Mars' eyes widened as a young man approached and then immediately identified her. She let out a feral hiss, allowing the energy of her Dragonstone to transform her. Her muscles rippled, bones popped, and body twisted as white scales spread across her entire body. Feathered wings sprouted from her back as gold filigree appeared along her body, mounting her head in a point as her jaw twisted to become that of a dragon. Her claws clattered against the ground as she prepared to attack, narrowing her eyes into slits. If he was here to destroy her, so be it.. she would destroy him first.

Though, before she could strike, the young man said something about Tiki. She had heard that name before. The nomadic tribe of Manakete had taught her about an ancient Manakete named Tiki.. she was someone of great power and prestige. He claimed he knew Tiki. Acting quickly as he bent to retrieve his books, Mars lashed out her tail, scooping a good portion of them beneath her body, curling around them protectively.

"I am Mars." she stated, her voice in dragon form was much louder than it was in human form. "What do you know of Tiki?" She held his books close, not planning on returning them until she got her answer. Mars was a pretty good judge of character.. after living for a hundred years. These people didn't seem like Manakete hunters.. but one could never be too careful. For now.. she would remain in Divine Dragon form, as in this form, she could escape easier than in her smaller human form. She'd just have to smash through one of the windows, or use her Breath on one of the crumbling walls to create an escape route.

Saya relaxed a bit as the large man spoke, he said he meant them no harm, and offered them his service. He was here to volunteer as a Shepherd? Saya hadn't expected people to come already, but it was welcome. At least, she was pretty sure that's what he said, his accent was a little hard to understand. The Exalt gave the man a graceful bow, reacting only after Matthew introduced himself first. "I apologize for threatening you, Jerod. My name is Saya, I am Exalt of Ylisse and second in command of the Shepherds. Thank you for offering your support to our cause." She said, going into Exalt mode and acting in a much more polite and refined manner than before. Though she still was on edge with what appeared to be a dark mage around.

Speaking of, the dark mage woman now spoke, she too offered her services to the Shepherds, but she also spoke in a way that directly mocked the Exalt and her family line. Saya still took her hand to shake it thought, THEN started scolding her. "Miss Nocturne, I thank you for your support of our cause, but do not speak of things you don't know. This place was left alone by request of my grandmother, Lucina. She wanted the passage of time to take this place, in hopes that it wouldn't be needed again. It was out of respect for her and her father that this place was left, not out of neglect. You would be wise not to mention it in front of me again." She gave Cynthia a dangerous smile, then let go of her hand.

The situation quickly grew dangerous as Matthew spotted someone in the doorway of the Shepherd's headquarters, someone who wasn't quite human. She transformed into her dragon self, a very obvious threat at their lives. Saya ignored the others who were around and acted quickly, trying to fix the situation quickly. Matthew had proved himself to be a good negotiator already, but dealing with dragons was a little different than dealing with knights. She ran for headquarters and immediately placed herself between Matthew and the dragon. "Lady Mars, I apologize if my companion startled you. You are safe here, nobody means to harm you. I am Exalt Saya, if anybody tries to lift a finger against you, they will have to deal with me." For proof that she was the Exalt, Saya reached up with one hand, and pulled her hair to her left side, the other hand tugged the black collar of her dress down, revealing her brand which sat the right side of her neck. "Now please, change into your human form, I don't want this building collapsing on our heads."

"Tiki...?" The swordsman blinked. He knew that name. He didn't know why, but he knew that name. And the girl who'd transformed, something of it seemed familiar, almost nostalgic. He turned around to see the dragon. "... What is this...?" He mumbled, holding a hand to his forehead. "Dammit... It's right there..." He muttered to himself.

The revelation wouldn't come though. Whatever it was, it was still beyond him. "Right... Guess I'll just leave it then..." He sighed, walking directly between the group. "Yeah, what her majesty said... I've been working on restoring this place all day. It would be a real pain in the ass if I had to redo all that work, you know?" He said to the dragon, completely unafraid, in spite of the fact that he'd never, to his knowledge seen one of them before.

"You know, it does kinda hurt my feelings, your majesty... Mac- Er... Matthew." The man spoke as he reached into his tunic, pulling out a seal identifying himself as part of the halidom's vanguard, as well as a letter of introduction from his superiors, addressed to the Exalt herself. "So how about we all just calm down, help the bookworm here pick up all these volumes, sit down and chat, and not get into each other's throats, right?" He asked, starting to help pick up the books, careful to stay right in the middle of things to try and intercept any crossfire that may have occurred. While the man couldn't use a sword to save his life, he did have a knack for not getting himself killed. And getting in the middle of things.

