Reassurances were offered, like the hymn of a prayer.

Those words of confidence were empty, for even those whose livelihood it was to venture outwards considered a crown to be rare prize.

Those who were a special combination of misfortunate, mighty, and mislead departed the protective walls, the gates closing behind them until they returned with the mechanism. They could have welded the doors shut and had evidence of honesty.

After a final glace behind themselves at the bastion of safety, the party looked forward towards the fields of danger and set forth towards them.

The dim light of an untamed forest soon enveloped the group.

---

A few weeks earlier, Lucanas felt panic grow gradually within himself. The walls were crowded, disease, misery, and death were over watching presence within the slums. The walls were corrupt, his own mother likely being slain by a noble of Vicariis. In the center lived those who never had experienced misfortune or discomfort in their lives.

Despite this, the warrior desperately didn't want to leave. Patrolling the streets was easy when you learned to harden your heart to those living beneath your own means. The walls and the central mechanism prevented the dangers from outside preying on those within. Perhaps it was crowded. Perhaps it was miserable. Perhaps it was corrupt.

But it was safe.

He had been lucky enough to live the majority of his life within the second wall, by his Majesty of Arx's grace. Although most days were spent training, recently he had avoided practice. A few days ago, he had finished mourning his own death. By the time he approached the gates for what he knew would be the last time, the tears had stopped and he was prepared to take on the world.

Only a few words had been uttered between the party since they departed, mostly basic introductions so the others would have some title to bury them with.

When he was buried however, his tombstone would be titled with his majesty. That was his quest, and what convinced him to keep moving forwards.


Looking upwards, leaves obscured the normal method of telling time, hiding the sun beyond eye's reach. The warrior's mind guessed that a forth of the days light had passed already, and his disciplined routine suggested that he start constructing plans for the journey based on his knowledge.

The reality was, he had absolutely no concept of where they were travelling or how long this journey would take. Those who travelled with caravans usually advised that most of the southern towers had already been captured, and that to the North was where untouched ones remained.

And so his feet moved along an untraveled path, and his eyes wondered in a search for danger only to find none. To be honest with himself, the streets of Arx was where he was comfortable spotting those who intended to do him harm.

Among these mysterious forests, it was difficult for his inexperienced eye to see anything. For all he knew, there could be beasts of the wild planning to slay them or a member of some pitiful tribe observing the group's every movement. He unconsciously found himself checking the grey dragonscale he wore every few minutes, ensuring once again that it was prepared for action.

His anticipation was growing until he hoped a dragon would appear before them to relieve their uncertainty. To distract himself from pointlessly observing the wilds, his eyes glanced over to each member of his party.

Another fighter, wearing lighter armor than himself and carrying a hand-and-a-half sword. It's coloring suggested wealth, but his attire did not. The warrior wearing the cross of Arx had guesses as to his background, but didn't want to spend too long speculating about the private life of another.

A man wearing a combination of strange garb. His weapon was copper, but his armor was of scale. It was a confusing combination that left Meretrix guessing at his background. Was he a serf who had escaped from the slums, or had he been kicked out from even the furthest wall for an act of disloyalty against the crown?

A slave who had managed to catch up to them during their journey. If she wanted to serve the party so desperately, he wasn't going to ask any questions.

He had an idea of who the last two were.

The teal haired blacksmith was something of an anomaly within the second ring, a blacksmith who recently had created a solution for polishing the finest of steels. Initially Lucanas had believed it to some strange tale, but after seeing the younger man training outside periodically with some strange blade he knew the 'legends' had at least some basis in truth.

The last one was a woman. Striking red hair and seduc ... piercing amber eyes. Those features weren't the strange part however. Initially spotting her, the warrior saw a cloak bestowed on her shoulders that only a noble could afford. He questioned for a moment if she had stolen it, but her introduction stated that she hadn't.

A mixture of hatred and confusion filled the veins of the warrior as he looked forward once more. Hatred, because she belonged to the house that had killed his mother. Confusion, because why would a woman, and even more than that, why would a person of nobility who lived a life in luxury choose to leave?

The warrior pondered about this for a moment, considering how to deal with her as his eyes looked off into the distance behind her.

Albin took one last look at the grand walls behind him. It was perhaps the final time that he would ever look at them. His heart rate quickened. The sudden realization hit him like a sack of bricks. Arx, what he knew, seemed to be much smaller on the outside. However, that was most likely due to the sheer scale of the outside world. The sheer size of what the outside world may have been was impressive; much further than he ever remembered.

