I was back in the Moreland forest once more, I had travelled through it as long as I could yesterday before setting off again today.

I had stopped at a small brook-fed pond and while the water wasn't the cleanest looking it was certainly clean enough for me to try to clean myself.

My clothes were currently drying out on the grass, directly in the sunlight.

I sat naked next to my stone knife, my bowl and three small ingots.

Two silver and one gold.

My plans had of course changed after my discovery.

I would keep heading through the forest until I hit a road.

Once I found one, I would follow it until I got to a town, even a small village would do but a town would be better.

I would try to find somewhere I could exchange an ingot for coin.

I had no idea if my uncle's men would be there looking for me but I had decided to bring back up ingots in case.

A silver ingot to exchange for coin, the second as a spare though unless I lost the first I wouldn't need any more coin than what a single silver ingot would bring me.

I had things I desperately needed to buy.

Why had I brought the gold ingot?

That was my insurance or if worst came to worst and I lost both silver ingots it could also be a back up.

If my uncle's men were waiting for me, I would give away that entire golden ingot to anyone who could help me escape.

I would be returning to the mountain.

It was a place that I could hide, I could seal it up as I had sealed up when I had left.

The inside though was literally a ruin, well almost a ruin.

The only furnishings that were actually still usable for human comfort was the single small stone stool that had sat in front of Althalan's stone desk.

Sitting on a piece of stone didn't have any real appeal.

I could leave the mountain and head into the forest below to hunt for meat but that wouldn't be enough.

I needed to buy seeds and plant them, I hoped that if I could find any seeds to buy that they were seeds for something easy to grow otherwise things would be even harder.

I also needed more clothing, warmer things because winter would soon come and living inside stone high up in the mountains throughout the season sounded like a death sentence.

This magic I had, I could create some water, I could even move the wind like a weapon and start fires but it wasn't something I could rely on, not yet.

Which is why I would learn while I hid.

I was determined to do this, to settle my mind and take this knowledge for my own.

I would buy what I needed for my self-imposed exile and become something more, someone more.

As I checked my still damp clothing I decided that they were dried enough that I could put them back on, if I kept moving then I should stay warm and dry them out the rest of the way,.

When I had redressed I continued north, winding in and out of the huge trees. I passed into then out of shade as the canopy closed over me and opened up. Through small glades and meadows, over and around small obstacles, the occasional boulder, another small pond or stream and once, away from the odd sounds of a huffing animal.

I didn't see what it had been but I was glad to have moved on without having an encounter.

As I travelled I kept thinking up things I would need and small contingencies and replacements if I couldn't find them.

I thought of different items over and over; blankets, clothes, food, soap, seeds, pots and pans and something to carry it all back in.

The light was getting dim when I crested the top of a hill, I stood above looking off to the north-west I could see a uniform gap in the treetops.

Excited I hurried down the other side of the hill and jogged my way through the trees.

About ten minutes later I was huffing as the dirt road came into view.

It was narrow, too narrow for one of the great roads.

I knew there were no towns or villages close by me so this road could only lead back into the mountains, I thought that maybe it lead to a small pass through the Coldwater Ridges, maybe even a mine?

The other way though, well obviously that would be the way to somewhere.

Somewhere there would be people at least.

Looking westward down the dirt road I could see for quite a way before it's uneven line blocked my view.

Looking back up to the sky and the ever dimming light, it was clear that I would be spending my second night in the forest since I had left the mountain for the second time.

I headed into the trees on the opposite side and moved deeper into their cover, then I turned westward and paralleled the road from within the trees.

I found a spot clear of any under brush, with a large rock next to a tree.

Deciding that this would be my home for the night I tossed down my bowl and knife then sat myself down tiredly, reflexively checking my pockets for the ingots even though I could feel their weight.

I planned on making a small fire, not to cook but for comfort but for now I just sat and filled my bowl with water.

Before I knew it the sounds of birds greeting the morning woke me and I groaned at my stiff back. I had fallen asleep against the rock and it hadn't been very forgiving.

My bowl still had a little water in it and I drank it quickly, with nothing to keep me here I checked the ingots in my pockets, picked up my knife and moved out.

I travelled mostly down the road but every so often I would lose my nerve, convincing myself that my uncle's men would suddenly appear around the next out of sight spot on the road, on their way back from looking for me.

Then I'd hurriedly duck back into the forest for a time before I eventually got back onto the road.

It was sometime in the afternoon when I started thinking about looking for food to hunt, I held off as long as I thought was reasonable before returning to the trees again.

It took me a while before I heard any bird sounds and I could only hear them faintly.

I followed the sounds deeper and deeper into the forest.

I was careful to keep my back to the direction of the road as much as I could, not wanting to lose my sense of direction.

Trailing the chirping ever further between the trees until I eventually spotted another thrin in the canopy, it half hopped, half shuffled along the branch it perched on.

I looked around me for another stone, setting my bowl down on the ground when I found one.

It was over in seconds, a crack of noise that silenced all the other birds close by and the soft thump of my kill landing on the ground.

I took my time collecting wood for my fire, then once I had enough, I slowly let the hot coals collect up while I plucked my thrin.

Once I had it roasting I could only wait, feed the fire and occasionally turn by bird on tits stick as the scents built up.

I had just set down my stone bowl after drinking some water when something happened.

The sounds of the birds chirping had suddenly stopped again.

The hairs on the back of my neck prickled.

There was a heartbeat of silence then another.

Then an ear-splitting bestial roar that I could feel tin the depths of my chest rang out between the trees with heavy thumps of churning earth.

I froze.

I shouldn't have.

Freezing was a big mistake.