Calf climbed down the tree and untied the vine rope, rolling it into a loop and throwing it over his shoulder again. Working fast with the slender spear's point he produced a few new arrows to replace the ones he'd used. He avoided hafting the arrow-points, opting for sharpened wooden points instead. This way he'd be able to cut them off and replace them with the best points he could find in future. He tied the fallen branch tips and the extra arrow branches into a tight bundle, placing the bundle behind the tree before looking east. He picked up his shield and with his heritage set now complete he headed for the mountains in the distance in pursuit of the huge rooster.

He brought up a map of the eastern areas from his memories, perusing it for clues. Beyond the eastern fence lay a forest that melded into a dead zone, uncharted for an unspecified reason. Through the zone was The Eye of the Storm, a path feeding into another length of forest just over the zone. The next patch of forest land and the one after it were divided by a river, all three named for the measured expression of happiness. Beyond the eastern-most forest lay The Range of East Ends, his likely destination.

He paced himself, preserving energy for the eventual clash with the rooster. Given there were no feathers or any other tell-tale signs of the rooster's flight path, he was forced to chart a rough course based on the direction he'd seen the bird head in after his trial. Though he'd mapped the area to the east, being new to the area and the way he'd landed this far made it impossible to pinpoint his current position accurately. Seeing as the mountain range was still in the distance, he could be anywhere west of the range, be it in the dead zone, which he suspected due to the weird trees, or on opposite sides of the river. Though he couldn't be sure of what the forest adjacent to the range would throw at him, anywhere closer to the goal would be preferable since he'd have to go past it all anyway.

A quarter of an hour into his trek he could feel the temperature warming up and see the density of the vegetation go down. After a similar span of time the vegetation became so sparse he could clearly see through the distance. He approached the barren patch that clearly demarcated the forest of weird trees and as soon as he crossed the border, the vegetation became familiar again, with a few sightings of trees and plants he'd only seen in illustrations.

The new terrain was accompanied by an increase in humidity, the heavy musk clinging to his nostrils. He suspected the presence of a water body close by, for though he couldn't hear the rush of the river yet, all the vegetation seemed to be following a specific theme. There were trees with dense roots that seemed to spread all over the forest floor, reaching far and wide into the area around them and tripping him every third step. Elephant ears carpeted the floors further east, forcing him to watch his every step lest his quest end prematurely at the tip of fang or stinger. After a few steps at a grossly reduced pace, he decided to speed things up while maintaining his caution. He knotted one of the loops from his shoulders around interspersed twigs, tying it to his waist and letting it trail behind him. He retrieved the long spear with the slender blade, bringing the spear-point to the ground and beating it left and right while it was bent just after the hafting point. With this strategy, the tail would discourage any unseen crawling or slithering creatures from following him and the spear would beat warnings to anything in front of him, slicing them up should they come too close.

He looked up and around, noting the double-toned trees. His doubts about his whereabouts were fast disappearing, slowly being replaced by dread laced with a hint of curiosity. He would meet the Ever-smiling River from its western bank and couldn't help anticipating unraveling the mysteries behind its myriad of names. Designated The Bubbling River on the royal maps whilst been commonly known as The Untraversable, tales told of waters looked calm enough to sleep on that would eternally accept all foolish enough to take their invitation. They were ever thirsty for blood, indiscriminate in their prey selection and swallowing all who were without qualification to cross, and only blood qualified.

Not much could be gleaned from the tales, the only certainty a definite chance of peril in attempting to cross, but attempt he would. Having passed the carpet vegetation, he undid the rattling tail and held his spear point-up. The humidity crept up in notches informing him of his increasing proximity to the river. The warmth was going up as well and within a few more meters he could see what he assumed was the western bank.

The river had remained an assumption due to the presence of a huge rock outcropping at the edge of his view. The vegetation became patchy, distributed along a sandy bank pebbled with smooth river-rocks of all shapes and sizes. He arrived at a crossroads with weird paths heading left and right. Each path was marred by irregular obstructions, whole trees flattened, pushed aside, or bent and broken. The paths were too wide for most Taur traffic and all the human conveyances he'd ever seen so he chose to avoid them and opted for a meandering and untrodden path through the trees instead. Wanting to get a clearer picture of what he was walking into he found a tall tree and climbed it, getting a better view of the area ahead.

