Once Upon a Dream

Sam had gone forward to collect her own dagger. She frowned at the dead man. She didn't enjoy killing but she knew enough that they would most likely be released once more if she took them into the nearest town for trial. She came back out onto the road and looked at Darkest and the three men he had taken down with his daggers.

"I had that under control. You are always stealing all the fun," she said, walking up to the dead highwaymen. Sam wiped her dagger off on one of their cloaks and looked back at Darkest. She walked up in front of him and raised her hand in front of his chest. "Waise heill," The wound wasn't deep and stitched up quickly.

Darkest shuddered as the magic passed through him.

"Thank you. And better safe than sorry." He stretched his muscles, knowing they would burn tomorrow, from so much disuse and so much paperwork.

"At least we're here, right?"

'Odd. Bandits attacking so close to a town.' He thought then dismissed.

"No problem. I would have be fine," the elf said with a laugh and she put on a pair of gloves to hide her gewdey ignaesia. Sam glanced up. Telrith was less than five minutes away. She started purposefully down the road. "I'm officially ready for a drink now,"

Darkest shrugged, and followed. He could as well. Conspiracy theories were dancing in his head.

Sam stepped into the small town without another incident. Telrith was a small trading community and was at the crossroads between some of the other major towns and cities, making it a perfect place for highwaymen. She walked past many stalls and up to a tavern. She looked back at Darkest.

"How about this one?" Sam asked him.

"If it has beer, and people to punch, why yes, this one." darkest said sarcastically. Eh, well, it was better than being at a desk. he walked in past Sam.

((Sorry Darkest. Sorry Sam.))

Skolifr nodded. Understandable. She replied, So are you guys headed anywhere?

ooc/ hmmm. o.- You just don't learn...then again, neither do I. *sigh* Apology accepted, lets just get back to the writing.

(( I like that plan. ))

Sam rolled her eyes and muttered a curse under her breathe. She glanced around outside the tavern, looking for any unfriendly eyes. No one had recognized her yet.

All for the better.

The elf turned and followed Darkest into the tavern.

Darkest had reserved them a table near the back, not quite in the shadows, just enough to blur their outlines and features. He sat there, laid back, waiting for a server and Sam, ignoring the buzz of the crowd.

Sam spent her time getting to the table. She opened her mind slightly to the intentions of the people around her and found nothing disconcerting. She shrugged her shoulders and went towards the back. She pulled off her travelling cloak and set in on the back of her chair before sitting down.

"Everything seems pretty normal..." Sam said quietly as she reclined her chair and closed her eyes for very brief rest.

No. We really don't have anywhere to go, Anaklusmos replied. We've never seen so many Riders before. Have you?
((So I was thinking about changing Percy's name to Stephen and shortening Anaklusmos to Ana. What do you guys think?))

Nick shook his head to the sides. "Nope, I haven't seen very many." Skolifr added on to that, We aren't going anywhere either. I suppose you could call us Nomads.

"I guess," Percy said. "I dunno what we are, really. Homeless?" He frowned and spread his hands in front of him, trying to pantomime what he meant. "No, that wasn't the right word. Rootless, I guess. Like a dandelion seed? You know, those puffy white seeds? Like, it had a home, but now it has to find its own way."

"Yes, it usually does before all hell breaks loose and I end up unconscious or covered in blood..." Darkest sighed. "I don't know why I can't relax."

"Maybe you know something I don't," the elf replied, still with her eyes closed. She sensed one of the barmaids coming towards them a wave a hand. "A pint of something, surprise me." she said handing the girl two gold coins. "And whatever he is having,"

Sam felt G'reth in the back corner of her mind. He was sitting on the training grounds, watching some of the newer riders. She could feel his unease of her being on her own.

I can protect myself she said to him, though the connection was a bit distant.

Not from everything The stubborn dragon replied.

Tarik had been sitting in this tavern for who knows how long indulging in simple sweets. Unfortunately, sweets that weren’t as appetizing as he had expected but at least it was better than nothing. He was actually surprised at the lack of action occurring in such a location. Out of boredom he had been watching...observing the group sitting a few tables away from him.

