The Free Plain

"Let it be, you've had your fun. We got our prey to the north to hunt." Godfrey was grinning at the prospect of a good fight.

Godfrey grunted ammused, no one usually asks such things to him. "A tiny island to yhe north-east. Not much out there for landmarks. You?"

Owa was both horrified and confused about the event but this was a miracle for him. He stopped and caught his breath. He was in pain, the wound from the battle, the broken teeth. He had time to recover but not much. He looked to the south, the Citadel reaching up to the sky. He knew his daughter was there. He wandered until he found a river. He bathed, removing stink and cleaning his wound. If he was going to sneak into such a well guarded city he would not need his stench giving him away.

After redressing he moved toward the Free City. His plan to rescue Akai'a would need to be swift and silent, a Volkrim's bread and butter.

<exit to the Free City>

"I have been through here before." He shrugs at Zaltos comments on radiation, having no clue what he was talking about. Godfrey chews his leaf and sitcks one to the roof of his mouth.

<Exit to Gate of the Valheecius Desert.>

The wolf that belonged to Feruzia, the one who somehow found her way to the Free Plains after a confusion in the Misty Woods, some time ago... She began to howl and pace, prancing about in excitement... She could feel the familiar connection, even if it was vague, and knew that the Beast Mistress was looking for her. She whined at the boy with the other wolf, he had been good to her, but she belonged with Feruzia.

The Hawk, who's wing was finally mended, began to shift restlessly, chirping wildly in hopes someone would set him free.

Akai'a left the free city with a small contingent of guardsmen, their job to keep her from running. The guards had carried Owa's corpse for her and the small group had made it to a small hill in the plains, not far from the city.

Akai'a watched as the guardsmen built a small funeral pyre of her. Akai'a was afraid to move on account that she shouldn't even be there. But the Guards were quite lenient given the circumstance. Though mostly small stickas and dry grass the pyre was more than enough to do the job.

Akai'a removed the coat from Owa, and pulled the sword from his chest. Her and a couple of guardsmen placed him on the pyre. She placed the sword on his chest, and his hands on its grip.

Akai'a would stand back from the soon to be fire. The Nokari Mountains, in the distance. A good funeral for a Nokari that wandered from the mountains. The young wolf awaited Jarkoopi to set the pyre ablaze.

Akai'a nodded to the dragon. She touched the flame to the bottom of the pyre. Flames spread through the grass and wood burning hot and fast for a moment. Akai'a said a prayer in dragons tongue an old custom for the Volkrim, "Wux tepoha wielgtor karif de okarthel, nomag wer suaco clax dout vignar spical ekess wer bekim" Flames licking upward spread quickly but slowed down. The flames, now hot and slow grew to touch Owa. The flames spread over the old wold, consuming him voraciously. black flames entered the sky blowing westward toward the mountains Akia'a's father called home.

Though she did not know it, Akai'a had cast a spell used by the Ancient Volkrim, who used the draconic language for their magic. Her gift for magic, suppressed and hidden by her father, had resurfaced with his death. Though she would not notice in her grief. The dragon however might have noticed what she had not, perhaps even her guards.

The fire burned for several more hours, Owa's corpse completely devoured by flame. Left in the ashes and coal was only a Sword of the the Free City. Glowing red, now tempered with Owa's ashes. She waited for the steel to cool before claiming the sword. She handed it to the guard accompanying her, "Should I be allowed to carry a sword for the Free City, I would like it to be this one. Let us return before we are missed anymore." To Jarkoopi she bowed elegantly, left arm over her heart, right arm outstretched. "Vinxa darastrix. Dout gewjle tiichia ve loupon si tiliw rinov tepoha ocuirtor." Thank you dragon. Your action honored me than I could ever have imagined.

With that Akai'a would return to the Free City, Owa's coat draped over her shoulders, a sword she hoped to wield one day, a gift for magic awakened, and her past with the Nokari burned away.

<exit to the Citadel>

---A distance away---

While the teleporter had been mostly accurate, it seemed that the coordination of the spell among herself and several fairies got a little messed up. Jill and Wolfheart ended up in the same vicinity as Ashley, though her and the fairy from their perspective were nowhere to be found.

Jill spoke out in her girly voice, looking around the field.
"Um... I think we lost them! Hopefully she made it into the city? I don't think this is exactly where the telporter was trying to link us..."

When the dragon attacked, naturally, both would probably move from the open terrain and towards some kind of cover, trying not to attract too much attention. Eventually, after it had left, Jill would go for the city... hoping Ashley was there.

---------------------------------

Vain grins happily. He's having a good day, too. An actual attractive summoner (who knew they existed?), no whips and shackles, pie...and now this? He sits down next to Andraste.

"It is nice up here. Not a place to come alone, but with you here, everything seems just right."

He looks up. Being a demon, he never understood humans' fascination with stars. They're just lights in the sky...but now he realizes. It's not the stars, but the act of stargazing itself that they find fun. Except for astronomers. They're weird. He reaches over and grabs Andraste's hand.

"So...I take it you've never really met any men who you liked?"