I LIVE!!!!!!!!!

Well, sort of. So sorry about delays. Real life interfered again. After school ended, I had a job three days of the week and plenty of obligations. But my jobs over, and I have a month free summer left. I think I'll use it to try and finish this! The whole rest of the story is planned out, I just have to write it up. Hopefully I'll be able to get back to at least weekly updates. ^_^

Expect next chapter by tomorrow at least!

Thanks for the reviews!

A.C- Trite! Who you calling trite! ^_^ Okay, it is. I put it in as an inside joke with my sister, really. Thanks for review!

Stellice- Thanks! Here's the next chapter, if you're still alive to read it. ^_^
Braided Baka girl-Football with heads? I always knew Fou-Lu would enjoy sports if offered the right incentive.

Dannii- Hey, my latest reviewer! Look, I hurried! It's three months later!

Please see introduction for disclaimer regarding this work.

Chapter Eighteen

Always a Critic

"What?" Fou-Lu demanded angrily, certain he had misheard the mortal. Surely, even Ludia would not be stupid enough to out-right refuse peace with the Empire. "Please repeten thy sentence, for our hearing must be erroneous, as ludicrous as it wouldeth seem. Ludia, refuse us?" He could not quite restrain a sneer. The mortals that dwelled in Ludia would not have the guts or stupidity to do such a thing…would they?

"No…" the messenger said nervously, looking as though he would rather being doing anything else in the world, scrubbing chamber pots included. He apparently wasn't aware that Fou-Lu avoided the 'kill the messenger' type of thing as much as possible. Though the dragon occasionally got peeved, reliable messengers were hard to find. "I'm sorry, Milord, but Your Majesty heard correctly. The Ludians have refused to speak of a permanent truce."

Fou-Lu scowled, his lips thinning dangerously as his eyes narrowed. "And their sister nations? What of these?" If they refused, the Empire would be forced into another war…which Fou-Lu did not want. Many mortal generations had already gone by. They needed add no others. Though the war would probably not occur until Ludia had consolidated its allies around it.

"Worrent…is considering, and the messengers have yet to reach Windia." Seeming pleased to have more pleasing news, the man added, "The other, smaller nations are all in assent, Your Majesty."

"Very well," Fou-Lu responded, still glowering slightly. He had expected complications, but he had not expected the manipulative Ludians to resist. They had been more likely to cave in for fear of their own petty lives. "Thou mayest depart." He turned his gaze to stare gloomily at the wall, arms crossing pensively in his habitual stance.

The man shifted from foot to foot and stayed were he was, drawing Fou-Lu's gaze back to him. "Um…Milord, there's also a message from the Captain Ursula. The Ludians have attacked the force under her command and forced her to withdraw them. That's also why the messengers haven't reached Windia yet. They've had trouble, too."

Fou-Lu turned fully to face the human, and his look was ominous. "And what doth she do now?"

"She is attempting to get into the Alliance by sailing to the Windian coast, since the deserts are being guarded by the Ludians."

"This is all?" the emperor asked after as substantial pause. When the human nodded, he dismissed him and sat contemplating the turn of events. Things were looking less than good.

Darnik whistled an annoying tune as he tromped through the wilderness at Yahla's side. They had been on the road since morning, and the Windian had apparently decided to relieve monotony with repetitive music.

Yahla glared at him as she voiced her displeasure, pointed ears seeming to flatten against the sides of her head. "An thou start singing, thou wilt suffer unmentionable pain," she threatened, continuing to scan the surroundings. It was quiet, except for Darnik, and the bushes and trees around them moved only to rustle in the wind. Of course, perhaps she missed something, what with her companion whistling and tromping along side her like a three legged elephant. He certainly didn't help her concentration, and it paid the price to be vigilant, even on a trip as short as that between Windia and Shyde.

"Gee, everyone's a critic," the mortal complained, rolling his eyes expressively in her direction. "What are you, tone-deaf?"
Oft I wouldst prefer deafness to thee… "Nay," the dragoness replied tartly, "But in truth I be beginning to suspect thee of such." Darnik, for all that he had a fairly melodic sounding voice, couldn't carry a tune in a bucket. With a lid.

"Oh, I'm hurt," he replied sarcastically, grinning as she glanced at him with annoyance. "But seriously…" He yelped as Yahla suddenly shoved him to the side, knocking him into a clump of undergrowth. "Hey!"

