Burn like the Blazing Sun

[Draconian]

[Open by request!]

It felt like dying.

Without the blissful end, at least.

Grace stared down at her fingers before breathing them to her mouth to breathe on them. A heavy shiver ran through her and she pulled the coat tighter to her body, huddled up against the tree as she was. It wasn't snowing, but she felt like it might as well have been. To anyone else it was a nice night. To her, it was freezing.

Maybe keep moving?

Standing up and pushing away from the three, she checked over her shoulder, looking to make sure nothing was following her. The cracks and crinkles from her own boots having her check over her shoulder every few minutes while she walked.

The sun was setting and Grace mourned the loss of the light and the loss of what little warmth it offered her.

"I just want to go home," She whined, swallowing thickly before pressing her hands to her face. Home was a far away dream now. She'd killed. The dagger she'd used was dropped long ago, unable to stand herself for the bloodstained object. Grace tucked her hands under her arms and continued to walk.

Walked until the sun went down. Walked until the sun rose. A shivering cold mess.

It wasn't until she came across dying embers of someone's camp that she collapsed to her knees, hands reaching out, fingers grabbing for the coals. Cradling the bit of warmth she held it close to her chin, breathing on it to push warm air to her face.

At least she wasn't shivering anymore.

Though it didn't even occur to her that this was a campfire and where there had been campfire, there was usually a camper.

[DaGlobster]

Lord Enfield wasn't a particularly perceptive gnome. A funny trait, actually, for someone who claimed to be an adventurer. However, gnomes were fickle creatures, and in her desperation to take some of the campfire's  dying embers, she'd completely overlooked the fact that a mere five feet away sat a sleeping back and a backpack.

Lord Enfield's eyes slowly cracked open. What stirred him from his sleep was the sounds of twigs snapping and breaking like some kind of bear was wandering around through the forest. What really got his attention, though, was the fact that whatever was out there was going through his campfire!

Vision blurry from sleep, he silently reached behind him, his head an extended arm being the only things poking out from the sleeping back. He grabbed the butt of one of his Salt N' Pepperboxes, and angled the multi-barreled pistol at Grace.

The hammer clicked back rather loudly, and if Grace looked over to the sound, she'd see a pretty surprised and confused looking Enfield pointing a gun at her from a sleeping bag.

[Nyla]

Nyla was running. Sprinting through the trees, turning hard in a fruitless attempt to lose her pursuers. Turn after turn and they still followed, closing in with every step. It was when she heard the gun cock that she sprang awake, blade drawn.

Breathing hard she looked around, her elven eyes adjusting to the dark. It was then she caught sight of the gnome, pointing a gun at a small human girl. Although she lay at least 200 feet away, the tiny click had gone off like a bomb in her dreams. Shifting onto her feet, she had barely wiped the sleep from her eyes when she heard herself speak the words. "Wait! Stop!" Nyla yelled as she attempted to interfere in whatever was happening at the dying campfire. Somewhere in the back of her mind a voice whispered Don't get involved. Why do you always have to get involved?

[DaGlobster]

If waking up to a stranger by his campfire wasn't unnerving enough, there was now an elf woman running out of the woods with her sword drawn.

She was yelling to wait, but Enfield wasn't going to fall for that one!

He scooched back in his bedroll, and snatched up his other Pepperbox pistol, so now both women had a firearm aimed and primed at them.

"Who are you?" Enfield yelled as authoritatively as a gnome could sound.

"What are you doing in my camp?!"

[Draconian]

Grace gave a full body shiver, fingers still clutched around the coal.

The noise was a far off echo and she gave a startled yelp and a jump when someone said 'wait, stop'. Wait stop what? She was so cold. Why wouldn't they just let her be warm? Another shiver and she pulled the coal to her face, breathing on it to warm her cheeks.

"I'm so cold."

Her voice was meek and little and to anyone else it would be a nice morning, tears filled her eyes and she swallowed carefully before she noticed the gun, letting the coal fall from between her fingers.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to. I've..." A breathy sob, "I've..." they couldn't know. A quick glance at the people again before she stood up carefully, hands out, red from the warmth of the coals and she shook her head, "I shouldn't be here. I'm sorry, please don't tell anyone you've seen me."

[Nyla]

Nyla stopped short once she saw that a gun barrel was now aimed at her as well. Although she had some advantage with speed thanks to her elven blood, she knew it was unlikely that she could dodge a bullet. She'd had a few seconds now to assess the situation and realized that she'd completely misread what was happening. The gnome, pistols cocked, had a wild look in his eyes as if he'd been startled awake. The girl looked starved and frozen.

"I'm sorry.." Nyla managed to say, more calmly this time as she put her hands up in a motion of surrender. "I'll put my blade down..please don't hurt the girl." A beat passed and she realized he had asked a question. "I'm Nyla, a loremaster of Serendipity." Nyla made a point to omit her mercenary-for-hire background. If she could keep everyone talking, perhaps this wouldn't end in bloodshed.

