The Bear-Folk were awoken by the warble of a loon and the trickling of a creek. They discovered they were no longer in the hall of Faeinuldi and his wife Astra. They were on the banks of a babbling brook. Another runestone, though this one only had one rune displayed, was cloaked in moss on the opposite bank. Whispers could be heard among the leaves and branches of the timber stands surrounding them. The ship they traveled up the river in was nestled among some trees. Ivrik cried out, “What sort of Fae hell have we been sent too!?”
Mjorl was the first to stand and as he reached for his sword, his belt mysteriously undid itself and fell to the ground. The whispers among the trees turned into laughter. Mjorl drew his blade and called out to the voices, demanding they show themselves. Kol decided to go back to sleep, but there was a cracking and a branch fell and hit him in the face! An acorn was tossed from among the branches and hit Ivrik in the temple. This was followed by a chorus of laughter.
Suddenly the laughter stopped and the forest was silent, save for the flapping of large wings. There was a horrendous screeching and a monstrous creature crashed through the canopy. It had the body of an elk, and colorful feathered wings instead of fore-legs and it’s back legs had the appearance of an eagle. Screams of horror come from the branches and the zipping sounds fill the forest as the beast snapped at what appeared to be empty air.
The beast spotted the band, and lunged at them. Riddare and Mjorl fired arrows into it’s side, while Ivrik, Kol, and Mjorla’s blades sang. The monster flew up and streaked towards Ivrik, knocking him to the ground. It’s jaws gnashed at Ivrik who swung his great blade and severed it’s head. Blood splashed over his face.
Once the beast was felled, Torgar noticed something near the stream, a sparkling light. He discovered a pixie weeping on a rock, whose name was Blooma. Her crimson hair was mangled and tiny tears streamed down her cheeks. One of her wings, which appeared as those of a butterfly, had been torn off.
Riddare looked over Torgar’s shoulder and asked, “What is it?Some sort of bug?” Torgar informed him that it was a pixie. Torgar asked the pixie if she was okay.
“Halugaashi tsauttaa minaashni! Nie suyotaarve etta mimasaa Mieselk…” wept the pixie. Torgar scooped up the pixie, and she gripped his hand and her hand glowed, and then he could understand her.
“Please help me!” she repeated, “I need to see Mieselk!” When the asked who Mieselk was, she told them that he was one of the guardians of the forest. She was afraid of the dead creature. When Torgar asked her about the runes and began to draw the runes in the dirt, she got scared and erased the marks, saying that Torgar shouldn’t draw those. Because the “Queen” would appear. They asked who the Queen was, but the pixie wouldn’t say.
Thus they set off to find the guardian named Mieselk.
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