Winter 4995, 18 Ginmoth

Waves crashed against the blasted stone that formed the coastal mountains of Yanao province far in the south of the kingdom. But even that constant noise couldn't muffle the curses the Journeymen Warlocks were shouting at their apprentices.

"How could you two be so incomprehensibly stupid!" 

"When the Archmages hear about this..." 

"We should have just executed you as protocol dictates!" 

One apprentice flinched, but the other stepped forward, pleading with her superiors, "We had to warn them! If the storm manifests here, then the city..." 

"Silence!" the senior Journeyman shouted. 

The other continued, "So you walk into a kingdom city, and what? Tell them to evacuate? To where? We don't know how this storm will impact the area."

"And now they know we're here." the first Journeyman couldn't hide the whine from his voice, "They'll send that team..." 

"They can't be that dangerous... can they?" the quiet apprentice asked, nearly pleading. 

"They are." The new voice was calm, but all four flinched anyway, turning as one to face the Archmages of their Talon. The female continued, "And we can't leave. Not when we are finally this close to a storm before it's fully formed." 

"We've already contacted the Central Talon." the male informed them. 

The apprentices fell to their knees, "Archmages, please, we..." 

"We got them back," one of the Journeymen came to their defense, "There's no point in..."

"They won't be executed." the female Archmage assured them, shaking her head in disappointment, "But now we need to prepare for the storm and for the coming hunters."

"They can't be that good..." the apprentice breathed desperately. 

"The Central Talon has promised help. Perhaps that will be enough." the male answered, "But make no mistake. The team the kingdom has formed is nothing if not capable." 

*** 

"Damn thing'll break the key if they don't maintain..." Oswall grumbled under his breath. He squatted by the tower door, carefully placing the tip of his dagger in the keyhole with one hand and pouring a steady stream of oil onto the blade with the other, directing its flow into the rusty mess of a lock. 

Above him, Ebonwing leaned against the door, her ear pressed to the wood, "Sounds like draken..." she whispered to the others waiting behind. 

"Not again..." Ranito complained.

"Warlocks have worked with draken before, maybe this time..." Alena tried to keep their spirits up, "Why else would they lock the door?" but even she sounded doubtful this time.

"Every tower we clear is one less they can use." Tristen reminded them for the hundredth time as Oswall slipped his picks into the lock.

He ignored the growling slur of draken voices from within and focused on the subtle feel of stiff tumblers and their soft clicks. It was easy to block out the clink of metal and creak of leather as his companions shifted, but he jumped, breaking his pick, as a scream sounded clearly through the door. A human scream. 

"Move." Shon's order was a single, quietly spoken word accompanied by the hiss of steel as he drew his sword. Oswall glanced over his shoulder and saw cold blue eyes framed by wisps of long black hair that had managed to slip free from the ponytail the man kept it pulled back in these days. 

Oswall barely managed to scramble out of the way, pulling his crossbow off his back with a curse as Shon kicked the door beside the handle. Wood cracked and snapped, and the door exploded inward. 

Shon rolled through before the door had even hit the wall, ducking below a surprised swing of a great ax by a startled draken. Oswall cursed again. Directly across from them, a pair of women were bound kneeling on the ground. A draken with brown scales pained with black stripes held one by the hair, pulling her head back and exposing her neck to its fangs. 

Oswall's heavy bolt thudded into the draken's jaw, blood splattering the woman's face. She screamed again. 

The ground floor of the relatively small tower was a circle and only about thirty feet in diameter, with broken stairs along the wall that had once spiraled up the perimeter. And it was full of massive lizardmen.

The monsters recovered from the shock of Shon's entry quickly, brandishing weapons and roaring warcries in a language Os didn't understand. They quickly surrounded the unarmored fighter, but Oswall knew better than to worry for the mad man's safety. The Hengist soldier danced through the horde in a wash of steal and blood, taking point and clearing the area around the door so the others could enter. 

