Lian Village
Outside the Smithy

Shyan didn't let the young woman's appreciation of his work influence him. He knew that he was skilled at what he did, he also knew she was blowing it out of proportion. It was usual though, it had been a little while since he had provided her with fletched arrows, he usually just mass produced the heads and let her do the work for practice. Of course, seeing as he was changing his product it might be better to allow her the full package. He shook his head, smiling slightly at her quick talk. He relinquished the bundles to her
"Don't waste your money like that." He sighed "Try them out, see if you like them before you buy them."
He nudged her towards a small makeshift range that he hardly used. A few splits in the wood of his house indicated that he had done a little test firing there, otherwise it would seem to be another patch of empty space. He stood back and let her, his very presence carefully prevented her from running to fetch her money before she made a suggestion.
"If you want them you can get the stone arrows free. Iron is your usual price. Steel, well we can discuss that if you like them." There was a little grin at that offer. He had put a lot of work into all his arrows and though that made them worth it in themselves they were still meant to be used. The price that he sold them for was only to cover the basic cost, not the time he spent. Its not like stone was a valuable commodity. The flaky flint-like material he used was practically useless for much else and was reasonably abundant. He noticed where her gaze shifted and he himself turned to look at the inviting open door, catching motion in his peripherals as he did so. He looked back, aware of the approaching man, curious timing of his arrival.
"Why shouldn't I. I'm standing right here and no right minded person is going to steal from me." He was not boasting or exalting himself but there was unmistakable pride in his tone. He knew that he could deal with any and most thieves. As for sneaking past him, that would not be easy for anyone either. Mostly of course any potential criminals in the village kept away from him so that narrowed the list of offenders.

He turned away from her, letting her test the arrows to her satisfaction. Or go to fetch her money if she so wanted. He turned to look at the arriving man, noting from his posture and cargo that he possibly wanted to make a sale. It was obvious enough that he had no knowledge of the weapons he bore. With that understanding a sceptical frown took hold on Shyan's features as he moved forward to meet the arrival.
“Allow me to introduce myself, I am Ivan, a travelling merchant and do I have a sale for you, Sir! Or perhaps ma’am,” There was proof enough to Shyan's suspicions. He didn't like merchants in general. If it wasn't that he needed trade to keep his profession active he would avoid merchants in general. This man seemed to be one of the worst kinds. Someone Shyan couldn't trust. He listened to the man's offer, frowning with arms crossed, unwelcoming. As Ivan spoke the blacksmith's eyes shifted to the two now discarded axes. He didn't say a word as he mover over and hefted one easily.

His gaze ran carefully over the weapon, they were in exquisite shape as the man suggested. Delerian weaponry was the finest he had seen, the war-like nation produced quality weapons to arm their skilled troops. The tempering of their steel was refined, a recipe he had duplicated himself, giving blades strength that easily outmatched Caelum weaponry. The axe was a brilliant example. He spoke, his slight Delerian accent more profound when in the presence of another baring the trademark inflections.
”They are certainly quality.” He mused, not bothering to delude the merchant as to their worth. Ivan may be a manipulative, lying merchant but that did not mean Shyan would emulate that business pattern. He let the axe drop to his side loose and comfortable in his grasp as he met the man's greedy gaze.
”I would be willing to buy them certainly.” He didn't allow the man to jump on the chance and kept talking. He probably wouldn't melt down these weapons, he didn't like destroying such craftsmanship. ”You found them on a dead man you say? Most Delerians wouldn't be foolish enough to travel the desert without precautions. How long dead would you say?”

Shyan wasn't intending to buy stolen goods, although the merchant looked in no way capable of robbing the man who wielded such weapon. He was even cagey about looted objects but in the end their owners wouldn't miss them. The man's suspicion was clear, he would detect if the other lied to him. There seemed to be little abrasion on the blades, suggesting that they weren't exposed to the gusting sands for long. There was a whisper of noise from within the village, it sounded like shouting and didn't particularly catch Shyan's attention.

The road in front of the hospice.

Aleiva looked back to Laris when the timid young man asked if he could carry her bag. "A-alright." She said softly. He seemed so timid and unsure of himself that it was hard for the girl to say no. That would be so mean. He was only trying to help after all. The young apothecary didn't stop moving as she handed her bag over though, and nearly missed seeing the white haired Caelum altogether in the process. Aleiva recognized him as the man who lived outside the village on the Green peek mountain. He occasionally sold her herbs. Linde usually supplied most of what Aleiva needed, but it was hard for her to turn anyone down. It wan't as if she could have too many herbs anyway.. right? "S-sorry.." She called softly, likely too softly to hear, as she ran past. It always bothered Aleiva when she had to leave the Alothecary unattended, especially when she saw someone may need her, but some times it was unavoidable.

When Aleiva saw she hadn't needed to hurry the Caelum lady along in the least, she realized how insensitive it had been. No doubt this woman wanted to help the child just as badly as she did, if not more so. The girl made a mental note to apologies later. "I see... W-what did you see that makes you suspect he ate something bad?" She asked softly after the armored woman explained her suspicions. Any clue could be helpful. Fever and coughing could be caused by any number of illnesses or poisonous plants. Though the cough could narrow it down a little if it truly was a poisoning.

outside The Inn

Ignoring the small crowed that was dispersing around the Inn as the trio approached, Aleiva was more focused on blond as she excused herself and ran ahead. Aleiva hesitated for a moment, not sure if she should be ease dropping on the soldiers conversation. However, her worry for the child quickly had Aleiva pushing her uncertainties to the back of her mind as she ran after the blond, stopping just a couple of feet behind her to give the two a little room. The young Apothecary's mother was Caelum. Aleiva enjoyed the language and often spoke it with her mother, leading her to be quiet fluent. However, the blond spoke so low and so quickly with the other guard that she had a hard time following most of it. What she did hear caused the girl to frown. Aleiva's first thought, from what the blond had said, was that It was a possible case of accidental poisoning. That Gilbert Junior had eaten some bad mushrooms or berries. However, hearing the way the guard spoke... No. she shouldn't jump to conclusions before seeing the boy. Only after the blond Caelum repeated the whole conversation did Aleiva have a better picture of what was happening.

Inside the Inn

Aleiva followed right on Ilene's heels as they made their way to the boy's room. The moment Aleiva saw the young boy suffering, something shifted inside the girl. Her insecurities were pushed aside as she strode to the boy's bed with purpose and gently took his hand. "Gilbert?" She cooed softly in Caelum. "I've come to help you." Aleiva tried to reasure the barely conscious boy before looking at the blond Caelum and Laris. "I'll need towels and two large bowls of clean, barely warm water. Have someone draw him a bath too. Tell them not to heat the water." She answered Ilene, calm but assertive. Aleiva was so focused that she didn't even stutter. Her only thoughts were for the sick boy. They needed to bring his fever down now. A cool, but not freezing, bath would help without throwing him into shock. "Laris, Stack pillows up behind the boy so he's sitting up a bit more." She didn't want him choking on his own blood.

The young apothecary had to take a few moments to check the boys pules and respiration, but she also took this time to speak to the two they had left in the room, assuming them to be the parents. Not knowing if they spoke Lian's common language, she spoke to them in Caelum. "Are you Gilbert's parents? What has he been eating?" It came out as more of a demand than a question, but there was no time for kid gloves if she was going to save the child. "Exactly how long has he been sick?" Aleiva waited a moment for an answer before using a clean part of the blanket to wipe most of the blood off the boy's chest so she could put her ear to his chest and listen to his heart and lungs.

Aleiva frowned as she listened to the boy's chest. His symptoms were common for most accidental food poisoning.. except for the coughing blood. Ether they stumbled upon a rare poisonous plant by mistake, or something more was going on. As she filtered through the possibilities, Aleiva took her bag and set it on the table, then dug out a bowl and a few herbs. "Yarrow for the bleeding and fever, Coltsfoot for the cough.." Aleiva listed out loud in Caelum. Many patients, and parents of patients, liked to know exactly what she was giving them, so it was a bit of a habit. "...cayenne for pain and nausea, and..." The girl paused here to look pointedly at the parents before continuing. "milk thistle with ginger for poisoning." The girl finished. Aleiva could only hope it wasn't too late for the detoxifying and, liver healing herbs to do their jobs against any poisoning.. accidental or otherwise. Once everything was in the bowl, the girl began smashing the dried herbs into a fine powder. "He may have an easier time taking this it with a little sugar or honey... Laris, please ask for some when your done with the pillows."

