Witches, Dragons and Rising Runelords

by LevitatingMountainYak

An escaped slave and his dragon flee north into the Varisian frontier where they come upon a small town called Sandpoint. There they meet a no nonsense witch and an amiable innkeeper who try to settle them before they run off the edge of the world. But Sandpoint might need the slave and the dragon more than they need it. (Rated M for violence and so I can write what I want)

1. Chapter 1

So this is my first outing on the internet at large with one of my works, as it (hopefully) states above this is an adaption of the 'Rise of the Runelords' adventure path published by Paizo for their Pathfinder RPG.

Tel is my PC and Uka is the PC of the other player (only a 2man party). The GM is obviously the primary driver of this plot and as such I'm not actually sure where it's going. Also you'll have to forgive any 'RPG assumptions' that worm their way in here such as characters making slightly out of character choices for the sake of the GM's game. I've tried to smooth them out as best I can though.

As this is my first piece of story fiction any and all comments and criticisms are welcome.

I'm still trying to figure out what works best for formatting...

I hope you enjoy the Rise of the Runelords.

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Chapter 1

The gold flowed smoothly from the crucible into the packed sand mould, steady hands firmly holding the handles of the tiny vessel. All at once the gold welled up within the second hole atop the mould, indicating the pour complete. Gloved hands set the crucible aside on a nearby tree stump, a thin wisp of smoke winding up from where it sat against the wood. The gloves were shortly thrown down beside the crucible and the freed fingers set to combing through short, dark hair. Brown eyes glanced around the clearing to ensure his privacy before he allowed a look of smug satisfaction to settle over his narrow face. A smile spread over his unremarkable yet almost handsome features.

"That's the last of them, Hearth," he said to the other occupant of the small clearing in the woods. At the mention of his name Hearth cracked an eye in the direction of the speaker and, after a moment spent gathering his vast, membranous wings against his sides, pushed himself up onto his four muscular legs. His long serpentine tail lashed the air behind him in mock annoyance as he meandered over to see what the fuss was about. He cut an impressive profile as he went with his barrel chest tapering abruptly to a lean stomach. His heavily muscled legs, broad shoulders and powerful hindquarters seemed at odds with his fluid and graceful movements and gave him the air of a prize athlete. The dragons skin was a pure jet black overset with slightly lighter scales patterned to produce the near perfect likeness of a piece of charred wood. He craned his neck to bring his head closer to the object of his partner's pride. The neck and head were proportioned much like those of a horse though clearly the former was possessed of a much greater degree of flexibility as he rotated his reptilian head this way and that to get a better look at the mould. Hearth took care not to catch the smug jeweller with the two smooth, swept back horns that protruded back behind his head as continuations of his brow line. The horns wound a 180 degree twist before coming to an end in rounded points, scarcely losing half their thickness from base to tip. The large head was cocked to the side; the better to give the bright orange eye that now inspected the jeweller's works as close a view as possible.

Seeing nothing of interest in the cooling mould Hearth opened his nostrils and blew a cloud of smoke down over the smug face. The face only cocked an eyebrow in return and held its breath, waiting for the smoke to pass. Before the grey cloud thinned however Hearth gently bumped his companion's chest with his broad, round snout. The jeweller went tumbling onto his back, powerless to resist the motion of Hearth's mighty head, but quickly recovered and brandished an imaginary sword at his assailant. He rolled over on the grass, chopping at the left foreleg with his make believe blade. The leg was sharply withdrawn in pretend pain before the jaws flashed open and down and over the entire upper body of the now sitting man. Razor sharp teeth, each easily 6 inches long gently pressured the leather apron worn by Hearth's hapless target. The head gave a barely perceptible shake to reaffirm its victory.

"Ack," the struggling figure exclaimed before continuing in a defeated tone, "ok Hearth, you win again." As the jaws released their victim and the vast head rose it was Hearths turn to wear the smug look upon his angular, aerodynamic features. The man looked down at the small marks left in his leather apron and smiled. "This is why I don't bother buying nice clothes," he said sarcastically and gave Hearth a wry look. The dragon flopped down where he stood with comedic contempt for the man's complaints and drifted back to sleep in the warmth of the morning sun.

The jeweller went back to his work and cracked the mould sharply with a set of tongs. He lifted the mould and sitting half buried in the sand left behind was a golden ring covered in a swirling pattern of oak leaves and birds. After cleaning the moulding lines and imperfections it was gently placed alongside its counterparts and the man stepped back from his impromptu display stump-table to review his work.
"Not a bad effort if I do say so myself, eh Hearth?"
The great head had lifted from where it lay and was regarding the display of jewellery. It bobbed in agreement that it was a fine display before giving the jeweller an affectionate nudge and Hearth tucked it back under a wing and went back to sleep.
The gold jewellery was gently placed into small cloth pouches which were in turn placed within a pack the jeweller slung over his shoulder and he grabbed a small display rack under one arm.
"Hearth, hey, wake up. It's time to go," he said gently to the sleeping dragon, placing a hand on the black hide.
Hearth rolled to right himself before ducking his head almost to the ground for his companion to clamber up behind. The man sat astride his neck, just behind his head, and grasped a horn with his free hand. "You know, if we sell all this jewellery at the festival this afternoon we might be able to buy a proper set of kit for you. Maybe some saddle bags and a collar with a cushion," he said jokingly. The dragon gave a rumble and he quickly added, "yes, yes, and some more food for you." With that Hearth pushed himself up to his full height, near 10' tall at the shoulder, took two massive bounding leaps, and with one powerful downstroke they were airborne. The ground and the forest fell away beneath them as they continued to climb with the sapphire waters of the Varisian gulf sparkling to the northwest. The wind was cold on his face but Hearths head protected his legs and lower body from the wind as they set off north over the forest and towards the small town of Sandpoint. Although the sun wasn't even at its daily zenith and the festival wasn't due to start for hours the town was a hive of activity and people could be seen swarming through the streets, the distance giving it the appearance of an agitated ants nest. As they got closer Hearth took them low and out of sight of the town with his wings almost touching the treetops on the down stroke.

A short while later the clearing out side of town that was their destination came into view and Hearth slowed to a hover before landing softly on the grass. The clearing was about a mile outside town into the forest and on the far side of the river mouth from the town. Although ostensibly part of a local noble's estate the land the clearing was on was wild and uninhabited and it was not by accident that this was their target. Having landed Hearth lowered his head half way to the ground and rolled his neck to allow his passenger to dismount. He did so by holding the lower horn, dangling a moment, and dropping to the ground.

"Thanks Hearth," the young man replied and the dragon nuzzled him affectionately.

"Hopefully I'll sell this lot for a good price and we can get you a whole cow. I know you hate eating carrion," he said sadly. At the man's insistence Hearth hadn't been hunting for fear of being spotted as his presence was sure to cause a stir and rouse the local authorities to a monster hunt. The request still weighed heavily on his mind, he did not enjoy watching his dear friend suffer so and it was a credit to Hearth's loyalty that he had heeded that request; which of course only made the guilt worse. Still he had a chance to set that right here, today, with his pack full of goods and a waiting market. Though he wasn't yet sure how to surreptitiously purchase a whole cow and have it disappear into the forest he would cross that bridge if, and hopefully when, he came to it. He turned to see the dragon already making himself comfortable in the clearing as he'd made trips into town before and hearth knew the drill. "Hey," he said, stroking the great head, "this might be a slightly longer outing than the usual quick runs, I might not be back until after dark." Hearth warbled a melodic sound of understanding before putting his head over the man and hugging him close to his breast with his chin. The comparatively tiny figure threw his arms around hearths thick neck and said, "I'll be back before you know it." Despite the warmth of the early autumn day he pulled the scarf around his neck up over the bridge of his nose, adjusting its height on his left cheek to ensure it hid the branding scar. The twisted flesh of the brand stretched the full width of his left eye down to the corner of his mouth. He quickly mentally checked off his things; pack with jewellery, display stand and his trusty short sword. He looked down at the blade and wondered if, being in the style of the gladiators of Cheliax, it might draw unwanted attention. He drew his tunic over its distinctive hilt and affixed the heavy armoured gauntlet to his left wrist that was the other half of his pair of Chelaxian pit weapons. With a last look back at Hearth he headed towards Sandpoint.

As he came upon the bank of the river, the water's edge clutched tightly in the roots of the forest, he looked across the water to Sandpoint. The town was situated on the northern bank of the river mouth, nestled on the spit of land the river made as it ran parallel to the ocean before abruptly turning west and emptying into the ocean. The almost 90 degree bend in the river was wide and sheltered and home to a small fleet of fishing boats, all of which were currently moored on the wooden piers with their owners in the town in anticipation of the festivities. The town itself was a cheery place, even in the absence of the celebratory energy it now possessed, with its wide streets and well repaired buildings; almost all of which were two storeys tall with a wooden upper storey perched atop lower of sturdy stone. The skyline was punctuated by a large stone cathedral, its upper spire reaching for the clouds, and the smoking stacks of the glassworks which was the primary industry of the town. The town was nice, as towns went, the man decided. He rarely came by during the day, preferring instead the cover of night, but when he did he had to admit to its charms. Despite this he couldn't stifle the sense of unease he felt as he turned and walked along the bank towards one of the low wooden bridges that crossed the placid river to the town. This would be his first legitimate visit, the only one so far where he did not sneak in as a thief...

Towns were not where he felt safe; they were a place where the risk of discovery vastly outweighed any comforts that might be found there as the life of a slave was viewed as the property of its owner and would be made miserable or brutally ended if escape was attempted. Moreover towns presented a place where Hearth would not be tolerated, much less welcome, and was even likely to be hunted for sport or from the misguided opinion that the dragon was dangerous. Anywhere Hearth, his dearest friend, was not welcome the man was not prepared to stay. Better a life in the wilds on the run with Hearth than a life of peace in town without.