Earlier, he had said goodbye to craftsmen. To them, he was family. Most objected, however, they knew that they couldn't stop someone as impulsive as Albin. He said his goodbyes, told them his reasoning, and left. It was a bitter goodbye. If he died, many theories and creations would cease to exist (at least, in his own opinion). However, if he survived, he would most likely bring enough rare metals to prove his theories, he could catapult the city into an age of good weaponry.

He looked around at his companions for this mission. Some drab men wearing rather normal armor and quite nice weaponry. However, Albin's attention was drawn away from these normal-appearing warriors. The one companion he truly noticed was a young woman, perhaps only a few years older than him.

Her hair was similar to his own, in the sense that it seemed to be unnatural. Albin's attention was brought further to her curves. Her interesting, smooth curves... of her bow. It was strung and appeared to be rather old. Not even before Albin could piece together whatever was going on, he automatically began to speak.

"Why is your bow strung already? How long has it even been strung?" He said in a loud tone. To him, proper maintenance of weaponry was key to winning wars (not like he had fought in any). "It's only proper to always keep your bow in a safe and dry location, preferably within a soft wooden case inside of a tightly woven sack. Not to mention, if it is ever strung for long periods of time, it tends to weaken the limbs. By the appearance and style of the bow, and by which I mean it's craftsmanship is not familiar to me, I can tell that it is quite old. It appears like whoever have given you the bow had taken much better care of it than you."

His tone was rather rude, however, it wasn't without reasoning. To Albin, anyone who took improper care of weapons was a fool and should not be trusted. A rusty sword, or in this case, damaged bow could break and cause the user to be at the receiving end of the pain.

Footsteps echoed through the halls of the manor that she called home. It was probably one of the more well built ones, even if it had been standing almost since Arx was founded. It was richly furnished and decorated like any nobles house should be. She'd have to say she thought it was better decorated than the palace, though that was probably just her pride doing the talking. Either way, it was an old building that had seen quite a bit of history. A bit of a testament to the humans ingenuity and resourcefulness some might say. A comforting though indeed, it was. Humans had come a long way in the last years ever since they felled that one dragon.

Irrelevant thoughts for now. She entered her room, a small scowl overcoming her visage as she stepped inside. The slave inside immediately went to pour her a drink. She needed it after listening to the long list of protests that the others of the house had. She had suggested that she go on this little venture. The look on their faces was priceless when she had asked. It was almost worth the absurdly long list of protests she had received afterwards.

Almost.

The slave silently handed her the drink she had poured, and Maria took it eagerly, taking a long drink of the beverage before sighing and taking a seat in a chair near a window. In the end, she threatened to tell the entire city about all their dirty little secrets the house had collected over the years. She of course, was perfectly innocent of all wrongdoings so she'd be completely fine in that scenario. She may have...suggest a few less than honest acts, but it wasn't like they were going to blab or say anything about it.

Even so, they really didn't want her to leave. It would have been endearing if they had actually been concerned for her, but no, they weren't. Just scared for themselves. Selfish little nobles who didn't care about anything other than their own well being and advancement. Bah. Not like she could say much of anything, however. She was the same way when you got down to it. She didn't care for them, not really. As long as she got what she wanted in the end, nothing else mattered. Which was why she was intent on going on this little venture.

She was completely, utterly, almost agonizingly bored.

Oh sure, sure, she had all the luxuries she could possibly ever want. Any slave to mess with, and she could fool around with the noblemen all she wanted, but such things had gotten completely boring recently. She needed something new. Something fun, and this venture was just the perfect opportunity to alleviate her boredom. She didn't care at all what the others wanted or thought. If the entire kingdom of Arx had somehow burnt to the ground, them included by the time of their return, she'd be perfectly fine with that. In fact, she almost wanted it to happen.

"Slave, go fetch my bow, cloak, and armor. Bring it here immediately and if anyone gets in your way whatsoever, ignore them." She took another drink of the alcohol. "I will be packing what other things I will be taking with me, and I do not wish to be delayed. Understand?" The salve bowed deeply, not speaking as she had learned a long time ago that speaking to Lady Vicariis was nothing something one should do unless they wanted to provoke her wrath.



