Blast! This one is smarter than most, oh well perhaps I can still strike some fear into him with my little trick. Phoenix quickly and quietly made his way across the rooftops until he could see his prey once more, staying out of sight he amplified and threw his voice so that it would sound as if he was all around the man.

"So you thought bringing me to you would yield you a better advantage? Believe me that is rarely the truth of it. How long do you think I've been at this little game? Anyway I digress, we can do this the hard way, which admittedly I would prefer as it would gain me more in the long run, or the easy way, I leave it entirely up to you. Just remember there does not need to be a death tonight unless you wish it."

It wasn't far from the truth either, for the moment all he cared for was a taste of the wonderful power he had been smelling since the man had arrived in town. However he didn't mind draining all of it from him either.

"I don't think bringing you to me would be more of an advantage, just considerate. I'd like to avoid hurting anyone in town!" Resed shouted into the wind. "So you like to play games?" He felt ridiculous calling out into nothingness, he wished the owner of the projected voice would step out from his hiding place, that's when a crooked grin spread across his normally thoughtful face.

"I know a game we can play. You are immortal right? Well inhuman that is obvious. But what you are exactly, I don't know. Could be you sold your soul to some wicked spirit? Perhaps your body is in service of the gods? Maybe you found the fountain of youth? Or maybe...you are a vampire?" He shrugged his shoulders "So lets find out."
He searched his cloak for a black pouch of white powder, he found it and untied from his belt." You see with my magic I command the dead." With a gentle wave of his left hand the powder flew from the pouch and formed into a human skeleton. It's bones looked dull and dirty in contrast with the stark white snow that collected on it's skull, and it creaked and groaned as It turned around to look at it's master, it's rib cage moving in a steady breathing motion as if in memory of the lungs that used to be there.

"This is my sister, she is long dead as you can see." He wiggled his fingers ever so slightly and the skeleton came stepping through the deep snow towards him. He held up his palm and she stopped. "See, command the dead, you understand?" He made a strange gesture and the skeleton burst into powder and regathered it's self into the pouch.
"I'm not sure if you know this but vampires are undead. Yes their minds are still alive, but their bodies are dead and that's what's important. If you are a vampire, then I can control your body as easily as my sister's here."

"Are you an undead vampire?" He took off his left glove, exposing the pale and boney hand. It contorted into foreign hand signs then grasped the air as if to reach out and squeeze the heart of his unseen enemy. As he did so an invisible hand of magic swept through the air blowing the snow from it's path, until it reached Pheonix. If he was undead as Resed hoped, then it would seize his bones and he'd be wretched forward, forced to walk towards Resed. But if he wasn't then the hand of magic would simply pass through him harmlessly and painlessly.
The seconds seemed pass by ever so slowly as Resed waited to see what would happen.

"My Lady We Would Be Honored!" bowed Aled. Tigirid did little but grunt. "We would love your dainty company upon our great Journey to... Junction. Hey, do you think we should leave tonight."

"No." Tigirid said, "Tomorrow morning." and he swept off toward the room he had gotten.

"Ah, he is but a brute! Come! Let me buy you a drink."

Tymaril smiles at the prospect of another drink. "I'll take you up on that, so long as the drink burns on its way down." she leans over and whispers conspiratorially in his ear, "I hope it'll get rid of the taste of the food,"


After traveling for some distance, Shareth lets Rundy take a rest and looks back over his shoulder. The town is little more than a few disembodied specks of light obscured by the storm now, and worries for his new friend assail his mind. He shakes his head to clear it of such morbid thoughts. He looks back at their tracks and is pleased to note that the blowing winds and the snow have covered them quite well. If he didn't know that the crazy guy had some weird extra senses, he'd take solace in that fact. "Let's go Rundy. We need to find ourselves some shelter."

"It's too bad I'm not undead or that could have been a problem, no unluckily for you I became a vampire by merging with a demon, giving me immortality at the cost of requiring that I feed on blood every so often.Besides if you wanted me to show myself all you had to do was ask."

He deftly jumped off the roof he had been standing atop, sending his evil chuckle out into the area, landing a fair distance from Resed, close enough that Resed could see him, but far enough away that he could dodge if needed.

"Remember I told you this could be ended without any violence, even though I admittedly like a good struggle." This time he put some extra weight behind his words to attempt to make his peaceful offer seem more appealing to the necromancer.

Aled stayed up longer than he should have with his new companion. Enjoying her company quite as much as he dis-enjoyed his jaunt through the town. It was a pity, really, that he would seem to remember so little of the time in the next morning. Aled was often the person who forgot his best experiences (and was far too awake during his bad ones); it was a miserable way to spend a life, if you were to ask Tigirid.

Eventually the irresistibility of sleep took him as it takes all and he slept like one dead. Crumpled in an uncomfortable cramped position just outside the door to his room. His fate, as sure as the sunrise the next morning, would be to get knocked sense-full on the edge of a door, connecting with his maxilla when Tigird got up to look for him the next day. An accidental prank on his dental record.

It was going to be a far longer day for Aled than for his more sensible friend. And a lot longer day than it was going to be for his new one as well.

