darkSpyro

Raclaw politely excused himself from the table and quickly followed the desperate traveler.
"We have to help him!.," Chester barked running after Raclaw.

Quote: Spyroconvexity

Shade saw he hurt her and instantly the aura went down and he rushed over to her. “Angora!”

Angora could hear him, but she was unable to open her eyes completely. She did managed to have some voice left in her.
"Shade... let's get... get ou...t now..." she excaimed weakly, holding onto his snout almost in a hug. She knew it had been foolish to navigate that collapsing castle, but the guilt was going to hurt more if she had left without Shade. She wouldn't have been able to face Maverick if she had returned worth out him, and their family wouldn't have been completed without the dragolet in it...

"Well now we just have to trust you" Dex said turning to Sapphire.
He still was not sure about this.... it was too perfect time for a revenge... She had made great effort to get him in this.... it was all to perfect.... mainly because if Sapphire wanted to revenge, this was something Dex would have planed if he was in that kind of situation.

"We are getting closer" the driver said.
Sapphire looked worried "I know this sounds weird, but we should see parts of the Castle already....." She said.

Blue noticed the situation was over. The mage was finally dead, and he was free to do what he wanted. " I am going to build my brotherhood back up and this time it does what I want. " He thought and made his way back to shore. He was moving slowly because of all the power he had used.

The miniature troll's vision was blurry, so she didn't noticed the deadly water dragon leaving. She could barely move, so she depended entirely on Shade to get out of this one...

Quote: cyndego

"Well now we just have to trust you" Dex said turning to Sapphire.
He still was not sure about this.... it was too perfect time for a revenge... She had made great effort to get him in this.... it was all to perfect.... mainly because if Sapphire wanted to revenge, this was something Dex would have planed if he was in that kind of situation.

"We are getting closer" the driver said.
Sapphire looked worried "I know this sounds weird, but we should see parts of the Castle already....." She said.

Arriving nearer, Maverick took a look in the sky, and the clouds above where the castle was supposedly located were broken down, forming a perfect circle. It was as if the blast of a bomb had shot upwards.
"Miss Sapphire, we need to find this place! I can't bear the thought of my family being imprisoned a minute longer." the young man said desperately, his anxiety growing. He blamed himself for what happened with Aelinon, and now he got his dearest friends in a brand new predicament. The guilt was killing him.

Raclaw quickly followed with the little Chester quickly keeping up.

Quote: Spyroconvexity

“Hold on Angora I’ll get you some help. You may not like it though.” Shade said. He then gently placed her on his back and flew out of a collapsed wall.

Angora did her best to hold on, but she ended up sliding closer to his tail. Thankfully, his spikes could hold her up nicely after a while. She didn't know what Shade meant, nor she cared. She was too weak to be against him. She saw below her and could see the castle collapsing to the water, and the rest acting like a sinkhole. It was quite a miracle she managed to navigate through that collapsing death trap. She had no doubt that it was magic that saved her life...

Quote: Spyroconvexity

The man soon showed them to a fallen tree with a woman pinned under it. “Thank god! You came back!”

"It's alright-- I'm here to help! Just remain calm and we'll get you out of this.," Raclaw said quickly evaluating the situation. Indeed-- it looked like a tree had been shaken from its base and had fallen onto the women's legs pinning her underneath. He could see that the tree was at a ever so slight angle and with some fidgeting-- he could possibly squeeze his head underneath and lift it with the help of his horns. Chester was watching in anticipation of what they were going to do. "Chester-- as soon as I lift it, I need you to go around to the other side and help drag the lady out.," Raclaw spoke to Chester via dogspeak. "Got it!," Chester barked. Raclaw then told those in the the immediate area his plans (in common) and proceeded to get to work.

As discussed, he soon found the narrow opening and squeezed his head underneath-- hoping to help catch the log with his horns but also knowing that it was possible for the log to roll forward onto the upper/mid-body of the trapped woman. He was able to lift the log just enough and it remained steady at least for time being. At the same time, Chester ran around as ordered as proceeded to bite and grab part of the woman's blouse. Once he had a good grip or at least as much as a 25 lb/1½ dog could-- he pulled barking to get others' attention and help. "Over here! It's time to pull!," he barked.