As she crushed the herbs and waited for the water, Aleiva returned to the boy's bedside. "Don't give up, Gilbert. You'll be okay." She said in a soft, hopeful voice in Caelum. He may have been too dilierious to really understand, but a friendly, encouraging voice was usually welcome.-}

The Smithy

The merchant’s eyes flicked back to Shyan as the blacksmith helped himself to the axes. He watched his experienced, brown eyes trace the weapon’s detail. The blacksmith hadn’t said he was impressed, but he hadn’t said he wasn’t impressed either. Watching him take his time examining the weapon nearly made him drool at the idea of there being loot involved. How much should he charge him? 200 gold? No; that’s pocket change! He had risked his life getting those weapons. 5,000 gold—yes that sounded about right. The merchant’s hands came together and they began fondling each other in his eager excitement.

They are certainly quality…

The merchant’s mouth cracked a little, revealing some of his teeth.

I would be willing to buy them certainly.

His lips had fully parted, revealing his clenched rows of teeth in a grin of pure greed. Gold coins had appeared within his eye sockets.

You found them on a dead man you say? Most Delerians wouldn’t be foolish enough to travel the desert without precautions. How long dead would you say?

The merchant’s grin lost its shine for a second as he took a few seconds to conjure a believable story.

“As I was crossing the desert, I saw a venue of buzzards around a corpse that perhaps had been dead for three days. The beasts had nearly picked it clean, and I found these weapons lying beneath it. It was my lucky day!” He then turned the conversation back on the blacksmith. “Oh? Are you Delerian? Your accent isn’t quite distinct, but it’s one I recognize. Well then, I’m sure you are familiar with Delerian steel and know that the weapons I brought to you are no imitations and are worth a portion of the weapons in your shop. Ahem, of course I mean when it comes to the steel and dragon bone they’re comprised of. Ah yes that reminds me. These aren’t just any Delerian steel axes, I believe the dead man had been a Dragon Slayer, and it is only the dragon slayers who carry the finest steel—the steel born from dragons.”

The merchant quickly thought, In that case, ten thousand gold!

“Surely you understand how valuable the weapon in your hand is? With how rare dragons are nowadays, these weapons are few in existence.”

---

The Apothecary

When Linde rose and set her hand comfortingly on his shoulder, if she had been a man, he would have slapped her hand so hard, she’d be lucky her wrist didn’t dislocate. Instead, his steel-grey eyes darted tensely to it, his pupils so small they looked like they could fire lasers, or to match the time period, pierce her flesh. He had been slightly baring his teeth like an irritable hound. From her hand, his gaze might have been on her face if she hadn’t been standing in that flimsy gown with the cleavage of her enormous mammaries beckoning for his attention. As Linde gave him reassurance, Daerio swore her voice was coming from her chest. He was mesmerized, a moth to a bright and alluring flame until she retracted her hand and briskly went to the clinic’s door.

Daerio’s left hand went to grasp his face. His fingers converged upon his eyes, rubbing them as though he had stared into the sun for too long. There was a pain in his heart. It was the pain of sadness and regret. How could he have missed women like this? Where did he live? Under a rock? The middle of nowhere was a better answer, but still, she had the biggest rack he had ever seen in his pathetic misadventure of a life.

Come!

Lowering his hand, Daerio glanced at Linde with narrowed eyes and a long frown. He wasn’t a damn dog. He then strode over to the door, following that Caelum woman, his caretaker, and the stuttering boy as they rushed out the door. When he crossed the threshold, he noticed the young man that had been standing patiently outside and immediately recognized him to be another Caelum. They were becoming a common sight to his abhorrence. He hadn’t even tried to hide the look of disgust that flashed on his face upon seeing him.

Pardon me for being in the way, my fair…

Daerio abruptly stepped between Neal and Linde, and leaned forward until his face was inches from Neal’s.

Piss off! he interrupted. You’re in our way!

He didn’t want there to be any delays. His weapons and coins were at stake.

"Pardon me for being in the way, my fair-"

Daerio had suddenly stepped in between Linde and this new young man who had been asking for her attention, which she did not find very polite. Given the circumstances, she could understand that he wanted his belongings, but he didn't have to be rude about it. She gave the Delerian a quick elbow to his right bicep, not enough to injure, but to grab his attention. She had no intention of starting a fight wearing nothing but her small gown and undergarments... That would be too much stimulation for most men at this early hour.

"That's enough!" She barked at Daerio in his native tongue.

"If you want your supplies back then follow me and just stay away from my fellow villagers. If you've nothing kind to say to them then you can find another guide." She warned before turning her head to the new arrival.

"Please pardon this man, he's Delerian and had his goods stolen but a short time ago and we must retrieve them with all haste lest he become violent. I'll be back soon enough to deal with your needs so please have patience and wait inside... But don't touch anything." She said with a hint of warning towards the end.



With that Linde continued on past him and led Daerio through the streets of the village until the Smithery came within sight.



As she approached the Smithy Linde saw the merchant in question, as well as two other familiar faces...

"Hello Shyan." Linde said, forcing a smile.

"I believe my new acquaintance has a few things to say about this merchant and the items he's trying to sell." She announced.

Her eyes then slowly glided over to Nimuae, who was in the process of looking over new arrows which, no doubt, Shyan had made for her. Linde's gaze toward the girl was very calm, but cold. Nimuae and Linde had quite the history together, but over the last couple of years it had grown quite sour. Had the two not held a certain level of respect for each other's skills, Linde's presence here while Nimuae was testing new weapons would surely have been an invitation to a fight.

---

Neal's stuttered slightly at the Delerian's outburst but he finished his sentence before he turned to respond with a smile on his face. A smile which faltered a little at the obvious sign of disgust on the man's face. Neal had taught himself Delerian in order to better interact with the nation in his travels so he understood the man's message, if not in its entirety. He did wonder why the man wanted to go use the bathroom...or why he would bother telling the others that.

"Ah another Delerian. Such is my luck for today it seems. It appears the nation's legendary temper that I have read about has quite a solid base in reality. But if you would have so kindly listened to my sentence instead of brutally interrupting me half way through you would have realized I was apologizing for, in fact, being in the way." he responded in Delerian. Neal kept his outer calm visible as his training fought with his inner annoyance with the unprovoked outburst. Especially since this was now the second time in the same day he had been verbally assaulted by a Delerian without due reason.

Even so the monk did detect that the two of them had a purpose of some sort and when the woman spoke again he turned his attention to her as she explained the story. His attention was quickly distracted however as he realized she was wearing rather..reveling clothes to say the least. His monkish demeanor once again almost faltered but he maintained it through sheer force of will and the desire to not embarrass himself by staring. This was probably the first time he had seen her outside of either armor.

He did manage to bow as she took her leave and lead the Delerian off presumably to recover his belongings and he contemplated staying at the apothecary alone for only a few moments before he shelved his plan of selling herbs for the time being and decided to follow the two of them at a discreet distance, simply to watch of course. It wasn't his usual modus operandus to interfere with a Delerian's problems but if it provided entertainment for the short wait he had before he could return to his camp he wouldn't mind.

---

---

Neal arrived at the Smithy just as the woman was giving the floor to the Delerian, apparently accusing the merchant of taking the man's belongings. Considering the temper Neal had experienced himself earlier today at the hands of Delerians he doubted this encounter would go well and leaned against a nearby building, watching as things unfolded, ready to intervene if things got violent. He didn't approve of stealing, but nor did he believe that it in any way justified the murder he was expecting to be attempted soon.

In her excitement, Nimuae had completely forgotten that she should've waited and tried out the goods before actually buying them. It was only pure good luck that Shyan was her blacksmith, otherwise she would've been running for her money, for others selling items were not as generous as he. The blacksmith had been hers for so long that she had never really established any rules for shopping; besides, everything he made always surpassed her expectations and standards. There was never any reason for her to check or try things out when it came to Shyan, but she supposed it was a bad habit to develop. If she ever left (which she never would), Nimuae would have much problems buying goods for crafty merchants.

"You're probably right," she said, and slid the bow off her shoulder, accepting the bundle quickly afterwards. Shyan had nudged her toward a makeshift range, one with few marks that suggested he had done something there a couple of times. She wondered if he as as good with wielding weapons as he was with welding -- man, he really had it all! If she ever wanted to get as good making arrows as him, she'd need a lot more practice, years more. The stoneheads she hadn't used often, only a couple of times as they were the only things lying around for her to carve and practice with. Needless to say, his looked a lot better and probably flew a lot better than her own. Iron was something she was used to, and something that hated her wholeheartedly. The ones in his hands glared bitterly at her, having heard the rumors of how she drowned its relatives often.

Now, steel... Such beautiful creations, such lovely beings -- they gazed at her curiously and excitedly, and she couldn't help but return the same eager face. Nimuae had never used steel before, but just looking at the arrows made from the hands of one who was talented and passionate in his work invoked a once sleeping fervor. There was a stump several feet away from her, and rather than place the bundle on the ground, she gently laid it on the tree stump; after making sure no harm would come to them, she plucked an arrow from the herd, one with a steel head. His hard work shown brightly in the light, glinting off the metal as the archer set the arrow against the bow; she relished at how it seemed to fit against her hand perfectly and marked her target with a growing determination. Having heard nothing he said, Nimuae stood still and sucked in a breath, calming the enthusiastic nerves that were bouncing off every inch of her.

