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:}

They spent a day at the wizards home, talking and planning. "The wilds are full of dangers." Robbie was explaining to Tori, pointing out the minimal signs of people who might be watching them in the forest down below. "See that, the way the plant moved? That's someone aware that someone might be watching. Now, it could have been a predator, sneaking up on it's prey, except then, a short while later, we'd have a scuffle. Besides, look at how quiet the forest has gotten. No, bandits are watching, and the oils on their weapons and armor, that scares away the prey even more then their own scents."

"Oils?" Tori asked. "I mean, yea, to protect our weapons from rust and corrosion, we routinely oil and maintain them. I just didn't realize that it affected the ways animals would react."

"Another reason why leather is by far a preferred armor for those in the wilds." Rob said. "Our stalkers are wearing mostly leather, but probably something a little heavier. Brigondine would be a good choice, given it's flexibility and protection. The layered material might get a bit hot, but metal is always a good choice to ward off an attack, and the layers of cloth might give the metal some protection from corrosion."

Tori nodded along. "We kinda like a lamilar mix, for much the same reason. Lacquered plates, protected from the elements. Augmented by solid metal or maybe chain. We kinda need to know the weight won't be getting in our way. Quick wins as much as heavily armored."

"But you can't beat ambush." Rob added, smiling. "And they seem to want to ambush us. That's odd, cause from what I heard, no one's willing to test the power of the wizard. Either they no longer believe he has much, or they think they have some kind of protection."

"Or they believe he'll never find out." Tori added. "No, they won't be ambushing us here. Those are scouts, with the mission of letting the main body know what rout we're taking. They'll strike days from here, closer to the town. We need to plan out how we're gonna deal with them. I suspect, sneaking out the back door won't be an option this time. Those switchbacks are in the open. They only need a person watching to tell them, and they'd have plenty of time to hide from us before we got to the bottom. No, this problem is gonna have to be dealt with in a more direct fashion." She sighed. "We don't have a large number of fighting men here. Most of our expedition were chosen for a combination of looking competent, trustworthiness, and not being essential to the defense of the dale. Besides, we cannot risk them yet. Better to plan a way through this mess that gives us an advantage, cause they have archers, know the territory, and probably have more men then we do."

"Should we talk to Rydar?" The ranger asked.

"Yea, and Beck." Tori agreed. "If we can count on you, then we have four capable fighters. That means we have a good chance, assuming we can take out their advantages of cover and range."

The two rushed down to where Ryder and Beck were practicing with their swords. Ryder was a capable fighter, as befits a knight. Beck was good, and had the added advantage of being partially trained by the same person, so he knew a fair number of the knights tricks. Tori watched for a few moments, enjoying the relaxed air around the two. "Um, we have a problem." Robbie interrupted.

"Kraven has been talking to Aliester for most of the morning." Ryder said, grabbing a drink of water.

"I'm sure they'll let Ryder here travel with us." Beck finished for the knight. Then he took his turn drinking water.

Tori spoke. "It's not that. And it's not something we had to disturb you about right away. We have time."

"But?" Ryder asked.

"There are bandits, maybe Narks, watching the castle." Robbie explained. "We need to be ready to deal with any hostile situation that may happen. Vic here thinks we should expect to have to deal with them a day or two down the road. If we don't cut across country, that's an extra day. However, we have no idea how fast they can travel through known territory. Most of the hunters huts are secret, but we can't guarantee they haven't found some. The one's we used, I would prefer not to use them again, in case we're followed." He shook his head. "Scratch that, we will be followed. Tori thinks we should come up with a plan to deal with them."

"Tori probably wants to do something direct." Beck said. "If I know her, she's a lot like her sister, only maybe a just a touch less pragmatic. Trina would try to lead them into a trap. We don't have the numbers, but that's her preferred method of dealing with a problem like this."

"They'll be sending word to the main body, setting up an ambush down the line." Tori clarified. "We won't have the luxury of setting up our own trap."

