It was a beautiful day to be traveling through the Tristain countryside, and Louise's mood fit it perfectly. Riding through said countryside on her horse (one of her favorite pastimes), only made it better. For the first time in her life she had successfully cast a spell! A spell which no one else could use or had even heard of no less! Combine that with the fact that she was on a mission from the Princess, it was safe to say her spirits had never been higher.

"We should be seeing the caravan any moment now." The leader of the Royal Envoy said as he looked back at Louise and her familiar from the head of the group. "You shall remain back with the others while I greet the head merchant." he said woodenly.

The girl couldn't say that she knew much of Lord Alexander Dumont other than that he was known as one of the most skilled earth mages in the nation. While every noble may have been a mage, not all could be said to have the same skill will magic, and those that excelled were often picked by the Crown itself for prestigious positions. And while few could match the Royal line in terms of power, specialized mages were always useful. Gossip said that Lord Dumont had earned his position as head of the Royal Earth Mages by displaying unprecedented skill with elemental transmutation magic, though the middle aged man did not carry himself like other's who held his position might have.

From what little she had interacted with him, Dumont was a quiet, stern man who seemed to take his position very seriously. It actually reminded Louise of her mother a little. However, she was also getting the impression from him that he didn't particularly care for her or her familiar's presence. To be sure, he was always polite when he spoke to them, but she couldn't help but notice the slight edge in his voice when he did so. It was almost like he was silently disappointed with her.

Also like her mother.

Louise shook her head to clear herself of such thoughts. However, while her mind was on the subject of skill with magic she did remember that she had something to ask the person she was riding a short distance behind. "So, just how do you know about incantations, anyway?" Louise asked.

Georgius glanced back at her. "Like I said before, I was exposed to magic a great deal at a young age."

"Well, yes, but I meant more specifically." She said. "I mean, you don't really talk about your past that much."

The man stared forward, and was silent for several long moments before he replied. "I… try not to dwell on my previous life."

"Why?" She asked. "Was it really that bad?" A thought occurred to her. "Was the reason that you were dishonored from nobility so shameful?"

"What?" The knight said in surprise, and a dry chuckle escaped his lips. "No, no. nothing like that. It's just that I consider that life to be over. I'd rather focus on the future instead." There was a long pause before he twisted around in his saddle to look at his master and found her looking at him expectantly. "But if you really want to know, the reason for my fall from grace from the Empire was that I refused to give up my God."

Louise blinked in confusion. "I don't understand, how could that disgrace you?"

"The Roman Empire had its own pantheon of gods as its patrons. The Empire's tolerance for other faiths throughout the years was… somewhat fickle, and mostly the result what the Emperor decided at the time. My Emperor decided that he wanted to end Christianity for good."

"Wait, wait, your homeland was filled with heretics?" Louise said in alarm. "And just what is this Christianity?"

"It is the name of my faith, much as yours is known as Founderism. In any case, Emperor Diocletian had been taking actions against religious minorities for years, but it finally came to a head when he stripped away our legal rights. He arrested every Christian soldier and demanded those left make sacrifices to the Roman pantheon. It was then that I could no longer abide by the actions of my Emperor, and declared to him in full view of my fellow soldiers that I myself was of the faith and would not stand for persecution. Things became… unpleasant after that to say the least."

Louise was silent for several moments, not sure how to respond to that. She had always just assumed that Gerogius's homeland was of the same religion as him, and the fact that he had given up his life there to stand by his faith left her with mixed emotions. One the one hand, it was admirable her familiar stood in defiance of an empire with pagan deities to defend his faith in God (mother would certainly approve)… but then there was the fact that his faith was, well, wrong. Or at least lacking some important bits of knowledge.

Still, she didn't want to spoil her good mood by delving into that territory again, so she went back to her original question. "So, about you knowing things about incantations…?"

The man again glanced back at her, and she could see him cock an eyebrow before he responded "I was raised by a witch for most of my adolescent life."

