Of Dragons and War III

[Iwant2bafencer]

"As I said, Yes, I would follow you until the day I die or the day you give it back, willingly or unwillingly. Do you normally talk this long before you kill someone?"

[Swordsman]

"No, not really," he conceded. "I'd just rather not kill you, if possible. You put me in quite a predicament. I cannot just let you walk free, but you are leaving me few choices other than killing you."

[Iwant2bafencer]

"Then slap my wrist and let's be done with it," she replied sarcasticly, "You're on top Servaya, not like I'm going anywhere. However, five more minutes and Rylus moves to get Sarah and Mr. Quinith to a doctor. So decide what you're going to do or think about it and kill me in five minutes."

[Swordsman]

"Let Rylus go take care of the others anytime he likes. But you have to work with me here; you're not getting off with just a slap on the wrist."

[Iwant2bafencer]

"The ball's in your court Servaya, as I said you're on top."

[Moonitic]

"ENOUGH!"

A great roar erupted from from deep within Meekal's chest as those he considered to be friends struggled with one another. Once their attention was sufficiently his, he shouted, his voice seemingly no longer his own, "War is coming & you fight amongst yourselves! Our homes & families will be destroyed if we don't band together! You said it yourself. We came out here to hunt dragons to gain some leverage in this war, & you're threatening to kill each other! I will not stand for this any longer. Do what you like. While you are engaged in your childish antics, I'm going to take the others on ahead. Someone has to focus on the mission at hand." He glared at the Swordsman specifically. "You might not care about Moon at this point, but I do. I'm getting this hunt finished as soon as possible, then getting back to her. And when I do, we're leaving Arconia for good. And-" He stopped & turned his back to them, lest he say something he might regret later. He squeezed his eyes shut & tried to take deep breaths, remembering feeling this angry only once before, with grim results. In a lower voice, Meekal added, "And then you can have your precious Arconia without having to worry about us."

[Crin Dalmeiier]

"Crin, wait up!"

Two weeks had passed since they'd stood around the Swordman lying in the road. He hadn't been forthcoming with whatever had happened at all, although the others suspected he knew more than he was letting on. However, everybody on the trail had long learned to let bygones be bygones and Swordsmen be Swordsmen, so they didn't press the issue. Meekal had returned with a shiny, singing sword, and they'd traveled on.

Their path led them almost directly north, veering eastwards occasionally. They were met with all sorts of travel hazards: injured horses that slowed their travel, a few thieves terrorising their campfire at night, wet, miserable weather that quickly bloomed into an early autumn storm. After four days of absolutely detestable travel through biting winds and driving rain, they lost a couple of days in finding a safe place to ford the Formosa River, which had been swollen by the rains.

With each day, the jagged heights of the Northern Reaches loomed closer and closer. The local dialect changed often, but usually one of the party members would know enough of it to warn local villagers of the upcoming war. As the northern reaches became a more obtainable goal, it settled heavily in the minds of the travelers that it would most likely take longer to scour the area for dragons than they had.

It was nearing time to make a decision.

But first, they had to stop at Quicke Trippe.

Crin had disappeared inside the small shop a few minutes before; now she emerged holding a large wooden cup with the word "BIGGIE" carved it into the rim (she didn't understand why somebody would want to carve a word like that into a cup, but she had water, so she didn't care). She offered this to Falcour and smirked over at Talmour. "Sorry, they were out of ale."

Talmour just groaned, and Crin made her way over to where the Swordsman was deep in conference with Senyik and Darion.

"We should be to the heart of the northern reaches within three weeks," she told him. "We have enough food for maybe half that distance. Maybe it's time to split up and cover more ground?"

[Darion McNair]

“If we split up we could prove less detectable on the way there, but Senyik’s blacksmith skills will be vital once we arrive.” Darion suggested. “If we do split up, how will we coordinate a reunion?” He shrugged “It’s great in theory, but is it doable?” He leaned his head back against the tree that was supporting him. The weeks of travel were only slightly taking their toll on his physical condition, the expression on his face looked a bit tired. Halcyon lay in its sheath, balancing on one of Darion’s raised knee. He lazily watched it teeter back and forth slowly but his ears were open to the conversation around him.

[Crin Dalmeiier]

"We choose a spot to meet up," Crin replied equably, crossing her arms casually. "On a certain date. Also, we can keep in contact through B'en." She indicated the Tiraas falcon still seated on his perch over Falcour's saddlebags. "Short messages, nothing more, but still enough. As for the need for Senyik, some of us might have rudimentary blacksmithing skills we can use?"