As they marched through the street, a silent somberness hung over the town, clinging thick to the air and threatening to suffocate the ones who were heading out into the wilds. Prayer were offered for them, wishing them luck and protection of whatever divinity they believed in upon them. Maria bit her tongue, but was utterly unimpressed at the notion of any gods whatsoever. If anything, people built this city with their own ingenuity and resources, relying on themselves and themselves alone.

You could also even say they defied the gods that be by building Arx.

A thought for later. Such thoughts weren't beneficial to the task at hand. The noblewoman smiled faintly as she left the city with the others, taking a deep breath of the air outside of Arx. It was the same air, but for her...it held a tinge of excitement to it. She was finally getting out of that cramped manor and life of luxury and complacency. Certainly it was dangerous, but the most rewarding things in life often came with a little bit of danger.

So with a grin, she headed away from Arx - it could very well be the last time she saw it in this life time, but that was irrelevant.



The forest air was...relaxing to say the least. It was her first time seeing a forest large as this. Certainly there were trees in the gardens, but a forest like this? It felt so very...tranquil. Peaceful and relaxing almost. Definitely a large contrast to the impossible and irritating nobility she had to deal with constantly within her own house. Hmm...she should build a retreat here once she returned to Arx...if she returned. She may just decide to take a few slaves and craftsmen and build a manor out here away from the city and never return.

A thought for later. Instead, she turned her thoughts to her newfound companions. She had remained silent for most of the journey, aside from greeting them in her usual fashion of introducing her name and house in the friendliest manner she could. She did hold no ill will towards the others, after all. As long as they remembered that she wasn't going to be ordered around like some slave or an idiot peasant wife.

For the most part, though, they seemed content to leave her alone. Which was well and good, though she did wish one of the boys had started flirting with her so she could have a bit of fun with them, but so far flirting was yet to be had. Tsk. Maybe they were just shy and she'd have to be the one to initiate it. There was a certain on giving her a rather...intense glare, after all. She might as well introduce herself a bit more...casually.

heh~

With her bow resting across her body, she walked calmly over to Lucanas. He was definitely troubled about something judging from that glare of his, but she couldn't know what. She could think of a few reasons, though, and only one of them actually sounded any fun to her. The rest were just troublesome annoyances.

"Why is your bow strung already? How long has it even been strung?"

However, she was interrupted before she could even approach him. A younger looking boy, at least younger than her anyways, spoke to her in a rather loud and somewhat rude and disrespectful tone. Hmph. He must not have heard who she was. That was alright then, she could understand that so she wouldn't allow herself to get too upset over it.

"It's only proper to always keep your bow in a safe and dry location, preferably within a soft wooden case inside of a tightly woven sack. Not to mention, if it is ever strung for long periods of time, it tends to weaken the limbs. By the appearance and style of the bow, and by which I mean it's craftsmanship is not familiar to me, I can tell that it is quite old. It appears like whoever have given you the bow had taken much better care of it than you."

Oh? He was telling her how to take care of her bow, was he? It was certainly an older bow, it was an heirloom after all. One she had been using since she was barely old enough to walk. She knew very well how to keep it and how to take care of it. It was an old weapon, and it could take a bit of abuse. Besides, his argument was logical if they weren't expecting trouble so she couldn't fault him for that either. However, they should always be expecting trouble outside the walls. That was just common sense. She'd have simply left it at that if he hadn't insulted her.

"Oh, my." she chuckled quietly. "You certainly do know how to take care of weaponry. A blacksmith or some sort of craftsman are you?" She mused offering Albin a small, but friendly smile. "Out here, we must always be alert, should we not? I would rather not spend precious seconds stringing a bow if we are suddenly ambushed by a creature. It would be rather careless to allow ourselves to be so...careless." She chuckled softly again, removing the bow from its resting place around her and held it in her hands.

"So thank you for your concern, but it is unneeded," She continued as she removed an arrow from one of her quivers. "Though...I suppose improper care could cause," A small smile formed on her lips as she knocked an arrow. "A rather unfortunate accident to happen during an ambush." Yes that was a subtle threat. Maybe he wouldn't catch it it didn't matter much. "Not that it's likely. This bow is an Heirloom of house Vicariis, and isn't some weapon that would fail due to someone having it strung for awhile." With that, she pulled the string back on the bow, aiming the arrow towards a nearby tree before releasing it. There was a quiet thump as the arrow buried itself deep into the tree's bark. She had elected to refrain from setting the arrow on fire - no need to start a forest fire out here.