Watch me, Master. I will not fall behind you, suffocating in your overwhelming shadow. With this steel arrowhead, I shall show you what I have done, what I can do, and what I will do. Are you proud, Master? Looking down at me from Paradise, are you proud?

Just as she was about to let the arrow take its first steps in flight, a bird flew overhead, one that wasn't fat, but lean. With the instincts embedded in her from years of training under a great man, she readjusted the trajectory and fired at the winged animal, striking it in its belly. The animal dropped to the ground yards away, twitching and writhing in pain.

"Hey, Shy, looks like I found the Yeskens's dinner." They would be pleased to see that she had found them a bird to eat; normally, the Yeskens only had fish, and so this would be a nice change for them. As she turned around, she saw that Shyan was not paying attention to her, but to a merchant that seemed to have stumbled upon them without her notice. Glancing back at the arrows to make sure they had not gone anywhere, Nimuae held onto her bow and stepped away from the range and headed for Shyan. He held an axe in his hand, examining it quietly before letting it swiftly fall to his side in expert hands.

"They're nice," Nimuae commented. She didn't have an eye for weapons like he did, but she didn't need to be an expert to know a finely crafted axe when it bit her in the arse. On the other hand, the merchant was anything but finely crafted. The way he grinned greedily sent a shiver up her spine. Nimuae had to glance back at the arrows to make sure the stranger hadn't somehow snatched it from underneath their noses when she wasn't paying attention.

The chilling sensation wasn't helped when a certain someone had stepped onto the blacksmith's land: Linde Xe' Almna, her rival, the enemy, and overall, the person with whom the twenty-two year old found to be quite the irritating nuisance.

"Oh, great, here comes the big boobed queen of indecency..." she muttered, almost rolling her eyes, wearing something revealing to show off her goods to the world. The woman had a watermelons for boobs and they never seemed to be still, always showing up the archer's own. It wasn't as if Nimuae had a flat chest, but honestly, how was it that Linde's seemed to just mutate and expand to such a ridiculous size? As if that wasn't bad enough, her skills in close-combat battle weren't something to stare at with one's nose in the air, and that only seemed to flare up their rivalry even more.

Nimuae didn't bother to greet her, only allowing her eyes to fall onto the man beside the swordswoman -- another stranger looking to be from Delerian descent.

"Since when has Lian been so popular?" she mused quietly to herself. With Linde now present, she found herself tense, awaiting a fight that she knew would not happen. It wasn't that they hated each other, after all; it was just...a strenuous relationship. Besides, she could count on Shyan to break them up before any real damage could be dealt; she knew Linde could best her in hand-to-hand, but that didn't mean Nimuae was going down without a fight.

The merchant's pause was enough to deepen the blacksmith's frown. Of course the delivery of the story itself was flawless and the man just oozed truth as any good merchant could provide. Shyan doubted the man, Ivan seamlessly diverted the attention away from himself. Of course the greedy fool was correct about the weapons, Shyan himself had missed those details. He hadn't seen a dragon slayer's weapon since he left Delère and his father's company, it was understandable that he didn't recognize it. Understandable but not inexcusable, he was the only one who held himself responsible for anything so there was no outside drive to repent for the mistake. However he still felt the surge of annoyance that a mere lying merchant could show him up in the area of his own expertise. Of course the mythology that the man spouted degraded Shyan's esteem less. He didn't believe the nonsense the Delerian's claimed. It was fine steel but that hardly required any dragons involved, particularly seeing as any from Delère would rather kill a dragon then harness their ability to smelt metals if they had such attributes. He looked down at the man, the deal wouldn't be easy if he decided to buy one of the axes. He knew his values but of course the man would charge exuberant prices for mere steel, in the end bartering would be a one side affair. Shyan let time stretch out, watching the man carefully to see any give away signs of dishonesty.

It wasn't Ivan that halted the proceedings however but the arrival of an old friend and a new face. He took in the new man first, the Delerian. The man was a warrior, that much was obvious judging by his girth, height and multitude of give away scars. He also didn't look very happy and neither did Ivan. The merchant looked as if he were about to dart away, signalling rather clearly he didn't want to be around the newcomer. Shyan respond then to Linde, rather curtly.
”Linde.” He said with a nod. Usually he would greet her more warmly, as was befitting an old friendship. He didn't view her a much more then he did Nimaeu, a sister. Of course each relationship had different parameters and so his connecting with Linde was rather estranged. He managed to keep the a neutral ground between the two girls, although as he spend a little more time with the markswoman the middle ground was not so even. That was not the cause of his abruptness, instead it was the growing temper that Ivan had aroused.
"I believe my new acquaintance has a few things to say about this merchant and the items he's trying to sell."
His eyes wandered to Ivan, the look signifying that the merchant had little hope in purchase or escape. He nodded slowly lifting the axe again giving it a quick assessment again. When he spoke it was targeting the merchant even thought the blacksmith's gaze didn't return to him.
”I suppose three days dead being picked clean by buzzards is a exaggeration.” His voice was stony and unforgiving. ”I have a particular dislike of liars and thieves Ivan. I don't suppose you have any truths to offer in you defence criminal.” The last sentence was a statement and Shay didn't give the man a chance, instead turning to Daerio. He took a few steps towards the man and offer his right arm to shake, swapping the blade to his left. He introduced himself in the man's own language. Similar to his combat skills Shyan had kept his birth language trained. While he was not so adept with it as he was with weapons.
”Shyan Adromus. I suppose this fine weapon is yours, Dragonslayer.” He kept contempt from his voice but the emphasis on the last word suggested that the man was as unwelcome as the merchant. Shyan didn't offer the axe to the other, cautious if the man would act to take revenge. Armed, the man could easily end Ivan's life and despite his dislike Shyan wasn't going to allow that to happen.

Daerio felt Linde’s elbow and he scowled at her when she scolded him for shouting at the Caelum. In his culture, it was perfectly fine to do so; in fact, it always made a humorous story. Even killing one got a Delerian praise. As she relayed to him the consequences for not listening to her, the corner of Daerio’s lip arched in defiance as he then wrinkled his nose and uttered a dismissive, “Psh!”

After Linde had apologized to the man he had interrupted, Daerio waited for the Lianese woman to jog away before he turned to Neal and dragged his index finger across his throat (Daerio’s), signing to him the infamous cut-throat gesture. The kid talked too much, and overall, he just didn’t like him. Daerio turned to catch up to Linde and the skirts of her gown that dangerously fluttered in the breeze of her jog. The warrior tilted his head and leaned to the right as though trying to gaze beneath the flapping excess material until he recognized the wagon outside the Smithy. The sight of it had Daerio straighten and a stern frown returned to his face.

He slowed to a walk as Linde crossed the rest of the distance to the three beings outside the building. Daerio had approached the merchant’s cart and browsed its crates, barrels, and sacks. His gaze then traveled over to Shyan who was holding an all too familiar ax. The warrior turned from the cart to face the blacksmith, noting only one was in his hand and the other was propped against the wall.

Ivan hadn’t seen the two visitors that had approached. His blue eyes were locked upon Shyan, anxiously waiting for him to name his price so the bartering could begin. It was when his attention seemed to focus on someone else that the merchant turned his head to gaze over his shoulder to first notice Linde and her outfit. His attention might have lingered if the Delerian next to her didn’t excite in him a sudden urge to piss his pants. The merchant’s eyes nearly bulged out of their sockets when he and Daerio’s eyes had met. Ivan’s head snapped forward as his hands came together to fondle each other again. It was his pitiful attempt to hide the fact that they were shaking.

“Heh, heh, well, uh, it’s busy for you today. How about I come back another time?” the merchant attempted to reason. He then listened to the exchange between Shyan and Linde, the pits of his tunic becoming damp with sweat.

I suppose three days dead, being picked clean by buzzards is an exaggeration…I have a particular dislike of liars and thieves Ivan. I don’t suppose you have any truths to offer in your defense, criminal?

The cat was out of the bag. Ivan was trembling all over, fearing the idea of having to confess the obvious before the man he had stolen from. He gazed at Daerio who had been quiet and apparently calm throughout the entire exchange (when in actuality he was plotting). Ivan backed against the Smithy wall; feeling the stone against his back gave him assurance that no one would try to sneak up on him. The walls were closing in and it felt like the world was turning on him. Sinking to a crouch, the merchant wrapped his arms protectively about his head as he began weeping pitifully in his guilt.

“Yes; I stole them; I’m sorry! I was desperate, and I thought I wasn’t going to see him again. I’m not an evil man for if I was, I would have taken his belongings and left him to fry in the desert. Did I not save a man’s life?”

Daerio was now gazing at the merchant as he sat there crying: weakness! He didn’t understand what the merchant said for he was speaking Lianese, a muddled up hybridized form of Caelum and Delerian. There were only bits and pieces that he understood but nothing to present a coherent sentence.