That was probably why he'd gotten this transfer. He was too much of a wildcard to be in the middle of a large sortie. As he picked up a second book for Matthew, he addressed the Exalt and the tactician once more. "So seriously, I know I owe one of you a meat pie. I DID accidentally steal one at that military meeting..." He reached into his tunic and pulled out a wrapped meat pie, one he'd picked up when he was told of who he was to meet with. At least in theory. "So yeah. Here it is, whoever wants it." He said with a smile.

Mars narrowed her eyes at the human, her tail flicking impatiently. What, was she supposed to trust the words of a human alone? She bristled, the spines on her back sticking up slightly as she spoke. "I was not speaking to you." she bore her teeth aggressively. "Anyone can claim the same and fake the brand of the Exalt." she dug her claws into the ground, surveying the brand cooly. She flinched when she heard about the building. It was true, this place was not nearly as sturdy as it should be. Though she would survive a cave in, she would also probably get hurt, or end up getting trapped. Not only that, but the man who said he'd been working on this place seemed to be telling the truth. "I will transform to human form. But if any one of you so much as tries anything... you will get a taste of my breath. And it won't be gentle."

Her body shifted, bones popping and retracting as her scales retreated into her body. Slowly and surely, each bit of her body became human, her prehensile tail was the last to go, lifting up several books and tossing them into her arms before shrinking back up into her spine.

She stared directly at the swordsman who claimed to have been working on the place, her finger danced across the nearby windowsill. "You missed a spot." she teased, showing him the dust on her finger. She perked at the scent of the pie the man held, immediately giving a squeak and dropping the books. "MEAT PIE!" She cried, bounding over to him energetically and plucking the pie from his hands, tearing open the wrapper and taking a large bite. "mmmm." She mumured, chewing happily, not even caring that this pie was likely not for her.

Guillame couldn't help but feel that there was something... off about the young man. And by something, he meant everything. He looked like a genuine madman. Still, it was to early to pass any real judgment: books and covers and all that. Still, he had briefly considered giving a fake name, which was rather silly: there were more than a few Guillames in the world; it's not as though you could figure much out from a given name. Still, he did deliberate over which name to give. Guillame knew that his name was often written as "William" in Ylisse, but that wasn't typically how he said it. Maybe a nickname? His comrades had called him Guillame la Bâtard after somebody let the next-of-kin forms slip. But that hardly seemed pertinent to the situation at hand.

He shook the younger man's hand."I call myself Guillame. It is good to know you, Sules," He said, diplomatically. "I am indeed headed towards the border, as you presume. I am a..." he hesitated. "A wanderer, if you will. Ylisse it not my destination in particular. Simply, it is there, and it is there that I am going. Technically, there were no lies here, save those made in omission. He hardly knew this boy: it would be a particular illogic to tell him everything.

And besides, thought Guillame, what would this stranger care for a traveller like me?

Sayuri yawns as she makes her way to the barracks. She glares in the general direction of the hill, "Assholes. Can people really not leave people who are obviously dangerous alone? I mean yes I'm female but I'm wearing armor and a sword. Not exactly a something that says 'Hey I'm able to be messed with,'" looking back forward she notices that she was actually closer to the barracks than she thought. Slowing her horse slightly as she reaches the barracks she notices several people standing in front of the barracks. Including the Exalt, she could recognize that sword as the Falchion even from where she was, and much to her surprise a Manakete! She watches as the Manakete transform back into a her human form and take something from someone one of the others excitedly. Approaching the group she raises a hand in greeting, "Well I didn't expect there to be a bunch of people there at the Shepards Barracks. Much less the Exalt herself. What would the occasion be?"

Chloetta was distraught yet unsurprised at the attack. Her company under the leadership of Bern, have attacked the many Plegian towns and cities. Honestly, she was more surprised the Plegians had not struck sooner. This wasn't really what she expected once she had been transferred. She missed the old days when it was about defending people, not slaughering them. Still, Grima worship had a potential to come back and bite the known world in the rear. Bern's thoughts were in the right place, but his actions. . . His actions were wrong. Holiness and Righteousness? Bah! Villiany and Wickedness was more like it. As long as she didn't have to dirty her hands in that nastiness, then perhaps it would work itself out anyhow. Bern has the trust of the Church that her father once belonged to so she might as well trust his judgement.

