Spring 4995, 10 Buromoth 

Ebonwing was used to sleeping on the ground and waking up early. She even had it better than the others, as she could change herself into something more suited to such conditions. And yet she still wasn't the first one awake or even the most alert. 

Alena woke every day at dawn to pray to the rising sun, Tristen was an early bird in general, and Ranito had been awake since his watch the night before. The only ones not immediately present as Ebonwing shifted from her fox form back into a woman were Oswall and Shon. 

They'd shared a tent, so the Druid marched over and lifted the flap, holding it wide and letting the morning sun shine in. Oswall started cursing but Shon wasn't there. 

"Where's your bedmate?" Ebonwing asked over Oswall's continued string of obscenities. Even Shon's bedroll was gone; it was like he'd never been there. 

Os didn't answer and just covered his head with his blankets, dissolving into incoherent mumbling about early birds being the best breakfast. 

Tristen took the flap from Ebonwing, shouting in to the Rogue, "Up soldier, you're the last one. We should find the Sorcerer and Shaman today." 

"Then can we sleep in real beds again?" Os grumbled from under his blankets, fishing around with one hand to find his clothes without getting out of the bedroll. 

Ebonwing snickered but pointed at Shon's abandoned spot to ask Tristen, "Where's Shon?" 

The Paladin shook his head, dropping the flap and blocking Oswall from view as he struggled to change still under the warm blankets. "Alena said he went running..." Tristen trailed off, shielding his eyes and looking out to the horizon. 

"He's on his way back now," Alena called as she joined them, pointing in the distance and the speck of a man running in their direction. "He was up before I was, but he said he does drills after running." 

"So many words? First thing in the morning?" Ebonwing asked with a smirk. She'd noticed Alena speaking privately with the quiet man the night before. 

Alena shrugged, "No, just 'after' when I asked if he was going to do his usual practices." 

"At least you got that out of him," Ebonwing said, "I don't know what bug crawled up his ass yesterday, but he was worse than usual." 

Alena hummed, looking to Tristen, which drew Ebonwing's eyes too. The Paladin was watching Shon as he drew closer, slowing to a jog, then walking in circles before dropping into a squat and beginning an unarmed form. Ryuuko flew past Shon and towards the team, circling the three of them, then darting into the tent to pester Oswall, who started cursing again. 

"What do you know, Tris?" Ebonwing asked when the Paladin didn't seem to notice the two ladies staring at him. 

He shook his head and turned for the fire Ranito was poking back into life for cooking breakfast. "I know we've only been together for a week and a half and have plenty left to learn about each other."

Ebonwing leaned over and lifted her hand to block her mouth but whispered as loud as she could so Tristen could still hear, "That means he doesn't want to tell us." 

Tristen stopped mid-step and sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose, "All your personal files are confidential except to your direct superiors, Druid Ebonwing. Unless you want me divulging all your information as well, you should ask him yourself."

Ebonwing just shrugged, "I have nothing to hide."

Oswall finally emerged, changed and shivering in his cloak. "We noticed," he grumbled to her as he passed, heading to the fire and taking the food from Ranito before the Mage could ruin their breakfast. 

Tristen turned back to Ebonwing and changed the subject, "You'll be taking point in this meeting, Druid Ebonwing. The Shaman is also sworn to Cathbad, and all reports say they will warm to you faster than any of us."

Ebonwing gave him a casual salute with just two fingers, "You got it, boss." then she moved for Shon, stumbling as Ryuuko slammed into her back and crawled up to her shoulder. She snickered at the cute little beast and pat it on the side as she got close enough to watch Shon move through his forms. He finished his unarmed moves and drew his sword. Glancing at her, he arched an eyebrow but didn't stop. 

"Tris says we should reach the Barbarians today..." she said. Shon nodded. 

"We read up on the grasslands tribes, but you're the only one who actually met them..." she continued. Shon nodded again. 

"Tristen gave me point to run the interviews like Alena did in Swailand..." 

Nod.

Ebonwing sighed, "What can you tell me about the Shaman and her Sorcerer apprentice?"

Shon didn't stop his form, but he did answer, "The Shaman is a serious woman who doesn't think very highly of the kingdom or its' Temples. When I met her, she was under stress over the Warlock and how we might deal with the Sorcerer. She may be more at ease now." 

