Finally Tarek managed to pull himself to his feet. He didn't know Holly watched him, or that she left. He figured she walked away from him long ago and probably didn't intend to come back. No, if he wanted to be with Holly again, this time he would have to do the chasing. With that thought, he turned to pick up the skull again. It was strange that Holly could so easily know who it belonged to. Fingers caressing the surface, he wondered what she was like. Not that wondering did anything for him. He sighed and turned to the spot where he found the skull.

Digging found him more bones. He shifted when he found another skull just a foot away. Apparently the bodies had been buried together and not very deep. With their position, it looked like they'd been tossed in and graves last minute. Erosion from the wind and rain coming down from the mountains made quick work and exposed the skull he'd first seen. It was strange to see and left a solemn feeling in his gut.

Tarek found himself following the faint path between the trees even as the sky grew darker overhead. It wasn't night yet, but he didn't care for the passage of time now. He felt drawn in that direction, perhaps by a hint in the landscape. He couldn't be sure. As he dug and dug though, the true horror revealed itself. With the last rays of the sun disappearing behind the mountains, he sat back on his heels and just stared at the scene before him.

Rather than one grave or two, dozens of haphazard bodies lay strewn in a pit just past the first grave. Deeper, older too. It had been filled in layers over some time. Just how long had this been going on? Tarek couldn't think, only stare. Overall, he counted fifteen bodies in this mass grave, and then the two newer ones. Fifteen skulls, thirty arms, sixty hands and feet, but no tails. One or two missing, a coincidence, but he couldn't explain this. Just what was going on?

Tarek finally stood after placing the skull of Holly's mother reverently in the dirt. He needed to find Holly and talk to the villagers. Something was going on here and he needed to know. Even the ground and the trees there looked wrong, too dark. They'd done something by killing these fauns and he needed to know what.