---

Now they were moving camp. This small group was absolutely no match for the Plegian forces if they decided to show their faces. One way or another, Chloetta was sure they would give no mercy as the Church army has been. Now was a great time to care for scouts or spys and hope that there was none in the not so distant future. At least some of the wounded seemed to be active again, helping vacate the others still immobile from their injuries. Perhaps now was a good time to see what their peerless leader is up to.

The camp around her was fairly active. Not nearly as so since the loss of all their comrades in the recent assault. The Troubadour walked into Bern's tend and gave a light bow, "Greetings again, Brother Bern. Are you fine? Not that I was there, but that ambush sounded horrid. I'm aware I asked earlier, but did you require healing? " She showed her staff to the man and gave a quick look over him. Really, he didn't seem to be in such bad shape, so perhaps it was unnecessary. "Or, perhaps not? Still, it's a pity of how much life was lost today." She was careful with what she said around her fellow brothers and sisters of the church. She wanted to say it was a pity and there was much unnecessary death on both sides, but Bern might have taken that the wrong way. "I heard Genna. So it's back to the main force now? It would be difficult to even consider fighting the Plegian Forces head-on as we are I suppose. Any plans beyond that?"

@Apollosarcher

Matthew slowly neared the Manakete who now munched on a Meat pie he was pretty sure was supposed to be his, or Saya's. He sat down near her carefully. "Well I've only met once... Pretty recently, she said I supposed to be Naga's champion and stop the Church's madness." He told the Manakete woman, now simply ignoring his sisters attempts to protect from a woman who could easily snap his head off. "So your really Manakete... Wow, I mean there's a lot in the books about your race and there powers. I even found an old recipe book in library on foods Manaketes like to eat, most of them were either packed with sugar or meat." He wondered allowed, in truth that was not all he learned he learned that Manaketes were more dragon than human in some ways. One book had even climbed that rubbing behind their ears was an easy way to calm them and reassure them, Matthew was not willing to risk his life for that confirmation.

He looked towards the new arrival getting up once more and walking towards her. "Hello, sorry for all the commotion were trying to set the Shepherds set back up here in the old base." He answered with gently, apologetic smile. "Were you here looking to join the Shepherd as well or did you have another reason for coming here?" He asked as he tried to straighten his robes a little, revealing the sword and spell books at his sides. Matthew moved out of her way now as looked towards Saya and then at the crowd as a whole. These were what they had so far for Shepherds... Well at least they were eager to fight against the Church. He just hoped he could keep them working together and avoid them harming each other.

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Bern turned to look Chloetta carefully. "I am fine, yes it is a pity we lost so many good men and women today." He answered. "I am fine, I am however assigning you and Genna along with a small force each to look for attempt to stop the heretic champion." He told Chloetta as he finished up his paper work, his tent already neatly packed he would collapse it soon along with the others they would leave. "This letter is for you, a small group of our soldiers are waiting for you along the mountains near the border. Genna will arrive to reinforce after you make your way in to Ylisse itself." He told her offering the letter, signifying her command.

"While you work on that, I'll lead the main body of forces towards the ports and secure them so reinforcements from Valm can land safely ensuring a quick victory, perhaps I'll even kill the Bandit Queen while we head that way" Bern smiled at that, knowing if she could be killed then the hordes would go back causing chaos across Plegia with no one leading them. Bern got up slowly, beginning to tear down his tent himself. "Don't worry Chloetta, after all that so called Champion should be easy for some one known as the light prodigy." He smiled as looked towards a the few cavaliers they had at the camp. "Take our cavaliers as escorts and head out, the wounded will receive proper aid once we join the main army." He said tying his bags on to one of the horse's they used to cross the sands.

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Sules nodded. "Well if you want to reach the border by tonight, I can help!" He smiled and waved back towards the village, soon an imposing red haired woman walked over leading a horse.

"What is it Sules? Whose this guy?" She asked, her hand wrapped wrapped around her sword, which seemed to be stained with blood.

Sules smiled and looked towards her. "Vera this Guillame, he's heading for Ylisse. We have a letter that's supposed to go Ylisse right?" He jumped up and down a little like an excited child.