"It's not a problem-- I'm happy to help.," Raclaw said with a smile just glad that the woman was alright. Other than initially being trapped-- nothing seemed broken at least and all seemed well. Chester barked a happy bark, agreeing with Raclaw. He was actually slightly surprised that the woman knew to call him a dragon without having to be corrected first-- having the been the first of anyone in Aelinon thus far to do so.

That morning, King Seraos was in flight to Orcford, some members of his royal guard in tow, intending to personally inspect the status of his behemoths. They were perhaps the biggest symbol of Aelinon's military might - the sight of them on the battlefield was an inspiration to their own soldiers, and demoralized the enemy on top of all of the other damage they could do. For this reason, their readiness was of the utmost importance in any ground conflict. Soon, he came to land within a clearing in the base, greeted appropriately by all of his men.

Meanwhile, two wyvern riders, far in the distance, came within sight of Shade. They immediately reversed their direction, going back to where they came from.

At Shade's back, Angora was unresponsive. She had fallen asleep, weak from her wounds and burns. She had no idea on what was going on...

Dex, Sapphire and Maverick were reaching their destination, and from that distance, the castle could be seen, at least what was left of it. Maverick thought it was some ruins at the distance, but it was eerie how the hole in the sky was right above those supposed ruins. From there, he could see people and other creatures running away.
"What the heck is going on? Did a town got ravaged?" Maverick asked nervously, feeling a very unpleasant atmosphere. Was it somewhere around here that his friends were being held? He urged Sapphire and the carriage rider to pick up the pace at once...

Quote: Spyroconvexity

Shade saw the wyvern riders and flew after them as fast as he could. “Wait! I need your help! Please my friend is dieing!” He looked to Angora. “Hold on Angora! Stay with me!”

The troll was breathing shallowly, holding on to dear life. She had her eyes half open, but she was seeing everything blurry. She was suffering severe burns on some parts of her body, and some of the smaller debris managed to get her, but most of all, her using too much magic all of the sudden without practice or experience drained much of her energy.

In typical Aelinon fashion, the wyverns kept moving as Shade gave pursuit. Not too long later, however, a much larger group of wyverns - similar to the one Shade and his friends first met - were rendezvousing with the scouts, and they turned to face Shade, rapidly closing in. As they neared, one of them telepathed to Shade "This territory is now under Aelinon control. You are ordered to land immediately, and state your purpose in our lands."

Meanwhile, Laszur was stealthily identifying the scenario. A castle in complete ruin - seemed like some sort of horrible accident. There seemed to be some survivors - maybe he could find out more. He continued to make his way to the ruins, under his invisibility.

Quote: Spyroconvexity

“I’ll take her to a doctor.thank you.” The man said.

As the thankful couple headed off, so too did Raclaw-- and back towards the bar. Although he was happy to help, it didn't say much about the patrons of the Merry Satr. "Come on Chester-- let's get back to the others.," he said with a smile motioning for his four legged companion to follow. The two soon entered the bar once again and Raclaw took his place at the table. "I don't think we'll find what we're looking for here. Now-- now where were we?," he telepathically communicated to the others at the table. Chester happily laid down next to him again as he spoke.

The carriage finally made it to the Castle only to see it was only ruins anymore.
"This ..... this was it." Sapphire said with a shocked voice.

Dex and Sapphire jumped out of the carriage "You sure this was the brotherhoods base?" Dex asked

Before Sapphire had time to answer Blue came out behind the ruins with two of the brotherhood members which had came back looking for him "Yes it was. And now Thanks to your dragon friend this is all that is left. But because of that I got my chance to kill a mage that has been controlling me for a long time, and just to tell you he was the one who wanted you here. So now I want my revenge, and I also have no use for you. Sapphire come here, it is time to kill these guys"

Sapphire gave a meaningful look to Dex and then started to walk towards Blue slowly.
Dex shouted after her "So Thats it! Thats all we had, the letter anything..... i thought we had something!"
Sapphire turned back " And I thought you would know this kind of tricks, nice to hear I was good enough to make you actually think I care" She said and keeped going to Blue again.

