Chapter Seventeen: Treading on unfamiliar Ground

Night soon came and Rynn was given a bunk below decks. She was tired but could not sleep; she had too much on her mind and the snores from the nearby men did not help. She thought of Arokh outside and eventually drifted off to sleep to the creaking of the wooden ship.
Her dreams soon came; she was a dragon, a beautiful golden Elder Breed flying over the mountains and lands of Drakan. Below, the world flourished, freed from evil of the Desert Lords and human cities were plentiful. She began to descend to a cave and entered, the dream was so powerful she felt like she was returning home.

Inside, Arokh sat waiting. He stood up and came over to greet her and then, the events of the ten minutes that followed made Rynn suddenly awake almost falling out of her bunk. She looked around the dark room and saw that she was still on the ship, no one else was awake. She looked down at her arms - Human. It was all a dream she realised but yet it felt so real. Did this mean she would turn into a dragon and become Arokh's lover? He did say he wanted to be a father again but to mate with her? She shook her head dismissing this thought and interpreted the dream of just the emotional trauma she had been through recently. She sighed and rolled over lying awake until morning came.

She was grateful of the breakfast the ship’s crew had prepared; they had given her a large portion of their rations as a kind of thankyou. It didn't matter to them as they would soon find food in Ravenshold.
"Have you fed Arokh?" She asked suddenly remembering the dragon outside in the cold.
"No" a sailor remarked looking up from the table.
"I'd better see how he is" Rynn suggested leaving the room. She climbed the ladder to the front cabin and went out onto the ship's deck that was covered in a thin layer of snow.
She shivered and pulled her clothes tighter. She suddenly remembered the dream and couldn't look Arokh in the eye.
"Are you alright?" She asked sheepishly.
"Cold. And pissed off." Arokh snarled walking closer.

Rynn gave a faint smile knowing that Arokh was angry that he had to spend the night without shelter, made worse by the snow. She broke the silence first.
"Arokh, did we have the same dream last night?" she asked cautiously.
There was an awful silence. "I think so. Can we not mention it any more, please?" He asked.
Rynn thought for a moment. It was certainly an enjoyable dream, for her at least but Arokh obviously didn't think so. "Of course, it goes no further." she replied with a smile.

The red dragon stared at her for a few moments. "Glad to hear it" he eventually said and looked away. Arokh swivelled his head around again as the boat neared the docks. "Ah, we are here at last. Suit up, we have to get going" he suggested flying into the air to hover over the ship; his wings needed a good stretch.

The sailors began to unload their cargo whilst Rynn and Arokh watched. On the shore they were met by a couple of the Northmen who manned the small but functional trading post; the only place where wares come and go from the town of Ravenshold.
The trading post was not much to look at; just a few wooden huts here and there and a stone built lighthouse, its light provided by a magical crystal atop the revolving platform.
Arokh was so grateful of Captain Fandril's help, he even assisted his men to unload the ship, carrying entire crates bundled together which would normally have to be emptied first. The great red dragon tirelessly carried on backwards and forwards from ship to shore saving the men valuable time and their backbones.

Finally, after some time, their work was done. Fandril’s men were busy making deals with the Northmen whilst Fandril sat on a wooden barrel on the pier smoking his pipe as usual. He never seemed to have the thing out of his mouth.

"This is as far as I can take you, I'm afraid. You will find the city of Ravenshold a mile or so inland. Just follow the river and you will be fine" he offered, his withered face smiling broadly noticing that the bonded pair were ready to leave.
"I can't thank you enough for your help. We must be going; good luck with your journey home and don't forget to stop by Surdana" Rynn wished as they began to depart.
"Heh, heh, no, thank you" he laughed. "Spare a thought for old Captain Fandril won't you?"

Rynn smiled and shook his hand. "Goodbye. I hope we meet you and your crew again in the future."
Captain Fandril nodded as Rynn mounted Arokh and they walked away. One of the sailors stepped aside as the majestic beast walked past him. "Dragon, Ill never forget you" he said.
Arokh turned his head giving a weak smile but did not speak. It was enough for the man to understand that he had pleased the dragon. With a rush of wind, the dragon was aloft and was soon a speck in the sky. Captain Fandril returned to his ship and looked out over the horizon feeling a little lump form in his throat as a sudden feeling of sadness came over him. He had just met the two most remarkable and unique beings that he would probably never see again and let them go without really getting to know them especially the dragon. He sighed and leant on the rail thinking of his journey home and how empty it would seem without the dragon and his rider.