Ebonwing blinked in shock at the long answer, and Ryuuko whistled its encouragement. Shon didn't seem to notice either and continued after a few more swings of his sword, "The Sorcerer... She..." he growled and his form sped up a fraction before he took a deep breath and forced himself to slow, "I don't like her." 

"Why?" Ebonwing asked, "She's just a teenager, tricked like the rest." Shon actually huffed at that, and Ebonwing tilted her head at him. Shon glanced over and faltered, just a hair, before he shook his head and kept going. 

Once he finished that form, he let his sword fall, tapping its tip against his boot and running a hand through his hair. Finally, he said, "You're a Druid-" 

"Am I?" Ebonwing asked, feigning shock, "Are you sure?" 

Shon ran his hand through his hair again while Ryuuko twittered its giggle on her shoulder, "Instinct is something you know well..." Shon continued. 

"It's sacred," Ebonwing confirmed, furrowing her brow at him and crossing her arms. 

Shon shook his head and lifted his sword again, "I don't know why, but that Sorcerer and I, we detest each other. I'm afraid anything I have to say about her will be biased." 

"Do you think it's because she's a Sorcerer? What's her element? Fire is opposite to ice, but-" but Shon was shaking his head. 

"I don't hate Sorcerers," he said as he worked, "And fire..." he trailed off and dropped that line of thought, instead answering, "She's water and has a kelpie for a familiar. It's something else. But I can tell you she knows more than she told us or her tribe." 

But Ebonwing was distracted by his mention of her familiar, "A kelpie? An evil water horse? As a familiar?" she glanced at Ryuuko on her shoulder, and the little dragon hissed. Usually, familiars were just ordinary animals, like all those of the Sorcerers they spoke to in Swailand. Unique, naturally magical, familiars, like a pseudodragon, were very rare and generally only bonded Sorcerers with particularly potent magic. She'd never heard of a kelpie as a familiar...

Shon nodded, "She was closest to the Warlock before he revealed himself for what he was. But I suspect she had an idea that he wasn't a normal 'city shaman' as he claimed and she didn't tell anyone."

Ebonwing hummed in thought, mumbling a quick, "Thanks..." then added, "You're awfully talkative this morning." Shon shrugged, and Ryuuko flew from her shoulder to his to chitter at him. 

He finished his form with a sigh and sheathed his sword, then answered, "You asked." 

"Yeah, and you actually answered this time," Ebonwing said.

Shon ran his hand through his hair and walked past her, she fell into step beside him, and he glanced down at her, "I answer every time." 

"Not with words," she countered.

Shon just shrugged, but Ryuuko nipped his ear, and he added, "They aren't always needed." 

"You," Ebonwing said, pointing at him, "are a very strange man." 

"I don't waste words," Shon answered. 

***

Oswall stayed near the back of the group, grumbling to himself about his sore muscles and the annoyance of long-distance travel and horses in particular. He was a city boy, always had been. And though he had done some traditional adventuring on the road, most of his work involved sneaking around the back allies of towns and cities. That work usually allowed him to gate in. Though occasionally, he'd had to gate to a nearby village and sneak in over the walls and off the books, which would be made difficult with a horse. 

Oswall grumbled some more and rubbed his thigh where that damn woman had bitten him after he'd made fun of her cute chubby form. Ebonwing had taken the form of a pony for this day of travel -in honor of the tribe they were seeking. Alena had healed him, but damn, those square teeth hurt, probably more than if they'd been sharp.

Now, Ebonwing trotted at the group's head, with Ranito and Tristen close behind, leaving Shon, Alena, and Oswall to meander in the rear. Alena kept trying to get the icy Hengist soldier to talk to her again, and he actually did on occasion, though in short straight-to-the-point sentences. But as Ebonwing's crow winged down to tell her that the tribe was just around the bend and that riders were approaching, Shon started to fall back.  

"Don't like the uncivilized tribes, Temple man?" Oswall asked as he drew level. 

Shon arched an eyebrow at him. Spitting to the side, Oswall explained, "You were trained by a Monk and enlisted with Hengist. You do those same damn drills every single morning at the asscrack of dawn. I can't imagine you would like their wild ways, especially the berserkers." 