The blacksmith approached him, and when he began speaking Delerian without accent, it told Daerio that he wasn’t one of the hybrids walking around. Daerio smirked, taking the smith’s right hand with his left. He gave him a firm handshake and noted the inflection in his voice on the title Dragon Slayer. It had said enough. This man, though Delerian, was not his friend. He also didn’t seem eager to return his belongings.

Sou-Daerio Vardin, he confirmed. He added his rank at the beginning of his name, feeling no need to explain to a Delerian what it means for he was sure Shyan knew.

Abruptly, the grip Daerio had on Shyan’s hand dramatically increased. If the blacksmith had been a weak, nonathletic being unaccustomed to work and training, his grip then might have felt like a vice strong enough to mangle his hand. He jerked him forward, his left knee rising with the intention of burying the iron knee guard on his cap right into the man’s gut.

Neal listened with interest as the scene unfolded, the merchant's trembling, the Smith's gruff manner, and he grinned. This was going to turn out to be an interesting meeting after all. He let his eyes wander a bit as his attention was pulled away by the sight of a dead bird laying a few yards away with an arrow through its chest. He walked over and kneeled down to poke at it with a finger and realized it was only recently dead and still had plenty of heat left to it.

He started looking around for a cause for the bird to be there and noticed that the girl with the smith, who he had until just then not noticed, was still holding a bow in her hands with a quiver of arrows nearby. Assuming she must have been the archer he chuckled to himself a little as he solved his most recent question of the day and he stood back up, already having lost interest and almost forgetting why he was there in the first place.

Oh right wasn't he going to sell herbs to the Apothecary? He took a moment to get his bearings before he struck out back towards where he believed the Apothecary to be until his ears caught the Delerian word for Dragon Slayer coming out of the smith's mouth. Neal's haphazard focus suddenly zeroed in on the two men talking, watching as the Delerian from earlier gripped the hand of the smith in a firm handshake, or what Neal thought was a hand shake, and he let his head turn sideways with a quizzical look on his face as he considered this poor, uninformed man who was so misguided as to attempt to slay dragonkind, those that were gifts of the gods themselves.

It did explain his obvious hatred for a Caelmite such as himself, which was extreme even compared to the other Delerians Neal had met over the course of his stay in Lian. He considered approaching the man and attempting to explain to him the truth behind the dragons but something told him that would simply end in disaster at this current moment, considering just how riled up he already was. Neal sighed and returned to the building he had been leaning against earlier and sat down, crossing his legs, as he closed his eyes in meditation to consider what he should do, completely missing the man's knee rising towards the smith in an obvious act of aggression as Neal calmed his inner self to clear his mind.

The Road to the Inn

Laris wanted to say something to the man they passed by, but it seemed they were in a rush. It probably wouldn’t have turned out well anyway. People from around the village usually didn’t take well to him. He followed Ilene with a brisk jog, barely making a sound. It was daylight, the time when he was most obvious with the sun reflecting off of his white hair. He wanted to get there as soon as possible, so he let out a sigh of relief as the inn came into sight. He watched as Ilene spoke to a man at the door, guessing she was probably speaking Caelum, though not understanding any of. Until she relayed the information to Aleiva, that was. He managed to catch most of it, though it was useless to him.

The Inn

As they entered the room that Junior was in, Laris winced. Rarely did a room ever look so wonderful and terrible at the same time. He stepped back to let Aleiva do her work, noticing the immediate change in personality when she was caring for a patient. “A-alright, p-pillows. Got it.” He moved forward again, gently bringing the boy’s head up while piling up the pillows, before laying him back down. With her other commands he nodded. “I-I’ll get the h-honey and tell t-them to draw a bath.” He figured that he couldn’t do it all, and decided to let Ilene get the bowls of water and towels. Besides, she was probably very tense, and letting her do something would hopefully help.

Laris ran back to the main bar, ignoring the fact that he wasn’t inconspicuous. Now wasn’t the time to be worried about that. “B-bartender? C-could I get s-some honey, p-please? A-and could I also a-ask for someone to d-draw a bath - c-cold, unheated? T-t-there’s a sick c-child...” The bartender nodded, handing Laris a small jar of honey. “Sure. I’ll have someone get a tub of water filled. You'll have to bring him to it, though.” Laris nodded his thanks, fishing into his pocket for some coins and tossing them down on the counter. He then hurried back to Aleiva, Junior and Ilene. He slipped into the room quietly, holding out the jar to Aleiva. “H-here’s the honey...And t-they're preparing t-t-the bath now. T-though we will h-h-have to bring the k-kid to it.”

Lian Village
Outside the blacksmith's house and smithy

Shyan ignored the unfortunate merchant's babbling. No amount of begging and excuses could solve the problem. Ivan had stolen, then attempted to pawn off the stolen belongings. He should have considered the consequences before he became a thief. The matter of saving the Delerian's life was separate, it was't an act of atonement or in any way redeeming. Although the blacksmith figured that the man's words were true. Daerio did not look in peak condition and there was few other satisfactory explanations as to how the weasel acquired the warrior's belongings. If that was so and Shay would have to assume it was, then he certainly couldn't let the Delerian do off with Ivan. Still, even without access to one of his axes the man still looked like he could kill. There was sureness is his posture and his grip was strong for a man who looked so ragged. Also one could never doubt a man from that nation. They seemed to be consistently violent and aggressive. Shyan was an exception, of which there were many in Lian. So it was that his caution protected him.

The sudden shift in grip was enough of a give away. Shyan was already attempting to pull out of the grip when the jerk came. The two forces were enough to break Daerio's grasp. The man would have been stronger then the blacksmith if not for whatever ordeal he had faced. Shyan stumbled back a few steps, quickly recovering his balance and settling into a wider stance. He still held the dragonslayer's ax and switched it back to his primary hand, waiting and threatening. He was armed, Daerio wasn't and that put the smaller man at an advantage. He was ever aware of the other ax leaning temptingly against the wall. He made no move forward, watching defensively. Brown eyes glared daggers at his new enemy as he snarled, still speaking the other's tongue.
"Suppose I should have expected as much from a Delerian." His tone was scornful, no trace of forgiveness or leniency. If Daerio tried much more Shyan would have little qualms about causing a lasting injury. "I was about to help you Dragonslayer. When you turn around and return to where you've come from I may yet considering returning what was stolen from you."
Shyan looked to Linde to see the woman's response, expecting that she would bear no love for the stranger either. He was a threat to the village itself and even if she didn't concern herself with the blacksmith's safety she would at least side with him in the conflict. He expected her to anyway but didn't take it for granted.

Linde watched with some anxiety as the events unfolded when they reached the Smithery, though her stoic expression would not have told anyone as much. When the merchant known as Ivan began to weep and hold his head in shame, she actually felt a twinge of sorry in her heart for the man. Whether this act was sincere or not didn't really matter to at this point, and she inwardly reprimanded herself for being so hasty to help Daerio recover his belongings.

Whoever he was, Linde knew now that he was trouble and that she had brought an unnecessary threat to the Smithery where her father used to work. She was about to step in and try to mediate what was going on when Daerio suddenly tried to knee Shyan in the stomach. Shyan was lucky enough to have been pulling away at the same moment and managed to dodge the blow and bring up the axe, which she assumed belonged to Daerio, in a defensive posture against him.

That better be the first and last attack that will be used here today! She thought to herself.

Linde ran forward and slid to a halt in between the two men and placed a hand in both of their directions, standing up straight and giving Daerio a rather stern glare.

"That's enough!" She shouted, more at Daerio than Shyan as she looked at the "Dragon Slayer", speaking sharply to him in his native tongue.

"You are here, your belongings are here, and Ivan is obviously too frightened to fight you for them or give you any trouble. You will have your belongings back in a moment, but if you make one more move to attack either Shyan, Ivan or Nimuae, I will take you down myself. Do you understand?!" She shouted towards him as her upper body jerked in his direction.

She took a breath and looked over at Shyan. She managed to relax herself after a moment and tried to soften her expression in silent apology to Shyan for bringing such trouble his way. When she spoke, her voice was soft and calm, no longer speaking in the Delerian language.

"Shyan, I will personally take responsibility for the trouble that this man has caused here today. However, I must insist that you allow me to return his belongings to him. You know how our laws operate as well as I do. Since Ivan stole these weapons and supplies, they are not yours to buy from him. If you would please hand them to me now, I'll be the one to return them to him since I brought him here."

She took a couple of steps towards Shyan with her arms stretched out to receive the weapons and equipment that she now expected him to give to her.

