(Eastern Everbridge Camp) Settling the Score at Everbridge (14th Board)

Description:
The scuffle at Everbridge has ended, but now the significant three (Armeno, Talos, Atleon) and the significant female (Sandy) must make a plan of action for their band of people and possibly elaborate for future movement...

Setting:
The Eastern Everbridge camp,
The time is 10am, the weather is warm and pleasant.
It has been two days since their "fight"

Day: 27th June, 3709

Joiners:
---Eldarwen (Atleon)
---Aero (Talos)
---Artemis (Armeno)
---Monty (Sandy)

(Only the above four may partake in this board)

It had been a couple of days since the fight between Talos, Armeno and Atleon and in the meantime, they had all calmed down – a little at least. Things were still somewhat edgy from time to time but it was not as if they were going to jump at each other any time soon. The fact that the people of Racksom needed taking care of and that the documents from the chest needed deciphering was quite more important than fighting amongst each other, even if the tension between them never fully disappeared.

Atleon had decided to forego their other duties and the question of how to slow the rebels’ advance for a while however, and had called Talos, Armeno and Sandy together, so they could discuss the future of their little group. Not only that of the people and where they should head but also to once and for all settle the question of who was going to be in charge. It was not going to be an easy discussion, he was sure of it but it was necessary, like so many other things. They could not keep going like this, too many cooks spoiled the broth and there definitely were too many of them now.

Since the mudfight, Atleon had made sure that the healing he had received for his arrow wound was still intact and that nothing had been injured internally after their infantile brawl. To his luck, he was just fine and despite still feeling exhausted, the prince felt rather well, though he was not looking forward for what was about to come.

On the outside, Atleon might have looked peaceful and as if nothing could bother him at that moment in time, but inwards, he was in turmoil. Too much was going on which was slipping out of his control. It had started on that very night he had ridden out to inspect what had happened in Quinsilla and it was still continuing. Furthermore, and that was the worst thought of them all, he knew that it was by far over yet; on the contrary, it all just started. It was a thought that scared him and woke him up in the middle of the night, if he could sleep at all. Dragon’s Cove was a peaceful place and they had never known war, yet now it was upon their doorstep.

Following the prince’s orders, a small tent had been erected a little further off from the rest of the camp site in order to give them a semblance of privacy while they were discussing future happenings and the prince was now seated on one of the few logs he had dragged into the tent himself as makeshift seating possibilities, waiting for the others to arrive. He was unsure as to how this would go, having come to know the other’s tempers quite a bit, but he was intent on not going off on yet another shouting match with either or both of them. It would not do and it was useless anyways, but he was sure all three of the others would have a fair amount to say.

As the old adage went: "No rest for the weary." Talos mumbled to himself, straightening his shirt in a futile attempt to pull together some sense of a decent outfit. In the two days since calling an uneasy truce with Atleon and Armeno, Talos had put all of his effort into helping make the camp somewhat livable with the others that had come to live with them at the refugee camp. He'd first set up a patrol schedule that made some gods-be-damned sense and split anyone available to him in small squads that could watch each other's backs while still being fairly mobile. If caught unawares, their only advantage would be to run away. Once he had that sorted, he'd told the whole group that under absolutely no circumstances were they allowed to let anybody in unannounced. Even if the whole Council came with a flock of Elites in a parade through the forest and flying the royal colors, they were getting themselves a runner before they set foot anywhere near their camp. After assuring that everyone understood his directions exactly, Talos excused them to their patrols and went to go do some work on his own.

From managing the wall to pitching tents and digging latrines, he'd thrown himself into working whenever he wasn't on patrol. Just like at Racksom, he wasn't above getting his hands dirty in the fight to keep their home and if that meant that he was hauling sacks of dirt, then that's what he was doing. Lena didn't really approve of him working himself so hard, but neither did she say much about it, knowing that the hard work kept his mind off of thinking of other things. Like Oriana and the simple life they'd led before all of this nonsense happened.

Still, even for all the hard work he was better rested now than when Atleon and Armeno had first set upon him. Or at least he felt more rested, which was good, because he had been a walking zombie before. To top it all off, he looked about as good as he'd felt. He'd washed his clothes, but that hadn't gotten rid of the dark stains from blood that had set in after the Racksom fight. There were a number of rips and tears that had been hand-stitched rather obviously together, and he still had a matching pair of bald patches on the tops of his wing joints, curtesy of Armeno. His face was stubbly now too, though had been scrubbed of the mud flecks that had decorated it earlier and his hair was a wild windswept mess that refused to be tamed no matter how many times he tried to sort through it with his fingers. With a thoughtful frown on his face, he landed a few feet away from the tent that Atleon had called both himself and Armeno to and simply looked at it for a moment, hesitant.

He didn't really want to get into another scuffle with either of them. As much as he didn't like the actions taken at Racksom, he couldn't particularly hate either Atleon or Armeno. The elf seemed a capable enough guy (and they needed all the capable guys they could get), and the Prince was… well, the Prince, for one. And Lena seemed to respect him, which should have been enough. With a small sigh, Talos tried to calm his wild hair one last time before knocking on one of the supporting tent poles and let himself in, eyes adjusting quickly to the lower light setting within the tent compared to the brightness outside. "Afternoon." He greeted, then remembered that Atleon was royalty (it was easy to forget when you've rolled around in the mud punching the guy) and gave a sort of belated awkward half-bow before sitting on one of the logs. Talos folded his hands together and looked at the interior for a moment before eyeing Atleon again. "So, what've you got planned now?"

At least if nothing had changed in the DDC in general, Armeno’s little cavalry were making progress.

Most of them could actually hold a sword properly now. Some of them could even swing it with some force- not enough to do much damage, but it was better than when they had started. And Wirran, who he had appointed in charge of the horses specifically, had been hugely helpful in teaching them how to ride. They had all worked up to a trot with a decent seat, though rising was beyond some of them yet. Sheathing his sword, he nodded to the farmers and they relaxed from the positions they had been attempting to copy from him with sighs of relief.

“Good work. We’ll continue later; meet me back here in…” He glanced up at the sky, quickly assessing the weather and time. “Four hours.” If the meeting took much longer than that, then the chances would be that something had gone drastically wrong. His men dismissed, the elf swung himself smoothly onto Velox’s back and set off towards the tent which Atleon had asked to meet them in. It didn’t take him long to get there, the horse weaving his way nimbly inbetween the people who hurried in every direction at a brisk trot. When he arrived, Armeno dismounted lightly and rolled his shoulders, working out some of the tense knots in them. While he was used to working all day, it still wasn’t kind on his body- but at least the weariness which came from hard work was a far more healthy feeling than the unnatural exhaustion which he had been feeling as he arrived at the camp. And now, finally, they were doing something. He tied Velox loosely to one of the tent poles before entering, not trying to secure the horse but rather make sure that he knew he was to stay put.

“…now?” came the tail end of whatever Talos had been saying, as he entered the tent. In a practiced motion, Armeno dropped onto his right knee and leant forwards, his head bowed and tilted slightly to one side to offer Atleon access to the veins in his neck. This elvish formality completed, he sprang to his feet once more and took a seat on the last unoccupied log.
“Obviously we have a great deal to discuss,” he said, not bothering with any further pleasantries or small talk. “Where do you plan to start, Prince Atleon?” He scarcely gave Talos a glance; while he would of course have to respect the avian and tolerate him, he knew firmly where his loyalties lay. Atleon at least seemed to have some sense, whereas the avian seemed more like a hotheaded oaf. Maybe he had done his best to help the DDC in their time of need, but that time was passed; what he needed to do now was to submit to those who knew better than him. Namely, the prince and the elf. Of course though, he would have gained some respect from the men during his brief stint as leader… He could definitely be useful as a major part. Much as Armeno hated to admit it to himself, maybe some of his feelings towards Talos were to do with the entirely unprovoked attack after their brawl in the mud. Resolving to judge the man with an unclouded mind from now on, he leant his elbows on his knees and watched the other two intently as he awaited an answer.