Maverick saw with a heavy heart just how much his words to Sapphire had been in vain. What was worse, he thought this had been a trap all along, and that Angora and Shade weren't there. He even considered the possibility they were dead already, and that he was the only one left.
"So, this is how it is, isn't it? You get blamed for your castle's destruction, when it was you who brought the black dragon in the first place." Maverick accused, following his destruction story. He hold out the tears, his face being so full of hatred and disappointment. He looked like an entirely different person.

His face red and full of continued sorrow, he addressed to Sapphire.
"Is this is how it's going to be? You preferring to be used than be loved?" Maverick pointed out to the fox as he took out a sword from his magical bag, knowing that Blue didn't care for her, and that only wanted her for her powers. But if he was suppose to die as well, he wasn't going to make it easy for the sadistic dragon. He was once a pirate, and even though he had given up on that life, he still had the experience, and he was willing to fight dirty if it meant his survival and own revenge...

Dex put a paw to Mavericks knee. "Wait, you will have your chance to fight"

Sapphire made her way back. To Blue. "Good to see you can make the right choises" Blue said to Sapphire. The two others looked at Sapphire nodding " Kill them" Blue said......But nobody moved. The two other members of the brotherhood where not moving and looked like they where not reacting to anything..... Sapphire looked at Blues eyes. And She looked surprised. "You really thought I would fall for that you little worthless traitor" Blue said showing that he had kept some water in his eyes to make sure to block Sapphires powers.

Dex walked forward " And now Blue you are all alone" he said. He had read Sapphires look right... it was a trick, and it had worked almost perfectly. Blue tried to attack Sapphire, but She Dodged it and ran to Dexes said. Dex looked at Maverick " Remember How we are, this is How we fight" Dex said to him and turned to Blue " It is three against one, leave now and you get to keep your life"

"We will see about that." Blue said and started to get ready for a attack.

As Shade was brought to the ground, the wyvern riders kept their weapons trained on him, just as before, as one of the men dismounted. "That troll you have - that's your friend?" the man asked with disdain. "Why should we care about it?"

"Where we were was at you finishing your drink," Latnok said. "Come on, at least try it - see how it makes you feel. It's what we were all waiting for, anyway." Many of the other patrons were looking at Raclaw in anticipation, as the barkeeper brought the drink to him again.

On Shade's back, Angora was still too weak to get up. She managed to lift her arm for a few seconds, but it was too much force for her. She could hear voices, but didn't understand the words. They sounded as if she was underwater. She didn't know where Shade took her or why did he said that she wouldn't like it, but there was nothing she could do but to trust him. She has always been a survivor, and has never been this injured in her life, so for her, this situation was as painful as it was humiliating.

Quote: cyndego

Dex put a paw to Mavericks knee. "Wait, you will have your chance to fight"

Sapphire made her way back. To Blue. "Good to see you can make the right choises" Blue said to Sapphire. The two others looked at Sapphire nodding " Kill them" Blue said......But nobody moved. The two other members of the brotherhood where not moving and looked like they where not reacting to anything..... Sapphire looked at Blues eyes. And She looked surprised. "You really thought I would fall for that you little worthless traitor" Blue said showing that he had kept some water in his eyes to make sure to block Sapphires powers.

Dex walked forward " And now Blue you are all alone" he said. He had read Sapphires look right... it was a trick, and it had worked almost perfectly. Blue tried to attack Sapphire, but She Dodged it and ran to Dexes said. Dex looked at Maverick " Remember How we are, this is How we fight" Dex said to him and turned to Blue " It is three against one, leave now and you get to keep your life"

"We will see about that." Blue said and started to get ready for a attack.

Maverick felt foolish with the whole ordeal. Turns out Sapphire's deflection was all an act.
"You're quite the actress." He whispered to Sapphire, feeling bad for what he said earlier. He didn't know the foxes' battle dynamic, so he fell for the ruse at that moment.

With all cleared up, he turned to face Blue.
"Blaming us when this was your own doing? If you ask me, you just want someone to take your anger on. The one who was controlling you is dead. What more do you want?" Maverick said to the water dragon, trying to use some psychology and avoid an unecessary battle. Still, he had his sword ready in case a fight was imminent...

In typical fashion, no show of emotion seemed to touch the soldiers. "Well, bring her down here, to me," the man ordered, as another rider dismounted.
"Sir, I believe this is that big black dragon that is forbidden to fly, or be unattended by his owner," the other rider said.
"...is that so?" the leader said. "While you do that, tell us where your owner is."

