Oh Death

[Heartfrost]

"I walk through these lush green forests, and watch what I protect. What is mine to rule, own and ultimately protect. For if I ever mistreat those who wander here and pay me tribute I will surely pummel to my death."

Nessa, Baroness of Videns of House Feyal walked through the forest of her own barony. The sun was slowly setting, coloring the clouds in gold and the sky in pinks and reds. The black-haired beauty walked slowly forward, green eyes looking straight ahead. Pink lips whispering, voice soothing.

"Those who do not bring me grace shall fall from it. You have brought chaos to my domain and for that I shall give you a gift of mercy and an end. For the murder of three of my citizens I grant you the gift of eternal sleep." Still whispering. Eyes locked with several pairs. String of the bow tightening.

Nessa took aim. The bow made from black wood rested steady in the baroness hands. She let her grip on the arrow loosen and it flew. The creature didn't have a chance. The enormous black spider was hit right between its many eyes. It screeched, a high and shrill sound before it fell to the ground, making the trees drop their leaves from the impact. Its many legs trashed around and then lay still, with the occasional death twitch. Nessa let out a breath she didn't knew she had held before she fell to her knees, panting heavily. She had hunted this abomination for a spider the whole day. She had sent arrows at it, destruction magic, everything. Now finally, finally it lay dead. She was spent. In the end she had been able to lock eyes with it, using her power inherited in the family line. Most of the Feyal's had the power to deal some kind of effect if they locked eyes with someone. Nessa's ability was to make others sluggish, to dull them into a sense of security. She has managed to sneak up on the spider and dull it into a sense of security, using her eyes and illusion magic channeled through her voice. Now she was tired beyond her years (Which were many) and night was falling.

"Seems like there will be no shelter for me this night", said the Jade Baroness. She laughed bitterly. Hopefully she wouldn't freeze to death (Not likely) or be eaten by some other horrible creature. She could only hope Death would spare her for another year.

[xxshayde]

"Not that I don't absolutely love standing around outside to watch you slaughter some poor, helpless forest creature, but we were just at a pub. You couldn't have found something there to munch on which involved less freezing on my part?" Khai threw a disapproving look over his shoulder at his dragon, his jacket doing little to defend him from the cool air as night began to settle, though it was in vain. Roxanna's meal was a far more interesting pursuit than entertaining questions she had already answered on their way here and to prove that, she ripped another mouthful from the carcass.

("I've already told you that I don't like the way humans season their food, but I doubt you were listening. You were too busy staring at the chest of the brunette at the table across from us,") she commented through their mindlink, somewhat grumpily too, if he heard right. "I wasn't staring, I was admiring. You know, her dress." A terrible lie if the look she gave him was any indicator, but how was that his fault? The girl in question was gifted, and if he had had a bit more time, he'd be much warmer now.

Khai was willing to bet he wouldn't be getting nearly as many unamused looks either from that particular female companion, unlike now. He probably should have been thanking his lucky stars right about now anyway that she hadn't thumped him right in the back of the head like last time. If he'd learned anything in their time together, it was that dragons weren't a very patient species, especially when hungry. "Okay, just hurry. It's getting dark and if I know anything about outdoor-type areas, it's that big things with big teeth come out at night."

For that, he earned a disdainful snort from her. ("I'm a dragon, if you haven't noticed. I--") A shrill shriek brought the conversation to a halt and both heads turned to the direction of its origin. "You were saying something about big things?" It was a short albeit reluctant trek to the general vicinity in which the noise had come from, but instead of finding a vicious monster worthy of that pitch, there was a lone woman with a bow. After a brief glance around, Khai spoke up. "Is everything okay?"

[Heartfrost]

Nessa felt how her head spun. She had wasted too much of herself and had been stupid enough not to notice it during the hunt. She was too absorbed in her own thoughts to notice the rustling of leaves and grass when suddenly a man appeared. Nessa's first reaction was to pull the bow and then realizing she had forgotten to nock an arrow. She lowered it with a sigh and small smile, while looking the man up and down. She liked young, handsome men. Using her bow as support, Nessa stood up slowly, doing her best to avoid eye contact with the man, keeping her eyes focused on a spot his left shoulder.

"Yes, thank you. I had some trouble with this ... beast, but now it can no longer bring harm to anyone. I however am not in very good shape at this time. I would appreciate it very much if you could accompany me to the nearest village or share a fire with me 'til morning."

