Where mages dare to tread?

[Wycliff]

[@Dragonsong!]
It was pleasant walking through Sirantil Valley during the daytime, a myriad of green hues and the vibrant aromas of spring. Assumedly, the Alveron Family Estate was somewhere in this vast wilderness, an odd place, Jace thought, for a farm. His father'd never talked much about his grandparents, past the fact that they were good people. Nevertheless, he couldn't stem the sense of worry creeping over him as his journey progressed: what if the authorities had apprehended them? It'd become known after his father's murder that Aven was a mage, and the consequences of that could have trickled up to his Grandparents.

Jace shook his head absently, as if to rid himself of the negativity. They'd be fine, he was sure of it. He'd get to the estate, and they'd be there, having waited so long to meet their Grandson, grieving over the loss of their boy. He hoped that maybe his presence could put their minds at ease somewhat, knowing that he didn't die without legacy, nor without reason. Mother knew him best, and she'd said that he died as he lived: helping people. Jace believed that with all his heart, and the idea moved him onward. If he was to follow in his Father's footsteps, he'd need to become stronger still, until even the Mordecai could not bring him down.

He stopped his relentless march late in the day, the pack on his shoulders yielding a generous amount of rations, more than he'd need for a journey twice as long. If there was anything Jace loved, it was overeating! He sat against the base of a large Oak, digging into Jerky and taking a swill from one Of his canteens. You could never be too prepared, he'd learned, when traveling. Not everyone could just turn inanimate objects into food, Dad. He grinned, imagining the faux haughty expression Aven would've made to the comment. It was hard to get over, but he knew his Father didn't want any of them to waste their lives grieving, that wasn't what Aven stood for. Jace would become the man he needed to be, and the first step lie in Sirantil Valley, he could feel it.




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[DragonSong]

"Ow!"

Jasper's voice echoed out over the meadow and she winced, rubbing at the gash she'd just opened up in her calf. "Gods damnit!" she hissed. "Oh- I hate nature!" She kicked the jagged branch that had ripped through her breeches with a scowl.

Beast-speaker and mage she may be, but she had been raised a city girl. And it showed. No matter how much of her life she spent tramping through the wilderness, it never seemed to get any easier.

"Fuck all kinds of duck," she growled as she stomped out of the treeline of the little grove she'd been fighting her way through and onto the main path. And froze.

There was someone sitting under the large tree just down the path. Someone very much within earshot.

Oh, fuck me!

[Wycliff]

"Fuck all kinds of duck!"

It must have been the phraseology, the mere abruptness and forwardness of the individual emerging from the literal woodwork of the forest that made Jace's eyebrows skyrocket mid-bite of beef. He took a small pause to scan the person in question, a young girl, likely not reached her second decade. Well, to his eye, anyway: it seemed the more women he met, the less he knew about the correlation between age and appearance, a battle he long since retreated from. Removing the nearly cleaved-through jerky from his mouth, he waved, calling out with a small grin, "I'd be careful about that, ducks have corkscrew genitalia, pretty gross, if you ask me." He caught sight of her leg, the blood starting to seep into her clothes. "Are you alright?"


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[DragonSong]

Jasper's cheeks flushed red and she scowled in the stranger's directions. "I'm fine, thank you," she snapped back curtly.

Then her eyes widened and she blinked at him. "Wait...how in the entire fuck do you know what duck genitalia looks like?"

[Wycliff]

Jace gave a hearty laugh at the implication, lowering his meal to his lap. "My Father had a strange penchant for offhand knowledge, and he shared that little tidbit with me one day to get a laugh out of me. It worked, but even more so when I happened upon a text on animal biology in Serendipity, and would you believe it, it had a detailed sketch!" He broke into another fit, before taking a bite out of the beef. "Well, anyway, nice talking to you! I'd get that leg wrapped up before nightfall, the smell of blood can attract some pretty nasty creatures."


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[DragonSong]

"Hmph." Jaz stared at him a moment longer, then shrugged it off. "Could say the same to you," she pointed out as she sat herself beside the narrow road and started rummaging in her pack. She knew she had bandages in there somewhere. "You're just a fine prize, sitting out here with no protection."

At least none that she could see. Which didn't mean much, all considered- after all, her own deadliest weapons were invisible until invoked.

[Wycliff]

Jace smiled, putting a hand on his chest. "You think I'm a prize? Well, that's awfully kind of you, Miss, though I'd pity any wild beast that tried to take me." He pulled down the sleeve of his robe, pulling on the skin underneath. "Nothing but bone, I'm afraid." The hearty bite of meat that followed spoke to a logical contrary, but upon inspection, the youth was indeed quite gaunt. He chewed and swallowed quickly. "I'd be worried more about a young woman traveling alone without a weapon, though. I don't suppose you've lost your party?"