Angora was slowly regaining consciousness, but was still too weak to do much of anything. She could feel that she wasn't on Shade's back anymore. She was being carried by something, or someone else. She really hated to be in this predicament, but no matter how hard she tried, her body still wasn't responding to her. She believed that all she needed was a good rest, but she couldn't stop to think where Shade has taken her...

The subordinate rider looked at the leader, somewhat bewildered. "Should we just... what should we do with them, sir?" he asked.
"If their story is true, then I believe that their breaking of the order would be forgivable under extenuating circumstances," the leader said. "Moving the dragon won't be possible without one of our behemoths, which we're not likely going to spare. Administer some first aid to them, and we'll see where things go when they're in a bit more of a talking mood. Send one of the other riders to report back to base about our situation." Soon after, several riders landed, producing first aid supplies from their packs.

Meanwhile, Laszur silently observed the confrontation between Blue and the others under the cover of his invisibility. Wait... wasn't that the man he had captured earlier? Something to be considered...

Angora could be heard mumbling Maverick and Shade's names. She had a horrible headaches and her body still refused to move. She was completely helpless, her last memory being that of Shade surrounded by a very hot light and then her passing out from her injuries and burns. Whether she was still in that castle or somewhere else she didn't know, but her thoughts were with her family, begging to the heavens for a chance of returning to the pleasant freedom and peace they once had...

Quote: A Guy

"Where we were was at you finishing your drink," Latnok said. "Come on, at least try it - see how it makes you feel. It's what we were all waiting for, anyway." Many of the other patrons were looking at Raclaw in anticipation, as the barkeeper brought the drink to him again.

Raclaw looked down at the large jug of the sweet smelling Ale, as everyone looked at him in participation. "You'll never going to know unless you try it. Trust me-- you'll like it.," Damon could be heard saying over the links. Unknowingly to anyone else, Damon had quite the appetite for the subtance and wanted a taste of it just as much as everyone wanted the fur dragon to try it. Raclaw first smelled it absorbing the sweet smell for a moment. 'Well-- it can't be too bad.,' he thought to himself. He slowly brought his muzzle down to the large drink and took his first 'sip'-- or the dragon equivalent of a first sip. His taste buds were immediately flooded with the new sensation that was Summerset Ale and the overly strong sweetness could immediately be felt. 'This--,' he started to think. Just than, the strong bitter aftertaste kicked in and left his taste buds somewhere in-between sour and sweet. He immediately took a second 'sip' and another just to be sure. "This-- this isn't half-bad at all. In fact.. it's actually quite good.," he said out loud looked the others closely watching his reaction. "Ah-- that's the stuff. See.. I told you it wouldn't be that bad.," Damon could be heard very much awakened by the activity.

As Raclaw drank the alcohol, many of the patrons began chatting amongst themselves about the unusual sight. Latnok gave a slight chuckle. "If you think it tastes good, wait till you see how it makes you feel," he said.
"That would, admittedly, be very interesting to see," Sere said. "Don't get TOO carried away now, though. Just a little carried away." Sere continued to have some of his own drink - he wouldn't overindulge, but just a bit to lighten the mood was always nice in these sorts of environments. It made them much more tolerable, anyway.
"Ladies and gentlemen," one of the bar workers announced. "The moment you have all been waiting for! This morning's performance!"

Back with Angora and Shade, the Aelinon soldiers were diligently monitoring the two. As Shade stirred, weapons were trained on him. "Stay down," one man ordered. "If you are up, you will explain the entire situation to us, including why your owner isn't with you. I will work with you if you work with me. Pray, don't give us any reason to make it more difficult than that."

"As King Seraos walked by, more of his men continued to greet him. He returned their greetings, coming to what he was looking for - the behemoths. One roared at the sight of him.
"How are you doing today, my fine warrior?" the king asked the behemoth.
"HAHA! READY TO CRUNCH THEIR BONES!" the behemoth replied heartily. "WHERE IS THE BATTLE? WE WILL BREAK THEIR LINES!"
"You will have your chance soon enough," said the king. "Our enemies are still reeling, but they are starting to realize what is happening, and will be uniting soon enough to stand against us. When that happens, you and my men will meet them. You will crush them in your jaws and underfoot - you will have more than enough of your fill. You will show them what happens to those who threaten our existence."
"I LOOK FORWARD TO IT!" the behemoth replied. The rest of the behemoths seemed to be in similar spirits - all ready, all healthy, all looking forward to their chance. Satisfied in that regard, King Seraos, began heading back to his wyvern.

