Dragon Soul - The Ancestor Gods Saga Book 1

17. Seeking the Supernatural

My horse could only travel so far through the trees, then I had to dismount and set out on foot. All the time, as I hurried, I knew I was losing the trail. I had only felt the surge for a split second, and I had done my best to latch on to the direction it had come from, but it was not enough. I was quickly lost and if it had not been for the strange roaring sound I heard through the trees, I would have never known where to go.

Even as I heard it, my heart started to beat faster, and a sense of knotted fear boiled in my belly. It was the sound of an enraged animal, but it was also different. I realised that was because the sound had come from a man. Having so recently discussed the monstrous man who had killed the sorcerer, one so savage and strong he had barely known what he was doing, the sound reminded me ominously that there was something amiss in this town. Someone very dangerous was out there and that bellow seemed just the sort of sound such a man would make.

I headed onwards, noticing a smell in the air. Something burning and musty. As I drew closer, I could see a figure through the trees. A huge man running on ahead after someone else. A smaller, lither man who was outstripping the second for speed. But the huge man had determination and sheer doggedness on his side.

I emerged from the trees into the clearing and was about to cross it and follow the pair when out of the corner of my eye I glimpsed someone on the ground. I instinctively turned to look and was surprised to see it was Tylesin.

He was coughing blood onto the earth and sprawled on his side. I was torn between chasing after the monstrous man and his prey or staying. Ultimately, a sense of duty towards an injured man, the certainty that the monster would be outrun by his speedier prey, and the knowledge that whatever that man was I could not take him on alone, caused me to stop the hunt.

I headed to Tylesin and knelt beside him.

"What happened?"

Tylesin shook his head, wincing at the movement.

"It was just one blow. One arm swipe and he sent my flying into a tree."
He sounded appalled as well as astonished.

"Count yourself lucky. I have just come from seeing what that thing did to the local sorcerer."

Tylesin grimaced.

"I don't think I want to know."

"You don't," I promised him.

He was carefully dragging himself into a sitting position, testing which parts of himself were damaged. I felt he was lucky he was a demi-god which made him more resilient to damage than a mortal – certainly more resilient than I would have been had the monster struck me.

"Why are you here?" Tylesin asked me.

"I am guessing for the same reason you and that monster are here. I felt something powerful stirring."

Tylesin stared at me uneasily. He was assessing me, considering if I could be trusted.

Then his eyes drifted up and I saw him looking at the sky once again, scanning it for something.

"What?" I asked.

"I was just checking we were not being watched," he sighed. "A man sprang from those bushes. My guess is there is a hiding place beneath the earth. I need you to take a look inside."
I frowned, not sure about venturing underground.

"For what?" I asked.

"For the thing that brought us all here, including our monstrous friend. Unless the man who sprang from the earth has it on him, I suspect it is in his hiding place. That creature, whatever he is, came straight here like a dog on a scent. His senses were a good deal better than mine."
That was a worrying thing to consider. I looked over at the bushes, unsure about any of this.