Sandy pulled a few loose curls dangling down by the sides of her cheeks back into her bobble. She had been on her feet pretty much all day, helping out here and there, filing herself into patrols to see what was going on. She never was one for ordering people around anyway, more so, she tried to avoid being ordered around herself. She merely helped where necessary and took it upon herself to train a few of the townsfolk, involved in the previous battle, with the act of handling a sword, which soon evolved into closer combat when you had nothing but bare fists and your own instinct to keep you alive. But of course, everything in the last few days was nothing compared to what they had all been through weeks before.

As the tent she was heading for came into site, she made one last effort to sort her hair out and make herself presentable, when a slight shuffling of hooves caught her eye. She turned to notice Velox, Armeno’s horse tied up to one of the posts. The other two had already arrived, so it seemed.
She gently pulled back the material which was supposedly the front door to the thing before stepping into the new environment. She took a few second to glance around and take everything in; the three weren’t scrambling around on the floor for one thing, so that was good. In fact, from the way they were positioned, it was as if they had already started speaking. Typical.
She was about to sit down when of course she remembered she was in the presence of the prince. Carefully, she dipped her head in a slight bow, before moving over to position herself on one of the logs. It felt quite odd really, considering not long ago they were practically dragging each other through the backstreets of Racksom in an attempt to keep each other alive. And now all sense of equality had been thrown out the window. He was the boss, and the rest would do whatever he said.
She took another quick glance around before resting her eyes upon Atleon. A typical so where shall we begin? would be in order, but that was obvious enough that she only had to adjust her eyeline and harden her gaze a tad in hopes her expression would say it all.

The prince did not have to wait long before Talos already set foot into the tent and he calmly returned the avian’s awkward attempt at a bow with a light bow of his head. However, he already had to silently count to ten to not raise his eyebrow at the brusque manner in which the avian assumed he could start off a conversation without the other two present, but Talos had not even finished his sentence yet when Armeno suddenly stepped into the tent as well.

Atleon couldn’t deny that he was pleased by the use of proper etiquette by the elf and the prince put his right hand over his heart, bowing his head to the elf in response to the greeting. It was his way of thanking Armeno but yet still acknowledging that fact that the elf considered him a superior. The elf was barely seated on one of the logs as far away from Talos as possible when Sandy entered the tent as well. A minuscule smile played around the corners of the prince’s lips, barely noticeable as his eyes took in Sandy’s look, which he quickly took for what it was meant to express.

“Well, now that we are all present, we can start discussing the future of the people we have to care for together.” There was no need to call them his people anymore; all of them had had more than their fair share of responsibility up until this point and the prince was not about to tell any of them to bugger off unless they decided to do so themselves or tell them precisely what he had to do; though, at the same time, he wanted to make sure they knew who was in charge.

“I’m sticking to my suggestion of moving towards Didienne in order to speak a serious word with a few council members, to gather provisions as well as an army, and alert the Elites of course. However, what I would most of all like to discuss with you is the distribution of several tasks. I cannot in good conscience take every single obligation upon myself; under these circumstances, it simply is impossible and I can hardly be in several places at once.”

Atleon looked from one to the other, wondering what their individual reactions would be, knowing that they all had a few ideas in mind already, and that at least one of them would probably want to take control of it all even if it was not possible. The prince did not like putting his job upon someone else’s shoulders but he simply could not train every single person into the best they could be, organise everything and work out future plans, all at the same time. He simply could not, as much as he might want to.

He cocked his head a bit at Armeno's flashy display of royalty, watching the elf go through the motions like he was some wild exotic creature. Was that how you were supposed to greet royalty? He'd never been one for formalities himself, and furthermore, he'd never quite felt any particular loyalty to the royal family or the Council. They never made a show of acknowledging Turich, so why should he pay homage to them? But that was neither here nor there. Talos was sure that the meeting was going to get underway properly when the woman walked in, and Talos really did openly stare then, not even bothering to hide his surprise.

He vaguely remembered running with the woman in Racksom, and now that he recalled could remember seeing her lurking around behind Armeno and Atleon shortly before and after their little mud fight. Why was she here? He blinked when Atleon spoke, reluctantly tearing his gaze from the apparently completely random woman that had decided to sit in on their little meeting, deciding that if Atleon was going to tolerate her here, then he could too. He pointedly did not look at Armeno, though. He might not hate the elf, but the bite mark in his leg was still healing.

"Well, I set up some decent patrols yesterday. Dunno how good they'll be if we actually get ambushed, but s'better than nothin'." Talos said slowly after waiting a beat to see if Atleon would continue his thought and decided to go ahead and throw out what he knew when he realized that there was going to be no more said for the moment. Not like anyone in the room could probably think any less of him anyway at the moment. "But do you wanna take everyone to the capitol, or just summa the soldiers, or go with the Elites, or what? An' wot's to be done 'bout the Everbridge? You said that you were thinkin' of bringin' it down behind us but… Well, them cliffs are pretty huge. If we ever wanted to get back across the river, then we'd have t'take everythin' by dragon 'cuz gettin' boats down the cliffs an' then back up again on the other side prolly ain't gonna happen."

Last edited by Artemis on Fri Mar 23, 2012 5:40 pm; edited 1 time in total

Thankfully, it didn’t take long for Sandy to arrive. As she entered Armeno gave her a small nod, moving up on his log to give her more space when she sat down. Thank goodness Atleon wasn’t delaying; his opinion of the prince was rising. The man seemed to have something of a grasp on the situation now, and while the army hadn’t been anything like it should have been before the Surahnians came, it wasn’t entirely the prince’s fault. And theoretically, the guardian dragons and the Elites should have been able to handle any invasion. He gave a derisive snort- just look at how well that had worked- before catching himself and returning his attention to the situation at hand.

“Even if the patrols don’t know one end of a sword from the other-“ which, he reflected, most of the DDC didn’t- “they’ll be able to raise the alarm if we’re attacked, and some of us might be able to get away. I think we can all agree that if the Surahnians can get their full army over here to attack us, our options are to flee or die.” Here he gave a pause, steepling his fingers together before folding them down and intertwining them to rest his chin on. After a brief glance at Talos, who seemed to be looking very purposefully everywhere except at the elf, he continued,
“We need to move out of this area and get somewhere more defensible so that we can regroup and have a chance against the invaders. We could all go to the capital; other places might be easier to defend, but we need to consider attacking as well. As for the Everbridge…” Heaving a slightly melodramatic sigh, he tapped one index finger on the back of his other hand, staring distractedly at the opposite wall of the tent. “I think destroying it is our best option. If the Surahnians can’t follow us across then we can hopefully buy some time while they have to change their plan. All assuming they intend to follow us across. But if we do get rid of the bridge…” He leaned forwards and rifled through a pile of papers, frowning slightly, until he produced a map of the island. As he spoke, he pointed at the map to illustrate his point. “They obviously won’t be able to get over the canyon, and Maledictus Eice are rumoured to control all this area, if they do exist as it's thought they do… Unless they want to take the risk of the dragons- and, of course, there are cliffs all the way around that area- their only way of advancing is through this gap between the end of the canyon and the desert. It’s still going to be nigh on impossible to defend that area against them, but it could give us a better chance than if we leave the bridge.” He glanced up at the other three now, stemming his flow of thoughts and giving a shrug as he straightened, removing his elbows from where they had been resting on his knees.