Shon looked ahead again, watching as three barbarian riders approached from around the river's bend, only three yurts still distant specks on its banks. Shon shrugged, "They're honorable, and disciplined in their own way, not much different from us." 

Os smirked and spat again, "Eb was right; you are talkative today."

Shon huffed, but Ryuuko chittered at him and bared its teeth, so Shon added in a growl between clenched teeth, though if to Oswall or the little dragon, Os wasn't sure, "I'm trying." 

"Well, don't try too hard," Os said, waving his hand and spitting the leaves from his lip as he reached for an actual smoke, "You shouldn't have to change just for us. Just don't be surprised if we don't change for you either and decide to talk to you anyway." 

Shon furrowed his brow at Oswall as he lit his smoke, but the Rogue let the silence stretch until Shon finally said, "I just don't see the point in using words when they aren't necessary." 

Oswall answered with a silent shrug, and something shifted in Shon's face. Was that supposed to be a smile?

Ahead, the barbarians formed a line and leveled their spears at the group. The others pulled to a halt, but Ebonwing moved closer and reared, holding the pose for as long as she could. It would've been more impressive if she'd been a horse, but as a fat little pony, it just looked silly.

She shifted back into a human and the three lowered their weapons, "Shaman," they nodded respectfully, then eyed the rest of the party. They didn't bother to hide their glare at Tristen in his distinctive dark gray platemail but then gasped at Shon, "Son of Honor! You're back, but..." they exchanged nervous glances. 

Oswall turned to lift his brows at Shon, "Son of Honor?" he asked. It was a moniker usually reserved for Paladins and Clerics of Hengist. Maybe it was because he was the Temple's representative, then and now.

Shon kneed his mount forward and addressed the warriors, "We need to speak with your Shaman, nothing more." 

Tristen cleared his throat. "The kingdom recognizes your tribe's ignorance as to the nature of the man who stayed with you last autumn, but we still need to conduct an investigation that requires questioning those exposed to the Warlocks." 

Oswall hid his rolling eyes in a billowing puff of smoke. It was a lot of words to say the same thing twice. 

The warriors exchanged looks again, then nodded to Shon, not Tristen, "We thank you for keeping your word; you truly are a Son of Honor." Shon shook his head. 

"Ice Speaker then," one of the warriors said, looking back towards the yurts before he could see Shon's scowl at the new title, "Come, we will take you to them."

Ebonwing shifted into her pony form once more and trotted up to walk beside the Laughing Pony warriors, who bowed deferentially to her from their saddles. They didn't have far to go before they reached the three yurts, one of which was smaller than the others and erected half over the river. Two women stood outside that yurt. The older of the two had blue face paint in the form of stylized horses over her cheeks, with blooming flowers braided into her hair in the same way that the warriors had feathers interwoven in theirs. The younger had long hair that had a wave to it that the others lacked, stunningly green eyes, and looked to be only about sixteen. 

Ebonwing trotted right up to the two ladies, bumping her head against the older of the two. The Shaman wrapped Ebonwing's equine neck in an embrace and Ebonwing shifted once more, returning the hug without hesitation. "Sister," the Shaman declared. 

Oswall flicked his smoke to the side, "Well, that's helpful..."

Alena leaned over and hissed at him under her breath, "The spark of Cathbad in her soul will recognize that in Ebonwing." Os just shrugged. It was all outside his experience and pay grade. 

The younger offered Ebonwing a nod but then glared past her toward the rest of the team, toward Shon, "Ice Speaker..." she grumbled. Shon merely tilted his chin up at her, his glare enough to make the warriors finger their weapons nervously.

Oswall and Alena exchanged looks. What in the hells was that about?

Once again, Tristen cleared his throat, and Shon looked away. "We have questions regarding the Warlock Arver."

The Barbarian Druid huffed at him and addressed Ebonwing, "We have given what information we can, sister, but will do so again if it is necessary to stopping those like that man." 

Tristen opened his mouth, indignant at being ignored, but the Druid just continued to Ebonwing, "We can talk in my yurt," and gestured to one of the larger dwellings away from the river. 

The Sorcerer sniffed, then whistled, and out of the water came a horse. It was still a foal, with dripping black fur and water plants growing as its mane and tail. It didn't shake itself dry, as a real horse might, and bared sharp teeth at Ebonwing then neighed a threat at the others over her shoulder. The Sorcerer rested a calming hand on its neck, and it nuzzled into her chest.

