Hunt the Great Hellwyrm

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Baros leaped from the saddle and pulled a small bag of magical items from his saddlebag. "If we are in luck it has not moved on too far." Baros said studying the skyline.

No clear signs of where it went. "Send your familiar as high as you can. I will see if we can track it by other means."

He went to the charred patch of earth where the great beast had lain. It cracked under his feet as he walked, the intense heat had turned the soil to glass, and then something more brittle still. It was even still warm under the soles of his books. "Do not follow me. My cloak provides protection against fire, so the heat will no me no harm so long as I do not tarry long."

He bend down and took a small glass vial from the bag, along with some small black twigs and a red bead, then he crumbled the twigs onto the ground. They immediately flared up with a green flame, then he dropped the bead into the flame, which in turn made the flame go an earthy brown tone, finally he added the liquid from the vial and the flame became the deepest violet.

"oculr ossalur leirith saurlv" Baros incanted, and the flame flickered a moment, then grew to surround him for a brief moment. He let out a howl of pain and clutched his head. He surged to his feet and ran back to unburnt ground to try and catch his breath.
 
Nodding Gravely as Baros came to a stop pulling the items out of the bag as he willed his familiarr to find the closest tree of suffiecent hieght as it started to climb up the bark quickly claws peicing the old wood of the tree as it made its ascent. His familiars eyes glancing round to see if it could spot the beast or perhaps a trail upon which the beast had left in his abandonment.

" I see nothing it seems as if the beast left little by means of trails of smoke or scale" he said Calmly as he waited for Baros to leave the patch of glass. As he spoke his real eyes not those of his familiar turned towards the edges of the trees looking to see if indeed the beast had left an earthly mark on its direction.
 
Baros swore in very specific dialect of the common human tongue, and shook his head. "South East, perhaps East South East. I could only get the slightest trace before the backlash of the magic around here was too much. We should ride hard and hope we can get a better clue. Both of those directions have large settlements less than a league from here."
 
Asana nodded and Looked at his Familiar with a knowing look while muttering something under his breath as the feline vannished in a puff of smoke. He knew Aramil would be close behind them but even so he drew out a small dagger and carved an arrow into the back or a tree indicating the direction they were heading " Lets go then I'll keep up on foot till we can find another mount". With that he started off towards the south east.
 
Baros set off at a canter, whilst the remnants of the garrison caught up with Asana and moved with him at as fast a march as they could. Aramil riding at whatever pace the old man chose.

After perhaps an hour of travelling along a broad dirt road, Asana catches up with Baros who is riding back along the road leading another horse. "I was able to buy some horses. There are others a mile up the road for the others. We should make haste Asana."

He offered the elf the reins and spoke, "I think we are on the right road. I can smell fire on the wind."
 
Fantastic execution, thus far, two-leggers.

Fang thought to himself as he observed from afar. He had been the silent watcher since just before the few remaining travelers were attacked outside of the chapterhouse. They had done well. Surprisingly moreso than the dragon had anticipated.

He drew closer now, though still remained far out of sight for them. Still the elder council screamed in his ear, having last asked him to take a more direct role, and now seeing him do more or less nothing. Their thoughts as to the course of action he should or should not take were irrelevant to him, however. He would perform actions when he, and only he, deemed it appropriate.

For now, he watched, ever silent.
 
They rode for three days, resting only as much as they truly needed to. The garrison from the town had failed to catch up with them. They would be a loss, but not a great one for they had been injured, ill equipped and without leadership. The road was not a good one; little more than an occasionally cobbled mud track really linking a few small farming communities. At around dawn on the third day since leaving the site of the battle they woke from a short rest to once more see smoke upon the horizon, but not far off, two hours ride at most.

Baros quickly secured his sword and cloak and sprang up into the saddle. "We may be in luck, but we must not tarry." He spoke as he waited for Asana to be ready to ride.
 
Asana looked up at Baros and nodded his agreement to the plan as he hastened to the horses hooking his right foot in the stirrup and hoisting his leg over the back of the poor beast. Settling into the saddle his hand took hold of the reigns as he looked to Baros. Glancing up his eyes narrowed on the horizon looking for traces of smoke. “I don't see the trail”
 
"There just above the horizon, between those two hills. Too big and dark a plume to be man made, unless someone started a forest fire." Baros replied. To the south visible through the gap between two hills was a rising cloud of black smoke.
 
Asana glanced to the direction Baros nodded and squinted before bringing his hands to his eyes rubbing away miles of drust that had become the accumulated sleep that had been flushed from his eyes through the brief nap. Catching sight of the smoke he cast a side long look at Baros " are you sure your not of elven blood ? " he said as he kicked his spurs into the side of his mount.
 
"Not elven no," he chuckled and set his own horse moving after Asana's. "Some of us have to cheat."