"What?!" Louise said in surprise, shocked that a man like Georgius spent his formative years with someone who practiced dark magic. "How is that possible? Did you have a secretly evil nanny or something?"

Again, the knight let out a dry chuckle. "More that I was tricked into thinking my parents were dead and she kidnapped me when I was a boy. To this day I am still not entirely sure why, though eventually she saw fit to tell me the truth and let me go into the world on my own."

"…You've had a very strange life haven't you?" Louise said.

"It has been eventful, there is no doubt of that." Georgius replied.

"Well, in any case, how much do you know about the workings of magic, anyway?"

"Not as much as my adoptive 'mother' would have liked to be sure. She tried to train me on a number of occasions but I never displayed much of an aptitude or interest in the subject. I understand the basics and a few esoteric things that I happen to remember. Why do you ask?"

Louise had to restrain herself from giving a knee jerk reaction to the comment. Never displayed an interest in magic… how could you possibly not be interested?! She thought. Intellectually she knew that his homeland didn't give any special status or respect to mages, but it was a little difficult to tell her heart that. Still, she managed to say instead "Because so far, you're the only person who has managed to give me any kind of advice that actually worked when it comes to magic." The man's head tilted curiously, and she continued. "My family has tried doctors, specialists, and any number of tutors to try to get me any kind of competence in magic, yet explosions were all I got for their troubles. Then you come along and well…"

Georgius gave a small hum as he looked ahead. "I appreciate your confidence in me, though I must admit the actual effect of the spell was all your doing. I merely pointed out how you should try to follow your own path then try to do something that has never worked.

"Even so, maybe you could give me a new perspective." Louise said. "I mean, as happy as I am with what I just did, I would rather not be only able to cast one spell for the rest of my life."

There was a pause before her familiar nodded. "Very well, I will provide whatever assistance I can."

"Thank you." The mage replied gracefully.

She was about to say more when Dumont called out "There it is!" Louise peered around the man sitting in front of her to see a line of wagons coming into view as they crested over a hill. There were about 15 in total, which was a fair size for a merchant caravan. She knew from her briefings with Agnès that there were four merchants in this particular group, with the caravan itself being led by a textile merchant by the name of DeMedd. As they got closer, Louise got a look at the man as he walked out to meet the envoy. He was large, with a barrel chest and gut, with wild auburn hair and dressed in fine clothes. His voice was loud and boisterous as he called out to them. "Ho, took you long enough! I was started to get worried that I wouldn't make it to the city before nightfall!"

Lord Dumont looked back and gestured to the group. The five other Envoy mages, along with Georgius, Louise and Agnès, slowed to a stop to the side of the road while their leader rode ahead. The men then talked in much quieter voices, though Louise could tell that Dumont was still being somewhat irritable, and that the caravan master's lax attitude wasn't helping any. Louise idly glanced back at Agnès, or more specifically the sack just behind her horse's saddle. Even though the captain would be physically looking after the Staff of Destruction for most of the journey, Louise could still feel the weight of the responsibility as if she was carrying it herself. If Agnès felt the same way she didn't show it, much like how she had barley even looked at the two of them since they got underway.

While they waited, the Louise decided to get back to the matter at hand with her familiar and took the opportunity to pull her horse up next to his. "So, do you have any idea what's wrong with me off the top of your head?"

Georgius gave a small hum. "Well, I haven't exactly been aware of your condition for very long, nor do I know the intricacies of how mages in this land bring their spells into the world, but I am hesitant to say that there is something wrong with you."

Louise blinked. "How can you say that?"

"Because it would imply that there is something fundamentally broken in your body or soul that prevents you from properly shaping magic to your will. If it was a problem of the body I would imagine that you would take significant injures trying to push as much raw power through yourself as you usually do when you cast. And if it was of the soul… well, let's say that your mind would not be in a very good state right now."

The pink haired girl tightly pressed her lips together. "It's nice to know that my sanity is not at risk, but if that's the case, why can't I cast spells properly?"