The journey to Ravenshold was short as expected. It was easy to spot amongst the bleak snow covered hills and mountains, thick stone walls and wooden barricades surrounded the city making it stand out in the wilderness. Arokh landed outside the main gate keeping a firm eye on the archers in the two towers at either side of the gate and on the ramparts above should they attack. They were obviously seen coming as the gate partially opened and three burly well armed men walked through to greet them.

"Greetings. What brings you here" Ranwolfe spoke first breaking the silence. He was speaking to Rynn upon Arokh's back but it was he who answered Ranwolfe's question.
"I am Arokh and this is my bonded, Rynn. We were sent here by Lady Myschala" the dragon spoke boldly. Rynn frowned at being interrupted but did not object.
"My god, you speak!" Ranwolfe said aghast. "I didn't know dragons could talk."
Arokh gave a quick snort and grinned. "Of course we can. Elder Breed dragons that is" he pointed out sarcastically.
"So you are the one sent to open the gate" he continued turning around briefly, signalling the archers to stand easy.
Arokh did not answer and there was a long silence, eventually Ranwolfe spoke first. "Come, you are welcome here. Take whatever you need for your quest" he said walking through the now fully open gates. Arokh followed them into the city looking round sharply as the huge log gates crashed shut behind.

The 'city' was not a city at all, rather a very small town. In the Town Square, a large fire burned and various sized buildings were dotted around, most of them serving as homes and shops for passing travellers. All of them were nothing more than log cabins, some did not even have any windows, the whole place looked run down and desolate. Huge icicles hung down from the any overhanging edges and thick snow had settled on their sloped roofs and piled up against their walls where the harsh wind had produced vast snowdrifts.
"You can buy weapons there,” Ranwolfe said suddenly pointing towards a rickety wooden shack, which looked like it was about to collapse at any moment.
"Never mind that, what about the gate?" Arokh asked sharply, his tone of voice making Ranwolfe look a little frightened; he was not used to having such an imposing beast around and he didn't fully trust Arokh despite what he had been told.
"The gate is just beyond the city; you can't miss it. The second one however is more difficult to get to. You see, its in the half-men's homelands."

"Half-men?" Arokh asked, raising an eye ridge. He had not heard of them before, he only presumed they were new to the world like the Desert Lords although he had not seen many of Drakan’s huge variety of animal species.
"Yes, half-human, half ogre. They are our sworn enemies and attacks on us are frequent. We would never risk venturing to their homelands, it would be suicide and I suspect it will be very dangerous even for you" Ranwolfe answered.
"Well we will see about that. For now, Ill open the first gate" Arokh growled, he was still irritable about being left in the cold all night. He blew a frosty gust of air and was about to leave when Ranwolfe stopped him. "Feel free to ask any of my men for information about these lands. Ill be in my hut if you need me."
Arokh grunted in reply and flew over the city and towards the first gate.

The gate was literally a few hundred meters from the northern end of the city, the two dragons curved around its circumference appearing in the misty valley like snakes.
"This is too easy" Rynn remarked as they got close.
"We are lucky the gate is near a human establishment otherwise it would probably be much harder" Arokh replied flying closer to the gate. "From what Ranwolfe was saying, the other gate will be not so easy to reach."

Arokh flew up to the gate and concentrated hard and soon a glow of energy flowed from his body to the gate encircling it in a purple glow. Shortly, the gate burst into life and through it the city of Surdana could be made out in a misty haze that shimmered slightly. Rynn stared into the gate, it was like looking into a pool of water and it gave off a low roaring noise.
"Now what?" she asked.
"Well, I don't know about you but I am hungry. I suggest going to Surdana to eat and prepare for our journey to the Half-men's lands. We will return here and find out more about them and these lands when we return." Arokh answered, his breath visible in the cold air.

"There is a shop here" Rynn pointed out. Arokh gave a sarcastic laugh. "Look at it. There won't be much of any use in there will there? No? I thought not" he said when Rynn didn't reply. "Come on, let’s get some food, its late morning already and I’m starving."

Rynn did not bother to mention that she had already eaten with Captain Fandril as she knew the ship’s crew didn’t feed Arokh and if he knew, he would be angry. Rynn didn’t want one him to be in one of his moods again.

