Home Again

[Beauty]

Lord Gregory Carth lounged on the long couch in the sitting room of the suite he was staying in. It was the largest the inn had to offer and considering the size of the inn, was quite impressive. However, the young lord thought of it as merely a trifle. The mahogany tables and chairs, dark red velvet curtains and ivory inlays were nothing compared to the splendor of his home in Salvar.

Sitting at his feet on the floor, gazing up at him adoringly every now and then, was a young woman. Her hair fell in long, soft, brown waves to her knees. At the moment it was loose, draped about her shoulders and in a small pool around her on the floor. The eyes that gazed up at him were devoid of anything other than adoration. It was not that she was not intelligent, she was simply untaught in anything and it showed in her eyes. She was clothed in a knee-length green dress, with a low neckline and short sleeves. Ever since buying her the dress and the other two like it, he had decided that he rather liked it better than the rags he’d been keeping her in. The rag dress had long since been thrown away, and neither the girl nor the lord missed it.

Down the two flights of stairs, at the front desk, a young lad hurriedly handed over an envelope sealed in red wax with a sigil none had seen before. All the lad knew was that he’d been told to deliver it with all haste. Once he’d gotten the room number, he hurried up the stairs and knocked on the door, panting heavily from the exertion of running so hard for so long.

“Slave, answer the door. Tell whomever it is that I do not want to be disturbed until supper is being delivered.”
The girl that had been at his feet rose gracefully to her bare feet and walked quickly to the door to do just exactly what her master had said. However, when she opened the door, the young boy stuffed the letter into her hands, said it was for Lord Carth, and sped away before she could say anything. Turning it over and over in her hands, she took it back to her master.

“Master, it was just a little boy. He said that his letter was for Master.”

She handed it over to him and resumed her previous seat on the floor. The black-haired young lord sat up irritatedly and took the letter. His blue eyes widened in surprise as he recognized the seal as being that of his mother’s personal seal. How did she ever find me? What is this about? A little worried now, he cracked the seal with his thumbnail and scanned over the letter quickly. A slow scowl came over his face as he read, until at last he tossed the letter to the table and stood to his feet.

“Slave, start packing. We must return home as soon as possible.”

Slave nodded and rose to her feet once again, disappearing into the bedroom area to begin packing.

[Corvus MacCallum]

"you call this well-done!...cheating bastard"

Grumbling Corvus pandered out of one of those few hot food stores, currently with most of a roast chicken in hand,though with a rather large bite taken out of it.It was rare that Corvus would be in any sort of town let alone one that had the stench of the rich and the influential...but he had heard rumours of large beasts in the nearby forest and hill-side,people in town were paying big money for the hides or pelts...apparently all these folks seemed to know is that the things tore through cattle and live-stock with ease,information about the apperances was very difficult to come by.

"Well this is a right buggering situation I`m in...hmm...how the hell can someone live on such a vast estate..it makes no sense to me"

He had caught sight of one of the many noble mansions about here,clambering up onto the wall by making use of a guard post,his slammer sword having tore a chunk from the roof as he hopped over.Claws clicking quite pleasantly against the stonework.

"All that land and yet these people inside them never experiance a quarter of it...a house so large its nearly always empty...urgh..so very wrong"

The closest Danube had to a noble was the village Elders and they lived in the same abodes as the rest.Hopping from one side of the paltry spikes and steel barriers meant to stop people climbing up the wall Cor started up into a small limmirck.

"There once was a man of Maddrass...whose balls were made of fine brass...in stormy weather,they both clanged together..and sparks flew out of his ass!"

Needless to say,he had been in a fairly odd mood today,towns did that to him,he couldn`t really focus himself on anything.

[Beauty]

Although he pushed the hired coach to go as fast it was able, the journey north still took almost two weeks. Through it all, Carth was silent and moody. He barely paid any attention to his slave other than to feed her and help wash her hair. He had not told her the reason they were returning to Carth Manor and she became more silent than a mute mouse could ever hope to be. She’d never seen her master in such a mood before. It frightened her terribly, but she was even more afraid of asking what was so upsetting.

Eventually, though, the coach pulled up to the walled gates surrounding Carth Manor and the small village called Corath Springs. The village was little more than the homes of those that worked in manor or field, but it was still a village. The walls were quite tall and had only one gate in them. Just inside the gate, on either side, stood a tall, square tower, the barracks of his late father’s soldiers.

As they drove through the village at more stately pace, the familiar sites of the village’s one inn and the building for the Church of the Ethereal Sway passed by unnoticed by the young lord. Shops lined the main street, and at each intersection, the roads were so straight, you could see the wall at the far end. Everything about Corath Springs spoke of straight lines and solid rigidity. Everything in its place, and a place for everything.

Carth sighed as they pulled up to and then through the wrought iron gates that lead to his home. He had been waiting almost anxiously for his father to die so that he could get his inheritance, but he had not expected it to be so soon. His father should have had at least another dozen years or so before needing to plan for such a thing as his death.

“Slave, you are to go straight to my rooms and stay there until I come or send for you.”

Slave jumped at the sudden sound of her master’s voice. He had barely spoken a word since that letter had arrived two weeks ago. She nodded mutely and gathered his traveling bag to herself. Once the coach stopped and the path to the front door was open, the young woman nearly ran to get to her destination.

Carth moved more slowly, knowing what lay ahead of him as the only child. His mother, Lady Aramella Carth, was waiting inside. She wore a long gown of black. No other colors were evident. The sleeves were long and covered her hands. She also wore a small hat with a veil. These too were black, though the veil was sheer so she could still see through it.

“Mother...”

The young lord was much larger than his petite mother. She almost disappeared in his arms as he wrapped them around her small frame. He could see the redness around her eyes that spoke of the long hours of weeping. Questions, he decided, could wait until later. Right now, his mother needed him and he’d always loved his mother more than his father.

[Corvus MacCallum]

"A heard it wuz poison, one a da rival families...dey say lord Windan's daughter wuz rejected for marriage to that son of theirs and so he wanted revenge"

"Bah thats hardly sumthing to kill sumone over,yer talking outta yer arse Fingal, now I hurd it was a vampire, one a dem night-suckers an den they called the boy back to quietly kill off his da now that hes one a dem"

It was suprising the amount of bull-shit that could flow from peoples mouth, maybe the old codger just died of old age?...still Corvus had never heard of this lord let alone the reputation, he had jaunted his way across the manor wall without any knowledge of who it belonged to, but even then he didn't care one jot,bloody nobles and their extravegence,ridiculous. He had decided to return to a pub for job notices and get some cloth to wipe his fingers on after gnawing through the chicken, now rolling the biggest leg bone between his fangs as he eaves-dropped on all this unusual ponderance. When was there going to be another Drake rampaging or even a Blazen Dragon...okay not quite ready to take something like that on, but he was looking for a new fang for the collection.

"...Urgh I hate these slow days.."

[Beauty]

A few hours later, after his mother had cried till she had no tears left once again and returned to her rooms, young Gregory Carth made his way down to the family funeral parlor. He figured that he may as well pay his last respects to the old man even though he felt he had been foolish to allow some beast to kill him. The parlor was a small room, with very few seats. At the front lay an elaborately carved wood coffin, sitting on a pedestal.

The letter had said to come as quickly as possible, that his father was on his deathbed. The son had endeavored, for his mother’s sake, to get home as quickly as possible, but was still too late. His father had died only three days ago. According to family tradition, the body would remain in the coffin in the funeral parlor four more days for family and friends to view it before it was at last laid to rest in the family cemetery.

As he drew nearer the corpse-laden coffin, the faint odors of embalming fluids filled his nostrils. These, he ignored. He respectively opened the top half of the coffin to find that his father was covered up to his armpits in a scarlet silk cloth. To cover his wounds... the young lord thought. Then he bowed down on one knee, whispering only one word, “Father...”


Up several flights of stairs, in the rooms her master had used when he lived here, Slave wandered around idly. She had nothing to do now that she’d put the master’s clothes and toiletries away and she was not tired. She wished very much that she knew why Master was so moody and why Lady Carth had been wearing all black. She had never been taught about deaths in the family. She had never seen him so moody or so silent. He hadn’t even taken her to his bed since that letter arrived and that was very unlike her Master.

A knock came at the door and the young woman went to answer it. As soon as the door opened, an older woman came in pushing a cart ahead of her. From the delicious aromas emanating from it, Slave knew it held a most wondrous meal. She remembered the servant from the years she had spent here. The woman’s name was Mary.

“Miss Mary?”

“Yes, child?”

“Miss Mary, Slave does not understand. Why is Master so moody? Why is Lady Carth dressed in all black? Slave remembers that Lady Carth liked to wear pretty colors. And where is Lord Carth? Slave does not want to see him, but she wonders where he is.”

“Still let’s you talk like a three year old does he? That boy will never grow up,” this was said fondly as Mary finished setting the table. “Apparently, he hasn’t informed you of what’s happened either. Well, I suppose someone better tell you. Lord Carth is dead, child. He died three days ago from wounds he received while surveying the lands outside the wall.”

Slave’s brown eyes widened, then saddened as she thought how sad Master and Lady Carth must be. She knew what dead meant. Master had explained it to her when she found a dead bird in the garden once. Dead meant that you couldn’t run and play or eat and drink. Dead was very bad.

“What does Slave do now?”

“You do as you’ve been told to do and not a word that I told you anything, you hear?”

“Yes, ma’am.”

Mary sighed and nodded. She had grandchildren who spoke with better grammar than the young Master’s slave did. She did not like the fact that this child was a slave at all, but she was no paid for her opinions. Opinions of that sort were addressed harshly by her employers. At last satisfied that the young lord’s meal would be ready for him, she left, leaving instructions for Slave not to touch a thing until her Master returned.

It was not long after that, that Master Carth did return. He’s composed himself after his visit with his father and, despite not truly liking it, had resigned himself to taking on his new role as Lord Carth of Corath Springs. The first matter at hand would of course be to avenge his father. This was already being taken care of. While he sat down to eat, a messenger was running as fast as he could to post flyers on every inn within 20 miles. The flyer simply said that Lord Carth would reward anyone with information regarding the death of his father with 1,000 GP and would triple that reward for anyone that killed the beast and brought back proof of its death. Any and all questions about the beast, the information desired, or the proof desired should be directed to Lord Gregory Carth.

[Corvus MacCallum]

Must have been sheer jammy luck really, Corvus had just beaten his fifth opponent in an arm wrestling match..a reassuring jingle in his pouch to signal his victory in a more substantial way than just whooping and yelling from the assembled drunks, he decided on vacating the premises...not for any particular reason he just felt like getting some fresh air. Stepping through the open entry and exit, must say very well executed multi-tasking..a smaller, lithe figure was knocked to his arse from impacting on the wolf-man. Hunkering down onto his haunches the Highlander gave a light poke to this intruder of his personal space but seeing a hand reaching out snapped it up quickly, aiding the expediant dasher of long distances to his feet.

"You alright there lad?"

"Huh?...oh, oh yes...oh my..."

The not particulary sturdy messenger eyed up the large handle and sword attached to said handle running the length of Cors back..not that he could see that part, but the side was jutting out quite visibly and a few educated guesses established one very clear fact...that, was a big sword. Gathering himself the forgettable messenger quickly dusted at himself and smiled showing off his pristinely sealed job offer that was to be delivered to all those assembled arse-holes getting wasted. Corvus plucked it from the offering hand, sliced open the seal and had a quick nose through, brow raising in quiet curiousity...then again he wasn't a huge fan of silence and so voiced that curiousity.

