With the wind against his hide and the sun warming him from above, Gavineth enjoyed activity of flight. His glittering eyes scanned the ground below for signs of prey, the sort that would fit into her moral highness' category of 'acceptable' prey. The farm was safe. The animals were penned and therefore, unacceptable. As were the farmers. Even that succulent looking child tottering along after a domesticated animal. All safe.

For now.

His wings arched, left shoulder dipping to change his flight path. More forest. He ducked his head as muscles rippled under his leathery hide. His form dropped quickly closer to the earth, the tips of the trees whipping along his body. He grumbled a sound that Ardra might have labled delight. He simply rumbled and didn't question what prompted it.

Then he saw it. Movement. His back arched, shoulder dipping again to abruptly change his path. His clawed feet came forward, smaller branches snapping as he drove toward his target. Claws caught, ripped. Fangs sank into soft flesh. His wings beat upward again lifting him and his still bleating prize from the earth. He released the hold of his claws and jerked his head once, the neck of the fawn snapping in a most satisfactory manner.

Now, to find a place to enjoy his meal. An outcropping of rock would do nicely.

The last realm they'd visited had not had much in the way of juicy morsels worth savoring. Gavineth settled himself down, tail whipping about behind him. Rending a piece of still warm flesh from his kill, his eyes flickered about warily. The realm before that had provided game a plenty but none of it could be consumed without getting nasty barbs stuck in ones tongue. Most displeasing. Two realms previous to that he had enjoyed game and hunting without fear of nasty surprises. In fact, the game had been much like this sweet little morsel here.

His glittering eyes shut briefly in memory then opened again; not the sort to put himself at undue risk. Perhaps she would find the source of her search here and they could cease the nexus-stepping for a while. Gavineth liked that idea as well as any other that involved feasting on flesh, flying unridered, and avoiding the nexus. Perhaps if he assisted her search...

...what was he thinking? It was not for him to stoop to her petty demands. It was enough he let her cling to him when they traveled. He was not her little bloodhound. And it never hurt to remind her of that. Let her search for herself. He may be around when she was in need, but only if he felt like being there. And if she chose to nexus-step again anytime soon, well, he might have to refuse her.

See how well the dear princess liked that.

Yes. That could be very amusing indeed.

Could the forest be enchanted" The question dogged her steps as she walked. Although on the trail for some time, Ardra swore she was no closer to the trail of smoke than she had been when she spotted it. Lips pursed briefly, she paused to take stock in her surroundings.

The trail was much the same with gravel underfoot and stubbly grass growing down the center between the trodden wheel marks. Trees lined the path, sometimes thicker, sometimes thinner. Birds flitted among the branches singing as she walked. Now that she wasn't moving, they disappeared deeper into the woods.

Crack.

It sounded like the rending of a large branch from an equally large tree. Ardra's heart jumped a bit. Pehaps it was Gavineth returning from a successful hunt. He did tend to get a bit clumsy when he had an overly full belly.

Crack.

Another one. Ardra turned slightly away from the direction of the sound, her booted feet starting to move once more. One step. Another. She nibbled her lip. If it were Gavineth, he would get quite the laugh if he overtook her running for her life. If it weren't Gavineth, though, was the more sobering thought.

Crack.

Ardra's right hand flew up, fingers dancing as she murmured an incantation to withdraw her spear from it's hiding place. Her feet moved quicker as the sounds from behind grew louder. The uncertainty of being in a strange realm drove her to hurry, her words stumbling and initially ineffective in drawing her spear to her hand. Starting over, she broke out into a run. Carefully enunciating the words of the spell was more difficult when one was running for ones life, but it was simply amazing what one could do when one had to.

The magics swelled around her hand, sparkling and snapping as the spell neared its end. She stretched her hand out, delicate fingers circling the center of the elongating cloud of energy. The last word leapt from her lips, her hand closing on the now firm rod of her spear. She turned, the wind billowing her hair around her shoulders, skirts dancing outward around her body.

Nervous"

"Oohh! You spiteful beast!" Ardra flung the spear away as she spoke the dissipation command, the magics snapping the physical form of the spear back to its hiding place. Her amber eyes were slits of frustration, gaze locked on her companion. "Gavineth, I swear I will turn you into a cute and fuzzy bunny one of these days!"

He huffed a chuckle as he swooped in to land lightly near her. I somehow find that an unlikely threat. He huffed at her hard enough to leave a light spray on her cheek and shoulder, her hair pushed around by his sputtering breath.

Her look was cold. "You shouldn't." Slowly her hand moved to wipe the moisture from her skin. Gavineth had some of the most disgusting habits at times.