"What is that?" Oswall asked anyone who would answer.

"Kelpie," Shon answered in a growl, dismounting and handing his reigns over to one of the warriors.

Ebonwing glanced over her shoulder at the kelpie as it followed behind her and the Shaman. She looked nervous. The others gave the water horse a wide berth, but Shon watched the Sorcerer and jerked his chin. Ryuuko took off, gliding over to land on Ebonwing's head. The pseudodragon perched itself facing behind her and hissed at the kelpie and Sorcerer following her. 

The Druid's yurt was large but still felt crowded as eight people plus a young foal filed into it. The Shaman herself sat on her bedding with the Sorcerer beside her, the kelpie laying in front of it -a puddle soaking the carpet where it touched. Ebonwing sat cross-legged on the floor in front of them, Tristen struggling to do the same in his armor to her right and Ranito groaning to her left. Alena knelt behind her, but Shon and Oswall stayed standing by the door flap. Shon crossing his arms and Oswall taking out his flask and chewing tobacco. 

Ebonwing glanced at Tristen, and Oswall wondered if he would try and take over the interview. But the Paladin just waved a hand at her, bidding her start. Smart man. Once again, he showed an ability to delegate power when appropriate, just as he had with Alena and the victims in Swailand. Maybe he wasn't that insufferable after all. For a Paladin. 

Ebonwing rested her elbows on her knees and leaned forward, "Tell us everything, sister. From the day he showed up to the night he died." 

The Druid did. Oswall looked for the tail-tail signs of lies but saw none. The story didn't sound rehearsed and still matched the content of the reports they'd already read. The Warlock, Arver, had shown up at the barbarian camp outside the lakeside town the team had gated through. He'd camped nearby while they traded with the town. They hadn't chased him off because he appeared to be a 'City Shaman' -basically anyone from the kingdom that possessed magic- but hadn't welcomed him into their camp either. Then he saved one of their children from drowning...

The Sorcerer, Pia, had awoken to her power in a scuffle with another teen, and Arver had been close enough to rescue the lad and calm the Sorcerer's power. The rest of the tribe were grateful and welcomed him then. Though the Druid voiced her suspicion at the time. He started to spend more time with Pia after that. Ranito looked like he wanted to interject at this point, but Ebonwing waved him down, and he let the Druid continue.

The Druid became even more suspicious when Arver bid the tribe leave the area before their trading was finished, warning of a coming storm. They hadn't wanted to listen, but then he 'spoke with the voice of a god.' The sun had dimmed as if a cloud passed over it, though the sky had been clear, then the daylight sky filled with stars as his voice grew deep and seemed to come from all around them, bidding them flee or die. Then they listened.

He hadn't warned the town...

A week later, the magical storm struck. The team knew what had happened to the town and the Druid explained how the sky had billowed with black clouds and lightning of every unnatural color. The storm had blown over many of their yurts and terrified the tribe, but overall they'd been spared the brunt of it because they had moved as the Warlock warned them. He became an honored guest, protected by their laws of hospitality.

A few days after that, he'd warned of the coming kingdom representatives and recommended they send riders to meet with them. Once again, he'd been correct, as the riders found Shon and his team coming to register the Sorcerer. It was then that he claimed to fall ill and stopped showing himself to the tribe, speaking only with Pia... 

Every move Arver had made endeared him to the rest of the tribe, but it had made the Shaman more suspicious. The Druid requested that Shon and his team use their kingdom authority to take this 'City Shaman' away, as his protected status prevented her from demanding that he leave. Shon nodded in confirmation of her story at this point, and the Druid explained that he'd agreed to do as asked the following day. But that night, she'd been awoken by Shon and the Ranger with him when they'd come stumbling into her yurt, Shon dripping blood from a stab wound to the back.

She described the flash of light and Shon running off and that she and the Ranger had gone to wake as many of the others as they could. They had been enchanted by a sleep spell, though she knew not how. She hadn't seen the 'Fire Speaker' lose control, but she did describe the destruction afterward, and the burned husk of a corps that was Arver.

"I admit, sister, that I did not have many personal dealings with him. He made me uncomfortable, and I thought it best to watch from a distance." She finished. 

