Jacque's brow raised slightly as he stared at the insignia on Priscilla's hand. He knew of the Slayers, having even worked with one once to help stop a necromancer that had attempted to achieve lichdom. Jacque fondly recalled the argument that the Slayer had started with the Paladin of the past group when the battle was over, as the paladin wanted to take the necromancer before his church to face judgement, while the slayer simply wanted to part the necromancer's head from his shoulders. He pushed the memory away in favor of thinking about Priscilla's question, "A swamp dragon, eh?". Jacque absentmindedly reached up and tugged on one of the braids in his hair, a habit he'd developed that he only did when in deep thought. The fauna of the forest had indeed been acting strange lately, Jacque recalled that in the last three weeks alone he'd spotted several ospreys, otters, mangrove monitors and even a crab or two moving through the forest. At the time he'd just chalked it up as a novel, yet not quite worrisome occurrence, after all, water sources like swamps dried up all the time, and perhaps what spurred their travel was a drought. Now that Jacque thought about it however, he'd recalled that they didn't move with the purposeful yet discreet movements of an animal in an unfamiliar land in search of a home. The creatures that had entered the forest were frantic; they had been moving as if they were being pursued, always checking their surroundings with rapid, jerky head movements, as if they expected at any second to be pounced upon and devoured and compensated by trying to se everywhere at once. Jacque released the braid and cleared his throat, "Now that I think about it, the wild life here have been acting strange. I've been seeing a lot of creatures around here that I used to only see in a mangrove swamp to the south of the island. They weren't moving like they were migrating, it seemed like they were fleeing for their lives.".

James couldn't help but laugh. "That sounds like him. He tends to not let any other animals on his territory that he claims." He looked at Priscilla. "I can lead you to him. I know his scent," he said, sprouting his draconic wings.

Jacque's brow raised slightly as he stared at the insignia on Priscilla's hand. He knew of the Slayers, having even worked with one once to help stop a necromancer that had attempted to achieve lichdom. Jacque fondly recalled the argument that the Slayer had started with the Paladin of the past group when the battle was over, as the paladin wanted to take the necromancer before his church to face judgement, while the slayer simply wanted to part the necromancer's head from his shoulders. He pushed the memory away in favor of thinking about Priscilla's question, "A swamp dragon, eh?". Jacque absentmindedly reached up and tugged on one of the braids in his hair, a habit he'd developed that he only did when in deep thought. The fauna of the forest had indeed been acting strange lately, Jacque recalled that in the last three weeks alone he'd spotted several ospreys, otters, mangrove monitors and even a crab or two moving through the forest. At the time he'd just chalked it up as a novel, yet not quite worrisome occurrence, after all, water sources like swamps dried up all the time, and perhaps what spurred their travel was a drought. Now that Jacque thought about it however, he'd recalled that they didn't move with the purposeful yet discreet movements of an animal in an unfamiliar land in search of a home. The creatures that had entered the forest were frantic; they had been moving as if they were being pursued, always checking their surroundings with rapid, jerky head movements, as if they expected at any second to be pounced upon and devoured and compensated by trying to se everywhere at once. Jacque released the braid and cleared his throat, "Now that I think about it, the wild life here have been acting strange. I've been seeing a lot of creatures around here that I used to only see in a mangrove swamp to the south of the island. They weren't moving like they were migrating, it seemed like they were fleeing for their lives.".

James couldn't help but laugh. "That sounds like him. He tends to not let any other animals on his territory that he claims." He looked at Priscilla. "I can lead you to him. I know his scent," he said, sprouting his draconic wings.

"I could help in the battle if you want my help, after all cleansing the world of evil is a personal goal of mine."

"Now that I think about it, the wild life here have been acting strange. I've been seeing a lot of creatures around here that I used to only see in a mangrove swamp to the south of the island. They weren't moving like they were migrating, it seemed like they were fleeing for their lives.".

Priscilla's eyes lit up with elated glee at the mention that her quarry might be nearby. She clapped, creating a crude noise of steel colliding with steel as she celebrated. "Oh thank the waves! Finally, after all this searching, I can bring that beast its just deserts." She looked to and fro along the coastline and then turned to look over the tree-line, a look of slight confusion on her face as she stopped and turned back to the local-living man. She huffed an annoyed breath and chuckled. "Though I AM intrigued enough to ask, what else is there for this island to offer? I'm not going to just slay and leave with a dragon's head in tow. There has to be some sort of hidden wonders or secret valuables to be had."

