Disclaimer: The Forgotten Realms are not mine but most of the characters and some of the places are figments of my own imagination.
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The rest of the hike up to Eagle Peak was uneventful and thankfully clear of the storms common to the area. The village resembled many other remote settlements, insular and close knit. As Joss, Cris, Ricardt and Teilla walked in, a few people paused in their daily chores to stare at the newcomers before going back to churning butter, laundry or whatever other tasks had occupied them before.
Prior to entering the village, the quartet had designated Ricardt and Joss to make the initial inquiries about the creature and missing Tyrran. As the paladin and senior ranger left to find the town spokesman, the half elven bard took stock of Eagle Peak. A caravan stop like Whizban, visitors seemed to be regarded with mild curiosity rather than hostility, for which Teilla was relived. She did notice that parents kept a very close eye on their children and that someone always kept an eye towards the surrounding woods. She could nearly taste the wariness on the air. The bard started humming to take the edge off her own nerves. "They seem a little like a big herd of watchful deer, don't they?" Cris murmured to the red haired half elf.
Teilla nodded and hummed a little louder. She saw Ricardt and Joss talking to an iron haired man and watched them closely, trying to read what they said off their faces. After a few minutes, she gave up, unable to see enough detail to read their lips. She settled instead for reviewing the spells she knew and trying to figure out which ones might be most useful to get this latest chore done faster.
The sound of Ricardt and Joss returning interrupted her train of thought. "Well," the paladin began, "No one has seen hide nor hair of Carad Yseph since he left here a month ago."
"On a different tack," Joss joined in, "The critter has a favorite field. It sometimes shows up there at night looking for food. Incidentally, we have enough daylight to left to check out the place."
"Oh goody," Teilla groaned. Cris settled for looking apprehensive.
After they left Teilla's and Ricardt's horses in the care of the farrier, they took the mile long path to the field in question. The path took the party through the woods and emptied out at the pasture. The grassy lea was empty of sheep or shepherd. No one wanted to be the next to disappear and no one wanted to lose more valuable livestock.
Ricardt, Joss and Cris started to poke around the field, looking for anything that might indicate that something large had run through it. Knowing that she would not recognize predator sign if it pounced on her, Teilla opted to aid the men in a different manner. She took out her recorder and began to play one of the melody to one of the meditations that the monks of the Sun Soul used to focus their senses.
After a search of the outside perimeter of the field, Joss called out, "Over here!" Teilla stopped playing and jogged over with Cris and Ricardt to see what the weathered ranger uncovered.
Grinning, Joss pointed to the ground. A single taloned paw print crushed the moss under an elm tree. "Cris, what can you discern from this print?" he asked.
The novice ranger compared the size of the print with his handspan and examined the depth of the print. "I think that either this thing is pretty light with really big feet or it's a big creature with wings," Cris looked at his uncle hopefully.
"Good job lad," Joss slapped the young man on the back. "Whatever it is, it definitely has wings. You can tell because it was up on its toes when this track was made and there isn't any of the scuffing either on the front or back associated with a critter that runs."
"Wow, that was more than I ever needed to know," Teilla commented. "Anything else?"
"Correct me if I'm wrong, but I seem to recall that dragons and wyverns put down four toes on the rear and five on the front for dragons," Ricardt noted. "There are only three toes there."
"True," the older ranger conceded. "I've no idea what might have made that track unless a dragon lost a toe somewhere." He glanced at the darkening sky. "We should get back to Eagle Peak and get some rest."
"What if it comes by tonight?" the paladin asked. "It might help to get a look at the creature."
"I don't think people have been using this field unless they absolutely have to," Teilla remarked. "Besides, we just hiked up here. I don't know about you boys but I'm tired and I think it would be a good idea to come at this fully rested."
"Maybe we can lay a few cords between the trees and see which ones are disturbed in the morning," Cris suggested.
"Teilla, do you still have that ball of twine?" Ricardt looked over at the bard. She started to rummage around her rucksack. Presently she produced a ball of jute twine with its collection of lint, dirt and whatever else had been knocking around the bottom of the half elf's backpack.
Teilla handed the roll of twine over to Joss saying, "Take as much as you want. In fact, take all of it. I can't even remember where I picked that thing up or why."
The elder ranger cut a handful of armspans of string for himself, Cris, Ricardt and Teilla. They then loosely tied the lengths to thin branches, really big leaves and anything else that would give if something pulled at the line. "Well," Joss dusted off his hands and surveyed their work, "At least we'll have a starting point in the morning."
"I'll see if I can't collect a description out of someone tonight," Teilla chimed in. "If I get enough I might be able to sing a spell to net us more information."
Ricardt blinked, "When did you get the components for that lore spell?"
"Whizban, silly!" she laughed. "You never know when it'll come in handy."
"We really should get going," Cris looked around at the darkening sky nervously. Joss took point, followed by Teilla and Cris with Ricardt bringing up the rear. Out in the open field there was still plenty of light to see by but under the trees the shadows grew velvet dark.
As the path back to the main buildings of Eagle Peak stole into the dark under the oak, the four kept a sharper eye to the forest around them. A strange jibbering howl wound its way toward their ears. Joss signaled a halt and they all strained to hear into the darkness.
The strange wail was soon accompanied by thudding and crashing noises in an odd, syncopated rhythm. Teilla filed the sound away for future reference and waited tensely with the others for the unseen creature to do something.
After what seemed like an eternity, the unknown beast moved away and the sound of its passage faded into the distance. Cris and Teilla let out the breaths they had been holding. Ricardt murmured a prayer of thanks to Tyr and Joss motioned the troupe forwards. As quietly as they could, they made their way back to Eagle Peak.
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Author's note: Thanks to the few of you who have read this thus far! Please leave a review, even if it is to say that you can't believe I'm still writing this thing. I do have a plan and an ending in mind though, just be patient!