Vixon paused at the mouth of the opening in the cavern, sweat pouring from his brows with concentration. The gust of wind that brought the dust and smokey plume through the opening was scorching hot. He had lost count as to the number of times he had checked out this particular spot over the last two days. Each time he had hoped to find it different, but it was always the same.

The first time, Vixon had felt the heat of the opening and chose to forge forward with no hesitation. He had seen the drawings of a mythical beast on the wall and knew in his heart that he was on to something. A sudden gust of scorching heat and fiery plume had sent him back the way he came, but not before he had glimpsed some moving shadows... ones that looked remarkably similar to the beasts on the wall. Once the heat had passed, Vixon had tried to make his way down the opening again, but another gust sent him back again. 

After countless attempts, Vixon admitted defeat and once again returned to the paintings. He had studied them closely before and found his mind wandering as he looked over them again. It had been several weeks since he and Vespera had discovered the Lava Caves and the Harlowin together. Their crews had gone their separate ways, and last he heard, Vespera had just returned from the Harmonic Heartwoods with wondrous tales of her time there.

A particularly large portrait of the mythical beast brought Vixon back to the present. It depicted a human sprinkling... something... on the manticore like creature. Behind the manticore laid a pile of what appeared to be carcasses that trailed off into piles of bones. Yet... the regal creature was not portrayed viciously, as it was in a few other cave paintings. Here, the creature appeared curious? Perhaps even playful. Vixon had puzzled over this painting since he had first discovered it and could not make sense of it. The human sprinkling the dust like particles on the creature was depicted higher up on the wall, and held a poised stature of control and power over the lion-like creature.

Staring at the dust in the painted scene, Vixon felt a jolt. He remembered sharing a moment with Vespera the morning before they had left on their journey to the Flamefall Cascades together. She had mentioned something about a mysterious dust that traders had offered her. She had done some digging, and heard stories that the elders told of sanDust, a magical element that was extremely hard to come by.

Were the two related? Vixon hurried out of the cavern. Vespera just returned from her travels and would likely be stocking up her stall with new wares. If he hurried, he would be able to catch her before she left on another adventure! Perhaps she could find a link between the mysterious dust and the manticore creature.