As she looked around the room, Sandy couldn’t help but catch the eyes of the avian opposite. She knew him from the battle, vaguely anyway. He had been the flying pixie to moan to her about explaining the whole reason for the battle to Armeno. But since then, she hadn’t seen him until he was rolling around on the floor the other day.
So they hadn’t ever really got off on the right foot, so she kind of hoped they could start afresh now. But as she caught his gaze, she was taken aback completely. The expression that met her was that of bewilderment with a look of what was she doing here? Her own face hardened as she turned to look at Atleon as he spoke, not sure what to think and she suddenly felt somewhat uncomfortable being in the presence of him.

She listened quietly as the prince spoke, quickly trying to create a mental list of pros and cons to all the suggestions that were being made.
“Didienne would probably be the best option,” she finally piped in, “but I don’t think we should drag everyone to the council, because it would only bring more hassle than good.” She paused again, trying to weigh things up.
“But I do also think destroying the Everbridge should be high up on our list of priorities for all the reasons Armeno said. Maledictus Eice or not, time is the thing we need most right now.” There was so much to do, but they couldn’t go about everything all at once, which meant that necessities had to be done first. If they left the Everbridge as it was, then not only would they have Maledictus Eice to worry about, but on top of that they could potentially have some angry Surahnians marching through without much warning.

Her mind then rested upon Atleon’s mention of dispersing his duties, and she shuffled uncomfortably. He needed people he could trust, they all did, but she didn’t really want someone she would have to go about head over heals. Maybe she was being unreasonable, she didn’t know. But she didn’t exactly know when Silverwing would be back, or whether he would need her anytime soon for something, if at all. The point was that if he did need her, she would probably have to leave pretty sharp-ish. So she didn’t exactly want some all-mighty important leadership honour when she could have to be dragged away in the near future. Nevertheless, there was a possibility that might not happen. Right now, she didn’t know anything.
“If you’re looking to disperse your duties, then by all means do so, I think it’s something that has to be done in order for anything we plan to succeed. And I’m not saying you were going to or anything…just if it was a possibility, that I’m not provided with something majorly important that’s do or die. Because, I, y’know...” she paused, hoping that Atleon would understand her. “I don’t really know what’s happening on the other end of things...”
She wasn’t trying to back out of any sense of authority, hell no. If something had to be done she would do it. She just didn’t want to get pulled away into something else without warning and have to leave something that would cause devastation if unfinished.
Then again, maybe she was just being stupid. She might be with this lot for a while longer than she expected. Just that if Silverwing needed her, she would have to go and she didn’t want to leave knowing it would have consequences.

Atleon listened to them all, duly noting their concern about the rapid advance of the Surahnian army and their wish to do something about it. For the time being, he chose to ignore the tension there seemed to be between some of them as it was not their main concern now. If there were interpersonal problems, they could be resolved later on but more important matters were at hand now. At least when it came to caring for the people under their command and despite possible differences, they were all on the same page, which pleased Atleon not just a little. It would make it easier to come to a conclusion.

The map Armeno had pulled from the pile of papers surrounding the prince was still lying between them all and the prince contemplated it thoughtfully. “We definitely need to do something about this bridge and the fact that it’s practically the only way to cross these cliffs. However,” Atleon still looked at the map before taking a brief look at each one of the beings in his presence, “if we really do destroy it, we’re cutting off our own connection to the western side as well. And if – for whatever reason – it should ever be necessary that we have to move quickly in the opposite direction, we will be sitting in our own trap.” At this, he gave Talos a brief look, the avian having voiced his own concerns regarding this matter as well. “Thus, we might have to come up with a better solution rather than destroying the bridge. A task which would probably prove impossible anyways with the resources we currently have at our disposal.”

Contemplating the further suggestions a little more, he continued: “No, we can’t take everyone to the capital with us, you’re right about that. I would suggest taking any possible soldiers along with us to Didienne and send the Elites with the remaining people somewhere safe before they will later rejoin us in Didienne. Hopefully, by the time they do, we will have a proper army at our hands, but don’t be fooled. Hardly anyone in Dragon’s Cove is trained for war. The island is peaceful and there has never been any need for fighting, even if some may know how to use a sword or a bow.”

When Sandy spoke up, Atleon looked at her, noticing the worries in her eyes and he gave her the briefest of nods. He understood very well what she meant and he knew how hard it must be for her, not knowing what exactly was happening on the other end of things.
“Don’t worry yourself too much over it Sandy. For you, I was thinking something more along the lines of helping out wherever you can as your knowledge and experience would be greatly appreciated for as long as you can provide. Rather, I was hoping that if it ever comes to a full-blown airborne battle – which I’m not ruling out at all considering the dragon sightings there have been in Racksom – you would lead the aerial forces. By then, you should be on top of things and everything should be settled.”

Atleon knew he would probably speaking in code for the elf and the avian but Sandy would understand it. He was not sure if either Talos or Armeno knew who Sandy really was and it was not his place to divulge that information. Hence the awkward phrasing of certain things.
“What about you Talos and Armeno? Which areas would you like to focus on? Talos, I noticed the patrols and been keeping an eye on them. The men seem to slowly grow used to taking up a new set of responsibilities, which seems promising.” Leaving the rest open-ended, the prince wanted to see what both men had to say. He wanted to know how they both saw themselves before he himself passed a proper judgement on what to appoint each of them to.

When the map was brought out, Talos leaned over the table, inspecting it with a practiced eye. He'd had a look at many a map on his various adventures in his younger wandering days, so acclimated himself to this one fairly quickly, even if it was sideways to where he was sitting. He didn't know about this… Maladicktus thing that Armeno was talking about. He hadn't heard anything about the rogue dragons, so just had to take the elf's words at face value and hope he wasn't trying to pull a fast one. Atleon seemed to know what he was talking about, at any rate.

When he was directly asked a question, Talos visibly became uncomfortable. He wasn't actually used to people asking his opinion on things, he had just somehow found himself in a position to be telling everyone what to do completely by accident. This was something of a turnaround for him. He scratched the back of his head, looking at the map and silently compiled his thoughts while Atleon talked to the Sandy woman. Why on earth was she getting put in charge of the aerial division? She very obviously couldn't fly by herself with a lack of wings unless she had perfected a levitation spell. Maybe she was a rider? That could have been her ticket into their little pow-wow. "The patrols are alright." He admitted slowly. "But like Armeno said, if they got attacked, then they won't be much use other than screamin' fer help and alertin' the rest of us. S'why I made 'em small so that the could scatter easy. But I'm better at sneak attacks, truth be told. Lena an' I used to take out pirates 'afore we came here for the war-"

That was it!