Ebonwing, in the form of a boar, rushed in beneath Shon's swings, goring the first draken she reached with tusks and stomping the wounds with sharp piggy feet. Tristen and Alena formed an armored team, wading into the fray side by side and laying about themselves with maces. Keeping the wall of the tower to their backs, they made for the captured women.

Shon had made it to the middle of the room, and there he stood his ground, like a mountain in a storm of axes and greatswords. Oswall grumbled, taking aim at those furthest away. With the fighters fully engaged, some of the draken, frustrated with their inability to participate in the battle, went for the women. He managed to hit another, but there were too many.

Oswall gritted his teeth, triggering the magical device on his crossbow to crank the string back in an instant. He fired again, faster than any heavy crossbow had a right to be, and shouted, "This is getting too expensive, damn it!" He triggered it once more, firing again and pinning a draken's sword arm to the wall above the sobbing captives. It would cost him a fortune to recharge the magic, and he only had ten uses a day with it anyway. 

"We're almost there!" Alena answered, slamming her shield into another lizardman.

Tristen caved its skull in with his cudgel and added, "Just keep firing and bill the Temple, Staff Sergeant!" 

"You can do that?!" Oswall called, his shots not wavering in the slightest despite the conversation. 

Alena groaned, rolling her eyes. Her second mace, floating in the air and magically striking on its own, crashed into a draken shoulder as her physical one knocked its weapon aside. They reached the women, and Tristen spread his legs, taking his massive cudgel in both hands to defend as Alena knelt before them. She called over her shoulder, "How in Soleil's holy light do you not know that?!" Ebonwing let out a snort that sounded more like a laugh than a battle cry as she lept into the air, kicking with her hind legs at a draken's hips before turning to rake it with her tusks.

"No one told me!" Oswall complained, firing another shot into a second draken trying to skewer the druid, "Damn Paladins. Figured if I didn't ask, they didn't have to tell me..." 

"Can we NOT do this now?!" Tristen called. He faced off against two draken and took a grazing hit to the chest that was deflected by his heavy armor as he tried to swing at a third coming for the women. He missed, but the draken still died, a sword with a swirling blue stone protruding through its neck. 

Oswall nearly dropped his crossbow. Shon had thrown his sword like a spear, pinning the draken to the wall. Now unarmed, he dodged a downward swing of a war ax, and grabbing the draken's hand on the handle, snapped the beast's elbow with a sharp upward open palm strike. Oswall nearly put his crossbow away. It might as well be over now. 

As if someone had flicked a switch in the Monk-Solder's brain, Shon changed. He caught the falling ax from the draken's now limp hand and used it to block a strike from a sword coming at his head while kicking the howling, disarmed beast in the chest, crushing ribs and blasting the air from its scream. He used the ax to chop the arm from the sword-wielding attacker, then twisted it and lodged it in the sword-wielder's side before letting go and taking up the dropped sword instead. He didn't hold it for long. Cold as ice, he impaled the next draken, then stepped onto the blade, jumping up and gaining enough height to kick another across the face, knocking it to the ground, then landing on its neck with a well-aimed knee. 

Oswall managed to get off one more shot before the last of their team ended it even faster than the unarmed Shon might've. 

Ryuuko whistled, and the team froze. Ranito spoke one word from behind Oswall, "Down." and as one, the team dropped to the ground, Alena and Tristen pinning the captured women. 

Almost lazily, the Archmage held out a short iron rod and spoke the final word of his spell. Blue lightning shot from the rod and struck the nearest draken before it could impale Shon. It flailed, light glowing from beneath its smoking scales, then the bolt split, jumping to two more before splitting again and again. Lightning crackled, and joints popped as the lizardmen spasmed hard enough to break their own bones. 

The pseudodragon whistled once more, and Ranito lifted the rod, ending the spell. The team stood, Ebonwing retaking her human form as the draken continued to twitch all the way to the ground. 

"Took your dear sweet time, didn't you, old man?" Ebonwing snarked to Ranito as he put his components away and entered with the rest, "I know you have faster spells than that." 