The hollow clomp of his boots on the boards of the bridge sounded alien to him and only increased his anxiety by serving as a reminder that he now trod dangerous ground. Yet even as his instincts moved to an ever heightened state of readiness his mind countered with the fact they he had at least one friendly contact within the Sandpoint community, the proprietor of the Rusty Dragon inn. In fact it was she who had suggested he might take advantage of the festival to put some more coin in his pocket. As he made his way across the bridge he feared he would be stopped and discovered and would likely have to fight his way back to Hearth. His mind played out a hundred scenarios as he made his final approach to the far side of the bridge and Sandpoint with each more dreadful than the last. He found the thought of killing a guard just doing his job unpleasant but he would not leave Hearth to fend for himself and he felt his duty to his friend more keenly than any number of other lives. His heart leapt into his throat as he approached the guard on duty at the far end of the bridge. Although the guard seemed disinterested in his post his breastplate and weapons were both well-kept with the sun glinting from the polished armour, spear head and loaded crossbow bolt all. The guard eyed the approaching man's scarf closely and the escaped slave felt that his dark thoughts were about to be horribly realised. The guard abruptly cracked a warm smile however and simply said, "welcome to Sandpoint friend, I haven't seen you around here before. Do you need directions?"
The slave responded by means of a simple headshake and walked by without breaking stride leaving the guard to give a puzzled shrug of his shoulders and turn his gaze back to his intent study of the road.

With a sigh of relief hidden by his scarf the increasingly uncomfortable slave made his way through the town. As he went he passed more people in minutes than he had in months as his previous experience of the town had been purely nocturnal and conducted from the shadows. This experience was nothing alike with the sun warm in the sky and the bustle of activity leading to the upcoming festival. Starkly at odds with his own demeanour the townsfolk were a warm and welcoming bunch not hesitant to wish him a good day as he passed. He felt very much the outsider and hurried along as quickly as he dared without attracting attention while returning the kindness paid with a string of awkward nods.

As his walk turned slowly from an experience of abject terror of discovery into one of a more simmering fear, and simply feeling so very isolated from the people around him, he at last came upon his destination. He made his way around the back of the Rusty Dragon inn as inconspicuously as he could and ducked into the stables courtyard. Thankfully there was no one present and the quiet wicker of the few horses in residence was the only acknowledgement his presence got. He moved quietly towards the back door of the inn and knocked on its sturdy timber before apprehensively glancing behind and up at the second storey windows to make sure no one was watching. The door was suddenly flung inwards and the man jumped back in surprise.

Through the opening a scene of organised madness unfolded. The inns kitchen was full of cooks all bustling about and they were all far too busy with the various things cooking that occupied every available flat surface within to notice the frozen figure staring in at the spectacle. Indeed their simmering war for more space, each ever trying to annex a piece of his neighbours bench for one of his own pots, rendered them wholly blind to the goings on at the doorway.

A young woman greeted the man at the back door with a bedraggled smile and looked glad for the excuse to step outside as she did so.
"I'm glad you decided to come, Tel," she said to the man as he backed towards the stables at the edge of the small courtyard and away from the chaos in the kitchen. She tucked her long, stark white bangs back behind her ears before continuing, "You know you don't need the scarf, right? We've discussed this before; no one in the town will care or call the guards."

"I prefer to wear it," Tel replied, "I'm not as ready to trust every last one of these people as you are."
His mistrust had been proven well founded over his months as a fugitive and to his mind Sandpoint was no different.

"You seem to trust me well enough," she countered easily and pulled a lopsided smirk that pushed the mole by her wide lips up level with her nose, "I might've turned you in easy as I please and yet here you are."

Indeed she might have turned me in Tel thought. He had been caught red handed trying to steal food from her inn that night and her response had puzzled him since.
"I did not mean for you to find out, and I would not have returned if my status was advertised," Tel said, meeting her gaze.
"Well it wasn't advertised and you needn't have left, either. The offer of work for room and board still stands if you've finally tired of living in whichever wilderness den you call home," she said and she let the smirk fall from her face to convey her sincerity.
"I thank you for the offer, but again I must refuse," Tel said and he couldn't help but remember the night they'd met.

He had snuck into Sandpoint soon after he came to the region while still recovering from a grievous injury. Weak and feverish he had thought to sneak in, steal what he needed and be gone back to where he'd left Hearth waiting. He'd been standing in this very courtyard and, drawn by the delicious smells coming from the kitchen, had quietly opened to the door only to find a pair of keen brown eyes upon him and the point of a rapier at his throat. Those same eyes now gave him a look he could not quite place while his own gaze unconsciously flitted to the rapier that even now hung easily at her side.

Seeing his condition as she had pushed the door fully open and allowed the light to fall on him she ushered him quietly inside, despite the hour being well past midnight. Too hungry and fever addled to question the hospitality he had, without thinking, pulled down his scarf and devoured the food sat at the table in front of him. Despite the candles burning low on the walls she noticed almost immediately and Tel had felt his heart skip a beat and his stomach knot at her intense focus on his revealed face.

Realising the game was up he had thought to run for the door, but before he could move that rapier was at his throat again. At the time he had considered making a move anyway, he could not bear to leave Hearth alone in the woods and the thought of never seeing his draconic friend again had lent his clouded mind reason to try his luck. His mad plan had died in its infancy however, slain by the surprise of hearing, delivered in a quietly commanding voice, "you're not going anywhere until you've had at least one good meal." The smile on her face had disarmed him utterly; exhausted and famished he was in no mood to complain. He had left the inn that night, not in chains as he feared he might, but with an old yet warm blanket, a loaf of bread and dried meat.

Thinking on what had transpired that night he would be lying to himself if he said he didn't sometimes think that if his circumstances had been different he would have gladly accepted the offer. But Hearth would not be included he had known and so the offer had been easily refused.
"Well, suit yourself," she said with a shrug that made Tel acutely aware of how tense he was and how rigidly he'd been standing. He made an effort to relax his ready muscles and was rewarded with a cutting laugh and a slap on the shoulder which he avoided flinching away from only by supreme effort of will.
"I was wondering how long it'd take you to work that stick out of there," she said.
Tel felt his face rush hot with embarrassment and was suddenly even more glad of the scarf covering his face.
"Towns make me wary is all," he said a little defensively, it was the best he could manage as hits wits fled before his shame.
"Heh, you'd get along well with a friend of mine I would think. She's forever out and about too while she keeps an eye on all the goblins around here. If you're going to insist on staying where it's not safe, by yourself, you might at least tell me where you're holed up and I can ask her to warn you of any trouble headed your way."
Tel tensed again at the thought that there was a ranger patrolling the area, a ranger who might stumble upon Hearth and himself, a ranger who would surely hunt down a dragon if she knew of its presence.
Seeing him tense up she quickly added, "She's mainly focusing her efforts to the north, and has been for some months as there's a bugbear she's had a few run ins with that she's keen to put down."
"Why would her being to the north be any comfort to me?" Tel asked suspiciously. He did not know if she was guessing, or whether this ranger had already located them. The latter was unlikely he thought, nothing could sneak past Hearth; the dragon had this strange sixth sense of everything going on around him and he was confident this ranger had no foil for it. Still, he aimed a suspicious look at her by way of requesting an explanation.
"You came in from the south bridge," she said smoothly, and, nodding towards his boots said, "I can tell by the sand on them, and this leads me to believe you've set up somewhere to the south."
It was an explanation the more suspicious parts of his mind were not willing to believe but despite their protests he found he had nothing to take it on but face value.
"Oh, well," he trailed off realising too late his reaction had confirmed her theory more than anything else.
"Don't worry so much Tel, I'm not going to raise a mob and scour the forest. You need to relax and accept the fact that, whether you believe it or not, not everyone is out to get you."

Tel was not ashamed to admit that, in truth, Hearth was the only other creature in existence he trusted. His silence conveyed more completely his opinion on the matter than any words he might have spoken.

"One day Tel, when you've finally come to see that the folk of Sandpoint mean you no harm, you'll have to let me know what," she paused to find the words, "tragedy befell you to shape your thinking so."
"When that day comes, I gladly will," Tel said coolly.
She gave his remark a snort and a smile, "That I will hold you to. Now, on a lighter note, you're happy to take these good people's money, if not their word I assume?"
Tel was glad of the change of topic yet he couldn't help being slightly annoyed at how easily she ran verbal rings around him. He confirmed her suspicions of his whereabouts quite unwittingly, and his feelings on a topic he found hard to disguise whatever words he might choose to use. She'd sensed his discomfort and moved the conversation back into his comfort zone with a smooth ease Tel couldn't help but envy.
"Yes, I've managed to turn my last few gold coins into some things I hope will fetch a good price," he said stiltedly, though truth told he didn't much fancy spending Chelaxian coinage and betraying his origins to every merchant he dealt with.
When he made no move to show off his labours she prompted, "Well, are you going to show me what you have? It was my idea to go to the markets after all."
He seemed to suddenly realise what she meant and unslung his pack and removed the wrapping of his creations. He tentatively proffered the first piece, an intricate golden chain sized as a bracelet with every link home to engravings of playful dolphins on its flattened faces.
She was momentarily dumbstruck but quickly gathered he thoughts. "Tel that's, that's, beautiful," she said with furrowed brows. He took a small delight at seeing her being the one to trip over her words for once and would have considered giving the bracelet to her as a gift. However, the jewellery was the only way he could afford Hearth's food and might even stretch to some decent equipment for their life on the run; the wilds were far kinder to the well-equipped after all.
He held out his hand and she returned the bracelet with a slightly regretful air.
"That will fetch you a good price from any nobleman looking to woo a lady I should think," she said.
"I'm hoping so," was all Tel responded with.
"Well, come on then, you know the deal," she said abruptly, "you can set up on those barrels next to my own little stand." She motioned at the collection of tables and chairs stacked beside the barrels and said, "But first we're going to have to get those up to the cathedral..."

An hour, and a good many trips up the hill from the inn to the cathedral on the other side of town carrying heavy furniture, later Tel finally dropped himself to his stool. He had set the three barrels up in what he felt displayed his meagre stock to best advantage. They made a triangle with the central barrel raised slightly above the others and positioned at the back. He had his pieces laid out on their cloths or hanging from his display rack and he felt a wretchedly shabby street peddler, hawking his limited wares from his tiny stall. He held onto the hope of selling a few items at least, based on Ameiko's very positive review when he had shown her earlier. He looked over to her. She was behind her temporary bar serving food brought up from her inns kitchen and drink from its stores. Clearly at home among the bustling crowd crammed into the town plaza in front of the newly finished cathedral, the structure in whose honour the festivities were thrown, her stand was providing Tel's boutique with a steady stream of potential customers. He watched them warily as they filed between the great tables he'd helped Ameiko set up in the plaza suspecting any one of them might be a thief. Given how much Hearth and he needed the things the sale of this jewellery would buy he was unwilling to accept any losses to his stocks.