"See? As good as it was when my ancestors wielded it. Probably better, even." She gave Albin another friendly smile, before a look of surprise washed over her as she realized she had forgot to introduce herself. "Oh, silly me. Where are my manners. I am Maria Vicariis, of house Vicariis. Let's hope something comes of this venture, shall we?" She said with a laugh. "I am quite looking forward to seeing what this expedition holds. What is your name, hmm?"

To be on one's own certainly had some advances: Aside from gathering enough food, water and other supplies for a prolonged journey, there really was barely anything Kostya had to take care of. There was no estate that needed to be locked and no worries about a door possibly not being strong enough. No relatives that kept trying knocking one off course although one had already explained it to them a zillion times. No person that could spread rumours in one's absence - simply because noone was even aware of one's name. Noone that could really miss you and noone you could really miss. However what did slow him down was the circumstance that he had to borrow pretty much everything, always assuming a tacit agreement on an indefinite time until restitution. He was convinced that the most people he took it from wouldn't really miss anything as he preferred selecting the wealthier ones, if possible.

One last sleep on the streets behind the outer wall and he would've seen Arx the last time for long, probably forever. He certainly wouldn't feel the need for it.


Kostya's mood was on the ascending slope. To be able to see the growing distance between him and this hole-in-the-wall infested with aristocratic scoundrels whilst not yet being able to see all the dangers ahead of them did boost his morale. He felt free to have a look around and to inspect the other guys he was now travelling with. As far as he could tell by his almost nonexistant experience, there were two warriors around him. The red-haired woman apparently could count herself among the battle-tested ones as well, though she was another type. The last one... well he pretty much identified himself as he started talking so profoundly about weapons, craftmanship and how to do and not to do things.

Kostya didn't intervene as there appeared to be a slight dispute unfolding between Maria and Albin. Neither was he able to clearly hear every word, nor was he eager to be sucked into trouble. What the huge and moderately overweight man did however was carefully pulling the arrow out of the tree's bark. It would've been such a waste of precious resources... If that lady did want it back, she would have to come and ask. He wasn't the butler for other people's abundance. Not anymore.

He glanced at Meretrix, trying to find out what he could be thinking right at this moment.

---

As Eadric Sophus threw back his second tankard of ale in as many hours, he came to a realization. He was bored. While some spent their whole lives avoiding danger, Eadric spent his actively seeking it out. Not for fame or riches, but for the thrill he got when he was being chased by a pack of direwolves or crossing swords with highwaymen. He was a bastard, forsaken by the house of Iterus and forced into a life of constant danger. Eadric couldn’t help but feel extremely glad his father had visited a brothel nineteen years ago, had he been trueborn, he’d likely never have stepped foot outside of the walls. Eadric didn’t understand how the nobles spent their whole lives in courts, seeking power. Eadric had no qualms about living pay-to-pay guarding trade caravans, so long as he had fun doing it.

All this reflecting aside, Eadric had a problem. He was bored, out of coin, and there were no caravans leaving soon. He drunkenly announced these problems to the bartender, who told him of an expedition outside the walls, to reclaim tower mechanisms. Eadric wasted no time volunteering, heart alight with excitement.

---

Eadric double-checked his armor. Reckless he may be, idiot he was not. He knew that his skills and experience alone wouldn’t suffice here. All his gear would need to be in pristine condition if he were to survive this. He took out his sword, absentmindedly polishing it as he eyed his companions.

A warrior, clad in full dragonscale armor. The grey coloring made the scales look almost like steel. He self-consciously eyed his own emerald-color dragonscales, which covered only his torso, shins, and forearms. The warrior also had a great-axe that Eadric doubted he could even swing without collapsing under its weight, and a bastard sword, like his own.

Maria Vicariis, of the noble house Vicariis. Eadric was glad the woman had not yet noticed him, for she would no doubt recognize him. Erebus Iterus’s bastard was well-known among nobles. It was not his wish to be mocked tonight, not when he had such a promising adventure ahead. He paid her no more attention, he already knew of Maria.

As he eyed the others, he began to observe less and less. He knew of de Fabrica, the blacksmith with the special polishing substance, but the rest were unfamiliar to him. He glanced over them casually until his eyes fell upon another woman. Her heterochromia led her to believe she was a slave. He wasn’t exactly sure if there were people with different-colored eyes who weren’t slaves. Something about her intrigued him, though he wasn’t exactly sure what that was. He walked towards her and sheathed his sword on his back. He extended a hand and spoke.

