Emerging from a thicket of oak trees on the edge of the wood, Thornberg finds himself, now well within the Human realms. Sniffling at the air, he immediately smells the lingering, acrid hint of burnt wood and damp thatch but it still takes him a few minutes before he actually finds the remnants of the tannery.
Searching the partially burned down and abandoned buildings, the big Druid and his even bigger bear companion, discover several burned human corpses, a score of crisped, giant rat bodies and countless fire-shrivelled normal ones, before they actually find Koenig.
The great bear; Bamse tracks him down to the tree-line on the opposite side of the small settlement. His body twisted and burnt beyond recognition. Tragically, the dead, lacerated dog-sized rat, sprawled protectively across him, gives him away.
Thornberg can’t help but voice his inner thoughts; the words emerging through his thick beard, deep and gruff.
“That’s Koenig all right. His giant rat familiar; Francis obviously died desperately trying to defend his master, long after he'd been struck down.”
Wandering over to the riverbank, the gigantic Bamse moves to lap at the cool water but looks up at Thornberg for permission.
“Go ahead bear. The toxic elements from the tanning process seem to be long gone. Koenig’s letters had said that the fish here were all dead but I see plenty of healthy ones swimming around now.”
While the enormous brown bear splashes joyfully into the refreshing water, the bulky Druid, once again, moves to commune with the witness trees, just to confirm what he’s already, almost, nearly, completely certain of.
But, he can't be totally sure.......
ReplyDeleteHe's at around 98%. :D
Delete