Oswall rolled his eyes. Throwing his crossbow into its sling over his shoulder, he started fanning the bodies as Ranito huffed indignantly. "My dear Druid, if you wanted someone to rush in, mediocre spells blazing, with the rest of you, you wouldn't have recruited an Archmage." 

"Even slow, it's very effective." Alena chimed in, "Any wounds?" 

"I've got mine," Ebonwing answered with a wave of her hand -now glowing green- as she laid it over a cut across her opposite bicep, healing it. 

"Master Sergeant?" Tristen asked Shon in a suspicious tone. 

Shon grunted in the negative.

"Shon..." Alena said accusatorily. 

"Minor, they can wait," Shon grumbled, moving for his sword and wrenching it from the wall, collapsing the dead draken and causing the two women to whimper. 

"You threw your sealing item, Sorcerer." Ranito accused him. 

Tristen came to Shon's defense, "It was in range, Archmage. The law only states that he can't leave the range of its influence." And it was the letter of the law that mattered to the Paladins of Saint Giorgos. 

"Still, I wish you wouldn't-" Alena started. But Ebonwing had noticed Oswall and interrupted, 

"Seriously, Os? Again? What could they possibly have of value?" 

Oswall looked up from the draken's belt pouch, pulling forth two copper coins and a silver dented with teeth marks, "I don't get paid nearly enough for this shit. And I'm not wasting good loot." 

"You get paid plenty, Staff Sergeant." Tristen chastised. 

Ebonwing just threw up her hands in frustration, "At least sort through it later." She started pulling bags from dead draken, gathering them in one hand and reaching for her own bag with the other, "Come on, just grab the bags and put them away until-" 

Oswall lunged for her, eyes wide and heart pounding, Ranito's voice sounded behind him as they shouted together, "Don't!"

Oswall ripped the bags from her hand, teeth clenched around his curses, "Stupid woman! Are you trying to get us all killed?!" 

Ebonwing snatched her hand away but just rolled her eyes, "Come on, Os. It's not like a draken is going to have a bag of..." But her argument trailed off as Oswall stuck his entire arm into a bag that looked only ten inches deep, "... holding..." She finished. 

Oswall glared at the Druid as she blinked down at him. Then she laughed and slapped him on the shoulder, "Damn man! You just saved my bacon! I owe you a drink!" 

"I'll add it to your tab," Oswall grumbled, pulling his arm free of the magical bag. 

"You wouldn't have died," Ranito chimed in, and Ebonwing laughed again,

"Maybe not then!"

"You would have been sucked into the outer planes to starve without dying. Floating in an endless abyss with no hope of rescue or death until one of the denizens found you." the Archmage finished.

"Okay. Two drinks then." Ebonwing corrected while Oswall snorted. Everyone knew better than to put a bag of holding into another bag of holding.

"Quiet." Shon's deep voice broke through the banter. He spoke so rarely that everyone fell silent in an instant. Sword still drawn, he was climbing what was left of the stairs, eyeing the upper floors. With a nod from its human, Ryuuko took off from Ranito's shoulder and circled the broken ceiling up to the exposed second floor and the next bit of undamaged stairs twenty feet up. 

"What are you doing, Master Sergeant?" Tristen asked. 

Shon looked down and met the Paladin's eyes, saying only, "Draken don't take prisoners."

***

Tristen locked his jaw and nodded to Shon. He should've thought of it. Hadn't Alena just said that Warlocks had worked with draken before? He thought a prayer of thanks that the Hengist man always managed to stay unphased in the face of the rest of the team's lack of discipline. 

"Vicar, stay with the civilians. Staff Sergeant, get a line up to those steps. Druid, scout ahead with Ryuuko. Archmage, I'll need a levitate." 

The team scrambled to obey without argument or further banter. They'd grown complacent in their skill but once given orders, they obeyed like the professionals they were.