"You fools. Do you really think that I care about your what is fair thinking. I want to see all of you dead right now" Blue said

Sapphire answering to Maverick "Thank you, seemed to be good enough to fool you" She wishpered with a wilnk, her face clearly saying "dont worry about it".

"Go Blue you can not win against all of us. The your members and live to see another day" Dex said

"You fool" Blue said launching an attack towards Maverick

"He is a week melee fighter, use that" Sapphire quickly shouted when Blue attacked

Blue seemed to be too furious to use his elemental attacks, and after Sapphire assured him that this could be an advantage, Maverick launched his own attack, ducking Blue's attack and slightly slicing his underbelly as the lunging dragon passed above him. After the angry dragon passed over him almost completely, Maverick grabbed his tail and used it to catapult himself to the back of the vengeful creature's head, which he stabbed rather gently with the sword. He felt so lousy for trying to kill somebody, even if that somebody wanting him dead so badly. One thing was certain, Maverick's moves were NOT of an amateur. Even though he hadn't fought with a dragon before, Blue was quite small for one, so that helped plenty...

Quote: A Guy

As Raclaw drank the alcohol, many of the patrons began chatting amongst themselves about the unusual sight. Latnok gave a slight chuckle. "If you think it tastes good, wait till you see how it makes you feel," he said.
"That would, admittedly, be very interesting to see," Sere said. "Don't get TOO carried away now, though. Just a little carried away." Sere continued to have some of his own drink - he wouldn't overindulge, but just a bit to lighten the mood was always nice in these sorts of environments. It made them much more tolerable, anyway.
"Ladies and gentlemen," one of the bar workers announced. "The moment you have all been waiting for! This morning's performance!"

Raclaw drank a little more of the Summerset Ale-- noting how each subsequent sip went down just a little bit easier and became just a little bit sweeter. The bitter aftertaste, meanwhile, become something less bitter and more interesting. As he watched the soon-to-begin performance with great interest, Chester lifted his head from his position intrigued in what was about to aspire.

The soldier speaking to Shade did not have enough knowledge of him to connect him going wild with the disturbance throughout Aelinon. "Okay, I see what the deal is," the man said, "but where is the human Maverick? Has anything happened to him? He is supposed to be attending you two, and can be imprisoned if he does not."

King Seraos, though startled, showed no signs of it. "Oh, of course they haven't, Orion," he said, as his royal guard took an aggressive stance. "My men only bother me about things that matter. Pray tell, what are you here for this morning? Are you here to grovel at my feet, or offer your services? If it's neither of those things, then begone - I have more important matters to deal with than you, like protecting our existence."

As the patrons gathered, a troupe of human troubadours took to the stage. "Welcome, welcome everybody!" one of the troubadours called out. "This morning, we will be performing a song we call 'Vonterr.'" The lute and violin players began playing the tune, with one woman dancing, as the man sang.

"'Twas a bright and sunny morning,
As the men prepared to fight,
All the preparations done then,
As they all worked through the night.
The enemy would soon arrive,
The war's end was at hand,
But we could not afford to lose -
Here we would make our stand.

As dragons blotted out the sky,
They seemed to be too strong.
They thought they'd overpower us -
They'd find out they were wrong.
For we had a wondrous weapon
That was hidden in the ground,
It was charged and ready for them -
We would win this time around.

The enemy, they didn't think
That we could use it then.
They thought that we would need more time,
About a day or ten.
They had been misled to the trap,
The weapon charged and primed,
Dragons burning straight to ashes,
When its deadly light had shined.

The dragons done, just blighters left,
They tried to charge the fort,
But we were far too deep entrenched,
They needed to abort.
The battle turned into a rout,
Our cavalry were fast,
They found and killed our enemies,
From the first to the last."

As the song ended, the tavern erupted in cheering. "Hmm, not bad, not bad at all," Sere said. "An abridged version of the story, but good nonetheless."