"Whats this?"

"The Lord of Corath Springs is offering a vast reward to any slayer who would slay the beast that slew his father"

"So you require a slayer to slay the slewer?"

"....."

There was a mumble of 'peasant' and 'ruffian'...for even lowly messengers held themselves above all else, after all they got a wage and at times the trust of the blue-bloods, unlike these simple common folk, perhaps considering himself a lord among the flock.

"So what kind of beast?...thats a normally important peice of information"

"Oh does it matter?...look at the reward"

"I see the reward and I also see the possibility of something rather large and angry"

"Fine!"

With a grumble the messenger snatched the flyer from the Wolf-mans hands, turning his nose up at him...the cheek!

"This was hardly addressed to you anyway, this is for any warrior worth his salt to contend for...now step aside!"

There was a quiet chuckle and to those outside it seemed some great joke was delivered...or perhaps something had gotten unhinged for there was a very girlish scream following it, a great rustling and then an even higher pitched scream. Grabbing his mighty cleaver of Orc descent Threkker the one-toothed rushed out to see what had happened while his fellow adventurers stared at the underside of their table. Axe brought high he stomped forth and discovered a rather dishevelled messenger dangling on the pubs sign...by his rather painfully placed pantaloons, the Orc warrior just laughed loudly at the sight as off in the distance a Highlander tore through the roads and paths.

The messenger had rubbed him the wrong way but still this was a big score and likely a big beast...something definately worth his attention, the reward in cash wasn't important...but nobles had connections and acess to facilities, perhaps he could negotiate a more viable deal a noble would agree since the parting of money would be avoided. Corath Springs...not an area he was entirely familiar with but after some brief words at a slightly more familiar pub after many hours walking he had gotten some concrete directions, tearing his way through the wilds and the paths, thankfully this was not a route travelled often....there was no way to know how many messengers and flyers had been set off and right now this Wolf-man wanted to make the 'first come, first serve' policy work his way.

By the time Corvus reached Corath Springs the moon was already sinking low and on eyeing up the guard well decided it would be best to camp out for the night and head in at morning...sides never hurt to show up at an employers bright eyed and bushy tailed. As the monster hunter made himself comfortable snoozing against the pure iron blade driven into the ground his nose twitched....there was something faintly familiar...it poked at the depths of his memory and could have sworn a growl was forced from him..but it was too faint.

Morning finally broke and dragging himself to his feet Corvus took advantage of the little stream he had slept beside, diving in fully clothed and getting a good wake-up call as that wonderfully cold water poked and jabbed at his form. It certainly woke up the guards at the gate as they saw the drenched wolf-man happily walking up to them.

"You have business in Corath springs...sir?"

With a fanged smirk he rummaged within his pack and brought out the flyer..no point leaving that bit of information behind for the competition. Mostly displaying the wax seal sliced at the top.

"This bloke was offering a job, I`m here to accept...you guys got anyone who can show me there?...bit new in town heheh"

[Beauty]

The older of the two nodded curtly to the younger, who immediately saluted and beckoned for their surprise guest to follow him. The path up to the large mansion was paved, the stones fitted together perfectly to make it a smooth ride for carriages to traverse over. Once inside, the guard spoke to a maid, explaining quickly that the gentleman was to be presented to Lord Carth just as quickly as possible. The maid ran off just as fast as her legs would carry her while the guard led Corvus on to a sitting room and placed himself at the door.

“Wait here, I’m sure Lord Carth will be here shortly. Hannah just went to tell him that you are here for the job.”

The sitting room decor was conservative, done in mostly red and black. A fireplace filled one wall, but was unlit. A large rug covered the floor in front of it with a large chair and a couch each standing opposite each other on either side of the rug. The rug itself was deep red and covered in gold scroll work. Wood and ivory carvings sat on small tables here and there. The walls were also paneled in wood. A large chandelier hung from a chain in the center with all its candles lit to brighten the room. There were no windows in this room, so the candles provided all the light.

Upstairs in his private dining room, Carth and Slave sat at breakfast. They were alone at the large table and breakfast was almost done when Hannah came dashing in.

“M-my Lord! Please forgive me, but you have a visitor. He says he’s here about the job.”

The young man sighed and glanced at Slave. She’d been given a whole new wardrobe on their return and his assumption of his new duties. The Lord of Canoth Springs could not allow his slave to go around in common clothing. She now wore a fine linen dress, with a low neck and long sleeves. Today, it was colored a dark red, with a little bit of lace at the sleeve cuffs. Her hair had also been done up a little. Instead of hanging loose, it was now pulled into a half ponytail that was braided. Her brown eyes looked back at him blankly, then she rose to follow him as he stood to follow Hannah to the sitting room.

It was not a terribly long wait and soon, the young lord stood in the doorway, seeing this supposed warrior for the first time. He was more than a little surprised to see that this “gentleman” that wanted the job was not elven, human, or dwarven or anything else he’d seen in his short time of traveling. Slave was delighted, thinking that the man was elsewhere and that the furry creature before them was a pet. However, she did not dare go by her master. She waited and followed meekly as he strode into the room and took a seat. She stood silently at his shoulder.

“Well, I am surprised to have an answer so soon. Tell me, do you know anything about this creature that menace Corath Springs? The only thing that my one surviving soldier remembers is that the beast was huge and lizard-like. Unfortunately, I was not there myself.”

The young lord gazed intently at the wolf-man. He wore a white silk shirt with a black vest and jacket over it and a black pair of silk pants. His short, thick, black hair was finely combed and brushed to perfection. His crystal blue eyes gazed steadily at warrior before him, wondering what manner of creature this was to begin with, but not caring so long as he could get the job done.

[Corvus MacCallum]

Urgh...why make a room above ground that can't feel the sun, so very cold even with all this flame

Glancing back to the guard most likely supervising him Corvus decided to have a little pander about in this room. Course he knew how much pride nobles put in their posessions and so kept his hands to himself, quickly letting his tail flick and wag the second the guards eyes were averted before it flopped still...he had forgotten to bind his forearms before entering the town and with only one glove he was a little bit exposed as something side-ways from a human. Hunkering down, arms resting upon his thighs the Highlander tried to get a better sniff at one of the ivory legged tables used for holding up any number of glasses of brandy while....

one boasts and brags about the effect one has over ones own destiny...and then how one would like to retire to a private chamber, for you see...one would like to give one one

...bloody ponces, still Corvus froze as he heard a slight tear. Slowly it came to him...well as slow as a ton of bricks possibly could, attached to his back was a six foot long iron blade, it was strapped rather firmly to his back in fact...now we add in that when kneeling upon his haunches he was no longer six foot tall but the blade was, then we get to the final peice of this rather awkward puzzle...a very lush, likely heavily expensive fire-side rug.

....Bollucks!

Corvus quickly shot up before the guard could look back to him, furry foot resting firmly upon the...well not small by any sense of the word, hole. Flashing a fanged smirk to the weary looking defensive warrior, it looked like he had spent a life-time listening to over-exaggerated stories on how his lord one upped another in a game of chess they hired servants to played in order to not ruffle those frilly majiggers that sprout from sleeves.

Ah at last, the ending waits...no wait...aw bugger

Watching this Lord...well Lordlet walk in, he was pretty damn young and then his concussion...consortium...concubine thats it!...stepped in beside him. Corvus spent no time in memorising this mans scent...the unnatural airs of cholognes and scented soaps put him right off trying to sift through those and find the natural air of pomposity these types normally gave off. That woman however, well she was naturally attractive, a pet to some noble was hardly going to be an old scrubber that looked to scour tiles with her face...but...

I've seen eyes with more dominance and fire in cows...poor thing...huh?...shit hes speaking, answer back mutt-boy!

"Don't know a thing about the monster but I don't carry this thing about for show-"

A swift nod of the head to the handle of his massive Slammer.

"-does your soldier know any other features?...he must have seen a colour or a fragment of the thing left behind in the wounded"

The guard that suddenly had a real look of doom on his face made moves as if to speak up but immediately that action withered and died for the simple reason that Lord Carth had not told him he could speak yet, the simple family-mans mind reeling at what could happen to him if he brought up how the beast ripped his father from heart to nuts in one sweep...best keep it short.

"M'Lord...may I, I do have one or two things to say about it?"

This man had faced many beasts surely, bandits and brigands but he was terrified of the man who paid him paltry gold to risk his life, the Highlander could feel the bile rise in his throat...the noble probably popped a boner everytime he got this reaction, true power through presence bah!

"...Fine"

It takes a special kind of bastard to say that word but make it sound like 'go fuck yourself peasant'

The guard took a single step forwards and Corvus could see the man tremble...it wasn't properly visible but the hesitation in his voice, the tightening grip to keep those muscles from shaking...a man that had seen too much in a short space of time.

"It looked like fire sir...its scales marked with reds, oranges and yellows like the entire beasts hide was burning...every leg as big as a horse and claws that cleaved right through my lo-....the...the old Lords armour...I beg your forgiveness M'Lord"

What the bloody hell is this man more afraid of, the monster or that fluffed up fancy-boy!

Taking a moment Corvus decided to shift his position somewhat, carefully catching the carpet with his claws to bunch it up a tad and hide that ripped open hole. Deciding to get closer to the duo of sheep and their lacy shepard. Sliding his back-pack off during those steps and rummaging within before catching hold of his rope-o-fangs, although for now he kept them inside the pack.

"Did you see anything else?...markings?...a mane, something specific, could it breathe fire fer Fenrirs-sake?"

"Fire yes, it did...yellow fire, it reduced Nobby Peters to ash and his horse...and markings, the beast it had shining red plates on its chest, they looked like shields melted onto its hide"

That was it...Cor knew what it was...and to be totally truthful...

Oh....fuck...

...he wasn't best pleased. Still he didn't let it show and instead hoisted out the toothy rope to display it to his egocentric employer, the docile dolly and to finish it up the trembling trustee of protection. The guards eyes certainly lit up on seeing that thing clack and sway in front of him.

"My proof that I can take this beast down...and what killed your da is a Blazen dragon, though since there were survivors probably not an old one...if this is a Blazen I want to negotiate a different reward scheme, golds not gonna do me much good"

There was a derisive 'tch' that made it passed those thin, judging lips...best to proceed.

"When I fell the beast I want your help to skin it, de-claw it and basically strip off what I can carry that will provide some use to me...and repairs for my sword if it gets damaged, its only pure iron so that shouldn't set you back more than a few hundred...in exchange for that I require no extra assistance though your free to provide a few and...if your fathers corpse is still here I need to see it"

The guard had washed and changed since the combat, any scent of the blazen on him was long gone, no...he needed something that had festered and kept that smell, how likely the dad would still have it, he had no idea but it was his only bet really.

[Beauty]

Slave was quite surprised when the huge wolf-man started talking. She hadn’t known he’d be able to talk. She kept silent through everything, even when she finally learned how Lord Carth had died. No wonder Master was upset. She thought she would be upset too if a dragon killed someone she knew, even if she didn’t know what a dragon was in the first place.

Carth looked the wolf-man up and down, trying to gauge his abilities. At last he nodded and motioned the guard to go back to his station. Necklaces of fangs and the like did not impress him, but there would still be no need of further interviews with other adventurers or warriors.