Alena ushered the frightened women to the door, Oswall took out his rope and grapple, setting it to spinning and aiming for the exposed lower stairs while Ebonwing transformed into a crow, and Ranito started chanting. 

The Druid made it up first but with Shon close behind, climbing up the rope with his powerful arms. Oswall followed, and Ranito placed a hand on Tristen and then himself, causing them both to start the slow float up after their companions. 

Shon gave point to Oswall, the Rogue moving slow but steady, checking for traps and loose stones on the precarious steps as they spiraled around the tower toward the top floor.

Tristen watched from behind as the two Temple men reached the door at the top. Oswall checked the lock then took his crossbow in both hands before nodding to Shon. He didn't kick in the door this time. He didn't need to. Taking up a position on the other side of the portal from Oswall, Shon twisted the handle and pushed the door open while the Rogue took aim.

Beyond the door, an archway of stone glowed with magical runes, and beyond that, a field of snow waited for the man in robes to step through the gate to safety. Oswall's first bolt flew for the man's back. And went right through. The magic-user disappeared, reappearing ten feet away beside a desk piled haphazardly with magical components. 

"The gate, Os!" Ranito shouted, and Oswall took aim again as Shon rolled under the crossbow and into the room. The Rogue's second bolt flew over Shon's head. It struck the archway, dead center in one of the glowing runes, disrupting the spell. The image beyond the gate shrank down into a single diamond that hung in the air for a brief moment before dissolving into dust. 

"No!" the enemy magic-user screamed in rage, throwing his arms wide, glowing mist flowing from his robe's sleeves. 

Ebonwing dove for him, shifting as she did into the form of a great hunting cat. But the magic-user split, and now there were five of them standing side by side in a line. She crashed through one, the image wavering as she slid into the table, knocking jars onto the floor and breaking glass. 

"Damn illusions," Ranito cursed, then started to jerk and twist his fingers in awkward motions as Tristen rushed forward. 

The magical mist filled the room and started to take shape, solidifying into a massive beast that could barely fit in the tight confines. It stood on hind legs with sharp talons as long as swords and rested its upper half on great leathery wings. A reptilian head covered in muddy brown scales twisted around on a long serpentine neck. It roared, causing the tower to shake. 

"It's an illusion!" Ranito shouted, "Focus on the Mage!" 

"Which one?!" Tristen called, taking his cudgel in both hands and lifting it over his head on instinct to block the wyvern's sweeping blow with one wing. 

The wing slammed into him, pushing him back and knocking books from a shelf by the door. 

"How is THAT an illusion?!" Oswall screamed, taking aim at one of the magic-users and shooting another bolt straight through before diving aside to avoid another sweep of the wing. 

Shon slid under the wyvern's neck and towards the enemy magic-user. His sword sliced up as he went but bounced off the hard scales of the monster, leaving only a scratch. 

"Archmage!" Tristen called to Ranito, sparing a glance and seeing the man's eyes begin to glow violet. 

"second from the left." Ranito declared, and Shon sprinted. 

Taking his sword in his right hand, Shon slapped his left palm over the face of the magic-user and struck true. He didn't slow, continuing to slam the man into the wall. The magic-user's startled yells were muffled by Shon's palm as he lifted the magic-user off the ground by the face. 

The decoys popped from existence, and the wyvern roared one last time then faded. The magic-user struggled, first trying to pry Shon's hand free, then attempting another spell. Shon shoved his sword through the magic-user's palm, and he screamed. 

Tristen took heaving breaths, examining his dented armor, then strode forward to join the Hengist man, "In the name of the king of Daanlin, you are under arrest for the unauthorized use of arcane magic..." The magic-user continued to struggle, pulling ineffectually at Shon's fingers with his good hand, "... The kidnapping of kingdom citizens..." he grunted, struggling to breathe, "... fraternizing with draken..." he screamed against Shon's flesh in frustration, "... and the unforgivable practice of Warlock experimentation." with that the magic-user went limp, and his struggles changed to sound like muffled words as he tried to shake his head. 