In a blink of an eye they was there. All the snowy mountains were replaced with looming canyons and the weak morning sunlight illuminating the vast grassy plains. It was a sight that Rynn had looked forward to. As the exited the gate, Rynn spotted General Dherimon standing on the platform, in front of the gate, seeming very small from up in the air.
"Arokh, look. It's General Dherimon" Rynn said.
"Seems like he wants something!" "Lets go down and talk with him" Arokh noted when he saw the general beckoning to them.
They landed in front of the General, who tried what he could, not to look afraid of the giant dragon’s wings, beating in front of him.
Rynn jumped of the back of Arokh, and walked over to General Dherimon.
"I'm afraid I have some disturbing news!" He said “and I need your help before you go on to the next gate” he added in a forlorn voice.

“Is that wise General?” Arokh inquired. “We are well on our way and I’d like to open the second gate before nightfall.”

Dherimon’s face remained stern and he appeared to be deeply concerned about something. “No Arokh, that must wait. It's seems like forces of wartocks has been gathering in to the east from here". "A chieftain named Snotmaw, has been gathering the forces for an attack on Surdana, and we desperately need your help before they reach our gates!”
The general looked with a sad expression down to the ground. "I know that you're under a lot of pressure right now, but Snotmaw's forces are too strong for us and we will be unable to defend Surdana". Will you please help us, you're our last hope!"

Rynn couldn't help to think of General Dherimon's forces with a hint of disappointment, either they were ill prepared or simply do not have the numbers to cope with Snotmaw’s army.
Rynn agreed straightaway but Arokh remained reluctant. "Of course I will, but are you sure that the attacks from the wartocks will be over once will kill this Snotmaw?" Rynn asked.
"There is no doubt that they most certainly will NOT,” the general said with extreme confidence. “At least not for a while anyway.”
"The wartocks are tribal beings, they are only holding together because of their fear of Snotmaw. As soon as he is gone, they will disband and spread like the wind" the general said.
"Ok, can you point us in the direction of the cave then?" Rynn asked.
"Yes, It's to the east of here, just follow the mountain side" General Dherimon said, while pointing a finger in the right direction.
Rynn turned to face Arokh, and stared into his glowing eyes, before mounting his back. "OK, lets fly" she shouted. As always, the dragon obeyed realising that it would probably be for the best if he took a little detour.

As they went over the city, they where still amazed over the whole meaning of their amazing adventure. What would it all end with, would the Order ever rise again? How would a New World look like in a few hundred years when Arokh and Rynn are long gone?
There were still a lot of unsolved questions to answer, and their adventure was far from over at this part. A couple of minutes later they reached a cave implemented a couple of hundred feet over the water surface.
"Down there" Arokh pointed out. "That must be the entrance to Kragmor".
"Let’s pay that Wartock a visit from the Order!" Arokh said with a sense of revenge in his tone. If Rynn wasn't as used to this now, she was now. She would hear his contempt for this race of beasts, in his voice.
They landed on the platform, sticking out from the cave, frying a couple of wartocks on the way. Rynn jumped off, and collected the nearby money lying around, which the smelling corpses of the wartocks had dropped. The stench was something she could never get used to! She jumped back on to the back of Arokh, and together they walked through the cave.

"So do you know anything about this chieftain Wartock?" Rynn asked while they moved trough the almost silent cave. There was no wartocks around, no Grull and no other foul creatures. It was almost like it was too quiet.
"No, but seem as he is a chieftain, I’d assume he is a rather large Wartock. Their system of power isn't particularly complex” Arokh answered stopping a moment to listen. “No it’s nothing” he mumbled and carried on towards the opposite exit of the cave.

As they walked out of the cave, they saw a horrible sight. And suddenly a sense of pain and misery cut through the spine of Arokh's back. But the bad feeling didn't come from 'his' heart. It was Rynn who was feeling like somebody had cut through her heart with a rusty spoon.
"What's the matter?" Arokh asked, sincerely concerned about his partner. Because they where bonded together, he could also feel her pain.
The valley in front of them consisted of ten to twelve houses, destroyed and only the ruins remained the flames and smoke still rising from the ashes. Rynn immediately came to think about her home village, and felt suddenly saddened, fighting back the tears. She began to think about her little brother again, who died because of these dark ages.
"I'm sorry!" Arokh proclaimed noticing her sadness.
"You have nothing to be sorry about Arokh, and you know it" Rynn muttered. "I'm just happy that you're here to help me through this" she added.