“You may have whatever you desire from this dragon. I have no use for it myself. Once it is dead, return here and I will send some men back with you to help you salvage the carcass. However, if you damage your weapon in the process, that is your problem, not mine. It is your decision whether or not to take on the job, as such any side effects to weapon or health are for you to fix, not me. As for seeing my father’s body...”

He paused for a moment, his crystal eyes going steely for a moment as he thought. This man was not family. Tradition stated that only family and very close friends were permitted to view the body of a Carth family member. However, he did understand that there was some need in this case, at last he let his breath out and spoke again.

“Follow Slave. She will take you to the family funeral parlor, where my father lies, awaiting his burial. Make it quick. Normally, you would not be permitted, but this is a special circumstance. Do not make me regret allowing this. Slave, show him to the funeral parlor at once.”

Slave nodded her head and turned on her heel, expecting her Master’s guest to follow her immediately. Her long brown hair flowed around her as she moved. Her slippered feet made almost no sound on the floor as she padded softly through the halls. She spoke not a word, her eyes looking only for where she was to go to complete her task.

[Corvus MacCallum]

Corvus wasn't quite as silent, once out of sight of the noble and anyone else for that matter he allowed his tail to swing freely, was such a pain having to keep it still among those folks but then... really who's ready to talk to a six foot wolf?... Now and again a maid or other such servant of money-fed decadence and the tail flopped down again trying to mimic some trophy plucked from a large wild hound, there wasn't much point really... since he had forgotten his bindings for the fore-arms thick black fur was being pushed out from his buckler and gauntlet, along with those bare feet clicking and clacking his claws along the hard floor when the plush carpeting ran out on well-walked servant paths. Onwards and onwards they went, through a door, down some stairs... up some stairs... take the second door on the fifth hall, spin around and then laugh like a fool... actually that last one might happen at some point if this bloody place shows itself as any larger.

"Bloody marathon to walk through this place"

"Keeps you fit though hee"

The Highlander blinked and slowed his steps to allow the female voice from behind catch up, one of those random maids, this one particulary young, some delicate flower from a local village offered up in exchange for one less mouth to feed at the farm house and a steady supplement of coins to send to that ungrateful house-hold.

"Uh yea... sure, not much for indoors myself"

"Dosen't seem all that suprising, I imagine that thing makes low door-ways tricky"

"Heh certainly not all that useful in a crowded tavern no..."

"Oooh I know that accent... your one of those Highlanders aren't you?"

Of course in this conversation Corvus kept his ear out for Slaves soft-soled 'flumph' 'flumph' of steps, but in a place this hollow and vast he was interested in some conversation and it was unlikely the human pet would be able to muster much. Speaking about their home villages, which were apparently quite close together the two got a tad distracted... well it certainly showed from a light path of chips and chunks missing or carved into those immaculate wooden sculptures, those tables that seem only capable of holding a single letter and one or two rugs got a hole poked in em once again... thankfully though it was kept pretty low and now all that visible, should be able to scarper before the next round of polishing.

"Oh, looks like your going down to the funeral parlour..."

"Yea, part of me job at the moment, talk to later if I can find you in this ruddy place Sheena"

"Same to you Corvy"

As she wandered off he couldn't help but shudder.

Shes cute and all but eesh... Corvy?... next she'll be getting me a collar and make me call her mistress... not in the mood for that sort of thing, well... yet anyway heh, now onwards to the storage of stiffs and nobles that have an excuse for a cold-heart

With his comforting conversationalist and her well restrained twins in another part of the manor Cors thoughts returned to the vastness of this place and just how, despite all those many windows, so little natural light got in. No wind either, no mixing of scents, just the expected mingling of stale whiffs of perfumes, make-up chemicals and the odd traces of a servant or two. He couldn't help but wonder, release a couple of squirrels in this place, how long till someone would find them?... might do that after the job in fact, get some satisfaction from damaging that chilled cretins poxy little inner sanctum... that thought had to go on hold though as the wolf-mans nose twitched.

Old flesh... thicker perfumes and scents of oils... we're here

Heading inside Corvus got to see a sight he doubted any commoner had witnessed, a noble in eternal repose. With an inappropiate smirk that he wasn't even feeling at the moment the Highlander reached to Slave and lightly patted her head, probably recognize that form of thanks considering the simple nature behind those eyes.

"Thanks muchly lass, I'll only be a mo"

Mmm... soft hair heh, alright now onto the pale faced bugger

Walking up to the in a way, display stand for the less than active ex-Lord Cor began sniffing about. Could barely even pick up the faint traces of blood, had he been prepared for burial so quick... nothing but cholognes and other scents to help stave off the ripeness of a corpse. Deciding to risk it for the sake of an answer Corvus poked at the form, feeling a small divet of what was likely a bad wound barely sealed, that would be his only source now. A quick shifty-eyed glance over his shoulder to Slave... would she tell?... probably wouldn't understand what he was doing, but still he kept it from her sight. With a few quick scuffles with funeral clothing he exposed that wound, there was something trying to hide within those scents and he weren't gonna let no niff go unsniffed.

I must have a very lazy pair of shoulder advisors, shouldn't they be here about now to tell me off or goad me on... eh screw it, if he wants avenged hes gonna put up with this

Lower and lower came the Highlander before his nose was brushing that wound... it was there, somewhere, one deep breath in and...

And bingo was his name-o...

He had heard that line from some passing traveller... sounded so stupid now and indeed back then, but he was nosing into a corpse and welcomed the relief offered by a gag. He now had the scent of the Blazen, weren't many tall heights to scale in this region, nor a mass of cave systems, it would only take a day or two to follow it home... now how the hell do you get these buttons back in, argh! With the noble no longer so obviously descrated Corvus turned to face the slave girl.

"Hoping you accept other orders otherwise we're screwed but... can you please take me to the entrance of this manor and then after that go tell your master I'm heading off on the hunt?"

Those eyes are worrying... could a personality be brought out from all that... well all that training, this girl must have been a slave all her life... take her away from all this could she even survive a week?... might have to find out sometime if I stay in this place much longer

[Beauty]

Slave watched only half-interested as the wolf-man went about his business. She had not listened to the conversation between him and the maid. Eavesdropping was a very bad thing for a slave to do. Once they’d arrived at the parlor, she stood at the back and waited patiently to take him back to the sitting room. She spoke nary a word as he asked his question, only turned on her heel and led the way back through the mansion. When they had come to the main hall, Carth stood by a marble bust of some great ancestor.

“I trust you are ready to begin? Good, I have ten men waiting outside to help you in whatever ways you deem necessary.” Not waiting for an answer, he turned his attention to Slave, “Now, Slave, listen carefully. I want you to go with our guest. Obey him as you would me. When you all return from this trip, you are still to accompany him and do whatever he asks of you until he leaves. Do you understand?”

Slave nodded fearfully. She didn’t know what a dragon was, but she had not heard anything good about them. She did not want to leave her Master’s side, but she knew she had to obey him to the letter, even when she was frightened or didn’t want to do what he asked of her. “Slave understands, Master.”

“Good, you should get going before you lose much more daylight. I will await news of your success here. Good day and happy hunting to you.”

Turning swiftly, he walked away almost hastily. He had other business to tend to of course, but he still found the wolf-man somewhat unnerving and did not wish to be near him any longer than was absolutely necessary.

Slave watched him for a short time, then led on to the large double doors that opened out onto the courtyard. Outside a small group of men, all in their late 20s to early 30s, stood waiting for Corvus to appear. They were a bit surprised that Slave was apparently coming too, but made no comment about it. One tall lad with blonde hair and blue eyes, called the men to attention and walked up to Corvus and saluted.

“We are the guard sent by Lord Carth to help you with the dragon, Sir. We are eager to help. I am Captain Geoffry Halding, chief officer among us. By what name should we call you?”

Slave stood quietly beside Corvus. She hoped this would be a fast trip, so she could get back to serving her beloved Master.

[Corvus MacCallum]

What the hell...

The Wolf-man was more than a little perturbed by Carths giving away of his docile little pet, what was he hoping this would do?... the meaning utterly escaped the Highlander unless he wanted the girl to fear for her life at some point, no weapons, no suitable attire for travelling... still the effigy of all he detested in nobles had walked off leaving him with no choice but to keep the girl with him. At the least she could benefit from some time away from that bloke, following her lead for perhaps the last time until she becomes more willing than a sheep to do his bidding.

Quite a motley group, oh no, nono that goatee on Halding has to go... bit pudgey one or two of them, I see shivers... no they won't be any use

"Call me Cor, or Corvus, when we get to a tavern or pub after slaying this beast feel free to use my full name of Corvus MacCallum as you recount this little tale heh, Halding I'd like to make something clear, I'm not interested in glory hounds or fool-hardy heroics, in this hunt I will fight the dragon alone and your men are not to intervene, it takes a beast to take one down effectively heheh..."

"But sir!"

"I've faced these things down before, you don't want to tackle them in a group, once its down though I'm gonna need your lads assistance in skinning the git... now whats the lay of the land?"

Halding looked like a rabbit staring down a spear as he was suddenly caught uninformed on a topic, this would reflect on him badly, better make some effort and keep the men rallied behind him, they had also been told to protect the slave girl from the Highlander should he try to run off with her or shed blood.

"Could you, repeat the question?"

"Ouw vey... alright I'll make it simpler, any high rocky terrain nearby?... perhaps a small range of hills that dream of being mountains or an abandoned mine in cold ground?"

"Well yes... yes let me see, there is the Nesden mine directly south of here, it was used for iron but went dry, apparently the mine had been made to some size... the area around its entry is cleared wood-land"

"Okay that'll be the first place"

"Righto sir!"

Spinning on his heel Geof barked some orders to his men, Cor didn't really listen, the tone was that loud and officious, instead just glancing to Slave and beckoning her to follow him. As the men gave a resounding cheer Halding turned back around to face the empty space of where this hunter had been, his eyes darting until he caught them walking right past the squad.

"Is there trouble sir?"

"I don't want to waste time, get your men saddled up if they have horses, if not just meet me south of the town"

"We have been given permission to lend one to you sir"

The wolf-man just chuckled as he finally left the manor grounds, hands sliding into his pockets idlely... well his fingers anyway, the buckler and gauntlet just too large to slip through the material, that tail swinging from side to side with a bit of a chipper air, he was looking forward to getting the hell out of this place.

"No thanks mate, never been good with horses, bad taste too"

He grinned on hearing the clanking of light armour as some of the younger guards trembled, might have seen a bit mean but eh they'd soon have plenty to inadvertently fill their pantaloons with on seeing a mad as hell Blazen. Finally out of ear-shot from the little band of companions Cor finally spoke to Slave.

"I have something to ask of you as well, I'm not comfortable with calling you Slave, however true it is, so while we're travelling can you please answer to the name of Lily?... you remind me of a girl from my village, she was quiet too heh... oh your also able to speak up when you want, if theres something needed ask, take some time getting used to it but eh there won't be punishments for ya"

Smirking he gave the enslaved bundle of flesh, blood and bones a soft pat on her back before speeding up his stride a tad to lead her, by the time he had hit grassland and forest the clop of mighty hooves was gradually getting stronger behind him. Bad choice of mount for such a hunt, but eh the armour should stop them shattering when the things rear up, horses had pretty sensitive senses when it came to fear... speaking of senses Corvus was taxing his, there were so very many scents and whiffs, trying to pick out that Blazens trail.