Oh? So she can speak Caelum! Certainly makes life easier. The brief moment of satisfaction couldn't last, however, as Ilene was once again drawn back to the dire situation at hand; this time given something to do. Which, although she's never the type to admit it, that feeling of doing something made quite the stress release. Or, well, something like that. "I'll need towels and two large bowls of clean, barely warm water. Have someone draw him a bath too. Tell them not to heat the water." Ilene made an involuntary sharp, quick nod before coming to a kind of mutual agreement with the other citizen of Lian, Laris. She bolted out the door a heartbeat after her fellow helper and, after a couple minutes' worth of finding --as well as explaining to-- an innkeeper, made several trips to Gilbert Junior's room; one with towels and for each respective container of water. Soon becoming so relatively engrossed that she forgot entirely to care for the few repercussions of the panic caused by a sick child; simple little errands that hadn't been done. Which will inevitably come back to bite her again later, but anyway.

Meanwhile, of course, Junior's parents were in the process of being lightly interrogated. "Are you Gilbert's parents? What has he been eating? Exactly how long has he been sick?" And, seeing as their light frame of mind was only beginning to come back together, it took several long moments before either could make it to reply. Or, well, to make up an excuse so whatever that had happened to Gilbert seemed less than what it really was. In the end, it was the child's father that replied; having not been the one to instigate the violent, bloody coughs. So, with a tone as (falsely) brave as he could, he made best to answer Aleiva's questions; in the same language she had used to ask. "I'm Gil's father. We've been traveling for a few weeks already, but I guess he started acting off maybe.. a week ago?" From then, a brief moment passed as he seemed to try to recall. "On the road, there's a lot of things he could've accidentally eaten. We really don't know." And he probably would've left it at that, had a small voice piped up after a defeated sigh.

"It's.. Well, we found these funny looking berries a little while back; just around the time Gil got sick. They.. really didn't seem like anything bad. I mean, we both tried some and it's not like we're ill or anything. Gil probably snuck and ate some. But it's been a week!" At that, Junior's mother collapsed into tears again; spurring another round of consoling and hugs from the father (who had been glaring at her for speaking since the beginning, but got over it). Which, in other interpretations, pretty much means 'Yeah, we're done. Nothing else you'll get out of us.' But that, as conveniently as it was, came to an end just as Ilene herself returned from her third trip back to the room; with all things asked accounted for. And, as just another simple coincidence, she had easily overheard the last bits of their confession; kicking up another round of rage-turned calm.

If you're in the process, why don't you just give her the whole picture already? Fess up. But then, well, she came to realize that saying as much herself was probably more productive. And so that was, with a casual voice not in the least condescending unfortunately. "Actually, that's not right. They've been feeding those berries to Gilbert like a bribe. I, myself, tried them and thought they were harmless enough. But it's true, those things are the only bits of food they found themselves. Otherwise, we're very careful." As she spoke, Ilene strolled across the room to the opposite side of the bed (from Aleiva); rummaging through a pack of bags presumably belonging to the sick child. Every kid hoards their food.. Now where in the where did he-- Evidently, the berries were pretty obvious.

Slightly larger than the average blackberry, these little pockets of disease were dull black in colour; with several spots of red littering it's bumpy surface. Plump but smooth, a perhaps a dozen could fit easily in a hand. Or that was what it seemed to be, as Ilene carefully grabbed a handful from a small stash; placing them among a small decorative plate for Aleiva to see. And then, well, the two parents recovered from their states of shock and decided to take some form of revenge; immediately laying down a few monotonous errands for her to run. Feeding the horses? Seriously? Isn't that what stable boys are supposed to do? It's high time to look for another job, isn't it? Halfway through their small, idiotic tantrum, Ilene promptly rolled her eyes and stood; cutting them off as she grabbed her swords and spoke to Aleiva instead.

"Sorry about this. Looks like I've got to go. I'll entrust Junior to you, so take good care of him, okay?" Nearing the door, she looked back and added an afterthought: "Right. If you need me, ask for Ilene da Silva. Any of my Caelum travelers will know where to find me." That done, without waiting for a response, the kid walked straight out the door; much depressed at the prospect of fulfilling mindless tasks for the next long stretch of her morning. Been kind of hectic, hasn't it?

Outside the Smithy

Ivan’s damp, sparkling eyes widened when he saw the other Delerian’s knee nearly connect with Shyan. The blacksmith had been lucky to miss it, and the violence the Delerian displayed made the merchant scramble away from him even more. He crawled to the end of the Smithy and stood with his back to the edge, ready to disappear around the corner any chance he got. There was nothing more dangerous than getting caught in a fight between two Delerians—men or women; although, Delerian women were just as wild.

Daerio dropped his foot back to the ground and scowled deeply at how Shyan was wielding his own ax against him. It was when Shyan’s eyes flicked to his other ax leaned against the wall that Daerio wasn’t going to take any more chances. Already one thief had his ax, and he wasn’t about to let him take the other. Keeping an eye on Shyan, Daerio lunged for his ax against the wall. The soles of his boots slid across the dusty earth as he slid to a stop next to it that had only been two meters out of reach. He grasped the ax and as he hefted it, he flipped it within his hand. The heavy head tipped backwards, carrying the handle over the back of his hand before Daerio’s hand twisted around to grasp it again. He performed it twice to warm up the muscles in his arm, the speed in which the ax flipped with only a two second hesitation between each turn showed that the Delerian was dexterous with it.

You’re nothing but a cur with his tail between his ass! You should have offered me my weapon instead of your hand. I would have let you keep it then! Daerio shouted. He then noticed that Linde had thrown herself in the way of what would have been the path he would have taken to charge Shyan.

Take him down? The corner of Daerio’s mouth quirked in a condescending smirk. When Linde abruptly turned in his direction, her chest had followed quivering and bouncing from the action. The Dragon Slayer’s smirk dissolved into a straight-lipped expression forced by will alone for a lewd smile had wanted to blossom. He might have said something but at that moment, he couldn’t remember what he had wanted to say. It might have been a taunt. Lifting his ax, he lowered it behind his back into the leather sling. His other hand went behind his back to feel if it was securely in place and not inverted before he turned his cheek to the situation much like a child who didn’t get his way.

Linde had begun speaking to Shyan in the strange gibberish Lian had created for its residents. He had thought over what the blacksmith had said about wanting him to return from which he came. He had no desire to return to Delère yet, and honestly, Shyan was one to talk. It was too late to say so, but he would have told him the same thing. What a chump.

The talk Linde had with Shyan felt longer than it really was. Daerio’s eyes became half-lidded and he could feel the ache in his stomach. He hadn’t felt hunger at its worst until that moment. His insides felt stretched taut and those small actions he had performed made him feel like sitting. His whole being was feeling weak, and if he didn’t get something to eat, he wouldn’t be able to defend himself. The whole town felt like it was against him. They wanted to steal his axes and his gold.

Daerio’s grey eyes flicked over to Linde as he informed, I want my axes and my gold so that I-

Ivan was no longer within his peripherals and he was no longer where he once was. Daerio’s pupils shrank as the look on his face became predatory. His eyes swept the people that walked about and the carts that rode by to see a blond head dart between them. No more. No more cooperation; no more trying to let the big-boobed belle handle everything for it wasn’t going the way she wanted. She had no control. The blacksmith was trying to steal his ax, and now the thief was running away. This was a Delerian’s problem, and he was going to settle it the way Delerians would.

A hiss escaped from Daerio before he broke into a sprint after the fleeing Ivan. The last thing he would do was take that coward down. Someone had to.

I WILL BREAK YOUR LEGS!

Streets of Lian

Ivan glanced over his shoulder in terror to see that out of all the people that had noticed his absence, it had to be the blood-thirsty Delerian. With a cry of fright, Ivan grasped a fruit stand and pushed it down in the street to obstruct the Delerian’s pursuit.

Out of my way! Daerio snarled at the denizens blocking his view.

He leapt over the fallen fruit stand and nearly lost his balance when he landed. There were apples, oranges, and melons all over and some had gotten under his feet. Spreading his arms, he managed to catch himself and he glanced at the merchant’s fleeing form. Drawing his ax, Daerio charged after him to close the distance a little until he had a clear shot. The Delerian stopped and swung back his ax. He was prepped to send it flying into the merchant’s back.

The Smithy

---

Neal flinched as the sound of conflict permeated through his meditation and he cracked one eye open, slowly taking the scene in. The blacksmith and the other Delerian were staring daggers at each other over the shoulders of the big bosomed woman, Linde. Neal was once again distracted by the sight of the woman before he shakes himself and refocuses his mind, returning to figuring out what was going on.

"Shyan, I will personally take responsibility for the trouble that this man has caused here today. However, I must insist that you allow me to return his belongings to him. You know how our laws operate as well as I do. Since Ivan stole these weapons and supplies, they are not yours to buy from him. If you would please hand them to me now, I'll be the one to return them to him since I brought him here."

