They
reached the mountains by evening. Their horses were tired, so they
dismounted and walked the rest of the way up to the pass. When the
reached the top of the pass, they were able to look down into that valley
that they were going to cross. The reddish brown peaks shot out of
moss, tree, and shrub covered ground. The mist that covered the ground
brought a rich silvery look to the landscape. Stant decided that
they'd camp here for the night. They pulled out their tents and made
camp. Soon after the sun had set, the fog cover stretched all the
way up the valley walls. Stant and Lichram found themselves not being
able to see very far out of camp. Lichram decided to bring their
horses closer so that no one could steal them with out them knowing it.
"This is gonna be a long night," Stant said.
"Tell me about it," replied Lichram. "How come we always get stuck in fog?"
"Just lucky I guess."
"Well, if this is luck, I want our usual bad luck back."
"He he. The night is young, we just might be graced with the presence of something with giant fangs, and large claws, and really foul breath."
"You'd like that wouldn't you?"
"The monster?"
"No, the pixie granting our every want and desire."
"He he he. Do I detect a little sarcasm coming from you?"
"Nooooooooo, reeeeeeaaaaaaly?"
"He he he he."
"Shut up and go to sleep. I'll take the first watch."
"Good, I could use a little shut eye... Oh, and you will wake me if something happens, right?"
"Yeah sure."
Nothing actually did happen during Lichram's watch, or during Stant's for all that it matters. In fact, nothing at all happened the next day either. They had made their way all the way down to the base of the valley, blanketed in thick fog, before anything happened. Unfortunately for the adventurers, it was as simple as just getting lost and turned around.
"You were right," commented Stant.
"Right about what?" replied Lichram.
"Our usual bad luck."
"Heh. I don't consider not knowing what direction we're headed in as bad luck."
"Neither do I."
"So what our bad luck?"
"We're on an adventure, and so far, all we've done is gotten lost and given a dwarf a bath."
"He he he he. A really stinky dwarf at that."
Stant looks at Lichram, "You think we're gonna get out of here any time soon?"
"Don't know. Low bridge." Lichram replied.
Stant looked forward, and in a split second was able to duck under the low branch that his horse had walked under.
"If I had an axe, I'd cut that stupid branch down and use it for firewood."
"That's two."
"Two what's?"
"Complaints."
"So."
"One more and we're in for some real trouble."
"Why's that?"
"Because you always complain about things. After the third time we get stuck with something horrible."
"Oh yeah?"
"Remember Mela?"
"You mean Big Mela. I can't stop eating, Mela. I want another Mela in front of me right now, Mela."
Chills crawled down their spines and they both shivered at the thought of the jumbo sized, too big for even a minotaur, woman. Shortly after that gargantuan vision had finally cleared from their minds, the fog in front of them had cleared too. They found themselves in front of a cave. Doing the natural thing, they dismounted and went in to have a look. Nothing out of the ordinary, really. Dark, deep, and lots of passageways. Figuring that nothing was going to happen here, they exited the cave. To their surprise, they couldn't see any fog from the direction that they came from. Finding this odd, Lichram walked away from Stant in the direction that they came.
"What's up, Lich?" asked Stant.
"WOW!" Lichram replied excitedly.
"Leave the horses there and come have a look."
Stant did as Lichram asked and was awed by the same thing. He could see Lichram and everything behind them just fine, but as he stared at the horses, a thick fog obstructed his vision.
"How come we didn't notice this before?" asked Stant.
"I guess it's because we've never looked back." answered Lichram. "I wonder if this is the place of elven legend."
"What legend?"
"I don't remember exactly, I was too young the last time I was told the story by the shaman Athonnez, but from what I can remember, he used to talk about a far away place, between the lands of the humans and elves, a mountain range that did weird things to wandering travelers."
"Heh, I guess that's us. I smell adventure."
"No, that would be your shirt."
"Watch it Sprite."
"Don't call me a sprite or I'll have to hurt you, you dumb human."
"He he he he he. You and what army?"
"Me and all the other elves in the world."
"I'm shaking in my boots."
"Just you wait. I'll get you back."
"What ever, we got work to do."
"Oh yeah, the legend."
They began to walk, horses trailing behind, checking caves an cliffs not knowing what they were really looking for. Lichram was sure that they'd know it when they found it. Eventually the fog cleared completely in all directions.
"We must be getting close to something." stated Stant.
"I hope so, cause I'm getting tired." replied Lichram.
"It's getting dark again, why don't we just set up camp for the night and continue looking tomorrow."
"Good idea. You get the first watch tonight."