Day 8, mid day and evening (ambush)

>"What of your family Nikol?"  C'aranth looked at him from under the black
>helmet.

     "Now there is a small question with a big answer.  My Da met Ma when
they were seventeen.  He says it was love at first sight, she says he's an
old fool who started early.  They've had seven kids, I'm the seventh.  Four
boys and three girls.  Most are still involved in the family business."

     "Family business?"  C'aranth asked.

     "My Da hires out carriages.  Trades horses within the city, that sort
of thing.  Irron, my oldest brother, runs a set of stables near the gates to
the city.  Boarding for riders coming in from the outlands.  Cupper and
Brons, the next two, are carriage smiths.  Cupper got his apprenticeship in
metal working, Brons in the wood.  Goldie, the eldest of the girls, married
a horse trainer.  Sylvie is married to a drover, he isn't about much.
Stele, well she is still 'dating'.

     Nieces and nephews I've got . . . "  he started counting on his fingers
then gave it up, "too many.  Five married and all breeding like rabbits.
Just me and Stele.  Each a disappointment, in our own ways."

     "Disappointment?  How?"

        "Stele should be settled down and married by now.  As it is she
works an Inn attached to one of Irrons stables.  She managed to get Da to
put up the money and  she runs it herself.  She says she hasn't time to
settle down, business being so good and all.  That don't sit well with Ma
who doesn't think its right for a woman to be working outside the home."

     "But you, how are you a disappointment?  Not going into the family
business?"

     "No, no.  They were pleased as punch when I got my apprenticeship.
Their looking forward to the day when I present my masterwork and make the
final advancement.  They gave me a big send off when I came out to the
warren.  Talked all night of the day when I'll pass the final stage . . .
but i won't."  the last was whispered softly.

     "Why not?"  

     "My master as much as told me so before I left.  That's why I'm so far
out without a master supervising.  He doesn't expect me to do anything worth
seeing so he sent me where I could work as a journeyman for the rest of my
life.  Now I don't mind that,"  the lie was plain to see but C'aranth let it
pass, "but it would kill me Da to know that I had failed."

     "So you won't even try for a masterwork?"

     "He says I have all the skills, but I lack the 'art'"  the blaster
replied, referring to his teacher.  "These shells,"  he waved at his pack,
"would do the job for anyone, but they are book learning.  I need to find
some way to extend, invent, design.  If I could find something new,
something mine, maybe I'd try . . . for Da."

     "But in the meantime you go out to avenge people you barely know."
C'aranth could barely understand the fierce loyalty this barrel of a man
could display.

     "She's family now."  Nikol nodded as though that said it all.
"Speaking of which, if something does happen and you make it back . . .
without me.  You'll see that word gets back to my family?  Me Da will need
to know."

     "I'll see to it."  The warrior knew of that responsibility to a member
of a party.  And he knew, he _was_ the commanding officer of this little
mission.

>C'aranth felt he could understand Nikol a bit better now, and the shade of
>the glen now covered him and his companion.  The man he felt comfortable
>calling a companion.  They shared some common qualities and interests. 
>C'aranth's visor was pushed back so he could see better and the water had
>just about all dried out of the leather armor.
>
>Nikol started to hum a soft tune.  The beat was catchy and it made for good
>travel music.  C'aranth reached back after Nikol had hummed for a short
>time and pulled out his pipes and started to play the tune.  Punching out
>note after note until Nikol had slowly hummed the whole song.  

     "What is that song?"

     "Diggers dirge."  Nikol replied with a slow grin.  "The rhythm keeps ya
going long after your back would give out."  He hummed the opening line
again and then sang in a mediocre tennor.

        I dig all day 'till my back is broke
                swing and draw, swing and draw
        Breathing in dust 'till I wanna choke
                lift and toss, lift and toss
        Freezin in the mine or bakin in the sun
                swing and draw, swing and draw
        Ya dig one hole to fill another one
                lift and toss, lift and toss
        All this work must be makin someone rich
                swing and draw, swing and draw
        But I just make enough to feed . . . 

     And so it went, one song lead to another and they passed the day
quietly exchanging tunes.  Nikol knew many from days visiting his sisters
Inn as well as those sung in mines and quarries.  Most were not of the sort
he would ever sing in mixed company.  After dinner they pressed on until
C'aranth indicated that they should split up.  Nikol would be 'point' as he
might get closer and be able to give warning of ambush.

     He never saw her and rode by.  He didn't see the dragon either, until
it was too late.  The strike knocked him flying from his horse and the horse
never rose from the hit, claws buried in its throat saw to that.

     Nikol had three things on his side.  He knew how to take a hit and
fall, older brothers had seen to that training long ago.  He had been
knocked into a clump of deep brush, so he was not in direct line of sight
for the dragon.  And he still had his bag on his back and his hammer in his
hand.  In the silence that followed the wet sound of the throat of his horse
being ripped out he could hear the distant clash of steel.  That added a
forth element to the equation.  The dragon would want to join the rider in
the more dangerous part of the ambush, Caranth.

     Pieces swept together in Nikols mind as he dug down deeper.  A puzzle
with a deadline, literally.  He decided that te last element went well with
the third and, putting thought to deed, he removed the bag and rolled away
from it as fast as he could in the undergrowth, deeper into the brush.

     Well reasoned or a lucky guess, it didn't matter.  the expected dragon
flame swept the brush lighting it almost instantly.  Nikol covered his face
and tucked into his leathers like a turtle and waited for the counterblast,
his mouth open in a silent scream.  It hurt more than the dragon flame did.
The second tongue lanced flame across the path, but nowhere near the dragon.
The first was pinned uner the horse.  It was the two 'shells' that did the
most.  Both went off together,  light and thunder filled the forest as both
the lift and the charge ignited together under the attackers blast of flame.
Gouts of green and blue shot sparks up to the canopy of the forest and above
it.  The concussion blew branches down and almost deafened both of the
occupants of the area.  The high shell had been rigged for smoke and it did
its task with a vengeance.  One could not see a foot ahead and this worked
even more in Nikol's favour as he stopped rolling and waited to see what the
dragon would do next.  All he had left was his hammer, which he held over
one shoulder ready to swing.  

     Later he would laugh about the fact that as he stood there all he could
think about was the song.  'swing and draw, swing and draw'.  The smoke did
choke but he had been in such smoke far too often for him to let it bother
him or to give away his location.

<<<nrpg>>>
Okay, John, your turn from both mine and Darren's point of view.

Play it as you will.  Continue the attack, capture, fight or retreat.

To the others, I apologise if this is going faster than normal, it's just
that way when you are playing a small side plot.  We'll try to join up in
pace and play with the main pack asap

mike--->so much for the fireworks