"Let him down, Master Sergeant. Staff Sergeant, the shackles." Tristen ordered.

Both complied. Shon let down the magic-user slowly, though he collapsed when Shon removed his hand, and Oswall pulled out a pair of platinum manacles studded with amethysts and locked them around the old man's bony wrists.

The magic-user trembled, grasping his mangled hand, tears streaming down his elderly face, "I'm not a Warlock. I swear!"

Ebonwing resumed her human form and planted her hands on her hips, "He's got to be." 

"I would never sell my sanity! I..."

But the team was ignoring him now. 

"None of those were Warlock spells, Sir Tristen," Ranito said.

"The gate wasn't right..." Ebonwing conceded but then shook her head, "But working with draken and summoning a wyvern?" 

"That was an illusion," Ranito said again, and the magic-user nodded emphatically. 

"We'll see," Tristen said, reaching down to lift the shaking man to his feet. 

"He's got to be," Oswall repeated Ebonwing's declaration. "We've fought five draken clans, cleared out three bands of bandits, exterminated three kobold nests, and arrested a renegade Mage already."

"We've got to get lucky eventually," Ebonwing agreed.

"It's been almost a year. Law of averages. He's definitely a Warlock." Oswall declared. 

***

"He wasn't a Warlock..." Tristen made the announcement, and the team groaned. 

Ebonwing rested her head in her hands, and Alena went limp, dropping her face onto the piles of paperwork before her. Even Shon sighed, reaching up to pet a hissing Ryuuko, and Oswall cursed, kicking his desk. 

"Seriously?!" the Rogue shouted into the otherwise silent office of their manor back in Deim, "Almost a full year, a damn year! and we've got jack and shit to show for it." 

"We've done some good..." Alena tried, but Ebonwing had had enough too,

"It's almost Winter Solstice. How much longer are we going to be chasing our tails?" 

Tristen collapsed into his chair and pinched the bridge of his nose, "Until we capture them all. No one said it was going to be easy." 

Ranito cleared his throat, "Quite the opposite, in fact. They've been working underground..." No one was listening. They'd all heard it before. 

Oswall climbed to his feet with a grumbled, "I need a smoke." 

"You always need a smoke." Ebonwing waved a dismissive hand, leaning back in her chair. 

"We still have work to do, Staff Sergeant." Tristen admonished Oswall, but then a knock, magically amplified, sounded from the front door. 

Oswall practically ran to the office door, swinging it open with a, "I've got it!" already reaching for his smokes. 

Tristen groaned, closing his eyes, but didn't argue as the Rogue disappeared into the entryway and opened the door for their guest. 

"It's about lunchtime anyway, Tris." Alena tried to comfort him, but all he could do was grunt. He felt the other's frustration. Even Shon, in his silent impassive way, seemed weary of the research and tower raids. But they didn't have anything else to go on... 

Then the man himself let out a loud -for him- groan, followed closely by the clatter of a falling chair and Ebonwing's excited shout of, "Yua!"

Tristen opened his eyes in time to see a crow fly into the room and the Druid leap over the desks, shifting into a dog as she went. She sprinted for the door, jumping into the air to try and lick the Ranger's face.

Yua laughed, pushing her lover down and declaring brazenly, "If you're going to lick me, Eb, you know I would prefer the human tongue." Shon groaned again.

But that just drew the Ranger's attention. She greeted him over Ebonwing's, now human again, shoulder, "Good afternoon to you too, big guy."

"Ranger Yua..." Tristen greeted her stiffly, searching her face and returning her nod when she gave it. They'd spoken at length and come to an agreement concerning her knowledge of Shon and Lily's relationship.

"Sir Tristen..." She spoke politely, but a slight frown creased her face as she did. She held out a file, and Ranito moved to take it as she explained, "I ran into someone from Horsa on the way in, and he said to give this to you." Then she turned back to Ebonwing and smiled warmly at both her and Shon, "I just came into town and was wondering if you two wanted some lunch."

