Summer 4997, 20 Doumoth

Oswall cuffed Lily. She flinched as the antimagic took effect, locking her fire just below her skin, but she didn't fight. Lily sighed, resting her clenched hands in her lap, continuing to watch as they tried to stabilize Alena. 

Oswall administered a second draft of blood replenishing potion, and another for pain. Even with Shon's cold, they wouldn't be able to fully heal her in one night. Ranito continued to spread salve over the more shallow cuts, mostly scrapes on her hands and knees... 

"Why those?" Oswall asked in a whisper, "They're like the injuries a kid gets from playing." 

"I suspect that's exactly what they are," Ranito answered, delicately examining Alena's shattered ankle and shaking his head. That would be saved for last. Alena herself would have to do it, to avoid missetting the bones and needing to re-break them.

The Archmage continued to explain his theory, "These wounds, they're the same that appeared on the Warlock, but I recognize some of them. She told me she broke her ankle when she was young, falling from a tree." he scooted forward to slather some salve on her head wound.

Oswall remembered that one, "That's from the first Warlock fight..."

Ebonwing sniffed back tears, her voice choked, "Her hip was from that raid on the smugglers last year." 

Tristen sighed, clasping Ebonwing's hands to stop her healing, "We've done all we can." Then he shook his head, adding his own story, "The side wound is from the attack on her Church when Soleil blessed her as a Cleric..."

"They reopened all her old wounds?" Lily asked as Shon's fingers brushed Alena's face lightly. Alena would be both thrilled and embarrassed at the cold man's tender attention, if she lived long enough to be told...

"The wounds also rebounded onto him. That must be the cost of such a powerful spell." Ranito said, falling to sit limply on the ground, exhausted.

Lilly growled like a beast, her eyes flashing red, "They're dead..." she whispered. 

"They might have been... if they hadn't continually healed each other." Oswall pointed out. 

Lily gasped, sitting up straighter, "We have to separate them, that's what-"

"We?" Tristen snapped at her, "There is no 'we,' Firewyrm." 

Lily's glare had Oswall particularly grateful that her magic was sealed. But what he noticed more was Shon's quiet whisper of a growl, "Tris..." 

Before the fiery woman could snap back, Tristen interrupted again, "Enough. We will speak later. Come on," He stood, gesturing for the others to follow. 

"Where are we going?" Ebonwing asked. 

"The Church. When Alena wakes, she'll find comfort there." he helped Ranito to his feet as Oswall stood to help Ebonwing. Lily scrambled up on her own. Shon rose too smoothly, considering his burden, carefully cradling Alena, still sweating and flushed in his cold arms. Damn man didn't even seem to struggle. It wasn't fair how strong he was... 

Tristen started towards the Church, many of the buildings still burning around him. Their crackling fire wasn't enough to muffle his whisper, "If she wakes..." 

***

Ranito and Ebonwing stayed behind in the Church with Alena -the Mage's magic exhausted and the Druid's nearly so- while the others, with Lily, went back into the city. Tristen took Shon hunting for the undead -so the Paladin could end them properly- and ordered Oswall to escort Lily, giving him permission to uncuff one of her hands just long enough to extinguish the fires that still burned. 

Neither Lily nor Shon argued. Oswall pointed out that it would make more sense for the ice Sorcerer to watch the fire Sorcerer, but Shon knew why Tristen had ordered Oswall to escort her. Tristen wasn't going to give them even a moment alone. Not after she'd led them, unwilling or not, into this trap. 

Ryuuko joined Shon briefly as Tristen ended those undead that hadn't been fully cremated by Lily. It left shortly after, taking a moment to find Lily and nuzzle her cheek, hissing at Oswall, before joining those at the Church to stand guard over the door. It wasn't necessary. Neither pair ran into any Warlocks... They'd left. All because Lily had threatened to kill herself. 

They'd told him about it, but Shon couldn't bring himself to believe them. It must've been a bluff, but... Would she have done it? Shon shuddered at the thought. He'd never imagined the possibility. Lily was so strong, she endured no matter her suffering, she always had. Not like him...

"Master Sergeant." The use of his title shook Shon from his dark thoughts, and he marched in step with Tristen, turning his head just enough to arch an eyebrow at the Paladin. 

Tristen looked straight ahead, his arms held stiffly at his side as they returned to the Church, "We will let the Archmage rest so he can gate us back to the capital tomorrow. You will accompany me to the palace to make our report and plan our counterattack."