The night was thick and cold and filled with snow. The track the next day would be covered in the a thick, blinding quilt of it. But the clouds broke before the sun rose for a clear and crystalline air. The stars were sharp in the sky for the last hours of darkness. With nothing more than a curving sliver of moon, like a small tear in a perfect coat of black, there was no light to blunt their clarity on the fabric of the sky. The only sound stirring the Oafish Orphan were the oafish snores from Aled's upturned nose against the cold planks of the floor.

"shit." Resed muttered to himself. "I don't have time for this."

He sighed and let his eyes roll back into his head, he lifted his arms and fell back, but his body never hit the ground, it disappeared into a black plume of smoke. A transportation spell.

His body burst into existence a few hundred miles away from Thistleberry. He fell face forward into the snow and didn't move, he didn't want to until the world stopped spinning. As he came to his senses, his stomach lurched and blood stained the snow.

"Ugh, this lifestyle is bad for my health." He moaned.

After about twenty minutes, he sat up and observed his surroundings. He was in a dense wood, old and dark but as silent as death. The winter storm had passed this place already, and the boughs were heavy with snow.

"Lord I hope I made it to the right place." He rubbed his temple. He had no horse, he had no food, and he was miles away from civilization. All he had was his wand, his various amulets and magic rings, and his sister in a pouch.

He managed to stand up finally and make a few staggering steps in what he hoped was the right direction. The snow was up to waist in places and it made his progress slow. But he was determined, if not a bit hungry and tired.

After several hours, the sun fell behind a mountain peak and cast out a long cold shadow. The temperature dropped and Resed shivered uncontrollably. I can't keep going like this , he thought to himself, I'll call out now, and pray that I'm close enough for them to hear.

He cupped his hands around his mouth and let out a long sorrowful howl. He waited, snow dropped from a bough a few yards away.

He did it again, louder and longer this time. Nothing.

He was about to try again when his call was returned. Long hollow notes rang forth from several miles away, they came from many throats. They were loud and fierce and he knew that they did not belong to wolves or coyotes. Still he had to be wary; the druids were not trusting of him, especially Grentyl.

It wasn't ten minutes later when Resed spotted the golden eyes peering at him from between the trees. He counted at least seven pairs of them, but did not find the blue eyes he was looking for. He turned around and there they were. Bright blue and cold like the center of a glacier, they stabbed him with fear. "Grentyl!"

"You're very easy to startle, for a Bone-Eater." Grentyl's voice growled from deep in his chest. He stood on his hind legs like a man but looked like a massive wolf, black and shaggy. His neck was draped with a mane made of rope like hair, entwined with beads made of bone and wood. From his neck dangled necklaces made out of human teeth, and skulls of small birds. Behind one ear, a feather was tucked, a gift from a friend.

Resed let Grentyl sniff him. The wolfman snorted and shook his head. Yes this was Resed, he smelled like disease.

"Hazel told me you would be showing Ayden around the man town. What are you doing here Bone-Eater?"

Resed's eyes looked to each of the wolf faces, they were prowling around him in circles. "I need to rest a moment, perhaps a fire. Then I can tell you the whole story."

Grentyl nodded his massive head then barked something to the others, in their strange guttural language. The wolf druids sped silently away through the trees. Grentyl shifted his body to stand on all fours, and allowed Resed to mount him. For the first, and probably only, time. Resed was able to find an easy hold on Grentyl's dreads, but he was weary already and the ride was not easy. The wolf bounded and dashed through the trees, and was none too gentle. Resed was thankful when they finally reached the druid's home.

It was a small cave made from large boulders. Druid made, not natural. It was dark but warm inside where all the wolf druids were huddled together. Grentyl and Resed worked together to start a fire at the cave's opening. Of course Grentyl had to be human to use his hands, and felt no shame in walking about naked as jay bird. He was well muscled, and although most of his handsome face was hidden under a beard and behind dread locks, his blue eyes were, as always, breath taking. Resed blushed and tried his best not to look at Grentyl.

The way Resed acted around Grentyl in human form always made him feel uncomfortable. He decided that Bone-Eaters were unnatural.

Thankfully Grentyl wrapped himself up in a fur blanket and sat himself across from the necromancer, who was warming his hands by the fire. "Okay Bone-Eater, what brings you here, and why isn't Ayden with you? He's not hurt is he?"

Resed heard Grentyl's protective nature come through in his voice. He would rip off Resed's head if anything bad had happened to Ayden while in his care. "No, not as far as I know. I've had yet to meet with him. We were supposed to meet tomorrow at midday in Junction. But I've got a problem. A big problem and I'm afraid it could put Ayden in danger."

Grentyl stirred then looked into Resed's eyes, his face stern, he was listening.

Resed told him of how he met Shareth and how they were found by a strange immortal man. He explained how he had sent Shareth to find Ayden so that Resed could deal with the stranger alone. He assumed the creature was a vampire considering how he could jump from high places, and project his voice, but was proven wrong when Resed had failed to take control of his body.