She was quickly ready to make justice of her brother’s death as her sadness turned to anger and revenge. It was as if she had gained a new energy, to fight for their mission and she soon got her chance for revenge Just around the corner stood a Grull, which seemed like it was stuck. But Rynn didn't care much of this, and soon the little creature was sliced to pieces.
"Let's find that damned Wartock" Rynn said angrily, as she jumped on the back of Arokh, who instantly leaped into the air, with only a couple a strokes with his gigantic wings.

It did not take them long to discover the first resistance. Blackwings lurked in the skies and the familiar red bat dragons too. Arokh flew through the air like the wind, strong and confident of their progress so far. The lust for vengeance split through their vanes blinding them from the shadowed side of fear. The dragons where soon down, and so were the wartocks on the ground which had gathered around their campfires.
But something else was down there as well. A mighty creature, three times the size of a Wartock. Rynn had met them before, and they where no easy fight even using Wartocks and Grull to throw at her. But on the back of Arokh, things tended to be much easier, than when Rynn had to travel on her own. Arokh used his devastating lightning breath, and blasted the creatures into bits as the pure electrical energy boiled its blood in seconds.

They went further into the beautiful, but deadly valley. At the left of a huge cliff in the middle Rynn saw something resembling a sacrificial pit on the ground. She asked Arokh to go closer, and as they went closer, they could see that Rynn was right.
They landed on the ground, and Rynn jumped off Arokh's back. There was a disturbing silence around the pit. Like no Wartock would get close to it. No crates around, left by wartocks, no camp fires and no chest with gold. Rynn had a shivering feeling running down her back.
"Something is wrong here"; Arokh pronounced.
"Ill say" Rynn said. "There almost to quiet here, don't you think?"
"Yes, the wartocks wouldn't have left this pit standing without a scratch, unless they was afraid of it!" Arokh whispered.
"There must be something in there" Rynn said with enthusiasm “I think Ill check it out”.
The pit was an open sacrificial pit. In front of Rynn there was 8 huge stones standing up, with markings engraved in them one in each side of her. At the end there was an altar with stones in a circle around it, and in the back of it a dead man chained to a stone. He had suffered a painful death, it would seem.
"I'm going to take the chance" Rynn said eventually.

"Be careful" warned Arokh standing ready to protect her should anything happen.
As Rynn started to walk in between the stones to either side of her, the markings on the stones started to light up with purple light, seemingly out of thin air.
"There must be magic involved in this" Rynn thought to herself, as she walked down between the next set of stones again lighting like the others did. When she came to the end she saw the altar in the middle, with a hole, matching the form of her previous earth blade.
But as she approached the altar, two skeletons erupted from the ground on each side of her. She quickly drew her blade and ran towards one of the skeletons. The skeleton had a large axe in one hand, ready to cut her through. But Rynn made a roll to the right of the skeleton, stood up fast, swiftly moved her blade between her top arm and her chest, and stabbed the skeleton in the back, making its bones fall apart. As she turned to face the other skeleton, she saw it burst into flames. Arokh hovered in the sky, as her protector, and he was very good at his job.

After 4 more skeletons, which wanted to join the party, no more seemed to come forward, and Rynn could place the blade back in the holster. But when she thought it was over, a sudden burst of lightning came down from the skies, pushing Rynn to the ground. After the blazing light was over, Rynn was amazed to see that there was a sword lying on the altar that was not there before. She took it up in her hands, and felt a surge of electricity running through her body, not painful, but uplifting. The purple dual sided blade was engraved with beautiful markings, and had a gold embraced handle.

"Look what I got" she said to Arokh, with a hint of superiority in her voice.
"Ah, the lightning blade of the Order. It's a long time since I saw that" Arokh said, like he wasn't surprised at all. It was a bit annoying for Rynn that Arokh always seemed to know everything about everything but wasn’t very good at explaining things or pointing things out when he should do.
"It's has the power to cast a ring of electricity around you, to strike your enemies" Arokh said.
"Ill have a practice with this later then.” Rynn said putting the sword with the Earthblade and Flamestrike. She discarded a small shortsword to make room for it across her back as it was certainly a more superior weapon. “Well let's go, we have to get to that Snotmaw fellow".

As they flew further down the valley over more smoking ruins, Arokh spotted Snotmaw’s lair on the ground. Outside there was one of the huge giants, throwing crates with explosives against Arokh and Rynn. But Arokh soon had that part covered and they landed soon after on the ground in front of the lair.