Shon didn't answer but Ryuuko whistled in the affirmative and bit his ear. 

"It's decided then! Let's go." Yua declared, and without waiting for Shon's answer, grabbed Ebonwing around the waist and led her out of the office, Neg following them both out with a loud caw. 

Ryuuko whistled again and flew after the ladies and crow, and Shon stood. 

Tristen stood as well, "You know you don't have to, Master Sergeant..." But Shon just shook his head before following them out. As sure a sign as any that he'd had enough of their mission for today. 

Tristen sat back down and once again tried to rub his headache out. It never worked. "Something has to happen eventually..." he whispered, looking up as a hand landed comfortingly on his shoulder. 

Alena smiled down at him, "It will, Sir Tristen. Keep praying, and the gods will provide." 

He'd been praying. They all had. Or at least the Paladin assumed they did. But maybe this time...

Ranito laid the file on Tristen's desk. It had the province seal of Yanao on the cover. "I'll compile the list of towers for Halakon province." Ranito held up a finger, "After lunch." then he left with the others. 

"Come on, Tris. You need food too." Alena said, gesturing for the door. 

Tristen waved her away, "I will, Vicar. Just let me look through this first." it wasn't often the Temples delivered new reports personally. Maybe this time... 

***

Yua watched Shon as Ebonwing waved a farewell to Oswall, who was smoking by the door, and Ranito, who went the other way down the street towards the noble district's more expensive restaurants. Shon had groaned upon seeing her and again when she'd purposefully spoken lewdly. But he hadn't blushed...

"So..." She asked, slowing to walk beside him, "Has my Eb finally broken you?"

Shon arched an eyebrow down at her, and Ryuuko twittered. She shrugged in response to Shon's questioning expression, but rather than explain, decided to try something else. Reaching into her bag, she fumbled around until she found what she was looking for, then sped back up to walk with Ebonwing again. Wrapping her arm around her lover's waist, Yua tossed a peach over her head to Shon. 

The move caught Ebonwing's eye, and together they looked over their shoulders to watch Shon catch the fuzzy pink fruit. He stared at it a moment, then arched his other eyebrow at Yua. The Ranger grinned, "You can tell a lot about someone from how they eat a ripe peach..." 

Ebonwing snickered, weaving her arm under Yua's to grip her waist in return. It took him a fraction too long to respond, and when he did, Shon just rolled his eyes and held the fruit up for Ryuuko to nibble. 

Yua blinked. Maybe he was broken. Or... She eyed Ebonwing. The Druid had told her about all her new companions, including Shon, and what had happened upon returning to Clearhelm. But she'd also said he seemed better after staying with his Master for a few days. And the last time Yua had seen him herself, on Summer Solstice, he'd seemed mostly normal... or at least the same as he'd been when she'd first met him. Before Lily... 

Now...

Yua looked from Ebonwing to Shon and back again. He continued to feed the peach to Ryuuko while Ebonwing snickered. Had the change been so gradual over the last year that Ebonwing, who saw him every day, hadn't noticed?

She tried something else, "Now now, don't go delegating a task like that! What would Li..." She stopped herself, stuttering over Lily's name before she managed, "Ladies think if you're only ever willing to play with your food without ever eating any yourself?" 

Ebonwing snorted at Yua's fumble, "Talk much? Maybe you need to try some more tongue exercises yourself..." They both watched Shon, but the man just stared. Yua cocked her head at him, and he finally blinked and looked away. Like he just realized he was supposed to be embarrassed...

Yua tried not to look too concerned. She'd already messed up once, but Ebonwing just rolled her eyes, looking forward again and turning them down another road toward their lunch destination. "He's no fun," she whispered as loud as she could so Shon could hear, "He doesn't even turn pink when I walk in on him in the shower anymore. Though I haven't managed to convince Alena to try yet."

"Oh! That could be fun," Yua whispered loudly back, "I wonder which would turn a deeper shade of scarlet?"