A monster landed heavily where he had been standing and Darnik's complaints died on his lips, unspoken. He reached hurriedly for his spear as he attempted to untangle himself from the brambles. The bilboa snorted at him and shook its hog-like tusks, charging him almost before he had recovered his footing. The windian cursed and brought his spear up to block the charge, aware that the wild tusker could do him some serious damage. It was a large creature, and its thick, bristly hide served to armor it well against him. He managed to sidestep the porcine ungulate, but it circled in pursuit, its bony tail rising like a flag of challenge. Gaining slightly in confidence, Darnik stood his ground to meet its charge.

A stinging pain suddenly shot through his shoulder and the man winced, distracted just long enough for the boar to get under his spear and bring its curling tusks to bear. It would probably have gouged him from groin to chest had not Yahla intervened. The boar went limp as she snapped its neck, her bare hands proving potent weapons. Darnik murmured his thanked as she continued past him, heading for the pack of Nut Archers that had assembled a ways off and were shooting tiny arrows their way. Like acorns that had decided they'd nothing better to do than grow arms and legs, the little creatures stood only a foot high, but they were fast. The group scattered as the dragoness came after them, and she pursued one into the trees, the agile creature managing to stay barely ahead of her. Darnik followed her example, finding a few moments later that his chosen target was actually a Nut Mage.

The tiny creature shrilled out a spell and Darnik yelled as his spear caught fire and the iron tip started to melt and bend backwards on itself. The windian cursed and dropped it as it scorched his gloved hands. "Fucking shit!"

Yahla, who had continued to chase the offensive archer around and had gotten a tear in one wing as a result, spared a moment to glance over and remark, "…thou hast given me a cerebral image of great foulness," the goddess informed him, feeling irate and sarcastic at the moment, primarily due to the Nut that refused to get within her reach. Damn that survival instinct. "I be verily thankful."

"Oh, don't you even start," Darnik grumbled as the Nut fled entirely, accompanied by its small companions. "I be…I mean, I'm not real happy over here, either." Yahla, their attackers having fled, walking back over to the corpse of the bilboa, ignoring the windian as she heard him mutter, "Damn female, messing with my grammar…"

"Be letting thy griping abate," she advised, leaning to look the body over. The animal was of a decent size and looked to have been fairly healthy before its death.

The windian groused a moment before his curiosity got the better of him. "What do you want with that thing?" he asked, motioning to the bilboa. As he walked nearer to the creature, he caught a whiff of it and wrinkled up his nose.

She glanced up at him, still crouched next to the animal. "Supper," she replied impassively, making the windian grimace.

"Oh, gross!" he exclaimed, somewhat revolted at the thought. Pigs weren't exactly the cleanest of animals, after all. "You're going to eat that?"

"Verily," she agreed, amused by his nausea. Human be such queer beings…Doth he soothly thinketh his docile beasts so greater sanitary?

"But you don't even know where it's been!" Darnik protested, feeling again like the complete city boy he was.

She shrugged, unperturbed. "This be mattering not, as eftsoons 'twill be in me. Watch for danger whilst I tend to this."

"Well, I'd love too, but I don't exactly have a weapon on hand right now." The nut mage had certainly seen to that!

"Thou shouldst take up a stick into hand."

"A stick isn't a weapon!"

*Thwack!*

"Okay, okay. I stand corrected…sheesh."

"How your husband manages to put up with you is beyond me," Darnik complained the next day, swiping undergrowth aside with the but of his new stick. He had to admit it wasn't that bad a replacement, though the balance was all wrong and it was much too short.

"I be his wife," she snipped back. "That meaneth he needs must bear me, least he sleepeth upon the floor for the remainder of his existence."

"Poor guy. You must have him so whipped." Darnik tsked, shaking his head. The motion, combined with a low-hanging tree branch, sent his helmet rolling off into the bushes and he had to scurry to retrieve it.

"Thou hast mine assurance that mine mate be quite capable of his own mind," Yahla said, amused by the thought of her husband being cowed by anything.

"So who is the man?" Darnik asked, as he rather self-consciously replaced his rogue helmet upon his head.

Yahla raised a brow. "Thou knowest not, and yet though hast accompanied me?"

"I did ask Elena about it, but my coz wasn't exactly forthcoming," Darnik defended himself. "But if he saved Elena, Windia can't exactly let his wife wander off in hostile territory." The windian shrugged, his wings spreading slightly with the movement. "Imperial or not. From what I've got your man's a high ranking official in the Empire, right?"

"Verily, thou couldst say this." Yahla agreed, an amused smile playing about her face.

Darnik paused in his stride, leaning against his stick as he turned to look at her. "Oh, I'm funny now, am I? I swear, I just don't get chicks like you."