"You'll have to deal with this on your own" Arokh said. "Ill be right here waiting and watching your back."
"Alright, Ill hurry up, and kill that damn Wartock" Rynn said impatiently and turned to run into the cave.
Rynn went into the lair, and the first thing she met was an angry Wartock, running towards her.
"I can smell youuu!" the Wartock mumbled while running towards her.
Rynn soon took care of the Wartock and moved on deeper into the cave.
As she got further into the cave, she came to a place in a hall, with a single rail track in the floor. She didn't really care what it was there for, until she stepped onto it to get further down the hall. Suddenly a big twisting death machine, with blades stuck to an iron pole came sliding towards her. She quickly ran down the hall worried for her life, when she saw a hole in the side. Since the twisting blades were almost touching her hair, in the back of her neck, she decided to jump into the hole. But as she did, spikes came flying out of the wall, and she ducked in the very last minute, so that head wouldn't get cut off. She took a few deep breaths until the revolving blades had past her again, and then she ran towards the end of the tunnel, slicing a few wartocks at the end. After the short momentary rest in the hole, she sat down to get some very needed air in her lungs.
"Oh, that chieftain Wartock, is going to pay, when I get a hold of him" she thought to herself, as she sat down.
Soon after, she was on her up on her feet again, and journeyed deeper into the cave, looking for Snotmaw.
She came into a tunnel with different paths branching off leading to basements and keeps. In one room there was jail cells, with Grull imprisoned in them. For fun, Rynn released one of them, and stood ready to slice it when it came out. But as the Grull left its cell, the ceiling came down squashing it, in front of the eyes of Rynn.

"I better keep my distance in here, it crawls with traps all over the place" Rynn thought to herself, while journeying further into the tunnels. In another room she saw men and Grull hanging on sticks and hooks from the ceiling. A Wartock stood in the middle of the room, and Rynn got so angry that she sliced the Wartock into tiny pieces; it did not have a chance. Rynn found lots of gold in chests in the back of the room, and decided to pick it up, even though it probably was belonging to the dead men in the ceiling. But all that gold would help her to buy more advanced weapons, so she could kill more of those damn wartocks. They obviously seemed to feed on humans much to her disgust and the meat she found on the table in the mines the other day may well have been human. She swallowed hard and left the room continuing on the path ahead.

All of the sudden, the path ended into a large room with a bunch of wartocks on a platform above, screaming and shouting. Cheering for something. She then heard a deep pounding in the ground, feeling it through her legs. Then, a giant came waltzing out from a cave nearby. She had walked into a trap.
The Wartocks, was obviously not concerned about this as they knew she was coming and wanted her to loose the fight, which would be some entertainment for their boring lives.

As the giant approached, it lifted its leg up in the air ready to stamp on Rynn flattening her into the ground. But Rynn jumped in between its legs, and sliced it in its ankles from behind. The Giant screamed loudly. It was probably three times as big as Rynn, but at this point she had gained some neat weapons. The giant swung its paw at Rynn, but she jumped into the air and did a sideways flip. But before she landed the giant had swung its other paw against her, and it hit her in the side. Rynn went flying through the air and smashed into the side of the cave. It was a hard blow for her health. She drank a health potion fast, and swiftly drew the lighting blade from her back. She held it up in the air, and a circle a lightning came flying from the blade, shattering the air and the giant around her. As the giant was paralysed from the lightning, she took the blade and stabbed the creature directly in the stomach. It made a loud roar, and started to tip over. Rynn jumped through the legs once again, and the giant came crashing to the ground, almost crushing Rynn in the process. As she stood up she could hear the Wartocks was not happy about the situation, which they wasn't keeping quiet about. She quickly drew her bow, and sent an arrow through the air, hitting a Wartock right in the eye and making it topple off the edge and crashing into the ground below.

Suddenly, it became deadly quiet the room, as the wartocks stared at their dead companion bleeding on the ground.
"Now, you'll have to deal with me" a deep voice said from behind a cell door.
A very large Wartock came waking out from the dark. With a large shield in one hand, and a huge clever in the other, it could only be him, Rynn thought.

