Hoarding

Along with Chezzal, Brishor went to the deep woods where the soldier had pointed out. There was nothing out there except the same snow over the pines and firs. However, what intrigued him was a thicket of naked pines. The two dragons walked inside the thicket. Shock flickered through them when they saw that some of the branches had snapped. They looked like that had been broken recently. Fresh snow had accumulated over them. 

Many beasts roamed around freely in the forest, but he had never seen branches felled like this. They were felled and broken in a circle as if to give space to a ritual that was performed in the middle of the thicket. 

With a dangerous growl rumbling in his chest, Brishor walked closer and his gaze went to the ground in the center. And right over there he found traces of ash. He knelt down over it and picked up the damp ash. He r