"Yes we do... Alright, so we give him a horse and ask him to make the delivery of the letter? Sounds good to me, I want to get my warriors moving, we need to secure the other towns encase those stupid Naga lovers come back." She grumbled throwing the reins towards Guillame.

Sules smiled, offering him a letter with the seal of Plegia's council on it. "This needs to reach Ylisstol, hopefully the Exalt or Andres. Most the towns in Ylisse have messenger system, so just bring it to them and see they send it off. In exchange you can have a horse with three days supply of food and water. Oh and if you take the horse and forget to deliver the letter, I'll turn you into newt and leave to dry up in the sun next time I see you!" The boy smiled and giggled a little as he and Vera waited for Guillame's response.

Mars flicked her eyes over to Matthew, finishing the last of the meat pie while licking her fingers. She raised an eyebrow as Matthew said something about meeting Tiki and saying that she was 'Naga's champion.' her eyes flashed at the words. She blinked slowly, staring at him even more intently as he said something about books about her kind. "Wait.. there are books about Manaketes? Really??" She asked, excitement making her eyes flash to their Draconic form, the pupils dilating like a cat's. "Can i read them??" she asked. The idea of learning about her own kind, when she barely knew a thing about them because of her childhood.. made her ecstatic. "They sound pretty accurate. At least.. about the meat part." she stated, a friendly and animalistic smile stretching across her face. Mars bounded back towards Matthew, getting a second look at him. A scrawny, cute human with dark hair and gentle eyes. She moved closer, until she was almost on top of him, sniffing him suspiciously before tilting her head as she twisted her mouth back and forth in thought. She had promised herself to never hang around with humans again.. but this one smelled like books.. and he knew a Manakete who wasn't her. Maybe if she hung around with him, Mars could be introduced to another of her kind.. and finally not be alone. Besides.. staying with these humans might offer some form of protection from Manakete hunters, and these humans were certainly more interesting than going off on her own. Though the idea of being a Shepherd was weird. "If I come along with you.. can i eat a portion of the sheep we are tending?" her question was filled with ignorance and innocence, but it could be taken the wrong way if someone didn't know Manaketes do not eat humans.

_______________

Andross

After a short period of travel, Andross arrived with Sophia behind him. He smiled as he surveyed the small group which had surrounded the voice.

He stayed back as he saw the woman with the pointed ears approach the voice. He'd never seen a creature quite like her.. certainly not a human. She could be a Taguel.. but there was a predatory way she moved which made that seem impossible. Instead of puzzling over what she could be, Andross turned his attention to the voice of Naga, blinking slowly as he surveyed those gathered before them. "Greetings.. voice of Naga.. I am Andross.. i have come to offer my assistance to you in battle." he gave a low and formal bow to the man, his jewelry jingling as he stood back upright.

The strange woman gave him a weird look, tilting her head as she curled her lip. "You are a dancer." she stated cooly.

Andross just gave her a charismatic smile. "That i am, my lady." he stated. "I am not much of a fighter.. but i can inspire the troops to do things they never dreamed were possible through my dances."

Jerod was relieved to see the dark mage lady seem to at least back down some, at least letting the dark tome of hers fall back down on its chain. Well, that was all fine and well then, wasn't it? No soul sucking black magic to have to fight with then, or whatever variant the creepy lass used. Far as Jerod was typically concerned, magic was magic, sub dividing it was only really useful to other mages who had to use other kinds of magic to counter magics of the first kind. All Jerod had to worry about was that mages could fight up close or from a ways away, so closing the distance did not garuntee any sort of protection. Usually, he heard of some folks crossing paths with rather esoteric and unusual magic that could not be used close, like a bow really, but it had never crossed paths with Jerod. So he was a bit sceptical of trusting that some magic operated differently than others, in the regards of reach. Far as he was concerned, if the mage could see him, it was a problem and put him in range. Without being in range to properly introduce them to his axe. Rude, really.

The other woman, behind the laddie champion, introduced herself as the Exalt of Ylisse. Well, Jerod thought, he thought she'd be taller. It didn't matter, at least she was willing to listen to reason, no sense getting his ass handed to him so soon. He had a habit of reading people, and this Exalt did not seem like the pacifist pushovers of the past. Not to say they were pushovers at all, but pacifist fit more often than not, far as he reckoned. Ferox could probably learn a thing or two from her, like not having to immediately resort to bloody minded violence to decide the best fit ruler. That was going to bite them in the collective asses some day, and he would be more than ready to tell them that he had seen that coming from miles away, at worst. He grinned at the champion lad first, his usual near unintelligable accent as strong as ever as he gave him the first response. "Ach, t'ats mig'ty welcomin' of ye, sure a' sure. Ah am ready t' depart a' a momen's notice, ain' got reason t' 'ang around."

