They could still hear the pattering of the rain like a distant memory, but it no longer touched them. The clouds clung to the mountains; a ghastly beast held back by the stone. The air was humid and growing warmer, but it was still entirely too cold from the bite of the rain. It was difficult to gauge what time of day it was with the sky obscured, as the hours in the wagon seemed to run together like melted wax. The only certainty they had was that if they wished to not starve, they had to move. West, east, south...only the north was now closed off to their little group. 

Raddek accepted the keys from Migi with a grim silence, taking a moment to find the correct one before unshackling himself with a multitude of iron 'clinks.' The moisture in the air clung to his brown hair as if it were stone, or the fur of some great beast. That was the benefit of keeping it close cropped for battle, it seemed. It gave his knife shaven neck and chin a strange sheen. He tossed the key ring back to Migi and flipped his shackles to fold in on themselves, apparently showcasing he was well versed with manacles. 

"If we are where I think we are, we should probably move south." He said. There was a strength to his words despite his voice never rising into a shout. He slid his shackled into the waistband of his prisoner trousers. "Or I will. I'm Raddek, and staves might be good." He mentioned to Reyvadin. "If we find the main road, The Seven cities will-" He let his voice fall into nothingness, and the others would suddenly grow aware of footfalls clapping against the ground accompanied by the heavy breathing of desperation. 

A cry of anguish arose and they could hear the figure falling into the wet foliage, just beyond their vision. The mist permeated the treeline, masking the pursuit of what had to be a man followed by something. Raddek turned his head like a hound raising its ears. Another cry rang out...further footfalls until they inevitably dragged again, like something with claws had pulled whoever was running back into the very dirt. There was a struggle; the sound of a man slowly succumbing to the superior strength of [i]something[/i], and it was followed by weeping before all went silent once again. 

Raddek knelt like a hunting cat, taking four stride southward and peering into the trees. The man sniffed the air, something tickling his nostrils. Priests often claimed that evil was palpable. If that was true, it explained the sudden dread in the very air around them. Raddek stepped thrice more until he found himself next to a copse of bushes at the edge of the group's field of vision, and with tigrish speed he tore it aside and revealed... 

Nothing. Nothing concrete anyway. No corpse or beast or blood thirsty bandit. Just puddles of blood and an imprint amongst the fallen leaves. Raddek had the blood of the north in him, but he was no hound. He merely happened upon this strange thing where he thought he had heard the struggles. Demons, he thought. Perhaps a banshee or some southern terror he was not privvy to. What he smelled was something different, and it once again brought him out of his reverie. It was a familiar and far more powerful stench. One the others would notice as well, once he mentioned it aloud. 

"I smell smoke." He said, standing again to his full height. He stared past the bloodied ground to a small path, likely used by backwoods travelers. Within the treeline, the forest was far less misty. Only the trees hampered ones sight, and even through them, the smoke still wafted. It wasn't from a campfire. It had to have been from a massive bonfire to reach their position. Raddek had less optimistic theories for what it could indicate. "Further south." 

[hider]You may roll whatever you wish, whenever you wish it. You may also post your character has entered the forest, and my next update will reveal further past that.[/hider]