The plateau held for several heartbeats before, with a final huffing, his wings beat hard and he leapt back into the air. She swore she heard him chuffing a laugh in her general direction as he once more disappeared out of sight. Ardra turned her attention once more to the path and the journey she was making toward the unknown source of smoke.

"Look mommy! It's a dragon! Can I keep him"!"

Point of fact, he was not a dragon. Gavineth despised being mistaken for the much larger and often times much crankier beast. His eyes glittered at the little creature all but tripping over her skirts as she ran for the small cottage screeching some drivel about making sure he was fed.

So he'd thought the animal was a small fawn instead of a very large and deceptively colored canine and he hadn't noticed the clearing held a house. He was of a mind to follow his previous meal with a little snack and had thusly dropped quite suddenly out of the sky. He'd realized his mistake before his claws caught the animal and had bumbled to a rolling tumbling and most disgraceful landing. Snapping out his wings, he'd knocked over a fence. Not his problem, he reasoned. It wasn't his fence.

"It's a DRAGON!"

That had been the cry that had caught him in his tracks as Gavineth made to leap into the air to depart the area. Now he stood watching the little creature yank open the door of the worn down cottage. How did these creatures live in such squallor" They had no respect for themselves, he reasoned. They were, after all, human or something closely resembling it.

When the door snapped open and a big burly creature came tearing out waving something high overhead, Gavineth supposed two things. One, the creature was less enthralled with his presence than the little one and two, it was definately the most repulsive 'mommy' he had ever laid eyes on. Not that he was an expert on the comeliness of humans. He found it amusing that the 'mommy' was shouting something and waving a scythe.

Correction.

The young one came tearing back out of the cottage screeching something about "Daddy don't hurt my pet Dragon!"

Well now, that explained a lot.

Gavineth huffed a disinterested chuff in the approaching human's direction and launched himself up into the air again, strong wings beating a whirlwind down on the more frail creatures below. He sighed and circled away from the cottage leaving behind a puffy chested male who was pleased at scaring off the beast and a wailing child who already missed her pet dragon.

Will you please find the weed so we can go?

It is not a weed you dreadful beast. Ardra wrinkled her nose as she pushed her way through the clinging vines and branches in the thicket. She had no desire to stay longer than necessary herself but, at the moment, her foul mood kept her from admitting anything of the sort to the cantakerous Gavineth. So wrapped up in her thought, she didn't hear the sounds of an animal until the voice broke through her thoughts.

"Good day, M'lady."

Her amber eyes lifted; then they lifted some more until she found the face of the rider. Tall. That was the first word that stumbled through her mind as her thoughts cleared. Her head tipped slightly to mimic his nod.

"And to you, Rider." Ardra meant no disrespect but was unfamiliar with the titles of this realm. She lifted her chin as she straightened her posture, shoulders settling back slightly. Her hands were relaxed at her side; she didn't feel the need to call for her weapon. Not yet.

She had a brief vision of swords crossing, almost felt muscles straining, watched blood falling in slow motion from the tip of a blade to drop in a growing puddle in dirt. It lasted the length of a heartbeat and then was gone. Ardra blinked it back, her eyes refocusing on the rider.

"I am called Ardra. And you would be known as?" She left the question hanging between them.

He had a feeling that there was more to this woman than just amazingly good looks. She had an air of confidence about her that was both refreshing and yet disturbing, for that confidence meant that she knew something that he didn't, and that put him at a disadvantage. He would not let on that he was anything but a stranger in the woods.

"I'm known as Lord Galeron Lachlann, he said as he reined Ruiseart around so that he now looked at her from his left side rather than the right, a better defensive posture. It also gave him a chance to look through the trees and thicket to see if there were others with her. She appeared to be alone, but he never assumed.

"If you are new to this land, Ardra, I would offer you my assistance. It's not my home but I've become a little acquainted with it."

Far too acquainted with it if he was to speak the truth fully, and Prince Roth certainly held no favor with him. The man was a whiney twig with a bent toward brutality and greed, and Galeron had little use for him. He had accepted the commission to stop the marauders only because he had come upon a farmhouse that was torched and the occupants brutally murdered, including a beautiful young woman pregnant with child. He had arrived too late to prevent it, but soon enough after the crime to easily track down the three who had committed it. Two he killed; the third he brought into town tied and pulled along behind Ruiseart. That was when he was offered the commission by the prince, whose own "army' was too corrupt and drunk to be effective. He would have turned it down but for the pleading of the people and the image in his head of the pregnant girl with the slit throat.

So he had agreed to 'stop them?.

Lord Galeron nudged Ruiseart a little closer to Ardra.

She was definitely not of this land or of any other that he passed through.