As he caught up with the elf he pulled out from inside the neck of his chain shirt a rectangular amulet with several runes upon it. "A few useful charms to help in our duties. Everyone of my rank or higher is given one." He explained. "Although natural gifts would be preferable."

They had a mile to ride to reach the two hills, once there they would have an idea of how much further to reach the beast.
 
Asana smirked and shook his head before he spoke " cheaters never prosper" he said with a snicker. His hand upon the reigns pulling it to the left and making the horse turn a little to the side before he spoke" It looks like the terrain directly ahead is loose, its better to go around the sides".
 
"Perhaps, but we make do." He replied and steered his horse along after Asana's. Now they were closer they could see there was indeed more smoke, and there was a smell of burning and sulphur upon the air.
 
His curiosity satisfied with how well they would perform without his assistance, Fang allowed his alicorn, who was not typically one to enjoy decreased paces, to finally start a slow trot toward the others.

Realizing either Baros and Asana would likely ask questions as to his sudden and extended absence, Fang simply approached in silence. Luckily, he hadn't let on to a whole lot of his reasonings for his presence, or what he was planning on doing. Still, being there and then suddenly vanishing just before several other people decided to leave would make him look suspicious.
 
Asana lead his horse round the edges of loose soil by following close to the trunks of the trees. As they rounded the last tree before the terrain appeared to solidify there lay a freshly killed Stag, it had an Arrow through its throat but had not been claimed by its hunter yet. Paying the dead animal little more thought than the casual glance that had discovered it he spoke " Are there any Human or Halfling settlements near this place ? "
 
Baros reached into his saddlebags and pulled out a rolled up map. He studied it for a moment, looked to the sky and then back to the map before nodding. "Hard to say exactly where we are, but if I am right beyond these hills there are two small settlements. Human of course, halflings don't life in this part of the empire."

He replaced the map and then as he was about to make another move he noticed the strange 'man' on the stranger mount. "We thought we'd lost you." He called out.
 
"I am not so easy to lose as you may hope." Fang had to force the tiny hint of a sarcastic tone that managed to come out. He was much more comfortable when his tone shifted back to completely serious, again. "I thought you may appreciate some more direct involvement, considering everyone else seems to have lost interest or gotten too frightened to continue."

Fang looked around, more with his astral powered senses than with his glowing red eyes. He then gestured toward the charms. "If you like I can bind those to you so they will act more like natural abilities."

It was a dramatic shift in his attitude. Up until this point he had been extremely uninvolved. Now, all at once, he was willing to lend his aid so much to the point of binding magical charms, a difficult task that consumed a large amount of energy, particularly when the one doing the binding did not also create them.
 
Nodding to Baros's statement his eyes traveled to Fang arching a brow slowly at his appearance. " It seems that we left quite the trail behind us in our Haste, Baros." he said with a moderate smork before he spoke again " If we are near abouts where you belived upon your map it seems the beast is probably recreating the hell of Freehaven, as we passed a freshly hunted Stag. We should make haste before the beast kills more innocents"
 
"Suggest it to my order later." Baros said to the dragons and then looked back in the direction of the smoke. "Best be about it then." He said to Asana and kicked his horse into a gallop. He was getting tired of following this beast and hungry for action, whether he would regret wanting a confrontation with Freehaven's destroyer remained to be seen.
 
The neutral elder dragon never was one to push an issue he felt was rather unimportant. His counterparts didn't feel the same way. ~Force him to let you bind them!~ ~He needs as much protection as he can get.~ ~You cannot save everyone at once, neutral one.~ ~Let the two-legger die!~ -Will you all kindly SHUT UP!-

It wasn't often that Fang used such new sayings. But from time to time, the shortened phrases and new euphamisms humans invented were quite useful. This was one of those times. For a brief second, there was actually silence on the other end of the mental link. Though only for a second, before the full chorus of the Elder Council chimed in at the same time. ~You will not speak to us in such a manner, neutral one. We are the governing body for all things draconic along with the most potent force of guardians to The Balance the multiverse has ever seen. This situation is in our realm of authority and if you think to...~ -I am well aware of all of your qualifications and responsibilities. So please, if any of you think that you could do a more effective job with this then by all means feel free to take control. I would be more than happy to go back to Bakarne and finish dealing with the situation there. But since every one of you is too lazy and too political to actually take a stand for anything, leave me to do my job with the authority I have, keeping in mind that the only actual connection to this beast that any of us have is the fact that it is masquerading as one of us, which makes it something other than draconic. That, in and of itself, means that I have more experience with whatever type of creature it is. Now as I said before, leave me to my duties.-

Fang wasn't really much for long conversations, either. But there were times when a rant to the council was necessary. They hadn't banished him from their ranks yet, and they all knew he was too important for them to do so now. Without betraying a single hint of the conversation raging at the back of his mind, Fang looked to Baros and Asana and nodded. "Lead the way, sirs."
 
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