Which was true, Jerod had not made arrangements at any local inn or tavern yet, and had not intended to, to begin with at any rate. He reckoned tracking down the Shepards, or their remenants at least, wasn't going to be hard. Not with this open monument to them now being restored to its former glory, much to the apparent chagrin of the dark mage lass. His next attention was on the Exalt, his speech as plain as before, he was never one to stand on ceremony over much at all. No time for it, really, and he was no sworn citizen of Ylisse (at this point, of anywhere far as the fighter was concerned), so polite and scraping the dirt with his face from bowing so low were two entirely different things. "No 'ard feelin's, yer Exaltness, or 'owever i's s'pposed t' be said. Random noggin' strangers showin' up on t'e doorstep o' yer barracks t' be renovated, ah would be mighty concerned ah well." Jerod of course nearly shit himself at the sound of a dragon. Last time he had the misfortune of crossing paths with a Manakate, well, leave it to say that it was the closest he had come to being killed. The bloody things honestly did not sit well with the fighter, and having one barge out of the barracks did not sit well with the fighter, to say the least.

"Ah, should ah be 'xpectin' bloody dragons t' be bargin' out o' every abandoned buildin' ye lot 'ave? Most o' t'em dragonfolk an' m'self ne'er got 'long real well. Mos'ly on t'e part o' t'e former tryin' t' torch t'e bloody 'ell out o' t'e latter, savvy? Oh, an ye dark magic lass, ah would 'ighly apprecia'e if ye dinnae use m' carcass fer spell par's un'il AFTER ah'm dead, eh? No offense t' ye, bu' las' dark spell slinger ah done crossed pat's wit' right tried t' use me fer some brazen plan t' do 'ell knows what." Jerod was aware that maybe a fourth of what he was saying was probably getting through, but it was never something he was terribly good at. Besides, people on the wrong side of his axe tended to react even worse when he was bearing down on them, screaming in some bloody half unintelligable string of curses that left them unable to really react on a proper level. Being able to make all of it out, well, probably would diminish things quite a bit. That, and it wasn't like he was ever going to be taught a proper way to speak, so he spoke as he always had. Damn near impossible to understand at points.

Guillame considered acting scared for a moment. He had served in the army: he had known many mages, and he knew that you couldn't turn someone into a newt. At least, he was pretty sure. Kind of sure. Maybe not so sure. It's probably all in good fun anyway, right?

Not that the threat was really necessary. For a free horse and enough supplies to make it to the border, Guillame was more than willing to deliver a letter. Really, he was would have been willing to do more for less, but this was war, he supposed. It's not as though there's an excess of messengers around, and even fewer who could make it to Ylisse without much incident. That's the sort of thing you would pay high price for.

Slight issue, though. He couldn't ride a horse. Like most common folk, he'd never really needed to. His family didn't move around much, and on the rare occasions when they did, walking was always the cheaper option. As far as he knew, the horse could just end up bucking him around and then running off. Or maybe he'd end up dead with a hoof-print on his forehead.

Returning from his thoughts, Guillame realized that, both literally and figuratively, he was looking the gift horse in the mouth. Taking the reigns from the young woman, he nodded and smiled politely. It'd be a challenge. And besides, horse riding could a be a useful skill to have under his belt. "C'est déjà fait," he said, smoothly. "It is done already. Show me the best road, and I will take it."

Syauri looks at the guy who greeted him, 'Join the shepards? Oh this must the Naga's Chosen... Hmm... I could join... But then I'd be putting my business, my life, and... That... On the line..." she thinks for a couple minutes. She nods after making her decision, "Actually I was originally coming here taking in the sights of Ylisstol. It's my first time to the capital. to be honest I didn't even know the Shepards were being restarted. Though if you are I would be more than willing to join. Though not for free," she watches him to gauge his reactions, "It's not for me though. I help provide for my adoptive family with my merchanting. So lost time here means lost money for them. Other than that I need no other reason to help putting the church in their place."

While waiting for his response she turns to look at the Manakete, "Wow this takes me back... It's been almost 10 years since I last saw one of my own... That takes me back," she sighs sadly, 'Mom... Hope you're proud of me...'