Blue clearly in pain struggled "Damn you" he shouted

As Dex saw what happen he quickly tryed to bite Blue. But when he did Blue noticed he was in trouble he shot something like a water spare towards Sapphire. Dex quickly jumped and put himself between Sapphire and Blues attack. Blue using the situation turned himself into water quickly taking the two brotherhood members with him and flew away, at same time shouting " I will kill you just you wait!

Blues attack hit Dex pretty badly in his upperbody, going straight through him. He fell to the ground watching Blue escaping.

Sapphire quickly ran to Dex "No Dex! Are you alright" She shouted

Dex was clearly weak "Dont touch me, my blood will burn you" he said and passed out as his blood started to burn his wound already.

Maverick fell to the ground when Blue materialized into water. He was about to go for the kill this time, knowing now that Blue didn't deserve mercy or pity, but before he knew it, the menacing water dragon was flying away with his brief companions.
"Coward! Cheater! Are you so afraid of me you pathetic excuse for a dragon? Come back here and finish the fight you... wimp!" Maverick yelled to the retreating dragon, running after him. He was too polite do use any real curse words, so he did the best he could to get on the dragon's nerves and make him return. What was worse about that is that he was kidnapping his new companions, and he had no idea what happened to Shade and Angora. Little did he knew that he wasn't as alone as he thought...

Further away from there, Angora was finally coming to her senses. Her vision was returning, though she still couldn't move and she couldn't hear that well yet. She didn't know where she was, but it was clear that she wasn't in the castle. She was alive, even though everything hurt. Just where did Shade took her?

Quote: A Guy

As the patrons gathered, a troupe of human troubadours took to the stage. "Welcome, welcome everybody!" one of the troubadours called out. "This morning, we will be performing a song we call 'Vonterr.'" The lute and violin players began playing the tune, with one woman dancing, as the man sang.

"'Twas a bright and sunny morning, [...] From the first to the last."

As the song ended, the tavern erupted in cheering. "Hmm, not bad, not bad at all," Sere said. "An abridged version of the story, but good nonetheless."

"Not bad.," Raclaw said being somewhat familiar with the story from Godfather Sere during their previous journey. As he took another sip of his ale-- he could see why many people such as Latnok liked to kill time in places such as this. "I've heard many such songs back in the day and-- I've heard worse.," Damon could be heard commenting on the performance over the mental link. "That's about your kind, right Raclaw? About dragons I mean?," Chester asked looking at the fur dragon. "Yes, but it was a long time ago. Long before my time.," he responded back in a quieter tone of dogspeak. He wondered what the troupe members and fellow patrons of the Merry Satr thought about the sony being performed ironically in front of a dragon. He also wondered what they thought of Chester so eagerly following him and what comparisons were drawn between the two furry companions.

Quote: Spyroconvexity

“I don’t know where he is. Can you help me find him?” Shade said.

Angora couldn't hear well, but she could still recognize Shade's voice even in those conditions.
"Shady? Shady, is that you? Where are we? What happened?" Angora asked, unable to move her head to see him. She was lying on her back, and couldn't see anything but sky. This was too much for her pride, so she tried to stand up again, but once again, her body wouldn't let her. She on,y hoped nobody else was around...

Dex slowly woke up and also got back to his feet.

"You saved my life" Sapphire said with tears in her eyes not being sure would Dex survive.

The man driving came to them. "Sorry to tell this now, but I need to go, I have been gone too long already from my league duties. Are you going to be alright?" The man said

"Yes I will be fine." Dex said. The man nodded and took off with his horse carrige.

Dex then turned to Sapphire "Well Thats something I usually dont do, I am usually the one ending lives. First time for everything" he said with a clearly joking voice. He then slowly walked to Maverick clearly in pain " Its no use. Lets just hope this was the last time we saw him" Dex said and Lost his ballance again falling to the ground.

Sapphire who had followed him quickly going down to his side " Take it easy. Injury like that does not heal in seconds you know." She said with a concerned voice, before putting her head closer to him nuzzling Dex dearly

Dex first looking like he did not know what to do, but finally just doing what felt somehow right and gave her a lick to her cheek before putting his head to Sapphires paws, clearly out of energy.