"Lily-" Shon started, and Tristen turned to face him, stopping Shon in his tracks.

"We will hear what the Firewyrm has to say. Then we will turn her over to the Mages as ordered." He held Shon's blue eyes with his own royal gray, "Is that understood, Master Sergeant?" 

Shon looked away first, "Yes Sir." 

Tristen nodded, leading the way into the Church. Alena slept on the pew nearest the altar, her head in Ebonwing's lap, Ranito nodding off at her feet. Oswall sat behind them, his boots resting on the back of their pew. Lily sat on the floor in front of Alena, her fists still clenched in her lap. She grinned at Shon as he entered, though the expression looked strained and didn't last long, fading even before Tristen barked at her, 

"This was a trap. A trap set by the Warlocks through you. Explain Firewyrm." 

Lily hissed at him, "My name is Lily, Paladin." She spat the title like a curse. 

Oswall groaned, "We don't have time for this..." 

"We have at least eight hours..." Ranito grumbled, without opening his eyes, "Are you two going to use all of that to bicker?"

Lily huffed, turning her face away from Tristen, though to Shon's surprise she continued without insisting again that they use her name, "It was a trap. For all of us. They collared me and transported me away when I came to help. Help you." she turned her wrists in her shackles, staring at her closed fingers, "They used me... They knew I wouldn't allow them to experiment on people..." She looked up to glare at Tristen again, "And they will die for that." then she whispered, "And everything else." She spared a glance for Shon then looked away. 

"So those two are the leaders?" Oswall asked, spitting into his flask. 

Lily nodded, "I call them the Nins, their names are Yonin and In'nin, after the dragon gods, Yoryuu and Inryuu."

Shon could practically hear Tristen grinding his teeth, though he didn't interrupt. Ranito asked, "I take it those names have meaning?" Sluggishly, he took out his notebook. 

Lily rolled her eyes, "Does it matter? Yes, nin, basically means person, and ryuu is dragon. Yo and in... they're... a bit more complicated, and have many meanings, light and dark, creation and destruction, that kind of thing."

Ranito hummed as he wrote her explanation. Lily just rolled her eyes again, "It doesn't matter. What matters is that we need to separate them to defeat them, otherwise they'll just continue to heal each other." 

"There is no we," Tristen said again. 

"You need me to get to them," Lily snapped at him, "There's no way into the Central Talon except through the Warlocks."

"Warlocks who betrayed you too," Ebonwing pointed out. 

Lily growled deep in her chest, "Yes..." She took a deep breath, calming herself, "But there's a faction that wants them gone. Wants to stop all the biological experiments." 

Ranito looked up, Oswall frowned, and Shon arched an eyebrow. She'd mentioned that in her letter to the royalty. Did she know more than she'd written?

Lily caught sight of Shon's expression and continued, "They're the ones who sent me back here to help." She explained, then grumbled, "though not fast enough to give me a wack at the Nins themselves..." 

"But why would they wish to stop the experiments?" Ranito asked, readying his pen. 

"They want to focus on bringing the gods back and letting them do the work of recreating the dragons," Lily answered. 

Tristen choked and Ebonwing asked, "But aren't they dead?" 

Lily just shrugged, "Yeah, but that doesn't seem to bother them. As long as it works I don't really care. Obviously, the other experiments aren't working. The only real progress they've made in millennia was to make us, and we're dead ends."

"Lily." Shon said warningly, drawing the eyes of the team. 

Lily sighed again, "Biological dead ends." she clarified. It wasn't any better, but Shon couldn't argue over her self-depreciation here. "Either way," she continued, drawing the others' attention back to her, "The bio-Warlocks need us to give samples, and the god-Warlocks seem to need us too, though I don't know why. Something about being a tie."

Ranito increased the speed of his scribbling, mumbling to himself and finding renewed energy at all this new information. Tristen swiped his hand through the air in frustration, "It doesn't matter what they plan, we stop them all. They're Warlocks." 

"You can try." Lily countered with a smirk, "But you'll get none of them without me, and you won't get the ones going for the gods." she looked at Shon again, her voice losing some of its fury, "I promised I would help them... so I could come back to help you." 

She'd promised. Lily kept her promises, just like Shon did. Even if she didn't call them oaths. It was one of the reasons he loved her. But an explicit promise to the Warlocks?