"Hard to say, but I would guess that you are naturally hyper specialized to do one thing. Normally all magi can do a wide range of things using all of the five elements, even if they are far better at certain things than others. It's possible that you are so specialized that you can't do anything other than your 'one thing'. As far as elements are concerned, given what I've seen and what you've done successfully, I believe that your element is Aether."

"Aether?" Louise said incredulously. "What in the Founder's name is Aether?"

Georgius brow furrowed, his expression confused. "…The Fifth Element. The substance upon which all magic is based and is impossible without. How can you not know that?" He paused for a moment and looked off to the side. "Now that I think about it, I don't believe I've met a single Aether mage since I got here. I know that pure Aether elements are rarer, but I would have thought with so many magi in this land…"

"What kind of bizarre magic theory is that?" Louise said, interrupting his musings. "The five elements are Earth, Fire, Wind, Water, and Void. I've never heard of this… Aether."

The knight's eyebrows rose in surprise. "Void? Really?" he was silent for a moment before he shrugged. "It must be a difference of name. While odd, I suppose I can see why you would refer to Aether as Void. In any case, what I was trying to say is that I think you are a Void mage."

Louise nearly swallowed her own tongue at hearing that, and her entire body went rigid. "D-d-don't say things like that!" She yelled at him, snapping her head around to see if any of the other Royal mages had heard what he had said. "S-stupid blasphemous familiar! Do you have any idea how much trouble we'd both be in if other people heard you say that?!" She reached over and started to pound on his breastplate, but quickly stopped when she realized that she was just hurting her hand.

Georgius, of course, continued to look confused. "I don't understand. Why does that upset you so much?"

"Because only the Founder Brimir ever had the holy Void element you idiot!" She yelled back at him. "There hasn't been another in six thousand years!"

The knight blinked at this. "That's… strange. Are you saying that no one since Brimir has been able to do anything with the Void at all? Even cast the simplest of Void spells?"

"Of course not! And besides which, all of the spells the Founder used have been lost to time!" Louise let out a breath as she forced herself to calm down. "Look, there is no way you can even compare me to Brimir. The Void element made him the most powerful mage in human history. He was a living saint that created the world we live in. Comparing one's self to the Founder is sacrilege."

Georgius's head tilted to the side a little. "I see, but aside from the rarity why is the Void element sacrosanct? Though rare we have had magi of the Aether element in my homeland and they were not overly more powerful than their peers. Power is separate from element."

"I still don't know what this 'Aether' is, but if that's the case then I can definitely tell you that it is not the same thing. Void is fundamentally different from the other elements, both in quality and in magnitude. It doesn't obey the normal rules of inheritance either. Brimir was granted the power of the Void by God himself!"

Georgius became very still at that. "Truly?" he asked, his voice filled with trepidation.

"Yes!" Louise breathed out, glad that the man finally seemed to be taking what she said seriously. "Brimir said that he had been chosen by God to unite humanity in worship of him, and that the Void was bestowed upon him to accomplish this task. Now, since I do not have access to landscape altering powers or have received any signs from God, we can safely assume that I am not a Voids Mage." Honestly, not even in Louise's wildest fantasies of magical competence had she dreamed of calling on the power of the Void.

Georgius was silent for several long moments. "I see. If that is, true then I shall take care not say such things in unwanted company."

"Good." Louise said with a nod. "I'm glad that you're learning."

"Yes," He said, turning back forward in the saddle, his voice distance. "I am indeed learning some very important things."

It was only a moment later that Lord Dumont seemed to finish his conversation with the boisterous merchant, and gestured back towards the group. The lot moved forward and began to mingle with the carts, most taking up various positions near the front. Louise did not fail to notice however that the Musketeer Captain had drifted back somewhat, disappearing amid the carts towards the middle. Soon enough the procession started to lurch forward and they were once again moving towards the capital, albeit at a much slower pace. Louise figured that all there was to do now was to look out for trouble, but considering how smoothly things have gone so far, that seemed-

Georgius suddenly straightened in his saddle and looked up and off to the side. Louise perked up at this. "Trouble?" She asked, squinting to see what was looking at.

