Chapter 2
Hamysh continued along the road leading out of Elderhallow. A cool breeze blowing through the ancient forest of oak and pine that surrounded him. Hamysh soon found himself at a fork in the road, one path leading north, another to the east and the other continuing to the south. A sign in the middle of the crossroads informed him that Aridell lay to the east. Hamysh stopped for a minute and wondered if it was really a good idea to blindly follow the instructions given to him by an unknown entity, but eventually concluded that it would be better to stop for the night in a village than camp under the stars and fall prey to more of the lizard creatures like the one he had slain before.
Hamysh had only walked down the path to Aridell for a couple of minutes before spotting two scaly lizards, not unlike the one he had disposed of in Elderhallow. He quickly ducked behind a couple of trees that branched out slightly into the road, so as not to be seen. It was a futile attempt however, as one of the creatures had already noticed him, and was slowly making its way in the rogues direction. Unlike the first encounter with these foul creatures, Hamysh did not hold the advantage of a surprise attack. He drew his blade and waited as the serpent approached with mounting speed. The creature now stood right in front of him, raising its head and letting out a screeching growl. Hamysh took this opportunity to make the first strike. He made a wide, cleaving strike at the creature, the blade leaving a sizable wound in the belly but leaving Hamysh unbalanced. The reptile retaliated with a fierce bite to his left calf. Hamysh yelped in pain, but quickly bought his iron dagger down into the nape of the creature’s neck, which caused it to release Hamysh’s leg from its jaw and silently slump lifelessly to the ground.
Hamysh regained his balance, his leg aching with the pain of the lizards bite. Looking forward he noticed that the second creature was quickly approaching. The thief realized that the growl that first lizard had made was not a scare tactic, but a way of summoning help from his reptilian brethren. Hamysh, not wanting to feel the pain of another bite, decided to take the offensive. He lunged at the creature, almost landing on top of it, and plunged his weapon into its scaly back. The creature snapped at Hamysh’s neck, but he pulled his body and his weapon back quick enough to avoid the near fatal blow by less than an inch. Hamysh, no down on one knee in front of the lizard, drew his weapon up and stabbed it straight into the eye of the miniature beast. It threw its head back in dire pain, taking the dagger with it. Hamysh stumbled back onto his feet, and the enraged lizard following closely, the iron dagger now stuck halfway into its eye. As the creature came in for another attack, Hamysh used the advantage of his height. He stomped down on the creatures head with his injured leg, and with the other foot stamped the dagger all the way into the lizard’s eye socket. The clumsy action caused Hamysh to fall on his back with a thud. He quickly looked up to find the second lizard now lying dead in the grass.
Hamysh pulled himself to his feet, walked over to the reptile and tugged his weapon clean from its head. He wiped the bloody blade in the grass and put it back into its home in his breeches. “I really have to get a belt” he thought to himself and he made his way back up the road. Further onwards, now limping slightly from his leg wound, Hamysh reached a small river with a primitive wooden bridge. Although old and worn, the bridge seemed sturdy and safe. From the bridge He continued up the pathway to yet another fork in the road. To the north the path curved off into the shady wilderness of the forest, but to the east Hamysh could see buildings poking out from the trees and the dirt road became a brick paved street. He walked over and inspected the sign which stood by the trees that formed a natural entrance way to the village. ‘Aridell’ it read. Hamysh made his way slowly down to the main street of the township, hoping to find a place to rest and maybe a bottle of whiskey to ease the aching of his limbs.