Vos looked closely at the ring, and the symbol it contained. "May I..?" he motioned to the ring. When there was no objection from anyone, Vos took it and closely examined it. "It looks like...no, that can't be. No, no it can't that's not possible," he muttered to himself as he held the ring up to the light.

The elf gave the ring back to Cirron. "Now, what were you saying..? Um, I don't actually remmeber your name." He made a gesture towards the vampire as he asked.

_________________
Four Gods wait on the windowsill,
Where once eight Gods did war and will,
And if the Gods themselves may die,
What does that say for you and I?

Now, three Gods wait on the windowsill
Where one God's blood was lately spilled
While black tongues lap at the spreading pool
And build the strength they need to rule.

Dyr'a eyed both the ring and the vampress, crossing her arms over her chest. "What do you know?" she asked sharply. "We're wasting valuable time. Our lives are at stake," she added, stating the obvious. Shvota! as her race called the non-Shvat. Always thinking they had time, always stalling. Time, as the Shvat proverb said, always ran away; time never runs toward one.

_________________


<center>Nothing but the Rain</center>

"Very well," Carlina said in a low hiss. "Ammarindar, like I said earlier, is a fortress ruled by the Duke Garsh Ianiam. The last I remember, it was at war with another fortress called Kasianar which was ruled by the Duke Jonis Fakaris. And I mean war, I mean brutal, destructive war. Villages burned, men slaughtered, women taken as slaves. It was devastating. The oligarchy that was in control of that region couldn't do anything about the fighting."
She paused and then continued, "Take my word, it's the least place you guys want to be in. Absolutely no one's in control of the area."
But of course, no one is going to take my word, Carlina thought begrudgingly. Not while I'm a vampress.

_________________

I was cured all right.

Several of the words Carlina used were alien to Adellis. She wasn't sure of the meanings of brutal or devastating, but it wasn't difficult to guess - and slaves rang a very faint bell. Something bad, then? And what was it Dyr'a had said about the Guild? Take lives...? Well, if they couldn't go back to the Guild, and Ammarindar wasn't an idea that the general opinion seemed to be in favor of, where could they go?

She'd seen a map, once, of the entire continent. Aerendulen, the Elven realm, had been a small triangle of forest off to the west edge, and she'd never quite been able to picture the vast largeness of the realm. It struck her, thinking back, how very ignorant she seemed to be compared to all these others. She'd never even heard of Ammarindar. Perhaps other mages did not stay almost exclusively with their master? Adellis had never quite thought herself one of them. In any case, she had no desire to go to this Ammarindar, and if what Dyr'a said was true, the Guild wasn't safe either. Where would be safe...?

The thought of Aerendulen was more attractive than she'd anticipated. Would the Elves welcome such a party of mages? There was a great amount of respect in their culture for the brighter powers, such as those of clerics, druids and elementals, but sorcerers and illusionists were frowned upon at best, and a shaman - like the Naga - would be outright refused entry. Not that Adellis really would have minded. She looked up from the fire, searching each face bemusedly, but ultimately remaining silent.

_________________

The creature collapsed, as though it was a giant puppet that had just had its strings cut. Ayden blinked. What had happened? He looked around the group of mages, remembering to close his gaping mouth just before he inhaled one of the myriads of bugs that were flying around.

There--one of the mages, one who looked somewhat small and somehow more fragile than the res, had a small smile of satisfaction. It must be her, then. If she could kill it so easily, why in the Light had no one done so already?

Still, at least it was dead. He sheathed his sword with no small measure of relief--he didn't doubt that the creature would have been killed anyway, but he certainly hadn't wanted to face it.

The silence after the beast fell over dead was punctuated by heavy breathing from those who had been fighting it, and the thud as the mage with two swords collapsed. Ayden watched in something resembling awe as two of the mages rushed to the wounded and did whatever it was that mages do. The flows of blood slowed and stopped, and the wounds vanished in front of Ayden's eyes. He gaped.

A moment later, though, the woman who had killed the creature asked a question. What were they going to do next? He blinked. Didn't they know? They were mages, after all. He hadn't thought that they wandered around aimlessly. Perhaps it would be better for him to continue on his own than be stuck with a group of aimless mages. Of course, a decision like that could easily wait until morning, so he decided to just listen.

As he listened, though, he started to get the idea that they were aimless because of something that had happened to them. They were looking for shelter and safety. He banged his head on his knees as he sat by the fire, instantly regretting it due to the pain it caused in his already aching head. Still, all they were discussing were things that he had no clue about, such as Ammarindar. Where under the sky was that?

In the end, all he could do was sit back and try to decide whether or not to stay with them.

-------------

Gah. Rushed for dinner again. That post length will just have to be satisfactory for now, then.

_________________

Dyr'a was pacing back and forth now, her impatience clearly showing. "There's no one in control of this area, either, unless one counts a treacherous Guildmaster - who knows who all of you are." Her glance flicked away from the vampress to the others. Did she have to spell out the logic for them? Apparently so.

"Giving that ring to the druid was the last thing Master Gorm did before dying. It would seem that taking this thing to Ammarindar is slightly important. Add to that the fact that he was killed in combat on our behalf, against the Guild, and one gets the idea that he knew a lot more than he ever told us. If the Guild leadership has turned and this Wyrmlord has risen, Gorm may have been playing for large stakes - larger than any of us could dream of." The shvat paused for a minute, unconsciously brushing her fingers along the dark lines of the tattoo on her forehead. She had dreamed of something - something about that ring, she realized now - but mentioning it would only distract from her point. "If Cirron is going to bring this token to the fortress, then I shall go with him - providing my master agrees," she added, looking at Quinlan Vos with a flat expression, neither begging nor defiant.

_________________


<center>Nothing but the Rain</center>

Dharron was dreaming. He had drifted for a little more, even seeing the trennaug being killed so efficiently by the sorceress. However, shortly afterwards the druid felt a strange tugging sensation, followed by a rapid return to his body.

He was standing in a field. He recognized it as one belonging to his father, and was therefore not surprised when he saw a familiar figure working easily in the hot sun a distance to his right. His father was turning the soil, pausing only to root out remnants of weeds. "Father." The man didn't seem to hear, intent as he was on his work. Dharron walked towards him uncertainly. Reaching out, he touched his father's arm; sweat and dirt met his fingers, but the farmer continued.

It's only a dream.

The voice seemed to resonate, coming from all around him, and he startled, craning his neck to catch a glimpse of the speaker. Then everything faded into darkness, and he could dimly hear voices raised in intense discussion.

"If Cirron is going to bring this token to the fortress, then I shall go with him - providing my master agrees."

The young druid recognized the voice as belonging to the sorceress, Dyr'a. Slowly, very slowly, he opened his eyes..

[Come on, people; let's keep this roleplay alive.]