[DaGlobster]

"W-wait, wait a second," Enfield stammered, and the grip on his pistols loosened slightly. He didn't lower them, as he had no reason to do that yet, but he didn't look so set on shooting anybody as he was before.

He appraised the two women before him. Apart from the one that was obviously armed, the other one didn't really seem armed, and, in fact, looked pretty damn cold.

Cold from what, Enfield couldn't begin to guess, but she was cold enough to be...

Holding the coals from his fire?

A mage, then.

"I'd don't want to shoot anybody, I was just... caught off guard," Enfield said, sounding very much like he was trying to cover up the fact that he'd gotten spooked.

He lowered his pistols, and set them down on the ground.

"Worry not!"

He smiled widely as he clambered out of his sleeping bag, and then he took up a comically heroic pose. It didn't help that he was wearing nightclothes and slippers.

"The great Lord Enfield Lanchester never turns away someone in need!"

And with that, he took a spherical black stone with a red rune from his pack, and angled it at the fire. A lick of flame shot out, and the fire sparked back to life.

"Would you two care to join me?"

[Draconian]

He knew.

Grace stared at the strange little man for a moment, looking to the woman before tears flooded her eyes and she gave a little hiccup.

It was an impulse but Grace was quickly closer to the Lord Enfield and her arms wrapped around his middle and she began to sob. "Thank you. Thank you so much," leaning back she brushed her tears away and stared down at the ground.

"I need to get to Serendipity," She swallowed, giving a hesitant look to Nyla and then the Enfield fellow again, having backed up and rolled her sleeves up to put her hands into the fire. "Is it alright for me to stay and warm up? I"ll go then, I promise."

[Nyla]

Nyla gave Einfeld a knowing smile. "I knew I recognized those pistols. How marvelous to be in the presence of a Lanchester." She gave the gnome a small curtesy, a humorous gesture but not lacking respect. "Your skills are legendary, sir."

The young girl had just plunged her arms into the fire. It was something to behold, this tiny thing half engulfed in flame. "I know it's none of my business, but if Serendipity is where you must go, I'd be happy to take you there. I know the way." She tried to give her a warm smile. "But first, why don't you tell us what happened. Why are you out here all alone?"

[DaGlobster]

Enfield placed a hand on his chest, smiling proudly. His ego had been stoked, definitely. When Grace hugged him, he oofed rather cutely. He was just over three feet tall, so being squeezed by a human like that wasn't really the most comfortable thing ever.

"My reputation precedes me, then," he said, and then he looked to Grace.

"Stay as long as you like, friend."

[Draconian]

Calm.

Grace closed her eyes, taking a deep breath. The longer her hands stayed in the flame the more she warmed. Her cheeks turned from a cold flush to a warmed one and she removed her hands from the fire before giving the strange looking woman a hesitant look.

"I..." Grace paused for a long moment before looking down at the ground, "I escaped from the mage camps." To anyone who knew anything about Connlaoth, those words said everything they needed do. Grace elaborated no further and looked between the pair before she put her hands into her pockets, trying to retain the heat.

What was a normal morning for anyone - quite warm by regular people standards, was near unbearable for her. Maybe after she left Connlaoth she'd go to the desert. She'd never be cold there.

The words clicked then and she stared wide eyed, "You... You could take me?" Grace got up, hands out, looking shocked, "Could you? I... I have no way of paying you. Not right away but...Please." Tears welled up in her eyes again and she took a careful breath, looking down to  Lord Enfield.

It occured to her then that she hadn't introduced herself at all, "I... My name is Grace Argent," She gave a polite curtsy, looking between the two, "And I believe I've just become the luckiest person in all of the world." Gently she chewed on her lip, looking around, "Do you know where we are?"

[Nyla]

Nyla opened her mouth then closed it. The Mage Camps, she had said. She knew of Connlaoth's attitude toward magic, but had never heard of such camps. It bothered her that throughout her travels she hadn't heard of such a thing. Unfortunately, it seemed only a matter of time before the country made this next "logical" step. And how disturbing that some of its prisoners were children. She made a mental note to pay this camp a visit sometime soon...

"Mage camps..." Nyla began, trailing off for a moment. "From the look of it you are very well to be as far away from there as possible." She decided not to push the matter further for the time being. Perhaps Grace would reveal more once she'd had a moment to recover. Nyla then held up a finger to her companions, gesturing for them to wait. In a few lithe steps she was back at her campsite. She grabbed her pack and rolled up the cloak she had been sleeping on and carried them back to Lanchester's fire. Once she was settled back on the ground, cross legged, she rummaged through her pack for a hefty chunk of bread and a few apples. She presented them to her new friends as she continued speaking.

"Please eat. We're currently sitting, I believe, about a day's walk from the Sionad Valley in the Kilanthro Mountains. I myself hail from Serendipity and have not been home in a long while." She paused again, swallowing the lump rising in her throat. Memories of home could wait until morning. She pushed them away and looked to Grace. "Perhaps I'm overdue for a visit if that is where you must go. Lord Lanchester here is also a friend to Serendipty. He is a famous weapons master to be exact. I must say I'm surprised to find you out here." She gave Enfield a polite smile.

