A few hours later they stood in front of the inn ready to go. Each had procured travel supplies and permission from their parents to go. Now they were dickering on how to get there. Mir wanted to walk, kipsie wanted to ride in the caravan. Jaelara was up for anything that was decided. "Look, we don't know that these caravans will allow us to travel along without charging an arm and a leg as fare. We should just walk, besides, as slow as those things go we would make the same if not worse time as we would walking." Mir crossed his arms in front of his narrow chest and regarded kipsie sternly. Kipsie growled, "We might be charged, but look at it this way, if we go with the caravan there will be around nine guards to protect us. So what if we could make better time? What else do you have to do?" kipsie glared at Mir, who looked ready to kill. Mir's eyes widened, "what else.kip my studies will already suffer because of this blasted trip! We need to get this over with so that I can practice" Mir growled out. Kipsie snapped her fingers, "how about we flip a copper, heads we go with the caravan, tails we go by foot?" she grinned widely at Mir, who shook his head and sighed his agreement. Kipsie took out her copper and flipped it, catching it in mid air and slapping it onto the back of her hand before looking to see what side was up. "Heads!" she crowed, beaming her triumph as Mir scowled. Jaelara laughed and slapped him on the back. "Look at it this way Mir, at least you can study while we ride!" the small dragon said. Mir just frowned and looked at the coin kipsie stowed away in her belt pouch. "Very well. We had better move then because they look like they are getting ready to move out." He pointed to the caravan, where the drivers were busily loading their belongings and checking their horses. Kipsie skipped toward them followed by her companions. Once there, she approached the leader of the caravan, a greasy looking fellow with dirty blond hair and a worn tunic and trousers that had seen better days. His gray eyes narrowed speculatively at the approaching young people as they drew near. Kipsie, a natural leader, rushed into speech, "Excuse me sir, would it be possible for us to ride with your caravan to Loudwater?" her voice was respectful. The leader's eyes appraised the three before he said. "No kids comin on my caravan, worse than useless ye are. Got no room for babbies. An I'm no allowin any damned elves free passage!" He turned away. Jaelara frowned and stepped up. "But sir, we would be ever so useful; we could help protect the caravan! Or we could cook." she took a half step back as the man swung around to glare at her, "I said, ain't got no use for kids, nor elves. Ye won't be able to protect yerselves much less a caravan. So get ye gone!" jaelara winced at the harsh tone the man took and backed away, kipsie followed her. Mir stood to one side considering the man, then stepped up as well. "Good sir, would it be possible to purchase space in a wagon?" Mir waited his angular face impassive. The leader glared at the boy before snorting. "If ye kids got a gold a piece, I might be persuaded to allow ye passage. Tho how a bunch o kids would come by gold I don't know." Kipsie stared, a gold from each of them?! How, by the gods did the man stay in business if he charged that much? Mir was not phased, he dug around in his pouch and withdrew a gold, saying sadly, "I have a gold, it was meant to last me the whole trip. But I would prefer the safety of the caravan, so." he handed the gold over to the leader, and then looked at jaelara and kipsie expectantly. Kipsie was not amused, but played along, "Aye, here is my gold as well. My ma will skin me if she finds out I spent it like this but we need the protection." She handed her gold over. Jaelara frowned, she hated giving up gold, but the others were going via caravan and she had no desire to walk alone, so she too handed a gold over. The caravan leader's eyes gleamed; he took each coin and bit it, rubbing the two from the girls on his filthy trousers before testing it. "Aye, I suppose that'll do. Damned elves." he turned away, waving them toward the first wagon that stood ready to go. "Ye'll ride in the front wagon, keep to yerselves and ye'll not get into trouble." With that he turned and walked away from the trio, grumbling. Kipsie sighed, and followed the others to the wagon. Once there she settled on the narrow seat and waited.