"Rob, how likely is it for you to circumvent such a trap?" Beck asked.

"Not likely." Robbie said. "The closer we get, the easier it'll be for them to communicate, so we'll have the main force trailing us, no mater what we do."

"We need to show them we're not an easy target." Ryder said. "Now one thing we have going for us is Jade. Not sure what she can add to the equation, but we have her, and that's a plus. Maybe she knows why the local monsters keep their distance from the merchants that trade with the mage?"

"Maybe." Beck agreed. "Think we should talk with her?"

"Sooner is better then later." Tori agreed. "We need to know all our options so we can better make plans. So why don't you two clean up a bit, then we'll go find out if she's busy."

"Okay, lets get cleaned up." Beck motioned for Ryder, who followed the young lord.

Fifteen minutes later, the four warriors made their way to into the tower where Jade was supposed to be studying. They heard music, not understanding why she'd bother to have someone play for her. "That's at least three instruments." Robbie noted. "So she has at least a trio playing for her. I thought she was studying."

"Maybe they play for her while she studies?" Tori suggested, even thought she didn't quite believe it.

"Maybe, or maybe the servants are throwing her a goodbye pasty." Beck said. "Remember, Ryder here told us that many of the servants play instruments. We know Jade learned at least two from someone named Martin, so who knows..." He let that fade as they approached the room they'd found out Jade was staying in. Tori's hand rose, ready to knock.

The door flew open before she even touched the door. A sweet, somewhat high pitched voice said "Come on in. Jade's busy, but she'll be so happy for the visit." The music had stopped.

There was no one near the door. Across the room, from the other side of the curtained off poster bed, the same voice was heard. "Sorry, she doesn't believe in opening the bed up, cause she likes it dark in here. She's over here, near the window. Feel free to come on in."

Tori led the group around to where Jade was sitting, her back to them, her body ridged from an extreme effort. Jade's simple dress was stained with sweat, and for unknown reasons, there were scorch marks around the stone floor. The bed, and every other flammable object in the room seemed unscathed, except the walls, which looked to have been burnt to the point that they were almost black.

"We're not interrupting, are we?" Ryder asked, now oddly nervous.

"The burns, they seem to originate from her." Robbie whispered, but in the sudden silence of the room, his voice all but echoed.

"What happened to the music?" Tori asked.

"Oh, you know..." The high voice said. "And it would be rude to have it on while you guys were talking to her."

"And you are?" Beck asked, using all his hard worked charm.

"Someone you'll meet later, once your ready." The voice said. "See, I'm not really here right now. I am, however, bringing her back." There was a pause. "Er, sorry about the delay, but we were pretty far gone. Anyways, I look forward to when we can formally meet. My name is Catarina..."

"CAT!" Jade's voice interrupted. A tense moment later, her body shuddered, then she seemed to fall, almost hitting the floor. Only Ryder's quick action saved her from the impact, and getting soot all over her dirty dress. Jade pulled herself together quickly, despite the weakness that dominated her. "Thanks..." She said, relaxing into her brothers arms. "That exercise left me a bit weaker then expected."

"No problem." He helped Jade up to her feet, walking her to the bed. To everyone's surprise, the cloth parted easily, letting her sit down on the end of the bed.

'Guessing it's not metal.' Robbie thought, and he was hardly the only one. "Um, not to put too fine a point on it, but why isn't the furnishing burnt to a crisp?" The ranger asked.

"Probably has something to do with Cat, doesn't it?" Ryder asked. "Was she the one behind the music?"

"There was music?" Jade asked. "Of course there was. She's supposed to be watching out for me, monitoring my progress. I'm dealing with the elemental courts, and she's supposed to be making sure I get home okay. So yea, she'd be listening to music."

"Is she another apprentice?" Ryder asked.

"I thought.." Tori started.

"No, he doesn't have an apprentice like that." Jade laughed, a dark, menacing sound, despite the jovial nature of the action. Something about the girl felt like death. "Cat is my Familious.'