"You see, I came here out of desperation really. You were the first person I thought of who could help me. Though now that I'm here, I'm afraid I don't have a plan. I think it would be best if you could find Ayden and bring him home safely for me. I feel very uncertain about this creature, he's different than anything I've dealt with before. And even though he's only after me, I don't like the idea of Ayden wandering around so close to such a thing. "

Grentyl nodded. "You're not the kind of man to be afraid of anything. I know about you Bone-Eater. I know what you can do, what you have done, what you have seen. You're a creepy fuck. So it must be something very serious to bring fear into your heart. And you don't have to ask me twice to protect Ayden. I love him as my own pup and I'll tear out the throat of any creature who tries to harm him." His eyes gleamed, and Resed smiled.

"Perhaps that is why I came to you, because I know you will."

"So! How will we get to Junction in time? Even if I run faster than I’ve ever had, there is no way to get there before Tomorrow."

"A transportation spell." Resed grumbled. "As much as I hate it, it's the only way. He and Shareth will be there by noon tomorrow so we know exactly when and where to transport ourselves. It'll give me a chance to rest tonight, and we can set out tomorrow. Once we find Ayden, you can take him home. I'll have to flee, since the vampire demon can sense me and will be after me like flies to a rotten fruit."

"Are you sure we can't take care of him ourselves?" Grentyl cocked his head.

"We could try, and perhaps I'm being too cautious, but it's not a risk worth taking, not worth putting a little boy in danger."

The other druids made a pallet for Resed out of furs, and he slept alone by the dying fire. The nightmares came that night, and didn't leave him alone till morning.

Really this necromancer was worrying himself too much, but Phoenix had to admit he loved that he had succeeded in striking fear into a being with that kind of power, it made him feel special....in a way. This chase would definitely be more enjoyable than any he had had before. Heck he could even feel what was left of the original demon he had merged with anxious and excited for this hunt. Unfortunately the sudden teleportation the man had employed had erased the scent of his magic, for now. So he figured his best bet to find him again would be to catch up with his companion, the half-elf, and as usual remain hidden till the time was right. From what he could pick up the half-elf wasn't too far out of town by now, far enough away that he could get his meal for the night before persuing him. So he returned to the mansion and called out to a random villager woman in her dreams, causing her to sleep-walk out into the snow and into his mansion where he received her and proceeded to feast. Normally he would only feed enough to sate himself and not kill his victim so as to avoid drawing suspicion, but since it appeared this would be his last night in this town for a while he figured he might as well go overboard.

Once his feast was finished he decided to leave the dead body back at her house so it would be discovered and chaos would ensue once he was gone. Once the body was laying back in its bed he headed out into the snow searching for the half-elf.

All was quiet within the Oafish Orphan as the last of its patrons had either passed out or retired for the night. The occasional snore or grunt were the only noises that accompanied the sound of the bartender "cleaning" his establishment. Tymaril eyed the unconscious Aled passed out on the floor next to his room. Had she been raised properly, she might have considered hauling him into his room. However, she had not been raised well and instead "liberated" his room key and invaded the dank quarters. The smell from the bed made her noise crinkle, but it at least looked more survivable than the frosty exterior of the inn. Thinking of how she had been fortunate enough to acquire said room, she figured she should at least do something for Aled. Gingerly grasping a spare blanket wrought with moth holes, she opened the door and covered the unconscious man. A moments appraisal of the hallway made Tymaril reconsider the prospects of sleeping in Aled's room. If she was honest with herself, she'd been in dungeon cells more inviting, but being out in the hall might attract the attention of the inn keeper. She had not paid for a room after all. Best not to risk it and to just stay in the nasty room. Bolting the door shut, she plopped down on the bed and inspected a pendant she always kept around her neck specifically the insignia etched into it. As always, the bloody claw insignia taunted her with promises of an unknown past. That same insignia had been magically tattooed to her right shoulder for as long as she could remember. Questions of her past cascaded through her brain until sleep finally overtook her.

Shareth continued to travel until he and Rundy located a small overhang which would provide some shelter from the biting winds and driving snow. Once ensconced in its protection, Shareth dismounted the tired horse and began to remove his camping materials from his pack. He was running low on firewood and tinder, but he could at least start a fire underneath the overhang. The words of his father rang out in his head, "Fire is life my boy. Fire cooks food, purifies water, and provides warmth. Without it, we would still be in the caves. Never forget that, my son." He gathered the last two logs in his pack and placed them on the ground, one leaning up on the other. He then set the tinder in the gap between the two and started to create a coal to burn them from a third piece of wood that he carried. Once the tinder had ignited and a fire started, he gladly warmed himself and Rundy. "Well, I hope Resed was able to handle that strange man," he mutters to the mare. A few moments later, he thoughtfully remarks,"I bet Resed keeps some blankets in those saddle bags to keep you warm on nights like these. Here, let me check." As Shareth browses through the bags, his expression become more and more dismayed. As the dismay reaches its crescendo, he utters one word of pure unadulterated sophistication. "SHIT!"

The snow was driving hard as Phoenix made his way after the half-elf, it took a couple hours but he finally caught up with him, albeit from a distance. He found a nice little amalgamation of bushes, four to be precise that had grown in a circular fashion, perfect to stay sheltered from the storm while being able to keep an eye on the half-elf's campsite. He got settled in the bushes just as he faintly heard the boy shout out in surprise. He looked out on the boy and saw he had been rummaging through the sack on the horse, if he remembered correctly the horse belonged to the necromancer. He chuckled softly to himself as he imagined what the boy could have found in the necromancers pack.

