Exploring

[Lin]

A spark of annoyance and anger flickered in Lin's eyes. She was not going to take lip from a dragon that her friend had asked her to heal, especially from a dragon that killed his own men without a thought. "Unless you can find the Earth master, which I doubt seeing as any healer would be at the frontlines watching over injured troops, you will not be prepared for the journey for a little less than a month. In that time the pages may already be taken." Lin said gritting her teeth, "Besides, I'm in no mood to travel with you. If it takes runic magic, it doesn't mean you have to come. You could teach that skill to Sieltra and we'd be fine."

Lin sat up a bit straighter and sank her teeth into another piece of meat. "Underestimating your opponent is the worst thing possible. For all we know, you've just made it harder for Ammon spies to get in. They will likely up their guard more and stay more alert. The moment you fell, the rebellion would likely have a boost of spirits. They now know that you are not invulnerable to everything." Lin said stroking the book.

After listening to Valerie's proposal Lin pressed her lips together. "What you plan will not help us. If anything, it will just anger them more and they will be out for blood. As for Ammon soldiers dying, well, a few have already died by their leader's hands." At this Lin gave Drae a cold look, "If you lead a raid, they will no doubt, assume that you are now taking command in Drae's place. No doubt they will keep a closer eye on you and if they find that you are not present in battle there is a chance they will get suspicious. Also, since there may be higher security because of Drae's bluff about the spy, your raid party may be put at risk. Whether or not the raid party succeeds, the rebellion will heighten their security even more and may perhaps send parties to the Shadowlands."

"I do not doubt your skill Valerie, but our trip to the Shadowlands is a delicate endeavor, but we must not cause a big ruckus among the rebellion who are close to the Shadowlands." Lin finished off the piece of meat she had. Bloodshed never helped anything. Lin knew they would have to go about this quietly without anyone knowing. Leading a raid party against the Rebellion would just be like stirring up a hornet's nest. It would not be pretty.

[Draetrialis]

Drae withheld a curse-filled rant and he said, "Sieltra is too young for the runic magicks. She would most likely kill herself without gems. I almost did, so everyone would be vulnerable to it." He started to rise, wincing when a number of his joints popped. "If nothing else, we might be able to build an arch that will hold gems that will lead to the Shadowlands. It would be easier... But it would still take large amounts of time and a large number of magi to hold open the portal on the other side while the other arch is being built." With that, he started moving away and glanced back. "Well, now I have to go sleep. You know where to find me." The dragon jumped over the wall again and soon disappeared. We have to go back to the Shadowlands... Lin knows this! Oh, blast her... Why does she have to be the only thing stopping us? GAH! BOTH of them know we have to retrieve the other pages... And besides Sieltra, there were no other dragons there, so the pages WILL be there! He continued this rant all the way to the lake when he slipped into the water and entered his cave.

[Valerie]

Valerie nodded at Lin's rejection of her proposal. A fight with her would definitely do no good now. But she had to shake her head as her beloved slithered off, presumably to his lake cave. Once he was out of earshot, she decided it would be safer to change the subject slightly.

"I may love him but even I have to say that sometimes he is big blubbering idiot. He was the one that got himself hit by lightning and yet he complains about our verdict of him not being able to come soon." She guessed that her words would help to soothe her friend, since she knew Lin would still be angry. I don't blame her, I just blame myself for letting Drae go off like that.

"I guess the one really at fault here is me, for letting him go off to fight the Rebellion. I was in his cave when the word came. I knew Drae was probably still in no condition to fight but I let him go off anyways." She admitted, wanting Lin to blame her instead of her beloved. But why should I be sheltering him? He is the one who decided it was safe to fly high in a lightning storm, not me.

"Though he still is an idiot." She grabbed a piece of dried meat in a bun off of a tray a servant had brought. "Thank you, that was a good idea." She said, dismissing the servant. She thought for a moment before adding, "On second thought, leave the tray, we may need it." Her stomach grumbled in agreement for the last time she'd had a decent amount of food was morning.

So she tore into the bun with meat as she awaited what she guessed was the storm of Lin now that Drae was on his way to his cave. At least I'm prepared, for the most part.