A trip back to Serendipity had definitely not been in her plans, but Nyla knew she couldn't leave Grace to fend for herself. There was still much she needed to understand, but for now she resigned to eat with her comrades, rest, and then head out at first light. With any luck, guards from the mage camps would not be after their missing prisoner for several hours..it was enough of a head start to begin formulating a plan.

[DaGlobster]

"Truly barbarous, is what it is," Lanchester said, and he politely turned down Nyla's offering of food with a wave of his hand. He'd only had dinner an hour ago.

"The Lanchesters are sympathetic to the mages of Connlaoth. My family's provided the rebels with Lanchester quality firearms at a rather sizeable discount on several occasions."

He smiled at Grace, and then looked to Nyla.

"For someone so familiar with the Lanchesters, I find it surprising you haven't heard of my newest venture," Lord Enfield said, clicking his bare heels as he tried to look authoritative in pajamas.

"I have left the cozy confines of the Lanchester Estate to take up a life of adventure and daring!"

[Draconian]

The sight of food had her hands open and she grabbed the bread and the apple with little ceremony and she ate them just as quickly. Perhaps too quickly because by the time she'd eaten all the bread and ate half the apple she'd realized they'd been talking and Grace blushed hotly and pressed her fingers to her lips and stared down at the half eaten apple, licking the juice from her lips.

They were talking to one another right?

Grace wiped at her mouth and looked down at the apple before bringing it to her mouth to take another bite. Apparently she'd been hungry and had barely noticed.

Though, the little man looked odd in pajamas.

Though she had probably looked odd cradling little hot coals.

"If... If it's too much trouble I..." Grace swallowed carefully, eyes darting around, "I don't want to... Ruin your adventure." A shake of her head, "I'm a criminal, I just... I just need to rest for a few moments and... And then you can carry on with your adventure. I'm sorry for intruding. I..." Grace swallowed carefully a few more times, "I just wanted to go home."

She'd realized she was trailing off and making no sense but judging by how her eyes burned she'd kept talking to keep herself from crying. So far it was no good and her sleeve went to her face and she pressed it to her eyes while she tried to keep the tears at bay. Safe. For now.

[DaGlobster]

Lanchester decided to ignore the bit about Grace calling herself a criminal, since the poor girl looked hysterical. He stepped closer to her.

"You needn't worry about intruding. As I previously informed you, we're both headed in the same direction. While you don't seem the hapless maiden, it's rather dangerous to travel alone, especially for one such as yourself," he said.

And then suddenly, she was crying. Not quite knowing how to deal with that, Lanchester just sort of stood there, watching her with concern in his eyes.

"Perhaps... perhaps some rest would do you good?"

[Nyla]

Nyla nodded at Lanchester's words. Soon after she noticed Grace's tears and quietly took off her cloak and wrapped it around the girl's shoulders.

"You're among friends now," she said with a small pat on the shoulder. "And Lord Lanchester is right. Why don't you finish eating and get some sleep? We'll head out in good time."

She turned to Lanchester and gave a small smile. They'd sort this out somehow.

[Smaugthesilver]

Laeli watched the proceedings with interest. Obviously, the information had been incorrect. The girl didn't look like she could catch a cold, never mind a dragon. But...

What the girl had said. About being a criminal. Was there something more to her, after all? And, even, if there wasn't,  Laeli couldn't help but feel slightly guiltily. All I would have taken was a small pulse of calm to ease the girl's hysteria.

But she's a criminal, Laeli, She scolded herself. She said she was, and associating with the likes of her could jeprodise your entire system.

As always, though, one unhelpful yet enfuriatingly right though managed to worm its way past her mental blockade.
But what sort of good person are you if you're too scared to help a hysterical worried girl.

Laeli bit her lip so hard it began to bleed. Why, oh why, couldn't life be simple? As her inner turmoil distracted her, she began to slip off the tree branch, her instincts took over and she righted herself.

An almighty crack resounded in the air. Laeli winced she must have dislodged a branch. There was no way the people hadn't heard it

[Draconian]

The snap of the branch made Grace jump and she was standing up and looking around. Her mane of blonde hair whipping every which way while she looked for the source of the noise. A quick look to the elf and the lovely nice short man and she started to take steps backwards.

"I'm sorry. I didn't think they were following me," a quick breath and she squeezed her eyes shut, "I'm going to go. Just... Please don't point the direction I went in? Please?"

But there were no footsteps and she went quiet except for her panicked breathing. Tired. Grace was so tired but she kept up and stood still while waiting for the soldiers. It would just be easier to he caught and taken back to the camp. She'd never be free. So why bother trying.

[DaGlobster]

"Wait, stay down," Lanchester said, and he took up his Pepperboxes once again, aiming one in the direction of the noise, and keeping the other at his side.

"Could be soldiers. Could be a deer."

[Smaugthesilver]

Laeli sends a light wave of calm and  tranquil emotion, hoping to pacify the strangers. She had no idear why she was here, but only half an hour ago the wind had told here to be here.