He cut into his sweet pastry with his fork as his eyes lazily scanned the faces of each of the members present at the table. There was a girl named Sam or so he heard, they could have been referring to someone else but he was pretty sure it was her. Her long silver-like hair had captivated his attention. That was a rare hair colour or at least where he was from. A treasure in his region possibly something he would pursue further but he would have to be smart about the way he did it.

Then there was a man named Darkest or so he heard. These names were really of no importance. This person didn’t really have any outstanding characteristics but Tarik could tell there was more to him than meets the eye and this interested him greatly. This group was definitely no ordinary group. The corner of his lip twitched upward at the thought of owning them of having such unique people all to himself.

He stabbed the bit of pastry he had cut and delicately placed it in his mouth savouring the dessert as best as he could regardless of the not so satisfying taste. He wondered how much longer they were going to stay at the tavern and how much longer he could hold back on his curiosity. He would just wait a bit longer to see what more they revealed with their cryptic talk even with the lack of background he could make out enough of their personality from what they were saying. They were interesting indeed. Of course, the first thing he had to do before confronting would be complaining about the dessert, this was not satisfactory and would need to change!

Blaze tossed the coffin lid off, and sat up quickly. "What sort of messed up lies are humans telling about us." She asked in her mind to her Exxon who had been peacefully sitting else where. "That was horrible."
'Drama queen. You were in there for two minutes' That was Exxon in a tart reply.
Blaze shrugged, knowing her dragon would get the feeling and got out of the coffin. "Where is everyone?" She asked him.
He snorted and didn't bother answering.
"You are so helpful. Oh my god. I just love you so much for that." Blaze told him sarcastically. She walked out of the catacomb she'd been in to find Exxon waiting to leave. She jumped on to his back and they took off to the sky.
"So, where are you taking me?" She asked her dragon.
'To the guild. Where you should be. Doing guild stuff instead of sitting around playing in coffins, drinking holy water and holding garlic.' Blaze gaged remembering what the holy water felt like.

They landed in the guilds training field, right next to G'reth. "Morning" Blaze said inclining her head towards the dragon. "where is everyone?"

G'reth yawned and opened one eye to observe Blaze. Long time no see. Sam and Darkest went off to the town of Telrith for guild business. Salah and Eldor are at the lake babysitting some of the newer riders. The red dragon got up and stretched, much like a cat. He nodded his head in greeting towards Exxon.

Blaze frowned. "All of that sounds so very boring."
Exxon nodded back at G'reth. Blaze absently ran a hand on Exxon's black scales.
"Exxie, what shall we do?"
Exxon, refusing to go by that horrible nickname, ignored her.

G'reth chuckled slightly at the nickname, a small puff of steam emerging from his nostrils.

"Well Exxie have fun with G'reth. I'll go see if I can find Sam and Darkest and see if they would like some help." Blaze slid off of Exxon and disappeared into his shadow.
The trek through shadow land held nothing interesting and she made her way out of shadow land out of Sam's shadow and slid into the seat next to her. "Mind if I join you?"

Sam couldn't help it. She jumped. "God damn it Blaze! Give me some more warning next time," the elf said with an embarrassed laugh. She ran a hand subconsciously through her hair. She felt G'reth's amusement through their mental link.

Very funny... she thought to him.

You jumped like a rabbit when it sees a hawk. The dragon replied. Sam just rolled her eyes, glad her dragon couldn't see that.

Blaze shrugged "Next time I'll be sure to send a monster out before me so you'll have warning." She glanced suspiciously around the bar to see if anyone noticed her arrival. No one did, except she did notice someone keeping tabs on Sam and Darkest. "Who's that watching you?" She asked nodding in the general direction.

"Shall we find out?" Darkest said nonchalantly as he slid out of his seat and swaggered over to the table. He was tired of these games. Circles within circles...even if they were necessary, maybe it was time to shake things up a bit. Pulling out a chair he thumped down heavily across from the stranger, and looked at him. Just staring.