Thankfully... nothing smells like a Blazen does

[Beauty]

Slave looked up at him, fear in her brown eyes. They were hardly out of Master’s range of control, and her new, temporary master was already pushing for rule-breaking.

“Slave is not supposed to have a name. Names are for people, not slaves, but Slave will do as Mister Corvus asks.”

She paused, biting her lip, half afraid of speaking up about something even though she’d just been given permission to. She kept up with him, keeping only two paces behind as she had been taught all her life to do.

“Please don’t call Slave by the name Lily when we go home. Master will be very angry with Slave if he finds out that she took a name from someone. Slave does not want a beating.”

Her words were true. He kept that rule of slaves religiously. He never allowed anyone to call her anything other than “slave” or “girl”. Anything that was not an actual name was fine by his standards, but if someone tried to give his slave a name, and she answered to it, he would be more angry with her for not keeping the rule herself. Not all people realized that there were rules about such things and he saw no point in holding someone responsible for something they did in ignorance that Slave could have remedied.

After that, she fell silent. Nary a word of complaint or of being tired ever crossed her lips. By the time the sun started to go down, she was very hungry and her stomach growled at her. The soft slippers that she had worn in the mansion had long since torn on the ground. Her feet were still in good condition though as she had never worn shoes outside anyway. As they came to a clearing she sped up her feet a little and spoke in her soft voice.

“Mr. Corvus? Is it time to stop now? Slave is very tired and hungry.”

[Corvus MacCallum]

"Alright lass... I'm only asking you to take a name for me own sake, I detest slavery and I am really uncomfortable referring to you as anything less than human... but don't worry this is just for our trip"

He had been quite lucky really, there were so many slaving groups that captured any tribe or group possible to be flogged off... they had come to Danube a few times but been repelled, the terrain was too rough for conventional fighting numbers and all the Highlanders knew every, single, inch. His dad had become quite famous as a repeller of the rope-bearers as the groups were called, hopefully the village is still safe... nah sure they are. As they continued onwards the forest coverage became thicker, those clawed, furry feet rustling and brushing through the soft grass... every few steps there'd be a soft clank as his left arm hit its gauntlet off the Slammer sword.

"Keep up Halding!"

"Sir!"

Quite a fair bit back purely due to size constraints was the skinning band as Cor had mentally nick-named them, grumbling under his breath as they dismounted, hearing all those jingles and clinks of armour plates hitting against all those little bucklers and belts present on a secure saddle. Such a bloody pain in the arse cavalry, but he had to admit not all were naturals at long distance travel... the girl Lily had been doing remarkably, although that notion just forced a growl from the Highlander... made to walk everywhere no doubt while her owner trotted along on the back of his stallion, known in the manor as his Compensating incarnate.

He could feel it slipping through the trees and undergrowth, he was right to pick the mine, the Blazen would be there waiting for him... and it would be his to bring down. The wolf-man winced and glanced down to his hand, had wound up clenching them so tight in thought his claws had peirced the skin... ah well just a minor niggle won't slow him down... though other conditions were conspiring to do just that. What little the sun could punch through in the forest was showered in colours of flame... sundowns often reminded him of Blazens, he really didn't want to be so dedicated to their deaths but he couldn't help it when presented with the beasts, he was an emotional sod.

"Yea... yea lets stop for now Lily, yo Halding, we'll be making two camps, you guys set up where you are, I fancy getting a bit closer"

Plus I can hear a rabbit or two bounding about, enjoy your packed lunches boys I'm off for the fresh stuff

"When I find dinner I'll come back okay Lily?... for now stay within sight of the guards, but don't let them try anything with you alright?... be back in but a jiffy luv"

With a pop of straps he hoisted off the massive slammer sword and set it upon the ground, then as he struggled with getting it over the buckler... managed to remove his shirt, draping it over the clean, though cold blade. Giving it a pat as he started to back up into the woods, looking far more at ease and graceful than he had in the manor.

"You can use that to sit on to rest your feet, I'll take care of the camp preperations"

With that he flashed a fanged smirk and darted off into the woods, as she watched him get swallowed up by the darkness the slave girl saw him lower to all fours like a common wolf and give a loud bark. He enjoyed this kind of enviroment, everything was alive and natural, nothing was put in merely for show... well except the mating seasons but even then, a few shiny stones or brightly coloured feathers hardly amounted to the sheer wealth that prat Carth surrounded himself with simply because his family weren't farmers. No time to dwell on that though, the hunt was in need of attention, he could pick them up now, two rabbits... both male, no idea on age his nose wasn't quite that omnipetant but at the least he knew they were near by. Slowly he lowered himself down, hands and feet padding silently against the soft, moist earth... his tail lowering down so that the overfluffy tip just barely stayed above the ground, slinking his way through the moss and shrooms, claws always finding the earth just solid enough to keep him steady.

Brown furred and large... thankfully neither were lop-earred, even as such a dedicated hunter he just couldn't kill a lop-earred bunny, far too cute heh. Picking about the ground he lifted a small pebble, keeping it trapped between two claws before with a flick of the wrist sent it speeding across the two rabbits currently snuffling about for a quick meal, or a female... hard to say really and it gave a lovely thwack as it impacted with a nearby tree trunk. Like typical alert rabbits they immediately shot their eyes towards it at which point Cor lept from the bush, no point barking he'd need his mouth in a moment, grabbing hold of one rabbit using his left hand and the other, yes he got that between his lips, catching its neck and upper back so the thing died instantly with one quick bite.

With those fresh kills he decided to let Lily not witness their beheading and did it right there in the woods, closing his mouth over the empty eyes and drooping ears... a wet crunch and then rrriipppp as he tore the head clean off, repeating it on the other... of course spitting them out each time, last thing he needed was a hair-ball, had seen a feline warrior laid low by one of those. He wasn't all that joyful on the exterior but no man wouldn't be chuffed at such an easy sucess in hunting, his tail wagging freely as he pandered off back to the unbuilt camp site.

He had even removed the fluffy tails before reaching Lily, he just didn't want to upset her... bloody hell she better not be a vegen, theres bugger all to grab around here, not often a wild potato pops up. Of course there was no suprise in finding her sitting on that blade nice and obediantly, flopping the rabbits down beside her he started up gathering wood, thankful that there hadn't been a recent rainy patch... was such a pain in the arse trying to get sodden wood to light properly. Least he'd been able to restock on flint after passing an abandoned quarry, was amazing what you could get if you just looked about, only took a few smacks of stone and the fire roared feebly into life, was like a pup trying to bite a bear without teeth... but eventually it would turn into something decent with enough fuel. Plopping himself down beside the life-long slave he took time to find a good enough fang in his pack and began skinning and gutting the deceased little critters.

"Can't say the food will be very fancy but its fresh and you can't beat food you prepare yourself... emotionally anyway heh"

[Beauty]

Slave nodded at his instructions and obediently sat down on the huge blade. She could hear the sounds of the soldiers setting up their camp. Some of them talked and joked about what they would have made from their share of the dragon’s hide. For herself, all Slave wanted was to be home. Master never hunted. He always stayed in the camp with her. As such, she felt very alone and a tiny bit frightened at waiting by herself in the woods. Shortly after the sounds of the other camp quieted down, she was surprised by the sudden presence of Captain Harding.

“Where’s Corvus?”

“Slave does not know. He said he was getting dinner and that Slave was to stay here and let him worry about camp prep-prep-preparations,” she answered in her soft voice, stumbling a bit over the large word Corvus had previously used. She remained on the ground, but did not meet the captain’s eyes.

“Well, here’s an extra tent for either one of you to use. Lord Carth sent it along with us. Are you okay here, by yourself?”

Slave nodded silently, a little wary of the captain. Harding sighed and dropped the tent down beside the pretty young woman. He did not agree with his lord’s slave-keeping habits. However, he knew how much his present lord and the previous one detested people helping slaves too much. He also knew that she would not lie if Lord Carth asked any questions. He needed his job, even if he detested his boss. Thus, he could only offer the bare minimum. One day, you will all be free, if I have to kill Carth myself.

“Well, okay. If you’re sure. Have a good night.”

Slave watched until the trees hid him from easy view. Then she turned her gaze around the small clearing, waiting for Corvus’ return. She didn’t have much longer to wait. She looked up expectantly as he came back into the clearing and took his seat. She’d never seen meat prepared from scratch and looked on with a confused look on her face.

“Slave has never seen food like that before. Master doesn’t hunt for food when we’re out. He always buys enough to last until the next village or town. Captain Harding also came. He brought a tent that he said Mr. Corvus or Slave could use.”

[Corvus MacCallum]

"Tent?... well that should keep you warm enough heh, personally I prefer the sky above my head, even through this greenery you can always make out the glint of the stars, any number of beings could pass over-head... for just one night in a life-time the sky could become awash with a whole new hue, but inside a tent you'd miss all that heh"

A few quick tugs and folds through the rabbits forms and they were placed upon his blades edge, giving Slaves back a soft pat he gestured for her to rise up as he did so, then with a soft growl brought his sword around in front of him. Slowly there came the sound of sizzling fluids as the blade heated up from its nesting spot in the fire, Cor raising it up slowly until the handle rested upon his shoulder.

"I don't know how folks can spend all their time just buying food or having it pre-cooked for them, you get far more satisfaction claiming your own right to eat and preparing it to your needs... I know a lot of people can't naturally handle hunting but theres a lot of reward in it, something your master has never experianced, bah..."

With a little shift the Highlander attempted to rest his chin on the swords immense handle, watching Slave out of the corner of his eye. What would freedom do to this girl, what would she become?... a life-time of servitude etched into her mind and mannerisms, probably do a good job in some retirement villa for an old general but then the only thing that changes there is a paid salary and hopefully no sexual favours. She dosen't have a warriors soul yet, she had no reason to have it and perhaps after her freedom would never have to dirty her hands with combat.

"Yea thats starting to darken nicely, alright this may be one of the few times you've picked at food with your fingers so keep a few things in mind, it'll be pretty hot heh and theres no plate so just pick what you want... if your still hungry I can always dart off again, this place is pretty safe, big creatures hate being around dragons, means the pickings are too slim and far too dangerous... so yea you'll be safe here so long as you keep to the fire"

A little flop of his blade to turn the meat about and then stretching his arms strength to the limits held the blade out high then pointed it up to allow the cooked rabbits to slide up along the huge weapon. With a soft slap they hit against the hilt and then he flicked the sword around, giving Slave a little demonstration. Flicking a solitary claw out he traced it along the easiest parts to seperate, offering a few pricks now and then to make it even easier.

"A hunter always offers the first bite to the hungry, go ahead lass"

Tomorrow he would be tackling a Blazen after all these years... but this time there would be no one to get in the way... no one he'd be responsible for. With a jab in the stirrups Halding could have Slave and the others far from here if he failed or the Blazen got a little too excited. This sword would be driven deep into another of those beasts...

... my fucking hands are trembling... stop it man, you didn't know how strong they could be, you do now and will NOT make the same mistake...

Both his hands rested upon the huge slammer weapon, it never brought him comfort, but it always reassured him on his path in life... tonight however he would have wished to spend a night with some loving human being and let his fears disappear for an evening. Until he reunited with that woman such a thing wouldn't be available, not this night, nor any in his recent future.