Tigirid watched Tymaril from the floor, feeling a little lucky that he didn't like the softness of a normal bed. He was mostly asleep, and contented, and his eyes only watched with curiosity as she fingered some strange pendant about her neck.

She obviously had not suspected that Aled and Tigirid would only buy one room and hadn't looked around for anyone else. If the scruffy man had been in the bed, it probably would have given her a shock. Tigirid looked like the cheap type, but Aled gave off the aura of one who would buy as much as he could, regardless of need. And he also appeared the leader.

Well, who was Tigirid kidding, in his half-sleeping state: Aled was the leader. A foppish, dandy of a leader, but Tigirid followed him and worked for him. Tigirid might hold the greater degree of respect, but that didn't make a leader. Tigirid had the work ethic, that definitely did not make a leader. Tigirid had most of the ideas, but even that did not constitute a leader. They only acted on Tigirid's ideas if Aled wished to.

Just as apparent as it was that she believed herself alone was the fact that she held no respect for the crap-hole that they were in, and the distain she held for the mattress that she was about to sleep in. The place was pretty rancid.

Tigirid wondered about her. There was something about her that made him put up a guard, but he wasn't completely sure why. It could have simply been that she was a woman. Tigirid didn't know much about any people, but even less about the opposite gender. But she was also dark, held back. More confusing than most. When he first saw her, he thought that she might have been some sort of dark spirit. The land-lord had treated her as poorly as he had treated Tigirid himself, which was pretty surprising. She had won some respect from the dirty proprietor by flashing coins. Tigirid had simply kept his distance. Like he did with everyone.

Well, he wouldn't be able to keep his distance forever. She was definitely traveling with them. Perhaps he could learn a thing or two about this mysterious and somewhat scruple less companion.

Tigirid slept like that, his eyes almost like they were open. His form ghostlike and unseen. He awoke a little before her and bumped Aled awake as he crept from the room. He might have made it out unheard if it were not for his companion's scream.

"Ah! By Winstess! What the Hell!" cried Aled, rolling on the floor like a dog, "Who th-- Oh. It's you. I should have known."

Tigirid shrugged. "Didn't know you were there. Don't sleep against doors."

"I think you chipped a tooth."

Around the same time Resed had found Grentyl, Ayden found Rukruk, a tiny speck in the wind like a bit of litter. He waved his arm above his head, trying to catch the raven's attention. "Here Rukruk, Over here!"

The bird squinted, sure enough there was Ayden and Rett below. He tried frantically to fly to them, but the wind was strong and it whipped him around. Ayden held out his arms and caught the large bird before he was blown away. He cradled the bird like a baby.
"Poor Rukruk. What are you doing here?"

"Reeeesed! ees en trouble. Some deemon ting is after heem. He said to tell you, He'll bee late!" He cawed. "Eees no beeg deal, hee hadle eet. "

Rett grunted and started to turn around.

"Hey what are you doing Rett?" Ayden asked dismayed. "Don't turn around!"
"Gonna take you back home." the boar answered with finality.

Putting the bird down, Ayden slid off the boar and grasped his tusks looking into his giant face. "But Resed is in trouble. We got to find him and help him!"

"Nope."

"What do you mean nope?"

"Demon."

"Yeah, we go and kill it!"

"Nope. You are too small."

Ayden glowered, "I'm old enough, I'm almost a man."

"Not really."

Ayden shoved the pig's head away and marched through the snow. "Fine I'll go by myself."

The raven looked down at the boar and the boar up at the raven."Your knife, and food is in my saddle bags." Rett grunted.

Ayden stopped turned, and stomped back. He rummaged through the pack, pulled out his obsidian blade, tucked it into his belt, then grabbed a bit of dried meat and shoved it into his mouth. "There!" he said through a mouthful. The boar grunted in displeasure. "Stubborn man child."

Rett and Rukruk stared after the boy letting him trudge through the snow for a while.
"Hee is like de dwarf woman." Rukruk cawed. Rett grunted in agreement, and followed the boy. He wouldn't let Ayden go alone.

They made good time with Rett plowing through the deep snow. Rukruk rested under Ayden's fur coat, deciding not to chance the wind again. Even if it was calming down.
"How will we find him?" Ayden asked the bird who's head peeked out of the opening under Ayden's chin.
"Ees made friend, perhaps de friend knows where ees at?"
"What does he look like?"
" 'alf elf. Two eye colors."
"Does he have a name?"
"Shhhhh Ah Rath!" The raven had difficulty pronouncing the name, but Ayden had an idea.

"The night has come little man child, Should we rest for the night, and leave in the morning?" The boar asked.
"Rett if you can, I think we should ride through the night, I want to get there early. See if we can find him."

Resed was running through maze of underground corridors, The tip of his wand gave off a little light by which to see in the utter blackness. He could smell the dust, the age of the place, and the blood. He quickly extinguished his light as he heard the mutterings coming down the corridor. His heart was beating against his chest, It seemed no matter how skilled he became, fear always gripped him, it held onto him with cold hands. He felt his own hands, they were cold, he was fear. He'd show them fear.