He was startled from his analysis of the thieving qualities of the crowd by a cat jumping onto his display barrels. Before he could shoo it away it sniffed at a particular piece and then raised a paw to elicit a, "so that's the one you want then?" from nearby. The cat nodded.

"Are you sure?" the female voice asked. It was then Tel realised that the raised paw was not merely held in the air; it was pointing. His puzzled gaze was still fixed on the cat when he heard a throat cleared pointedly very close and he looked up to see a strange woman in a dark, pointed felt hat. The hat was a deep purple and her hair was nearly long enough to touch the ground. Her ample bosom was bidding for freedom against the custody of a corset and she wore a dress slit up both sides nearly to her hip revealing shapely legs hidden from below the knee in practical looking boots.
"We will take that one," she said, pointing to a bracelet.
"That will be 20 coins of gold," Tel replied, trying to sound confident in his asked price. To his surprise the strange woman only laughed, "Friend, you need to know your market! I've got pecker perker potions for sale over there for 50 gold a pot, and they're selling hand over fist!" she jerked a thumb back over her shoulder to where her own stall was set up and Tel was surprised to see it unsupervised, save by a frightful looking doll perched haphazardly on one of the display tables.
"Though i dare say," she continued, "that a good deal of the lads who bought those would have more use for them if they bought one of these too." she said this not as a joke, but with as straight a face as one might use to state a simple fact. The cat simply looked bemused at the length of time the purchase was taking while the woman added, "ask 60 at least for the bracelets, and 100 for the necklace." With that she handed over 60 gold coins and slipped the bracelet over the cats head like a collar. The cat purred contentedly, seeming satisfied that it looked splendid and dropped to the ground to make its way back to its owner's potion tables. Tel, taken aback by this turn of events, so utterly out of line with how he'd rehearsed it in his head, belatedly said, "You're welcome to take the bag it's supposed to come with, if you'd like."
"Hah! That'll only do me any good if she takes it off, which she probably won't. I'm Uka by the way, and your satisfied customer is Ula. I'm the local witch," she said with the same level voice she'd used to describe pecker perker potions.

Briefly Tel considered giving a false name, but he couldn't think of anything on the spot. Besides he reasoned, stumbling over your own name is the kind of thing that arouses suspicion, something he was keen to avoid and doubly so when a witch was involved. Tel had no idea what powers she could wield, though that she was a skilled alchemist and brewer of potions was on display at her stall, he was acutely aware that the most powerful plays you had were the ones your opponents didn't know about. He'd heard the stories of course, of curses and hexes of an uncomfortable nature and spells bringing swifter demises. Still, she didn't seem aggressive for the moment, and she had made a purchase for 3 times his asking price, so he decided that playing along was the best strategy to adopt.
"Pleased to meet you Uka, I'm Tel,' he responded as levelly as he could manage.
"Tel is an odd name, still, I guess you don't get to choose it. Say, I haven't seen you around here before; you new in town or just here for the festival?" Uka enquired.
"Oh, just passing through," Tel replied noncommittally. This line of conversation made him increasingly anxious and he was unsure how many more questions in that vein he was prepared to answer. He was saved however when a man sidled over surreptitiously towards Uka's tables and picked up a suggestively shaped bottle labelled 'PP' before quickly replacing it under the baleful gaze of the creepy doll.
"Excuse me," Uka quickly blurted, before running over to make another sale.

As the hours ground on towards the evening and the sun grew low in the sky Tel found that he had sold all his stock. The pace of his sales had increased dramatically after Uka and Ula's purchase of his bracelet and he wondered how much of his fortune he owed to the cat. It seemed very keen to display its bracelet collar to passers-by and invariably provoked an inquiry to Uka as to where it came from. For her part Uka seemed only too happy to point people over to Tels collection of barrels and combined with the people waiting in line at Ameikos food and drink stall he did a brisk business.
Finding himself without any stock he began to pack up his things. The situation made him nervous and although the people of Sandpoint had been universally welcoming he still felt ill at ease. He replaced the cloth bags that weren't taken with their purchases in his pack, folded up his display rack and returned his borrowed stool and barrels to Ameiko quickly. He was keen to leave the busier parts of town and make his purchases from the farmers outside Sandpoint proper. He reasoned that buying too many things at once might seem like he was outfitting for something and draw attention to him, something he was phobically afraid of doing. He performed a final check of his belongings before he would leave: sword, gauntlet, pack, display rack and lastly the hefty pouch of gold he had made that day. He'd counted 380 pieces of gold, a truly extraordinary sum, and a massive profit considering the 40 gold coins he'd smelted for the jewellery. Satisfied with his checks he scoped a path of least resistance through the packed eating tables, across the main avenue of the festival, through the stalls on the other side and away.

He made it as far as the main avenue when a bell abruptly rang and the crowd, as one, began to surge forward towards the cathedral and swept him along with it. He was trapped. He couldn't push back against the tide without making a scene and he dare not be jostled sufficiently that it might risk the scarf dropping from his face. Fighting to remain calm, his fears certain he should be exposed and unable to flee the resulting attempt at arrest, he moved with the crowd. As they approached the cathedral Tel noticed a stage had been set up in front of the immense stone structure and atop it ran a long table. Seated at the table were what Tel figured must have been the town dignitaries. The crowd abruptly stopped where it was, satisfied they were within earshot of the speakers. The dignitaries began at once to rise in turn and make speeches about things Tel cared nothing for. He didn't even hear them as he focussed on making his way, politely and unobtrusively, through the crowd towards its rear.

He was only two or three people from the back of the crowd when a dog started to bark vigorously. Tel froze and for a wretched moment assumed it was barking at him. He turned to look at the dog and just as he located it under a nearby wagon a short, green humanoid loomed over the dog with a jagged knife and stabbed it in the neck, choking its barking to a sad whimper as it died. The dogs assailant was no taller than 4' high with a disproportionately big head and it drew its blade from the dogs weakly pawing body and stepped through its blood pooling on the packed earth in search of fresh victims.

Tel stood for a moment transfixed. It was not the blood or the knife wielding goblin that stole action from him, he'd seen far more gore and far more intimidating killers during his time in the arenas, but indecision. Part of him urged him to run, these people weren't his responsibility and if anything would have constituted a material risk to his freedom and Hearths life if they found they had an escaped slave and a dragon living near their town. Another part of himself spurred him to action, these people should not be left to die it claimed, they deserve better than to be stabbed from behind. Strangely it was the dog that tipped Tels decision. In it he saw hearth, it barked in an attempt to warn its pack and was killed for it. Although Hearth's and his pack numbered only two they felt the bonds of fellowship run deep enough to make the same move as that dog had for each other.
It was decided; he would yell a warning and then make all haste to Hearth.
No sooner than he had made the decision was it rendered obsolete, a band of goblins that Tel estimated at 10 strong came quietly up the festive avenue towards the unaware back of the crowd starting fires with their torches as they went. With Escape currently impossible Tel steeled his nerves and yelled, "Goblins! We're under attack!"

Realising the game was up the gang goblins rushed in. There must have been other groups encircling the crowd as screaming shattered the stunned silence left in the wake of Tel's shouted warning. And then there was panic. People began to break from the crowd and rush towards the buildings of the town in their desperation to escape the goblins at the festival. The charging band Tel had sighted gleefully gave pursuit and seemed not to notice the one person not fleeing. Tel closed his left hand into a fist and raised the gauntlet armoured forearm in front of him defensively, his right hand went for his short sword and its single edge and scalloped end he held ready at his side. He exhaled to steady his racing heart and prepared to meet their charge. He knew he wasn't the most skilled swordsman around but he was at least basically proficient in his short sword and gauntlet fighting style following his training for the pits. He had only one real fights worth of previous experience however and he was acutely aware of how well that had gone. His first, and he hoped last, foray onto the arena sands had very nearly been the final act in both Hearths and his life and despite their survival had resulted in a months-long recovery on his part. 'Still,' he thought grimly, 'only one way to get experience.' With his need to see Hearth again and his determination that the dragon would not be left on his own lending him courage the battle was joined.

The goblin swung his crude knife in an overhead chop and Tel threw up his armoured forearm to block while making a right to left sweep at the goblins trunk with his blade. The goblin either didn't notice the onrushing sword or ignored it and Tels slash cut its abdomen to the spine while its own weapon was blocked harmlessly by the gauntlet. Tel quickly withdrew his blade to the ready position at his side and the goblins corpse slumped to the ground. Tel made a powerful backhanded sweep towards the legs of a goblin running by on his right as he turned to face it. His aim was true and the diminutive creature tripped forward to the ground and fell writhing and clutching its stump before Tel put it out of its misery.

He risked a quick glance around to take stock of the situation and was dismayed to see chaos ascendant and fire spreading. Even as he watched people ran around in a state of panic, hampering the guard's efforts to control the situation and exposing themselves to the goblins gleefully cutting anything that came within arm's reach. The goblins were also singing a song, setting fires and pocketing anything that took their fancy. He noticed ruefully that his training in 'arena craft', the situational awareness and tactical aspects of the gladiatorial profession, was wholly inapplicable to his present situation. He looked for an opening, somewhere he could dash through the goblin line and make his way back to Hearth, but he saw no such thing. The fight had passed the idea of lines and now the twilight and the glow of the fires illuminated only a haphazard collection of goblins and townsfolk all running this way and that.

