So far, everything seemed to be going smoothly. All that was left was to check the third and final beacon towards the north of Oak Town. The fastest way to get there was to travel through the woods. Though she knew folks were warned not to venture to deep into the forest, especially within towns like Dahlia or Oak, Wood Elves like her took little heed of that warning. Nature was in her blood. No matter what creatures lurked in the shadows, she felt far safer in her domain than she did on the streets of an enemy town.
The first thing she noticed was the unfinished beacon's peak visible through the tree branches. It looked like this guard might need some more motivation too. When she came to the clearing, she saw the guard responsible for the tower laying on the ground. At first, she thought he was asleep too, but as she grew closer, she realized she couldn't see the rise and fall of his chest. In the midst of what she assumed to be his slumber, he didn't move a muscle. Alarmed, Atani ran over to the body. His eyes were open, a face of pure terror frozen in rigor mortis. There was some hope in the elf's heart that he was simply petrified, but upon checking for a pulse, she knew that was not the case. The guard had been killed, most likely through some sort of magic, but she had no time to determine the cause of death herself. Instead, she did what she could and went back to alert the remaining guards to the threat. Atani's work was finished. The remaining problems would be dealt with by the guard service.
WC: 286