"When your done lass I'll put together the tent for you"

[Beauty]

Slave sat quietly, watching him prepare and cook the rabbit. It smelled delicious. She wasn’t scared anymore now that Corvus was back in the camp with her. Her eyes lit up delightedly as she watched how easily he handled his sword. She’d never seen such a huge weapon before and it intrigued her to see it moved so deftly. She stared in astonishment as Corvus gave her first pickings of dinner. She usually only got whatever Master Carth did not want to eat.

“Slave gets first pick? Thank you, Mr. Corvus.”

Eagerly, she began to pick gingerly at the rabbit, blowing on her fingers every now and then as she got a little too much between her fingers at one time. After a few bites, she paused and beamed up at Corvus.

“This is really good. Slave likes it.”

From then on, she said nothing until she’d picked her rabbit clean. Once she had licked her fingers clean, she smiled at Corvus. The firelight glinted on her soft, brown hair and made her eyes gleam.

“Slave is all done now, Mr. Corvus. Can she go to bed now? She is very tired.”

[Corvus MacCallum]

He couldn't help but smile... though felt horribly guilty for it, watching her was like watching a curious child finally let loose in a flower bed, able to pick and smell... sense what she liked. But the guilt came in when the reality hit home that this was no little child... little yes but not a child and it had all been because her life was never her own. Made him sick to his stomach but for now at least she got a little experiance of something different, of being treated like more than a pet. Chin resting comfortably on the handle of his slammer Corvus watched her, seeing how the light from the fire cavorted and pranced its way through the air and causing an immense ballroom of shadow and light to flirt and move against each other, she was beautiful, no mistaking that... ah well.

"Yea no wucking forries I'll fix this up in a wee jiffy"

Reaching out he gave a soft ruffle to that immaculate brown hair, a little token of affection, well a friendly gesture at the least. Slowly he shifted the immense iron sword off his shoulder and set it by his side, clawed feet pressing into the dirt as he rose up and then headed a few feet away to get to work on that tent. He had never slept in one, craved one, nor ever needed one... the construction of one however was something he did know though, his pal Sok, while relatively tough did not appreciate sleeping entirely at the mercy of the elements... particulary when it was bucketing down for all they were worth. At the least the Highlander was thankful it was a travellers tent, one built to take the knocks rather than some flimsy display of position... heck he was actually quite chuffed at how well he'd jammed it together.

"There ya go heheh... go ahead and slump on in... hmm actually"

The bedding seemed a bit scarce but she could manage with it surely... just didn't seem right sending a woman off to a simple tent in the wilderness, even Highlander women liked a few finer comforts... then again so did a lot of the males, only a handful of Highlanders these days were true out-doorsmen.

"Nah its okay, just wrap up warm and sleep well alright?... think I'll snooze by the embers here, can't stand sleeping where I can't see the stars, but just make a loud enough noise and I'll be up and ready"

Returning to her side he flopped down and casually started picking off his own meal, was good and tender, rabbit must have worked out, but even during this simple procedure of eating he did feel the need to fill the gap of conversation.

"In the morning we'll pack up and head into the den... when that happens I want you to stick with Halding okay?"

[Beauty]

Slave nodded her understanding of Corvus’ instructions, then found a candle and carefully lit it from the fire. Taking the candle with her into her tent, she happily began humming to herself as she undressed for the night. She did not want to wrinkle her nice dress by sleeping in it. She was unaware of the perfect silhouette the candle cast of her naked body.

A soft footfall came from the direction of the soldiers’ encampment as Captain Halding made his presence known. Despite his views on slavery, he could not avoid staring at the perfect silhouette of Slave’s curvy body. Though he would hate to admit it, it took some effort to pull his eyes away from the sight, but he did so and cleared his throat roughly.

“Umm, Corvus? Sir? I was just checking to be sure you and the young lady had everything you need and to be certain of the orders for tomorrow. Dragons are huge creatures I'm told. Are you sure it's wise to tackle one by yourself?”

Corvus looked up from the fire he was still tending, noted who it was, then turned his attention back to what he was doing, “That’s why I have a really big sword. It’s not wise by any stretch but its something I can achieve and have been pulling off for some time. You see those fangs on the rope? I ripped them out of the still snapping jaws of dragons, drakes and wyrns. So, no, it’s not wise, but it is something I can pull off.”

“But sir!”

“But what? ‘Sides think about the peoples’ expressions when you tell them you saw some wolf-man taking down a dragon single-handed... or pawed,” he amended, glancing down to his furry hands*

Halding only sniffed pointedly, “Yeah...they'll wonder why I was watching instead of helping. But if you insist... is there anything else you or the lady needs?”

“Nah, I'm pretty much sorted... though if you have any spare blanketing up there I'm sure she could do with a bit. She'd really have no chance in the wilds un-supervised...”

“She'd have no chance anywhere unsupervised,” Halding almost spat, “We don't have any extras. Each man packs only one blanket.” He fell silent for a moment, then spoke in a quiet voice, “She won't say no.”

“Yea, can't imagine why she would say no to an extra blanket. Ah well... eh I'll just keep the fire stoked up then. Make sure your blokes are well rested for tomorrow.”

“I wasn't referring to the blanket, but if that's what you want to think, all the better. My men are already in their blankets for the night.”

“It’s what I'm choosing to think and what your men should stick to thinking of as well. If I had my way that pompous prick wouldn't get his hands on her again either. But there are one too many folks loyal to him and I ain't living a safe enough life for her. Have a restful slumber Halding, tomorrow you will hear things only the damned bear witness to

“My men are on strict orders to keep their hands to themselves,” Halding answered stiffly, “not all of Lord Carth's servants and soldiers agree with what he does, but as you said, there are too many that are more loyal than dogs. Good night, sir.”

With that, Halding turned smartly on one heel and strode swiftly back to his own blanket.

“Goodnight...” Corvus watched him walk off, then suddenly realized something Halding had said, “Hey! I told you not to call me sir! Twat...”

After the voices died down, Slave opened the front flap of her tent and poked her head out. She wore nothing at all and held nothing up to herself as she leaned out on hands and knees. Anyone that would care to look, had an opportunity to get quite the eyeful. She cocked her head to one side, long brown hair falling off her shoulder, “Slave heard voices. Is everything okay?”

[size=2]((OOC: Convo worked out via AIM))

[Corvus MacCallum]

Damn interruptions... he had just located a big enough stone to clonk Haldings retreating form with when out she comes all jiggly and chipper... jiggly?

I had a suspicion... well a hope they were quite big, damn...

"Slave heard voices. Is everything okay?"

It took more than a few minutes for his blood to climb tooth and nail back up that immensely long vein and restart his mental processes, if she had kept quiet it probably would have taken much longer but exposed to that mentality... yea it was making one hell of a quick ascent. He reminded himself just how bad thinking stuff like that was with her by dragging his claws into his thigh just a bit harder than normal on rising up. Paw after paw he pandered over to her... in that favourite position, still he swallowed back and resisted as best he could...

Funnily enough, its not that hard once I can see her eyes, huh...

"Nah ain't nothing wrong lass, get back to sleep"

With a smirk the Highlander plopped onto his haunches in front of her and gave a light poke to her fore-head with his claw, little signal to go in full reverse. He took quite a few moments to study those woefully empty eyes... there was lots of life behind them, but no knowledge... no personality... it was creepy, at least the eyes of the dead, though glazed still had remnants of what they once were. A little involuntary shudder and he quickly turned, still on his haunches, that overfluffed wolven tail sweeping across Slaves bare form, the wolf-man ignoring the quiet giggle and shuffling on back to his sought after spot near the fire.

Sometimes Cor liked to play with the idea he had those two little voices, an angel and devil astride his shoulders, sometimes it would be nice not to be fully responsible for your own decisions. Tomorrow he was going to carve up a dragon, armed with a lump of iron and making sure armoured half-wits utterly unaware of what Blazens were really like stayed safe... and the girl too, what the hell was that pompous prick thinking, sending her with him. With an inward shrug Corvus flopped onto his side against the hard earth, heated by the flames nearby and letting himself slowly rest... arms stretched out in front of him, resting on his side. A recurring flumph... flumph as his tail wagged against the ground, quietly pondering just what kind of step tomorrow would be on his path.

[Beauty]

Slave woke at the sound of birds greeting the brilliant morning sun. Dressing herself quickly, she stepped out of the small tent and began looking around for Corvus.

“Mr. Corvus? Slave is awake now. Does she need to do anything?”

She waited patiently for an answer, standing almost perfectly still beside the embers of last night’s fire. The sky above her was perfectly clear. Birds chirped and she could hear squirrels chattering as well. If they did not have somewhere to be, it would have been a perfect morning to just sit around and enjoy nature.


A little bit away, the captain and his men were striking their camp. In short order, every man had his tent and blanket rolled up together to form one neat bundle strapped just behind the saddle of each man’s horse. The horses themselves, neighed softly to each other as they munched on the grass at their feet. They were ready for the day sooner than their riders were, though they were unaware of what they would be facing.

Seeing that his men were ready, Captain Harding made his way to Corvus’ camp. “Corvus? Sir? The men are ready. Are you certain about your orders? It is not too late to change them, even now."

[Corvus MacCallum]

Corvus had heard stories about a warriors death, how perhaps the day before, or even a few minutes previous to their demise the world was far more radiant and vibrant than he had beleived. The grass smelt as pleasant as a lovers musk at the evening... the wind placing silken fingers along your skin with every soft brush against you. Sounded like poetic clap-trap a lot of the time and he was going to have none of it, that heady smell filling his nostrils was charred wood, there was a prickling swarm of itches along his shoulder and there wasn't enough of a breeze to receive a decent stroke. A perfect morning in some eyes, but for him this would be like any other, he was going to make this morning just one of many more he'd enjoy in the future. That Blazen would fall at his feet today...

"No retreat, nor surrender, have Lily ride with you Halding and follow me"

Corvus had already started walking for the mine before preparing himself. Step after step he underwent the process of becoming a wolf of battle, binding his furred arms and then sliding on both buckler and gauntlet, feeling the metal encase his arms and giving them a clank together. Tugging and shifting he fixed his swords harness into a more fitting position, hooking the giant blade against his back, chains scraping against its flat. Apart from the sword all this was pretty pointless, the finest armour, or at the least enchanted, would be able to withstand a Blazen... these trinkets of pauperistic ambition could not.

A sword is nothing without the will, a will is nothing without a means of physically inflicting itself upon the world... I have both and my will, nor weapon will be broken, not by any opponent

At this point with his old comrades they would be smashing shield against shield, sending sparks fly as they clashed weaponry, all to get that adrenaline pumping, to make themselves that little bit stronger... that tiny bit quicker, any possible edge they could gain. For all his boistrous joining in, Corvus always stood aside from this, he wasn't sure why but something about the friendly psyching up didn't appeal to him, it took the scent of blood for his heart rate to rise... fake violence could never excite him like true murderous intent surrounding and aiming at him. An intent that was clearly being felt, Halding and his squad finding their horses slowing, one of the inexperianced riders falling to the ground as his steed rose up.

"Sir we-"

Not another word was heard by Corvus, he had blanked out the humans, ignored the whinneys of the horses, before him was his prey. From a thick surrounding of trees, slowly the foliage thinned out and resulted in a speckled stretch of withered trees and young saplings. Before them, blocking the horizon stretched a sheer cliff face, reminded Corvus of an old Axe-weilders face, Fandro, chunks and entire sections seemed ripped out of the stone. At the foot of the cliff-face was his objective, blackened wood that were once miner residences lay in peices near the opening, a great many bones strewn across the dusty, lifeless soil.