Shon closed his eyes, cursing in his mind. Were they destined to stay at cross purposes? He couldn't break his oath to Hengist... it was all he had left. That... and Lily... If he broke his word to either of them would he even be the same man? Would he be anything at all?"

"Traitor," Tristen growled, and Shon flinched, though it was directed at Lily. 

To his surprise, Lily didn't argue, she didn't even hiss. She stood up, "Whatever, but I'm the one with the information and access you need to kill the Nins. Do you want it? Or do I have to do it all myself?" 

Oswall stood, holding his arm out to stop Tristen from responding, "We'll take all the help we can get." He glared at the Paladin, speaking to both of them, "Sir." 

Ebonwing nodded, "They hurt Alena... They were going to pay anyway, now they will suffer." she too looked over at Tristen, finishing "by any means necessary." 

Ranito joined them, tapping his pen against his lips, "You should never look a gift horse in the mouth..." 

Tristen ground his teeth, then glanced at Shon, who held his eyes, and nodded. "Fine," Tristen snapped, "Give us all the information you have." 

He didn't say he would allow her to help on the mission directly, but Lily grinned anyway, "Finally! You got another pen Rany boy?" 

"Rany boy?" Oswall asked.

Ebonwing glanced at Ranito and snickered, "I think I like that even better than 'old man'." 

Ranito didn't dignify that with an answer and dug out another pen while Lily reached both cuffed hands into her bag to awkwardly fish out some paper. She shrugged as she laid it out on the floor, saying "He doesn't like to be reminded that he's old." as she unfolded the paper to show a twisting confusing mess of a map.

The team crowded around her on the floor as she pointed out what she knew of the Central Talon and the Warlocks there. All except Alena, and Shon himself. He stood back, watching it all and only listening with half a mind. This is how it should've been since the beginning. It would've made a perfect picture...

If it wasn't for Alena... and the manacles.

***

The Master Archmages returned to the Central Talon just outside their personal rooms. They took their time replacing their robes before returning to the hall and starting their leisurely search for the Firewyrm.

They'd been very careful to make sure no one was left that she could bully into getting her out. Or... they thought they'd been careful. Not careful enough apparently.

They found the corps of the Warlock left to summon her back -not unexpected- but then their agents from Goldflow started to return. Some tried to hide, as if in shame, some stood in place looking worried, others giggled as their companions and keepers dragged them back to their rooms, a few inched closer to their leaders, and one brave woman explained, "It was the Firewyrm, Master Archmages... She came right as you left. She... she was going to kill herself if we didn't leave. We can't lose her..." 

Yonin and In'nin looked at each other in silence, then turned their backs on the Warlocks, heading for the Grand Chapel. 

"She could have left another way..." In'nin said,

Yonin nodded, but then shrugged, "The escape plan she thought so secret..."

"Wouldn't have taken her back to Goldflow." In'nin agreed. 

They didn't think the Firewyrm had known of 'Little Central' but its keepers were the only way she could have returned. They walked together through the door to the library hundreds of miles away in its own secure tower.

Elen jumped in surprise but Patrich looked up from one of his precious books with a sigh, "Ah, you're here. So, have you found the Southern Talon then?" 

Yonin and In'nin exchanged looks, then spoke together, "Explain." 

"Well, they're the only ones, other than us, able to move the towers. If you're here to kill us, then you must have brought them to take our place." Patrich smiled, not entirely sane. None of them were. But he was sane enough to still be conniving. He knew perfectly well that the Southern Talon had gone missing since the Icewyrm's escape. Just like he knew that the Master Archmages wouldn't kill him without someone to take his place to move the library. 

"We are not here to kill you..." Yonin said with a smile,

"Merely to confirm," In'nin finished. 

Elen swallowed nervously, but Patrich just shrugged again, "Fine, I sent the Firewyrm to Stiudal. An irate fire dragon comes barging into my library demanding that I send her far away from my books, flammable books, to save her mate? Of course, I did as she said." 

Yonin and In'nin sighed in unison, they weren't fooled, and they knew that Patrich knew it. He was the loudest in his support for the dragon gods. As if their very deaths didn't prove them unworthy of the divine mantels. Patrich had even argued that they leave the kingdom team be.

And yet the Master Archmages still left the library, the traitor very much alive and plotting. 

Let them plot, Yonin thought,

Let them scheme, In'nin agreed.

We may need the Wryms...

But only they need the Chosen...