The swordsman looked between the one who took the pie, Mars, and the other, Syauri. He seemed puzzled. "Hey, uh, girls," he walked over, scratching his head. "So, I get the whole dragon thing, kind of, but I need to ask you later... What exactly is a manakete... The word... Since I saw you two, it's been clawing from my memory, trying to say that the word is important to me somehow... Well, I guess now isn't really the time." He sighed. "But later. I'll get you both some food and hopefully you'll be able to help me out with that... Seeing as it looks like we're all going to be roped into this whole Shepherds thing and all," he laughed.

Mars glanced over to Jerod, staring at him intently for a moment. She stormed over to him and stared up at him, standing probably a bit closer than she should have. She stood on her tiptoed, tilting her head to the left. "You sound like a pirate." She stated, her eyes glinting gleefully. She circled around him with a slightly predatory gait, finally stopping as she came back to where she started, in front of him. Her pupils dilated like a cat's eye as she focused on him. "No worries. I like you. So I am not going to torch you. Yet." A sly, draconic smile stretched across her face and she let out a bizarrely serpentine burst of laughter.

She sloped over towards the female who said something about one of her own. An excited glint appeared in her eyes and she practically galloped over to the girl, embracing her in a bearish hug. "ANOTHER MANA-" She paused released the girl and stepped back, her nostrils flaring. "waaiit.. you are a liar.. You don't smell like a Manakete!" An angry scowl stretched across her face as she glared at the offensive woman. "How dare you make a mockery of my people!" her Dragonstone rippled and Mars' features became slightly more Draconic, white scales stretching across her shoulders and forearms.

Mars kept an eye on the false Manakete, glancing over at the man who asked her what a Manakete was. Well.. this was one person who didn't know much about her kind. She would enjoy teaching him all about Manaketes and what they could do. The white scales on her body shifted back into her skin as she skipped over to the swordsman, giving him a draconic smile. "What do you need to know? I can answer any questions."

Assasination. That was pretty much what Bern had asked her to do. To assasinate the "Heretic" as her fellows were so keen on calling him. Well, at least this was better than killing innocents. At least this one could fight back. "As you will, Sword of Naga." Chloetta said to Bern before turning and started heading out the opening to the tent before turning around and speaking once more, "Expect me to return." Now she just needed to gather the cavaliers. . . Which were not all that hard to find really. Quickly she gathered them and their horses and the troop were off towards their destination to meet up with the other soldiers. "If this 'Champion' were to fail, perhaps more could live." She needed to believe so much to continue down the path she was going.

Matthew nodded to Sayuri. "I welcome the help of course we can pay you a wage." He smiled and then looked at the crowd. "Alright, I'm going to get these books put away, then I have to see about wagons and horses. We should head into Plegia first, a lot of reports have come in about attacks and destruction of villages." He said as he started towards the door.

The tactician nodded to Andross. "A dance could be of use to us, I'd be happy to have you along. Just one thing, they call me the Champion of Naga. Lady Tiki is the voice." He smiled as he walked away from the dancer, the books were really getting quite heavy now.

Matthew paused long enough to explain a couple of things to Mars. "The Shepherds don't protect sheep... Rather it's the name of a volunteer fighting force that travels and fights were it needs to. Smaller and better equipped than a standard army it can move faster and strike where needed." He explained to the Manakete woman. "If you like I've got a book in here Tiki and the Hero king Marth." He said, knowing she wanted to read on Manaketes.

The young man looked to Jerod, he looked the veteran type. "Would you mind getting everyone inside and help get things set up." He asked politely enough before entering himself and setting down the books, he quickly wrote a message and attached to a raven, sending it off to the quarter master to prepare some wagons and a few additional hands to help them travel.

The Tactician then lifted his hand and released a wind spell blow dust and cob webs out the windows, he repeated this in each room of the barracks until he finished. He returned to the common room smiling as put his books on the now clean shelf. Humming he plucked one of the books on Mark and claimed his room, near the end of the hall it had three book cases, it would be enough for now. Soon the raven returned and he called out down the hall. "Can everyone be ready to travel in an hour?" He asked, hoping so they really needed to get moving. Plegia would no doubt be the landing point for the invasion forces.