At last the Highlander put his attention back on those travelling with him, spinning on a heel to watch them approach. He reached for that massive sword and swung it low, carving straight through soil, stone and sand and marking a clear line that they will not cross. Just as quickly as his attention gave its grace to them, it flittered back to the opening at the wall of rock, black claws and furred feet padding closer and closer to it. Corvus letting his sword hang in one hand, scraping it across the ground, let it come...

Deep in that pitch black orifice of retired mineral extraction a rumbling built up, it made the ground tremble, not terribly so, it could only be felt to those who placed their skin against the soil. It was the only sound in the area, no birds came to this part of the land... but after today, perhaps they would flock here again. Louder and louder it grew, the sound pushing against Corvus' ear-drums, squeezing against his hand, forcing those fingers to clench tighter at the Slammers handle. The Highlanders lips curled back from his teeth, exposing the pointed fangs and giving his own voice better acess to its escape, answering that rumbling of a growl with a forceful yell, it meant nothing, it was just sound and anger rising out from him.

Then nothing...

Come and get me, come on you scaled fuck

The ground once again trembled, this could be felt even upon horse-back, something large was on the move. Then came that bony crest into the days light, a spiked crown upon a huge scaled head, its body that well armoured the mouth itself looked like some massively toothed beak. Its head measured eight feet in length, then followed the rest of the body... its sectioned neck, the thickly clawed fore-legs. Every part of a Blazen was designed to kill, almost a Razordrake in in some ways, apart from the size and its scales, a Razordrakes scales all formed into blades, a Blazens were merely sharp.

Only its front half exposed to the air the dragon locked its eyes to Corvus, through that instinct driven mind came the knowledge that this wished it harm and the scent of long dead dragon blood upon that mass of iron gave rise to hatred. Its mouth opened and out came a roar of such ferocity and scale it could only be heard for a second or two before it was replaced with a constant ringing, Corvus bringing a hand up to his head, waiting for his hearing to recover against that onslaught. But even though those around could not hear he barked an insult to the beast and lifted his blade in both hands.

I'll feed on your heart dragon

It was young but still a monster of grand proportions, with its neck raised the beast stood at 10 meters tall, from the ground its back it was only 7 but that was still some size. Each claw upon its feet the length of Cors fore-arm but far thicker and questionably more lethal, its eyes the size of a human skull and blazing bright as the fires which consume a corpse upon the pyre. Blazens were ground bound dragons, wings folded upon its back merely for releasing heat, but because of that the body was intensely powerful, while huge it was still fast and far more of a threat than many regulars of dragonhood.

Releasing another loud roar Corvus charged towards the gigantic beast of scale and muscle, sword stretched out to his side and holding it at waist level. Narrowing its slitted eyes at him the Blazen brought its neck down, along with that massive maw. The two rushed at each other and it seemed this would be settled in one blow, either the Slammer imbedded itself through the beasts skull, or Corvus would be snapped up and devoured, but that was only apperances and those often deceive. As they drew closer Corvus quickly dug one side of his foot into the ground, forcing himself aside as the head rushed towards him, the Slammer came up in front of him and swung hard.

A mere glancing blow but there was blood on his blade and scales by the Highlanders feet, the Blazen howling in pain as its neck rose up high again, it was only a nick but feeling scales ripped from it was far more painful than most cuts to its body. Blood pouring from what could pass as its cheek, but it wasn't the only one in shock, Corvus panting heavily as he remained motionless, he hadn't planned that move... it had sprung up on him, his body moving on instinct, if that had not happened...

... Would that thing be swallowing me already?... but it bleeds and I will force it to continue doing so...

[Beauty]

Slave watched wide-eyed as the dragon came out of its cave. A new feeling came over her as she watched Corvus begin his fight. Always before, when she’d watched Master fight, she sat or stood to one side, radiating adoring confidence that her Master would teach whomever he was fighting a sound lesson. This time though, as she watched someone fight, she grew restless and fidgeted in the saddle in front of Captain Halding.

“Captain Halding? Is Mr. Corvus going to be okay? The dragon is very scary.”

Halding looked down at her worried face then tried to smile encouragingly. She really was like a child at times. It pained him to see a grown woman act like a 10 year old, but at the moment there was nothing he could about the situation. Patting her head, he spoke in a calm, quiet voice.

“Yes, of course he will be okay. He’s a very strong man. He is well able to take care of himself.”

Satisfied and encouraged by his words, Slave nodded and turned her attention back on the fight between wolf-man and dragon. Halding looked on, worry etched on his face. He still did not believe that anyone could face any creature like that dragon by himself and live to tell the tale. He wanted very much to heel his horse and lead a charge on the beast in the effort of distracting it long enough for Corvus to deal a fatal blow somewhere, but he resisted that urge with every ounce of strength he had. They had their orders and they would obey them until the very end, even if he detested those orders and thought them unwise, selfish and prideful.

Slave watched and hoped that this battle would be over with soon. She did not like the Blazen. It was big, scary, and trying to kill her new friend. The deafening roars that came out of its gaping maw frightened her to the very core of her being and made her want to hide behind her Master like she’d done when she was little child. However, Master wasn’t there and she couldn’t hide when her friend might need her. How she would help battle a beast was unknown to her, but she certain that she would help if she could.

[Corvus MacCallum]

Again it roared, again Corvus felt the iron clad hands of silence squeeze at his head, bastarding sensitive ears. He tried to keep his eyes open through the air pressure smashing against him, every bit of fur and hair pointing in the direction away from the Blazen, the raw power of its sound splitting through the Highlanders body, but his foot did not faulter, his grip did not lessen. He felt the tremors offered by its feet as the Dragon reshifted its position, wanting to get Corvus squarely in front of it... what came next was something only those used to such sights would pick up on, a reddening running through the scales on its flanks, a gradual swelling around the torso and up along the neck. His ears still hadn't recovered and Corvus, in silence quickly stabbed his massive slaying weapon into the dirt, sheltering himself behind it just as the Blazen brought its head low.

Despite its weight the sheer force that wall of flame hit it required Corvus to press his body against the heating weapon, This was one of the reasons Slammers were so wide, they had to act as a shield as well as weapon... pain was sparking through his body as the heated iron began to sizzle at his flesh, the weapon itself would not melt, it was designed and seemed special in that regard. Worse still than the pain was the inability to breathe, the air surrounding him was far too hot, the oxygen being used up by the flames smashing past him, to breathe this in was to invite your loss, instead he had to hold the passing breath that was very quickly losing its ability to feed his muscles.

Finally as sound returned to the Highlander so too did the flames receed, thankfully he had pressed his right arm into the blade, the buckler and t-shirt taking most of the heat but his skin felt raw and lightly cooked, like holding his arm in a blaze for some moments. The stench of burnt fur was filling his nostrils as Corvus gulped into the air, trying to refill his own capacity before attempting to grip his weapon. It wasn't visible until he rose but the front of his slammer was glowing... as was the handle, that was one rather irritating flaw of operating solo, Monster hunting parties did have water boys to help solve these problems... then again he always refused that help, super heated iron being cooled was just far too brittle to be useful beyond the first swing.

The Blazen hadn't lifted its head, instead it was keeping its eyes on the sword to see if the figure behind would appear. Behind that sword despite his ears recovery all Corvus could hear was his own heart-beat pounding at his adams apple, it felt the heat had expanded every organ but his stomach and it was being crushed... he was feeling fear and in a way, it felt good, felt vital. He could not retreat at this point, he vowed to have this thing killed, he had made this kind of combat his path in life. The Blazen gave a snort, that sound being all Corvus needed, it was close, it was low... it was his...

His tail gave a single flick and then he was up, vaulting over the sword still glowing from its abuse, he wasn't running, that would imply grace, he was smashing his feet against the ground, trying to get every possible bit of lift and speed, to cross the distance between him and certainly possible death before his heart exploded in his throat and left him gurgling blood. The Blazen watched him, it lunged, that mouth full of massive flesh rending fangs... everything for Corvus slowed down as adrenaline filled his mind...

one... two... three...

His right foot swept out to the side, toes pointed into the dirt, stabbing the claws inside, he snapped a toe in pulling but managed to shift himself to the side...

one... two... three

The wolf-man threw out his left arm, it turned his body, another toe snapped under the strain, the dragons maw speeding past him.

Your mine

Then fighting agains his own momentum brought his left arm back to its original position, he caught flesh, the gum part of the dragons mouth. He pushed and pushed, feeling his claws sink into the nerve rich enviroment, his foot was ripped from the ground, as was he, the blazen rearing up and roaring in agony. His left foot flailed and tore at the dragons bottom lip before slipping beneath the scales and catching hold of the bottom gum for now, it was only the tips of his claws but gave the stability he would need... along with keep his lower half out of its bite range.

There was an essential task for him to mark this kill out at his, this was the time, while his sword was still cooling he had no reason not to. His right arm lunged out, through barely open eyes as the pain of its calls hammered into his skull Corvus made out the biggest fang on this side of the Blazens mouth, fingers out-stretched he gripped at the flesh and shredded, ripping and tearing every possible moment, loosening that tooth. Its root was exposed and he thrust his hand in, claws tugging at the nerves, feeling them snap as he pulled and tugged furiously at the tooth, every single exertion making him feel like he was about to come loose and sail to the ground. Finally it came free, throughout all this the Highlanders claws had kept him locked onto the Blazens face while its head tossed and flew through the air unlike any boat or drake could manage, a bucking horse was nothing compared to this ride.

He couldn't see what was below him, he could not bring his body out far enough to gain any kind of perspective and decided instead... to risk it. Ripping further he started to dislodge his claws from the things gum, huge globs and chunks of red flesh coming out along with his fingers, falling back slowly and then all too quickly as gravity realised it was needed. His toe claws slipped out and while the head continued to thrash Corvus got to appreciate all the motions he had survived from a distance, falling from the dragons maw. He wouldn't be able to slow down correctly, the scales were too touch for his claws or fangs to peirce and even the fang he now held would have trouble, it just didn't have enough of an edge. But he still reached out, hands and feet swinging and trying to grab, a gap his claws could hang from, then it vanished as the scales twisted and stretched to the Blazens motions... again he almost had it before falling once more.

This continued all down the things body before finally smacking against the ground, his ankle snapping on impact, right fore-arm going numb as the funny bone cracked against a stone and worst of all, one hell of a pain in his tail bone. Its front legs were smashing at the ground, pounding one part then another, a quick sweep catching Corvus and sending him through the air, then skidding against the ground, anything that wasn't pure sand marking his body or ripping flesh. It was strange in a way, he hit against something of metal and it hurt like hell, but it was comforting, the Blazen had delivered him to his instrument of expression.

Blood was leaking from his left temple and mouth but Corvus still rose up, the bitch-slap of the dragon had made everything inside him feel it had been whacked five inches to the left and his bones had yet to pull everything back in place. He dropped the fang, it was not needed right now, he wanted his sword, grabbing the huge blade from behind and swinging it out over his head, every motion of his right arm tingling and causing a wince to spike on the right side of his face. His arms were soaked in dragons blood, his feet were stained in dragons blood... but he wanted it on his sword.

"COME ON!"

Flecks of blood spat from between his lips as Corvus tried to bellow out a threat, slowly the Blazen calming itself down enough, probably through shock to find what was yelling, its own blood was on this creature and its tooth lay by the furry things feet. Its intelligence was gone, everything it saw was in a red haze and all it wanted to taste this tiny creatures meat, lunging its head the wolf-man steeled himself, looking like an immovable wooden fence... well immovable for now, but one final gust of wind and it would collapse.