Suddenly he stood, tracing the relative distance between the edge of the cliffs and the deep canyon that the sea had carved far inland, judging the difference of the plain to the width of the bridge. "It's like a gangplank!" He declared with a grin, then realized that they probably wouldn't know what he meant and flushed, sitting back down. "What I mean is the bridge is like a gangplank. You said it'd be near impossible to defend this here, right?" He tapped the map in the open plain space that Armeno had mentioned earlier, the only other easily accessible pass between the south-west quadrant of Dragons Cove and the rest of the island. "We don't have to get rid of the bridge if we can just keep 'em from gettin' over it, right? Well what if we build a wall? Like, a big one on our side of the bridge. We already got somethin' started, so we can just add to it an' make it a bit less rickety. An' maybe put some barriers or somethin' to slow 'em down in the middle if they try an' come across. Magical traps or spring wires or somethin', then we don't have to be good, we just gotta have enough arrows. Me an' Lena did this sometimes if a ship came to dock. They couldn't get off the boat if we blocked the gangplank an' hid behind the boxes an' waited for the pirates to come get us. Just shot 'em through the cracks." Once his explanation was done, he looked up hopefully at the others, secretly praying that they wouldn't call him a fool and shoot down his idea immediately.

Last edited by Artemis on Tue Jul 03, 2012 4:23 pm; edited 2 times in total

Drumming his fingers thoughtfully on his knee, Armeno stared down at the map as he thought over the contributions from the others.
“It’s true that destroying the Everbridge would cut off our main route to the west,” he said. “But we can’t just leave it, we can’t defend it, and we definitely don’t have the power to block it magically. We do have access through the pass at the end of the canyon, but it’s too far away to be ideal. I’m sure there’s some other solution in the end, but as Sandy said, time is one thing we’re really lacking. Not that it’s the only thing we’re lacking. I definitely agree that we can’t worry too much about Maledictus Eice, not when we really have no idea if they even exist...” Letting his words trail off, he leant forwards and perused some more of the papers while listening to the others talk.

He wasn’t entirely sure what Atleon and Sandy were talking about at first, but he swiftly deduced that being Silverwing’s rider, she would be leading the aerial division. Apparently Talos didn’t know about that- Armeno only did from the battle of Racksom- but if the other two didn’t want to share any more information, then it wasn’t his place to either. So he ignored the exchange as he continued.
“No, we can’t cart all these people up to Didienne. They can’t go too far, though, that would be impractical… Harglen and Tarz seem like the best options, they’re reasonably close and hopefully they’ll be able to support the refugees. We can hardly send them to the Amelle Forest, they’d be helpless.” Water might not be a problem, not with the falls, but he doubted they’d be able to get the food they needed and while the forest wasn’t half as dangerous as Kaionar that didn’t mean that no wild animals lived there.

When Atleon asked what he and Talos would like to do, Armeno was initially surprised. But after a moment, he realised that it made sense- Atleon didn’t know either of them well and his role as leader of the DDC had been questioned by Talos, as well as his leadership by both of them. He let the avian speak first, watching his face as he enthusiastically voiced his idea. When he finished, he looked so hopeful that the elf almost felt a little guilty for insulting the plan- but its flaws had to be pointed out, no matter how obvious they were.
“It would work theoretically, yes. But in reality, we don’t have the time or resources to build a strong wall which will block the whole bridge from the whole of the Surahnian army over a prolonged period of time. Even if we did, I doubt there are any architects among us who would know how to build it. I see why you thought of it and I’m sure it worked very well for your ships, but the Everbridge is somewhat bigger than a gangplank.” He wasn’t entirely sure what he was trying to convey with his tone; the words alone could be interpreted in any number of ways. Talos was sure to choose one which resulted in him getting angry. Armeno decided to press on before the avian could interrupt.

“As for myself… Well, I’d like to make a start on organising the army. We need to comb through and find anyone with useful skills, get people in proper training, put them into divisions according to their skills. And, of course, I have the cavalry. However...” He paused for a moment, hating himself for what he was about to say. After everything he’d told off Atleon and Talos for, he was about to go and leave? Now, of all times? If anyone needed telling what hypocrisy was, they could just take a look at him. “In two, three weeks, I’ll need to leave. For about a week, most likely. I can’t tell you what this is about, but it could be extremely important for the DDC. This sounds terrible, I know that all too well, but I can only ask you to trust me in this.” He knew that all three would probably have strong reactions to this, but Talos would undoubtedly be the angriest. Bracing himself for an onslaught, Armeno glanced sideways at the avian before returning his gaze to Atleon.

Knowledge and experience greatly appreciated? Okay she could go with that, although her experience is probably somewhat different to the majority out there. She wasn’t really experienced with these types of things really, planning, plotting, explaining. She was normally just told what to do and had to make the best of what she had. Leading an air force wasn’t exactly something she had expected to do, but if it was what the prince commanded, then fair enough.
Yeah I hope so… She thought to herself, even though it could be a long time before things were even the slightest bit ‘sorted’.
“They haven’t left us.” She muttered under her breath, maybe to herself more than anything.

When Talos started talking again, she raised her head slightly to get a better view of him. He seemed pretty confident in what he was saying, and enthusiastic to say the least. She stayed quiet for a short while as she listened. Aspects of the idea seemed legit, and could probably work, but as Armeno soon pointed out, there were some obvious flaws. But maybe they weren’t that terrible, even though the elf seemed to be making them seem to be as such.
“We’re going to have to seek out those who have the proper skills when it comes to combat, because although I have no doubt you can train the farmers to be at least half a warrior,” she began after he had finished speaking, “I don’t think even an elf can train this many people. We need to separate them into groups, and I mean proper groups, before we attempt anything major. We need to know what their strengths are, so we can use them effectively and make the most of what we have. Even if we do or don’t decide to build a wall, as you say Talos, if we have no builders then it will be pointless. If we are going to organise an army, we might as well find out what people can do already rather than start everyone off from scratch.”
Even if they have had no experience in the past, they had just fought in a war and even an idiot would pick one or two things up in that situation. After all, just because they were farmers didn’t mean they didn’t know anything. Sandy herself had been practically nothing once upon a time, but it didn’t mean she couldn’t use a sword when needed.

Her thoughts were interrupted again when the elf declared he would be leaving in a couple of weeks. The first thing that came to her head, was that she wanted to hear the responses from the others first. Since she for one could not judge or moan, because in a few weeks she could be explaining the same thing to them.
She ran her hand through her hair uncomfortably, returning her gaze to the floor. “I can’t judge you for something I may have to do in the future as well. If it’s important to the DDC then it’s important to us. I’m sure someone else will be able to take over the cavalry for when you go.”

Noticing Sandy’s reluctance at the request he had offered, he let her be for the time being. In this respect, things would fall into place when it was time and even though he didn’t hear the words she muttered quietly to herself, he didn’t need to either way. Her expression said it all and he knew they were thinking the same thing. But despite all their worries, everything would fall into place sooner or later, whether for good or for bad.

While he listened to them all in turn, it once again seemed as though they agreed on further proceedings and Atleon was beginning to feel the tension leave his body a little. So far, the meeting was going better than he had hoped. Except the minor hitch that now Armeno was requesting a leave of absence as well. Of course, he could order the elf to stay, but it was neither his method nor did he think the elf would obey. There was something about the way he was saying this that seemed definite. An internal wave of disappointment flooded through Atleon and he was not sure whether he had managed to completely keep its effect off his face.

For Sandy, he understood. After all, being who she was, things did not only depend on her and she had a higher being to answer to. But for someone who had been accusing Atleon of not doing his job well, of not being where he needed to be in times of need, only to then announce they had to leave themselves in times of dire need... The prince was too disappointed to even be angry at Armeno for practically asking permission to leave and he was even more disappointed by the fact that he had almost expected to be let down.