It all happened so very fast, but for the necromancer time was slow. He ran down the corridor and turned the corner, there was a walking dead. Without pause, Resed ripped the bones from it's body with his magic, it's flesh fell like a heavy wet robe onto the floor. The new pink and glistening skeleton followed close behind him, it's sockets alight with a red fire. He heard louder mutterings and growlings coming from behind a large wooden door ahead of him. He ran for it, and kicked the door open with a bang!

Resed twisted his hands and sent a blinding curse into the dark abyss, it lit the huge room up like a thousand blazing torches, and he could see them all. Hundreds of jaws, gnarled claws, and beady red eyes, and towards the back, an undead sorcerer his skin melting off his face. The creatures who could still see, came at him, the lone figure in the doorway. But they were bashed away by the menacing golem Resed summoned amongst them. The skeleton came from behind him and cast flaming balls of fire at the horde of demons and undead warriors. The ones who caught fire thrashed around, and tore at their boiling skin. With a wave of his hand Resed cursed the whole group, they turned to one another in confusion and began to eat each other alive. The sorcerer screamed in anguish and cast a spell of disease at the necromancer, then his head was loped off by an axe wielding demon. Resed took the spell in the chest and doubled over.
He screamed, it was agonizing pain and it made him sick, but he could still work his dark magic. As the bodies of the dying demons hit the blood splattered floor, they exploded, sending bone shrapnel in every direction, piercing and stabbing the others, killing them. It was a deadly domino effect, as each demon died their bodies burst, killing more till Resed heard no more voices.

Shaking Resed looked up, the room was mostly dark except for the charred bodies which smoldered nearby. He stood straight and proud and walked forward. His golem was gone, his skeleton mage was gone, a small sacrifice. He had to be careful not to slip in the blood that pooled on the floor. Each step made a sickening squishing sound as he walked through the pulp that had once been an army of evil. He found the sorcerer's body in the corner of the room. He bent over and pulled the silver ring off his finger, and placed it on his own. He observed it on his hand. It was his father's lost ring.
Blazing hot pain ripped into him. Massive jaws were locked into his shoulder and his own blood squirted onto the wall. Resed Screamed.

Then woke up. He felt his shoulder, still throbbing in pain. "This is going to be a long day."

Shareth muttered some more choice words and he closed the saddle bags. He begins packing up the camping gear while muttering, "I hope Resed is alright. if not, the contents of his bags will surely lead that man straight to me." A chill ran down his spine that had nothing to do with the cold. He looked at the fire and shivered. He didn't want to go back out into the cold, but he might not have an option. Once everything was safely stowed away, he approached Rundy putting a reassuring hand on the poor horses neck. "You poor thing, you haven't had much chance to rest at all today. Here, let me help." He places both hands on the horse and concentrates. "This spell will serve you well on your travels. Master it, my son. The words his father had said that day echoed in his head.While by no means a mage or wizard, Shareth knew a few handy spells useful to traveling that his father had imparted to him. A former traveler himself, he swore by their effectiveness. A light green light glowed between his finger tips and spread out from there to encompass his hands. The magical light seeped into Rundy's body ever so gently. Her eyes closed, as if asleep, as the spell fought off the fatigue and hunger she must be feeling at the moment. After a good minute or two, Shareth stopped casting the rejuvenation spell on the horse and deftly entered the saddle. "Okay, time to head out. There'll be a nice warm stable filled with delicious hay in Junction," he whispered in Rundy's ear. He just hoped the spell would last long enough to get there. It was dangerous to over-use the spell, and while it could rejuvenate a tired, battered body, it had a major flaw. Once that excess energy was used, the recipient would crash rather hard, feeling much more exhausted than when they had it cast upon them. Once that happened, he and Rundy would have to camp out wherever they happened to be at the time until Rundy was fit enough to move again.
As the horse and lad depart from their campsite, over the horizon the first light of dawn peeks out from the inky darkness of night.

Tymaril wakes with a start was Aled cries out from his sudden encounter with a door. She bolts upright and reaches for a weapon until she realizes that Tigrid had only just woken Aled with the door. Had she felt shame for leaving him out there, she would have blushed. Instead, she found herself wondering about her choice in traveling companions. About how Tigrid could have so stealthily been in their room, or enter it without her noticing. Grudgingly, she discovered she had some respect for the taciturn man. This mystified her to no end, for she had never felt any sort of respect for anyone. What could this strange emotion be? Smiling, she could tell this day was only going to get more interesting as it went on. Perhaps she would even find herself enjoying their company. Only time would tell.

After the boy finished re-stowing the horses pack, he placed his hands on the horse which then emitted a green glow for several minutes, after which the horse seemed reinvigorated. Ahh the boy has a basic rejuvenation spell does he, always handy but I wonder if it might have some possible side effects. He pulled himself to gether as the horse and boy started off once more, just as the sun started to poke out on the horizon. I'm certainly glad I'm not like most vampires, otherwise that sun would be a problem especially way out here on the plains where there's no cover. Speaking of which... Luckily his thinking to himself had reminded him that yes there would be very little to no cover from here on out, which meant he would need to put up a camoflauge illusion around himself to avoid being seen unfortunately even in the 300 years since he had merged with the demon full mastery of an invisibilty spell had still eluded him, so the camoflauge spell was all he could use for now. Which meant he could still be seen but only by the most astute eyes, or those who were paying extra special attention to their surroundings. Of course to make it even hard to be detected he remained far enough back from the boy that the horse was still visible to him. Judging from the direction the boy was leading him, it looked like he was headed for Junction, which if he remembered correctly wasn't terribly far from their current position.