"Perhaps..." He said. He continued to look in that direction for a few seconds longer. He then said "Lord Dumont!" The other man rode his horse over to them and stopped, looking in the direction that Georgius pointed in.

Louise still didn't see what the two men were staring at for several long moments before she finally noticed a speck flying amid the clouds that was quickly getting bigger. As it got closer the shape resolved itself into the familiar profile of a dragon. Her concern over it quickly faded as she soon recognized whose dragon it was. Sylphid? What is Tabitha's dragon doing here?

Her curiosity turned to displeasure when the dragon landed several meters away and she saw just who was riding the beast. Tabitha was a given, but the other passenger…

"Darling!" Kirche said as she slid off the back of the dragon and walked over to their stallion, focusing on the knight in the front. "You should have told me that you were going on a trip!"

"I didn't think that this particular matter concerned you." Georgius said flatly. His eyes drifted up to see Tabitha also slide off of her dragon and give it a pat. Sylphid looked at the group nervously before she beat her wings and took back off into the air, leaving the blue haired girl to walk up next to her companion.

"And just who are you?" Lord Dumont asked, his eyes narrowing suspiciously at the newcomer.

"Ah, of course." The redhead said as she put a hand to her chest. "I am Kirche Augusta Frederica von Zerbst, heiress of Germania's Zerbst Province."

Before anyone else could say anything, the caravan master stepped forward. "Wait, the Zerbst Provence? You wouldn't happen to be related to Zoltana Augusta Frederica, would you?"

"Why, that happens to be my mother." Kirche said coyly. "Why do you ask?"

"Why, your family is one of my best customers! Count Arthur DuMedd, at your service my dear." He said with a bow.

"Really? Well isn't that a coincidence." she replied. "I was merely traveling to join my darling Sir Georgius. It seems that our journey will have even more company than I thought."

"I am sorry, but you can't travel with us-" Lord Dumont began to say.

"Nonsense, nonsense!" DuMedd insisted with a wave of his hand. "Of course the daughter of Zoltana can come with us if she wants! Come, you can ride up front."

"Oh, you are most generous, Count." The red head replied. "Traveling by dragon while companion is on horseback is awkward at best." She shot Georgius a sultry wink. "And with you riding by me side, we can finally become better acquainted."

Dumont grit his teeth at the situation, but said nothing. He could order Kirche away using his authority from the Crown of Tristain, but that would at the very least raise suspicions as to why he would need to do so. As the secrecy of the mission was paramount (and he apparently did not feel confident in any lie he could tell), the man had to hold his tongue. Louise on the other hand felt no obligation to do so. "Kirche, I can't believe that you came all this way just to lust after my familiar. Have you no shame?"

"Bah, how can a girl like you possibly understand?" Kirche said dismissively. "One must pursue what they want with all the passion they have. Though I suppose you'll never understand. You'll be a Zero for the rest of your life."

Louise began to feel a familiar anger build inside of her at the comment, but then she remembered her success just a short while ago, and the emotion just bleed away from her. Instead of one of her usual retorts, a smug smile crept over her face. "Oh, really? Well, I suppose I shouldn't be surprised that you are so stupid to actually believe that. Those absurd things on your chest must take up all the blood meant for your brain."

Kirche actually flinched at that, surprised by the comment and how it was delivered. Her eyes narrowed, looking at Louise with a suspicious glance. "Wait, wait, what is this?" She said as she walked towards the girl on horseback. "What is this confidence you suddenly have?"

"What, surprised that your taunting is useless now?" Louise said with a smirk, glad that her position on the horse allowed her to look down on Kirche for a change. "I will have you know that I successfully cast a spell not an hour ago. You calling me Zero is meaningless now."

"What? You actually performed magic?" Kirche said incredulously.

"She did." Georgius said. "She cast a spell which now allows Professor Colbert to understand unknown languages."

"You see?" The pink haired mage said as she crossed her arms. "What do you have to say to that?"