It said a lot about the current state of affairs in Dragon’s Cove and it was the last push Atleon needed to come to the conclusion that some things he had been considering definitely needed to be put in place now and he was not going to back down anymore for the sake of peace amongst the so-called leaders of Dragon’s Cove. On the contrary, it was time, and he knew what needed to be done.

Yet, he was not going to play the blame game with the people he was currently surrounded by and he was not going to restrain the elf, it would be of no use, and if Armeno was honest, he would return to them once he was ready.
“You may go, if you so wish. I am not going to hold you back. But remember this: If you’re really willing to help us fight against the invaders and train a cavalry, then your leave should be as short as possible. We cannot afford to lose any more time and seeing as you’re willing to lend a helping hand in training, your presence will be required.”

Returning back to the important question at hand, Atleon looked from one to the other before contemplating the map once again. “We might just simply have to leave the Everbridge the way she is. There is no way we can destroy her, a gangplank isn’t going to work as has been pointed out, even though the idea is a one we should keep in mind for elsewhere, and there simply is just too much work involved in too little time to do anything to prevent the opposing army from moving forward. Thus, I suggest that we station a handful of mages and Elites around the Everbridge to keep an eye out and to send out messengers if the army appears on the horizon. This is not going to be our base of defense anyways, so we should not waste too much effort on this when it is needed much more pressingly elsewhere.”

Sighing, Atleon got up from his log and began pacing back and forth as he considered their plan of action. “No, Tarz is too far away, but Harglen would definitely be a good stop to find replenishment, to give the people some rest and maybe even a place to live. In addition, Harglen’s trade will be valuable to us and we should by all means make sure that we are not going to lose the loyalty of Harglen’s people.”

Without really posing, the prince continued on to the next point: “Yes, the patrols might indeed not be the best as such when it comes to a fight, but I can see we all agree on them being able to do something at least and something is always better than nothing. From what I’ve seen, there are a few who are relatively handy with a sword already but it should not be the only thing we should train them in.”
Atleon looked from one to the other, hoping they were following the train of thought both him and Sandy had been contemplating.

“There is no reason why a fight should be carried out with a sword. We have farmers in our ranks and they have weapons of their own to wield, even though they might not have ever used them as such. As has been said, they need to be split into groups. Filter out the ones who know how to wield an axe, a hammer, a scythe; find the butchers among them, the skinners, the leatherworkers, the blacksmiths for instance. They all know how to wield their working materials. Let’s teach them how to use their paraphernalia in a different way, suitable to our cause and we might just manage to get a half-decent army out of them.”

Once he had finished, Atleon stopped his pacing and looked from face to face once again, waiting for their comments, their observations and most likely another grunt at his decision-making. They might not all agree with his sentiment but he was feeling they were heading down the right path for the time being.

Well, it was worth a shot to pose his plan. Initially he was worried by the general rejection and subsequent assumption that they retreat even further. If they weren't going to make a stand at the Everbridge, then where would they? Looking at the map, this was one of the very few choke points where it would have been easier to defend from an oncoming attack. They could wait at the bottom of the cliffs that bordered the desert, but being downhill from your enemy was never a desirable position. Then there were the Kaionarians to deal with. Talos hadn't ventured to the city himself, but he had gotten close enough to experience some of the culture of their native traders. Needless to say, he hadn't been enthralled with what he'd seen of them and had no interest in trying to negotiate some sort of alliance to try and defend against the Surahnians. As far as he could tell, it was like putting a hungry dragon at your front and a horde of vultures at your back and wondering who would make the first move.

His concern and efforts to come up with a new plan all came to a rather abrupt end when Armeno announced that not only was he leaving, but he was going to refuse to tell them why. Immediately his gaze snapped to the elf and remained staring at him openly, warning bells going off in his head. His penetrating stare was only turned from the elf when Sandy declared that she too would be abandoning them at some point or another, and Atleon seemed to think that it was perfectly okay for the elf to go ahead and run off to frolic while the rest of them faced imminent danger and the task of moving their force to different locations. He still wasn't entirely convinced that abandoning the Everbridge and leaving a few sentries behind was a solid idea, but nobody else seemed like they wanted to stick around for any longer and he had to pick his battles since they all were disinclined to agree with anything he said. Fairly typical, since the other three were Kingdom aligned and he was just some minor hunter from a small village unaffiliated with their government. Ariold* help him. He'd need it.

He took a deep breath and internally steeled himself for what would probably result in a huge argument, but this wasn't something the he thought could go ahead and pass unchallenged. "We could make an archery unit probably pretty easy. At least half the boys back home in Turich knew what t'do with a bow, an' I'd wager that it's not much dif'rent in other places. If you ain't rich, then you can't afford whatcha don't grow or kill yerself. Bows are easy 'nough t'make an' every village 'tween 'ere an' Didenne 'as probably got at least a handful of amateur hunters on every street. S'how we lesser people get by." He didn't much care if he was prodding the proverbial bear with baiting the other three obviously well-off people in the room with what could be construed as derogatory comments. If they were thinking of having butchers use their craft tools as weapons, then they would probably have another thing coming. He was just keeping their options open when they found that a standard butcher's knife might be able to take one good blow against something hard before it snapped at the tang. "As fer movin', as long as you got a plan fer stopping the Surahs before they take over the rest of the Cove, then I don't suppose I can argue. But as fer lettin' you two go…"

This was it. He had to be careful. "If yer gonna let 'em leave, then we can't tell 'em what we're planin. He-" He looked directly at Armeno. "-already showed that he had friends with the Surahs. He might be the only guy 'ere who can train a man how to ride a horse proper-like, but 'is judgement of who's friend an' who's foe nearly got me assassinated. I ain't proud to say that I learned the lesson of who to trust the hard way, but I did, an' this reeks of conspiracy. If he ain't gonna tell us where he's goin', who he's gonna go see, an' what they're gonna be doin', then there's no reason we got to trust him with what we're gonna do with our people after he leaves. Even if he ain't gonna turn traitor the minuet he steps outta sight, what if he get's captured an' squeals? Same goes for you." He looked at Sandy now, still unsure with her significance to their operation but assuming that she was here for a good reason. "We don't got no advantages over the Surahs other than fightin' on ground we know. It won't do us no good if they get a hold of what we're planin' too."

*Ariold, God and Overseer of Just Rulership and Justice (Turich-belief)

“Exactly as I was saying, Sandy,” Armeno nodded. “Obviously I can’t train the whole army on my own, so I would organise a team to comb through and see who we can find with useful skills already.”

As he listened to the responses to his announcement, he was silent and grave. He could have hugged Sandy for what she said; maybe she wasn’t particularly influential to Talos, like every other person on the island, but the tone having been set as one of acceptance could only be a good thing. And sure enough, Atleon gave his permission next, though he looked rather grim as he spoke. What did come as a shock was that the avian made no comment. Thank goodness for how the prince had just moved right on. He listened with thoughtful interest to the proposal. The idea had some potential, and it definitely didn’t make sense to waste tools they already possessed or teach new techniques over old ones. But equally, there was a reason a butcher’s knife was used for butchery, or a scythe for harvesting crops.