There was no need to decimate their own numbers further. The Master Archmages would just steal the rebels' hope. Leave them no other method to fulfill their pact with Ryuugen except to follow the Master Archmages' will. 

"They may lead them back here..." Yonin said out loud,

"Conveniently..." In'nin agreed. 

Yes. Let them scheme. The kingdom couldn't bring anyone into the narrow twisting tunnels of their lair and actually expect to take them unawares. The kingdom team couldn't even handle all the Warlocks in the dead city without the Firewyrm's assistance, let alone here.

"Fools." They spoke in unison. 

***

"The kingdom has the Firewyrm." Yonin's voice spoke calmly through Rose's journeyman, making her jump. She smothered a curse. She hated when they did this... She swore they only did it to remind her that she couldn't trust her subordinate fully. And that they held his life in the palm of their stone hands...

"She aided them and they captured her," In'nin's voice.

Rose scoffed, "Hardly. She has ways of escaping them." 

"She will return to you?" Yonin asked. 

Rose shrugged, "Perhaps. What would you have me do if she does?" 

A long pause, then In'nin's voice, "Nothing." 

"Nothing?" Rose asked, then threw her hands up in frustration, "Then why even contact me? You waste my time, I have research to do." 

"You still hope to find the right balance?" Yonin

"You hold no faith in the fallen gods?" In'nin

And it was Rose's turn to pause. Were they trying to determine her loyalty? Testing the waters to see what side she would choose if it came to it? Lily would be honest with them... she thought. Foolish... but if they caught her in a lie...?

"I refuse to put all my eggs in one nest," Rose answered.

"Very wise..." 

"Waterwyrm."

Rose could feel her eyes flash at the title, but didn't correct them. It was not time to pick fights, especially not with Lily off doing it for them. Damn her... Rose thought. It was too soon. But she was flexible, she was water. Rose would flow around the obstacles.

She took a calming breath, forcing a smile as the Master Archmages released her journeyman to collapse on the floor of her lab. She left him there. When he awoke she would send him out to the rendezvous point.

Rose attempted to go back to her work, only to be interrupted again, this time by one of her mad Archmages, "My Goddess, your watery holiness..." 

Rose slammed her hands down on the table, snarling, "What?!" 

The elderly woman flinched, falling back in fear, her eyes darting to every corner in her customary paranoia. "You have a summons... from Central..." 

But they just... Furrowing her brow, Rose swept past the Warlock and up the stairs to her room and the magic mirror. An old man surrounded by books and holding a black halberd showed in the reflection. 

"I hear you've been looking for us, Waterwyrm."

Rose paused, cocking her head at the Warlock. She'd never seen him before, so he must be from one of the outer Talons. But her subordinate had said he was projecting from Central... 

She tossed her hair over her shoulder, narrowing her eyes, "And who are you?"

He bowed deeply, "Archmage Patrich, keeper of the Central Library, and devotee of the true dragon gods..."

Rose rolled her eyes, "You imply there are false dragon gods?" 

He didn't hesitate in his answer, "The Nins wish to elevate themselves to the position. We, wish to return the originals. Them and their children. Will you help? We already have the Firewyrm's promise of assistance." 

Rose growled, Lily promised what?! Without speaking to ME?! Rose smothered her frustration, reminding herself to get Lily's exact words before making any judgments. 

The Warlock continued, "The Master Archmages have gone too far. They attacked your sister's mate, and attempted to collar her..."

Rose hissed, reassessing in an instant. The Nins were already dead. They just didn't know it yet. 

The Warlock grinned as if he could read her mind, "We should speak in person." 

"You expect me to return to Central after what you've just said?" Rose snapped at him, "Lily will be returning to me shortly, if you wish to speak to us, you can do so here." 

Suddenly the Warlock looked frightened, almost panicked, a younger woman appeared behind him, resting a hand on his shoulder, and explaining, "Patrich cannot leave the library. But we can meet on neutral ground. You may choose the location. though we should hurry."

Rose cocked her head to the side, studying the Warlocks again, before finally saying, "Fine..." She gave them the location of the rendezvous point.

***

Lily yawned, stretching and making her maniacal chains clink. The dawn sun was just beginning to shine through the highest stain-glass windows. Behind her, the team continued to pour over her map and the notes she'd added.

"We'll bring reinforcements. A battalion." 

"Won't that get too crowded? These tunnels look like someone threw spaghetti on paper."

"It doesn't matter. We need as many as we can fit to take all the Warlocks and secure their experiments."