Resed found the cave empty and the ashes of their fire cold when he woke. He grudgingly removed his body from the thick heavy furs that had kept him warm through out the night. He felt the frigid bite of the air and cringed, frost clung to his lashes and his breath steamed from his mouth.
Grentyl was sitting cross legged at the cave's enterence, looking out into the morning with a touch of smile on his face. He was wearing a white fur cloak with a large hood, and from his right ear dangled a blue glass bead the same color as his eyes.

“Where has your hunting party gone my friend?” Resed went and stood next to the druid.

“Hunting.”

“Oh right.”

“I told them last night that I will be helping you today.”

“Thank you friend.” Resed looked around and guessed that there would be no breakfast this morning. “Well I suppose we should make our way to Junction as much as we can. The less distance I have to teleport us the better.”

“You worried my family last night, with your mutterings in your sleep.”

“Oh the nightmares. Right, I’m terribly sorry about that. It’s nothing to worry about, just uh you know old memories.” The necromancer rubbed his shoulder.

Grentyl didn’t say anything more about it, just stood up and started walking. Being the sturdier of the two it was better for him to be in front to clear the way. Resed’s tired limbs needed a rest and so he didn’t argue.

“You know which way we’re going?”

“Yes.”

He wanted to ask how, but left it alone. Druids were like that.

They marched amongst the tall pines for a long while. Resed’s thoughts had drifted off, and he pondered his situation. Could the demon have found Shareth? The idea pained him, he might not have known the boy for very long, but he was a good lad. He hoped he didn’t lead him to his doom. What about Rundy, was there anything in her saddle bags that could have lead the demon to him?

“Get yourself a woman, they keep nightmares away,”

Resed snapped back to reality. “Pardon?”

“You know, a woman, they keep the nightmares away.”

“Oh!” He half chuckled. “Bone-Eaters make for bad husbands. That and I’ve never been very good with romance.”

Grentyl shrugged. “Well when a night is cold and your mind wanders off to dark places, a woman can bring you back and keep you warm.” He smiled thinking of soft skin against his own.

“Oh?” Resed raised a brow. “And is there a woman you fancy?” He was thinking of Hazel, who was very close to Grentyl. They were fond of each other, but you could never get either of them to admit it.

“Uh er, n-no.”

“Ah come on now, a strong handsome guy like you? I bet you hold a lot of status in your pack and I bet you have potential mates just lining up.”

“Yes, there have been possible mates, but.”

“But?”

Grentyl peeked over his shoulder to find Resed smiling and giving him that all knowing look.
“Well they…how do you say? They don’t make me laugh.”

“…. Hazel makes you laugh.”

Grentyl stopped in his tracks and Resed nearly bumped into him. He could see the druid’s shoulders stiffen as he turned around to give Resed a death glare. That was the end of the conversation and they were silent the rest of the way.



They had been riding for a long while now, the sun rose hours ago and they had welcomed its warming rays. The trees started to thin out and houses began to appear on the hills. Off in the distance a cluster of homes forming a town could be seen, with smoke rising from their chimneys. Junction.
Ayden’s heart felt a little heavy and he tilted the skull down over his head.

“My dad promised to take me to Junction one day, when I was little. It used to seem like such a big fantastic place that was so far away.” He sighed, I’m sure it’s not quite like Rosignolde.” He laughed a little. “Well here I am huh.”

Rett shook his head letting his shaggy ears flop. “I dislike all the towns the men folk build, they smell,” He snorted, “bad.”

Ayden laughed, “Yeah they kinda do!”

Rukruk peeked out from Ayden’s coat, “De Men folk have fire and food, eeet makes town worth leeeving in I tink.”

Ayden smiled forgetting his sorrowful thoughts, for the moment. “Can you go find Resed for us?” Ayden asked the Raven.

“Chure! I go find Reesed, and bring heeem back to you!” He struggled out of Ayden’s coat then ungracefully took off to the sky.

Ayden and Rett watched him till he was a tiny speck.


His beady eyes scanned the horizon, nothing. Then he circled the town where the people began to bustle about with their morning chores. Perhaps Resed hadn’t reached Junction yet, so he followed along the road. He clucked happily to himself as he saw Rundy galloping towards town, then realized the rider wasn’t Resed but Shareth. He dove down at him, cawing and croaking. “Shhhhhh RAAATH!”
He swooped over the half elf’s head, trying to grab his attention. Then sped to where he left Ayden.

He found Ayden and Rett a few miles outside of town. "Hees coming! De 'alf elf heee come!"

"Where Rukruk?"

"Down de road you find heem down de road!"

"Come on Rett, lets go, fast as you can!" the boy leaned forward and clasped onto the the thick red fur.