Ebonwing shook her head, "I don't blame you; I've felt their magic, it... it's wrong." Oswall watched Pia as Ebonwing spoke, but the Sorcerer wouldn't look at any of them. Ebonwing cleared her throat and addressed Pia directly, "Water Speaker Pia, tell us what you and Arver discussed." 

"He was teaching me how to control my magic..." she answered, then, for some reason, glanced at Shon. Oswall did the same and found the big man glaring at the Sorcerer.

The air grew humid, damp and thick, then, slower, cold. Shon's pommel shifted in color from sky blue to white, then slowly transparent. Os shivered; he could taste the animosity between these two and had no explanation for it. She was just a teenager. A victim of this Warlock...

"Tell them everything," Shon whispered, and the girl blanched. 

"Master Sergeant?" Tristen asked, also turning to Shon, who finally broke off his glare, the room regaining some of its warmth. 

Pia regained her color and then some, her face twisted in hate, "Where is the Fire Speaker, Son of Honor?" she spat the title and the Druid gasped, reaching down to smack the girls' hands, clenched into fists in her lap. 

Ranito cleared his throat and said, "So the Warlock was helping you with your Sorcerer power. Why? And did you discuss anything else?" 

Pia turned her nose up and away from Shon and the others. "He was teaching me draconic; he said that because I'm a Sorcerer, I have dragon blood and that the language is my birthright." 

Ranito hummed, scribbling in his book. Ebonwing crossed her arms, "So this one also believed that Sorcerer theory..."

Shon's voice was deep and quiet from the other side of the doorway, "He was part of the same group, the same tower as the one in Swailand. We saw his partner at that tower after he escaped us here." 

Alena hummed, "So we know this branch held that theory, but if they're organized like Mages, then other branches might think differently."

"Possibly," Ranito mumbled. 

Oswall gestured with his flask, then spat into it and said, "But he didn't try to kidnap her like they did with the others." And they hadn't tried to teach any of the other victims the dead dragon language. Why was Pia different?

Ebonwing addressed Pia again, "So he was teaching you draconic, and control, anything else? Did he say why he approached the tribe in the first place?" 

Pia looked at Ebonwing, then over at her Shaman, then down at her hands. She was nervous and Oswall could tell right away that not everything she was going to say next would be true. "Holy One..." she addressed Ebonwing, "He said that the world was out of balance, that it was going to be destroyed, and that the storms, like the one that hit us, would only get worse. He was here looking for me, for powerful Sorcerers to help save the world." And yet they treated you differently... Oswall thought, what else do you know?

"And you are a powerful Sorcerer? Even newly awakened and untrained?" Ranito asked flatly. 

Pis scowled, and Shon growled at the expression. Her scowl turned to a smirk, and she answered, "Yes, very. He said I..." but then she hesitated and looked to Shon yet again. What on earth had happened between those two?

"Tell them," Shon said.

Pia didn't answer, and Shon uncrossed his arms, Ryuuko hissing from Ebonwing's head. The kelpie neighed and snapped at the group, but Pia placed a calming hand on it and finally told the missing truth, "He said I was a Chosen of one of the dragon gods."

Ranito dropped his pen, and Alena stuttered from behind, "drag... dragon... gods?" 

"Chosen?" Oswall asked.

Tristen cut across all of them, "Warlocks are mad." 

But Oswall continued, asking, "Dragons had gods?" 

Tristen growled, saying again, between clenched teeth, "They are mad."

"The dragon gods are dead," Shon stated.

Pia tossed her hair, looking away from all of them again, "It's what he said."

"And he was mad." Tristen reiterated yet again, "We'll get nothing of use from this." 

"I don't know, Sir Tristen. All information is worth..." Ranito tried to argue, but the Paladin was already standing. 

"Thank you for your time and cooperation ladies," he gave them a nobles bow and swept for the door.

"Tris!" Ebonwing called after him, but he didn't turn around. Alena sighed, rising to her feet and giving her own bow, following him out. Oswall shrugged and did the same. Leaving Ebonwing, Shon, and Ranito in the yurt with the Barbarians.

"What's got under your skin, Tris?" Oswall called 

"Nothing," Tristen snapped at him, "We are done here; we'll make camp and head to Clearhelm tomorrow." 

