Adventure of Elonwyn

Elonwyn steps beyond the hut, bow still in hand. The pilgrim follows several paces behind, careful not to crowd her, while the wounded monster remains trapped across the threshold.

The tremor strengthens beneath the trail. Snapped branches lie among bloodied leaves, and the ground shivers hard enough to stir dust from the hut’s outer wall.

The trail ends at ancient stones half-swallowed by roots. Beside them lies a fresh stag carcass, a broad-antlered deer with a russet coat and mud-caked legs, its hide torn and darkened, while a narrow stairway descends between the stones into the earth.

A deeper pulse rolls up the stairway, carrying the smell of wet stone and roots. Behind them, the monster gives a muffled growl from the hut’s threshold, and the forest falls silent again.

Elonwyn crouches beside the fresh stag carcass and studies the bloodied trail. Keen Senses separate crushed moss, dragged leaves, and dark droplets from the forest’s ordinary tangle.

The marks resolve beneath her gaze: something heavy dragged the stag from the north, then turned toward the ancient stones. Two narrow, booted tracks follow, their heels biting deep in the wet earth.

At the trail’s edge, Elonwyn finds a broken sprig of silverleaf crushed under one heel. Its sap shines faintly, marking the tracks clearly all the way to a narrow side path concealed behind the roots.

The side path descends beside the stone stair without entering it, offering firmer ground and a clear view of anyone below. Fresh blood flecks continue along its roots.

Behind them, the wounded monster growls from the hut, but the sound fades beneath another deep pulse from underground. The trail’s direction is certain now: downward, toward the Root-Deep.

The words settle plainly between the trees. Keen Senses hold the trail in sharp detail: crushed moss, disturbed mud, and the silverleaf's faint shining sap form one unbroken account.

Sered studies the boot tracks without stepping into them. His gaze follows the side path toward the roots, where fresh blood flecks vanish into the descending dark.

Another subterranean pulse lifts the roots beneath their feet. Dust trickles from the ancient stones, while the side path remains clear and firm beside the stairway.

Elonwyn leads Sered along the side path, placing each foot where Keen Senses find firm roots and unbroken earth. The silverleaf marks guide them beneath the ancient stones.

The descent steepens. Her oath pulls her attention toward the fresh blood and the poachers’ tracks, urging her faster, but a hidden root catches her boot and tears a hot scrape across her shin.

Elonwyn keeps moving despite the sting. The side path bends beneath a shelf of roots and brings them safely below the stairway, where the blood-flecked trail enters a low earthen passage.

Sered crouches at the passage mouth without touching the marks. From within comes a slow rasp of stone against root, followed by a faint, frightened scrape deeper underground.

The path has delivered them beneath the ancient stones. Ahead, the silverleaf sap glimmers in the darkness, leading toward the unseen source of the dragging sound.

Elonwyn slips into the earthen passage, following each glimmering fleck of silverleaf. Keen Senses read the crushed moss and disturbed dust, while her bow stays ready, silver arrows within easy reach.

Her Oath of Vengeance urges her after the poachers with more haste than silence permits. She checks that impulse, placing each step along the passage’s firm edges and keeping her breathing shallow.

The trail bends beneath a low root shelf. Elonwyn lowers her shoulders and passes under it, but her quiver catches the wood; two arrows knock together with a sharp, unmistakable click.

The sound fades into the dark, leaving a real trace of their approach. Elonwyn advances anyway, bow raised, silver arrow nocked, her senses separating a faint scrape from the passage’s deeper pulse.

The tunnel opens into a low chamber. Silverleaf marks cross the floor toward a fresh drag trail, ending beside a crude lantern whose flame throws moving shadows across stacked hunting gear.

Elonwyn raises two fingers, then points toward the chamber’s rear shadows. Her Oath of Vengeance urges her toward the stacked hunting gear, but she holds the impulse in check and keeps the signal silent.

Sered slips back into the passage, placing each step beyond the lantern’s reach. Elonwyn’s Keen Senses catch the faintest scrape of his boot and guide her around loose stones.

She advances along the chamber’s outer wall, using the lantern’s shifting shadows as cover. Her oath pulls her gaze toward the poachers, demanding speed, but her measured breathing preserves silence.

The route opens behind the camp. From there Elonwyn sees four poachers crouched around a stone table, sorting hooks, ropes, and blood-darkened knives beside the stag’s torn harness.

Sered settles behind a root pillar at the rear passage while Elonwyn reaches the camp’s blind side, bow ready and silver arrow nocked. The poachers remain unaware of their enclosure.