James couldn't help but laugh. "That sounds like him. He tends to not let any other animals on his territory that he claims." He looked at Priscilla. "I can lead you to him. I know his scent," he said, sprouting his draconic wings.

"I could help in the battle if you want my help, after all cleansing the world of evil is a personal goal of mine."

She toyed with her nose-ring as she considered the offer of help. She WAS all alone on this island, with no company to assist her. But then again its not like slaying mythical beasts was new to her. 'In the end though, numbers are better in any situation, so it can't hurt.' She chewed at her lip as she thought, looking over the two as if surveying architecture or a sculpture. She held her arm up and showed two fingers to the eager pair of dragon-kin. "I've got two conditions. One is you leave the beast entirely to me, and if I am in need of assistance, then you may help. This is a much more personal affair than just regular slaying business, and that means I get the final blow. The second, we make our way on foot. We don't want to alert it to our presence from the air, no matter how dense the tree-cover. That and I've no taste to be flying about. I've come too far and worked too hard to have the prize handed to me on a silver platter now."

James nodded, then turned into one of the Cave Dragons, which burrow underground. "How about I dig us a tunnel that leads close enough that we can get there on foot? Because from what I can tell this island is massive."

Growing bored Amos retreated back into the forest from whence he came. He was slightly weakened and needed the comfort of the darkness to refuel him. He would go back to his temple and search its contents for anything unusual. As he got closer to the temple itself, he failed to realize before that it was close to an old swamp full of mangroves. It looked unnaturally void of life and dark as if the sun avoided the area. A perfect place to retry a power he once had when he was uncorrupted. His shadowy hand touched an old mangrove tree and as he poured some of his essence into it, creaking and groaning could be heard. The tree became darker in color and started to ooze a black substance from its cracks. He had given the tree life, in a corrupted form which many would call a dark ent. However, he was no where near strong enough to control it now, and it lashed out at him. His form dissolved in the air and he retreated back into the confines of the temple to recuperate. He looked back at his creation, it was moving slightly learning its new powers and he could not help but be pleased with the result. It would now be an obstacle for anyone daring to get close to the swamp or the temple.

"How about I dig us a tunnel that leads close enough that we can get there on foot? Because from what I can tell this island is massive."

Slowly and firmly she sighed, and brought a hand up to rub at the bridge of her nose. She felt a sudden stabbing pain behind one of her eyes, and the smell of brimstone, grave dirt and rotting plant filled her nostrils. Her fingertips tingled once more and she could taste swamp air in the back of her throat, making her grimace in disgust. She waved a hand casually at the dragon-kin speaking to her, "A tunnel is fine, just don't bring us up beneath the thing. Bring us up just outside the swamp itself. I'll take it from there." Her tongue felt like sand as she spoke, drying out and becoming rough. All of these signs at once meant something, a sort of sixth sense for magicks like when Jacque appeared from the brush. She dismissed it and resolved to stay on her guard as they continued.

James nodded, then leaped about 20 feet in the air, spinning as he came back down almost like a drill as he extended the horns on his head to burrow through the ground, and made his way towards the swamp at high speed.

Down he went into the temple, exploring the numerous rooms, finding some gold and gems. All useless to him but he questioned why they were there in the first place. He soon arrived in what he presumed was the central chamber to find what looked like an old sacrifice and a treasure horde. Skeletal remains littered the place and in a circle of dead bodies wearing tattered robes, a blood red gem sat upon a pedestal. An aura of corruption seemed to flow from it, so he decided to let it lay there, knowing that it would not effect him in the slightest. The treasure about the room came in many forms, more gems, gold, weapons and armor. Something was amiss however, as it all seemed to be tainted but to a mortal there would be no difference. At the back of the room sat a table and a chair, to which he sat in the chair, regaining his powers quickly.

The feat of acrobatics seemed slightly lost on Priscilla as she finished rubbing away the pain behind her eye. She sighed as she removed her pack and placed it on the floor to remove her torches from a loop on the side. They were just an oiled rags tied around lengths of rusted iron but with a swipe at her boot, one of the rags burst into flame, and she held it above her head in preparation to head in to the newly created tunnel. The other torches, she took the time to stab into the earth around the entrance to the tunnel. With a succinct point to the torches she spoke, "If anyone sees fit to follow and CAN'T see in the dark, take a torch and strike it on something hard. Like stone, or steel," She knocked on her breastplate to drive her point across, "You'll be able to see just fine after." She shot a look to Jacque specifically, hoping to encourage him to follow so as to not be the only human going on the trip, before descending into the tunnel at a leisurely pace.