"So, you must be the Snotmaw I have been hearing so much about. Maybe, you should have hired a smarter giant, because this one didn't seemed to be of the elite race" Rynn said, trying to annoy the chieftain, so that he would make mistakes in battle.
"YOU, DIE NOW!" Snotmaw exclaimed, infuriated at the death of his pride and joy. Now he had to prove himself worthy to the other wartocks who were cheering him on from above.
As the chieftain came running towards her, Rynn leapt into the air again, avoiding the blade of the cleaver as it came flying through the air. When he had his shield down, Rynn stuck the blade, directly into Snotmaw’s side causing an agonising scream of pain. The chieftain smashed Rynn on the side of the head with the shield, but he was still slow and clumsy. It didn't take long for Rynn to bring down the chieftain. A couple of blast of lightning, and the large Wartock couldn't take anymore, and dropped to the ground.
As Rynn picked up his cleaver, the cheering wartocks came down from the platform angry over their leader’s death wanting to kill Rynn. But they where no match for Rynn now, she was too confident, and too fast. When it was over, and wartocks were covering the floor, Rynn headed towards the exit to find a way out.

As she came out from the blood bath, she ran to the right, wanting to see her dear dragon again. She was very tired of wartocks right now. But apparently it wasn't as easy as expected.
In front of her there was three giant wooden planks hanging from the ceiling, gliding forwards and backwards with the draught through the cave system, and Rynn realised that she would have to jump from one to the other to get across. And it seemed as the only way out as she was not willing to spend more time trying to find an alternative route.

Rynn took her stance and waited for the exact moment to make her move, when the wooden board was in the right position. Then she ran jumped with all the strength she could muster. Then she waited again on the next board and a moment later she made to the other side. There a Wartock was waiting for her, but she jumped around fast, so that it could not hit her, with the flaming magic balls, from its hand. She quickly killed it, and headed for the elevator nearby. At the top she could finally see the exit behind a wooden door. At last she could leave this hell hole, and see her beloved dragon, which was waiting outside for her return.

"So, was he as bad as Dherimon made out that chieftain Wartock?" asked Arokh when Rynn came out of Snotmaw’s lair and back into daylight.
"You should have seen that giant like thing I had to fight besides Snotmaw" Rynn said tidying her hair.
"Yes, I'm sure it was horrible" Arokh said with a sarcastic smile.
"No, REALLY it was HUGE" Rynn pointed out, a little annoyed at the dragon’s sarcasm.
"Off course it was" Arokh answered, this time with a very large element of sarcasm in his voice.
"You should have been the one in there" Rynn said angrily. “If you weren’t so big, you could have gone in there instead.”

"I could feel your pain as well, you know" Arokh objected. “By the way, I was only joking” he added after a short pause.

Rynn grinned back at him broadly realising that he wasn’t being nasty, rather trying to make the situation a little less tense with his sense of humour.

"Alright, let's get going then, we have to go see General Dherimon and inform him of our victory. Hopefully he might give us a little reward” Rynn said, while leaping on to the back of Arokh. The great dragon lifted off, and they headed to the place where they entered Kragmor going back to the land of Surdana.

They went through the cave ones more and headed back towards the town of Surdana landing at the Mother’s Eye where general Dherimon was still waiting. He looked thankful at their return partly because he knew that they had succeeded and that they were still alive.

“Well, Did you kill that wretched Snotmaw?” he asked in a grave voice.

"Yes, we finished off Snotmaw and most of his tribes in Kragmor, and one damn big giant" Rynn said while giving Arokh a unsatisfied look.
"With the Snotmaw gone, and the southern tribes in chaos, the Wartock clans will be easy to defeat. "Thank you, and may you journey be successful" The General wished while waving to Rynn on the back of Arokh.
"Thank you general, and we will be back shortly” Rynn shouted to the general on the ground, while Arokh leapt into the air. “Now how about something to eat?” He shouted back at her.

“Definitely, I think we have earned it.” Rynn answered back.

Arokh flew over towards Surdana’s town square setting down near the tavern. "You go on in. Ill meet you here in half an hour" he said letting Rynn climb off his back.
She began to make her way to the tavern but noticed that Arokh did not fly away. Turning around, she saw the dragon staring at the ground, his head hung low as if deep in thought.

"What's the matter Arokh?" she asked walking up to stand in front of him.
He raised his head to look at her, she could see that he was worried about something. "Many things. What the future will bring if we are successful, I mean bringing back the Order seems a good idea but it may turn into another Dark Wars after a couple of generations. That dream we had too, it was probably meaningless but it’s strange for us to dream the same thing" he replied thoughtfully.