Tel pushed his way past a knot of people and cut down another goblin as he moved towards the bridge he entered the town over. He made it only 20 yards before his left leg collapsed under him and he toppled to the ground. He caught himself and quickly rolled to his right and an instant later the dull clink of a knife striking the road met his ears. He rolled onto his back in an attempt to face his attacker but realised too late that there were two. One near his feet stabbed its blade down through his left shin, the thick leather of his boot not enough to fully stop the double handed effort but enough to blunt the worst of it. The blade still sunk into his leg however and he noticed another blade protruding from his thigh, its presence going a long way to explain his fall. The pain was incredible and dazed him at a crucial moment. His attempt get his gauntlet into position to block the swing from a goblin standing by his hip failed and he took a cut to the chest that showed breast bone and ribs when the blade was withdrawn. In desperation he kicked out with his good leg at the goblin struggling to retrieve its blade from his shin and was rewarded with the solid connection of his heel to its groin which sent it wincing to the road. He quickly turned his attention back to the attacker at his side, confident that his kick had bought him a moments respite from the other goblin. To his surprise and horror the goblin was being lifted off the ground by a thick lock of hair wound tightly around its neck. It clawed uselessly at the strangling length before it hoisted the goblin into the air and drove its head into the ground with enough force to crack open its head and spill brains onto the roadway.

The sun was rapidly setting and suddenly from the growing darkness behind the mashed goblin Uka stepped into view with the murderous tentacle of hair withdrawing to her back, flicking goblin brains from itself as it went. Tel stared at her with his mind filled with a mix of unease and gratitude. Her hair was a deeply unsettling weapon to see deployed snaking as it did, seemingly with a mind of its own, and clearly capable of punishing strength. Of all the powers he had heard credited to witches the ability to murder someone with their hair was not among them. A smile broke her look of concentration and Tels gratitude rose to the fore and he managed a weak, "Thank you for your help." Tel was confident he hadn't sustained any injuries likely to be immediately fatal and although he was losing a lot of blood he was still confident he could make it back. With the death and disabling of those last two goblins the way back to the clearing was open and with a grunt he managed to sit himself up.

Uka moved to extend an arm to help him up but before she got half way through the motion she abruptly stiffened and dropped to her knees. Her hair snaked forward over her shoulder holding a bloodied arrow. "Oh, that's annoying," she said weakly, "I like this dress." Her worlds were slurred by pain and she dropped forward onto one arm. A sudden quiet descended on the scene and Tel looked around worriedly. Terror gripped his throat as his worst fears were realised. The goblins had noticed the downed pair and made Uka and Tel as easy kills. A group began to ring them and chant their song before slowly advancing on the crippled duo. Tels gut churned, he felt nausea wriggle in his belly. It couldn't end here, not like this. All Hearth and he had survived, all their work on the jewellery, the successful but stressful day selling it, all that was going to come crashing down right here. Hearth would be left alone in the world and would likely fall victim to some self-aggrandising hunter, valued only as a potential head on the wall. The thought of his dearest friend meeting such a fate was a pain more severe than the physical wounds could muster and he used it. He pushed himself up onto the knee of his good leg and let loose the most fearsome roar he could. He poured into that cry all his anger at the fates that had dealt him this hand and the cruel world that cared so little for him or dear Hearth. It worked momentarily, the goblins jumped in surprise but then giggled to one another before resuming their advance.

The air around them all exploded as Tel's last shout of defiance was answered by Hearths roar. The roar was so loud and violently sudden that it was accompanied by a stab of pain in both ears and a blurring of the vision, it was felt in the chest and the sinus and the goblins froze as the deafening peal of thunder rolled over the town. Hearth erupted from the darkening sky and drove one of the goblins into the ground as he landed, crushing it to a bone studded goo. He clawed at another, sending its remains in three different directions before his head shot forward at a third. Hearth lifted the goblin into the air, only from waist down protruding from his teeth before biting down and sending the legs to the ground spilling intestines as they landed. The remaining goblins fled before the onslaught but Hearth did not give chase. He turned to inspect Tel and a questioning warble rolled on into a plaintive whine and then a soothing coo as the extent of Tel's injuries became apparent. Hearth gently nuzzled Tel's face and Tel raised a hand to Hearth's cheek, "Thank you," he said, "I would've been lost without you." There was a quiet meow from behind them and when Tel turned to look, using hearths proffered head for support, he saw Ula drop a vial of blue liquid to the ground in front of Uka and gently roll it towards her with a paw before meowing again. Uka picked it up with her free hand, pushed herself up to kneeling with the other and drank the contents. She cringed worryingly and petted Ula reassuringly despite the fact the cat seemed not at all phased by either the goblin attack or the arrival of Hearth.

Uka was clearly still dazed by the pain but the potion seemed to be rapidly restoring her strength. Her glassy eyes passed over Tel and Hearth, dismissing the dragons dark shape as a trick of the light, then with acuity slowly returning shot her gaze back to them.
"Tel... Is that, is that a dragon?" she inquired, her worlds slightly slurred.
Tel looked plaintively at Uka wishing fervently that she had not noticed, however ridiculous that wish might be. The game was up. Briefly he considered killing the only witness to Hearths presence, no price was too high to pay for his safely and the deed might easily be explained away by the goblin raid. But Ukas aid that had quite probably saved his life not moments before made the deed repugnant. The coldly practical part of him reminded him that the price of Uka's life might well be Hearth's and his. He countered these dark thoughts with the fact that even if she did raise the alarm the goblins were a much more pressing issue for the town and after that, even if they did decide to offer pursuit, he and Hearth would be long gone. He could afford another move in their nomadic life to buy his conscience a break.

His decision made he ignored Uka and turned to face his friends supporting head, "Hearth, we've got to go," he said softly. Hearth tilted his head to better allow Tel to climb on and he slung his good leg over hearths neck, wincing as he asked his injured leg to carry his weight. He felt faint, the blood flowing from his chest had soaked his torn shirt and the knives still protruding from his thigh and shin were doing their best to soak his pants and he could feel blood filling his boot. They'd have to make camp soon, so he could tend his injuries. Deciding to leave the knives where they were he patted Hearth, "Let's fly," was all he said as he took one last glance back towards Uka and Ula. Uka wore a look on her face half way between amazed and disappointed with terror being conspicuously absent from the mix. "Tel, really?" she called up to him as he was lifted into the air. "You're really just going to fly away on your dragon friend?" she continued incredulously.
Tel didn't want to waste time explaining himself, she'd likely never understand Hearths value to him anyway, and so tensed himself for take-off. He waited to feel hearths powerful muscles bunch beneath him in preparation but it never came. "Hearth, my friend, are you ok?" Tel asked, "Are you hurt? What's the matter?"
Hearth responded with a slow step towards Uka and a low rumble from his chest. The witch, ever perceptive as she was, seemed to understand Hearth meant her no harm and stood her ground as the massive head came towards her. Tel understood better the extent of Hearth's communication. Hearth wished to stay. As the great horned head moved in close enough for the round snout to gently nose Uka's hair Hearth abruptly snorted, sniffed, snorted and sniffed again, drinking deep the witches scent. Another rumble followed by a cocked head and a querying roo further revealed Hearth's intentions to Tel. They were a team, not master and beast but friends and equals, and if Hearth had his heart set on staying Tel would not force him to go, even if he were able. Hearth had made few demands on their journey thus far and had acquiesced to all Tel's various and often arduous requests. But the demands he had made displayed an understanding of their situation no less keen, and Tel often thought keener, than his own. "Are you sure you want to stay?" Tel asked, "they'll likely attack us on sight."
Hearth gave a small but emphatic nod, and the darkness of Tel's fears rushed to assail the light of his trust in hearths judgement. The assault was a mighty one and every disastrous scenario possible was dragged forward by his fevered imagination. His trust was sorely tested but won out in the end and if this was to end in disaster he could want no more than to die at his friend's side. If this was what Hearth wanted he would happily support him in it, even if that meant his life. Indeed Tel thought, should Hearth be slain his own life would surely end even if his heart kept beating. Drawing courage from such thoughts, dark and beautiful in even measure, he pushed aside the pain within and without and rubbed Hearth's forehead affectionately. "If you're sure my friend. You know I'd follow you into anything," he said. Hearth responded with a warm, soft warble and Tel raised his gaze to Uka. She wore a look more bemused than anything and stated simply, "are you ready to help now?"
Tel smiled at the ridiculousness of her response to the goings on around her and replied with a nod, "We are, we'll move into the town and try to rout the goblins." Hearth seconded this with a determined growl, low and menacing, before fitting action to words and turning towards the smoke and chaos in the town down the hill behind them.
"Wait for us," Uka replied enthusiastically before continuing in the face of Tel's surprised glance back, "you really need to learn how to cooperate Tel. You're not always on your own."
The comment was an insightful one and had Tel not been dulled by pain and blood loss and so focussed on the coming fight he might have been struck harder by its profundity. As it stood he gave only a blank pause punctuated by a series of rapid blinks and then a weak nod. With that marking an end to immediate communications Hearth trotted off down the hill and into the maelstrom waiting in the smoky streets.

They rounded a corner to see a dog barking and snarling at three advancing goblins, holding them at bay while standing over the form of its cowering master. Hearth charged the goblins in time to save the man but not to save the valiant dog which was felled by a spear to the flank and died with a whimper. The cowering man shrieked in terror as Hearth and Uka set upon the goblins. It took the pair only an instant to despatch the trio with tooth and claw and animated hair. The man's face was drained of colour and his bladder had drained into his pants as he beheld what he thought might have been his murderers as likely as his saviours. Tel gave the man a curt nod of acknowledgement before patting hearths cheek and pointing out another band of the marauding greenskins chasing a woman gleefully, she was rapidly conceding her lead to the goblins who were growing all the more enthusiastic as they gained on her. Tel sincerely thought they were going to overhaul her before they could intervene. No sooner had the thought crossed his mind than Uka reached the same conclusion and began to chant in a strange and alien tongue full of rolling syllables, her hands moved in strange patterns and an eerie light followed them as they went leaving an afterglow that traced strange shapes into the air before her. With her hair beginning to writhe like a nest of vipers she gestured at the goblins and they fell asleep mid stride, all landing heavily on their oversized noses as their legs succumbed to the magical slumber. As Hearth moved over to stomp on each of the goblins in turn Tel's mind reeled. He'd never seen such magic worked. The level of power Uka displayed was truly terrifying, the spell as sure a death sentence as any fireball he thought as Hearth squashed another snoring and defenceless creature beneath his paws. He'd always wanted to be a mage, a wielder of magic, but he'd had neither the gift of sorcery nor the opportunity to study as a wizard. It was one of his great dreams to work magic and here was someone who could do so already, perhaps someone who could teach him too. The thought was such a long shot as to make it a fool's hope. Despite this Tel couldn't help but wonder for a split second if Hearth had known this and had based his decision on as much. Before he could consider this or build any fantastic thoughts of working magic another group of goblins came into view and snapped his attention back to the situation around him.

