Ch 03 - Song - Kharadin

Gazing up at the sky he continued to try and unravel what had happened to leave him battered and bloodied like this. The blood had since stopped weeping from the gash on his chest but the bruises to his stomach still pained him. The sun still blazed in the sky above and the sand beneath him burned his back as he lay. Sitting up he looked closer at the rune-covered pebble in his hand, wiping drops of blood from its surface his stared at the patterns that adorned it.

He brought it closer to his face to examine it more thoroughly but as he lifted his hand the runes began to glow with a white light. At first it blinded him but as his eyes adjusted he could see that all of the engravings were brightly lit with the light. It looked as if it were erupting from the centre of the stone, but why would it do this now? Why not when he first clutched it?

Still mystified by how the pebble in his hand had suddenly become almost a ball of pure light he stood up, still aching from his numerous injuries. As he rose wearily to his feet he heard a faint melodic sound behind him. He turned and was shocked by what he saw. A pillar of light stood tall in the sky, its base hidden within the dense forest that lay beyond the beach. As he looked on the noise grew louder, the melody filled the air. He listened to the calm song, realizing that it was coming from the forest, coming from wherever the light was. A woman’s soft voice, singing a calm hymn caressed his ears, almost taking away the terrible pain he was in. Still clutching the lit pebble he slowly headed into the forest, chasing the sweet song hoping he would find its source.