You set out, and the good doctor seems to know the way. Diverting off the beaten path you run down a unsteady slope and through some brush which seems like a slower and more ardorous trail, only to pop up in the very place you sought in record time.
1:45:00 remaining
As you dismount, or don't, at the forest edge Matsu comes close to the forest edge. Something is amiss, ah yes, here is the problem. These branches, askew. Shows sign of recent passage through them, a few branches broken. They weren't being careful. One... two.... three creatures, one large. Evidence of things being dragged. Wait, a forth creature, this one humanoid, possibly small. Help? It's faint, the disruption of local grit and soil is mostly expressing the presence of dragged bodies weighing about 115 lbs... another 40 lbs... the other small undragged creature must have been wearing soft shoes, its tracks are faint. Not like the much more visible avian tracks here, and a faint black soot similar to ash. Smells mildly of brimstone and bone powder. Neutralized in its current state but if brought airborne in sufficient quantities certainly a deadly toxin. Even brief contact with the spoor has caused minor putrefaction as evidence as the ochre spots on this leave easily missed for debris from some natural process. With this as a marker tracking your prey will be easy. And in fact look, not more than 20 ft ahead over here. Evidence of blood. Relatively fresh, a few hours. This smell... consistency... type B, female. There's another, type O, male, slightly elevated blood alcohol content, not serious enough to intoxication in all but Diminutive sized creatures. Excellent, it seems that in your fortune out of the possible two location for your targets you have reached the correct one. Moreover, as of a few hours ago both are still alive.
On fire indeed, Sherlock.
You have enough accuracy to (to your knowledge) determine the exact direction, though not distance. I suppose the logical thing would be going straight ahead, but who knows what dangers you'll face. You suspect there was the "avian beast" you were warned of. But also... something else.