Stanton and I make our way back to the west edge of town and to the edge of Old Man Winterleaf's farm. We talk a bit along the way. I find we don't have much in common, he likes to drink when off duty and wander about watching the street performers that have been increasing in number since the city started flourishing. He has no immediate family, and lives at the barracks. He moved in with the rest of the watchmen and soldiers that were sent here when the city started to really expand.
We do share a love of cards and various forms of solitaire. I show him my deck that's enchanted to float in place for play away from a table, I keep it for when I'm stuck at a post in the quiet parts of town. It cost a bit much but I feel it was worth it. He asks where he could get one.
We arrive at the broken fence. Old Man Winterleaf is working at repairing it.
Stanton stops a few feet past the fence, alongside the tracks. “You were right, these are strange. I don't know what it might be.”
“So, no idea what left them? Should we call for a third, perhaps one of the nearby patrolmen?”
“It doesn't look like it's too big for two men to deal with, though. I think we can manage.”
We head along the trail, I was right it leads past the road. Stanton doesn't think the thing is smart or it would have walked along the cobblestone road a ways to cover its tracks. It starts to rain and Stanton has to slow down and keep a close eye on the ground to keep the trail.
“We're not very far from the goblin village, should we go that way and see if they have any information?”
“No, I don't want to lose this trail to the rain. If we don't find it and lose the trail, that might be a good idea, assuming we can trust anything those little buggers have to say.”
“That's odd. . .” Stanton stops. This area has been cleared a bit. A sort of nest sits in the middle, it looks somewhat crushed. “Whatever was last in this nest was too big for it, and the trail past here is fresh. It's easy to follow through the mud.”
“So it left recently?”
“Yeah, and quickly, too. No sign of dragging after it stopped here, and its strides are longer. Might've heard us coming and run off. We should be extra care. . .”
His word are cut off as a blur of movement slams into him from the hedges nearby, the area nearby grows dark.
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