"My money's on Alena. Poor sheltered thing..." Ebonwing shook her head, then glanced back at Shon again and continued, "Besides, I'm starting to think he might be more of a meat eater..." 

That made Yua gasp despite her best efforts and turn wide eyes on Ebonwing, unable to say anything without giving too much away. If only you knew, love... She tried to imagine the look on Lily's face if she heard that theory. She'd probably laugh hard enough her skin would turn the same shade as her scales...

Behind them, Shon huffed, then shrugged. Looking down at the peach he studied it a moment then took a bite.

Ebonwing laughed, "Well, that answers that then." and returned her face forward. 

Yua tried to smile, but there was definitely something different about him. Like he was just playing along, giving the responses others expected without actually feeling the emotions that should've been fueling them.

They arrived at a familiar pub just inside the inner gates of the city. High enough in class to be inside the inner walls, but common enough that most of the people crowding the interior wore well-worn workers' garb. The crowd parted before Shon, half a head taller than most of them and with a bastard sword he clearly knew how to use strapped across his back. The three of them found a small table far from the bar and claimed it before anyone else could. 

Yua took the seat beside Ebonwing, then leaned over the table to tug on a loose lock of long black hair that had slipped from Shon's ponytail. That at least got an immediate reaction. He reached up to run his hand over his hair. The familiar gesture comforted her a fraction, and she asked, "Letting it grow?" 

Something flickered behind his eyes. A single sign of life. And he finally spoke, "Haven't seen my barber in a while..." Ryuuko purred from his shoulder. 

"I stopped by the Monks' place in Halakon on the way here..." Yua started, but Shon shook his head, the loose hair falling free again to frame his face once more.

"Master Veon-Zih trained a replacement." He lifted a hand without looking at her, signaling to a waitress who started towards them, "Tea." he told her as she came closer. 

"Two beers and three of today's special, please," Ebonwing added. The server nodded, weaving through the packed tables to return to the bar and fill their orders. 

Yua attempted to arch an eyebrow at Shon but added just in case, "Tea? Really?" 

Ebonwing sighed, crossing her arms and leaning back in her chair, she answered for him, "Shon never drinks. I'd say he's a stick in the mud, but he's more like a log." Neg ruffled his feathers on her shoulder. 

"Since when?!" Yua exclaimed, "How else do you get him to talk if you don't get him drunk?"

"I don't drink on mission," Shon stated, his voice flat. 

Yua leaned over the table, pointing an accusing finger at him, "This isn't a mission. This is lunch. You can have a beer." 

Just as Yua had planned, Ebonwing latched on to what the Ranger had implied, "He talks when he drinks? Oh, I've got to see this..." and with a wicked grin, she stood, "I'll be right back." And she left the two alone at the table. 

Shon ran his hand over his hair again and leveled a glare that almost looked angry at the Ranger. Almost. It lacked any real fire. Or even ice. Yua shrugged, crossing her arms and legs stubbornly, "Glare all you want, big guy. I haven't seen you this detached since that mission to the ruin in Lenare." 

Ryuuko chittered at him in agreement, and Shon looked away. 

Yua kicked him under the table, "You know... I wasn't the only one to visit the Monks." she looked around the crowded pub pointedly. She didn't have much time, "Master Velona's student stopped by last summer apparently." 

Shon looked back, his eyes suddenly sharp as broken glass. Or ice... 

Yua watched Ebonwing, already on her way back with a bottle and three empty glasses, and spoke quickly, "She didn't stay long. Just a day. But they said they got her some supplies from the Mages Guild just in case she needed to make a hasty escape. She'll be fine, Shon..." 

Shon huffed, and Ryuuko looked over his shoulder, following Ebonwing's movements as she came closer. He whispered, "She can take care of herself." 

"What are you two whispering about?" Ebonwing asked, resuming her seat and sliding Shon a glass. She didn't wait for an answer before continuing to him, "I'm going to get you sooo hammered..."

