She kept riding, watching for any signs of the Mage. Her sharp eyes scanning the are, crackling more than ever with determination. She put all thoughts of the previous moments from her mind, allowing her training to take over as she rode on, her body was wary and at the ready, yet not tense. A hand remained on her sword, the other gently steered her horse.

Caran moved with the determination of a ranger. Her eyes trained on the ground and her other senses trained on her surrounds. Caran gathered they were catching up to Lona if the fresh twists and changes of direction on the path were anything to go by.

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She grumbled to herself as she kept riding, frustration building in her as Andreus plodded on. "I wish that the captain had just listened..." she shook her head, wondering exactly what she was facing here. She knew now that neither Feredir, Caran, or Beleg trusted her. Her mistake. She clenched her jaw.

Feredir urged his horse on, following Caran closely. He too could tell they were gaining on Lona. The sun was reaching its highest point in the sky- The forest was growing warm and sticky; insects whirred and tumbled in the still air.
The ranger felt bad for Lona- His nephew had reached manhood only a few years ago and had left his family to make his own way in the world. Meeting the mage had changed him, destroyed the child within him and made him a harder man than he should be. Feredir shuddered, he knew the two had been involved in experiments, the least offensive trying to teach orc-children the elvish-speech and ways. It was an idea thought up by one of the elves, perhaps seeking a way to end the war or create something able to travel between those two worlds, but it had gone badly wrong.

"Lona!" the ranger called as they broke through the tree-line and came up to a shallow looking lake.

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. O r b i s N o n S u f f i c i t .

Caran flicked her head around in a nervous manner. They had more than orcs to worry about in these woods. Her eyes strained forwards. "She cannot be far. I only hope she will stop and listen to reason..." Caran bit her lip tightly, her hand moving to settle upon the hilt of her sword.

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She started and turned her horse, only now tensing up. "I thought I told you to go back to camp?" it wasn't in a harsh voice, more curious than anything. "If you don't trust me and believe I am leading you into a trap, why did you follow me?" she called across the lake, truly curious. Perhaps they wished to assassinate her to end those chances? She didn't know. All she knew is she wanted to find the cause and take revenge for the murders of her family.

"Be gentle with me, my lady," Feredir called "it was my blood that insulted you, not me. We wish you no harm, only to understand why you kept this from us."
His gaze slid to Caran, looking for support. He was not used to dealing with women. In his eyes, they were fickle creatures, too difficult to handle to ever be able to settle down with- And fight? Well, the jury was still out on that one.

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. O r b i s N o n S u f f i c i t .

"Feredir is right, Lona. We just want a chance to understand what is going on. Will you trust us?" She approached Lona tentatively.

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"How can I explain when I myself don't know what's going on?" she took a deep breath and explained to them what had happened, how she had come across him, how he had known her name, and what he had said about her family, she explained all she knew. "I did not want to put anyone else I knew in danger because he seemed to be targeting people close to me and around me. I don't know the reason, and as I said I attempted to kill him, but he disappeared."

Caran rolled her eyes. "Lona..." she sighed. "Why didn't you tell us that in the first place? At least now we have some idea of what we could be facing. Maybe it is the mage that is controlling the orcs even..."

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"I didn't tell you because I knew it would be dangerous." as she had stated before.

"We are rangers- Soldiers too, we dedicate our lives to putting a stop to evil. There is no more dangerous task," Feredir said "Do you not trust us to do our best to eradicate it? "
His horse shook it's long brown neck and scraped its hooves on the ground. The ranger sighed and reached to pat it, whispering soothing words in elvish. "If the mage is controlling the orcs," he said softly "We are in even greater danger than before, but our duty has never been more clear."

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. O r b i s N o n S u f f i c i t .

"I trust you, I just feel responsible somehow." she shook her head, trying to make the puzzle pieces fall together. It was no use. Nothing made sense anymore.

Caran frowned deeply. "You are not responsible. There is no sense nor reason to the mage's behaviour. Let us carry on together and find out what we can. Diminish what we can." She patted Lona on the shoulder lightly. "Lets keep moving."

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Feredir watched the two women silently, his eyes trained on the tree line. It was still hot and the ride had made the horses grow tired: "Perhaps we should rest a while. Gather strength."
He slid out of his saddle and let his steed drink from the lake. As an after thought he added "Maybe we should think about riding towards Mellamin. It was long used as a meeting point between elves an men and is high enough for us to be able to get a good look at the surrounding lands. It is far enough from the border to not be deserted- Perchance we will meet company there that can tell us more of what to expect. If there are elvish scouts about- They may be prepared for the mage or able to tell us how best to defend ourselves against him."

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. O r b i s N o n S u f f i c i t .

Lona nodded slowly as she slid from
The saddle and tossed a bag to Feredir. "Food, for you and Caran." she said quietly, as her nature was usually quiet. She sat down, her appetite quite lost, and took her hair down, combing her fingers through it. It eased her headache somewhat. "You have a good idea, Feredir. Thank you, my lord."