Kirche opened her mouth but she did not say anything immediately, and looked off to the side in thought. Then a wide smile covered her face. "Well, you couldn't have done it with me pushing you so hard." She said, and she turned back around to walk to the front of the caravan.

Louise blinked at this. "What. No, no you can't just take credit for- don't you walk away from me!" she yelled she slipped off her horse and ran after her nemesis. Kirche just laughed and started to run, leading her on a mad dash between the carts.

It was another five minutes before the caravan got moving again.

There was something odd going on. That much Tabitha was certain of. She had done little other than just sit on a wagon next to her friend and she had already noticed some odd behavior from people around her. Though the various merchants and workers of the caravan seemed normal enough, the members of the Royal Envoy were tense, especially Lord Dumont. It seemed that their presence had set the lot of them on edge, reinforcing the idea there was something covert going on.

Louise's involvement in the matter, if at all, was less certain. Louise may have been acting like her usual self, but that was likely due to Kirche focusing her attention. Tabitha gave it even odds that she was a part of whatever they were doing. In any case, the blue haired girl didn't plan to interfere with whatever the operation might have been happening. She was merely going to discreetly observe and report on it later. And so, she resolved herself to sit quietly no matter what happened.

That only lasted until they reached the landslide a few hours later.

The road to the capital took the caravan through part of the Ardennes Forest, and the path curved around a low mountain. Though a certain amount of detritus was to be expected in such an area, Tabitha was surprised when the caravan turned around a bend and found a massive barrier of dirt, rock and upturned trees strewn across the road in front of them.

"Whoa, what in blazes?" DuMedd said as he stopped the wagon and waved his arms to signal the train of carts to come to a stop. "When in the Void did this happen? There hasn't been a major storm in this area in weeks!"

Tabitha watched as the Royal Envoy began to look around nervously, and she saw Captain Agnès appear and quickly whisper to several of them before the group dispersed to several points along the caravan. Tabitha recognized a scatter pattern when she saw one, and it was warranted in her opinion. Everything about the situation told her that this blockage was not natural. Given the tree cover it would make a good spot for bandits looking to rob a caravan full of goods. She did not overtly look up from her book, but she shifted ever so slightly to put her staff in easy reach, her body tense as she waited for the attack.

And yet... none came. A frown threatened to work its way onto her brow as the caravan master spoke to Dumont, and the man nodded as he walked up to the pile in front of them. He drew his wand and began clearing the debris away with his magic, though it was slower going than might have been possible given that the man also had to move several trees out of the way. Again, Tabitha waited for people to come screaming out of the woods around them, but nothing happened. She glance back to see that, while not everyone looked concerned, there were enough keeping an eye out that told her they were aware of the situation they were in.

She decided that she needed a second opinion, and she figured she might as well advance her own agenda while she was at it as well. She closed her book and hopped down off of the wagon to get away from DuMedd, who was making the same complements to Kirche which he had been giving the whole trip, and made her way to find the man whose opinion she wanted. Her quarry, such as it was, stood off to the side of the road, frowning at the debris which blocked their path. Louise was not with him at the moment, likely because the pink haired girl still needed some time to cool off after the needling Kirche gave her. Tabitha approached him and asked "Thoughts?"

Georgius looked at her surprised, not so much because she just appeared next to him, but because she had simply spoken to him at all. "The captain is worried that this was meant to slow the caravan down so that it can be more easily plundered, and yet no one has yet decided to show themselves or steal anything from us. I am wondering what the point of it all is."

"Suspicious." The blue haired girl agreed. "Wear us down?"

"Or buy them time to set something up." The knight remarked, hand cupping his chin in thought.

"Perhaps it would be best if you used your dragon to scout ahead and see if there is anything more obvious." The man gestured off to the side and into the woods, and Tabitha turned to see Sylphid a short distance away trying to spy on them. Once again the dragon was also proving that she knew nothing of stealth, as she was trying to crouch down in some bushes that were several times too small for her.