Shon stared down at the glass but didn't need to respond as Oswall came to his rescue. The Horsa representative appeared in the doorway to the pub and didn't bother to come all the way in, shouting to them over the din of other dinners, "Take it to go, you two. We have a lead. A real one this time!" 

***

Lily lay on the floor in her room in the Central Talon, her legs outstretched on the wall and heels tapping in rhythm on the stone. She chewed at the end of her pencil then made a few more marks on the rough map she'd drawn of the Central Talon's halls over the last few months. Arching her neck back, she held the map upside-down over her head and stared at it. As if looking at it from this angle would make the twisting maze make more sense.

She still hadn't found a physical way out but wasn't afraid of being here anymore. Not since she'd gotten her emergency escape plans in order. But she was just as ready to leave again as she'd always been. "Bored...." she whined. 

She spoke to herself, but Rose sighed, resting her book in her lap and tilting her head at Lily, who watched her upside down. "Did you honestly think it was going to be fast?" 

Lily arched her back, walking her feet up the wall until she could flip them over her head and stand again with another frustrated whine, "No, but I could hope, couldn't I?" 

Rose smirked, "You could try praying..." but Lily just snorted at that stupid idea. Rose shrugged and went back to her book, "At least you've been keeping busy between jobs..." 

Lily groaned at that. Plopping back on the ground and crossing her legs, she dug through her second bag of holding -the one she used to hold her jewelry- and pulled out a book full of loose papers. The 'payment' the Warlocks had been giving her. "This damn 'information' might as well be written in a third damn language with as much sense as it makes," Lily complained.

At first, they'd paid her in research results, but when she'd complained that she didn't have the background knowledge to make any use of it, they started to pay her in biology lessons. At the molecular level. Which was even more confusing. "No wonder the Warlocks go batshit crazy... trying to comprehend this nonsense..."

"You have no idea..." Rose said, flipping a page without looking up. "Ryuugen implants the knowledge directly in their minds, but then they have to try and decipher it and apply it to make it make sense on our level. The Apprentices and Journeymen spend most of their time just studying the theory..."

"Has he ever tried actually explaining this stuff?" Lily asked.

Rose just shrugged, "I don't think he knows how. He works instinctually on a cosmic level and doesn't know how to break it down to an individual level. If he did, he would have just created the dragons anew himself. Without needing to start everything from scratch." 

"Then how were they made in the first place?!" Lily complained more than asked.

But Rose answered anyway, "The gods did that. They are the bridge between the source, Ryuugen, and the mortals, us. They are divisions of him as we are divisions of them." 

"And they're dead..." Lily grumbled. 

Rose didn't have a chance to comment before a knock sounded on their door. Lily jumped back to her feet. She was never completely relaxed here. Rose rolled her eyes, calling, "Enter!" 

The door opened to reveal two now-familiar stone faces. Lily groaned. 

"We have jobs for you two..." In'nin stated,

"If you choose to accept them..." Yonin finished.

"Them?" Rose asked, closing her book. 

Yonin smiled, and In'nin answered, "Yes, one is in Shutha, the Southernwood..."

"The other in Yanao..." 

Rose and Lily exchanged looks. They rarely worked apart. "Details?" Lily asked, crossing her arms and tapping her foot. She used the motion to slip her hand around her waist and pat the hidden pockets in her belt, feeling the small glass globes and finding comfort in them.

"We would like the Waterwyrm..." In'nin started, 

"Rose," Lily interjected,

Yonin continued where he left off, ignoring the correction, "To go to Shutha and help the Talon there clean up after the storm..."

Rose snorted, but In'nin picked up, "And for you..." he refrained from using Lily's title or her name, "to go to Yanao..." 

Lily made an impatient gesture with her hand, "And..." 

"Protect the Talon there..."

"They are researching the origins of the storms..."

Lily rolled her eyes, "Neat, but protect them from what?"

In'nin and Yonin exchanged looks, nodding to one another and speaking in unison, "From the kingdom team."