Looking down he could finally see the river, the moonlight reflecting off its surface. The waters flowed so calmly they almost looked stagnant, the only give-away the ripples that went around the jutting rocks interspersed along its length. He brought his attention back to the supposed outcropping that had hidden the river from his grounded view. These were no rocks but a huge, scaled lizard. He'd seen crocodiles along the banks of other rivers before, and even participated in a few hunts for their vaunted meat and the worthwhile leathers. He'd even had the pleasure of attending an auction where a 7-meter specimen the roving centaurs had caught was heatedly contested over, but the proportions of the one resting just out of the water defied all reasoning.

It had to be 12 meters from snout to tail, it's prodigious whacker a body of its own in appearance and although its eyes and mouth were closed, he couldn't help but feel it was staring directly at him. He continued looking around, searching for a way to avoid the lizard but none was in sight. At a glance, the areas upstream and downstream would be appealing given their narrowness relative to the area guarded by the lizard. They also contained dense clusters of 'rocks' that jutted out, providing a clear hopping path across. He would've fallen for it were it not for his current insights.

Wanting to confirm his thoughts, he shot an arrow towards one of the rocks and sure enough the rock responded on impact, splashing on the surface before dipping beyond his view. He then took out the turkey from earlier, cutting it into quarters before tying one to the shaft of an older arrow. He shot the baited arrow in the middle of a cluster of rocks and observed as multiple forms surged from the water mouths wide-open, lunging for the arrow before it hit the water. Though much smaller, all the forms had resembled the huge crocodile resting on the bank. Reacting to the commotion in the nearby waters the huge lizard turned toward the river and dove in, making short work of the distance between the bank and the rampaging juveniles. The smaller crocodiles fighting over the turkey quarter immediately froze at its approach. The huge crocodile circled them before 'tasting' them one at a time, nudging each one in confirmation before the inspected would rush away to settle in a different spot.

The huge lizard was back in its original position in no time and the waters had calmed again. Seeing how fast the beast was Calf could only see one way out of this, and it was through. All the other crocodiles posed a serious threat, but it seemed the big one called the shots so all he had to do was get past it. He nocked one of his new arrows that lacked a metal or stone tip but instead bore an end sharpened to a fine point. The arrow sailed towards the crocodile's left eye, piercing through, and sinking up to the shaft's belly. He'd hoped it would sink all the way in, but this would have to do. The crocodile let out an angered roar that froze him in place, body trembling and heart almost beating right out of his chest. The roar also sent the smaller crocs into a frenzy, retreating radially as far away as possible from the roaring crocodile.

As he thought to take this chance to sprint for the area just left of the huge crocodile its roar stopped and the whole area was affected by an eerie silence. It stood on its hind legs for a second before slamming down, the arrow stuck in its eye popping out and rotating in the air. When he looked down at the crocodile again it was nowhere to be seen. He felt the hairs on his neck stand on end and dove for the ground instinctively. All thoughts of the impending impact were replaced with relief at his actions as he felt a wind propel him east and downwards. In his tumble he saw a blur pass where he'd been perched, the trees bending towards the bank in the blur’s wake.

He hit the ground hard and after being briefly winded he got up to face the menacing beast now staring at him from the gaps between the trunks and branches. He hid behind a thick trunk, taking out four of the new arrows and nocking a fifth one. He would concentrate his arrows around the same point, hopefully incapacitating it long enough for him to make his escape. He closed his eyes and waited for the brutal blur to assail him again and sure enough he felt the winds building as the trees behind his hiding spot rustled. He dove for the ground and kept his eyes closed waiting for the blur's tailwinds to subside. As soon as he could open his eyes, he rolled on one shoulder to land in a kneeling position before sighting the crocodile's right eye. The first two shots struck true whilst the next three hit different areas due to the crocodile's pained movements.

He made to sprint, but fear bolted him in place at the crocodile's growl. He watched as a slam of its head onto the ground popped the arrows out, the last coming out with its right eye attached. The crocodile's head swelled, the skin around its upper jaw cracking and bleeding slightly from the expansion. This was pretty reminiscent of the rooster but unlike the rooster, the head shrunk back to size after a brief moment. The crocodile shook its head as if to clear a daze and a part of its hide fell off its head with a sickening squelch. He watched in horror as the right eye regenerated, followed by white scales over the area the hide had just fallen off.

He braced for the next whipping blur, but the lizard made for the bank instead and jumped into the water. It went into a death roll, spinning at increasing speeds and churning the waters so vigorously they began to foam. The roll stopped as abruptly as it had begun, and Calf stared as the lizard's head popped out of the water. All the wounds he'd inflicted were gone and the white scales had darkened to match the rest of its body. He couldn't help but flinch at the promise of retribution in the eyes staring back at him. He’d thought his feeble attempt at blinding the monster would be the end of it all, but from the looks of things, the real challenge was yet to begin.