"I thought I smelled something weird. I mean, not that you smell weird, just that you smelled like people (and a dragon) and people don't usually come through here." The dragon spoke as they gasped for breath in the safety of the grass outside Vescent's border, burned and sliced branches in their wake.
His voice was higher-pitched than Kage expected, instantly changing her perception of him from adult to late-teens. He also didn't seem to breathe between sentences.
"Yeah, I kind of like to come here to hang out. No one comes here. Deadly trees and all. They won't attack me, probably because I'm made of armor and blades," he continued. "Wait, does that mean the trees are racist?"
"...maybe?" Artlem said, cocking his head.
"They're more...species-ist? Is that a thing?" Shole thought aloud.
Bard chuckled, then tried to catch himself, but it didn't work and he burst into a hearty laughter. The intensity and tension from a moment ago instantly melted and Kage let out a giggle, that transformed into hysterical laughter. It was infectious, and they all began to laugh along. Artlem's smirk unfolded into a full laugh, Shole dropped to the grass, good-natured laugh ringing out, and even Sephria's shoulder shook as she covered her mouth to hide her smile.
Kage lay back into the grass and let the feeling wash over her. They slowly began to recover. Bard regained his composure, but his face still held a hint of a smile.
The dragon still stood there, looking confused.
"Well, thanks for that," Artlem smirked, holding out his hand, "and for the help back there. You really saved our necks."
"Oh, no worries," He said, scratching the back of his head. "Anyone would have done the same. Anyway, what were you all doing in there? I'm Halten by the way."
"Artlem," Artlem said. "The blond homeless-looking one is Shole, flint dragon is Bard, sad-looking one is Kage, and the-" he glanced at Sephria, "beautiful Ra'bac woman is Sephria."
"I actually look sad?" Kage muttered.
"Homeless? I live with you!" Shole said.
"And that one felt oddly personal," Sephria scowled.
"And we're, just passing through," Artlem ignored the. "We're trying to get up to Mainspring."
"Oh, nice!" Halten paused, "you all know that place is a little dangerous too, right?"
"That we do," Shole smiled.
"Oh cool, you guys kind of have a death wish huh. I mean, not to be rude."
"He's not wrong," Sephria muttered.
"Oh, you have no idea," Artlem said.
"Well um, I don't know if you all want company, but I actually know the area pretty well. I'm trying to become a map-maker, and also, I could use an excuse to get out of the area for a while."
"Well, I mean," Artlem began, "we could use any help we get but-"
"People may be trying to kill us?" Shole suggested, "so traveling with us might not be the safest."
"Aw, thanks, but I'm not really worried," Halten said, pounding a fist againt his chest, sound of metal on metal ringing out. "I'm pretty tough. Besides, I can always split," he spread and folded his wings for demonstration.
"Well, we're not in a position to refuse help," Artlem said, "so if it's something you want to do..."
"If you don't mind me asking, why do you want to?" Sephria asked.
"Haha, it's kind of complicated," Halten gave an awkward chuckle. "You know how it is, families are complicated and all that."
"You have absolutely no idea," Artlem smirked.
"Well then, let' do this!" Halten exclaimed. "You all done resting or you wanna stay here awhile longer..?"
"He's right. We'd better get going," Kage muttered.
"Second that," Bard agreed.
"We made a real mess back there," Artlem's face grew serious again. "I'm sure anyone watching noticed all that smoke from the forest. We need to put as much space between us and Vescent as possible.
"...so anyway, my parents said they'd kill me and throw my ashes in the sea if I go back before I 'prove myself'."
"That's a lot of fuss over a broken plate," Kage said, though she wasn't quite sure she'd been following the story correctly. Halten apparently had a bad habit of jumping between story points with no explanation.
"Yeah well, it got a little out of hand but what can I say, one thing just led to another and we ended up taking out a garrison and having to flee our homeland." Halten said, matter-of-factly.
"Right..." Kage trailed off. Was there a good way to respond to that?
"So now I pretty much just wander around, make maps, things like that. Like I said earlier, I'm pretty familiar with the area and if you need horses, there's a town not far from here."
"Which we do," Artlem said, "we won't have much luck getting to Mainspring with pursuers on our trail without them."
Halten gave a thumbs up. "Exactly. Anyway, be right back, I'll scout around for a bit." He leaped up, and with a powerful swish of his wings shot up into the air.
"He's-" Sephria began,
"Kind of crazy?" Artlem added.
"Well, I guess he fits in with this crowd," Shole smiled. "But he at least seems honest."
"We still need to watch our backs," Sephria said, "but I've certainly never heard of a dragon working with Rhoringdall."
"There aren't many Steels around either," Bard said. "Like Flints, they tend to be loners."
"Right, and on that subject Bard," Artlem began, "you said you were going to accompany us to the Ra'bac. We're a little past that at this point"
"I'll stick around a bit longer," Bard stated.
Artlem paused.
"I'm grateful," he finally said.
ns18.222.22.193da2
and then Add to home screen.