"Well, here we go!" Zecurst said eagerly.

Jacque smiled softly and looked to the tree line when Priscilla asked of the secrets of the land he'd called home, "This island is inhabited by a fairly sizable number of faefolk. It's safe to say there could be any number of mysteries about these lands.". Thus far things were going well for Jacque, in fact, they were going even better than he'd hoped. His arrival had been well received by the group, and while his adventure might have been starting a bit closer to home than he'd hoped, beggars couldn't be choosers. The ranger nodded silently at Priscilla's implied invitation and began to follow the others into the hole, grimacing slightly at the method used to travel to their location, as he knew the island well enough to find a discrete way to the swamps, but ultimately deciding not to raise too much of a fuss about it. It was indeed dark, however Jacque's sharpened senses allowed him to follow behind the Slayer ahead of him whilst at the same time keeping a comfortable distance. The ranger kept a relatively leisurely pace, after all, nearly every species of dragon, be they wyverns, wyrms, drakes, or naga, never strayed far from a location that they had marked as there. In all honesty, the only species of dragons Jacque could think of that didn't stay in one location would be those that inhabited the sea. "You mentioned that this creature was yours alone to kill, and I recognize that gleam you've got in your eye. With the species we're after and the way you're treating this situation, i'm guessing the swamp drake razed your village to the ground. Would that be correct?".

The tunnel was dark enough that Priscilla's torch could only light up a few meters around her, the disturbed dust and debris was thick in the air, stymieing the warm glow of the fire in her hand. She drew her blade slowly, squinting her eyes as if to pierce through the obfuscating clouds of dirt, and hefted it in one hand with relative ease. Years spent in the training yard and on the hunt have made her strong, and she was proficient with wielding the bastard blade's weight fluidly in either hand or both. The torchlight glinted off of the blade, highlighting the nicks and scratches in its surface, but also showing the keen edge it held. The sword's handle was decorated with rune-embroidered strips of cloth that dangled over its macelike pommel and lop-sided cross-guard Jacque's question caught her off-guard, making her pause in her step. The saddened expression on her face was known only to her in this dim lighting and closed-off space. She looked back, sweeping the hair from her eyes as she spoke. "That is a very good guess. Yes. The foul creature ruined my home," The memory was still fresh in her mind, whilst she had forgotten the name of the village and exactly where it was, she still remembered the events that drove her this far. She continued with anger in her voice, "Defiled the waters and devoured those I held dear." She spat in disgust, moving now with more purpose. "For that it will bleed."

Arin sighed before heading back in the direction of the forest, the inu(Ace) following behind him. Price eventually came upon five people, one group being what appeared to be triplets with an older boy watching over them and the fifth person being a girl(Aniram) who didn't seem related to them at all. With his keen sense of smell, he could tell none of these were human. Relieved, he began to approach the triplets and whoever else was there. __________________________________________________________________ (Still in his lair) Hunter had finished the spell for summoning shadow creatures and looked up from his book to see what he caught. They seem fairly stronger than my last group of shadow minions. He grinned at the thought as he only hoped these newer minions could defeat someone he liked to call Dino-Boy(Arin).

Jacque grunted softly as his prediction hit the mark. Although he didn't show it, he felt a bit of pity for Priscilla, as he tale was one that many an adventurer shared. "Your mission is admirable Slayer, but you should take care not to let your goal blind you when the time comes to do what you have to do. You sound as though you have the will to take your revenge, however that's not enough. Drakes are fiercely intelligent, not to mention manipulative, when you go up against this creature it will first try to wither you down mentally to soften you for the physical blow. You'll have to be clear headed if you want to survive." Jacque said as he lightly tugged a braid again. Although he wasn't sure if the woman in front of him would realize it, he'd intentionally used the word 'survive' rather than 'win'. In battle there were far too many variables for a fight to have a clear outcome, and though he didn't speak of it, Jacque knew all too well that like many who had come before her, there was always the possibility that Priscilla would be the one that was slain in battle.

James spoke telepathically to Jacque while he kept digging. "Not this one. He's stupid, and arrogant. He'll underestimate her, and be killed because of it. He is royalty after all. And royalty are too naive."