"You don't think I will become a dragon do you?" Rynn asked remembering that she came 'home' to Arokh's cave as a dragon in the dream.
Arokh sighed and looked at her. "I don't know, you certainly won't transform into one but its possible for your soul to inhabit another body - a dragon. This requires powerful magic and is considered unlawful, just look at Navaros, that's exactly what he did."
"It’s not quite the same thing though" Rynn said.
"I know but I absolutely would not let you do such a thing so don't bother thinking of it" Arokh said in a louder tone of voice.
"Well, I would enjoy being a dragon, you know my feelings for you; we could be..."
"Be quiet Rynn, please" Arokh snapped cutting her off. "Its silly, don't you think? It was a dream, nothing more" he continued in a softer tone of voice. He grinned at her as a way of showing that he was sorry for snapping at her but he did not apologise.

"I'm sorry Arokh" Rynn apologised. "About the future, do you really think something similar to the Dark Wars would happen?"
Arokh thought for a moment. "Its possible yes, but this time the Order will not make the mistake of trying to influence other races; humans and dragons, yes but nothing else. We also plan to keep the Order's rule to this continent only rather than trying to control the whole world."
Rynn nodded in agreement. "You seem to have it all planned out with Lady Myschala, I'm impressed" she smiled.
"These plans for the future would reduce the likelihood of another war like the Dark War. I'm sure everything will be fine Arokh. We will make a fine team, don't worry" she added.

Arokh smiled slightly. "I'm glad of your enthusiasm. I suppose I'm looking on the black side. To the new Order eh?" He laughed. "Go on and get some food, Ill see you here later."
Rynn gave him a quick kiss on the side of his head and was gone. The great red dragon flew up into the air and into the countryside to look for a snack; the countryside was filled with all sorts of creatures.
Rynn however suddenly remembered she had already had breakfast with Captain Fandril and instead took the time to talk with the locals in the tavern. This was her new home and it was time to make new friends.

As before, the tavern went deathly quiet as she walked in, everyone turned round to look at her and whispers were heard briefly between the people inside. Rynn sat alone at a table and waited to be served, she noticed nobody came up to introduce themselves and she suddenly felt out of place.
Looking down at herself, she was out of place with her winter furs whilst everyone else wore thin clothing as it was very warm in the Tavern. She muttered to herself and looked up to try and catch the waitress’s attention, she realised she had to eat or drink something rather than just sit there feeling awkward.

Eventually, she was served and ordered a fried egg and bacon sandwich and waited patiently for it to arrive. "Excuse me, miss? I couldn't help noticing you were the dragon rider. What's it like to fly around on the back of a dragon?" A young man asked suddenly walking over to sit down opposite.
Rynn gave a weak smile. "Well, its difficult to describe but its a wonderful experience" Rynn said quietly.
The young man grinned "I wonder if I will ever get the chance to bond" he mused.
"Maybe" Rynn said taking a bite of her sandwich that had just arrived on the table. It didn't look very appetising but she ate it nevertheless.

"So, is it usually this quiet around here? I mean surely the Wartocks would attack frequently" Rynn asked after a short silence.
The young man gestured to a knight stood by the bar. "They keep them at bay but attacks are inevitable, thankfully few and far between" he said.
"Ill try and find out more about these local Wartock tribes later. I have to go now, Ill see you later" Rynn answered and got up leaving the sandwich half eaten.
The man stood up and went back over to the group he was standing with earlier and immediately they all burst out in conversation talking quietly so Rynn did not hear.
She sighed wondering if she would ever fit in with Surdana’s community and left the tavern to sell Bonegrinder's staff at the blacksmiths on the other side of the Town Square.
As she walked across the square, a frightened man ran up to her from one of the houses on her left.

"Excuse me, but could you help me?" The man panted.
Concerned, Rynn looked behind him, there was nothing. "What's the matter?" she asked.
"Spiders, big ones... came through a hole in the wall... now they are in my cellar."
"Hold on" Rynn said sharply. "You want me to kill the spiders for you?"
"Yes" the man replied. "They are big ones, I can't face them myself."
Reluctantly, Rynn agreed to check it out. "Okay. Ill see what I can do, wait here" she instructed.

Cautiously, Rynn entered the house. She drew a sharp breath at the site in front of her; it was like a palace! "So, this is how the rich live? Very nice" she thought to herself. The house consisted of two rooms with solid oak floors and a magnificent four poster bed at one end of the main room. The blankets were made from the finest materials and expensive ornaments were on the tables and the stone mantelpiece. The house even had a carpet in the sleeping area. She thought of her home back in her village - a small house about the quarter of the size, which she had to make do with. Her home had an upper floor used for storage of clothes, food etc but it was still tiny in comparison.
A large roaring fire burnt in the fireplace and several magical torches lit the room with a cosy glow. “Well, this is really nice” she thought to herself observing a painting of the countryside around Surdana hanging on the wall.