Even before the distance was closed Corvus could see his reflection in the monsters eyes, he had seen that before on the Blazen who had slaughtered his group and killed his best friend... this was not the same Blazen, but he was going to make it have those same glazed eyes. No move seemed appropiate or capable of working, the mouth was coming closer, he could see quite a far ways down its throat... this was it, he had come so far and this would be one more step all he needed was one move. He had that move, he spun. A quick shift from one foot to the other, turning a full three hundred and sixty degrees, the dragon passed him by only an inch and then it stopped entirely, iron and desperation had broken scale and bone. Half-way embedded through the dragons head rested that iron slammer, the sword of Corvus MacCallum, he had spun and brought the thing down through the dragons eyes, the blade tilted so it would cut through the weak point of the eye sockets diagonally and cleave right through the brain... it was a precise movement and one Corvus had heard a long time ago over a pint, he never beleived the thing could actually be pulled off.

There it was, the massive form of a Blazen dragon, motionless... lifeless and a big, fuck-off sword, jutting out of its head. Corvus stood by his sword, too tired to pull it, too dazed and stunned to call out, he just stood there, knuckles white as he kept the sword tight in his hand, almost as if he expected the thing to rise back up.

But it didn't, it wouldn't... to put it simply, he had done it.

[Beauty]

Slave and the rest of the men that Lord Carth had sent to help Corvus deal with the dragon looked on in a mixture of disbelief and surety that the wolf-man would ultimately fail. Thus, when the mighty beast at last collapsed on the ground and did not move again, they were shocked. Standing stock-still in awe, not a one of them made a move to go forward and begin the task of skinning the dragon.

Slave, however, had eyes only for her friend. She had been sure from the time the captain encouraged her about Corvus’ abilities, that her friend would win. Seeing him standing atop the dragon, still holding to his weapon, filled her heart with anxiety. From their vantage point she could not see if her friend was hurt, but she was certain that he could not have possibly gone through all of that and not received some wound or another. Looking up at the captain, she pointed to Corvus.

“Mr. Corvus needs help. Why are you just standing? Slave’s friend might be hurted.”

Startled by the sound of her soft voice, the captain shook himself then bellowed out commands to get to the beast and begin salvaging what they could from the hide and claws. First, though, they were to help Corvus to free his blade and get him down off the dragon. Captain Halding rode down at a slower pace, talking quietly to Slave to prepare her for what she might be about to see.

By the time they got to the carcass of the dragon, his other men had finally succeeded in getting Corvus to the ground. Once she was on her feet, Slave ran over to her friend and began running her hands over him, checking for injuries. A look of concern dominated her small face as she closed here eyes began to think very hard about how much she wanted her friend to be okay. Suddenly, her hands began to glow a soft, pastel blue. The glow crept up her arms and soon enveloped her whole body, then it molded over that of Corvus. A soft tingling sensation began to fill her body, then just as suddenly as it appeared, the glow went out and Slave opened her eyes.

Swaying gently on her knees, she looked down at her friend, still unsure what to do about him. She did not notice that the cuts and singes were now completely gone. In fact, she didn’t notice much of anything as the world started to go black and began to collapse, falling forward over Corvus.

[Corvus MacCallum]

Halding and his men came up level with Corvus, watching the wolf-man as every breath rose and fell from his form, shoulders shifting constantly, knuckles white, arms trembling. Every part of his form was wrapped up in adrenaline, able to taste it pumping through every vein but there was also the shock, his muscles had frozen when he slammed that blade into the dragons skull. A few dismounting they walked cautiously to the Highlander, a few beleiving that like any beast he would lash out when in the grip of blood-lust, but his eyes were glazed and he merely stood there gasping for air, he wasn't tired it just took so much to keep his heart pumping and feeding the muscles that refused to give up hold upon his sword. One by one the soldiers placed their hands on him, feeling the tension inside his frame, threatening to split his skin with just how taut his muscles were at this moment in time, it took a lot of effort but finally he was removed from the iron handle. Though a few tried none of the soldiers, or even combination was able to remove the Monster felling blade at this moment, perhaps subconsciously too in awe of holding a weapon of such fearsome power.

It almost had me... a heart-beat made my life longer...

Again and again in the Highlanders mind his final blow to the Blazen replayed itself. His clawed feet dragging against the ground as his somewhat marred form was carted away from the corpse and then deposited on the ground. Slowly as Slave looked down upon the feral warrior his mind came back to reality, he had been scared shitless, but through guts and gumption the dragon had fallen and would never again rise up, as the glow from Slaves healing filtered through him the Highlander cracked a smirk. His motion returning just in time to sit up slowly, catching the slender form of the servant girl.

"Halding... skin the neck, I ruined part of the front but thats the best scales... hey!"

He looked away from the commanding officer as he watched two of the soldiers trying to hack at one of the Blazens claws. With a growl he hefted the small girls body in his arms, uneven steps moving him towards the amatuers and gave a sharp bark when they ignored his common plea.

"Oi!... cut at the middle joint of each digit, the claw goes further back into it your only going to ruin the fucking thing..."

This beast had just killed a dragon, they were going to listen, the Highlander smirking, was nice not having to repeat himself. Halding walked alongside the female carting warrior, unsure of what to say really, he was a respectful man, not the kind to pander at the feet of someone who had acheived something this impressive, instead he just remained silent... at least, he tried to but Corvus forced his tongue to create an utterance.

"What?"

"I said take her, need my hands free for the next part"

He had just seen this wolf tear apart the raging maw of a dragon and then felt how softly the girl was placed in his arms, such a confliction... a swish of his over fluffed tail and Corvus wandered to his blade, still a little unsteady but if anything it was just getting his system calmed down again, each step wanted to have him bound off into the night and tear something else apart. It wasn't that the soldiers were too weak, but they hadn't seen exactly how the blade went in, half-way through its cut the dragons skull had forced the weapon to twist in its path and Corvus had felt that as it jerked against his hands. Planting his feet firmly the Highlander gritted his teeth and pulled with all his worth, ripping the blade free into the air once more, blade coating its entire surface, glistening with the crimson vitae of the deceased dragon.

In the following few hours Corvus had cleaned off the dragons blood, sneaking the odd lick at it when Halding and his men were occupied with skinning the beast, roll after roll of its hide was dumped near the horses, several claws, talons and fangs being piled up alongside those. But for now Corvus stood aside from the activity, simply carting Slave in his arms until the girl eventually rewakened, smiling down at her and giving a glance up at the sky.

"Wonder how many free rounds I can get when we back to town"

[Beauty]

As she felt Corvus’ arms pick her up, Slave snuggled against his chest, making herself more comfortable. She stirred slightly when he passed her off to Harding, but when he took her back, a small, contented smile formed on her lips as she re-snuggled into his arms. For the next several hours, the young woman slept deeply. She still did not know what she had done or why she had suddenly felt so uncommonly sleepy. What she did know was that the was safe, comfortable, and warm.

As they entered the main gate of Carth’s manor, Slave awoke. Slowly blinking her soft, brown eyes in the daylight, she stifled a yawn then looked up at the wolf-man carrying her so gently. “Mr. Corvus? Why are you carrying Slave?”

Before he could answer, Lord Gregory Carth rushed out of the main door, his face livid. “Put her down at once! She can walk just fine on her own.” Looking around at the spoils his men towed behind their horses, he sniffed disdainfully and pointed at the dragon’s head, “What, pray tell, is that doing here? I understand about the hide and claws, but that monstrous, hideous head as well? Get it out of my sight!”

The soldiers, having been instructed to bring it as proof of Corvus’ success, looked from lord to Corvus and back again. They had no idea where to take such a thing until Harding gave quiet orders to take it around to the butcher yard in the back. At least there, it would be out of the master’s sight until Corvus decided what he was going to do with it.

[Corvus MacCallum]

Corvus smiled a nice full fanged expression of enjoyment at Carths outrage, the dragons blood still thick on his fangs, though he hadn't bitten it while fighting the monster he had taken a moment to clean up the huge fang and that meant ripping and shredding off the gum flesh along with nerves and suck all the blood from it to avoid decay. There was a sharp bark, slightly jostling Slave in his arms but it was directed to the slowly moving troops.

"Nah Halding, you and your boys take that to the local pub, leave it there and tell them to wait for a tailed bloke heheh"

The Highlander was fairly reluctant to see that head moved from Carths sight, was quite an impressive trophy, one he could boast about for years on end while growing fat and ever more pompous. Lords might be usually indifferent to peasant folk but ooooh they didn't like it when you touched their toys and Corvus continued to do that.

"Shes still fairly exhausted so for now shes going to remain here, sides, jobs not quite finished off until I get rid of that head, so... shes to obey my orders at the mo ain't that right heh?... anyway suprised you didn't want the head, as dragons go he was a bit of a looker, nice straight snout, smooth scales, was thinking you might want to hang it in front of your bed, or in some great dance hall, but fair enough... no wucking forries mate I'll take that with me along with all this"

Shifting Slaves weight to one arm he stretched out the other, sweeping it across to the rolls of hide, claws and fangs. Gently he plopped the Slave girl back to her feet, a hand resting on her shoulder until he felt she was steady enough, then leaned in to whisper a few words the girl would probably not understand until she had already savoured her first few years of freedom, if that possibility arose.

A tortorous path of your own choosing is more precious than an eternity spent in content servitude, cheerio Lily

Straightening up back to his full height the shaggy Highlander planted his hand upon her head, giving a light stroke and a ruffle to that unusually soft brown hair. Most of Haldings men were still gone, transporting the head to the local pub, known as the Cock and Thrush, a popular place for satisfying that stiff itch, so Corvus felt a tad bit of remorse for the poor sods left behind... exactly why?... well all that dragon guff wasn't easily portable and so as Corvus left the manor he took with him those few men, loaded down with hides, claws and fangs.

---

"What the hell is this?"

The barkeep of the Cock and Thrust was a man who... well he'd be politely described as a reknowned tankerd filler, impolitely they'd just call him round, his face was flushed red with suprise more than anger but he was doing his damndest to make it look like he was furious so these soldiers would take their stinking dragon head and stop distracting his locals from buying more and more drinks. Halding was about to give his assigned message when he heard a heavy clanking and feet pounding at the ground with a strength he had no seen in full action, Corvus had decided to rush along, the loaded down soldiers quite a distance.

"That my chipperly rouge land-lord, is a Blazen Dragon head, it can also be, for the right price and one of your best keg wagons the ticket to your fame"

In the wilder parts of Salvar back in the days of his monster hunting crew Corvus had seen how much inn and taverns would fawn over these artifacts, from a simple shattered weapon left wedged in a dragons heart to a roll of hide large enough to be stretched across the entire bar surface. Course these parts were not the wildest but anyone who owned a business would be looking for profit and a bit of fame like having a dragon head from the local region hung up in your gaff brought that. The colour faded from the barkeeps face and he regained his normal hue as a business proposition was flung towards him, this was much more settling, this was an enviroment he could excel.

"Genuine dragon head?"