This group was unlike the others in its bearing and its four members were all armoured and wielded glaive-like polearms. They stood nearly a head taller than the members of the other groups and held themselves with a confident air. Uka immediately began to chant and gesture to summon her magics and Hearth dropped into a ready pose with Tel using his left hand to hold onto a horn and his right to hold his sword. On seeing Hearth the goblins didn't turn and flee as Tel had expected them to, instead they formed up into a crude phalanx and began to advance with sure strides. Tel felt Hearth begin to summon the fire of his breath which would make short work of their closely ranked foes but quickly laid his hand on his forehead and said, "not here my friend, the town is already fighting enough fires and us starting new ones will help none." The pressure and heat in Hearth's body subsided just as Uka finished her spell casting. He quickly turned his eyes to the advancing goblins, eager to see the effects of this latest work of wonder. Nothing happened to the goblins and a pang of disappointment was quickly replaced with a strange tingling in his leg. He looked down to see a soothing light shining out around the knives still lodged in his thigh and shin. "Pull them out quickly!" Uka yelled up to him. Stunned and amazed he did so and was rewarded with the wounds closing neatly and scabbing a split second later. The strange tingling feeling persisted after the last of the light was obscured by the scab. "We need you at your best," was Uka's reply to the look of gratitude Tel turned to her.
"Thank... Thank you," Tel stuttered, he was grateful for the assistance but unsure why it had been given. To his mind a resource as valuable as healing magic was for those close to you and not strangers. Perhaps it was a move rationalised by the fact that if he and Hearth killed the goblins she wouldn't have to. Perhaps it wasn't and it was the genuine offer of help to one Uka considered an ally. Tel found the latter harder to accept.

Thankfully the uncomfortable thoughts were quickly pushed back as the goblins moved within striking distance. Hearth employed his usual tactic of mauling and biting his foes to gory chunks and lunged with a claw. The goblins didn't flinch or make a feeble attempt to parry, they instead struck at the incoming limb. Hearth roared in pain and withdrew the arm. Blood was pouring from a deep gash just above his claws, large drops falling to the road as Hearth held his wound close to his side.
"Let me down, I'll try to break them up," Tel yelled to Hearth as the goblins made a push forwards together. Hearth dipped and rolled his head and Tel dropped to the ground only an instant before man and beast were forced to give ground to the goblin advance. The goblins surged forward again with two focussed upon each of their enemies. Seeing an opportunity to get inside the reach of their polearms Tel batted away a probing glaive and stepped forward not back. Here, in close, their long hafted weapons were a liability and the short sword of Tel was ascendant. Grabbing a haft he gave it a sharp push, tipping its wielder off balance. He chopped at the hands of another and kicked at the legs of a third. "Go! Now Hearth!" he yelled. His position was a precarious one, he could easily be overwhelmed in a grapple by their advantage in numbers and if one had a backup dagger he might easily slide it into Tel's back while he was distracted, but he trusted Hearth and his faith was rewarded. Hearths great head came snapping forward, fangs bared, and bit a goblin polearm in two, taking its owners hand into the bargain.

Thinking to take the advantage he aimed a powerful overhead chop at the disarmed creature, but Hearth too moved to finish what he started. Too late they both realised their respective mistakes. Tel frantically tried to turn the blade so that only the flat would strike, the momentum too far gone for the blow to be arrested. Hearth tried to angle away but to no avail. The blade made a hollow crack as it struck hearth squarely on the brow. The damage was not serious, the thick skin only nicked where the edge had slipped between two of hearths smaller facial scales, but the pain was enough to daze Hearth and the shock enough to do the same to tel.

The goblins quickly realised and pressed their advantage and all three that remained in command of their weapons aimed blows and struck. Hearth was struck only once and the weapon glanced off his scaled hide to no effect but Tel fared worse. He had only recovered enough of his wits to raise a block to the thrust of one of the goblins and the others glaive rushed in unopposed.
Uka had not been idle however and her hair shot out to grab the unblocked weapon. Although not strong enough to stop the blow the hair was easily able to redirect it harmlessly into the ground. Its wielder now overextended after what it had thought to be a killing stroke Tel made a stab for its chest, the goblins forward momentum doing as much as Tel's thrust to impale it on the blade. It gurgled blood and went limp as Tel heaved the blade free of its body. Uka's hair shot forward again holding a rock and brained the goblin whose attack Tel had managed to block. Tel quickly turned to see how hearth fared and was pleased to see the dragon standing over the mauled bodies of the other two goblins. Tel rushed to his friend's side. "Hearth, I am so sorry," he said as he inspected the wound on his brow. It wasn't serious and Hearth gave him a gentle nuzzle by way of his own apology. More worrying to Tel was the rapidly pooling blood flowing from the deep gash in Hearth's leg. He held the limb limply, his claws only just touching the ground, and licked at the wound. "I'm afraid that might need binding my friend," Tel said and in response Hearth emphatically placed his foot full on the ground and tossed his head. He issued a low rumble of defiance and lowered his head for Tel to climb back up.

"In a moment, my friend, hang on" Tel said, and placed a reassuring hand on the proffered head. Tel turned to Uka and smiled. "Thank you for your help," he said as warmly as he could manage under the circumstances. He was still unsure of exactly why the help was being offered although he explained it by Uka having a stake in the town, friends or family perhaps, and him and Hearth being willing accomplices in their defence. Hearths motive for staying was still a mystery to Tel though and he constantly expected a call to arms with them as the target.
"You're most welcome Tel, it pays to employ a little teamwork from time to time," Uka replied matter-of-factly. Tel threw his leg over hearths neck and mounted up before they all moved on. They encountered a few lone goblins and a few disorganised groups which they quickly either killed or scattered but their string of small but easy wins abruptly came to an end.
A heavily armoured goblin riding a massive doglike creature the size of a small horse trotted around a corner in the road to meet them. It held a crude lance and shield and presented as a demented parody of a knight in shining armour. It bore the full panoply of what was clearly a leader among goblins and its collection of shiny bits of junk rattled against it armour like a wind chime. Without ceremony the creature lowered its lance and spurred its mount into a charge. Tel quickly realised that again the reach on their foes weapon gave him the advantage and Uka was particularly vulnerable to being impaled and ridded down as she was on foot. It seemed Hearth was less keen to admit to the weakness of their position and, to Tel's horror, rushed to meet the goblin knight.

"Hearth! No!" Tel yelled as loud as his lungs would allow. Hearth heeded the warning and tried to dodge out of the path of the onrushing lance point but his momentum worked against him and he would come into strike range long before he managed to move far enough to the side. Without thinking in a moment of desperation Tel did the only thing he really could. He pulled his sword arm back and hurled the blade for all he was worth into the path of the advancing knight. The goblin rolled in its saddle and brought its shield up to deflect the missile easily but it had its desired effect. The lance was pulled out of Hearth's way by the roll and the two parties went flying past one another. Recovering his wits and almost surprised that his gamble had paid off Tel looked around and cursed the streets. While there was plenty of room for Hearth to manoeuvre there wasn't enough room for Hearths enormous wingspan to allow them to fly. Unconcerned with how close he'd just come to serious injury Hearth quickly turned around and set off back down the street after the goblin knight. The goblin was stationary and looking around and Tel glanced about trying to find Uka while Hearth continued his eerily stealthy advance. He decided that she must have hidden herself somewhere when she saw the goblin make his target. The aberrant dog sniffed the air and began to growl at the shadows clinging to a recessed door frame. The dog took a step towards the alcove, confident in its sense of smell and eager to have its victim.

As its head drew close the shadows exploded into a dozen tentacles of hair each seizing a soft spot on the easy target presented by the slowly moving knight and dog. The dog yelped and flinched away as the tentacles squeezed and twisted its limbs, poked for its eyes and tried to invade its ears. The goblin fared no better and too late realised the true extent of its peril. Distracted by trying to stay atop the frantic dog it missed the half a dozen strands all making their way around its lance arm. All at once the arm was seized and bent in six different directions with the bones making an initial groan of protest before snapping. The goblin screamed and looked at its mangled arm only a heartbeat before Hearth's teeth closed around its neck and silenced its pain. The dog gave a final yelp before slumping to the ground, the retreating tendrils of hair revealing a broken neck.
With the goblin knight and his mount dead silence descended on the street. When the silence refused to offer further direction by way of panicked screams for help each of them quietly blew a sigh of relief. As suddenly as it had struck the goblin raid was over.

"Well my friend, another melee survived," Tel said with a weak laugh though he was still unsure why they'd stayed for it. "Put me down and I'll have a look at that leg for you," he offered with a gentle pat to Hearth's cheek. Hearth dipped and rolled his head and Tel slid to the ground. He collapsed and pain shot up his left leg as he landed and he soon realised he'd reopened both the wounds Uka's magic had started on the road to recovery. This harsh return to reality left in the wake of the rapidly subsiding adrenalin slowly expanded to a pain in his chest and an immense feeling of weakness. The fatigue was almost overwhelming and only worsened as he hauled himself up onto his good leg and inspected Hearths badly gashed front foot. The wound was deep but it would heal Tel thought and Hearth gave it an experimental lick as if to get a second opinion. He warbled his agreement with Tel's unspoken assessment and then turned a concerned look on Tel. He sniffed at the bloody gashes and began to lick at them, giving Tel a reassuring nuzzle to his face every few licks. Although it stung like crazy Tel found he was far too tired to protest.