The blue haired girl said nothing, simply glancing back at Georgius and narrowing her eyes slightly. Again, the man had showed no malice or even just displeasure with her familiar. There was nothing about the way he acted that could have provoked such a fearful reaction in the young dragon, so she was still forced to conclude that it was based on who (or what) he was. And that was unfortunately a much harder puzzle to crack.

Tabitha was about to move away and do as he asked when Georgius seemed to notice her expression and gave a small sigh. "Perhaps now it the best time address this matter after all." She simply tilted her head at that, prompting him to go on. He did so. "Your dragon is clearly unnerved by my presence. I feel that if we just let the matter lie as it is, there may come a time when I accidentally provoke it into attacking me. Please convey my message that I mean it no harm or ill will, nor do I intend to inflict harm on those it cares about such as yourself."

"…She." Tabitha corrected absentmindedly. She had almost forgotten how direct the man could be about things. A thought occurred to her. Could it really be that easy? She thought to herself before she asked "Why?"

"I would think the fact that I do not wish to be attacked by a dragon to be obvious. Anyone would want that." He remarked. "I must say though, this land does seem to have a far more amicable relationship with dragonkind than I would have thought possible. Louise mentioned that your knights use them as mounts, and you have even bound one as your familiar, if a very young one."

Something about that statement nagged at Tabitha, but she ignored it to continue her inquiry. "No. Why is she scared of you?"

"Oh. Well," Georgius drew himself up straight. "I slayed a dragon once."

Tabitha waited, but after a moment she realized that was all he was going to say. That's it? That's his explanation? She thought incredulously. "Not enough." She said as she shook her head. "Killed dragon before. No effect." Her thoughts drifted back to that particularly nasty two headed dragon she had fought in the Romalian mountains, but she quickly banished those thoughts.

"Truly?" The knight said in surprise. "Well in that case I am afraid I don't know why your dragon is frightened of me. I always assumed that was the reason, though I didn't know how she could tell."

The blue haired girl felt frustration at that. After all of her wondering it turned out that the man himself didn't even know? She supposed that he could be lying, but her instincts were telling her that he was telling the truth. And while it was very impressive for a non-mage to kill a dragon, it certainly seemed plausible given what she had seen him capable of.

The man continued. "I must say, I am very impressed that one as young as you managed to slay a dragon yourself. The one I faced was the most powerful foe I had ever encountered in battle. I cannot count the number of times one of its spells almost laid me low."

Tabitha's attention snapped back to the man, her eyes going wide. "Spells?" she said. "This dragon cast spells?"

"Of course it did. Just like all dragons can." Georgius said with a raised eyebrow. "True, its spells were nothing like human magic, but that certainly didn't change its potency. I have never faced a human mage that could match it for power."

Tabitha was rendered speechless by this. Dragons, while impressive magical beasts, were only that. They did not have the intelligence for communication, let alone the casting of spells. Out of all of the different kinds of dragons, the only ones known to be able to perform such feats were the legendary Rhyme Dragons. Tabitha had thought all of those were extinct.

Or at least, she had until she summoned one.

It had been quite a surprise to her once she realized just what Sylphid actually was, and she had wasted no time in insuring that it was kept a secret. Not only did she not want numerous researchers pestering her and prodding the dragon for knowledge, but a girl such as her saw… uses in having such a powerful asset remain hidden. But now this man before her was claiming that he had defeated one in the past, a feat which supposedly only the most powerful mages could have accomplished. Not only that, his statement implied that his homeland only had Rhyme Dragons. It was well and truly possible that Georgius was from the same land that Sylphid came from.

As she thought about her dragon's possible family and their nesting grounds, she remembered something. Georgius had referred to Sylphid as a young dragon, but how could he know that? Sylphid was the size of any other dragon, even with her relative youth. The only way he would know that meant she was young if- "The dragon. How big was it?" Tabitha said quickly.

The man looked up in thought for a few moments. "I would have to guess that it was about 10 meters tall at its full height, and perhaps 15-20 meters from head to tail. I'm afraid that I cannot give you an accurate measure but it was certainly the largest creature I had ever seen. Why?"

