The rest of the cave was about as lit as a catacomb.
Cynter pulled his flashlight off of his belt and clicked it on, moving deeper into the cave, still following the blood trail. He could hear his heart pounding in his chest and every soft breath that he took.
He braced himself for what he would find, and his discovery nearly knocked his breath away.
Laying very still in the middle of the cave, was a boy. He had blonde hair that stuck out in tufts, and long, pointy ears protruded from his head. He had a matching bright yellow tail. His kimono seemed very expensive, and appeared to be from a time period that was not of this modern age. He panted as he bled from a wound at his side.
Cinder knew he had found him. The fox spirit.