"Ripped the largest tooth right out myself, could throw in a few of the fangs if you want him to look a bit more nasty"

"Eyes are all torn up"

"Don't even start that, few glass plates with the proper colouring will do just as well"

"... Could go ripe on me"

"Could, but preservations your own under-taking, I just slay them"

"That gash is very large, ruins the face"

"Adds to the history though, you can show exactly how this thing was brought down, think about it, a hero that faced a dragon head-on and smashed right through the skull... long enough story to get a few rounds in"

"Hmm... a barrel wagon?"

"Nothing fancy, just so long as it goes in a straight line and won't fall apart"

"... The price?"

"Tricky that, hard to work out, just how DO you price a priceless peice of killing?"

"Seven Hundred"

"Seven fifty"

"Six"

Corvus couldn't help but laugh at this offer, shaking his head slowly and glancing back to the slowly catching up soldiers, an offer being hurled to the barkeep as he looked around.

"Seven fifty"

"Six fifty?"

"There are a good number of taverns here doing better business than you"

"Seven fifty it is..."

"And the barrel wagon"

"yes yes alright"

"For your story, my names Corvus MacCallum, I brought this thing down in one swing and I'm a Highlander, wolf-man to many folks heheh"

The speed it had been done unsettled the barkeep, he would have been used to getting that from some slick silked merchant, but this was a tailed man with a giant sword, bloodied fangs and the clothes of a vagabond... very unsettling. Mumbling various curses upon the greedy Highlanders name, deeds and voice but he was going to go through with it, with that things head standing proud in his tavern the money would soar in, he could sacrifice a months profit for that easily.

A worker of the Tavern came around from behind the establishment, bringing with him one of the horse-drawn barrel wagons, it was just a simple flat platform with wheels attached, not designed for long distances or bad weather. Halding knew immediately what to do, ordering his men to load up the wagon with the spoils of victory, stepping up to Corvus and watching as the barkeep returned, coins exchanging hands... and then exchanging hands once more.

"What?... what is this?"

Corvus smirked to Halding, not facing him directly while the leader of those soldiers felt the weight of seven hundred and fifty coins within a leather bag rest upon his palms, a shrill whistle was given as the Highlanders attentions turned to the soldiers loading it up, a few stopping immediately... further new instructions.

"Leave one roll of hide and two claws!... Halding, the coins and materials are for Lily, but of course I can't give it to her without that prick throwing a fit and pilfering them from her, so until she gets free of him I'm leaving this in your care"

"I see"

"Plus, not sure when I'll be back in this place again... probably not for a long time, so, when the day comes Halding stand alongside her okay?"

"Why are you leaving this in my hands?"

"Might be a stickler for orders but your honest enough, plus your close to the girl in distance heh"

Halding shifted slightly, attempting to stand at the same kind of disposition as Corvus but it didn't work, he was a proud man but one that had yet to perform a great deed like the feral warrior he was standing beside. Corvus however... just stood how he always did, one hand slipped into his pocket for a change and looking over his bounty.

"You told me to deliver that message, but you arrived so quickly... why?"

"I couldn't stand being around Kern"

"Carth... sir"

"Carth, much longer... plus, if I made the parting anymore than a good-bye with Lily she'd probably wind up waiting day after day for her new friends return heh... at least with a simple good-bye she might forget eventually, no big emotional scene"

"You didn't let her respond did you?"

"The less that happens the less memorable it is, sides, its like walking away from a child you've just returned to the deep woods, take care of her alright?... I need to get going before I charge back into that manor and take her with me"

He started to walk towards the wagon, now free of the soldiers, from his pack came a length of rope and the Highlander began to rig up a nice little taut grip for him to pull it on the roads ahead.

"Why don't you...sir?"

"That dragon, the slaying... I do that kind of stuff as often as I can Halding, I can't take someone unknowing into something like that, anyway... its been something of a treat, cheerio soldier boy"

A flash of a smirk and the Highlander began to dig his feet in, the wheels were lax to turn but began to, rotating the wagon until finally he was pointing out of the little settlement and began his walk out of there, behind him was the remnants of a revenge which had just received a single notch.

(Spoils: 5 rolls of dragon hide, 4 four foot long dragon claws, several dragon teeth, one frail wooden barrel cart)

[Beauty]

Slave watched solemnly as her new friend walked away. She had enjoyed her short time away from Master, though she was afraid to let the Master find out such a thing. Trying not to let her saddness at his departure show, she followed Lord Carth back into the mansion and realized with a start that he’d asked her a question.

“Oh! Slave is sorry Master, she did not hear the question.”

“I said,” he repeated, his tone obviously irritated, “How was your trip?”

“It was very nice. Mr. Corvus is a very nice person, but Slave missed Master.”

That was an outright lie. The young girl was shocked to hear the words come out of her mouth knowing they were not true. Mentally, she braced herself for the upbraiding she was certain she was about to get for the lie. However, it never came. The Master only nodded absently and bade her go to his room and rest. He would be up later to see her, but she looked tired. Surprised at his benevolence, she nodded and obediently went upstairs to her small cot in the master’s bedroom. There, she lay down and was asleep again almost immediately.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Harding was still getting over his shock at the wolf-man’s generosity. Seven hundred fifty gold pieces for that dragon head and the Highlander didn’t take a single piece, though it was due him. What he thought the slave girl would do with a roll of dragon hide Harding did not know. However, he would obey the orders. Soon, hopefully, there would be no more slaves at all in the Carth mansion. He just had to bide his time and get enough support to do what he truly wished in the bottom of his heart that he could...kill Carth and destroy his slave market.


((Spoils: 750gp, 1 roll of dragon hide, 2 dragon claws as per the gift from Corvus. Harding is going to be a major NPC for an upcoming thread, until that is complete and he is able to give them to Slave, the items are to be in his care. Basically, I want to go ahead and claim it, but not use it until after the second thread is complete.
Also, Slave can now heal minor cuts. Anything more serious than a paper cut or simple scrape will cause her to pass out for several hours. She can only do this once per thread until she has learned how to control it.))

[Letho]

General Notes: Well, while this was by no means a bad quest, once I finished reading it I had a feeling that you two didn’t work out some of its elements completely. For example, I expected that the death of old Lord Carth would have some more profound meaning for his son, but the new Lord Carth seemed like a rather bland NPC in this case. Another thing is that I got the feeling that your two main characters tried to make some sort of a connection, but the pace didn’t allow it, so there was very little fraternizing between Slave and Corvus. But anyways, I’ll say more in the rubric comments.


CONTINUITY – 6

Beauty did a good job at setting up the main story of this quest with the death of Lord Carth’s father and the subsequent return home. Corvus’s entrance in the quest, on the other side, was rather confusing. I had a hard time to understand where he was and what was he doing there. This is mostly due to your writing style, Corvus, which oftentimes makes the narrative unclear. However, once the hunt for the beast was announced, pieces started to fall in their rightful places. It’s a bit unclear, though, why would Lord Carth send his slave girl on a dragon hunt.

SETTING – 5

My biggest qualm with the setting was the fact that nowhere did I feel that this quest was happening in Salvar. I had a feeling that, if this quest was put in Other Regions, it would make little difference. You should try integrating more regional information into your quests. But not all is grim. I was very fond of the way the Carth Manor was described. It wasn’t flawless, but it definitely made the place more alive. And that’s something I couldn’t say for the face-off scene which was basically just a hole in the side of the mountain with a big dragon in front of it.

PACING – 6

It was a pretty straightforward quest and that usually makes for a good, speedy pace that makes the story flow rather good. However, it also makes the entire thing pretty predictable and uneventful. Now, I’m not saying that every story should have a major twist to it, but there should be something that a reader can’t see coming, something that would keep him intrigued. Chances are, if you blindside the reader with something your characters do or if you take the story in a different direction, you will draw a smile on their face. There’s a world of possibilities out there; try not to limit yourselves to the usual storylines.

DIALOGUE – 6

Like most aspects of her character, I found Slave’s dialogue very fitting. Regardless of the situation, Beauty, you always do a good job at making her sound like a true slave that knows nothing but life in slavery. Lord Carth, however, came off a bit like a usual cliché lordling that bosses everybody around. Perhaps that’s just the way he is, though. Corvus, there is one thing that your dialogue can do without. It’s those “hehehe” chuckles that you incorporate in your dialogue. Don’t do this. Either say in the narrative that he finished with a chuckle (or any other sound), but don’t usually include this in the dialogue. “Heh” or “Eh” here and there are fine, especially if you want to emphasize something like doubt or disdain, but don’t overuse them.

ACTION – 7

Aside from the aforementioned sending of Slave into a perilous situation, your character’s actions fit the bill. I was suspicious about a level 1 character taking on a dragon on his own, but I think you did a good job with the battle, Corvus. After all, it wasn’t like a full-grown dragon. Though that leaves the question how come he managed to get to the old Lord Carth so easily? Beauty was usually great her when it comes to her little Slave. Reading through your post always makes me feel sorry for that girl.

PERSONA – 7

There’s one thing that’s been bugging me about Slave. I understand that she’s been a slave all her life and that she knows no other life then one of servitude. But she is also human, she has some instincts, and though most of the time she’s kept in her Master’s chambers, she catches glimpses of the real life that other people have. I think this is bound to make her pose some questions. Not necessarily to her Master, but at least to herself. She should have some doubts, dreams, aspiration, questions about the difference. That would add more realism to her character, I think. On the other hand, Corvus played a good contrast to the coy Slave, being all chatty and hating the way Slave is treated. Shame he didn’t break Lord Carth’s face. He just fell a dragon; he could so take down some prissy lordling. ;)

MECHANICS – 5

This is a segment of your writing, Corvus, that you can significantly improve. I won’t pull up any examples, but a myriad of times you spell the words wrongly, you miss the punctuation marks (especially in dialogue) and you misuse some punctuation marks as well. This is most notable in your use of ellipsis. Ellipsis (...) is usually used to omit certain parts of the sentence and as such should be used very rarely in the narrative. Don’t be afraid to just use a simple period and make a new sentence, or even a semicolon if you want to keep two separate sentences more closely related to each other. Beauty is a bit more refined here, though she’s not immune to sporadic typos. But then again, none of us are. Try not using numbers in narrative, though. “A thousand gold pieces” reads better then “1000 GP”.

TECHNIQUE – 4

Can’t really say I noticed usage of some advanced literary devices or particular finesse, so I don’t have much to say other then you should both strive to spice up your writing with something extra. Similes and metaphors can sometimes be “hit-or-miss” so to say, but they are a good start. Also, Corvus, when in middle of some heated action, it’s not really advisable to describe it with long sentences (even run-ons). It diminishes the pace of the action.

CLARITY – 6

There were some parts where I had to re-read some stuff, especially in your initial posts, Corvus. You tend to write the narrative in the manner that you would tell a tale to someone, which often makes it unclear. Thoughts get mixed up and the reader gets confused. Other then that, this quest read pretty good, no real objections.

WILD CARD – 8

The foreshadowing that Slave might actually be free of Lord Carth in the near future made me add an extra points here. I’ll keep an eye on that thread for certain.



TOTAL SCORE – 60

Congratulations!!!



SPOILS:

Beauty gets 1000 EXP, 750 GP, 1 roll of dragon hide, 2 dragon claws and her new healing skill.
Corvus MacCallum gets 1400 EXP, 5 rolls of dragon hide, 4 four foot long dragon claws, two dragon teeth and one frail wooden barrel cart.

However, because it was a young dragon, all dragon hides are as strong as plynt, claws and teeth are as strong as damascus.


EXP/GP added! Corvus MacCallum, welcome to the next level.