”Eadric Sophus, adventurer.” He smiled crookedly. ”How do you do?”

Apparently another decided to occupy themselves with the noblewoman, berating her for keeping the bow strung. A small grin slid across the warrior's face before he could stop himself, and so he turned away from the two in order to hide his face and observed the hammer wielding Kostya. He could deal with the woman later, but this was a good time to learn about the party.

The hammerman had picked up the arrow, walking away with it as if he owned it. If he wasn't nobility, that would probably anger or please the entitled woman, depending on how he played it. Either way, it was time to start another conversation now that they were walking alongside each other.

"What do you seek to do with that ammunition? Claim it as your own? A secondary dagger, perhaps?" Perhaps if one was desperate, they could try and use an arrow as a impromptu dagger. Wasn't the wisest of ideas, but he could always claim he found the item in the woods and had no clue as to it's origins.

Kostya was a bit surprised. Apparently Meretrix had noticed his glance. For seconds, he wasn't sure if the warrior was trying to mock at his action a bit or not. So for seconds he wasn't sure if he should reply something like 'wait until that woman upfront there runs out of ammunition in front of a dragon and then hand her that very last arrow she wasted weeks before with the most sardonic grin I can produce in my face and a ready to sign contract to transfer me all of her property in the other hand' or a far more friendly 'Can't stand this kind of totally unnecessary wastefulness. I'll return it to her if she asks for it.'.

He ultimately decided for the latter option and added "I don't know how to handle daggers. So that would make no sense to be honest." He turned the arrow around and put his finger on the top of it. That was sharp... However that shaft would probably be too fragile for the thing to be used as a melee weapon for long.

Albin listened to what Maria had to say.

"You certainly do know how to take care of weaponry. A blacksmith or some sort of craftsman are you?"

Before Albin could open his mouth to speak, the woman spoke more.

"Out here, we must always be alert, should we not? I would rather not spend precious seconds stringing a bow if we are suddenly ambushed by a creature. It would be rather careless to allow ourselves to be so...careless. So thank you for your concern, but it is unneeded. Though...I suppose improper care could cause, rather unfortunate accident to happen during an ambush."

Albin agreed with this woman's reasoning, resulting in a slight nod from him. However, the part that he paid the most attention to was the part about improper care. Albin remembered the one time he tried to make a bow completely on his own. It snapped while he pulled on the string for the first time, hitting himself in the forehead quite hard.

"Not that it's likely. This bow is an Heirloom of house Vicariis, and isn't some weapon that would fail due to someone having it strung for awhile."

Albin thought more about heirlooms. Some nobles would occasionally bring old equipment in for minor repairs and cleaning, if they did not have someone trustworthy to do it. The heirlooms tended to be oddities, really. Worthless, ancient materials (save for the steel weaponry), but somehow better than what they had.

He watched as she nocked an arrow and fired it at the tree.

"See? As good as it was when my ancestors wielded it. Probably better, even. Oh, silly me. Where are my manners. I am Maria Vicariis, of house Vicariis. Let's hope something comes of this venture, shall we? I am quite looking forward to seeing what this expedition holds. What is your name, hmm?"

Albin began to speak. "I am Albin de Fabrica. Not a literal son of a forge, mind you. Though, it also means craftsmanship, and I most likely come from a line of craftsmen, however, that doesn't matter and I digress," he said, "I have no such idea what house Vicariis is, but that might come more from my focus on metalworking and not people."

He smiled as an idea came to his mind. As he recalled, the woman fired the arrow into the tree. Albin would do the same. However, he did not carry a bow with him (not like he knew how to use one) nor did he have arrows. He settled on the next best thing. He closed his eyes and swung around, facing the tree the woman shot at. With one fell motion, he drew his blade, and in the middle of his swing, let go of the blade.

The blade spun around and around. Albin opened his eyes. Oh. There was someone there, picking up the arrow. Albin flinched back; he messed up. As Albin turned away for one brief moment, he heard a solid thunk. He opened one eye slowly. His sword, luckily, had completely missed the man and hit the trunk of the tree instead. Albin turned back to face Maria. "Easy." Albin said. He then coughed and did not acknowledge the fact that he almost gave one of his future companions a budget lobotomy.

She didn't know where anyone was anymore. The guards had grabbed a few of her fellow slaves, and she was outpacing the others last she knew. She kept going, not looking back, not letting herself slow down. She'd already started, and if she stopped trying now... she suppressed a shiver as she kept running. The last wall wasn't far.

