Chapter 35: A Sound in the Darkness

The trio of warriors moved quickly out of their vulnerable position out on the plains. Morris had set up a camp of sorts in the shadow of the nearby cliffs, which they occupied for the night. As soon as they had taken care of their mounts, they gathered together to discuss their task.

"I've scouted out the area Kitsu suggested," Morris informed the other two. "There's a path that leads all the way into the mountains."

"Did you find anything up there?" Kitsu asked.

"Nothing."

"Is it the right spot?" Tunasri inquired.

"The information I received all pointed towards this region of the mountains," Kitsu replied. "We have no reason to believe that it was incorrect, so the most likely answer is that the entrance is hidden, or further back than Morris scouted out." He paused for a moment. "How far in did you go, anyway?"

"I only had time to search the area right around the trail when I saw you having trouble down here."

"How far off the path can you go?" Tunasri asked.

"Depends on where you are. Some places you can go quite some distance, others you can't leave the path at all."

"That wasn't very helpful."

"Quiet!" Kitsu told them. As they fell silent, he stepped slightly away from them, towards the mountains. "Did either of you hear that?"

"Hear what?" Tunasri asked. "You think there's something out there?"

"I think that it might be a good idea if I checked the area a little," Kitsu replied. "You two stay here, and make sure one of you is always on guard. If I haven't returned by noon tomorrow, you'd better come looking for me, but be careful." Without waiting for their objections or approval, he turned and vanished into the night.

Kitsu was relieved once he was out of earshot of the two others. The trio had only been together for less than a day, and Kitsu could already tell that Tunasri and Morris were not getting along together. The less time he could spend in their company, the better.

Kitsu heard another sound ahead. He ran to the spot where he thought it had originated. He found nothing. While spending a few minutes looking at the surrounding area to see if he could find the source of the noise, he heard it again, toward the mountains. Cautiously, Kitsu moved to the new location and waited. Surely enough, it occurred again after he had waited long enough.

There was no doubt about it. Something was trying to lure him in. Kitsu ran through his options: follow the sound, come back later with Morris and Tunasri, or ignore it completely. He decided to follow it.

Before he did, however, he decided to make some preparations. Whenever he went into Diis Evera, Kitsu always made sure to keep an eye out for unique items, and sometimes had Eris of the Traveler's Inn watch the markets when he was gone from the town for longer periods of time. In that fashion, he had found the invaluable Beacon Dagger.

Pulling out the dagger, he also retrieved a slip of parchment, a pen, ink, and some light rope. He wrote a quick note, tied it to the dagger, and returned the pen and ink to his pack. Very carefully, he took the dagger and gently pressed the blade into his left palm, letting his blood soak the strange white-colored metal. He then thrust the dagger into the ground. From the spot where the blade entered the soil, a column of light appeared, as far across as the length of Kitsu's arm and stretching up into the heavens. Satisfied that the light would alert his two companions and bring them to investigate, Kitsu headed off in the direction he had heard the sound.

Many times, Kitsu repeated the process of following the distant sound. At each stop, he left a plain dagger stuck in the ground with instructions for Morris and Tunasri to follow him. Shortly after he had reached the base of the mountains, the light disappeared from the sky, signaling that the other two had found and recovered his dagger. It was also at that time that the sounds stopped, so Kitsu waited for his team to catch up.

A speck of light over the hills alerted him to the approach of someone with a torch. As Morris and Tunasri came into view, their light revealed what Kitsu had been unable to see in the darkness: just a short climb above their heads was the dark entrance to a tunnel.