Kyal Herridan's Story

Kyal Herridan stalked through the trees as he approached the path. He heard footsteps, and quickly drew his clawed, bladed gauntlets. As he tied up his long hair, he carefully slowed down, trying to peek through the branches to see who was there. If he was lucky, someone would die, and he would live longer. He would stick around to see if he could anything, anyway. Kyal finally arrived, and ducked behind a tree, as the hunters passed by. Waiting for the moment to strike, he crouched patiently.

Kyal quietly tracked the group he had seen earlier. The man seemed to have saved the woman somehow...and that woman had a some kind of big cat...like a puma. But not one. Which was why he made sure to stay away and upwind. Because they hadn't noticed him yet. However, he made sure to keep both people in sight. As they approached village, Kyal hung back in the woods. He had thought there might be some more looting to be done, but that didn't seem to be the case. At least, he might be able to get some work...or they might kill those prisoners. And maybe he could get something out of it still.

Kyal wasn't sure if he wasted to get closer, after all, he didn't know if these people were hostile or not. They also didn't know he was there, and strangers generally weren't taken to too well in the Wild Lands. He decided to sneak a bit closer, pulling up the hood on his cloak, and ducking behind a tree. Drawing his weapons would probably be too risky, though. If they caught him, he could just say he had stumbled on the camp, or was looking for work or something. It would be fine.

Kyal swore. Shit, shit. He forgot to stay upwind in his hurry to get closer. Not to mention there wasn't an wind, period. He now had a choice: to fight, and possibly have to deal with the whole damn village, or raise his hands and hope for the best. Kyal opted for the latter. He hadn't planned on hurting anyone, anyway, so maybe he could get off scot-free. And maybe even get a job.

He stepped out from behind the tree, placing his arms on his head. "Look, look, don't hurt me! I surrender!" He wasn't sure if they'd understand the words, but at the very least they'd probably understand his gesture. After all, it was hard to mistake not fighting. He was, however, ready to dodge the cat as it came up on him. If it didn't stop, then he would indeed jump out of the way.

Kyal slowly strolled towards Kangee, his tribe and Loore. His hands were still on his head. He vaguely took notice of Alohe panicking at something, but he was more worried about the giant black cat as his back. However, his thoughts, or rather lack thereof, were distracted by the tree-snapping and rumbling. It seemed they were distracted by it, and even knew what it was, potentially. It probably wouldn't be wise to try to escape, though. "What is that?" he called towards the people.

Kyal didn't quite understand what Alohe had said, but it was quite obvious from the dragon what he had meant. 'Run!', or something along those lines. He figured he was off the hook, since, you know, everyone else was making a break for it. Kyal slipped his hands into his bladed gauntlets, and drew them from their sheaths.

He quickly made a break for the forest, his long black hair trailing behind him. He was aiming to either go around or under the dragon. After all, why chase one human into the woods when there were plenty of others in the open space of the village? Unless the dragon had some grudge he didn't know about, he should've been safer like this. Only sparing a glance back, he almost made a witty quip, but chose to refrain. Now was not the time, and besides, it probably would've called attention to him. He was taken off balance by a roar. However, he regained his equilibrium, and took off again.

Kyal spared only a glance behind him as he heard a scream, then dragonbreath. The brave man who he had known for about ten seconds had just been burnt to a crisp. Everyone else was running, like him, only away from the dragon. To be honest, so far, Kyal's plan was still going well. The dragon was more occupied with the warriors of the tribe he had stumbled upon than with a single man keeping his head low.

He ducked his head and continued his sprint for the forest. When he arrived between the smashed and unsmashed trees, he allowed himself a moment of silence. After all, a dragon was no small foe and those warriors had attacked knowing they were going to die. They had also let him get away. As he pondered what to do next, he sheathed his claws and continued walking.

There would probably be a town nearby for him to go to. This was the plan, until something caught Kyal's eye amidst all the broken trees. There was a shine under some nearby branches. It also seemed this was near the place the dragon had begun rampaging. He quickly moved over to the object, hoping to find something valuable. Alas, it was only a shiny rock, but he figured it could be worth something, and tucked it under his arm. Kyal began wandering again, unsure of where he was, and where he was going.