She could see the gate now, and the group beginning to leave. It was now or never. She tried to put on one last burst of speed, but a hand suddenly grabbing her shoulder held her back. "Not for long." She barely spoke the words before looking the guard in the eye, and his grip on her faltered for an instant.

She almost darted away immediately, but instinct held her back now. Her eyes darted to the knife at the man's hip, and in a second she held it in her hands, running again as the guard snapped out of his momentary daze. The gates were almost closed when she got there, slipping through at the last instant.


She caught her breath as her pace slowed to a quick walk. She'd caught up to the group now, and hid the knife in the pocket of the cloak she'd managed to steal before starting the escape. Now she glanced behind her at the wall of the city, wondering what would become of the others. She had hoped they would all make it, but apparently that's too much for the world to allow.

She shook her head slightly and faced forward, banishing any other thoughts of regret. She was here now, she'd succeeded. That's all that really mattered.

The group around her was uninteresting to say the least. Adventurers and warriors and... one noble woman. Aisha recognised her slightly, although couldn't remember this woman's name. She kept her eyes on the 'path' and the plant life around them as they walked, hoping to keep herself as invisible as possible.

And of course she couldn't do that, because now someone was walking up to her. She put a well-practiced smile on her face as he held out his hand and spoke to her. She didn't take his hand, instead clasping the both of hers behind her back as she spoke. "Pleased to meet you Mr. S-” She cut herself off and continued quickly. She would not be so meek and proper here. "Eadric. I'm fine, considering the situation. We've just embarked on a very important new part of our lives -perhaps even our last- and yet the Earth blesses us with these."

She bent down to pick one of the flowers she had spotted, a harmless plant, one she'd seen growing in many gardens and flower-pots in the noble's homes back in the city. "I don't remember what they are called, but they are a sign of good fortune." After walking a moment more, she realized that she hadn't returned his introduction. Moving as if to give the yellow flower to him, she spoke smoothly, a lilt in her voice. "My name is Aisha Demir, a former slave."

"I am Albin de Fabrica. Not a literal son of a forge, mind you. Though, it also means craftsmanship, and I most likely come from a line of craftsmen, however, that doesn't matter and I digress," he said, "I have no such idea what house Vicariis is, but that might come more from my focus on metalworking and not people."

This fool didn't know who house Vicariis was? He must have been living under a literal rock to not know such a thing. Well, no matter. She doubted that title would hold much weight to the people out here anyways, not at the moment. She'd just have to make them respect her. Either through hard work and charisma, or fear. Not that it mattered at the moment. She'd have these silly boys at her command in no time. Men were so simple minded, after all.

She watched Albin do something...well, fairly reckless. She couldn't help but to laugh at it, however, even if he had nearly taken off the head of one of their companions.

"My! Certainly confident aren't you." She raucously laughed, moving a bit closer to Albin. "Confidence is good...I like confidence." She offered a smile as she approached. "But save heroics and confidence for when we need them...what would you do if we suddenly found ourselves attacked by a beast, hmm? I suppose it'd be humorous to see you try and beat the thing with your bear hands, but I'd prefer you not die." With that, she walked past him, placing a firm hand on his shoulder as she did so.

"At any rate, we should probably stop fooling around-" Her ears caught the sound of another speaking some distance away. Normally she wouldn't care all that much...if it wasn't for the last part of the woman's sentence. She stopped speaking only for a moment, eyes narrowing at the slave girl, lips curling into a slight frown. What was that...thing doing here? A 'Former Slave'...please. There was no such thing. She realized though, she was staring rather...harshly at the slave though and quickly corrected herself as she turned her attentions back to Albin, also realizing she still hand her hand on his shoulder.

Whoops~

"- Stop fooling around and make progress, hmm? Though, I wouldn't mind...fooling around a bit more when we make camp." She left the meaning of that sentence up to his imagination and left him standing there. She'd retrieve her arrow later. For now, she simply wished to observe the group again for now.

When Kostya responded that he lacked knowledge in the usage of a dagger Meretrix simply nodded. That confirmed the background of the hammerman as a serf who happened to luckily find dragon scale.

"Is it safe for me to assume that you have minimal training in combat? If that is a problem, perhaps we can start sparring by the campfire? I'm sure I can give you some pointers."