Oswall shrugged and went to stand by the yurt to wait for the others.

*** 

Ebonwing watched her companions leave in shock, and Ranito picked up his pen, asking Pia, "He said the world needed saving. From what?"

But the Sorcerer just shook her head and shrugged, "The storms, maybe? He never specified." 

Ranito snapped his book closed and cursed under his breath, "... damn shadow cults..." before he too stood, bowed, and left. Leaving only Ebonwing and Shon behind. 

The Druid huffed, "The Son of Law, and his kingdom, think us primitive and stupid." 

Ebonwing waved a dismissive hand, "His loss, sister. Not everyone in the kingdom holds such views." 

The Druid hummed then scooted forward on her mattress, "Arver may have been mad, and there was definitely something unnatural about him, but..." She looked at Shon, then shook her head, whispering to herself, "He has already proven himself honorable..." then louder to Ebonwing, "The storm. It was both natural and not. I prayed and was granted a dream." 

Ebonwing scooted forward as well; even with the kelpie there, this was important. If Cathbad had sent this Druid a dream, then she, as one of his servants, needed to hear of it, "Tell me, sister." 

"They showed me a family of beavers in their dam holding back a river. Then men in gray armor came and broke apart the dam, flooding everything downstream and causing destruction." She shook her head, "The destruction caused by the flood was a natural response to an unnatural occurrence, the dam being destroyed." 

Ebonwing could only nod, the light in her soul pulsing what felt like agreement, though she wasn't nearly as experienced as this older woman, "Thank you, sister. I apologize for any disrespect my companions may have shown." 

Pia huffed, but the Druid just sat back and waved a hand at her door, "It is to be expected of kingdom men. Well..." she smiled at Shon, "most kingdom men." Ebonwing glanced over to see Shon lift his left fist into his right hand and give the Druid a bow, though he still didn't leave. 

He's waiting for me. Ebonwing realized. He doesn't want to leave me alone with them. Or more likely, with her. She looked at Pia, who was once again glaring at Shon. 

"Where is the Fire Speaker?" she demanded again. Shon's eyes flicked to Ebonwing, as if he didn't want to answer in front of her. "You said you would keep her safe. You said..." Pia started. 

"She can take care of herself." Shon snapped at the girl, "She is hunting those like Arver, just as we are. If you know anything else, then tell us now." 

Pia looked away again, "I don't. He refused to give me details." 

"Then we are done here. Ebonwing?" Shon tilted his chin at the door, still refusing to leave without her. 

Ebonwing sighed but stood, "Thank you again," she said to the two Barbarians, then moved for the door. As she passed, Ryuuko hopped from her head to Shon's shoulder and hissed at the kelpie one more time before they followed her out.

***

That night around the cook fire, Ranito tapped his pen on his book's open page and declared, "We can't continue assuming everything we learn are the ravings of madmen. Even if they are, we need to know what they're thinking and why in order to predict their movements and hunt them." 

Oswall leaned back on his hands and blew smoke rings into the air, "So we need to assume that Sorcerers are descendants of dragons. Dragons that have gods?"

Tristen growled, clenching his bowl in white-knuckled hands. Ranito made a note, asking, "What do you know, knight of Saint Giorgos? Giorgos the Slayer?" 

The Paladin sighed, relaxing his hands and putting his bowl down, then reaching up to pinch the bridge of his nose. He didn't speak, and no one asked anything more, though they all watched him. Finally, he said, "There were two dragon gods, both slain by Saint Giorgos and his allies. That was how they ascended to become gods themselves." 

Alena and Ebonwing paled. As servants of the divine, the possibility of gods being killable would be a terrifying prospect. Oswall just whistled, a stream of smoke flowing out with the sound, "So he's not just a dragon slayer but a god slayer? Impressive." 

"They were monsters," Tristen said, "Destruction incarnate," 

"Not all..." Shon started.

Tristen's head snapped up, and he glared at the man, "All of them, Master Sergeant. They held power that could level cities and cared nothing for the people living in them. They fought each other with a ferocity not even Hengist and Horsa showed, and where they clashed, people died by the hundreds, thousands. We are a stable kingdom now only because they are gone."

Ebonwing leaned on her knee and rested her chin in her hand, "And the Warlocks want to bring them back. They think the world will be destroyed if they aren't and saved if they are." 