The day passed slowly, they made good time considering that all of the wagons carried heavy iron ore. Kipsie was daydreaming, jaelara was dozing at her side and Mir studied his books. By the time the caravan finally stopped, it was nearly dark. Mir rolled his bedroll out under a wagon while kipsie and Jaelara set up Jaelara's tent. Kipsie yawned and grimaced as her stomach growled. Jaelara smiled and motioned Mir to come over. "What?" he asked. Jaelara smiled again and said, "Kip is hungry and so am I, think those guys would be willing to share the food?" Mir frowned and looked to where the drivers were setting up a large communal cook pot and were filling it with a savory stew made of the rabbit bagged earlier that day. "Maybe, I'll go ask." He stood and walked over to the man stirring the contents of the pot. Thin and dirty, the caravan driver was remarkably similar to the leader they had bargained passage with, his blond hair a lighter shade that the other man's, his green eyes surveyed Mir suspiciously. Mir stepped up to him and paused for a moment before asking for food. The thin man smiled coldly, eyeing the girls before replying, "Aye, three silver a bowl." Mir stiffened and turned to look at his companions before turning and replying, "But sir, no one else is paying for food." Mir was interrupted by the man's vehement outburst. "Aye an none others bought their ride with gold either, all o us are workin ere but ye and yon blasted elves! So do ye want food from me, ye'll pay what I ask!" Anger darkening his face, Mir nodded shortly and produced the money, then accepted the food and brought it back to the girls. Kipsie was livid, "How dare he talk to you that way! We are not 'blasted elves'! And three silver for some mangy stew! Gods the man is mad!" kipsie dug into the stew and continued, "Well just see if he gets his gods cursed bowls back, we paid dearly enough for them, I'd like to stick my dagger into his skinny ribs!" jaelara was scowling fiercely in the direction of the cook, and Mir sat silently eating as kipsie ranted. After they were done, jaelara bid Mir a subdued goodnight and bedded down. Mir strode back to the wagon housing his bedroll and took one last wary look around before settling down for the night. Kipsie awoke with a bad taste in her mouth, her limbs didn't seem to work and she felt like puke. One side of her was roasting and the other side was freezing. As she slowly opened her eyes, she froze when she realized that she was bound hand and foot with rope and her mouth was filled with foul tasting cloth and tied on with a rope. Next to her, jaelara jerked and groaned, bumping Mir's feet with her head. Mir awoke when he was jostled, then groaned as he realized what was going on. Kipsie noticed that his hands were bound securely, even his fingers held immobile, meaning that their captors knew he was a mage. Looking around, kipsie noticed all of their belongings were gone, and there was a guard near them next to the fire. In the woods were three other guards walking the perimeter of the camp. The other caravan party members were, she presumed, asleep, for she couldn't see any of them. The guard sneered at the girls, licking his lips as his eyes roved over them and Kipsie, panicking, untied herself the way her rogue father had shown her when she was a child. The guard noticed what she was doing and strode over. A hard kick stunned kipsie and made jaelara growl in anger. Mir glared and wiggled his fingers furiously trying to free them for a spell. After ascertaining that kipsie was indeed going to stay down, withdrew a pair of manacles from a bag strapped to his waist and clapped them onto the stunned girl's wrists. He then walked a little ways away and sat once again by the fire. Jaelara scooted to kipsie and studied her friend's now bruised face. Kipsie shook her head to clear it and looked around; they lay near the fire in the center of camp, with Mir just above them facing the fire. Kipsie whimpered pitifully and began to cry, an idea forming in her head. The guard that had kicked her glared in her direction as she began to turn away from jaelara with a whispered command to do the same. The little dragon complied and presented her hands to kipsies skilled fingers. Mir looked over to them curiously, his eyes widening when he say kipsie begin to untie Jaelara's bonds. Crying louder now, kipsie was silenced by the annoyed bark to shut up from the man who had kicked her. Once she was quiet, he went back to his food, firmly convinced that they were nothing more than frightened kids. Moments later, jaelara was free. Kipsie quickly and quietly retied the ropes loosely so that her friend could get away, lamenting the confiscated lock picks her father had gifted her with when she was a child learning the rogue craft from him before he died. Jaelara was mumbling around her gag and her hands moved slightly, when suddenly a fog blasted itself into existence in a thirty foot radius around the camp, the guard near the camp jumped up and drew his sword. Kipsie grinned painfully and looked around in time to see her friend throw off the ropes and scramble onto the mist, using it like solid ground. All silver dragons had this ability to cloudwalk, now it would be put to good use. Shouts that the prisoners were free and one was casting a spell filled the camp, causing the guard near them to take a swipe at the disappearing jaelara, who dodged it and vanished. Kipsie scooted over to Mir and was untying him when a scream from a guard was chocked off suddenly and his body landed with a heavy thud into the fire near Mir. Mir, now free stood and rubbed his wrists. Moments later another body tumbled down into the fire, the guard screaming and rolling off of his dead comrade in a desperate attempt to put out the fire. Mir made his way over to where he knew the first wagon to be and searched it, desperate to retrieve his spell books and their belongings. Kipsie in the meantime had untied her feet and was busily searching the dead guard, extracting his dagger and crossbow then backing away. When the second guard rose unsteadily, looking singed, and screamed, "Tis a dragon! Tis a bloody dragon killin us! Ware, ware, there be a bloody dragon killin us!" Kipsie took aim at the second guard and shot him, killing him instantly as her bolt took him through the heart. Another scream ripped out into the mist and all heard the scuffle when jaelara snatched up the third guard that had been walking perimeter. Kipsie jumped slightly then grinned when his body fell into the campfire, adding to the stench of scorched flesh and wool, then began to shoot into the mist, hoping to take another of her enemies down. Mir finished with the first wagon, hoping that the next one contained their belongings as he crept to the second wagon. Mir moved on from the second wagon to the third, by now wondering if the caravan had thrown their goods away, and frightened at the thought of losing his spell books. Both Mir and kipsie ignored the fourth scream as jaelara snatched up another man and dropped him into the fire to join his comrades in death. Kipsie was shooting into the mist when she felt her lids get heave, blinking, she fought off the darkness trying to claim her and looked around for the spell caster who was stupid enough to try to cast a sleep spell on a half elf.