Before he could start a lecture however, a cheerful feminine voice popped up in the background. Aisha apparently felt that leaving the city made her free. There were two reasons Lucanas believed that was false.

Firstly, it was extremely obvious she had escaped. The slave didn't have nearly enough gear to suggest she had been prepared for this sort of trip. Secondly, it was in her blood to live a life of submission. Lucanas would consider her free the moment her eyes decided on a single choice.

The servant would make for good company later on the trip when he needed it, and would be a good start for populating his household later. Even if she had been freed, it would be expected for her to carry her weight both literally and metaphorically.

The warrior raised a finger to Kostya requesting a pause in their discussion. He intended to put this girl back in her place, and started heading over to her with a stern look in his eyes.

"You. Over here - NOW!" As he spoke his words went from a firm commanding tone to a loud panicked one. The great axe was suddenly in his hands, the warrior maneuvering himself in between the pair of them and his foe with the precious time he had left, raising his axe to strike.

A massive grey wolf was sprinting towards Eadric and the slave, mouth hanging open, teeth sharp, tongue halfway out as if overly eager to taste their flesh ... and proceeded to jump over all three of them and run away from the party as if they hadn't been there. It would be a lie to say he wasn't nervous and sweating a little, but a lifetime of training kicked in.

"Everybody stay calm. Nobodies injured."

---

Eadric jumped a bit more than he would have liked at the wolf. It may have just been a Grey Wolf, a dwarf next to some of the Direwolves he’d seen, but it had startled him all the same. As the wolf ran away, Eadric’s mind returned to what was going on as the warrior saw the Wolf. He had been telling Aisha, the former slave, to come to him.

Damn the fool girl! he thought. If she had just worn an eyepatch, lied about what she was. He sighed. He was going to have to take her side. He had always taken a liking to the underdog, more fun that way. This might just get him killed though. He couldn’t beat any of them in a duel, and there were no guards coming to his rescue if he did something rash.

”Friends. That wolf was small compared to what we will face. Deeper inwards, we’ll face Direwolves twice the size and likely bigger. We must be more observant if we are to survive this trek.” He took a deep breath. ”I’ve seen caravans across the Kingsroad twice this size forced to turn back. As you know, there is no turning back for us. We will need all the manpower we can get.” He made a pointed look at Vicariis. ”We may not all be high-born, like our...esteemed Ms. Vicariis.” He tried to mask the contempt in his voice. ”My point is thus. Smith or Noble. Bastard,” he gestured to himself. ”or warrior. Slave or base-born. It makes no difference to the wolves. Our dear Aisha may very well have been a slave in the city, and if it pleases you, she can be a slave upon our return. Out here, however, she is a comrade. Nothing more, nothing less.”

He was proud of the speech, despite the inevitable repercussions. He decided that since he’d already dug his grave, he may as well jump in. He leaned in towards the warrior and whispered. ”I trust that I am understood, warrior?”

Wow. That wolf... he hadn't seen that coming. Luckily for them that the warrior seemed to be way quicker with his situational awareness than he was - and that there was a lot less aggression in the beast's behaviour than in its appearance.

Kostya totally agreed with Eadric's words, but he didn't intend to do this anywhere else than in his mind alone at the moment as he got the feeling that this could annoy Meretrix. And Lucanas had just offered him to do some sparring, something he definitely needed... "I'd be happy to do so." the serf answered the warrior.

Now, there was one last thing to do. A very important thing though...
Kostya loosened the blade from the tree, turned around and headed for Albin. His voice was calm, but filled with tension.
"What would you've done if this thing had hit me ?"

Albin didn't have much time to reply to her. Before he could say anything, a massive grey wolf leaped from the forest towards Eadric and the slave girl. She half wished it went for the slaves neck, but such a thing was a bit too much to hope for. She had already had her bow at the ready by the time the wolf had deemed them not worth its time, and started running off int the forest. With a frown, she kept an arrow knocked and listened. Something was off, but she couldn't exactly say what.

For now though, she brushed it off, though she still remained wary. Instead, she turned her attention to Eadric.

He was spouting some nonsense about how they should all get along simply because they were no longer in the city. It was a logical argument at least. Strength in numbers and all that, though the slave looked almost absolutely useless as far as she could tell. Still, for now she'd bite her tongue in regards to the slave, but if the woman spoke to her, she'd learn the hard way slaves were not to speak out of line.