Tristen clenched his jaw, "Because they're insane." 

Alena rested a comforting hand on his back and rubbed soothingly. Ranito just hummed. "Yes, their madness is inevitable, but it isn't instantaneous; some at least must have been sane before forming the pact that will eventually drive them all mad." 

"The storms," Shon said, crossing his arms and looking at the stars, "Lily said that they said the storms were a sign of the world ending."

"And the Druid said the storm itself wasn't unnatural," Ebonwing chimed in, "After you all left in a huff, she told me, Cathbad sent her a message, a dream."

"Messages from gods can be misinterpreted," Tristen argued, "Only Chosen-" 

But Ebonwing was shaking her head, "I know that Tris, intimately, but this felt right."

Ranito scribbled in his book and said, "Dragons might have been a danger to people when they existed, but they were a natural part of the world. What if the Warlocks are right and their extinction threw something out of balance? I'll need to see one of these storms... conduct studies..."

Ranito looked up to see Tristen narrowing gray eyes at him, "That is very close to treasonous talk, Archmage. You think the Warlocks could be correct? Justified in forming a dangerous pact-bond with a creature of the outer planes?" 

Alena waved her hands between the two, "You know that wasn't what he meant, Tristen."

Oswall was staring at the sky and puffed out a series of rings, sending each new one through the center of the previous. He took in another deep breath of smoke and spoke, letting it billow out above his upturned face, "You're awfully touchy about this, Sir knight. I understand you want to enforce our kingdom's laws, but if you're going to start accusing us of treason for doing our job, then you might want to form a different team. One made only of Paladins."

The Rogue met Tristen's eyes and Ranito held his pen poised to note the Paladin's reaction. Unexpectedly, Tristen sighed and buried his face in his hands, "I'm sorry, Ranito, everyone. You're right, of course. I'm sorry." Ranito scribbled, and Tristen continued, looking up again and squaring his shoulders. "We will keep this information in mind, but as of right now, I don't see how it will help us in finding more Warlocks. So we should set it aside."

"For now," Ranito agreed with a nod.

Ebonwing shrugged, "Alright, so where to next?" 

Ranito looked up in time to see Shon stiffen while Alena answered, "Clearhelm, isn't it?" 

Tristen nodded, "Yes, they started conducting an investigation into Warlocks there about a decade or so-" 

But Shon cleared his throat to interrupt the Paladin. Tristen blinked at the man, and Shon argued, again, "The man who performed the fieldwork for that investigation isn't in Clearhelm." 

"But the General who ordered it is," Tristen picked up his bowl again, pointedly not looking at Shon.

Shon actually leaned forward, "We could split up. There are six of us, I could find him with someone else, and we could meet up after-"

"No," Tristen stated, still not looking at the Hengist representative. "We have only been working together for a week and a half, and we should all be present for each step of at least the groundwork of our investigation."

"But-" Shon tried again, and Tristen spoke over him,

"We will search out the Monk Veon-Zih after we speak to the General and see the tower in Clearhelm. Together." 

Shon clenched his fists on his knees, and Ranito turned a few pages back in his notes. Shon was behaving very out of character in this one regard. Was it because he didn't want them investigating the Fire-Woman's tower? Or was it something else? Clearhelm was his home province... Was it something to do with his time there as a Squire?

Ranito took note of everyone else's reactions. Oswall and Ebonwing were watching Shon, then looked at each other and shrugged. Alena was looking between Shon and Tristen and seemed worried, but she often seemed worried; she might not have figured it out yet. Tristen wouldn't look at any of them as he finished his food.

Shon stood and saluted Tristen. "Yes, Sir." then, without another word, he left for the tent he now shared with the Paladin.

***

Shon did not draw or journal that night. He also didn't sleep. He lay on his side -Ryuuko curled against the back of his head- and blocked out the sound of the others talking then retreating to their own beds. He didn't move when Tristen came into their shared tent after his watch and barely noted the change in watch between Oswall and Ebonwing later in the night. 

Clearhelm... and not just Clearhelm, but Smilnda, and even Lily's tower... Shon spent the night taking every emotion he felt at the thought of those places and did his best to bury them, smother them.

He would not feel, could not feel. Numb.

It was better that way.