Again, he nodded in approval at Talos’s words, which were far more logical. A bow wasn’t used for anything except hunting, and hunting humans wasn’t so different from hunting animals. Well- in the execution of the thing, anyway. Pull the string, aim, fire. Of course the resulting effects on the mind were something else entirely, but that had never been so much of a problem for Armeno. It had been drilled into him for years that there was no shame in killing in combat, and he maintained that philosophy to the day. Of course he wasn’t entirely unaffected, but if he was traumatised by each man he had slain, he would be a sobbing wreck by now.
“You’re entirely right, Talos,” he began in the brief gap that the man left- but before he could continue, he was off again. And this time, Armeno didn’t like what he had to say so much.

By the time the avian was done, it felt like every muscle in his body was tense, but he vowed silently not to resort to violence as a solution as he rose to his feet in a fluid motion.
“Talos, you need to drop this,” he snapped. “When I met Static, I had no way to tell which side she was fighting for. I didn’t know her opponents, and I can’t read minds, I’m afraid. The moment she attacked you, I left her behind. I know you haven’t been a leader for long, but an attack can come from anywhere, at any time. It’s no small miracle that nobody made any other moves on you! There were plenty of people from both sides all around you. It would have been easier for her to kill you if she hadn’t been with me, because she could have taken a second shot and wiped you out. As it was, I stopped her from doing that. I went straight to you, I helped you and I blocked her next attack! I think you should have the respect to accept what our prince has decided, and the respect not to accuse fellow commanders of treachery. If I wanted the DDC to fall, do you really think I would have helped to save your life when I could have killed you with less effort? Folding under torture-“ here his face closed off completely as he shook his head in disgust. “I hope nobody here would presume to put their own interests before those of the inhabitants of an entire island. Betraying my cause to save myself a little pain is something I would never do.” His expression dark, Armeno glowered at Talos for another moment before stepping back and seating himself again.

“So, can we agree on Harglen for the refugees?” he asked, glancing around at the others. He was by no means calmed down, but having vented a little he was able to keep a cap on his emotions. Nothing he hadn’t had to do plenty before. “If so, then that’s one problem the less… As for the Everbridge, Atleon, we might not have the power to destroy it, but we might be able to weaken it enough that it wouldn’t support the Surahnians.” He shrugged. “It’s a thought, but I see what you mean. If we leave the bridge, though, and just move on… Well, we’re losing ground.” There was simply no good way to go about it. They couldn’t hold the area, they couldn’t afford to lose it. Simply put, they were too weak. They needed more decent fighters; and yes, Atleon’s idea was possibly, but it wouldn’t be enough alone.

“We need to put more emphasis on magic in our plans. Maybe not everyone is a mage, but so many people on Dragons Cove have some magical ability. Those tools might be too weak; use spells to strengthen them. A tiny bit of magic can go a long way. As well as using everything the people have to offer, we could appeal to the elves. They…” With a heavy sigh, his brow furrowed, and he steepled his fingers again as he continued. “They will likely only help if it’s in their own interests, but if we can convince them that the Surahnians are a threat to them then their magic and trained fighters- like me, like the Elites- could come in very helpful. Some of them have far stronger magic than me.” It was just a matter of getting them to help, and of course it was only debatable whether or not it was worth the effort. All the same… he wanted to make sure that Atleon knew of all the options.

Sandy couldn’t help but notice the obvious disappointed look that crossed Atleon’s face as the elf spoke about leaving, but he made no comment towards her, to which she was grateful. Of course, she could understand his worry; times were hard now there was no doubt about it that they all had to make their sacrifices. But she could guess that the prince wanted their sacrifices to be known to him, rather than small, secret missions behind peoples’ backs. But at least Armeno was on their side, and for that they were sure. Even though she had known him for as little as a few weeks, she felt like she could trust him, and would trust him in whatever he planned to do, even if it meant not informing them of his doings. And on a positive note, it seemed as the Atleon felt the same. Or at least, she thought he did anyway. His expression was a hard one to read, and she didn’t have that much time before he moved onto the next subject. Or tried to anyway...

When Atleon stood up and began to pace back and forth, Sandy couldn’t help but feel slightly edgy. She listened quietly to what he had to say, taking everything in and agreeing silently with the odd nod every now and again. That was, until the winged man decided to speak his mind. What did she expect?
His first few sentences were relevant and for a moment, she hoped he hadn’t heard what Armeno had said beforehand, but that was not the case.

She became slightly annoyed by what he preached. Squealed? Was he kidding? They’ve just been through a full-blown war and he was worrying about them blabbing? It seemed ridiculous. The fact that the king had the three of them in this tent and was discussing matters with them in the first place was a sign they could be trusted first off anyway…but according to the avian, that wasn’t so.
The elf however, seemed to voice his thoughts before she could. That was until he started arguing about whatever had happened in a split moment during the battle. Hadn’t they bickered enough when they were rolling around in the dirt the other day?

“And what? Leave the plans in the knowledge of just two people? Well that’s going to be good isn’t it?” She couldn’t help but allow the sarcasm to seep through her lips. “It’s not like we’ve just risked our lives or anything to fight in the burning city of Racksom for what we believe in. Nahh, we’re just going to blurt out everything we know to the first person that crosses our path.”
“I was chosen as a guardian rider for a reason. Armeno didn’t get his elven status by chance. If we don’t put trust issues aside now, then we might as well just hand everything we have over to the Surahnians this instance.”
She took a breath to pause, allowing herself to calm down. She had said what she wanted to say. Now it was back to business.

As the elf began talking of magic, as before, she nodded. Quite a few people who held magical abilities had shown themselves in the battle, so now it was time to use them.

Ooc;; Ehh, sorry guys.

With a weary sigh, Atleon sat back down on his log and listened to their comments in turn, wondering why it was so hard to bend what he had said to the current circumstances. It wasn’t like a knife could not be deadly if thrown onto the right target. Such small distractions would be needed just as much as full-out attack and fighting skills, even if they were not always as effective as one might hope.

“Yes, archers will most definitely be needed,” Atleon replied, ignoring practically everything else that had been said and pushing any negative thoughts he had himself to the background as it would only lead to more conflict. “Generally, hunters are rather good with traps as well, which are skills we will be very much in need of as well and which will need to be taught to as many as possible. However, don’t be so quick in dismissing ordinary day-to-day tools. Not everything might look like it would be an amazing weapon but just like bows, they need to be refined to near perfection.”

When Talos continued speaking however and the reaction on the faces of the others, not to mention his own, the prince was ready to throw them all out of the tent before they started tearing it down. It was amazing how quickly a relatively friendly conversation could turn into a fight. Mere minutes before Atleon had considered himself lucky to have these people around him, all from various background with various strengths and willing to put their skills forward for their cause, but apparently the tension between all of them still was not quite resolved and seeing that there was always one or the other unwilling to make an effort, or so it seemed, it would be hard to ever get this small group working together properly. In turn, this thought made Atleon reconsider his choice of gathering these three around him, or rather the two men; allying himself with Sandy had been the right choice, and the only choice really.

Atleon had a real mind of telling the avian to get off his high horse and realise that assassination attempts would be accumulating the more time passed and no amount of snidy comments or arrogance was going to change that fact, not even to mention the fact that he did not at all appreciate Talos accusing Armeno and Sandy to be potential traitors, but yet again, the prince held his tongue and picked up on Armeno’s and Sandy’s try to calm the situation back down again, ignoring Talos’ outburst completely as he was in no means inclined to play the blame game and once again start pointing fingers and enumerating what everyone had done wrong. Sandy was right in every word she had said and all four of them should know this, otherwise the prince had to reconsider the

“Indeed, I think Harglen would be best and they can easily provide us with a few minor tools we could already use before heading further East. We need a few havens and we need to regroup everyone, recruit and train. We need to be ready for anything really. Most importantly however, I would like to have a few scouts sent back to Racksom to assess the damage and see if we can gather some information on the invaders next steps.”
Atleon nodded to the elf’s words in agreement and added: “Mages and elves, if the latter are willing, yes. But most of all, we need dragons. This is Dragon’s Cove after all. The Guardians will fight and any dragon willing to preserve their habitat will fight alongside the Guardians. We need them. Now more than ever.”

