Chapter 2: A Cave and a Bone
“So, Mister, what were you doing out in the woods?” Crystal asked.
Derahk shrugged, having no memory prior to waking up this morning.
“Were you planning on doing something?” Stone asked.
Derahk shook his head. If left to his own devices, he would have wandered the forest until he ran into something interesting.
“Are you alone?”
He thought for a moment before nodding. He wasn’t sure if there were any others like him, but there was nothing to indicate anyone else was in the area. He would have heard them. A rustling ahead of them caused him to stop. The two foals continued for several feet before noticing Derahk had stopped.
“What’s wrong?” Crystal asked.
Derahk held up a hand to keep them quite. Another rustling, and this time he heard voices. Whoever they were, he didn’t want his presence revealed so easily, so he scooped up the two foals and jumped into the brush.
“What are you doing?” Stone said, almost yelling.
Derahk silenced him by placing a hand over his muzzle. Once he had calmed down a little, Derahk removed his hands and pointed down the path they were taking.
“I think he heard something down there,” Crystal said, which Derahk confirmed by nodding.
“What exactly?” Stone said.
Derahk shrugged and motioned for them to be quiet. He heard movement on the path. Moments later, a large lizard thing and a dog that walked on two legs went by. Derahk’s hands instinctively moved towards the two halves of his staff; these things did not have friendly intentions. The dog stopped near where they were hiding and smelled the air. The lizard noticed and turned towards it.
“What do you sssmell?” the lizard asked.
“Something…metal. I’ve never encountered this smell before,” the dog said, “It smells like steel, but it’s something different, possibly magically.”
“How long ago wassss it here?”
“Can’t be sure. No less than an hour, at most.”
“Then it’ssss not worth our time. We have a job to do. Come on.”
The dog and lizard continued down the path. It wasn’t until Derahk could no longer hear them did he let Crystal and Stone go.
“Who were those guys?” Stone asked.
“One was a diamond dog and the other was a lizard from the Black Marshes,” Crystal said, “But more importantly, why are they here. There are no gems around here and the nearest swamp is way to the south.”
“Let’s hurry to Magic’s place. I don’t want to run into those guys again.”
“You said it. Come on, let’s go.”
They continued their journey, though Derahk couldn’t shake the feeling he would run into those things again. After five minutes of walking, they finally exited the forest into a large clearing. A decent sized town was a way down the path, with several farmsteads along the edge of the clearing.
“Magic’s place is right this way,” Stone said, setting off down the path.
“Stone, wait,” Crystal said, putting her hoof on his shoulder.
“What now?”
“Do you really think it would be a good idea to take him straight into town?”
Stone looked at Derahk. Something that out of the ordinary wouldn’t get the warmest reception in a town like this.
“Well, what do we do?” Stone asked, “We can’t sneak him over to her place.”
“We’ll have to wait until it gets dark and everypony is asleep,” Crystal said, “That way, we can go to Magic now and explain the situation to her so she’s ready.”
Derahk clicked a few times.
“You’ll just have to hide out in the forest until it gets dark,” Crystal said, turning to Derahk, “We wouldn’t want you freaking anypony out.”
Derahk rolled his eyes and walked back into the forest.
“Hey! Where are you going?” Stone yelled, running after Derahk.
Derahk stopped walking after going several hundred feet into the forest. He closed his eyes and began to send out sonic waves into the ground. Stone and Crystal stood off to the side, wondering what he was doing. After thirty seconds of mapping out the surrounding area, Derahk opened his eyes and set off in the direction he detected a suitable sized cave. Stone and Crystal followed, still wondering what he was doing. After a minute of walking, the forest thinned a little and Derahk found what he was looking for. A large rock jutted up from the ground with a hole large enough for him to squeeze through on one of the faces. He went through and stood in a cave that was just tall enough for him to stand up in, though he had to keep his spikes close to his back. The tunnel was once a den for a large creature, evidenced by several bones lying around, but had been abandoned for some reason. A quick screech confirmed nothing living was there.
Stone and Crystal ran in to find Derahk sitting down, picking at one of the bones. His staffed laid assembled next to him, ready in case something decided to reclaim the cave.
“Well, I guess this is okay,” Crystal said, “I was going to suggest something closer to the path, but this isn’t too far away. Well, either Stone or I will come get you when it’s time. Bye!”
“Something tells me he isn’t listening,” Stone said.
Indeed, Derahk wasn’t paying any attention to them. Instead, he seemed to be trying to glean the secrets of the universe from the bone he was looking at.
“Bye!” Crystal yelled loudly, snapping Derahk out of his trance.
He looked at the two foals standing at the cave entrance before waving his hand good bye. They responded in kind and left, leaving Derahk alone with his bone.
Author's Note:
Don't worry, this chapter's shortness shouldn't be too commonplace once I get on a roll. And be patient, the action will start picking up in the next few chapters. I'll give everyone a reason to fear Rahkshi.