Neal shook his head with a slight grin on his face. Ordering a Delerian about was not the way to defuse this situation, even one that had been in Lian for years. He heard a slight whimper from the side and saw a pathetic looking man crawling away from the scene, a look of pure terror on his face. Ah yes. The merchant. Poor fella is in way over his head considering he picked the wrong character to steal from. Only way that could have worked out was if the big man truly had died and in that case his own kindness worked against him. With a sigh he got to his feet and dusted his clothes off before walking towards the merchant.

I WILL BREAK YOUR LEGS!

The shout startled Neal and his head snapped over to where the Delerian was, or more accurately to where he had been. It took a few seconds before Neal realized the large man had started sprinting after the poor merchant, who in his haste to escapes overturned a fruit cart while continuing to flee. "Well that isn't good..." Neal muttered before sprinting after the pair, his body stretching out for a full out run.

---

Streets of Lian

---

As Daerio stopped to take aim Neal realized he didn't have much time left and leaped over the fallen fruit cart, landing a flying kick into the large man's back, sending him flying forwards with the momentum and crashing to the ground with the monk's full weight on his back. The Delerian's head hit the ground with a solid thump and bounced back up as his weapon was sent flying from his grip to land several feet away. The two of them settled to the ground in a small dust cloud and Neal steps off the man's back before leaning over to make sure he was still breathing. He hadn't expected to have the large man fall quite so easily so he had put more force into his launch then was necessary. "Guess his ordeal left him weaker then I had thought. Maybe I shouldn't have gone so hard on him..." Neal muttered to himself before he thankfully noticed the man was in fact still breathing.

The Inn

Aleiva continued to work on grinding the herbs into a fine powder as she listened to the parents, until Laris and the the in keeper started coming in with the items she had requested. "Thank you." She said softly to them. The girl quickly took the honey from Laris and went back to the table where her bag, along with the bowls of water and towels, had been set down. "La-" She started, but her next instructions would have to wait.

As the young apothecary had started to dissolve the herbal powder into a bowl of water, the blond caelum girl had returned and, apparently, the couple hadn't been fully honest. I was quite obvious from the parents reactions that they had been caught, if not in an outright lie, certainly not telling the full truth. Though a little vexed at the two, Aleiva calmly continued to dissolve the herbal powder into the water then add the honey as she watched the guard, who seemed more concerned than his own parents, dig out the berries and show them to her. "They look like they have lief blight.." She commented darkly. The red spots were certainly indicative of a fungal infection, one that made human's quite sick when they ate it. Linde would know the effects on the plants and how it spread, all Aleiva knew was how it effected those who ate it. If the others only tried a few of them to see if they were safe and the boy was eating them like candy, it was easy to see why they were fine while Gilbert Jr. was on death's door. Especially since children are more suseptable to practically any disease to start with. Aleiva would have liked to ask the blond a few more questions, but she was being banished for her help by the parents. At least she had a name. Ilene probably saved Gilbert's life.

In fact, as she ground some Myrrh into a powder to add to the herbs she was already using, Aleiva spoke to the caelum parents in their native tongue. "You're choice not to tell me the truth could have cost Junior his life. You are lucky Ilene was here." She scolded, perhaps not as harshly as she should have. It wasn't in Aleiva to be outright cruel. Hopefully the two had learned their lesson and Ilene could catch a break. Of course that would only happen if the parents realized how foolish holding back information had been. How could anyone put a child's life in danger to keep others from knowing they made a mistake? Whatever their reasons for hiding it , Aleiva wanted to be sure they understood at least one thing for the future. "Don't eat berries with spots like this.. ever." She spoke gently but seriously. Surely the couple was upset enough, but they had to know how their actions effected their son. "You should never eat what you don't know. You could easily have killed him" She spoke in Caelum once more to be sure there was no misunderstanding.

After adding the myrrh, the young apothecary also pulled some grapefruit seed extract from her bag. The two new ingredients were great for fighting fungal infections, the likely source of Gilbert junior's bloody cough. Combined with the detoxifying herbs to help flush everything out of his system, this -should- do the trick. If they weren't too late. "Laris?" Aleiva asked softly in Lian. "Please take the other bowl of water and get the towels wet. We need one towel behind his neck and one on his forehead. Then take one more wet towel and pull the covers back so you can wipe the boy down while I feed him." The evaporating, warm water would start the process of lowering Gilbert Jr.'s body temperature slowly, helping to prevent shock from a sudden drop when they put him in the bath.

Trusting Laris to do his part, Aleiva finished mixing the medicine and took a special cup, shaped like an egg to make pouring easier, from her bag before returning to the boy's side. After setting the bowl on the night stand, Aleiva gently supported the boy's head with one hand, and held a cup of the liquid with the other. "Drink this Gilbert. It will help you feel better." She said softly in Caelum before raising the cup to the boy's lips and tilting it. Aleiva poured slowly, letting his natural instinct to swallow things in the back of the throat take over. This was to prevent junior from choking on, or aspirating the liquid. Aleiva paused whenever a fit of coughing hit. As much as she might have liked to get the medicine into him faster, the girl knew better than to rush this part.. no matter how painfully slow it seemed to be going.

As she fed Gilbert, Aleiva took a moment to speak to the nearest guard in caelum, though she didn't look up at him. "We'll need to move him to the bath downstairs soon. Will you help us carry him?" She asked. Once his fever was down the boy would, hopefully, be more lucid. Then she could ask him if his parents gave him anything else... just in case. It seemed like this was all a mistake that the prideful parents tried to hide, but better safe than sorry for the child's sake. "You two should wait here, we'll need room to work." She added to the parents, still speaking in their native tongue. Aleiva couldn't ask questions with them hovering over Junior to stop her.

The Smithery

Any hopes Linde had of controlling the situation and keeping it from escalating quickly shattered as Daerio raced off through the streets to find Ivan, who had somehow slipped away from them while she tried to calm the Delerian warrior. How he had enough energy to even begin a chase like that was beyond her, but it was obvious that he was going to be an extreme headache and a thorn in her side if he remained in the village much longer.

She looked to Shyan as she dropped her arms and exhaled an irritated sigh.

"Never mind giving his belongings back to him Shyan... I've lost all of my patience with him at this point, and blatantly disregarding my warnings and my request to wait for the return of his things has shown me that he doesn't deserve the kindness I was trying to provide him. Do me a favor and hold down the fort here. I'll be back in five minutes at most, so try not to go anywhere until I get back."

She looked over at Nimuae, who had been silent for most of the experience and gave an acknowledging nod of her head before turning away towards the Apothecary.

The Apothecary

Linde sprinted with all haste back to the Apothecary through the streets of Lian. It didn't take her more than about one minute to get there, and once she had made it back she darted through the front door and to her room. She quickly threw off her own and donned a more sturdy shirt and pair of pants as she also threw on her armor. It took her about two minutes to dress completely, but it didn't take nearly that long for her to get her spear off the wall and dart back out of the Apothecary towards the Smithery.

The Smithery

Once she arrived back at the Smithery, nothing had really changed all that much. The Delerian was nowhere to be seen, nor was Ivan. Somewhere they were still causing a ruckus in the village and Linde gripped her spear quite hard as her teeth began to grind inside her mouth and her lips tightened at the thought of them wrecking the food stalls, signs, and other such items that other villagers worked hard to set up and maintain. Not to mention the chaos that would come about thanks to any fighting they started in her absence.

Linde looked over towards where Ivan had set the Delerian's belongings and spied a rather nice pouch of gold which she took for herself and attached to her right hip. She left his other belongings alone for the moment, but the gold was something she knew he'd want back with haste when he returned. Without gold he wasn't going to be buying food, water, supplies to replenish any he'd used along his journey or any that Ivan had already helped himself to, and he wasn't going to find a good place to put himself up for the night. As for the rest of his things, she stood in front of them somewhat defensively with her spear at the ready tucked under her right arm.

Linde was typically a peaceful soul, but this Delerian had officially lost what little respect for him she initially had. Now that he had attacked someone in her village and tried to bring harm to one of her friends, she was done playing nice. When he came back, if he did not agree to leave the village peacefully she now planned on burning his gold, supplies and remaining weapons using the Smithy's hearth which was only a few feet away.

If he tried to rescue them before they had burned, she'd stall him indefinitely with her spear if necessary. In the state he was in she was certain he'd be no match for her, especially given the fact that she was fresh and he was somewhat malnourished. Also, Shyan and Nimuae (though the latter was not likely to help her so much as help Shyan) would come to her aide if he attacked. No matter how mad or strong he thought he was, he would not be able to take all three of them in his current state.

Either way he was leaving this village. Whether it was with or without his belongings was now entirely up to him.

The Dragon of Green Peak

Seven men donning dark-grey armor marched along the dirt road with a purpose. They were the village guard and they had already dealt with a disturbance in a bar caused by a Delerian. The people had reported of a man chasing another man through the streets with an ax. Disturbances were a norm in a melting pot village, but in the cases where the races were still pure-blood, there were altercations between Delerians and Caelumites.