Tabitha had to fight to keep herself from going pale at that. That was more than twice the size of Sylphid, and that could only mean one thing: A Great Wyrm. The man before her was claiming to have killed a Great Wyrm Rhyme Dragon. And the most insane part past was… part of her believed him. It was preposterous, completely absurd! Even if he believed it himself, he had to be delusional or mad! And yet… part of her wondered. "How are you alive?" she all but whispered.

"Ah, well, it was a close thing." He said simply. "Though if I had to attribute my survival to one thing, I would say that my Faith shielded me from the worst of the fell beast's power." A look of confusion crossed Tabitha's face, and he blinked as thought occurred to him. "Oh right, your professor mentioned that such a thing was unheard of in this land. To clarify, what I meant was that I have resistance to magic. Only the most powerful of magics have any effect on me, and then they are often reduced."

Tabitha stood in stunned silence for several long moments, trying to process everything she had just heard. She had only ever heard of Elves being able to counter magic like that, and even then it was never described as a natural resistance. The idea that a human could have it, that a commoner could have it, could mean all sorts of things. She went to ask him more about it but a voice interrupted her. "Clear!" Lord Dumont said. Tabitha turned to see that the man had indeed pushed the rocks and trees to the side, clearing the path for the caravan. He wiped his brow with his arm and said "Alright, let's get a move on!"

Georgius turned back to Tabitha to give her a nod before he wandered back towards his stallion to mount up. Tabitha pursed her lips as this, but she then turned and strode into the woods, walking straight to her familiar. "Come." She said as she passed her, and the dragon gave a tentative look back at the line of wagons before she followed after her master.

As the pair walked a short distance to find a clearing large enough for the dragon to take off from, the blue haired girl hesitantly spoke up. "Irukuku," she said, using the dragon's real name. "Have any elder Rhyme Dragons ever been killed? By humans?"

"Waa! Mama said she don't like to talk about that!" The blue dragon said, her childish voice at odds with her massive size. "Those were bad times! But even then, it was usually the little ones that died. Like me." She gave a small wine. "Big ones like mama too strong. And they can make bad things happen to people who wrong them, even as they..." she trailed off.

"..." Tabitha was silent at this, but her suspicions were confirmed. It was then they found a clearing and took off into the air, flying over the forest and down the road. Her mind raced as she tried to think of the implications of what the knight had just told her. From the sound of it, Georgius may have indeed pulled off his impossible victory, but not as unscathed as he thought. The death of such a powerful creature at his hands could have left its mark on him, his… 'resistance' dulling a deadly curse into no more than a sort a magic scar, one which other Rhyme Dragons found very noticeable. It was likely due to her age that Sylphid simply didn't understand what she was sensing.

As far as other things were concerned, Georgius's 'magic resistance' could cause all kinds of trouble depending on who found out. Tabitha herself was not particularly religious, but she was politically minded enough that she could see someone who was taking affront to something that could negate Founder given magic. There was also the somewhat worrisome fact that he had referred to it as his Faith shielding him. Faith in what had not been specified, thus increasing the odds that the man would come into conflict soon if he did not tread lightly.

Of course, given how completely open the man had been with her thus far, she doubted that he would be discrete. And from what she could gleam of the man's personality, he would not back down if his beliefs were challenged. Many would try to stamp him out for that, but Tabitha knew that the man could take it, especially with his fighting prowess and magic resistance. Through ignorance the man could become a wild card and upset all manner of plots simply by being pulled into them. The girl found herself caught in a slight conundrum; she wanted to warn the man about how he needed to keep certain things secret (like his knowledge of Rhyme Dragons for instance), but she couldn't explain why lest she draw attention to herself. Whatever the case, Tabitha still resolved that she need to find some way to keep the knight from getting involved in anything too dramatic until she knew what to do with him.

It was then her attention snapped back to the present as she noticed something wrong as she looked down on the forest from dragonback. There were in fact several more places along the road where she could see that the road was obstructed by debris.