"But how do you propose we get in?"

"We could have Lily set up a gate point inside." 

"That would put her at risk..."

"And we're giving her to the Mages." 

"What about this library door? She said it exits outside..."

Lily left them to it and knelt beside Alena, resisting the urge to reach out and brush sweaty hair from the poor Cleric's face. Tristen's angry voice snapped, "What are you doing, Firewyrm?" 

Lily growled, but Shon whispered a quiet warning, "Sir..." so she resisted snapping back. 

Instead, she asked, "Would it help to take her to a small town? Or would it need to be one of the bigger cities?"

"She needs a city. The capital." Ebonwing answered softly. Lily squeezed her eyes closed. She couldn't even help with that...

Ranito sighed, standing, "I'll get some sleep."

"We should all get some sleep," Oswall added, falling into another pew as if ready to doze off. 

"You," Tristen countered, "Will stay up and keep an eye on our captive. You to Master Sergeant." 

Shon nodded to Tristen then met Lily's eyes. She nearly changed her mind at that look. 

Oswall cursed, throwing his hands up angrily, "She surrendered! I'm tired, we all are!" 

Lily stood, forcing on a smile, "It's alright Os. I should be heading out anyway. I need to meet with Rose and the others to figure out how I'm going to get you guys into Central. Then you can sleep." 

Shon arched an eyebrow at her, but Sir Tristen narrowed his eyes suspiciously. Stupid Paladin. "You're returning with us to the Guild." He growled.

Lily laughed, "Yeah, right." she tilted her head at him, smirking, "I thought you were smarter than that." She shook her head, then shrugged, her bindings clinking again, "Though I suppose you're half right. I will be passing through a Guild. But not with you." 

As one the team looked at her. All except Shon, who turned away. He'd figured it out. Tristen stepped closer, but Lily took a corresponding step back, saying, "I'll send you guys a message with the plan. We'll want to make sure Alena is up and moving first." 

Shon spoke softly from the back, still not looking at her, "It will take a few weeks..." 

"Good, more time to plan." She opened one hand to wave at them, "I'll see you guys then." 

"Lily. Don't make me chase you..." Oswall tried, moving forward. Again Lily stepped back.

She twisted her wrist and opened her palm to show a small glass orb, a diamond in its center. "Until next time..." 

"Stop her!" Tristen shouted, lunging forward. 

Too late. Lily crushed the glass in her fist and vanished in a flash of light.

***

Tristen barreled through where Lily had been then turned to glare at Shon, who refused to meet his eyes. 

"Fuck. Where did she go?" Oswall asked, focusing the question on Ranito. The Mage could only shake his head. They had ways of tracking such spells, but he didn't have the magic to do it without sleeping first. 

Tristen stomped towards Shon, grabbing him by the sword strap in his frustration. He'd had her. He'd had her... "Where..." the Paladin growled. 

Shon met his eyes and Tristen let him go, taking an involuntary step back from that glare, "I don't know." the icy man growled. 

"It will be linked to a Guild," Ranito said.

"Probably a small one," Ebonwing added, snapping her fingers, "That's why she asked about taking Alena to a smaller town. Unless its a group teleport, they can only take two people." 

Tristen turned away from Shon, falling into a pew and pinching the bridge of his nose, mumbling, "Damn it... Blasted woman. She could have petitioned the king. He would've let her help..." Shon snorted at that. Tristen flinched but didn't respond, thinking, He might have... Now... She was making it very difficult for him to help her. 

*** 

Another flash, thousands of miles south, accompanied Lily's appearance in the Mages Guild of a small town deep in the Halakon deserts. 

The Mage on duty looked up to see Lily wave a bound hand, "Hi!" before she sprinted past him with a shouted, "Bye!" 

Lily shouldered her way through the door and into the Guild atrium without stopping. The Mage on duty there gasped, but this wasn't the kind of thing they'd ever had to face before, so they hesitated instead of stopping her. "Track my teleport." Lily called as she passed, pushing through the door out and jogging backward to shout, "There are injured and they need to get to Deim!" 

Townsfolk scrambled out of her way and the gate Mage followed her out, shouting for guards. The shouts moved faster than she did, reaching the town gate ahead of her. 

In the summer heat of the Halakon desert, the guards didn't wear armor -better to face an attack without it than die of heatstroke with it- but the added mobility offered by the lack of armor wouldn't help against someone like Lily. 

