*Sabian*
*Day 18 - Late Morning*

The crowds surged and ebbed, the boisterous noise of commerce bubbling all 
around, the daily hum of a life that was lived beyond the dragons and their 
riders, a life that was in most respects, quite ordinary.  In most respects.

Sabian was in the crowd, and as usual no one really noticed him.  No one was 
expecting to find him there, so why should they see him?  He saw though.  He 
saw Marrsell and the Dove, the one trailing the other.

He smiled, feeling the weight of the dagger at his belt.  ^îOh what a tangled 
web we weave...^ï  Then the crowd surged again and he was gone.

<..>

Outside the tent in which the old man had gone, two men shared a moment^ñs 
conversation.  They were unmarked by the crowd, who did not expect to see 
two men of their ilk talking in their crowd.  Why should they?

^îOnce he leaves the tent, he^ñll investiage the bait we set.^ï  Antwin said 
calmly.

^îYou're sure the carpet maker will tell him?^ï

^îOh, I^ñm sure.^ï

^îThen I^ñd be best off to the forest.  I hope our little friend isn^ñt too 
upset by our surprise.^ï

^îI^ñm sure he^ñll be thrilled.^ï

<Tag Wil ... thought I^ñd just set the trap up and let you have fun with it.  
Hope you don^ñt mind>

*Galen*
*Late Morning*

Running out from under the dragon to avoid getting stomped on, the redhead 
stopped short. Her eyes widened, a crimson flush coming to her cheeks, 
"Galen!" she squeaked.

The trainer stood watching the frolicking pair with a big grin on his face.

^îGlad to see you blowing off a little stress.^ï

^îWell, ummm ... she started it.^ï Breezy said, a playful glimmer in her eye.

^îI^ñll bet she did.^ï

^îI was just on my way to the Med Centre to check on Jasmine.  Care to join 
me?^ï

^îSure.^ï

<..>

Galen and Breezy stared in awe as Jasmine sat on the edge of the bed 
swinging the jeweled sword as if it was an extension of her arm. "My god! It 
matches the dagger!" Breezy whispered to the man next to her.

Jasmine became aware of the couple watching her intently, "It's mine! I 
found it!" She said possessively, then grinned with childlike innocence, 
"K'Laren brought it to me! He's my friend! But my dragon's tooth is gone, I 
know I had it. I don't know where it is now? I thought maybe Kalena might 
know, but....."

While Breezy stepped aside and gained the glazed look of draong-talk, Galen 
stepped to the bedside, to have a closer look at the sword.  Jasmine^ñs arms 
were clutched around most of it, but there markings showed through enough 
for Galebn^ñs breath to suck in.  No doubt about it ... they were identical.

It was then that Jasmine^ñs eye caught the dagger in Galen^ñs belt.  Her hand 
shot out for it, but Galen was just an instant quicker and leapt backwards, 
knocking Breezy clean over.

Embaressed, Galen helped her up, apologizing all over and couldn^ñt help but 
notice a small flinch in the woman when their hands touched.  Maybe he had 
just imagined it, but it belied a nervousness at his touch that he wasn^ñt at 
all comfortable with.  He continued to hope against the better half of his 
reason that this would fade away.  He was starting to feel that their 
friendship had been unalterably scarred by that one night.

Any further thoughts were distracted by Jasmine, who was scrambling out of 
the bed and professiong quite loudly her ownership of the dagger.

Galen removed the weapon and quite calmly handed it over, saying, ^îI was 
protecting it for you while you were unconscious.  I didn^ñt want you to lose 
it.^ï

She eyed him suspiscously, but took the weapon and returned to her bed.  
^îJasmine,^ï Galen continued, ^îwhere did you find your prizes?^ï

She cluitched them tighter and Galen did his best to keep his voice 
non-threatening.  ^îNo one will take them from you.  They^ñre yours ... we 
just want to know where you found them.^ï

He glanced at Breezy and motioned her back for a second.  ^îShe doesn^ñt trust 
me at all.^ï

^îYou are kind of scary you know.^ï

^îThanks a lot.  Landon will probably have better success ... but with two 
weapons now, I'd really like to know where they came from and ...^ï

^îWe^ñll have to send Mentorn off.  I^ñll speak to Jeneve about it, but we^ñd 
better get him going soon.^ï

<Tag Tree>

*T^ñrell*
*Midday*

T^ñrell stretched, feeling partially himself once more.  He had actually 
rested the whole night through, a first in how many days?  His breakfast 
seemed content to stay in his stomach, which made him immensely happy.  But 
where was M^ñlent?  The man had been his shadow for the past three days and 
now he was nowhere to be found.

When the knock on the door sounded, T^ñrell smiled, expecting to see the 
familiar old face of the Searcher.  Instead, it was Selena who darkned his 
door and it was not without reservations that he welcomed her in.  She 
wasn^ñt the last person he wanted to see, but she wasn^ñt far from it.  No 
matter what people said about her performance, he wasn^ñt about to roll over 
and kiss her feet.

^îHow are you feeling?^ï

^îFine.^ï

^îI hope to see you back out on those training fields again soon.  The men 
are anxious to see you and with our success in the last conflict, we^ñve had 
a rush of people express interest in joining.  You^ñll have a new class of 
trainee^ñs before you^ñre out of here.^ï

^îGood.^ï

^îTalkative as usual, I see.^ï

^îLook, this isn't just a social visit, is it?  I^ñd hate to think you^ñd gone 
that soft.^ï

She laughed, a somewhat surprising reaction.  ^îSarcastic to the end.  Well, 
no, this isn^ñt just a friendly visit.  I^ñve been thinking about a certain 
old man who^ñs made himself too much of a nuisance around here lately.  I was 
hoping you might have some ideas how we can get rid of him.^ï

^îMarrsell.^ï

^îI^ñd like to oust him soon, before any of our enemies can rebuild thier 
strength.^ï

^îYou^ñll have a tough time trapping that weasel.  He can smell a trap a mile 
away, so you^ñd have to be good to put one over on him.  He^ñs not completely 
invunerable, though, and if you baited your hook right, you might get a shot 
at him.  Not a big one mind and if you miss, he^ñll be ten times as hard to 
find again.  But ... ^î

^îYes?^ï

Against his better judgement, T^ñrell let himself sink into the idea.  His 
distaste for Selena was outweighed by his hatred for the old man.  He would 
get well enough to see the master of information be fooled and finished.

^îLet^ñs get hypothetical.  Pretend you^ñre Marrsell.  What would make you 
interested enough to go against your better judgement and go into a possible 
trap?^ï

^îInformation.^ï

^îRight.  It would have to be a contact of fairly immense importance ... 
someone with a lot to share, enough at loeast to make the risk worthwhile 
... ^î

When M^ñlent poked his head in an hour later, the discussion was still thick 
and T^ñrell didn^ñt even notice him come or go.  The Searcher left with a 
smile.  He would get a day of rest at last.

___________________________________________________________________
Submitted by

Ben Tate

for

His Band of Nuts

_________________________________________________________________
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