While she talked she eyed his clothing and equipment. He didn't look like he was from Serendipity, but she had been wrong before. She couldn't recognize him to be from her own barony either. A man with such a noteworthy scar she should have heard about. Nessa looked down on herself. She didn't look much like a noblewoman. She had been in a hurry this morning, not bothering with royal seals or proper armor. Right now she wore pants made in soft brown leather and a pair of sturdy boots. Over this she wore a dark green shirt which clung to her figure, with slits at her elbows and shoulders to maximize her flexibility. The only thing that hinted about her status was the earrings made of silver and jade. This morning Nessa had simply forgotten to take them out. When the courier had brought news of a gigantic spider eating her citizens Nessa had grabbed her hunting attire, abandoned the notion of armor and went away. Reason? She had taken this as a personal insult. After all, spiders don't grow this big on their own. Someone must have sent it to her domain. Nessa shook her head. She wasn't supposed to think about this now. The creature lay dead, that was all that mattered. Hopefully this young lad would help her and if not ... well, she didn't know what she would do otherwise. She was in no condition to fight or run for any amount of time.

"Please tell me, good sir, from where do you come? I suppose you are not from around here, am I correct? Oh please forgive me my manners", said Nessa and extended her hand towards the brunette "You may call me Nessa".

[xxshayde]

Beast? What beast was she talking about? He glanced over in the direction she subtly indicated as she explained what she had been doing out here in the middle of the woods in the dark, cocking a brow at the silhouette of something massive and, from the looks of it, very unfriendly. The woman had to have had a pretty impressive shot to take it down by herself with just a bow. It was a damn good thing she survived then, because she was a looker.

("Do you ever think about anything else? Really, I could use a refreshing change of pace every now and again.") Trying his best to tune out her chiding remarks, Khai directed his attention to her humble request. "Well, this place has a distinct lack of ale but I feel that we may be luckier in the closest village over. It shouldn't be too long of a trip."

 He glanced over his shoulder as Roxanna shifted to her human form to join them, the scrutiny in her gaze not going unnoticed. Khai was hoping though that it was only because he spent so much time with her that it was blatantly obvious, but then again, she wasn't known for being inconspicuous. ("Something's off about her.") Khai carefully kept from rolling his eyes at the assertion. "You don't like any of the women I do." Thank the Gods for the mindlink - he'd be celibate if it was up to Roxanna and her opinions.

The inquiry about his home was met with some reluctance on his part - both because it wasn't a topic Khai was eager to discuss, and technically, he didn't have a home any longer. Being exiled tended to revoke your citizenship after all. "You're right, we aren't exactly natives. Serendipity is a nice enough place as any though, so that's where we've been hanging around as of late."

The way she spoke, with such formality, ruled out the possibility that he was speaking with just an average citizen. She sounded more like a noble and while he was used to nobles (and wasn't picky when it came to their beds), there was a certain discomfort in dealing with them that lingered in the back of his mind. Nobles were the ones who had put the bounty on his head.

"Well, it's a pleasure to meet you, Nessa. I'm Khai, and my friend here is Roxanna." The blonde had made no move to endear herself to their company, but it was better than threatening to decapitate her or any other clever threat that his dragon could come up with. It seemed she had had a lot of time in that cave of hers to make a mental list before he had found her. Ha, and she had insisted that she was sleeping. Yeah, sure. "We're ready if you are."

[Heartfrost]

So he wasn't from here then. It explained why she didn't even recognize him the slightest. Then, she usually didn't frequent the taverns.
"Then I shall gladly welcome you to the Province of Altas Verde and the Barony of Videns. I hope you will find it to your liking and the ale to be exquisite! When we get to that village I propose we visit the closest and best inn. I will be standing for all your expenses".

She wouldn't reveal her title to him, not yet. In her weakened state it could prove fatal. If the boy had a greedy heart it wouldn't be difficult for him to take her hostage and call for ransom. He didn't look like that kind of person though, but she wouldn't take any unnecessary risks. If he was out for her life however, she'd be dead by now. He would have known what the Jade Baroness looked like. And if nothing else, it was more fun to have people guessing and seeing their dumbstruck faces when they realized they had been talking so casually with a noble. It brought a smile to Nessa's lips. She was on her way to start walking when the boy introduced himself as Khai ... and his follower. Nessa bit her lip. The boy was handsome, but if he was taken there would be no playing around for her.

Nessa eyed the other woman. Pretty, she would give her that. The jealousy Nessa felt would not give more. The other woman was pretty, beautiful. The worst part of it was that it was natural. Nessa's beauty was not. It had been, once. She had once been the raven-haired, ivory-skinned lady she appeared to be. Not anymore, sadly. Luckily the illusion was almost perfect. Sometimes you could catch a glimpse of her true visage, from the corner of your eye or in a mirror. Magic users could often feel the magical fields Nessa used to seem young. Most couldn't pinpoint what the magic was supposed to do, but those skilled in Illusion had a far easier time.
"Yes. I suppose we will go then. A pleasure to meet you Roxanna".
The words were stiff to say at least. Not rude, but not as friendly as she had been to Khai. Nessa took hold of her bow and began walking.

"So ... for how long have you two been together?"

Further away from the trio, something inside the big spider which Nessa so proudly had slain, something moved. The body of the spider cracked and out of the wound a slimy baby spider emerged. Then another one. And another. They were as big as a fully grown man's hand and they were hungry. Without any hesitation they started to make their way after the trio. They smelled meat.