With the last boar defeated, Preston takes a moment to catch his breath and make sure that no other creature is going to jump out of the bushes and attack.

"Is everyone alright?", he asks with concern.

"NO! OUR MEAL!" Dracor cries out as the creatures turn to dust. With a deep sigh he turns to look at his companions. "Welp there goes our feast..." He grumbles before moving to pick up a handful of the purple dust. 

Wulcrath can't help but roll his eyes at this point at Dracor's shenanigans. Clutching the oozing wound at his side. "I'm fine... Let's keep moving when we're ready. Not much day-light left." He says curtly, sheathing his sword and starting to work on his wound whilst the group is idle for a moment., pulling up his tunic and chainmail to have a quick look. He grabs a bit of bandaging out of his pack, wrapping it up around his abdomen quick and simple before he ties it off.

It won't fix it. But it'll have to do.

As the golden dragonborn gets closer to one of the dust piles, he notices something unnerving - the little specks of dust seem to be not only shimmering, but actually slowly moving, as if before his very eyes a colony of ants is marching... towards the other dust piles. 

"Uhh... this dust might not be dust." The drgonborn says before stabbing at the pile of dust a few times with his sword. "it looks to be moving...."

 Ella approaches Wulcrath. "Here, let me help." She puts one hand on her pendant and passes the other over the wound, muttering a prayer, healing him for 12 HP.

Curious about Dracor’s discovery, Preston approaches to get a better look at the phenomenon. 

"I’m not sure what this means, but it doesn’t look to me. We should keep moving before it slows us down further.", the paladin suggests.

At their slow but unnerving speed, the dust particles continue to gather together. If you choose to keep going, now would be a good time to do so, unless you'd rather stick around and see what happens.

"I think we should get moving before this dust finishes doing whatever it is that it's doing..." Dracor says he quickly kicks the piles of dust in an attempt to scatter the material and slow its attempt to reform. The then extends his arm and sends out a ray of frost towards any piles of remaining dust before motioning to the others to follow him down the path...

ooc: so ray of frost is supposed to slow movement speed on hit so hopefully scattering the dust a bit and then slowing the dust should give them time to get away...

"Don’t need to tell me twice", replies Preston as he follows Dracor along the path with renewed vigour.

As you start moving it doesn't take long for you to leave the strange piles of dust behind.

The forest becomes more and more intimidating as you get deeper. The wind is howling in the gnarly branches above your heads, the air seems stiffer and heavier with every breath, the darkness seems to get denser with any passing minute, and the trees and bushes as if close more and more around you, snatching at your clothing and scratching at your faces.

 Suddenly, you all hear a loud cackling laughter...inside your minds. 

Dracor looks around as the laughing fills his mind. With his sword and orb drawn, he sends his dancing lights out into the thick brush in an attempt to illuminate the area. The dragonborn had no longer been meticulously cleaning and mending his clothes as he walked... instead he had remained focused on the path ahead with each nervous footstep.

Weapon still clutched in his hand, Preston tries to find the origin of the laugh. His gaze shifts from right to left as they advance deeper into the woods.

Perception: 15

Ella puts a hand to her amulet and begins to pray.

The guiding lights move forward, illuminating the dark forest and making the advancing of the group easier. There is a lot of rustling in the bushes but it seems whatever was hiding there, has been running away from the light and the group.

At some point, Preston suddenly feels like he has seen a pair of purple human eyes a few feet away, although the lights didn't reveal anyone standing nearby. 

Preston warns the other members of the party, but he advises that they should push forward and try not to get distracted by any more shadows in the bushes.

"Hey! Who's out there!? Don't you know who I am? I'm Dracor Shimmerscale! Come out and we won't hurt you!" The dragonborn noble shouts as he continues to push through the darkness. He is sure to keep his dancing lights moving around the group to ensure that nothing can sneak up on them.

Ella hasn't stopped praying.

As you enter another clearing, you feel the air shift suddenly, a cold wave washing over each of you. At the end of the clearing, you all see a silhouette. On a closer look, it appears to be a dark-haired woman, clad in dark clothing, her unusually purple eyes resting calmly on your group for a brief second, before she slowly starts to approach you. You can't really see the expression on her face due to the darkness of the forest, but her stance appears calm and collected. 

Dracor stands up a little taller with his sword in one hand and orb in the other. As the figure approaches he sends the orbs of light closer to her, slowly circling her as she moves nearer. "Hello, My name is Dracor Shimmerscale... and we're looking for a hearthstone... and a man named Hal. Can you help us to find them?" The dragonborn asks with a smile.He lowers the blade of his sword a bit but keeps it between himself and the woman.