Sapphire first blushed and was really surprised by this, but after She saw How tired Dex was She just gently put her head over him, looking like She was trying to make him feel safe

Maverick paced around, stressed with the situation. Not only did Blue escaped, but Dex was injured and didn't know how severe it was. He was beginning to think that they shouldn't have left the carrier leave like that. They were alone now, and all the ones that were escaping the collapsing castle were out of view now. Knowing he couldn't stand there without doing anything, so he took a blanket from out of his hyperspace pocket and carefully wrapped Dex with it, intending to carry him like a baby. He then looked at Sapphire, inviting her to climb his shoulders while he did the walking.
"Here. It's one hundred percent cotton. A nice lady sold this to me very cheap after losing her baby to some disease. I felt so sorry for the poor lass, wanting to get rid of everything that belonged to the little one so she wouldn't suffer anymore. Right now, it can be very useful to you. She said it was special, and right now, you need it the most. Now come on, let's go get you some help. There should be a river nearby, and when there's a river, there's a town." Maverick said kindly, preparing to take on his new destination. Blue was injured, so he believed they won't have to worry about him for a while. But Maverick's biggest concern was his family. It was some very painful torture not knowing what happened to them, or if they even survived. He wanted to think positive though, and if he managed to survive Blue, they could too...

With the song done, the patrons began dispersing once again. "Well, besides all that, I think we're done here," Sere said. "Let us move on to another place. We will see what else we can find."

"As your owner is not a citizen of Aelinon, it is not our responsibility to locate him for you," the leader said to Shade. "However, being that you are under court mandate to have him present with you at all times, it is his responsibility to ensure that he is with you. You may rest here, for now; once you are fully rested, I expect you to leave our lands - on foot - and do not return until you find him."

Seraos was still unfazed, having no respect for this creature in front of him. "So what's that, Orion? You're going to kill us, for retaliating against those who would seek to destroy us? In that case, not only would you be killing me, you would be killing men whose only crime was to follow orders, to feed their families. And with my death, do you know what would happen? I have no heir; with neither an heir nor the Storm Scepter, there is no one who could have a legitimate claim to the Aelinon throne. Do you know what happens then?
"That is what we political types call a power vacuum. By doing that, you would cause Aelinon to fall apart into civil war. Countless innocents would die, either in the war or by starvation and plagues which ravage the land during it. And all because a dragon decides to attack us? Our people were enslaved by dragons; do you know how kindly they would take to that? Not at all; you would create a generation even worse than the last, when the dust settles.
"So go on home, Orion; go back to doing whatever it is you normally do, and don't waste my time. Because anything you try to do will leave the blood of countless innocents on your hands.
"Many have tried to destroy us. They have only made us stronger in the process. With so many things we must contend with, do you really think that I wouldn't account for some so-called god trying to intervene in our matters? Where were you when countless humans were enslaved? Nowhere to be seen."

Laszur had had enough waiting. He finally decided to reveal himself, dropping his invisibility. "So, Maverick, we meet again," he said. "I am not here for you, though; I am here to find out what disturbance here was causing knock-on effects in Aelinon. What would you happen to know about that?

"Agreed.," Raclaw said taking a last sip from his oversized drink and licking his muzzle. He hadn't managed to drink the whole thing (perhaps a serving), but enjoyed the delicate Ale none-the-less and was now feeling a little more at ease. He didn't even mind that the song and performance had been about killing his own kind, though he knew the circumstances and and what his scaled brethren had done to man in decades past. "Perhaps we'll find people more suited in the next bar.," he telepathically said to the others including Sere and excluding Chester. For now-- he planned to keep his telepathy and Damon away from the little Beagle. Although it would be useful in a situation where silent communication was necessary, they effectively already shared their own secret language-- slight awkwardness aside.

As the group left the bar, the scene outside was already being rectified - workers were restoring the trees which had been knocked over, and patching up the minor damage to buildings. The city would soon be exactly how it was at the beginning.
"So, what's the next place?" Latnok asked.
"I say we just keep moving along and see what we run into," Sere said. "We're bound to find something."

"This war is to secure our safety and prosperity," Seraos said calmly. "I do not care what you think. You have done nothing to help us in our time of need. Now leave us be. We will not waste our time making treaties - we have tried to, and we have been betrayed on multiple occasions. And then we are attacked by smallpox - no. There will be only one answer - drive these barbarians off the continent, so they will never darken our doorstep ever again."