Priscilla stumbled as her foot caught on a rock in her path, but she recovered quick and continued at her determined pace. She felt the tingling in her fingertips and the pain behind her eye returning. They were nearing the swamp and in turn, the swamp drake. The smell of brimstone and rotting plant had become stronger and her mouth was beginning to feel like the scales of a desert wyrm. Omens all, but at this point nothing was going to deter her from her goal.

"Drakes are fiercely intelligent, not to mention manipulative, when you go up against this creature it will first try to wither you down mentally to soften you for the physical blow. You'll have to be clear headed if you want to survive."

She chuckled at the statement and nodded in the affirmative, "Oh yes, I've seen the temptations that the scaled folk can present us mortals with. I can assure you, supposed prince or not, there is nothing this squirming wretch can offer up to save itself now. And don't worry, I think best when I'm in the thick of conflict." She felt it unnecessary to mention that it was the only area that she considered herself as thinking well in. Her grip on her blade tightened. "I've come too far to be thrown off now."

James spoke telepathically to Jacque while he kept digging. "Not this one. He's stupid, and arrogant. He'll underestimate her, and be killed because of it. He is royalty after all. And royalty are too naive."

The ranger's mouth quirked slightly at the sudden intrusion into his mind, "How odd. I've never met a drake that was slow in the mind. That being said, your views on those that bear the crowns blessing is a bit naive in and on itself. You speak as if all who have royal blood in their veins are naive. I've found that the number of intelligent royals vastly out numbers the fools, it's just that the fools tend to be the most vocal. The actions of a few and all of that." Jacque retorted mentally whilst brushing a bit of sand from his cloak.

Priscilla stumbled as her foot caught on a rock in her path, but she recovered quick and continued at her determined pace. She felt the tingling in her fingertips and the pain behind her eye returning. They were nearing the swamp and in turn, the swamp drake. The smell of brimstone and rotting plant had become stronger and her mouth was beginning to feel like the scales of a desert wyrm. Omens all, but at this point nothing was going to deter her from her goal.

"Drakes are fiercely intelligent, not to mention manipulative, when you go up against this creature it will first try to wither you down mentally to soften you for the physical blow. You'll have to be clear headed if you want to survive."

She chuckled at the statement and nodded in the affirmative, "Oh yes, I've seen the temptations that the scaled folk can present us mortals with. I can assure you, supposed prince or not, there is nothing this squirming wretch can offer up to save itself now. And don't worry, I think best when I'm in the thick of conflict." She felt it unnecessary to mention that it was the only area that she considered herself as thinking well in. Her grip on her blade tightened. "I've come too far to be thrown off now."

Turning his attention back to Priscilla, Jacque nodded though the gesture was lost given the fact that she looked ahead. "So long as you are certain. Still, this will be it's playing field. I'll honor your request to stand aside during your fight, however if you'd like information regarding the swamp i'd be willing to impart some. Fae touched lands are not lands that one should enter without caution, and this place will be no exception.".

Turning his attention back to Priscilla, Jacque nodded though the gesture was lost given the fact that she looked ahead. "So long as you are certain. Still, this will be it's playing field. I'll honor your request to stand aside during your fight, however if you'd like information regarding the swamp i'd be willing to impart some. Fae touched lands are not lands that one should enter without caution, and this place will be no exception.".

Priscilla looked back to the large man and felt her lips part in a grin. It was enjoyable to not have to travel this last stretch of her journey alone, and the advantage of having a local to offer guidance was not lost on her as she nodded back at him. "Well, these being the lands that you live in, and the knowledge of those attuned with nature is always a welcome commodity to we Slayers on our hunts. But first allow me to ask you something. You have the smell of a man who has dedicated himself to the wilds, seen its secrets and tended to its denizens. Am I correct in the assumption that you are some sort of druid? Maybe a guardian of the wood? You strike me as a keeper of the peace."

Arin went into the forest and continued walking. Ace sighed, he was growing bored. He looked up at the one he was following. "Can we play I spy?" He asked. Arin looked at the pup. "I don't see why not." He smiled as he said this.

Ever started to feel tired of flying around watching people talk to each other and analyzing a few of them. They all seemed very interesting to her, and it gave her curiosity of what they all could do. She felt get wings start to get sore which made her let out a soft groan. She has been flying around for quite a while without anyone even knowing. Sometimes it does suck that she couldn't speak at all. And the only way to talk was if she was around people making words with the energy in her. So to help her sore wings, she flew to the ground gracefully enjoying the feel of the wind passing through her. She was starting to get lonely which made her frown a bit. Her big wings helped her cover her body from sight as they curled a bit around her.