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[DragonSong]

“Who says I don’t have a weapon?” There was still a good bit of distance between them, so she cocked her head instead of quirking an eyebrow. In a shuffle of movement with practiced subtly to hide from prying eyes, she suddenly held a short bladed dagger in one hand.

Just as quickly as it appeared, it was tucked back into the sheath strapped to the small of bed back. A rather blatan warning that she was more dangerous than she looked, if he tried anything.

[Wycliff]

Jace raised his hands in a non-threatening gesture. "Fair enough, I misjudged. I guess you're better equipped than me, I don't bring weapons to travel. Too cumbersome, detracts from the amount of rations I can carry." He smiles once more, and pulls out another piece of jerky, having finished the prior.


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[DragonSong]

Jasper didn't bother to reply, pulling out a few scraps of bandaging and rolling up her trousers to get a look at the cut on her leg. She hissed as she dabbed at it, trying to clean it a bit before she wrapped it up.

[Wycliff]

Jace closed up his pack, leaning against the sturdy wood, and looked up at the evening sun. The discussion seemed to be over, nothing much to be gained from prying any further. Besides, getting sidetracked wouldn't do him any good, he needed to find the Alveron Family Estate as quickly as possible... wait.
"Excuse me, you wouldn't have happened to come across a large Noble estate in your travels here, have you?" If this girl knew the whereabouts of the estate, he could likely cut his search time in half, maybe more!


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[DragonSong]

Her head snapped up and she stared at him.

"...You're kidding, right? Do I look like the kinda girl who visits noble estates to you?" She gestured to herself with a pointed quirk of her eyebrow.

Dropping a bit of the snark, she added. "Maybe back northwest a bit. I'm not sure, I've been steering clear of the main roads."

[Wycliff]

Jace shrugged. "It was worth the asking, at least. Thank you, Miss." She was a feisty one, that was for certain: a sharp blade and a  sharper tongue. He wasn't so different, he assumed, but that was besides the point.

Jace yawned, and scootched away from the oak, proceeding to draw a large circle around himself in the dirt. With a few muttered words, a slightly dark magical barrier rose from the circle, rising high into the sky. Visible within the shaded barrier, Jace laid his head against the wall, so in case someone dispelled the barrier, he'd wake up.


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[DragonSong]

Jasper snorted at being called "Miss". When she glanced over again, her eyes widened and she shot to her feet, ignoring the twinge of pain from her leg.

Stupid son of a- "Oi!" She stomped toward the barrier, glowering. "You crazy?! What the hells do you think you're doing?"

[Wycliff]

Jace opened one eye, glancing at the steaming girl. "Hoping to get some sleep, though I suppose that's out of the question. This is a protective barrier, it's take a very competent mage to dispel it, and physical force is essentially moot, a full grown dragon would take a few hits to break it." He closed his eye once more.


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[DragonSong]

Growling, Jasper resisted the urge to smack the barrier. That wouldn't be helpful to anyone. "Do you have any idea where the fuck you are?" she hissed. "What do you think would happen if a mordecai patrol happened down the road, huh? Gods, do you have a death wish?!"

And...why the hell did she care? She should just move on, get as much distance between herself and any obvious signs of magic as she could. But she stood her ground, glowering.

It was possible he was just an idiot, and he didn't deserve to die for that. Or get sent to a mage camp, gods forbid.

[Wycliff]

Jace sighed, propping himself up once again. He leaned over to the side she was berating him from. "We're in Sirantil Valley, in Connloath, the worst thing to happen to mages since the Fell Curse erupted. The difference is, Mordecai don't scare me, and fifty Adhara could dance a jig around this thing and it wouldn't even wiggle." He stands to his feet, stretching. "Ugh, now I'm awake. Anyway, you shouldn't be worried about me, you're the mage outside a circle of power." He grinned wolfishly. If she asked, he'd let her in, of course, a matter of courtesy for a fellow mage. He could tell she'd never ask, though.


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[DragonSong]

Jasper froze, then scowled and made a rude gesture in his direction.

"You are an idiot," she decided, scoffing, and shouldered her pack. "Alright, have fun with your false sense of superiority. I'm out of here." She turned her back and started off down the trail, shoulders hunched slightly against a sudden gust of wind.

[Wycliff]

The muffled sound of metal on dirt rose from the distance down the trail, by the volume, at least ten people. Jace's eyes slowly widened, and he put his hand on the wall of the circle, causing it to drop. He quickly packed the few items he'd removed and started high tailing it in the opposite direction, toward the northwest. He had more reasons than one to drop the barrier, though he rationalized that the main reason was that they were heading toward where the girl guessed the Estate to be. "Well, see you!"


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[DragonSong]

What?

Oh hells no.

"Shit!" Cursing her luck, Jasper wheeled around and started after him, praying it wasn't actually soldiers on the road. "You know running just makes you look more suspicious," she panted as she glanced back over her shoulder.