The girl frowned to herself. As she analyzed the blockades, she got a feeling that the world would not make her self-appointed task easier on her.

As much as she might have found it beneath her, it didn't take long after the caravan had stopped for the night for Louise to collapse onto the bedroll in the tent that had been provided for her. This mission… was not quite going as planned. For one thing that Germanian harlot showed up and refused to leave, either to just annoy her or make wanton advances towards her familiar. For another there had been so many landslides along the road in the forest that it had slowed down caravan significantly. Even though they finally had made it out of the forest, they were forced to make camp as the sun was setting behind the hills by the time they got out.

While there was a nearby village just over the next hill, and the girl really wanted to stay in a bed for the night, the glare she had gotten from Agnès had made it clear that the Captain wanted her to remain close to the Staff. Besides which, arguing with Kirche all day had made her tired enough that she just wanted to sleep anyway.

Louise shifted around on the blankets, her eyes fluttering closed after a few moments…

The images came as they usually did, fragmented and without context. They were always about the boy but she could never make heads or tails of them, just jumping from one scene to the next without rhyme, reason or order. She felt irritation at this, wondering why her dreams had refused to make sense as of late. It wouldn't be so bad if the bloody things would just fit together in a way that made sense. From what she had seen thus far, it vaguely reminded her of what Georgius had just told her of his past, but that had only happened today-

At that thought, the images and sounds suddenly resolved into something coherent. The boy was older now, just starting into his teens, and was running through the woods. He went deep into the forest, pasting by massive trees that reached to the sky and going through ravines filled with colorful plant life. Eventually, he came to a cave in the side of a hill, and walked in with a proud gait. It wasn't long before the cave opened up into what looked like some kind of hovel. "The pixies shall be bothered by the gnolls no more!"

The red headed woman emerged from a darkened corner, an equally dark expression on her face. "What have I told you about running of on silly little things like this? You are supposed to be studying your magecraft."

"I don't need magic to help me!" He said, a little bit of defiance in his tone.

"Once again, you miss the point." The woman said flatly. "Magic is far more important that the little squabbles of forest creatures. They have been fighting and killing each other since the Beginning and will do so till the End. Getting involved is pointless."

"No it's not! Cause I helped, the pixies aren't afraid anymore! It might be only for a while, but that's worth something!"

The woman sighed, realizing that she was getting nowhere. She then knelt down in front of him. "Boy, do you like fighting evil?"

"Oh yeah, I'm all about fighting evil!" He said, the conversation now interesting him.

"Well then, you should study what I'm teaching you, because there are many nasty, magic, evil things out that would hurt me if they had the chance. You want to protect me, don't you?"

"Of course! I'll always protect you!" He said fiercely.

She smiled a knowing smile. "Well, then you best get to studying, won't you?"

"I guess so…" The boy said, though he sounded less than enthused by it. He began to say something but stopped as he saw something past the woman. "What's that?"

The woman looked back to follow his gaze. It landed on a foal atop a pile of hay, its leg chained to the stone wall. Its fur was a peculiar shade of white, so pale it was almost ethereal. "Oh, that is a little project I'm working on." The woman said.

The boy walked up to the young horse, curiosity filling him. "What's his name?"

"Hmm, I had not bothered with one yet. Why does it matter?" She said. "Do you wish to name him?"

The boy was silent for several long moments staring at the creature before him. The foal stared back, and he could see the intelligence behind those eyes which no normal horse would have. Eventually he spoke. "His name is-"

And that was when Louise was awoken by the sound of an explosion.

A/N: Violence is happening next time! I promise.

Oh lord, I can't remember the last time it took this long between chapters. I had a terrible combination of vacation and being sick. Not to mention I kept rewriting it because I wasn't happy with it. I am now resolved the next chapter will finish up the first act no matter what.

As for that bit at the end… I'm not sure why, but whenever I thing of a young George, my mind goes to another adventurous boy in a wondrous world with a magical animal companion.

Till next time.