Rett broke into a full run, plowing through the snow. They reached the highway where the snow had been tread upon and flattened, and they were able to gallop faster.
They charged past gaping peasant folk who were on their way to town. To them Ayden looked like a demon, and not at all a little boy. His large wolf druid head dress managed to cover his face, and his black fur cloak billowing out behind him gave him a menacing appearance. On top of that there was Rett, a three hundred pound beast who's fur was a bright red. If that didn't frighten them then his four large tusks would do it. They made a terrible amount of noise as they charged, pots and pans hanging from the saddle bags clanged together, and Rett's saddle was dwarven made so of course it was decorated with bells which rang high and clear.

Aled came into the room rubbing at his face.

"Mornin'..." he grumbled to Tym, "Oh.... it... Last night was a bad idea." He slumped back against the wall. "Got any good hang-over tricks? Tig's off gettin' our horse. Probably steal another. we can't get to Junction very fast on foot. Oh... God, I'm not thinkin'. He's, uh, gonna borrow one from a friend down th' way. I think he said to meet 'im at th', um, southeast end of town. We'll ride out from there. If you will excuse me, dear lady, I've got to vomit a little bit and then see what the proprietor has for me, if that is all right with you." He wanted to crawl from the room, but being a dignified man, he righted himself and gave Tymaril a short bow, and waited for what she had to say.


Tigirid sauntered through the small town of Thimblebury. Looking for a horse that might be able to keep up with Marni for a little while. He didn't have too high of hopes: Marni was an excellent horse. They had kept her for over two years because they hadn't found any better (that they could get). He kept his sharp eyes open for the opportunity, none-the-less. He had no money, so it would mean stealing, and it had to be an agreeable. Those were the most important conditions.

It wasn't long before he found himself on the southeast end of town. He had expected this part of town to be the best for hunting his quarry. It wasn't a poor neighborhood, so the people weren't dangerous nor so utterly dependent on any crappy horse they might have to never take their eye off of it. It also wasn't rich, were people could afford stable hands and guards. It was lazily middle class and there were many homes and businesses with beautiful horses stabled just outside. Tigirid held himself a little straighter. He had left his most awful clothing back with Marni and had helped himself to Aled's clothing. So he looked a little bit more respectable. He shifted awkwardly in the clothing, giving away his true opinion of his appearance.

Half of the horses he saw were easy picking, in the right time: no one was watching; no one expected a wandering criminal. A few of those were good, strong hoses. A few less were good and quick. But he held off.

Soon his patience was rewarded. He came into a lonely lane where a horse was tethered to a cart and post.

It was a beauty. Tall and lean with a sleek and shining coat, he was eating some oats and hay that were set out for him while his master was away. His legs were perfectly strait, his neck had a good bend, and his shoulders had a strong, uncompromising angle. It was instantly obvious that the horse was very well loved, for he was immaculate. But there was a weary set to his shoulders. If Tigirid had been hunting for meat, he would have selected this horse as well.

He was tired. From dragging that huge trading cart behind him.

A trader should know better. Well, we all have our off days.

Tigirid walked close to the horse to admire him. If the owner was about, it was good to have a strong excuse. Yes, sir. I was just admiring this beauty. But with a sly slip of the hand, he loosened a bolt holding the horse to the wagon.

The horse took to him instantly. It was a little shy at first: every animal was a little shy around Tigirid; as if they knew who was under the fine clothes. But with a few soft words and a sweet orange, the beast decided that Tigirid was probably all right.

He walked to the other side of the horse, still stroking the magnificent coat and whispering softly to him. The second bolt came loose and the cart yoke fell away with a clatter.

Without a hesitation, Tigirid swung onto the horses back and dugs his heels in. The horse reared up a bit, whinnied, but bolted. Gripping his mane, Tigirid rode bareback, giving the horse suggestions to turn here and there and soon found himself racing out of town.

It took more work to slow the horse down and gain his trust back. But he already had a horse almost as nice as Marni.

"Just a little tired. You'll have a moment to rest before Aled gets here."



Mort came out of the Shyni Dingle laughing. He loved the woman behind the counter, little Dolly Dingle. She was such a sweet woman to have gotten herself hitched to Shyni. How that happened, he would never know. Shyni was one of Mort's best customers, but the man was the stiffest business owner Mort had ever known.

His wife had too much humor for him.

But the burbles of laughter caught in his throat when he saw his cart. Clash was gone.

Just gone. The cart was leaning into the ground like it fainted.

Mort stood looking at the scene for probably half an hour without moving. Eventually Dolly came out to him.

"Mort, hon..." she said, "I know you've got more to do than stand there. What's wrong, sweetie?"

Mort couldn't find the words to reply. He just stared. Dolly figured it out quickly.

"Oh Clash! Where is he! You've been robbed! I'll go report it right now."

It was good for Mort to have some good friends. Dolly kept her head and returned with a deputy.

"Sly man." was all he said. "Lookit: he dragged his feet to keep his tracks vague." the deputy knelt where the horse Clash had stood. "Hmm... still guess he's a pretty small man. Stepped hard to make himself look bigger. Just pinched your bolts and took off. Southeast. He's out of town, by now."

"We have to track him down!" growled Mort. "Who's the best tracker you've got!"

"The best...? Why, I don't mean to brag, but I think that would be me."

"Oh can it, Jemmel. Rusty's better than you." laughed Dolly, "I've known her since she was ten and I have never seen a person track like that."

