Mordankell quickly began making preparations. It seemed the others had taken a moment to rest, but he felt too anxious to do so. There was much to be done before this could be allowed for him.<br/><br/>First, he saw to their safety through the night. The small structure of stone served its purpose nicely, but he needed to improve on it. After crawling inside the small cave, he knelt and closed his eyes, feeling the area with his powers rather than his senses. Chanting a few lines, he wove spells into the stone that would prevent anyone inside from being sensed from outside in any way. Next, he wove a few wards through the stones, so that if anything were to try and break through the pile of debris and stone, they would meet with his own violent curse. Satisfied that they would remain safe once they had all entered the shelter, he removed his pack and crawled outside.<br/><br/><span style="font-weight: bold"><span style="text-decoration: underline">"Not to sound pessimistic, but the valley we seek is over this mountain?" he asked, "Has anyone been up this way and know what we are to face?"</span></span>Sainâ€™s voice carried across the clearing.<br/><br/>â€œI havenâ€™t been  myself,â€ Modankell replied, â€œBut I have researched the area extensively. There is danger aheadâ€¦ Of that I can be certain.â€<br/><br/>As he spoke, he began piling several branches into a fire. Once satisfied the fire was large enough, he lit it by striking his knife on a stone from the pouch at his belt.<br/><br/><span style="text-decoration: underline"><span style="font-weight: bold">â€œYou have spoke to me very little since I arrived.â€</span></span>He looked up as someone spoke to him, finding Axel standing there,<span style="font-weight: bold"><span style="text-decoration: underline">â€œSo tell me, did you bring any of your maps?â€</span></span><br/><br/>â€œThere was little time or opportunity for idle conversation today, my friendâ€¦â€he answered, â€œBut yes. I brought what I thought would be useful for the trip. Why do you ask?â€<br/><br/>The sun was rapidly sinking toward the horizon now. He judged that they would have less than an hour of usable light. Noticing none of the others was paying attention, he stepped away from the shelter and into the forest in search of food. He didnâ€™t dare spend long, so when he found a trio of rabbits, he quickly cast a spell to kill them, cleaned their carcasses and returned to camp.<br/><br/>Once he had the meat roasting over the fire, he settled down against a tree, watching the meat cooking.