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Two days see Alzar cross the second plateau. He fights off a griffon that flies in, but nothing else disturbs him. On his last night here, a pack of wolves surround his camp and want a horse or donkey or oxen, but Alzar’s well thrown silver kitchen knife hits the eye of one and they retreat.
There are four routes off the second plateau and into the dale below. One is to ride the waterfall down the cliff, but that’s not really feasible. The second is to take one of the safer, meandering paths down the mountainside side to the left and right. The final is a steep path that parallels the waterfall and is quick and dirty.
With his wagons, he chooses a long, safe path. He has used them all before, and he thinks the left path is the best change, because it skips the odd grotto of bones that several creatures call home. The geyser lake falls and collects into a larger lake in the dale, which creates a winding river that looks like a serpent. Far off in the distance Alzar can just make out the shape of an island in the middle that looks like an eye in the serpent. There is also a small island in the lake below that can be reached by a long dirt walkway of sorts that has been braced by wooden supports. That island is used as a dock by locals for fishing.
One day later, the path begins to curve, and out fly a flock of 7 blood hawks. These Hamedhi species are so called because they are carnivorous and will feed on larger animals, like cattle or horses. They begin to circle Alzar and then one dives in and other follows from an opposite angle. Alzar’s axe snaps up and cleaves one in half. The others stop and move to it and begin to eat their former co-hunter. Alzar leaves them to their cannibalistic meal and moves on.
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