"Hm. Rusty's good, Doll, I'll agree with you there. But she doesn't have my experience. She's just a girl."

"I'll give you 20 gold a day! Find that God-Damned sneaky little horse thief! Clash is the best horse I've ever had. I was gonna race him in Rosignolde in two months. I think he could do good. We've got to find that horse."

"Well, hold on. If you gotta track, I'll find Rusty for you. I can't be going off on some hunt. I've got a city to keep safe and there have been more attacks at night these last few months than I bet Junction's gotten. I think we've got a plague of some sort. Maybe... a demon." he whispered. "I got a responsibility here."

"Well then find Rusty! I'm going to get my horse back and slit the little bastard's throat who took him!"

Tymaril shakes her head and instantly regrets it as a wave of nausea threatens to overtake her. Whether it was from the copious amounts of alcohol the two had ingested, or if it was merely the nasty food and poor conditions of the inn, she didn't know nor cared to find out. "sorry I don't know of any good hangover remedies, otherwise I'd be using it right now m'self." Indeed her head felt like a dwarf was stomping around swinging a war-hammer. "more importantly, lemme level with ya. I've done a lot of things I'm not proud of in order to survive, some of which might be considered....less than legal shall we say.... It don't matter to me how we get the horse, so long as we're not taking it from someone in terrible need of it. If yer still okay travelin with me, then I'll meet you out front. I figure the water in this dump will only make me dirtier, so I'm going to melt some of the snow and wash up with it. A 'lady' like me has to take good care o' herself," she says with a wink.

Shareth awakens as he and Rundy approach Junction. He blinks with surprise as he realizes that he must have somehow dozed off atop the horse, and NOT fallen off. How fortunate. Rundy, for her part was still pushing forward, but he could tell she would soon tire of this. "Come on girl, just a little farther. I'll make sure to get you that meal I promised."
Unbeknownst to him, the vampire/demon/shark-thing was still trailing him but he never thought to look around for him. Why would he? He had travelled almost non-stop for the seven hour journey. If that man had followed, surely he'd be tired by now and have rested. Of course, Shareth didn't know what he really was.

“Shhhhhh RAAATH!”
Shareth looked around for the source of the noise and spotted Rukruk as he dived and headed off toward Ayden. "Rukruk! Come-on Rundy, we need to follow our feathered friend," he says as he directs the horse in the direction the bird had gone. After a few minutes, a veritable cacophony of noise greets Shareth, followed by the most unearthly sight he'd ever seen. It brought with it the anticipation and excitement of seeing something new and unusual. Shareth was grinning without realizing it. The strange thing on Rett's back had to be Ayden! Resed had said that Ayden had forgotten how to be human, and whatever it was riding the boar certainly didn't look human, like some wolf demon or something. Someday, he'd tell the tale of his first meeting with Ayden, and it would be embellished to epic glory, wowing children and elderly alike with it's hardly believable, yet plausibly true, details. But that was neither here nor there. For now, he raised his hand and waved, "Hello!" The peasantry gathered in the street stared at the strange half-elf greeting the boa0- riding demon. Today, they too were witnessing something quite unusual.

Phoenix had indeed continued following the boy for seven hours straight, sure he was feeling the strain, and he would most certainly need to feed sometime soon, but it was nothing he couldn't handle. He had been amazed when he saw the boy slump over atop the horse, then he realized the boy had been so exhausted he had fallen asleep, but that wasn't what amazed him. What amazed him was that he didn't fall off the horse while asleep. Suddenly as the boy woke up a small black spot swooped down over him screeching out something he couldn't quite hear from this particular distance, before flying off again. Not too long after the appearance of the bird a very odd sight indeed drew his attention as what appeared to be a wolfish.....demon-like thing riding a rather large boar came barreling toward the boy and after a second the boy waved at them almost as if he had been expecting them.

"Oh great" he muttered to himself, "reinforcements, well that may complicate things, although when push comes to shove so long as I'm in a populated area I can grab some reinforcements of my own. Ugh I'm definitely feeling the thirst again right about now, it's a good thing I 'cleaned my plate' otherwise I wouldn't have made it through that long trek, especially while keeping up this spell."

Aled nodded carefully and followed Tym out of the room, wincing with every step. He hadn't noticed the night before, but she was probably much tougher than him, and maybe even Tigirid. He hoped, vaguely in the space left in his brain that could hope on this painful morning, that it would be to their benefit.

He left Tym to her bathing privacy, going instead to the inn's stable and seeing his horse, Marni. She nickered at him happily and he petted her nose.

"I know you can walk real soft, girl. Do as good as you can for me, eh?"

Even hung over, Aled did not neglect his animal. He was lazy, but he didn't let Marni feel the burden of it. He checked her all over, brushed her coat, and checked her bags. He noticed that Tigirid had stolen one of his best sets of clothes and smiled. He would enjoy seeing the ragamuffin all dressed up. It was always a funny sight.

He tied lifted the saddle up onto her back and tied their bags on, blinking in the effort. Lifting saddles was the worst thing he had done all morning. His head felt about to melt. To his surprise, it stayed on his shoulders long enough for him to lead the horse out to meet Tym.

Tym certainly talked big, but he wondered if she would be able to keep up with Tigirid's unflagging pace as they traveled.