[Lin]

As Drae left, Lin leaned back on the bench and gazed at the sky. She could feel Drae's anger and frustration radiating from him as he left. Closing her eyes, Lin took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. People could be so troublesome, as if she already didn't already have enough to deal with. "Of all the people in Ammon or the rebellion, you just had to fall in love with Drae. Even a griffin would have been better than him." Lin said opening one eye to look at Valerie before closing it again. The recent events had been exhausting and time was flying faster than usual.

"Drae is the only one to blame for his condition. You merely gave him the freedom to decide what he wanted to do and that's no crime." Lin paused as anger crossed her face, "What is a crime, is killing your own comrades. I still can't believe he crushed his own troops without a thought and then to top it off burn one of the bodies into a crisp."

Lin straightened up and looked Valerie in the eye. "We will have to go to the Shadowlands, and soon. Someone knew about the book and there are still missing pages even after the original book was split. Chances are, someone will either still be looking for the missing pages, or already be in possession of them. Know this now Val, you are my top priority. If things get ugly in the Shadowlands, I want you to escape no matter what. I know you will try to help me, but don't. I'm neutral, I won't effect anything if something happens be it my death or my capture. However you are more important. If something happens to you it will just make the war worse. From how Drae acts, if something happens to you he'd likely massacre many innocent lives and may perish in his rage."

Sighing deeply Lin leaned back again. "We are not having Drae come with us. However if his words hold some truth we'll just have him transport us to a spot in the Shadowlands. If it's possible, we'll have him check in at that point at sundown one every three days. This will give us sufficient time to look around. Depending on his injury, the amount of times he checks may change."

[Valerie]

Valerie nodded at Lin's suggestion. "Well I will take your word and get out no matter what. If push comes to shove, I can always use some of my energy to cause an updraft to help me get out. And besides, even if you get captured for some reason, I believe you can handle yourself well enough and I can always make Drae do something to help you." Even though the words sounded brave, she felt the opposite inside.

I cannot leave her, she's been my friend for far too long. Well, at least, as hard as it is, I must trust her judgment and do what she thinks is the best. Now that I think about it, putting my feelings aside, it is the most logical course of action in a situation as she describes She merely gulped, keeping her brave face as long as she could.

"As for who I have chosen as my beloved, well that was not my own choice. After what I've witnessed and heard that has happened recently, if I didn't love him so much already, I'd leave him immediately. But I cannot do that now." She sighed, thinking of her beloved before his recent idiotic course of actions lately.

Well, even though he's a buffoon, he's my buffoon I guess... Instead of lingering on her thoughts, she decided to focus on the matters at hand. "Even though he says he's fine, I think his injuries are far more serious than he claims. I mean, he got struck by freaking lightning and he says he's fine after such a short time? There's no way in hell any normal creature, human especially, would recover that fast." She thought for a moment before adding, "But I don't doubt he'd check often, especially since he's not coming. Which is another thing, how are we going to keep him here? He may know what's best inside but after the recent events, I don't think we'd be able to keep him back for long."

[Lin]

Lin could sense her friend's worry. "I'm sorry if I'm worrying you. I don't think anything will happen, but we have to make sure to cover all of our bases." She said while embracing her friend. It was true, Lin was asking a lot from Valerie. For sure, it wasn't in her nature to abandon ones dear to her, but on a voyage like this sacrifices had to be made. The Shadowlands did not belong to Ammon, and they didn't know if the rebellion had claimed them either. If Drae and Sieltra were not the only shadow dragons left, they could be walking in as trespassers.

One easy issue to fix was how to handle Drae. Although he would go against orders, he wouldn't go against Valerie. "He can't lie to you. We know he loves you enough to listen to what ever you say. Have him swear to you that he will only check once every few days at sundown. We should only take a month at most. If we need more time, we can always meet up with him at the rendezvous and extend the time." Lin said. If Drae were to come, no doubt his injuries would only be a burden to all of them. If they were attacked, Lin didn't know whether or not he could even get away fast enough. It would be best if he stayed behind.

ooc: i'm gonna assume this ends the thread.