[Great Hunt] The Pyre of the North

 From Arianwyn's vantage point on the ground, the monster seemed to set the entire sky ablaze with its massive wings of flame. With one flap of its wings, it could certain set an entire forest on fire; she didn't dare consider what destruction might befall the country should the beast decide to take flight. It's tusks, curved and pointed, seemed as though it could rend apart entire towns. The ichor that the seeped from it's empty eye sockets sent shivers down the Silverweaver's spine, and she wondered if it might be the source of the acrid smell on the wind. She wondered how a monster with a body of bone could burn, and yet she could see even its own being seemed charred by its fierce magic. Seeing the hollow, empty expression of the scorched skull, Arianwyn couldn't help but find some sick humor in yet another monster bearing a head of mere bone. Just once, she longed to be able to read the expression in her foe's face. Even if all she saw was the explosive anger of a corrupt mage, at least that was something. She hated the experience of staring into the face of her mortal enemy and being met with empty eye sockets.

 As Arianwyn neared the edge of the village, the location where she would need to step off the dirt roads and into the farmers' fields, she was not met by an approaching foe. Instead, she saw scorched earth where the monster had been, and the fearsome for instead traveling away from the village. For as relieved as she was, the young monster hunter was shocked. The last monster she had faced had seemed drawn to people; intent on wreaking the most havoc it could on the population of the Sunless Jungle. Instead, this one was leaving Sommerang behind it and traveling northward; towards what, she did not know. All of her teachings had told her that corrupted mages sought only violence and destruction. They destroyed every life they could and hunted with the ferocity of a starving wolf. Instead, this one was leaving Sommerang alone. Though the fires it left behind were still a clear danger, it did not appear to be targeting the town. If there were not still a monster to hunt, Arianwyn might have breathed a sigh of relief.

 Setting off from the well-worn dirt roads, Arianwyn began her passage through the fields after the Pyre of the North, her pace slowed as she surveyed the threat from afar. Each monster was its own puzzle, bearing new magics and unexpected threats. Though her heart raced for the thrill of battle, a tactical approach would give her more time to understand what she was facing and put her in a better position for the upcoming battle. So, she took the time to watch the monster's behavior and to observe the destruction it left behind. With its back now turned, its massive wings of fire covering the sky, the skeleton within was difficult to see amid the blaze. Squinting, she could see its core, but it was increasingly difficult to do so as she drew closer to the sheer heat of the beast.

 Arianwyn was no stranger to a fiery hearth. In the cold days of winter, the heavy heat of a blazing fire was often a far preferred discomfort to the chill of the outside. She had always been one to sit a bit to close to the flames, as though she could purge the winter from her very blood. However, as she approached the Pyre, she found the heat quickly turned from tolerable to uncomfortable to painful. She could feel it in her eyes, as though simply keeping them open was enough to burn her. Her warm clothing, previously her only lifeline in this freezing weather, was now oppressive, and she paused long enough to shed her fur-lined cloak and leg wraps. Should she survive this, she would find her gear again for the walk home. For now, weighing down her body with heavy, stifling gear would do far more harm than good, and it wasn't as though she needed the warmth. She was already sweating.

 Still, she set on, hoping she would simply adapt to the wall of heat she seemed to be passing through with each step. As she reached the path the monster had torn through the field, she began to see its sheer destructive force in person. The very earth was charred under its steps. She had never known dirt to burn and yet, in its hulking footsteps, burning pits where craters had fell pocketed the earth. In the center of its path, no flames licked the earth, as there simply was nothing left to burn. All that could have blazed had been consumed as the Pyre passed over this spot. On the edges of the path, though, dry plant life smoldered. In some patches, embers merely danced among smoking remains, in others, entire swaths of brush were aflame. The dryness of the winters here certainly was not helping matters; while fires were a rare risk in the winter months, when a flame was set, there was plenty of fuel in the dormant fields. Though Arianwyn considered pausing to stomp out the flames, she knew it was a futile effort at best. Each step of the monster would bring more fire; and stopping the beast would be more effective than saving the remaining fields. She just had to hope that the townsfolk or luck would save the farming fields.

 Most concerning -or, at the very least, most disturbing- were the pools of black ichor left behind in the monster's wake. Arianwyn nearly stepped in the first puddle; catching it just before her hoof found its glossy surface. The scent of it hit her nose first: the chemical scent on the wind was nothing compared to the sheer stench that arose from the substance before her. She could feel her sinuses burning as the smell seeped into her skull, bringing with it the pang of a migraine and a deep nausea. The silvermage stumbled back, putting distance between herself and the black pool of sloughed-off ichor, fighting back the simultaneous urges to vomit and to run. Whatever this substance was, she didn't dare want to touch it. Already, she doubted she would get the scent of it out of her nose for weeks.

 Fire, tusks, ichor, balls of flame—taken together, this monster was a deadly threat to Ivras, and to whatever town or people might be in its path. Moreover, it would be a difficult fight. There was no way Arianwyn could get too close to the beast, so she would need to rely on attacks she could toss towards it from a distance. With luck, other mages would join her in the fight, but she did not know who else might be near, or if help would come soon enough to stop its path of flame. Already, she could feel the wind start to pick up as the sun crept closer to the horizon; the night would bring with it wind, and wind would spread the deadly fires. Steeling herself for the fight ahead, Arianwyn set about pulling whatever silver ore she could find towards her and followed in the path of the Pyre of the North.