With those words, he looked at Sandy, who had finally revealed her true identity. “I hope Silverwing and the others have a plan.” It was neither an accusation for the fact that the blue Guardian had taken off before the battle of Racksom was over nor for the fact that Sandy did not know what was going on either. It was merely a statement of hope that the Guardians would come to their aid sooner rather than later because without the support of the Guardians some of the other dragons would be very, very hard to convince to join their cause. “We need a good defense now so we can straighten out this mess.” A world of worry was worked into those words but Atleon did not say anything else, merely looking from one to the other, hoping that the last words of mistrust and accusation were finally dying down.

The responses started out alright, and he was prepared for Armeno to get all bent out of shape and whiney about something self-justified that didn't really matter. He couldn't help but to note the hypocrisy between what the elf and Sandy had to say. One telling him to look for assassins around every corner, to keep his eyes in the back of his head while the other told him to just open up and trust everyone that came along. Well, wasn't that what he'd done before that got him shot in the back? She could preach all day about trust, but there was no way that he would be taken in by that. He only needed to get stabbed in the back once, a point which he was going to bring up until she announced that she was a Guardian Rider.

Then it all clicked into place, and Talos felt his jaw drop in surprise. It didn't last long however, his resistance to falling into shock at the revelation tempered by the rippling lake of latent anger that forever had a presence in the back of his mind. As he looked around at the others at the table, he realized quite quickly that neither Armeno nor Atleon were surprised by her status. They'd all known. All of them. But they had decided that it was a good idea to leave him out of the loop? After preaching trust and all of that nonsense.

He laughed. He really laughed. It was a harsh bitter laugh, the culmination of all of his frustrations and only lasted for a brief second. "Don't worry about me 'an Atleon doin' all the plannin' Rider." Talos shot the words at Sandy, sounding just as bitter as he felt. "Obviously, I don't know a thing 'bout nothin'. You can talk all day 'bout trustin' yer allies, but I see what this is. Fine, whatever. Is there anythin' else I should know 'bout ya'll before we get on with this? I suppose you're the emperor of the elves, eh?" He asked of Armeno, his tone laced heavily with sarcasm. Then he simply shook his head and tapped Racksom. "Well, I'll tell you what Atleon. You an' yer Rider and yer mages can do whatever you want with them refugees. Obviously, it ain't important to keep me in the loop, so I'll take that job to go scout Racksom. At least I can be honest with important information." He shot the prince a scathing glare, remembering all too vividly how he and the defenders of the North gate had been left by the prince while he ran off into the depths of the city to go gather some sort of information which the prince still hadn't decided was alright to share with the rest of them. Then again, maybe he didn't have to. Sandy and Armeno were probably already clued in and it was just him on the outside. Whatever.

"I'll take some of the people that I seen fight in Racksom who I know are good 'nough for the job. Probably 'bout fifteen, plus me 'an Lena. We'll travel the countryside 'tween 'ere an' the city keepin' to the hills. I can spot a horseman long a'fore he can spot us back, so I ain't worried too much 'bout someone preppin' a welcome party fer us. Once we get to the city, we'll see what we see, stick around fer a coupl'a days then head back to Harglen with the report. If yer not in Harglen to report to, then I suppose the next stop is Didenne, unless you want us t'come back there first. I'd need horses 'nough for the men to travel fast as possible, unless you wanna let anybody else what flies come along fer the ride."

Throughout the others speaking, Armeno allowed himself no reaction, keeping his expression firmly under control. Apparently Talos found a way to take even this badly, making an assumption (albeit a correct one) that he had known about Sandy being a guardian rider, and started in on the three of them for not keeping him informed on every aspect of their private lives.
“I assure you, if I had all the power of the elves at my disposal then our situation would not be this one,” he informed the avian in clipped tones. “Also, we do not have an Emperor.”

Taking a steadying breath, the elf straightened and lifted his eyes from the map to meet the gazes of the other three.
“Very true, Atleon, traps will be invaluable for us. We are obviously unable to meet the enemy head on, and so hunters lending their expertise will be an excellent resource. Harglen can help us with that, perhaps. Our biggest job at the moment is preparing ourselves- as you say, for whatever may come. And so… I agree with all you have said, regarding the dragons in particular. We will need their help- and the guardians have a huge role to play. For years they have protected a land of peace. Now they are needed, they must answer the call.”

Before continuing, Armeno hesitated. There was no way to tell exactly what Atleon needed from a return expedition to Racksom, not when he didn’t know how much of a secret the prince planned to keep his obvious alliance with the Surahnian bow-woman. She had seemed to hold a measure of power; he didn’t doubt that she would be able to provide useful intelligence, but he had no idea if the man planned to make an attempt at reaching her or not.
“That sounds like an excellent plan, Talos. If you would like me to, I can help you with identifying the better horsemen among your fighters. Atleon… I could travel to Racksom myself when I leave, if there is any business there you need taking care of and you think I would be well suited to. It wouldn’t delay me by more than a day, maybe two.” He was careful of his words, but he did his best to convey just what sort of task he was referring to. After all, two avians and fifteen horsemen weren’t best suited to make subtle, secretive contact with a member of the SR. It was difficult to make an outright offer though, seeing as he had no idea how much Atleon was willing to reveal- and Talos was highly likely to take offence if Armeno seemed to imply he couldn’t do the job well enough.

Yes she was listening to what everyone was saying, but as they spoke, she couldn’t help but notice the frustration and annoyance in Atleon’s speech. She could only guess how he was feeling, how they were all feeling for that matter, but conducting a meeting and having them all rip each other’s heads off wasn’t the best way to go about anything. But somehow, they were managing.
When the prince inclined towards Silverwing’s intentions, she couldn’t help but force herself to give a not-so-reassuring nod. As he spoke of the Guardian’s help and how much they needed them, her previous conclusions rushed back into her head. No, she didn’t know their plan. She didn’t know where they were. But she did know that if they had intended to come and find the survivors first, then they would be here by now. So if they did meet some trouble fairly soon, they wouldn’t be able to rely on anyone else other than themselves. But then again, maybe the fact they weren’t here was a good thing. Maybe they knew that no one would come to find them, and so purposely didn’t turn up. Maybe.
The only thing reassuring her right now, was the fact that she knew Silverwing wouldn’t leave her here if there was any chance they were in danger. But did he even know where they were?

She was just about to back up her not-so-persuasive nod with a few words, when Talos beat her to it. Oh here we go.
His sarcastic laugh made her feel very uncomfortable and awkward. But as he shot the word ’rider’ at her, she had to bite her lip so as to not retaliate straight away. In fact, she decided against saying anything altogether. She stayed quiet as Talos preached about letting her and Atleon doing whatever the hell they wanted, and the odd sly comment towards the elf. Keeping her mouth shut was the best she could do at trying to help stop the situation from escalating any greater than it already had done.