A cry of "Ha-haa!" came from Uka's general direction and her footsteps became louder indicating her approach. Tel turned to face her and steadied himself on Hearths good foreleg. "Well, looks like we won!" Uka said in an elated tone starkly at odds with her badly bruised and rapidly swelling face.
"It seems so," Tel replied dryly as the pain and fatigue prevented his sharing in Ukas mirth. "Though what happened there?" he inquired delicately, indicating the region in question on his own face.
"Oh, I took a shield to the head," she said as if it were of no great consequence, "hardly a fatal injury, a little knock to the nut like this. Besides it's a damn sight better than a lance to the head, eh?"
Unsure of what to make of Uka's incredibly no nonsense approach to life Tel could manage only, "that's very true," before being interrupted by Hearth licking at his chest.
"Is his saliva a healing agent?" Uka enquired, interest seemingly completely stolen by this possibility.
"I'm not sure, I think so. I've never seen a wound turn septic that he's licked."
"Fascinating. He's a remarkable creature, though not one of the true dragon species I shouldn't think. His colouration could only have him as a black dragon, but his horns are wrong for one of those; His temperament too. Tell me, where'd you come across him?"
Before Tel could summon sufficient wit to concoct even the weakest of lies for the question he most wanted to dodge a shout of "There they are! That's them!" dropped his stomach to his ankles and shot his heart into his throat. He spun towards the sound and his worst fears were made flesh in the group of armed guards hurrying towards them. Unable to get aloft in the street he was unsure if Hearth would manage a climb onto the rooftops with his wounded paw. He turned about only to see another group of the guard making its way down the street from behind. Somehow he had always known it would come to this, he and Hearth having to fight their way out of Sandpoint. It seemed to be their fate to never find a safe harbour, to be hounded not for who they were or for what they'd done, but for what they were marked as. A dangerous beast and a slave.

His increasingly delirious mind suddenly realised he didn't have his sword. Like a fool he'd thrown it away in a fight to protect the people who now came for him. Hearth stepped over Tel and shielded him under his bulk wrapping his tail in close and holding his wings by his sides. He issued a warning growl at one group before turning about, taking care not to trample Tel, and growing at the other.

Both groups stopped once the warning had been so clearly given, obviously reluctant to advance on a creature of Hearths size. Tel felt Hearth's belly grow abruptly hot above him and felt the gathering of breath that would precede the torrent of flames. Hearth didn't send the fires of his breath washing over the guardsmen; instead he let them drip from the corners of his mouth and advanced. As flat a demand to get out of the way or die as could be made. Tel grabbed onto hearths uninjured leg and stood on his paw, the mighty limb carrying him along easily and removing the need on Hearths part to be careful with his feet.
"Stop! Wait!" Uka yelled at Hearth but the dragon ignored her and maintained his steady pace towards the guardsmen who were rapidly giving ground. Changing tactics Uka cried, "he needs help. If his wounds aren't tended he'll likely slip into a sleep from which he will never wake!"
Hearth paused at this momentarily and Uka worked the gain, "lower your weapons dolts!" she snapped at the guards.
"I'm fine hearth, I'll be ok. Let's just get out of here," Tel said reassuringly.
Uka, growing increasingly desperate for leverage wracked her brains for something to get the dragon to stop. Although she wasn't certain Tel would die of his injuries given what she suspected about the potent healing properties of the dragon's saliva she was unwilling to let fear drive Tel to roll those dice. Besides she couldn't just let troubled people run off into the woods to die, that would be most unprofessional. As if in answer to her prayers she heard among the guards, "are you sure it was them what saved you?" followed by, "you're suggesting it was the other dragon that saved me?" recognising the voice as the one who yelled the initial identification of Tel and Hearth her keen mind quickly put two and two together. The guards had been coming to their aid, this man had been saved by their actions and had rallied a group of guardsmen to find and assist them. This was an angle she could work.

"Sheriff, throw down your weapon and identify yourself. Assure him you mean him no harm. Tell him why you came looking for him. DO IT!" She commanded venomously after his initial pause. The sheriff dropped his weapon but continued to give ground before the advancing, fire dripping dragon while Uka noted the absence of Tel's further participation in the conversation worriedly.
"I'm sheriff of Sandpoint," the man said, holding his palms open to hearth, "we don't mean either of you any harm. This man here told us you'd saved his life and urged us to join you in your efforts to repel the goblins. We figured we'd-... You sure it understands?" the man said the last plaintively to Uka, keenly aware of the ease with which Hearth could end him but also unwilling to refuse such a forcefully given order from the towns witch.
"Of course I'm sure fool, otherwise I'd not've told you to do it!" Uka said irritated; If this fell through because of the idiocy of the sheriff...
"We figured you might need help," the sheriff continued, "safety in numbers and all that. We don't attack those that help us in Sandpoint, nor do we condemn folks based on their race after they give such assistance." The passion with which the man spoke reached through Hearths misgivings and the dragon ceased his advance. The mighty black head craned to regard the figure clutching weakly to his foreleg and offered a rumbling coo. "Are you sure?" Tel asked groggily. The great head paused a moment, then nodded, concern writ clear in the fist sized eyes. "If you're sure my friend," Tel was far less sure, but his mind was swimming too much for him to form a firm opinion one way or another. But he could trust Hearth, of that he was certain.
Hearth straightened his tail and folded back his wings before giving Tel a reassuring nudge with his snout and lifting his head. Tel felt the fire in the chest above him subside and the guards moved off at the sheriff's command with Hearth and Uka in tow. "Where is the infirmary being established?" Uka asked the sheriff.
"It's been set up in the cathedral, priest Zantus is tending to the wounded there."
Uka quickly realised the problems posed with putting Tel in the general infirmary, the primary one of those problems was 10' high at the shoulder and breathed fire. A solution began to form in her mind. She'd seen Tel helping Ameiko earlier in the day and now that she thought about it that should have struck her as strange at the time. How did those two know one another? Tel was, by his own word, just passing through for the festival. Perhaps he stayed at the Rusty Dragon overnight and had a room there?
"Sheriff, take Tel and Hearth... no the dragon is Hearth... To the Rusty Dragon, I believe Tel has a room there where he can recover," Uka said. As soon as she'd seen to Tel and Hearth she'd head up to the temple and lend Zantus what help she may. It was going to be a long night...

When they arrived at the Rusty Dragon 10 minutes later they found Ameiko alone dragging dead goblins from the interior. Without breaking from her grim work or sparing them so much as a glance she said to the leading group of guards, "sorry guys, I'm closed for the night. The goblins got into the kitchen."
"We are pleased to see you unharmed after the raid Ameiko, not everyone can make such a claim, but we aren't here for a meal," the sheriff said. Her dismissal rejected, and seeming to reproach her own earlier brusqueness, she looked up at the group. Her gaze quickly turned to the figure at the back looming over the rest and she froze. "Is that a-" she began before Uka cut her off.
"Yes it's a dragon and no, it's not dangerous. He and his human friend are injured. We believe he has a room with you," Uka said, "he'll need to be taken there so I can see to his injuries and he'll likely need to stay a few days to get back on his feet. He has plenty of coins to extend his stay if the room was booked only temporarily."
"Of course," Ameiko answered, still fixated on Hearths impressive bulk, "I've got a pretty full house as when the raid started I gathered as many as I could and brought them here. But I'm sure we can make room for one more." she seemed strained as she spoke.
"Do you need a hand Ameiko?" the sheriff inquired.
"I'll manage sheriff, thank you, I just needed to get them out of the kitchen before the blood had a chance to spoil any of the food," she replied.
She turned to Uka, "take the injured guy upstairs when he gets here and find a place for him. And when you're done with him would you have a look at some of the others up there? There's nothing too serious I don't think and I've patched them up as best I could, but a more skilled look over couldn't hurt."
"He's here with us actually. Sheriff you can be of no further use here now, I recommend you check the people in their houses and bring the wounded to the cathedral. He doesn't need a guard escort anymore."

The sheriff and the guards, initially blinking in surprise at the order and then nodding in acquiescence, moved off and Uka turned back to Ameiko. The departing guards had revealed the bloody and stooped figure by Hearths leg and Ameiko, despite her apprehension of the dragon, advanced slightly to better see his face. Although she couldn't see it, hidden as it was by a scarf, that proved just as positive an identification. "Tel? Tel is that you?" she asked as she took another step forward. She stopped when Hearth gave an uncertain rumble but Tel quieted him with a gentle hand pressed to his chest. "Yeah, it's me," Tel said, slowly standing out from under his friend. Hearth lowered his head to alongside Tel as he left the steadying presence of his legs, offering support to his limping companion. His offer was immediately seized upon and Tel leaned heavily on Hearth's cheek as Ameiko, realisation dawning in tired eyes, said, "That's the reason you stayed outside of town, isn't it? You had a friend out there waiting."
The secret was out and Tel saw no point in denying it, so he nodded slowly before summoning the strength to say, "His name is Hearth. Hearth this is Ameiko, she's a... She's not an enemy."
"Introductions can wait until you're not bleeding to death you cagey fool," Uka cut in. "We might as well head around the back, the dragon can't stay here or he might cause a panic. Ameiko does that suit?"
"Sadly it does. Usually I'd be worried about a drag- Hearth spooking the horses but the goblins killed all the horses in the raid," Ameiko said and she was gratified to see Tel's face brighten at the use of Hearths name. Her years as an innkeeper had honed her natural charisma and given her an eye for the smaller pleasantries that Uka lacked. As Ameiko led them around to the courtyard and stables at the rear of the inn a lot of things fell into place. She couldn't figure why Tel had been so protective of his secrets around her, when he thought she already knew them, but now she saw that his secrecy had been to protect more than himself. No wonder he would never stay long, or that he wouldn't want a ranger checking in on him. Another thing occurred to her as they walked; if Tel had been going hungry, what had Hearth been eating? "Tel," she asked, "What has Hearth been eating?" the look of pain and guilt that passed his features made her immediately regret the question. "Whatever he could that wouldn't get us discovered," he replied, "so... Carrion mostly." Hearth seemed to detect his shame and purred reassuringly to Tel who only pursed his lips and looked down. Ameiko saw an opportunity to ease his pain and said, "I've a stable full of freshly killed horses, does he eat those?" Hearth seemed to cotton on to the fact that they were talking about food and suddenly Ameiko felt Hearth's attention fully upon her, that huge eye looking at her intently whenever it wasn't obscured by Tel limping along. "I'm sure he does, and I have the funds to pay for them now, after the festival."
"That's why you wanted to make some money? To by hearth food?"
Tel nodded.
"You don't need to pay for them, Sandpoint doesn't send away those who save its citizens hungry. Besides," she added, "we'd only have to get rid of them anyway."
"We don't need your charity," Tel said defensively, "we can pay."
Ameiko's expression of sympathy deflated his defiance somewhat and she spoke softly when she said, "Tel, not everyone wants something from you. Good people help those in need because it's the right thing to do, not because they expect payment. And in any case, it is we that owe you and Hearth for risking your lives to help us. The dead horses are on us."