"Full few mortals do," Yahla replied airily, continuing in her path. She paused and turned several moments later when Darnik did not follow in her wake. He was looking at her oddly and she raised a brow at him. "What be this? Doth the paucity of such seemeth so somber to thee?"

"…What did you mean, 'mortals'?" Darnik demanded softly, still not moving from his spot.

"Come thither, Darnik," she ordered, intending to cover as much ground as possible that day before the sun set and the chill of the air stilled her bones.

"Uh-uh," he replied, watching her with eyes that grew steadily more uneasy. "I'm…not moving. What did you mean, and …what are you?"

Yahla stilled, watching the windian. He avoided her gaze, but his eyes kept flickering back to her. "I be no mortal, little windian, but thou needst not dread me."

"As long as I do what you want, is that it?" Darnik's knuckles were white as his hands clutched the branch.

"Windian, I be a dragon, not slaver nor deathsman to thee whilst thou dost not obstruct mine path. An thou wouldst depart, aye, do such, and thou mayest live in tranquility save thou speaketh of what thou hast learned."

He paced through the corridors, searching for the peace that eluded him. A pensive air hung about his elegant face and he found himself again at the top balconies, which seemed to be his most familiar haunt as of late. He often visited this place when he was overcome by his own disquiet.

He wasn't the only one with problems, again, he noticed sardonically. General Rhun was there, gazing morbidly into the city. More accurately, through it. From all appearance the general was unaware of the bustling metropolis below, lost in his own thoughts as he was.

"General," Fou-Lu greeted, making the human jump. He could not but smile at that, and the amusement banished at least a bit of his stress.

"Your Majesty," Rhun said, regaining his composure and masking his embarrassment at being caught so by surprise. "You walk like a cat, my lord," he added wryly.

"Nay…'tis the felid that walketh like a dragon," the emperor countered, walking to join the human at the wall. "And 'tis a pale mimic indeed."

"Of course, Majesty," Rhun agreed, returning his eyes to the city stretched before them.

"What troubles thy mind, General?" the dragon asked, catching again a hint of worry in the general's eyes.

"I simply worry over the possible consequences of the Ludian situation, Your Majesty," the general said. "The nation is one of the largest and most powerful in the Alliance, and the smaller nations may choose to withdraw their support of a truce in the face of Ludia's refusal. In the worst case scenario, the situation could degenerate into a full blown war again." Rhun glanced over at the dragon, who was no longer smiling. "But perhaps I could dismiss my worries if you told me yours."

"What makest thou thinkest I be carrying any such burdens?" Fou-Lu asked, amused again. Rhun tended to have that affect on him, which was part of the reason he had allow their friendship to progress. Under as much stress as he was, the last thing he needed was to fall into a depression, and Rhun did help to cheer him up on occasion.

"For one, Majesty," Rhun said, managing a smile of his own. "You never come up here, unless you want to think things over."

"Perceptive," Fou-Lu praised, offering a nod of approval. "Verily, I be worried. Ludia, in their insipience, hath also brought arms against thy grandchild's troops."

"I see." The general, of course, understood the truth of the situation immediately. "No doubt severely delaying the search for your wife."

"Aye." For the moment, that one word answer pretty much said it all.

"I'm sure it will be alright, Majesty," Rhun offered, trying to reassure his friend as well he could. Though, admittedly, the situation with Ursala worried him as well. Another obstacle in her path put her all that closer to failing her assigned task, and Rhun still wasn't entirely sure whether Fou-Lu would or wouldn't take her head for that failure.

"An thou havest reason for such surety, fortune be upon our side,"

Tyke suckling tot dearest pet Minikin Lambkin Dear heart Nursling Newling Dragonet Yeanling

fleeting ephemeral short-lived ephemeron

fie! Lo!

Braid Coil Tress Lock Curl Plait Ringlet Tendril Tuft Wisp

Ahem Aw Boy Man Gee Goody Heads up Oho Ouch Ow Oy Phooey Uh-huh Uh-uh Whee Whew Whoa Whoops Whoopee Yech Yuck

Awesome barf beat-up cheapskate skivvies clobber come-on conk cool cretin crud dibs ditsy divvy doormat flaky freak glop goof gross hightail humongous kid lunkhead measly ratfink saphead sappy screwup snitch sourpuss tough twerp umpteen wild card yummy

Exenterate eviscerate embowel disembowel gut

Darnik

"Every lady needs her knight…and since hers isn't here, you'll just have to go through me. Bring it on, assholes."

23 day preggers.

Haversack knapsack rucksack satchel packsack sacksack…^_^