The guards found the Delerian face-down with what the guards to believe was a priest or monk standing next to him. The ax was a few feet away. One of the soldiers walked over to kneel next to Daerio and checked his pulse.

“He’s still alive,” the guard reported.

“Bind him and confiscate that ax,” the captain replied. He then turned his head to set his green eyes on Neal. The captain had been a hybrid, but his features were dominantly Caelumite. Upon his head was a steel helm, Robin Hood in shape, with yellow, triangular wings. The wings were his rank, and the helm was similar in style to an actual Caelumite officer’s helm, the difference being Caelumite military had dragon wings to represent their ranks. “We’ll take it from here.”

Two guards grabbed Daerio’s shoulders and hefted him to his knees as they then began wrapping him with ropes. One guard kept a hand on the warrior’s shoulder, while the other tightened the binds and began tying a knot. The one guard’s fingers happened to notice a split in the shoulder-seam of Daerio’s tunic and the odd, bumpy flesh beneath it. Peeling back the material, the guard’s brows knitted curiously to see that it was a brand and not just any brand.

“Captain Visaeus; he’s a dragon slayer!” the guard reported.

Captain Visaeus’s eyes narrowed with suspicion. “We have no Dragon Slayers in this village…”

The captain approached Daerio and the guard and gazed at the brand burnt into his flesh. He kept the discomfort the brand had brought to him hidden.

“Release him,” the captain ordered.

The guards stared wide-eyed at their captain.

“Sir, this man endangered the lives of our people. We cannot just let him go…” The guard regarded the captain suspiciously before he added, “Lord Thorndike would be interested to know that a Dragon Slayer has entered the village.”

The captain frowned. “Are you questioning my orders?”

“Forgive me, Sir; but yes. Actually, I know why you wouldn’t want his lordship to learn of this information. You fear that Lord Thorndike will ask him to slay the dragon, the beast that has taken the lives of our people.”

“There is no dragon. Release him.”

The guards stood there, staring defiantly at the officer. Captain Visaeus scowled deeply at his men. This was what happened when he had a bunch of Delerian hybrids in his company.

“Do what you bloody want! I won’t have anything to do with this,” the captain hissed before he turned and marched away.

A guard that had gathered the ax approached the seven, presenting the weapon. “Look, its Delerian steel.”

“Yes; he’s a Dragon Slayer all right. Let’s take him to Lord Thorndike.”

The guards dragged the unconscious Daerio away.

---

NPC

Captain Visaeus - Captain of Lian's Guard.

Lian Village
The Smithery

Shyan was only a little grateful when Linde intervened. Yet his eyes never left the stranger. Daerio was armed now, it would've exposed Shyan if he had tried to prevent the reclamation. He was aware that the other was by far more skilled with his instruments the the blacksmith, that could have been assumed anyway. He did not let his muscles relax. The tattoo adorning his right arm writhed as he shifted the ax's balance. The next few moments rushed past, the blacksmith noticed Ivan absence at the time Daerio did. He expected the situation to take a turn for the worst and was proven right as the man's Delerian nature took its foolish hold. He didn't act to pursue, Ivan had been imbecilic enough to flee and in all reality deserved the results of his actions. He unceremoniously dumped the ax in the empty location that its brother had occupied earlier. Nodding quietly to Linde's request, he now had very little interest in involving himself in the situation. It seemed the best way to deal with the troublemaker was to let him have his stuff and be done with it.
"I lost patience with him before that." The burly craftsman agreed, scowling in the direction the two men had lost themselves. "He's Delerian, he'll try and pick a fight out of anything. Common courtesy was interpreted as theft." With this common he meant Daerio's accusation about the handshake. It was merely Shyan attempting to start on a civil foot but the foreigner's response was obvious. The accusation was lost on Shyan, he did not particularly care that the man thought him a coward. He knew he wasn't, neither was he a fool like so many of his birth race. He turned aside and stepped inside his home that seemed to have become the center of drama, hefting a heavy object from just inside the doorway before returning to the trodden grass outside. He ensure he closed the door behind him.

He caught Nimuae's eye as he strode out, hammer in hand. She calmed him slightly, he was aware that were was still business to be concluded. He had little intention of awaiting Linde's return, what she did was not much relevance to him. He turned over to the young woman. He had lost his earlier cheer and a quiet smoldering arose instead, much like that of his forge.
"Glad that didn't turn into a fight." He admitted, unashamed. "Delerians are fools, better to let them kill each other and leave." He noted the avian corpse and nodded a silent approval. "You might need to use that bow for more then killing pigeons before the day is out. Let us hope it doesn't come to that, threats would only serve to aggravate the man further." He had turned away from her as he spoke, trying to catch a sign of what had happened with Ivan, Daerio and the other man.
"That is of course if you want to get involved." He expected she wouldn't, Linde had obviously taken the deal personally and Nimuae wouldn't leave it all to her rival. He also named a price for the steel arrowheads, it was not the minimum price he could ask but neither was it what would be his usual fare. He wouldn't brook any bartering, not that she was likely to try, but he was willing to allow her back payment. Mostly that was because he could hold her responsible later more then a semblance of trust. In all reality he was filling the empty time before Linde's return. Valuing work and effort the way he did free time, specially unintentional free time, was rather trying. Eventually she return, clad for what seemed to be a conflict. He marveled slightly at her swiftness as donning the armor, as much as he marveled at its notable inadequacy. He considered more then once offering to improve its general reliability but he respected her father's work and she was probably confident enough with its flaws.

He said nothing as she picked her way through the man's belongings, acquiring what sounded like a coin pouch. It was interesting that Ivan didn't pool those with his own. It at least meant that they hardly needed to interrogate the merchant to discover what he took. He sent her a curious look, unsure what her intentions were. To return the money or for her self. He challenged her, expecting that she wasn't giving into vice.
"I expect you're taking that as a bargaining item?" He fell in beside her, the hammer resting on his shoulder. "Going after him?"

The Smithery

Linde looked over at Shyan, giving him an indifferent expression before returning her eyes forward.

"To be blunt, yes. I am hoping this will be a bargaining chip but then again, given the way he acts, he'll probably view it as an act of war and try to attack me regardless. I'm not sure what he's doing now or where he's gone, but if he doesn't agree to leave this village peacefully when he returns then I'm throwing everything he has into the hearth and letting it burn. He either leaves with everything he wants without a fight, or he leaves with nothing except the worst beating of his life."

She flicked her spear in her hand so that she was gripping it a little closer to the tip with the rest of the weapon slanting back behind her at a forty five degree angle, as it gave her a slight subconscious lift in confidence to do so.

"As for going after him... No. He'll be back for his belongings sooner or later and when he does I'll be ready."

Neal blinked several times as he absorbed the information he had just heard. He wasn't as fluent in Lianese as most people were considering he had arrived in town not too long ago but his knowledge of the language of Caelum and Delerian allowed him to understand it well enough to get the point of the message. Neal watched as the guards dragged the unconscious Dragon Slayer away and then looked over to the retreating captain of the guard...going in a different direction. He hadn't quite caught the entire confrontation between the captain and the guardsmen but it certainly didn't feel friendly.

It took only a second for Neal to make up his mind and rush after the captain, whose features were predominantly Caelumite, giving hope that maybe Neal could find a way to prevent this catastrophe from happening before it got off the ground.

"Excuse me sir," Neal called in Caelumese as he neared the man, "My name is Neal Songburrow, a monk of the Children of Caelum and I couldn't help but over hear that it sounded like there was a dragon nearby and unless my ears betrayed me your guards are planning on attempting to slay it by conscripting that invalid of a Delerian. Might I ask what makes one believe that a dragon could be worth slaying?" Neal stopped himself before he started to explain about the gifts that dragons were to mankind considering that explaining to this man seemed almost pointless if he truly was a Caelumite.

What the hell? Of course when Linde had decided to rear her ugly mug into the picture, things got crazy and hectic really fast. The stranger was yelling in a language she could barely understand and Linde was no help at all; her mere presence only seemed to serve one purpose, and that purpose was irritating Nimuae until she could barely restrain her annoyance. She had half a mind to run back to the tree stump, grab the arrows, and just 'accidentally' fire one in her direction (of course, Shyan would probably not approve, and the last thing she wanted was an angry blacksmith who would no longer help her...).

Knowing she had no choice, Nimuae refrained from doing anything stupid, finding it better to, instead, stare at the ground and wonder what it'd be like if ol' whatsherface became an ant easy to kill with a slight flick of her foot. Ah, wouldn't that be a fine dream to see brought into reality?

The tension in the air was thick, and though the archer could barely understand a word the Delerian was saying, that didn't mean she couldn't read the tone and the atmosphere. Despite his sickly-looking appearance, the man seemed to send out a dangerous and almost ferocious aura, as if he could snap someone's neck in 2.3 seconds if given the chance. The little, almost invisible, hair on the back of her neck stood up in warning, and as a result, Nimuae unconsciously took several steps backward toward the arrows, ready to jump for them and draw back her bow if needed.

