Dim finds tracks

"Good! Jotun can carry much meat!" Dim said. He beamed at Erik, then turned to Theo. "And you sneaky! Is good for hunting!" He chortled and pushed through the underbrush into the forest.

The air seemed thicker as he cleared the outer bushes and entered the woods proper. There was less low growth where less light reached, and the going became a little easier as a green dim stole over the atmosphere. Dim sniffed and looked behind. Erik seemed to have more trouble dodging trees than underbrush. Theo, by comparison, barely seemed hindered by either. Dim nodded at them and went ahead.

As his eyes began to adjust to the dimmer green-tinted light, he noticed a jumble of tracks. Depressed areas in the hard-packed forest floor retained water, and it was in these muddy areas the tracks were most visible. Dim hunkered down and inspected them. "Hm," he said. He spoke more quietly now. "Jotun, Sneaky. Look! Tiny dwarves, or humans or elves." And indeed, the tracks looked distinctly like those of barefoot human children. "Maybe many dwarf childs here," Dim said in wonder.