[Darion McNair]

"I would think harnessing a dragon is anything but 'rudimentary', as you say." Darion replied, raising his eyes from his weapon up to look at Crin. "But the falcon does sound like a good idea. I say we do it. We'd have a better chance in smaller groups, anyway."

[Iwant2bafencer]

Rose was perched, squating ontop of a rather large rock with Rylus sitting at it's base. She was weaving stands of leather, varrying in light and dark browns in a tight simple pattern as she listened to the conversation but stayed quiet.

"Groups of five if we split.' Rylus spoke softly up to her.

She glanced up from her work at the group with a nod. She watched the group as Darion spoke his piece then shook her head, speaking ti Rylus.

"I'd imagine it would be a little difficult to snag a dragon with five people." She mused dryly. Now it was Rylus' turn to nod. "True it would speed things up, but it would also lessen our chances with any unhappy people we might meet on the way." She continued as she cut into one of the pieces of leather a little, making it more even.

"What do you think?" Rylus asked after a while.

"It's up to them," Rose shrugged as she pulled a piece of leather with her teeth to tighten it.

[Crin Dalmeiier]

Ame disappeared inside the store a minute or two after Crin emerged, the empty BIGGIE cup in hand and a determined look on her face. There was a particular type of candy she'd been fond of in Russland and they'd stopped at every roadside store, and she was determined to find it, come hell or high water.

Meanwhile, those not on a candy quest gathered close to Rosaline and Rylus. "Somebody talking about splitting up?" Talmour asked, leaning forward in the saddle.

[Iwant2bafencer]

Rose nodded, tugging at another piece of leather.
"Crin and Darion are discussing it. They're debating if it's safe or not, if it will be faster." She shook her head, "I don't know if I like it or not. You?"

[Crin Dalmeiier]

"As long as we're in groups larger than two, we'll be fine," Talmour replied.

"How do you arrive at that conclusion?" Falcour asked him, raising an eyebrow.

"You forget, Crin's not the only one who's seen dragons." Talmour continued to lean over the horse's neck and tapped his temple, his smirk strangely sober (he hadn't had ale in four days, and it was starting to wear on him). "Groups of four or five should be okay. Why don't you like it?"

[Iwant2bafencer]

"I don't have anything major against it. I've just never liked the idea of 'let's split up'. Strength in numbers I say. If we split in half we could do it but I don't know about a bunch of smaller groups," she shook her head again "just doesn't seem too safe." She looked up from her work to Nækos who was staying quiet on the subject.
"Nækos, what do you say about it?"

[Swordsman]

Nækos looked up from fiddling with a knife, and thought for a moment. "There are thirteen of us. I think we should break into three groups of three and one group of four. We are not to where the dragons are yet."

"How do you know that?" Crin inquired.

"Just trust me." Much as Crin wanted to argue, the look she was receiving suggested it would be a fruitless endeavor. "It will be more important to be in a group together once we reach the mountains. For now, however, I think we will move faster and more easily if we split up. I think...most of us" - he looked at Alys - "will be perfectly safe against hostiles if we are in groups of three or more." It was clear Alys would end up in the larger group.

[Darion McNair]

“Agreed.” Darion spoke up as he snatched Halcyon off his knee. “How shall we split?” He looked to Nækos, “I’ll go wherever you think you need me.” He forced himself to stand, slowly, glancing up at the sky. Spotty clouds concealed patches of an otherwise blue sky that Darion was very grateful for. The wind moved gently through the few trees that were around them, brushing by Darion’s dark green cloak and causing it to flick up in the gentle breeze. He looked to the rest of the group yet again. “And lets hope the weather stays pleasant for all the groups when we split.”

[Crin Dalmeiier]

“AHA!”

The call came from inside Quicke Trippe, and a moment later, Ame burst out, a brown sack of candy clutched in one fist, and her pocket considerably lighter. “I have been searching for these since we left Russland!” she babbled to Talmour in the native gypsy tongue. As this was only known by gypsies and their Dalmei’ers, she received several baffled looks.

“Sorry,” she said, not sheepish in the least. “Go on with whatever you were doing. I’ve got sugar. I’m happy.”

Crin leaned over and snagged a couple of the candies, but other than that, the gypsies remained silent as they waited for the conversation to continue.

[Iwant2bafencer]

"Well," Rosaline started, slidding down off her rock and slipping her leather into her bag, "If it's all the same to everyone else I'd like Rylus and Zelda with me. Alys too if she'd like."

[Crin Dalmeiier]

"I'm staying with her," Talmour interrupted immediately, his tone leaving no room for argument.