"While you are correct in saying that we should at least attempt to get along for the sake of survival," Maria said, bow still in hand as she walked over. "A slave will always be a slave." She didn't get much of a chance to elaborate further, however as she suddenly lost her footing and stumbled forwards, almost right into Eadric.

Well, that was certainly odd. She wasn't even drunk.

She realized quite quickly what had caused the stumble, however.

The earth shook. The trees trembled and a few angry squawks of birds could be heard as their nests were disturbed. The ground shook again, leaves were shook form their branches as birds fled the area. Once more, and Maria quickly came to realize what had bothered her about that wolf.

Why hadn't it attacked them? An obvious question, one that she was fairly sure that the answer was now as obvious.

It was running from something. Her grip tightened around her bow, drawing an arrow from her quiver as she prepared herself for the worst.

"Everyone! Ready your weapons!" She shouted. Whatever it was, it was big enough to cause the earth to tremble before it, and that meant it wasn't something that was going to be so easily dealt with.

Albin de Fabrica

---

Albin saw the wolf. It was not every day that an enemy suddenly appears to attack as soon as you toss your sword away. It was quite bad luck indeed. The wolf was quite terrifying, to be honest. It was unlike anything that Albin had seen before. Though, Albin mostly fought straw dummies and logs.

He heard many people begin to shout and say things.

"Everybody stay calm. Nobodies injured."

Well, nobody was injured. Except for maybe the almost-lobotomized man by the tree.

"What would you've done if this thing had hit me ?"

Albin paused. He didn't actually know what to do. Albin opened his mouth without thinking. "Probably buy you some flowers, I'd say."

He then heard the Maria woman say something about drawing weapons. Albin remembered that his sword was stuck in the tree. Without much hesitation, he reached for a Blacksmith's natural weapon. He pulled out a small hammer meant for repairing minor scratches and dents from his toolbelt. Such a weapon was fitting for him, one could say. A useless man getting a rather useless weapon.

For a moment, Kostya was just too baffled for answering properly. But then it degenerated into a little tirade: "Oh yes, flowers! Oh no, don't worry. I can still buy myself some flowers even if I'm dead. Or why not just rip them out of the ground as I'm already lying underneath them, rotting away in a slow pace? Or...cut them ?" He presented the blade he had freed from the tree. "You're looking for this, perhaps ? And I've got a bigger hammer for you, too!" The slightly enraged man pointed towards that bulk of copper on his back. "Perhaps your craftsmanship would become even better if you used that one ? And if it should happen that you break your back one day... don't worry. I'll buy you some flowers then." He pressed the side face of the blade's handle onto Albins chest, pushing it from the other side. "Take it. And please warn everybody before you demonstrate your amazing skills the next time, ok ? It could save lives."

The noblewoman spoke the words he had intended to, reminded the slave of her place in the world. Before she could continue her lecture though, the ground suddenly trembled beneath the knight's feet. If it hadn't been for his practice as a warrior, his footing probably would have been lost.

This cannot be a good sign.

Lady Vicariis advised everyone to draw their weapons, and the blacksmith simply drew out small hammer from his belt. Koysta decided to reach for the katana however, continuing to have a casual lecture despite the imminent danger. Meretrix looked between the two as if they were insane for not noticing the more imminent danger. Perhaps the two of them were really experienced in the ways of the world.

"Guys?"

The earth shook again, a massive creature easily running down a cluster of nearby trees as it sprinted straight towards the center of the party, the old oaks seeming to be cut in half as it passed them. A four legged mammalian creature with spikes jutting from it's back and large bladed tusks connected to it's face along with three large snouts that appeared to have smaller spikes on the inside. Although due to it's size it appeared to move slowly by comparison, the reality was that the creature could easily outrun any of them. Large mounts of blood seeming to drool from it's mouth forming a large puddle at it's feet as it seemed to observe them and try to judge whether they were friend or food.

Looking at the noble woman with four crimson eyes, it apparently decided food as it started to run towards her, the snout whipping out to her left and being flung towards her with the spikes on the inner edge.

If she stayed, it appeared she would be both wounded and stuck to the snout. It was only a guess on what the beast planned on doing after that.

Deciding to play the hero, the son of a whore charged in with his great axe and swung at one of the long legs. The beast howled in pain and seemed to twitch it's leg, which sent the warrior rolling away in the grass.

A quick look at the wound would reveal two things. Firstly that years of training had managed to pay off as the thick hide was broken through. Secondly that the amount of blood lost from such damage would be insignificant in the long run.