She leant back on her hands and crossed one leg over the other, looking up to the ceiling of the tent as she did so in a final attempt to get things straight in her head. She would do whatever they hell they wanted her to do.

Looking at the other three, before his eyes rested on Armeno, he spoke quietly: “I trust that you will rejoin us without any evil intentions. And I would like to see you back as soon as possible. I’ll give you a bit more time than you have asked for, but if you are not back within three weeks of leaving, you might well end up being considered a traitor or even a full-blown enemy.”

His gaze shifted to Talos. “The same goes for you. You may have fought bravely for Dragon’s Cove in Racksom, just as much as Armeno has done, but as rebellious as you are, I wouldn’t put it past you to take matters into your own hands one way or another, which not everyone will take as a kind act. We cannot have split forces amongst the defenders. Thus I would advise you to consider your next actions otherwise you may suffer the same consequences as the ones you disdain so much.” At those words, his eyes briefly flickered to Armeno and Sandy before they returned to the avian, hoping his message was clear.

His intention was not to threaten the avian but to put him back into his place before he decided he could take on the role of a guardian dragon himself. The prince did not want to create any ill blood but he was quite simply utterly tired of the avian’s self-righteous speeches. The world did not revolve around him even if he seemed to think so, and he may be pissed because Armeno and Atleon both knew about Sandy’s status but the prince knew anyways and Armeno had found out during the battle by chance.

“It was not our secret to tell and you can dwell on this for as long as you please, but I would advise you to put your head back on straight and consider things in a larger sense than just your own person.” Taking a quick breath, he continued: “Take whoever you think will be necessary, Talos, I trust your judgment in this, but try to stay out of the air as much as possible when you get close. The Surahnians have a decent set of archers. Do not delay. We need information as quickly as possible.”

The message behind the elf’s words was clear and Atleon much appreciated the thought. However, he could not let anyone else in on this, and he could not make the avian feel as though he was being checked up on by Armeno. Thus, he replied: “I thank you for your offer, but Talos and his men will have that fully under control. You will be needed elsewhere when you return and we can’t chance any more delays.” The look he gave Armeno hopefully conveyed the message clearly enough however, that this was not the end of this discussion, yet the rest needed to be conducted in private.

“Are we all clear on where everyone is headed? Further instructions will be given while on the road and later on. The training will be handled more appropriately once we have been able to provide some food for all these mouths. You all know where to head back to in case of separation for various reasons.”

Briefly glancing from one to the other, he hoped that they did not reunite with such nonsensical prejudices in their head and that next time the meeting would be far more productive than this round had been. “If that is all, then the meeting is adjourned.”

His anger was dulled by a wave of tiredness. All of this arguing really wasn't his forte, and he simply let the elf's digs pass over him with barely a ruffled feather. As far as he was concerned, his part in this meeting was done, and anything they had left to say to him was bluster. Luckily the Rider had decided that her part in this conversation was done too which made the end of this little pow-wow all that much closer. Talos took the warning against his possible defection with a barely restrained snort. If he could do this by himself, he would have left Atleon in Racksom with no remorse. But he was here, wasn't he? Despite the massive lack of what seemed like crucial communication and just general bad feelings all around. His wings itched to take to the sky and get out of here, but he sat through the prince's long-winded wrap-up speech with only a small chuckle to himself at the part about the archers. Right, like he wasn't incredibly aware of the fact that he was a big fat moving target when he was in the sky that just screamed: 'Please shoot me! I'm really looking forward to it!'

Talos tapped the edge of the table absently, meeting Atleon's eyes. "Before we all scatter t'the winds an' head our separate ways, is there anythin' I should know 'bout Racksom a'fore I go an' play my hand at spyin'?" Specifically, he was thinking of whatever information that Atleon had recovered from Racksom when he'd disappeared from the middle of the battle, having no idea that there was a double agent already in the city. "'Cuz, you know, it's not just me, but the fifteen others too that's goin'." They wanted him to look at the big picture? Well, he could do that too. The others could think that he was being petty if they wanted, but Talos was testing the prince in his own way. Lena seemed to think highly of the man, and normally that was enough, but after all this nonsense that had happened within the past two days, their supposed leader of this little escapade seemed to be in line for a little test of character. More than anything, Talos hated running into situations blind, literally or figuratively, and this Racksom business definitely smacked of secrecy.

The meeting had suddenly begun to drag; there was very much a feeling of everyone wanting to be done with the planning. Armeno had to admit that he shared the sentiment, and had done since the beginning of the meeting. Talos in particular was grating on him. It would be a surprise if he ever got on with the avian- yet even he was somewhat less abrasive now than he had been.

After a few seconds of simply nodding through Atleon’s words, the elf frowned and held up one finger, quickly running through his calculations.
“Three weeks will be more than enough. I would guess I wouldn’t need to be away for more than… eight days. Perhaps less. If I do take much longer than that…” He shrugged slightly before continuing. “Likely something will have happened to me.” He sat in silence, turning his head to those the prince addressed, as the meeting drew to a close- giving a nod of understanding at the message privately conveyed to him.

“I’m afraid I don’t, Talos. If you’ll excuse me, I’d better get going,” he finally said, shifting ready to stand. “Thank you, Atleon. If you need me, I will be continuing my training later on, and I’ll be around the camp until then. Talos, Sandy… I’m sure I’ll see you around.” With this, he swiftly left. Hopefully Atleon would answer Talos’ questions quickly and get the other two shifted out of there so that Armeno could talk to him in private. For now, the elf greeted his horse quickly and then quieted him, standing close to the tent and listening intently. He didn’t want to arouse any suspicion- goodness knew the avian had plenty of that already.

Atleon nodded at Armeno and Sandy as they both left the tent, knowing they each had their business to take care of, but also knowing that the elf had gotten the hint and would return once he was done talking to Talos.

“As a matter of fact, there is,” Atleon replied as he was left alone with the avian. “But it isn’t meant for everyone’s ears.”
Motioning for the avian to keep his place on the log, the prince took out the chest from behind him and opened it, revealing the masses of papers and little gadgets that were stored within. “Now, many of these papers have not been examined yet, there simply was no time,” Atleon grunted as he rummaged through, finally pulling out a rather exquisite looking scroll.

“This,” he handed the scroll to Talos, “is the last update of the known places of residence of some of our finest magic teachers from the academy. All brilliant mages in their own right, of different specialities as well, but most of them have retired quite a few years ago. They may not live in the indicated places anymore, or their apprentices might have taken up residence, but we have to check nonetheless. Try to find as many of them as possible along the road. Convince them that we need their help. Most have quit the academy to pursue their own objectives once they felt that they had suitable successors in the academy. Thus, they may need a bit of convincing, but I am sure you can handle it. There is one close to Racksom. Maybe you could start with that one, and then work your way around the map on your way back to Didienne.”

Atleon frowned slightly as he realised just how much he was talking again but he preferred things to be clear, even if it was not to everyone’s liking. “I will also entrust you with the map to the underground tunnels of Racksom in case you need it.” The prince handed over yet another piece of parchment along with a small gadget, that could only be described as a circular something. “I am uncertain of how well this artefact really works, but it is supposed to alert you to magical traps. As far as I know, the Surahnians are not very efficient when it comes to magic, but we might be mistaken. This object might come in handy while you’re out in enemy territory.”

Thinking things over for a little while, Atleon nodded. That was all he had to give Talos with reference to Racksom, at least all he could tell him that the avian did not already know himself anyways. “Is there anything else you’d like to ask or know before you embark upon your quest?”

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