_______________________________________________________________________________________

Bern gathered what remained of his forces, Genna climbed up onto the back of one of the spare horses. Bern taking most of the army and heading north. Genna looked to Chloetta speaking to her now as they rode along. "You don't think much of Bern do you?" Asked the observant archer, not accusing so much as asking. "I do not remember much... You are from the Church in west, yes? Please I'd like to know more about my new commander." She said politely, young woman giving a small smile. Genna would otherwise remain silent until they crossed the border.

A small group of soldiers waited for them, twelve in total. Each carried a lance, most of them were from the West formerly of Rosanne's army no doubt. They saluted Chloetta and the captain stepped forward. "We came up to meet you, the camp is not far. We have three mages, two monks, four clerics, and about dozen mercenaries and warriors as well." He answered before stepping back into line and awaiting orders.

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Vera nodded, as Sules spun in circles now watching his ravens circle over head. "Head slightly south east from here. Watch for pegasus patrols and be ready to answer any questions they have." The red haired barbarian answered as she pointed the way. "Failing that, the horse knows the way. So just let her lead if your lost, Sules and I need to go, safe journey... Oh and he wasn't lying about the newt thing... I've seen him do it." Vera waved halfheartedly as walked back towards the village.

Sules smiled in a goofy fashion stumbling back and forth dizzy. "Yep! Course the general did get better... After about a year..." He giggled again, walking away in a zigzagging line as he tried to catch up to Vera. He fell over and Vera picked him up with one hand carrying the boy along now as they left the man stand in the desert with a horse. Most would consider that one of the best encounters one could have with Vera and Sules. Normally Sules through curse's first and then asked why. Vera just killed anyone she meet who she didn't like, all and all Guillame was rather a lucky man.

Jerod smirked at the Manakate as she got right up in his face, meeting her gaze levelly. He could handle a half dragon chick that seemed more interested in messing with other people as she did being all sorts of angry dragon, burning everything to cinders type. Well, that was an improvement of sorts, even if she seemed to lack the basic understanding of personal space, and her statement got a snort of amusement out of the Feroxian. Pirate, eh? Well, he was far from the sea faring sort, boats and him never got along, he preferred to keep his two feet planted firmly on solid land. Same went for those crazy folk who rode wyverns and pegasi around. Nope, he was not putting himself in a situation that would fall apart, literally, due to something else failing, not if he could help it. But he met the draconic laugh with a snicker that had undertones of a chill colder than the farthest northern wastes of Ferox. Two could play that game, and even the high and mighty Manakate's couldn't stop him, even if the prospect of facing another one in a fight was not a pleasant one. "Ach, ah pirate, eh? Ah've been accused o' wor'e, sure ah sure. Ah'n ah would recommend ye dinnae try a' torch m'. Ah dinnae burn lig'tly, savvy? 'Sides, ah wouldn't want t' be takin' t'e axe t' ye, yer alrig't, far a' ah reckon."

Jerod watched the drama and Champion lad go about their paths, arms crossed over his armored breastplate. The Feroxian fighter was amused by the rather disparate elements that seemed to have been drug together by this Champion's presence. So, Plegia first, eh? Good, most Feroxians hated going to the desert nation, which meant less likely for anyone important to recognize him. Besides, seems no other Feroxians had been attracted. Odd, but convenient. What was also very odd, but very inconvenient, was the fact that the Champion lad had saddled him with organizing things and getting the barracks squared away. Wait, since when did he lead people? Hell, he hadn't led a band since, well, it had been many years. And it was not a task he relished, even though it was a simple one. Clean things up, hell, he might as well dispatch folks to clean out the barracks part, claim their own cots, all that general nonsense. But he turned, clapping his armored hands together, which made an odd clanging noise, and spoke candidly to the assembled folks that didn't promptly run off. "Ach, w'y me? Ah well, alrig't lads, lasses, ah reckon t'is ain' over complex. Groundkeeper fellow, ah dinnae expect ye t' finis' t'e outside in suc' s'ort order, s' 'ead inside wit' all t'e ot'ers an' find yerself a cot. Same goes fer t'e rest o' ye. 'Ead inside an start cleanin' up, reckon t'e sleepin' quarters will do fer starters, eh? Ah'll go clean out t'e armory, see 'ow bad off we are. Gods knows ah mig't be in t'eir a fair 'mount..."