"You're familiar?" Robbie asked.

"No, familious." Jade corrected him. "A creature, intelligent by nature, that agrees by contract to act as my familiar. Cat's, um, we agreed to introduce her later, on the trail."

"Why not sooner?" Beck asked.

"Because I may not need her, so she wouldn't have to travel with me." Jade explained.

"But you have so much more you can learn from me." Cat argued in her mind. "The Queen on the Petrified Throne has agreed to teach you magics unlike anything most mortal could hope to learn. We're talking potentially master level in under two years. Why would I leave before I did everything I could to help you learn. Hell, even I'll learn some chiz."

"Okay, so you don't want to give us any introductions we won't need, huh?" Tori asked. "I can understand that. Use your time to learn. However, and I hate to take up so much of your time, but we're being watched."

"The castle." Robbie clarified. "Bandits, or maybe Narks. Hard to tell which."

"And we figure we're going to have to deal with them, sooner or later." Beck filled in. "We wanted to know your thoughts."

"They may need a reminded what magics can do." Jade mused. "Or maybe Aliester puts some kind of charm on the people leaving, to prevent them being followed? Either way, I'm sure we'll think of something by tomorrow."

"Tomorrow?" Ryder asked.

"Yea." Jade said, her face paler then normal. "I think we're leaving first thing in the morning. I mean, Aliester, he won't need much time to get what he needs from Kraven. Way I see it, they're preparing food and supplies for the trip, even as we speak. I'm about to head out into the big bad world." She forced her way onto her feet. "So I need to master as much as I can today."

"You need a break." Cat insisted. "But I get it, no sense in warning them before everyone agrees, since we're gonna be on the road soon enough. Okay, I'll get us back to the training, but you need to take care of yourself. We have a lot to go over tonight, and in the morning, you'll be in no shape for a fight."

"Just be ready." Jade sneered. "I'll do my part. Now leave, so I can get back to my studying."

Kraven found Ryder talking with Beck about something. "Ryder, I've agreed to have you travel with the Vega's, both to help out, and because I hope to enhance my houses relationship with the Vega clan. Make notes of what they need, what they get from other merchants, and what they have to sell. All of that will make a difference in how we deal with their clan in the future. Also, I've been promised some consideration from their clan in return for sending you to help. So, journeyman, consider this your first assignment."

"So the wizard made you a deal?" The knight asked.

"That, and Beck here agreed to pay a price, so why not make it worth my while?" The aging merchant said. "I'm at the point where I could use something different, maybe a long term posting in a city. I know that Vordnar lacks any modern, chartered cities, but that doesn't change the fact that I could do well in their capital, maybe using my connections to help set up the house."

"The dale has no chartered cities because of our special relationship with the crown." Beck explained. "The king can't just charter off our cities. Yes, we've been given some land, a city or two, that are technically chartered, but they're from outside the dale, and our connections are light. We rule them lightly, for the king. He has promised us total right to govern over our lands, as we see fit, as long as we follow royal laws, decrees, and support the crown in times of need. We have a lot of autonomy. But in return, the warriors and nobles of Clan Vega give him a light cavalry that supports his knights in battle, and are among the few horse archers available in this kingdom."

"Yes, yes, I didn't need a lesson in politics." Kraven said. "I need your assurance that my house will be given consideration when my house move more into the city of the Holly Woods. Can I count on your support?"

"Withing reason, and commensurate with how helpful we find Ryder to be." Beck said. "You have my word. Now then, with that settled, we should make plans to leave as soon as possible. Jade will be accompanying us, and we hired Robbie to act as a guide and scout for the duration. I know, we'll be leaving familiar territory for him, but that's when the scout part comes in. I'm hoping we don't need much more then that."

"Ryder, we're counting on you then." Kraven stated. "Do the house proud."

"I will." Ryder replied. "We're leaving in the morning."

"Anxious to get started?" The merchant asked. "I suppose I like that."