"If you two are quite done sermonising and being stubborn," Uka inserted herself into the conversation with her usual grace, "we have work to do. Ameiko, I'll need some clean linen for bandages and any silk thread you have and a needle. Also a bottle of something potent for the pain and to wash the wounds. Are you squeamish? No? Good. Then you can help me with the wounds. Get one of the able bodied people you rescued to fix Tel some food while we work." her string of orders ended just as they entered the courtyard and Ameiko immediately jogged to the inns back door and disappeared inside. The silence lasted only an instant while Uka assessed the situation. "Tel, I take it if we move you inside Hearth will try to come in after us. Yes? Ok, I thought he might. Can he be distracted with food? No? I thought that would also be the case. Ok, get Hearth to eat something while Ameiko gets my supplies. We'll put you over there in that half empty hay shed." Seeing sense in her requests and being too tired to argue even if he didn't he looked down at his armrest, "Hearth, those are for you," he said, pointing at the dead horses. Hearth snorted disdainfully and slowly moved his head to face Tel directly, making sure he gave Tel time to move his supporting hands along his face as he did. He nuzzled his friend affectionately, gave him a lick and a caring purr and refused to move. "Hearth, my friend, please. It would lessen my guilt greatly if you would eat and my wounds are in capable hands." Hearth looked at the horses longingly but turned back to Tel. "Hearth, I'll be fine. Eat, please." Hearth looked at Uka and then to Ameiko who had just come out of the back door with arms full of Uka's supplies and gave a mock growl before turning to Tel with a questioning coo. "They mean us no harm Hearth, I'm sure of it. We can... Trust them." the words sounded strange as he said them, and part of him dearly wanted to believe them. The tired, pained and weakened by blood loss part of Tel desperately wanted it to be true, true so that he didn't have to keep pushing on in this condition. The part of him that had kept Hearth and he alive and free however refused to believe it, it saw treachery and self-interest only. You need to fight, tooth and nail, for your existence it claimed. When you stop pushing you die and no one is going to push anyone's burdens but their own. "I'm sure of it," he said finally. Hearths features slowly softened into what Tel thought passed for smiling and he realised that Hearth had felt these people trustworthy all along, that his last suspicious growl had been a concession to Tel to ensure he felt safe here before hearth dropped his vigil to eat. It was a comfort given when Hearth, hungry as he was, had already decided his own opinion but had waited for Tel to agree before acting on it. Knowing that Hearth had checked his comfort before seeing to his own brought a warm smile to his tired face. "Thank you my friend," he said, "now go and eat."

Hearth ate ravenously, tearing the horses into bloody chunks and swallowing them whole. Giving the messily feeding Hearth a wide berth as she hurried over Ameiko said as she reached them, "sorry it took so long, I had to explain to them that there was a dragon out the back, that it was allowed to eat the horses and that it wouldn't eat them." As she said this Tel glanced up at the second storey windows to see them crammed full of faces, though it was too dark to tell if they wore expressions of awe or horror.

"Good, everything's here," Uka said as Ameiko laid out the items requested on a stool in the hay shed. She thrust a bottle into Tels hands. "Drink half of that and lie down on the fresh straw there," she instructed. As Tel did so he watched the glances Hearth made his way every few bites until he laid down and all he could see was the shed roof, punctuated by the bobbing heads of Ameiko and Uka. He could feel the fire of the drink in his belly and its warmth chased away some of the pain. Lying there in the hay staring up at the timber roof and knowing that Hearth was only a short way away finally getting a decent feed Tel could relax a little. He let his tensed muscles loosen and an involuntary shiver passed through his body which caused the two faces to stop momentarily and look at him. He saw the bottle come back into view and thought he'd be offered the pleasant proposition of another drink but instead it was poured onto his chest. He was dimly aware of a stinging sensation and a cooling feeling somewhere on his chest but his attention was elsewhere.

He watched Ameiko's face move in and out of his field of view, looking at him and talking to Uka. Being so on edge as he'd always been since the escape he hadn't really ever looked at anyone else as more than a potential villain. In fact Ameiko was the only person he'd held more than a single hurried conversation with in months, possibly years now. Now that he stopped to look at her he realised that she was beautiful. He couldn't believe he hadn't noticed before just how attractive she was. Her exotic features and stark white forelocks only enhanced the attraction and the mole by the side of her mouth lent her face a level of personality and uniqueness Tel found compelling. Despite the strain on her face it couldn't hide the warmth he saw there, the warmth he should have noticed that first night she fed him when he was to her a perfect stranger and a thief.

Suddenly Uka's face was only a hands breadth from his and she was muttering something to Ameiko. Tel realised that she too was beautiful, despite the darkening bruise on her cheek. He flinched as something tightened around his neck but he was pinned back to the hay by Uka's firm hand. "This is coming off," she said matter-of-factly and before Tel could figure out what she was referring to or what was strangling him the pressure on his neck abruptly ceased. To his horror he saw Uka bunch his face covering scarf and toss it to one side. He suddenly felt sick and so very exposed, like he was walking through a crowd naked, all of him open to the judgement and criticism of the masses. "Hey, no, I need that," he protested and tried to sit up to retrieve his scarf. Uka was on him before he'd even gotten his shoulders clear of the hay. She jabbed a thumb under his collar bone and digging in her fingernail drove him back to horizontal. "Ameiko told me your secret and neither of us have any intention of letting you take it to the grave. And I'm sure Hearth would much prefer you to live as well," Uka scolded, "now hold still, we won't spread it around, and even if we did not one of the townsfolk would care. Gods know it wouldn't be the most colourful past or the juiciest gossip in town." Mollified somewhat by Uka's assurances and his usual cynicism eroded by the drink he ceased trying to sit and rolled back into his appreciation of the pair. Uka cut a fine figure with her corset only accentuating her already impressive assets and he wondered if she used magic to enhance them. Surely she could make a mint selling potions that did that. His eyes roaming he noticed Ameiko had rolled up her sleeves to reveal a beautiful tattoo on her upper arm where a stylized snake slithered across her surprisingly muscular and toned arms.

He felt something pulling on his shirt and called on his arm to bat it away. The limb was sluggish to answer the request and as soon as it began to move it was pinned to his side by Uka. "Hold. Still." she said sternly and with a heave she tore the remains of his shirt off. Tel stifled a giggle as his mind mutinously conjured images of the pair of them ripping his clothes off under very different circumstances. Uka soon wiped the grin that had spread on his face by digging into the wound on his chest with a kitchen knife. "Ahh!" Tel cried in pain.
"Don't be a child Tel, the wound needs to be properly cleaned. Now for the last time, hold still," Uka said impatiently. Ameiko gave him a sympathetic look and he returned it with a smile as best he could before Uka resumed her digging.

A short while later a needle and thread had appeared in Uka's hands and he drunkenly thought she was going to repair his shirt for him. He was disappointed shortly when she began to stitch him closed instead. Though he felt only a slight pulling sensation on his skin as she worked it was still unpleasant. So he distracted himself with watching the snake on Ameiko's arm flex and writhe as she passed things back and forward to Uka. His attention focussed on the moving snake as only a drunk man's could he didn't notice the butchers knife passed between the two women. He felt Ameiko pull his boot off and the slight exertion of strength made the tattoo move in an interesting manner. He then suddenly noticed Uka slip the blade of the knife down the front of his pants. A wave of panic swept over him. Had she read his lewd thoughts? Of course she had, she was a witch. His intoxicated and blood deprived mind conceived the worst. She was going to cut off his manhood as a poetic punishment. Perhaps he could save the situation with honesty by offering a more respectful apology. "I'm sorry for my thoughts but I really do think you're both beautiful," Tel blurted out when his more rational mind failed in its bid to intercept the wad of stupidity before it reached his mouth. They both looked at him, Ameiko with an amused smile and Uka with a blank face.
"Thank you Tel, we're both quite aware of that given the changing landscape down here," came Uka's completely flat tone. Tel died. He snapped his gaze to the roof directly above him and began a meticulous inspection of the roofing timbers as he felt his face flush. He only heard Uka's commanding voice as she cut his pants off and continued her work on the other two wounds, "don't look girl. Pass me the other knife. Pay attention. Thank you."

The voices became gradually fainter and his head swam, he abandoned his examination of the roof and just unfocussed his eyes. Lying there still and oblivious to the world he just let time pass. He felt truly carefree for the first time in as far back as his mind could remember. Which at the time was all of about 20 seconds, but that lessened the effect none. Sometime later, Tel had no idea how much later, a blanket was thrown over him and Uka's voice again invaded his reverie, "get him some food and water while I go and see to the people you've got upstairs. After that I'll be at the cathedral if you need me."

Suddenly Uka's face appeared in his vision, the bruise lending the scowl additional weight, "and no monkey business between the two of you. You'll reopen the wounds and probably die." as quickly as she'd come her face was gone and it took Tel's mind, thoughts flowing like cold syrup, far longer to catch her meaning than it should have. By the time he'd prepared his witty response the slam of the inns back door marked her passage beyond its reach.