Loore urged speed into Ta’ar’s legs and lent him as much of her own as the woman could. A cry tore from the shadowstalker’s maw and from Loore’s own mouth as a sharpened stick struck into the soft pads of the beast’s paw. The Osrinarian slumped forward and held her hand close to her breast. While there was no injury to her flesh, Loore could still feel the agony of her bonded.

“Graddakh,” Loore muttered beneath her breath as tears sprung up from her eyes. Ta’ar could no longer run and was leaving a trail of bloodied prints in his wake. The beast stopped while ash floated through the air like flakes of black snow. When Ta’ar finally came to a rest, Loore dismounted him and motioned for Kangee to do the same.

Relieved of his burden, Ta’ar moved to a broken tree and sat down on his haunches to lick at his front paw. Loore was holding her hand as well while she paced around. Passing Kangee a third time, the wild woman stopped and looked at him before taking his face into her hands.

“Mori drivolat zhavvorsa,” Loore said in a rough but hushed voice. Her eyes were sad for him as Kangee had been left to witness the entire slaughter of his family, friends, and his people. The dragon’s ashes continued to float through the air and landed in Loore’s hair and on her cheeks.

“Shierak jadat save,” the woman stated in her foreign tongue before speaking in Kangee’s own, “You live. No forget, Kangee. No forget.” Loore’s eyes wandered over his face as her fingers slipped down from his cheeks. Her gaze swept over his chest then his arms and her hands found his. She looked for injury and when Loore saw that Kangee was well, she released his hands.

“Come, we move. Fast,” Loore said before starting off through the forest with quick eyes taking in every detail of their surroundings. That was how she found the man from before; the one who had stalked them since Loore had been rescued by Kangee from the Caerdrans.

Ta’ar gave him a warning growl as the beast followed Loore faithfully, limping with each step taken by his front-right paw.

A voice called out, and Kyal swiftly looked up, sweeping his cloak over the strange rock under his arm. Sure, if he approached someone for an extended period of time, he would have to reveal his secret but until then, it would stay hidden. It was then that he noticed that the voice came from the same people who he had been following earlier. It had felt like forever since then, but he must have either doubled back more than he thought, or they had covered a lot of ground.

The black cat really explained that. It looked big enough to hold both Kangee and Loore, and the blood tracks gave Kyal an idea of why they had dismounted. This also gave him enough assurance to begin walking towards them. If something should require him to flee, the cat, at least, would have trouble mauling him as it had tried to do earlier.

Ashes fell onto his face as Kyal carefully made his way towards the pair. "Indeed, but it would at least be a slight amount safer for us to travel in a group, yes?" he called out, trying to amend his arm motion to keep the egg hidden. However, they had not trusted him earlier, and as respect to the lack of such trust from all parties, he stopped a few strides away from Loore and Kangee. "Is there any objections here to my accompaniment?"

A wave of concern washed over Loore as she watched Kangee speak to the unknown man who was holding a curious stone. It reminded her of the giant eggs in Osrinar from the great reptile beasts that roamed the land. Her eyes studied it for only a moment longer before she nodded.

“You come,” the foreign woman stated, approving of Kyal’s involvement with traveling in a group together. Looking again to Kangee, the woman took a step toward him. Loore pressed a gentle kiss to the corner of his mouth in the hope that he would find comfort in it. It was a chaste touch that lasted for only a second in time.

Giving one last look at their new addition, the woman spoke to Ta’ar in her exotic tongue and the beast responded by following after Loore when she began to lead them all away. They were to head toward the coast where smaller tribes of people made their home. Ta’ar needed his paw mended before Loore made her way back to Osrinar.

There was little Kyal could do but reposition the rock under his arm and follow after the ramshackle group that had been created. A quick equipment check revealed that his few belongings were still in the small sack over his shoulder, hidden under his cloak. Unfortunately, even if he'd remembered to check earlier, the rock was too big - and too heavy, in fact - to fit in the bag.

A following check made sure that his claws were still present, and had not been lost in his escape from the dragon. Indeed, he simply shambled after Loore and Kangee, going who-knows-where. It seemed one of the two would know where to go, but a quick thought of reluctance passed. Certain towns would probably recognize him, undisguised.

That was a risk he'd have to take. Stuck between a rock, a hard place, and the frying pan/fire, he supposed.