Oldreth smiled and bade the young rider farewell. Something strange about
him, he thought, but dismissed it as Merissa entered. He smiled warmly,
she really was very pretty.

> She was a bit surprised to see Oldreth already there, and found herself a
> bit petulantly asking "So, What's up?"
> 
> Trinale handed her a letter and as she scanned the contents felt the color
> drain from her face.  Oldreth jumped up to steady her, and Merissa found
> herself again noticing how attractive -- how strong -- he was.
> 
> "Easy there!  Now what's scared you so?"  Oldreth crooned.
> 
> "Have you read this?  It is unbelievable!  I've heard of these things, but
> thought they were myth... Are they real?"  Merissa turned her troubled eyes
> to Trinale for confirmation.
> 
> "Yes, I'm afraid so."  Trinale nodded.  "But the good news is that they seem
> to have found something to combat these Hellspawn!"
> 
> "Yes, the Tejas root, I read that...."  Merissa sighed.  "You don't think we
> have to worry about these things here, do you?"
> 
> "I don't know, but we'd better be prepared."  Trinale answered.
> 
> Merissa noticed that Oldreth seemed awfully quiet.  "Doesn't the Hellspawn
> concern you?"  Merissa asked the large Nomad, feeling unusually annoyed.
> 
> Oldreth looked from one to the other.  He had gathered from the conversation
> with B'rin that there was a real threat from these new wraiths... and now
> he'd heard about the Tejas root.... "What we need is more Tejas root."
> Oldreth's voice boomed with authority.  "We should get teams out and search
> the hillsides."
> 
> "That's a great idea"  Merissa beamed.
> 
> "Yes, I'd already thought of that..." Trinale nodded in agreement.  "I'll
> have patrol parties assigned in the morning.  You know for the first time
> since Oldreth has come to Whiteriver the three of us have agreed?"  She
> laughed slightly.  "We might actually make a good team ourselves!"
> 
> Merissa and Oldreth laughed as well, feeling the tension slip away.
> 
> Merissa turned to the large man and remarked, "I've a number of reports that
> I am working on, I'd be willing to spend a little extra time and show them
> to you..."
> 
> "That's a great idea, Merissa!"  Trinale chimed in, "Oldreth, why don't you
> take a few minutes and just familiarize yourself with them?"

Oldreth's brows furrowed. Reports, he didn't know anything about reports,
but spending time with Merissa might be fun. He straightened and said
confidently, "I'd be delighted..." and flashed a very inning smile in
Merissa's direction.

He followed after her as the left Trinale's office. He offered the young
warrenlady a parting wave then crossed to Merissa's office.

He found a seat as the junior queenrider shuffled through her paperwork.
She started rattling off figures and resources, reading out inventory
sheets. He listened closely, and skimmed over the gibberish scrawled on
the paper she handed him. Mostly he sat and studied her.

> Merissa stopped suddenly, and looked pointedly at Oldreth, "Are you paying
> attention to anything I'm saying?"
 
> "Yes, and you are quite lovely when you get upset..." Oldreth grinned, then
> started to rehash almost verbatim what Merissa had been saying... "Lord
> Gringle has the most forests, so we ask him for wood, Lord Vaddon has a lot
> of crop lands and can supply us with foodstuff, Lord Fowler has livestock,
> cattle... shall I go on?"
> 
> Merissa stared open mouthed.  How had he done that without looking at her
> notes?
> 
> "If you keep your mouth open like that I might just have to kiss it..."
> Oldreth grinned at her.
> 
> Merissa shut her mouth quickly, blushing.
> 
> The red cheeks were in sharp contrast to her ebony hair -- with the small
> red streak that fell forward in a charming curl -- Oldreth noticed.

He studied her, waiting for her to decide her mind. He could see her
flush, her breath coming faster. She was aroused, and for him is was
almost tangible.

> "Well, maybe that is enough for today!  Oberon probably needs me ... and
> ...."  She trailed off, looking into Oldreth's eyes as if asking for help.

He heard what she said, and he saw the look in her eyes. He stepped close
and gathered her to him, and kissed her. It was not a brotherly kiss, and
when it was done, he turned and wlked out, closing the door quietly
behind him.

<<Why did you not mate with her?>> came Wintermoon's voice in his head.

<She hasn't decided she really wants me yet.> he replied, smiling a
little.

<<You hope she does>>

<Yeah, I do kind of...>

Oldreth's thoughts were cut short as his eyes followed a young man walking
around sands, and caught him admiring the lines of his face even from
there.

<<You just need to mate with someone>> Wintermoon chided.

<You're probably right> he sighed.