"I wonder if Lady Myschala would give me a place like this?" She thought out loud walking over to a bookcase. She picked up a book and saw that it was a story about a couple of dragons before the Order, in fact most of the books were about times long past. "This guy likes Drakan's history" she mumbled.
Putting the book down, she got back to what she had come for; kill the spiders in the cellar. Although she was inquisitive, she felt that she should not be going through other people’s possessions.

The cellar door creaked open and she walked down into the cool rooms below. A familiar pattering noise sounded nearby and a large spider came into view. "My god, look at the size of these things!" She exclaimed. She soon got to work; the flamestrike cutting through them like butter, a lot easier than killing the spiders with a shortsword back in the Shadowmire.

A few moments later, Rynn could see where the spiders were entering the house. The house backed onto the Shadowmire swamp and one of the walls had a large hole where a few bricks had been pushed through by a fallen tree. "Ill soon stop that" she said as she began to stack empty wine barrels in front of the hole. Standing back to admire her handiwork, she checked around to see if she had missed any and returned to the homeowner outside.

"There, they are all dead and I blocked up the hole in the wall" she explained.
"Oh thankyou. Here take this" the man said gratefully offering her a few small gold coins. It wasn't enough to buy anything at all and she felt slightly miffed that the man was obviously loaded and could have given her more. She felt like saying something but realised she would have sounded ungrateful.
"Thanks" she mumbled and walked over to the blacksmiths to sell Bonegrinder's staff and to buy some better armour. She also stopped by the alchemists to purchase a few health potions to see her through the inevitable battles ahead.

Rynn had lost the sense of time with the little side quest she got caught up with. Glancing over to the tavern, she could see that Arokh was not waiting so she took the time to look around the city. She wondered what houses were available and she noticed that whilst they were on the way to the Shadowmire, there were a couple of houses very similar in design to hers just out of town.
Inquisitive, she wandered out of the gates and crossed the bridge over the river taking her back to the fork in the path which one led to Shadowmire and the other to the two houses below.

Still curious, she made her way down to the first one seeing a weary old woman picking flowers in the well kept garden. "What do you want?" The old woman snapped as Rynn got closer. She could see that the woman was obviously poorer than the inhabitants who lived within Surdana's walls. She was dressed like a peasant would dress, in fact the sight reminded her very much of her hometown.
"I'm just looking around." Rynn said quietly.

Just then, Arokh landed beside her alarming the old woman. "Ah, Rynn. I was beginning to wonder where you got to" he said. "You weren’t outside the tavern so I came looking for you."
"Sorry Arokh, I got side-tracked" Rynn apologised.
"So you are the dragon rider" the old woman butted in. "Go on, get lost, we don't want any dragon riding witches around here." She said angrily waving a sweeping brush in a threatening manner.
"Oh" Rynn said taken aback.
"Excuse me!" Arokh shouted. "You insult my bonded, you insult me. How dare you be so rude, apologise at once or I will report you."

The old woman didn't even flinch at the sound of the dragon's furious voice, she carried on regardless as if he wasn't there.
"I said apologise" Arokh shouted.
"Go on, get lost, I'm not apologising to you... you ugly reptile." She snapped.
"Ugly reptile!!" Arokh roared his eyes boiling with fury. "Your lucky you are a human. If you were anything else you would be dead by now" he snarled.
Rynn put a hand on his side. "Leave it Arokh. She is just a rude miserable old woman. Come on, I am ready to go to Ravenshold if you are."

A little calmer Arokh agreed. "I'm sure as ever. Come on, we must get going; every minute counts. I suspect Jassad, the leader of the Desert Lords has already found out we opened the first gate and he will almost certainly try and stop us."

"What were you doing down there anyway?" Arokh questioned as they flew away towards the gate.
"Nothing really, I just wanted to look at the houses."
"Oh, thinking of the future I see" Arokh laughed turning towards the gateway flying over Lady Myschala's palace.

"Hold on Arokh. I have some money left. Can we call by Jade's tower to see if she can teach me some spells?"
"Later Rynn. We don't have much time. Anyhow, your archery and melee skills are good enough to get us through the tasks ahead. Furthermore, you have me." He ended with a smile.
"Okay" Rynn agreed reluctantly and soon they were back in the city of Ravenshold.

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