Adventure of Ryrronken

Ryrronken emerges above the cave in his russet stag form, pushing through damp roots beneath pale trunks. Heavy vines trail from the branches, and mist clings to the shaded ground.

Several trees bear fresh cuts: repeated angular marks, each made at similar height and spacing. The pattern continues inland, away from the coast, toward the low mountains.

Broken branches point along the marked route. Recently pressed grass darkens the soil beside it, and a few crushed leaves still hold their moisture beneath the heavy vines.

The forest answers with dripping water and the slow creak of trunks. No voice, footstep, or moving figure breaks the pale spaces between the trees.

Behind him, the cave's concealed opening lies hidden among roots and stone. Ahead, the marked trail climbs gently inland, vanishing beneath tangled growth before reaching the mountainward rise.

Ryrronken follows the fresh markings inland in his russet stag form, placing each hoof within the broken grass and keeping beneath the heavy vines. His antlers pass through the low branches without a sound.

The angular cuts continue from trunk to trunk, leading through pale forest toward the low mountains. Damp soil holds the trail's recent impressions, while crushed leaves show where its maker passed.

He moves behind curtains of vine and fern, remaining hidden from the open spaces between the trees. Water drips from broad leaves, masking the soft placement of his hooves.

The marked route crosses a shallow runnel and climbs a wooded slope. Here, fresh splinters lie beneath one cut trunk, and bent stems show the passage continued only moments before.

At the slope's crest, the forest opens onto a narrow hollow beneath the mountainward rise. The marked trail enters it, still clear and unbroken, while Ryrronken remains unseen among the trees.

Across the hollow, a young adult man, with a narrow, weathered face crouches behind a fallen trunk, watching the marked trail. He is lean and mud-streaked, with dark hair, a green wool cloak, and a short bow held low.

The watcher does not loose an arrow. His eyes remain fixed on the stag among the vines, while one hand slowly lowers the bowstring from readiness.

He shifts just enough for the pale light to catch a narrow scar beneath his left eye. Beyond him, more angular cuts mark the trunks, but no second watcher shows itself.

The man keeps his bow lowered, though not yet unstrung. From the hollow's far side comes a faint scrape against bark, suggesting that whatever made the marks is nearer than the mountain rise.

Ryrronken holds his ground beneath the vines, his russet bulk filling the cover. The scrape comes again, clearer now, from behind a split cedar at the hollow's edge.

A middle-aged woman, her square weathered face sun-browned and marked by a small notch in one eyebrow, steps from behind the cedar, broad-shouldered and mud-streaked, with iron-gray hair, a brown wool dress, and a stone-headed hand axe lowered at her side.

She sees the great stag watching her and stops. Aldren rises behind his fallen trunk, bow still lowered, his attention shifting between the two figures.

The woman studies Ryrronken's size, then lowers the axe fully. Her guarded stance remains, but the immediate threat leaves her shoulders.

The hollow holds its silence. Aldren and Mara watch the motionless stag, but neither recognizes the meaning in the old draconic tongue carried within his guarded presence.

Mara's fingers tighten around the lowered axe, though she does not raise it. Her eyes remain on the stag's face, searching for a sign she can read.

Neither human turns away. The marked trail disappears beyond them into the mountainward trees, and its meaning remains beyond any words they can share with the hidden dragon.

Aldren and Mara continue to read the hidden dragon only as an unusually large stag. His stillness seems caution to them, not the restraint of a mind concealed beneath russet hide.

Mara glances toward Aldren, then back to the stag. She sees no sign of a hidden rider, altered shape, or human craft, only a powerful animal standing beneath the vines.

Neither human recognizes the draconic presence before them. Their fear remains practical and limited: they expect an animal's movement, not a dragon's judgment, and their weapons stay lowered.

Aldren settles behind the fallen trunk, while Mara keeps her axe at her side. To both of them, the silent stag is an unknown beast near a dangerous trail, nothing more.

Ryrronken turns away from the hollow in his russet stag form and walks beneath the vines, placing each hoof carefully beyond Aldren and Mara's line of sight.

The marked trail remains behind him as he follows a parallel run of trees, keeping trunks and hanging growth between himself and the two humans.

The hollow's muted voices fade beneath dripping leaves. Ahead, the angular cuts reappear on a line of pale trunks, guiding the route deeper into the forest.

Ryrronken crosses a shallow stream and pauses behind a fallen tree. Fresh chips lie among its roots, and damp impressions lead onward through crushed fern.

Beyond the stream, the ground rises toward darker timber and the first visible shoulder of the low mountains. The trail remains recent, but no maker appears.

Ryrronken continues beneath the vines until the hollow disappears behind trunks. He settles beside the fallen tree, keeping the stream and fern between himself and the two humans.

Time passes under dripping branches. At last, Aldren rises and gestures for Mara to follow, both leaving the hollow by the marked trail while the stag remains concealed behind the trees.

They move inland, following the angular marks. Ryrronken trails them at a careful distance, placing each hoof in damp ground while their voices carry through the pale timber.