Listening to the conversation -- or whatever bits she could comprehend -- Nimuae understood the gist and was completely and wholeheartedly fine with Ivan losing an arm, though not a head. She believed in second chances, but that didn't mean she was a stranger to anger and justice. She was sure that, in some parts of the world, stealing was punishable by the loss of your stealing hand, a punishment she didn't necessarily condone, but she didn't look down upon it either.

The moment the stranger locked hands with Shyan was the moment she tensed, and the moment he threw his knee upward with the intent of injuring Shyan was the moment she jumped back and rolled for the arrows, immediately sliding into the vicinity of the stump and grabbing an arrow with ease. Faster than she could process, Nimuae was armed with an arrow, drawing it back in her bow, and she had aimed it at the stranger. Was he a friend of Linde? No wonder he was so unlikable and violent.

Ahh? -- So, he wasn't her friend? Linde had stepped in between and starting shouting in that awkward language Nimuae had never bothered to learn. Her grip on the arrow and bow tightened slightly, ready to let the slender creature fly toward a vital area if things got a little more heated, but it seemed that the stranger had lost something or another and ran off down the streets like a madman -- which, he certainly was, at that point. Quickly after, with a few words exchanged, Linde nodded her head in Nimuae's direction (she returned it with narrowed eyes and a cold, stiff jerk of her own) and seemingly followed him.

Most of the tension and anxiety seemed to trail after them, and Nimuae managed a sigh of relief. Catching Shyan's eyes, she laughed sheepishly and pulled apart the armed lovers in her hands. "What?" She shrugged her shoulders, straightening her back and standing upright. "I've got your back, my favorite blacksmith. Can't just sit by and watch him knee you in the stomach, after all!" She knew he could handle himself, but that didn't mean the archer couldn't worry -- or find a reason to try out the arrowheads again.

There was an eerie and intimidating quietness that surrounded the blacksmith, now that the ordeal was (temporarily) over. She had only ever seen him like that a couple of times, and needless to say, each time was more alarming than the last. The sense of power he radiated was different than her own, a far-range combatant; Nimuae often found that her atmosphere truly couldn't compare with those that fought closely to their enemies, a luxury and curse she would (hopefully) never have to endure.

Nimuae grinned at him and raised the arrow, as if she was saluting a captain or boss before war, bidding him good luck and a prayer that he'd make it back alive, much less whole. "Speak no more. I'm with you, Shy-man; you can bet your bottom rabbit's foot on it. Ah -- I've forgotten to bring money, Shy-man. I'll return home to retrieve -- " However, before she could finish her sentence, her arch-nemesis and rival returned, clad in powerfully beautiful armor that would put a soldier to shame -- and maybe even sprout a little bit of jealousy that was quickly and fiercely smothered.

"Looks like we're off to war, mates," Nimuae commented offhandedly, frowning at Linde's plan of action. So, she was just going to stand around and wait for a man to come back, bloodthirsty and seeking his items? Ready to kill anyone in the way? Nimuae didn't care too much of Linde -- the warrior could die horribly mutilated for all she cared -- but Lian was another matter. She muttered something under her breath and waved to Shyan before heading off toward her house, intent on getting the money and the container to place her new, favorite arrows. An act of war needed sacrifices to die, and those sacrificed needed to be armed, after all.

Streets of Lian

Excuse me, Sir…

Captain Visaeus turned his head as a pine-green eye regarded Neal until he caught up to him. The captain’s strides were long and full of purpose. His arms swung, his hands curled into fists. He listened as the monk went on to identify himself. When he mentioned the Children of Caelum, the captain’s face became very stern. His focus returned to the road before him as he was making his way to the guard posts at the edge of the village.

“There is no dragon,” Captain Visaeus stated heavily in Caelumite. “Be on your way. I have more important matters to attend.”

Of course, The Dragon of Green Peak had always been a rumor. There were many travelers and dare devils that ventured up the mountain, seeking to prove the truth or fallacy behind it. None had returned. Their absences were what made the villagers believe that there was a dragon or a monster on the mountain, eating them up. It made a good bedtime story for children.

Streets of Lian

---

"But the rumors say otherwise and it seems at least one person in an authoritarian position believes the rumors to be true." Neal took a look at the man's stony expression and decided further attempts at persuasion would get him no where so with a quick bow he backed out of the conversation, saying "But I'm sure you would know better than I so if you would excuse me, I will be on my way."

Neal turned on his heel and began absentmindedly walking back to the apothecary, his mind was filled with thoughts on how he could find where they had taken the Dragon Slayer and possibly correct this breach of justice before it even began. The captain didn't seem to be the helpful sort with his insistence that the dragon simply didn't exist so that was one avenue closed off right there. Neal's thoughts turned to what might actually be up at the top of Green Peak. The rumors of people disappearing left one to wonder if there could in fact be a malignant beast hiding out on top of the mountain but if it truly had impure motives the beast wouldn't be a dragon. It couldn't be.

But then again if it was it was Neal's duty to protect it from the likes of Slayers and the guardsmen who he was sure only wanted to protect their families but this was not an acceptable method. Neal considered simply climbing to the peak of the mountain then and there but the dangers of the mountain were true even if many of the stories were not, leaving him in a bit of an indecisive state as he continued back the path he had come in on, back towards the Smithy.

The Inn

With Laris giving the boy a cooling wipe down, Aleiva spoke soothingly to Gilbert Jr. as she fed him the herbal potion. It took some time, but eventually, the boy drank the whole bowl. "Alright, wrap him in a blanket and lets get him down to the tub." She said softly. Hopefully by the time the bath was over, the medicine would be starting to kick in. If not... things didn't bode well for the child.

The guard had agreed to help, so he and Laris carefully lifted the young boy from his sick bed and carried him down the stairs to place him in the tub. "Be careful.." Aleiva whispered, not that it was necessary. Both men were gental as they unwrapped Gilbert Jr. and placed him in the cold bath. He gave a whimper, a fairly mild reaction considering the sudden change in temperature. "Thank you both..." came the apothecary's soft voice again before she knelt next to the boy and started next to the boy and started cupping water then pooring it over his head. "Please help me clean him up Laris." The boy would be more comfortable if nothing else.

Laris was a big help in getting Gilbert Jr clean. He helped to lift and turn the boy, who was dead weight at the moment. Once Gilbert was clean, Alieva told Laris to rest, then she sat next to the tub. The girl just spoke to Junior for a while, letting the evaporating water lower the boy's temperature. He would likely still have a fever for a few days, but it would be a lower, non-life threatening fever if all went to plan.

The young Apothecary was just about to have the boy taken upstairs when he opened his eyes and looked at her. "Who are you?" He asked dully. "I'm the apothecary... You have been sick for a while." Aleiva said softly. "I think the barries you have been eating made you sick.. but I have to be sure. I have to know what you ate to make you sick so that no one else eats it." Aleiva explained slowly. Gilbert nodded to show he understood. Weak as he was, Aleiva wasn't going to push him too hard. "You wont be in trouble, no one will be, but I need to know if you ate anything -anything- that no one else ate. Even if someone gave it to you. They could have given you something bad by mistake." It felt like forever before Gilbert answered, but it was only a few moments. "Just the berries... No one gave me anything else.." The boy whispered, his voice horse from coughing.

That answer filled Aleiva with relief. There was no reason to suspect the boy had eaten anything else. He had no reason to lie. The parents, though deceitful, had seemed truly concerned there son was sick too, so she had no reason to suspect an intentional poisoning from what she had seen so far. After a few more minuets, Aleiva asked for Laris and the guards to take Gilbert Jr. back upstairs, which they agreed to do. When the group arrived back upstairs, Aleiva was happy to see the maids had cleaned the room while they were gone, and the parents were happy to see their 'baby' was feeling better.

After the tearful reunion and once the boy was back in bed, Aleiva spoke to the parents in Caelum. She explained that Gilbert junior should rest, drink lots of fluids, and not eat anything for at least two days. The Apothecary also told the two he would need to continue taking medicine for about ten days, and they could ether come by the hospice later, or send someone to pick it up and pay for it. Now that the boy was taken care of, it was time for them to let the family spend some time together alone.

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The streets of Lian on the way to the Hospice.

With Laris taking her bag once more, Aleiva walked slowly back to the hospice. She had several batches of medicine to make for the Caelum boy, would have to ask Linde for more herbs, and she had to see if anyone needed her at the hospice. First, however, Aleiva also needed to be sure Linde was okay. The herbalist was a great fighter, but that Delarian man had been big and angry... and the healer couldn't help but worry for her friend. The hospice was the best place to start the search and she could see if anyone needed her while she was at it. From there, she could check the smithy. The Delarian had said something about his weapons being stolen after all. Who else in town would buy them?