Lily ducked below the guard's outstretched arms and swinging weapons, and even managing to snatch the water skin off a belt as she passed. "I'll pay you back!" she yelled as she ran, taking a long drink of the water. 

Lily dashed over rocks, sometimes leaping from one to another, avoiding as much of the deep sands as she could. Partly to maintain her speed, and partly to prevent the mounted guards they would inevitably send from tracking her easily. She counted on her abrupt appearance, and just as abrupt departure, to throw the small town into a state of confusion long enough for her to get away, but still took a roundabout way to the rendezvous point. 

It took a few hours. She was tired, physically, magically, and emotionally, her rage having dimmed to still-hot coals. Finally, after years of being straightforward in thought and action, she realized it wouldn't always work out well for her. She knew she needed a plan this time, and for that she needed help. She was just glad the lesson hadn't cost her... assuming Alena survived.

Lily rounded the last rocky mountain to her meeting point and finally stopped, sliding in the sand and staring in slack-jawed shock. Where her abandoned shack should have been was a tower... a Warlock tower, the wooden remains of the tiny home crumpled against its stone walls. As if it had been cut in half to make room for the tower. 

She cursed and nearly turned to run back into the desert, but a familiar voice made her hesitate, "Finally! What took you so long?" 

"Rose?" Lily asked, squinting past her exhaustion at the open door. 

Rose exited the tower at a leisurely walk, the Warlock Elen close behind and Patrich huddling in the doorway as if afraid to leave the building. Rose rolled her eyes as she came close enough to see clearly, explaining in the face of Lily's obvious surprise, "Your new allies contacted me. We've been discussing our next ste-" She stopped, blinking down at Lily's hands, "They cuffed you?" she cocked her head at Lily, "You let them catch you?" 

"I needed to talk to them." Lily explained, then held her hands out to Elen, "Can you get these off?" 

Elen did as asked, the platinum and amethyst manacles falling to the sand. Lily scooped them up. 

"You're not going to destroy them on principle?" Rose asked. 

"Those are worth a fortune in materials alone!" Elen exclaimed, "We could use-"

Lily scoffed, "A fortune I can't spend," then she melted the clasps into balls of metal and stone, but left the chain untouched. She slipped them in her bag, walking past the women towards the tower, "Come on. We only have a few weeks to orchestrate the death of some wanna-be gods." 

***

Shon sat with his back against the altar to Soleil, Alena cradled in his lap, still hot with fever, but breathing. The others slept on the pews, it had been only an hour since Lily's escape and would be much longer still before Ranito could get them home. Ryuuko curled around Shon's shoulders, its tail, drained of venom, stroking the Cleric's face in worry.

Shon sighed, letting his head fall back to stare out the upper windows without actually seeing them. Lily had been so close, but now... "We need to stop them..." Shon whispered to his familiar before switching to wordless communication, They collared her, and we cuffed her. This has to stop... 

He couldn't continue much longer. If taking the leaders down didn't work, could he really bring himself to continue working against the only person he'd ever loved? Who'd ever loved him? 

Ryuuko sent him an image of Veon-Zih, and Shon sighed again, explaining, He's like a father. And he's finally retired. Happy. With the woman he loves... Veon-Zih was nearly as lost to Shon as Lily was. Shon could no more break his oath to be with the Monk than he could to be with Lily, not if he wanted to retain his honor. His identity. 

I'm so tired... Shon rested his head against Alena's blonde hair and sighed. He'd promised her he would come to her if he ever felt the desire to give up. And yet he couldn't, not now. "I'm sorry..." Shon whispered to the sleeping Cleric. 

"They're here!" Someone shouted from the door, making Shon and the others reach for their weapons. 

A Mage and Paladin in dark gray armor stood in the church doorway, a doorway that now led into a Mages Guild. The Paladin of Saint Giorgos exclaimed, "She was right, bring the Clerics!" and a horde of Soleil Clerics swarmed in, one going to each of the befuddled team and five heading for Shon and Alena. 

"Bring a stretcher!" the eldest of the Clerics called. 

Shon waited long enough to lay Alena gently on the stretcher, then extracted himself from the healer's administrations to join Tristen and the new Paladin as he explained, "The Firewyrm showed up in Halakon. She shouted that there were wounded but then ran off into the desert. The local guard lost her trail."

Tristen sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose and shaking his head, "She'll be long gone by now. Let's go, Master Sergeant. We need to report to the king and make a plan..."