A short while later Ameiko returned with a bowl of soup and half a loaf of bread. Tel sat up slowly and propped himself against the haystack. He was kept awake only by the pain, despite the best efforts of the drink and fatigue. "Here," Ameiko said and offered the bowl and bread. Tel took them and gave an awkward nod of thanks; almost preferring the hunger to the embarrassment that clawed at his insides. He dipped the bread into the soup and tried a mouthful. He found it to be delicious, some sort of spiced fish soup. Clearly the approval was written on his face when Ameiko said, "glad you like it, it's the Rusty Dragon's speciality you know."
"It's very good," Tel said quickly, maintaining his drunken stare at the soup. He went back to eating, hoping to avoid further conversation and so was disappointed when he heard, "so, how do you know Uka?"
"Hmmm?" Tel responded, pretending not to have heard her.
"How do you know Uka?" Ameiko calmly repeated. Seeing that there was no escape he forced his unresponsive tongue into action and said, "her cat bought one of my bracelets today... Oh, also she changed the prices on my stuff... Also Hearth seems to like her and that's how we got talked into helping Sandpoint."
Deciphering his slurred ramblings, as only an innkeeper could, Ameiko pressed for more, "so Uka talked you into helping?"
"Not really, I was set to go. She talked Hearth into helping, I think. Or maybe Hearth wanted to stay anyway. I don't really know," he said and ate another mouthful of soupy bread.
"So you stayed because Hearth wanted to?"
"Yeah, he's funny like that."
"He's done this before?"
"Huh? No, he's never gotten us into a fight before. But occasionally he'll get all funny about a tree, or a cave or whatever. I think he knows some things I don't, so I just take his word on it."
"So you've known Hearth a while then I take it?"
"Yeah, ever since he got me tried for dereliction of duty," Tel said with a chuckle.

Had Tel not been drunk and hungrily focussed on his soup he might have noticed the mix of satisfaction and curiosity that cut through the fatigue on Ameiko's face.
"Oh, so you were in the army?" she asked, skilfully hiding the press for information behind easy, conversational tones.
"Not really, everyone in Cheliax has to do a stretch of training in the local militia. That's when I met Hearth, you know?"
Now we're getting somewhere she thought and said smoothly, "no I didn't, what happened?"
"Heh, it's a long story," Tel said vaguely and ate some more.
"So you were in the militia," Ameiko prompted before Tel could build any mental barrier to continuing his tale. Although she did feel a little guilty at the methods used to get the information out of the cagey fellow her curiosity had gotten the better of her.
"Wuh? Oh yeah. So I was guarding the walls of my town when suddenly there's this massive commotion at the butcher's storehouse. And then, right, this dragon explodes out of the wall and onto the street with a whole smoked hog in its jaws. The dragon is Hearth by the way."
Nodding to assure him that she understood she allowed him to continue.
"So Hearth come running towards me down the street, and I'm terrified, and I'm manning the ballista so I take aim. But then, I don't know, I saw his face and he just looked... Tired, y'know? Like he was sick of his life and didn't really care if I shot him or not." Tel looked over to Hearth who was just finishing off his third horse and smiled before going on. "So I couldn't bring myself to... Anyway he leaped up onto the wall not 3 feet from me. He could have killed me then and there, but he just gave me a look and ran off. After that everyone in town hated me. Turns out that Hearth had killed a group of guards, cooked the butcher and been raiding outlying estates. You know what the messed up thing is? Even knowing all that I, I still would have let him go. He's worth all those he killed a hundred times over."

He said the last with a deep conviction that alerted Ameiko to the fact that the combination of food, concentration on the story and time seemed to be rapidly sobering Tel. She considered plying him with more drink while he was still likely to take it, but her conscience would hear none of it. It already berated her for the dishonest means by which she'd learned this much and reminded her that it was likely treatment such as this which made Tel so shut off to being with. Seeming to sense Tel's changing mood as well Hearth chose that moment to come plodding languidly over. He paused at the entrance to the hay shed and gave the two of them a look she could not interpret. Tel just smiled at the dragon and pushed himself stiffly to his feet, clutching his blanket against the cold night air. Ameiko stood too, gathering that this was a common occurrence between the two and looked at Tel. "Move your stool over against the wall there if you would," he said, placing the empty bowl on top of it. Ameiko did so and as soon as the stool was out of the way Hearth, crouching slightly to get under the low hanging eaves, made his way into the hayshed. He curled up around Tel and lying on his side stretched the bottom pair of his legs towards one another. Tel then sat on the elbow of a foreleg, stretched his legs down along its length and leaned back against the great barrel of Hearths chest.

Ameiko almost laughed, "Is this how you sleep every night?"
"Pretty much," an increasingly cogent Tel replied, "he's warm and surprisingly comfortable. And if it rains..." as if sensing his moment Hearth extended a wing over his side to cover his legs and the reclining Tel along with them before slowly retracting it and giving a smug snort. "He doubles as a tent," Tel said with a smile and patted the chest at his back.
"A dragon of many talents I see," Ameiko said and she raised a hand to pat Hearth but quickly withdrew it and turned to Tel. "May I?" she asked.
"Don't ask me," Tel replied earnestly.
Growing quickly impatient with the delay in the offered affections Hearth nudged Ameiko before she had a chance to turn back to him. Catching her balance and a little taken aback by the gesture she patted his brow gently. Satisfied that the promised tribute had been paid Hearth curled his head around Tel and closed his eyes. "Good night my friend, I hope you enjoyed you meal," Tel whispered and Hearth gave a soft snort of understanding before dozing off.
Standing there alone with the quickly sobering Tel Ameiko suddenly felt the weight of the situation. She was unsure how he'd react to having told her as much as he did, and to doing so being in the condition he had. She was also acutely aware that she no longer held the advantage of being the only sober one. On the one hand now that he was sober he was unlikely to be quite as forward as he had been, possibly even less so than usual in light of how much he'd already said, and she was incredibly tired from a day that had been busy since dawn. On the other she was curious and he hadn't expressed regret or said anything defensive just yet.

She decided not to push her luck. If she tried too hard now, given what had already transpired she might not get a second chance; especially when Tel had already alluded to the fact that he had no real compulsion to stay in Sandpoint. If she gave them a reason he and Hearth might be gone before she woke up in the morning. That thought nagged at her as she'd learned a little, but not much, and she thoroughly enjoyed the stories of those who had interesting ones to tell. "Well I think Hearth has the right idea," she said at length and picked up the empty bowl. She turned to look at Tel whose eyelids were already growing heavy. "Goodnight you two, I hope you both feel better in the morning. Assuming you do there'll be breakfast on the house if you're keen to stick around for it," she added as she turned to leave. She was hoping that the thought of a decent breakfast might give weight to the proposition of staying should the desire to leave arrive in either of their minds. "Thanks for the food and shelter," was all Tel replied.
"You're most welcome; it's the least we could do."
She noticed that his tired mind hadn't remembered to put his scarf on and over his face again and she also remembered that under his blanket he was quite naked. She considered pointing these things out to him and fetching a change of clothes but it gave him yet another reason to hang around in the morning so she said nothing. Her conscience chafed again under her slightly dishonest means but the thought of getting to know the whole of the pair's tale soothed those worries. As she made her way back to the inn she though she heard behind her, "I'll see you in the morning." But she couldn't be sure. As she closed the door behind her the one thing she was sure of was that she needed rest; and so she made her way to her room, threw herself down on her bed and quickly fell asleep.

Tel heard Ameiko close the door to the inn and his mind boiled as he closed his eyes and tried for sleep. What had he just done? That one stupid moment of weakness might come to cost Hearth and he their lives. He'd said too much. Armed with that information she might bring them undone in any number of ways, motivation coming easily in the massive bounty she'd collect on their heads. Sure she might have a conscience, but how heavily did that weigh with her against gold? He considered rousing Hearth and disappearing into the night but the horrified and sickening feeling didn't settle in his stomach like it should have done. Hearth trusted them he had to remind himself and he trusted Hearth with his life. In the light of Hearths trust he let go of his fearful concerns and he found himself strangely at peace. The memories of the horrors they had escaped seemed more manageable when he thought of them as the price of his dear friend slumbering contentedly beneath him. A bargain at twice the price he thought happily as sleep at last claimed him.

Ameiko woke with a start to a fierce knocking on her door. She waited for a pause in the assault and asked sleepily, "Who's there?" Despite the innocence of the question she reached for her rapier and found the cool touch of its grip incredibly reassuring. "It's me," Uka's voice said from the other side of the door, there was a meow and the voice amended, "and Ula."
"Uka, what's wrong?" Ameiko asked as she rolled herself out of bed. She was still fully clothed as she hadn't bothered to change into her nightshirt before she'd gone to sleep what seemed only minutes ago.
"It's nearly dawn and I… I'm too tired to head back to my cabin. I was wondering if you had a room for the night."

Ameiko felt immense sympathy for the witch; any admission of weakness from Uka was extracted under only the direst circumstances. That didn't change the fact that she didn't have a single spare room however. Bone tired herself and aware that Uka had been tending the wounded solidly since the end of the raid she was unwilling to send her away. "Come in and I'll sort something out for you," she said as she rubbed her tired eyes, willing them to focus on the dim room. Uka opened the door and the magical light that bobbed at her shoulder illuminated Ameiko's room. Uka was covered nearly head to toe in blood and her shoulders were slumped forward in exhaustion. To Ameiko's surprise she only said, "I'm going to have to threaten to turn people into toads for months now to get any peace and quiet. They all seem to think I've gone soft. Familiarity breeds contempt you know." Ameiko only smiled and replied, "Uka, you can take my bed and I'll catch some sleep in my chair."
"Oh, I'm sorry Ameiko, I forgot you had a full house upstairs."
"Don't be. It looks like you need rest more than most," Ameiko said as she pulled her spare set of blankets from their place in her cupboard. When she turned back to Uka she noticed that the woman had somehow changed her usual, pointed, witches hat into a pink, soft nightcap.
"Ameiko, I'll not throw you out of your own bed on my account. Ula and I will be perfectly comfortable in the chair." Having said this Uka sat down in the chair and took the blankets from Ameiko's hands with a tentacle of hair and threw them over herself. The blankets had barely settled into place before the witch was sound asleep, Ula purring in her lap.

Ameiko looked at the sleeping pair and was struck by the thought that, in many ways, she had a very similar pair sleeping in her hay shed. She allowed herself a smile as the room faded back to darkness, Uka's magical light failing as she slept. She had some very unusual tenants. You really do get to know some interesting people as an innkeeper she thought. She looked down at where she knew her bed to be, its form hidden by the gloom her eyes had yet to adjust to and reached out for it. Her hand quickly located the mattress which felt softer than ever and once again the pull of sleep was far stronger than the pull of propriety and she collapsed into her bed fully clothed.