Jerod would shepard, no pun intended, the group inside and send them off to the sleeping quarters to claim bunks and start cleaning. Jerod, Gods above help him, had to start cleaning up other parts of the barracks that the Shepards were now going to be operating out of again, starting with one of the more important places. Armory, where folks would clean up, maintain, and replace their gear as needed. Jerod walked into the place, and groaned under his breath. Place was a wreck, and he sighed as he hauled a weapon stand upright, coughing from the dust it kicked up. Great, this was going to take awhile, and he shook his head and went to work without delay. If anyone needed his help, they would know precisely where to find him, as he had announced as such. But, not surprisingly, there wasn't much laying around here. Seemed like they were going to be Shepards, after all. Small, elite force running around underfunded, underequipped, trying to deal with a situation well over a fair number of their collective paygrades. Well, sure as hell was above his, he was just a Feroxian with a sharp axe. Past be damned, of course, but things seemed to be going smoothly in that regard. High profile like this might attract attention, but he could probably avoid anyone who would really recognize him. "Ach, t'is job ain' goin' t' be t'at bad, a' t'is rate..."

Jerod heard the lad call out, as he was running around blowing all the cobwebs and dust out of the rooms (which saved him a considerable amount of work) about being ready to leave within the hour. Poking his head out of the armory, Jerod responded to the (in his case) redundant question. "Ah can leave at a momen's notice, lad, like ah said earlier. T'is place is a Gods damn'd wreck, ain' no supplies left over either, ah 'ope yer plannin' on lootin' the dead fer t'eir gear, ah t'is rate." Laughing at the idea of running a group of 'elite' soldiers off the spoils of the dead, Jerod went back to work cleaning up and resetting the armory to some semblance of proper order. After all, next place that needed cleaned up would probably be the mess hall, and he did NOT want to see what shape that was in. So as he was wrapping up in the armory, he set about making sure any equipment for maintaining weapons and armors, grindwheels and the like, were at least set up and functional. Might as well leave as little work for their return to this place as possible.

Sayuri's eyes instantly narrowed when the girl called her a "false Manakete." She was instantly angry. This Manakete had shoot her down on smell alone. She walked up to her and leaned down so they were face to face her hood falling down in the process revealing her ears, "That was rather rude of you brat. I'll assume your just naive cause otherwise... Now I'll have you know I am in fact manakete. And while I may only be a halfbreed that's unable to transform I take pride in my blood. And here's a lesson manaketes should learn early on: Don't totally rely on your sense of smell. It's easy to get around. Maybe I don't smell like a manakete cause I've lived with humans for almost ten years. Now if you excuse me I should go help my new employer," spinning she stalks off into the barracks. When asked if she would be ready in an hour she nodded, "Easily. I just have to fetch my stuff from the in first."

Chloetta turned to Genna, studying the girl for a bit. "Commander". That's not quite what she expected to hear. What exactly did she want to know? Her life story? Why she's fighting for the church? There were plenty of things she had the liberty to say. At the same time, this girl was a servant of Bern. She wasn't interrogating at the least. Chloetta had to keep her eyes on the girl for a few more seconds before facing forward and finally starting to talk. "He's a strong man. He has much power and heavy sway in his words and I don't think he throws his weight around properly. She tried to make sure she didn't say too much. Her opinion was not a popular one amongst her peers at the moment. Aside from that the girl said she wanted to know more about her commander. What was there a need to know exactly? Indulging, she started from her joining in her old defense force and how her current title "Light Prodigy" started out as "Lightning Prodigy" due to her using the spell from her deceased father and how she joined the current group. That was all she really needed to know.

Eventually the two reached the location of the soldiers and she had them lead her back to their camp. There were quite a few men here. . . Hopefully, they would not have to run into the fully Ylissian army. It was definitely a time to run with stealth. "We'll have to operate covertly. I hope these men can."

The swordsman frowned at the conflict between the two girls. The truth was, he didn't want them to be fighting, if they could help him. Unfortunately, he wasn't even sure how they would be able to. In the meantime, talk had started of a march starting already. He turned to Matthew and scratched his head. "Well, we don't waste time in getting right into the mess of things, do we?" He asked. "Though is it wise to rush into a battle with such a small force without first knowing just who you have? Small forces work well because their handlers understand the strengths and weaknesses of the individual troops, right?" He asked. "Your theory is sound, but you're acting kinda like you're a bit wet behind the ears. You haven't been out in combat before, have you?" He asked, frowning. "I'd wait at least... I don't know, a day or two to survey who you have, otherwise you're just rushing us into a bloodbath."