He crouched next to the sands, +How are you Cricket?+

The large silver snuffled in the sand, getting it just so, and arranging
the huge array of flowers that had been coming in from everywhere all day.

++Almost ready, it's almost right++ she replied.

Oldreth smiled +I'm glad, good luck+ 

With that he stood, and looked out over the warren as the sun began to
set. He straightened his clothes and brushed himself off, musing idly
about how different his life here was, compared to living in the wilds.
He started throught the pasture, and along the stream that he'd walked
next to this morning, lost in his own thoughts.

!snap!

Oldreth heard the low rustle of movement to his back, not an animal, too
large. Someone trying very hard to move silently through the undergrowth,
not that he was aware of the motion, he could almost smell them. Two,
possiblty three, moving parallel to him. They were very good, soldiers
possibly, nomads...Unlikely. He shrugged his shoulder, shifting the axe
slung at his back within easy reach, a surrepticious movement to not alarm
the people shadowing him in the early dusk.

He was ready when the dark, cloaked figured leapt out of the shadows. Not
robbers, no demands were forthcoming as two swung fire-blackened blades at
him. Assasins. He fell back, but the rocky bank of the stream was behind
him, and in the dark, it would mean falling to retreat further. He shouted
and brought his massive axe around in a murderous arc, catching one of the
men in the side. He felt the blade bite deep, a killing blow, he ducked
and rolled as the two remaining swund again, fighting to wrench his weapon
from the quivering body of the dying man it was sheathed in.

He was outnumbered, and these men were professional, <Wintermoon, I need
help, get help> he sent quickly, finally freeing the axe and rolling aside
as he felt a sharp edge tear through his clothing, narrowly missing. He
knew they wouldn't get there in time. 

He dodged left, away from the thrust of one man as the other's blade
clanged against his axe. He hicked out with a foot and was rewarded with a
sharp *OOF* as he connected, and one man doubled over and fell. Off
balance, he used his rotation to swing wide with the axe, his muscles
bunching against the weight. He felt a sickening crunch as the momentum of
the axe slowed, as it passed through the temple of the standing man, then
the jaring thud as he gore spattered bit buried itself in a tree. The man
whose head he'd just bisected fell straight down, the body twitching as it
died before the man's mind could register the realization.

!thwang...fsssst..thunk!

The sharp pain in his shoulder punctuated the flight of the arrow out of
the darkness. There was no time to dodge, and the impact turned him
around, the axe forgotten, buried in the tree. Oldreth grunted as the
second arrow buried itself in his gut, pain washed over him and he
stumbled into the undergrowth.

His world was pain, and the crazy shadows of the moonlit woods danced
around him. He ran, back toward the warren, with each step, feeling his
strength slip away.

<<Oldreth!>> came Wintermoon's desperate call.

He had to concentrate just to keep on his feel, and he knew, if he fell,
he would not rise again. He paused only long enough to see if his
attackers were coming after him. Satisfied that they were not, he stubled
out of the trees into the pasture, and dragged himself toward the warren,
each step more unsteady than the last.

His vision blurred as he saw figures coming at a run from the warren. At
that distraction, his concentration broke, his feet tangled, and he fell.
The impact jarred the arrows at front and back, and pain washed over him,
as he slipped into unconciousness, he heard the scream of a dragon's
anguish. Then all was darkness, with no stars, and no moon.

		*	*	*	*	*	*

NRPG: No, he's not dead, just hurt. I was kinda bored, so I gave people
something to write about. This was a scouting party, there will be other
attacks. We just have to figure out who, and why, should be enough to let
the hellspawn problem get going.


+===========================================================+
| --,--'-<{@  Rob Hines Jr. -*- rook@iquest.net  @}>-'--,-- |
+-----------------------------------------------------------+
| Marcus & Vartex        Telnor Warren         DragonLands  |
| Oldreth & Wintermoon   Whiteriver Warren     Dragonlands  |
| Ens. Jordan Bishop     USS Victory, CSciO    ASR          |
| Ens. James Jarvis      USS Valiant, FCO      ASR          |
| Lt. Ele'ril Vega       USS Damocles, CSO/TAC WorldWeavers |
| Lt. Angelus            USS Calypso, OPS      Worldweavers |
| Capt. Remy Devereaux   SFENG, Asst. Head     WorldWeavers |
+-----------------------------------------------------------+
|         http://www.amug.org/~grothes/weavers.html         |
|                http://www.indy.net/~dlands/               | 
|           http://graham.princeton.edu/jeffj/asr/          |
|           http://members.iquest.net/~rook/sfeng/          |
+===========================================================+