"There's that." Ryder agreed. "But there's also the brigands stalking the forest. We're trying to avoid an ambush."

"Then maybe we should sneak out the back way?" The merchant suggested. "Send a distraction out to draw away the criminals, and sneak out while their not looking?"

"Don't have the men for that." Ryder said.

"Plus, we kinda value the lives of the men we have." Beck added. "No, we're working on a plan, and speed will be of the essence. So from tomorrow until we're safely back in Travmort, we're moving as quickly as possible. Please, Ryder, try not to let this one fall behind."

"I can keep up." The old merchant insisted. "Just, Ryder, you may have to help me occasionally."

"Way ahead of you." Ryder smiled. "I was speaking with Robbie, and he said he'd make some walking poles for you. Their like walking sticks, only you get two of them, and use them to somehow help you get more out of your walking motions. Not sure how it will work, but Rob guaranteed it'll help."

"Maybe it will." Kraven said. "And if it does, then maybe I can find a market for it. Lets just see, okay?"

"Okay, then it's settled." Beck said. "We're heading out early, so make sure you get plenty of rest. We won't be getting any more for days."

"I know, I know." The merchant grumbled as he departed.

"You think he'll slow us down?" Ryder asked.

"Your sister is far more likely." Beck guessed. "He's used to traveling, and knows how. But she's been here for years, and I have no idea if she's in the kind of shape it takes to keep up the kind of pace we're going to have to. The roads windy, longer then the way here. Plus, we'll be scaling a few more hills along the way. The only good rout is a path, and even that's gonna be a problem, cause the bandits will be better able to watch us."

"Then lets hope we can come up with some kind of plan to avoid the worst of them." Ryder said. "Any chance we could take out the scouts?"

"Home territory, and they know stealth about as well as anyone." Beck said. "No, the only time we'll know there's gonna be an altercation is if somehow Robbie warns us of it."

"And by then, it'll probably be too late." Ryder agreed. "How does the caravan that comes here, loaded with kids, ever make it out of the mountains?"

"No idea." Beck said, agreeing with the impossibility of the situation. "No idea."

Jade sat, recovering from her last ordeal. "You know," Cat said, "Healing isn't my strong suit. If the lady weren't willing to lend me some of her touch, you'd be unable to travel tomorrow, like they're planning."

Jade didn't reply, just letting the healing energies flow over her. Slowly the burns and stress damage faded, fresh wounds turning to old scars before fading completely. "You realize, when we're no longer in the castle, I won't be able to do this for you, right?" Cat asked, watching the magics she'd normally never be able to cast flowed from a high born Fey lady on the other side, in her home dimension, through her, and into Jade.

"Then you should have taught her healing magics." The lady said. "While not quite what I can use, she could well learn how to use her magics to bind wounds and speed healing, maybe even bring someone back from the brink of death. No, combat is needed, but healing, that's another important set of spells, one too often left to the church. While the gods touch can and does heal far more efficiently, a mage who can heal will always have a friend."

"Yes ma'am." Cat said diligently.

"Besides, as her bound familious, she could store such spells in you, giving you access to magics you'd normally never be able to wield." The lady finished. "Right now, however, she just needs rest."

"Doubt she's gonna take it." Cat said, but she knew her lady was already gone. 'And why can't I learn such magics as you, my lady? I mean, I'm celestial, and a fey. Magic is in my nature.' She sighed. 'Maybe if I hadn't made so much mischief, they wouldn't have bound my innate magics? Then again, mischief is in my nature.' Her eyes locked on her sorceress. "Time to change your hair. Sorry, but I need something to do, something within the limits of my magics. But hay, you may be able to help me yet. Store some magics in me, and maybe I can find a way to use that to unbind the greater magics available to me. Still not a world shaker, but I can heal minor wounds, and just as good as you'll be able to."

For several seconds, Cat hovered there, her wings giving only the most gentile of flutters. "You fancy her." The voice was different, male.

"Frankie, what do you want?" Cat asked.

"I just said, do you fancy her?" He asked. "You know, among our kind, sexuality is far more mercurial." She could almost feel his smirk. "As long as your bound to her..."

"I don't like getting attached like that." Cat replied. "Besides, if things work out, she'll be a lot more like a sister to me. And we both know, even among the most hedonistic of our kind, that's not acceptable."

"I see." Frankie said. "So, my crimson sister, what will you do? I mean, your attracted to her, that's obvious..."

"Actually, I'm not." Cat rebutted. "Not any more. In fact, now that I know her, just a little better, I'm kinda scared to know her this well. I don't wanna get attached. We both know the kind of pain that comes from getting too attached." She fought back a tear.

"But if I hadn't, I wouldn't have those wonderful memories." Frankie said. "But yes, I can tell, things might be easier if you could stay unattached. However, little sister, you're not made of stone. Just, when you do lose her, don't react like you did when Calvin died. We don't need a return of the Crimson Wings. I mean, I hear, among some of their kind, your reputation is still, how to say this delicately, cursed with each breath the people who remember that incarnation take? Yes, that sounds delicate enough."

"Frankie, you always did know how to cheer me up." Cat said, giggling. "But if your worried about me losing it, going all rogue again, why did you ask if I liked her?"

"Because you've always been so much better at casual relationships." He said. "You lose interest in your loves so quickly."

"Being bound by a mortal wizard, it does feel like a punishment sometimes." Cat remarked. "But so far, I've been lucky, and haven't watched someone I care for die. Not when bound." She smiled down at Jade. "But Jam it, I am starting to care about this one, and she's self destructive. Frankie, what am I gonna do?"

"Be careful." He warned. "They die so easily. And if she survives, she will grow to be far stronger then even The Queen on the Petrified Throne."

"And would that be a bad thing?" Cat asked. "Anyways, I'm thinking of boning a couple of the guys on this trip. And advice?" But she could already feel her brother had moved on, away from the place where he could make contact. Once again, she was alone, or as much as she got in her bound condition. "Jade, I'm not gonna let you die. So you'd better find yourself some happy. I'll do the same, and we'll be like sisters, not master and bound Familious. Jade, understand, I'm a creature of joy and magic, nature and the winds. I'm not one to be subverted, even in my grief. And boy, when I feel grief, it's like the thunder let loose on whatever caused me the pain. I'm the first to admit, I didn't, couldn't handle that kind of pain. I was lost, looking for something that had been taken away, and wouldn't come back. Not easily. And yes, I get it, I did some bad things, left a lot of very unhappy whatevers. But you'll help me, maybe, by living and growing and giving me an out from this punishment. You and me, sisters to the end. I mean, lets be honest, I'll never be a servant. Too free by nature. But I do care, sister. And I'm gonna find you some happy. I wonder, is that Robbie guy seeing anyone?"

Jade just slept, unaware that her future was being contemplated by anyone, let aloe the six inches of fury that hovered just over her. 'And one day, when you understand, I'll tell you why they changed my name, giving me Crimsona instead of Mercrial.' Cat thought. 'After all I sense you like stories like that...'

The small celestial fey fluttered down to plant a loving, sisterly kiss on the pale girls cheek. Then, exhausted, she settled in for her two hours of sleep. Wings wrapped themselves around her, as she snuggled into the bigger girl.

Jade was on her back. Cat realized that, while healing, the former apprentice wasn't likely to roll. So she slid out of her place by Jade's head, and made her way down to the shift the girl was wearing. Slipping inside, she found her place in the valley, cuddling in between the mounds as she relaxed. Wings around her like blankets, Cat went to sleep, soother by the regular heart beat of the woman she lay upon.

:}

Okay, so their gonna possibly have to deal with the local brigands, and we may never find out why no one bothers the caravans. Either way, soon they'll be traveling, and I can leave this castle behind.

So, whats up with Cat? Thinking there's a touch more to her that we don't quite know yet…

Review.