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Zayad

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Tracker
He had followed the trail for days. Wrong truths and misleading lies kept him always a step behind. But such was the hunt. Zayad knew better than to blame the world and circumstance. Each man was responsible for his own success and failure. If he was failing, it was simply because his preparation was lacking.
This quarry had been difficult to track down, but his men had sniffed her out.
A rumored dragon hiding in the heat of the forge. Sounded mythic, and almost fitting.

It was curious that he finally caught up to her in the free city of Agvendash. There was little free about this place. They simply switched a bigger emperor for a smaller king of their own. Same limitations and drawbacks. Even higher taxes. Seemed like someone mistranslated the word freedom into another tongue. The movement was still easier than the imperial roads. Less paperwork was required. A blessing in that, maybe. Somewhere.

He felt underdressed and undignified, because today his silks were a servant's. Faded blues that were already light to begin with – washed out and worn. And they were, but by other, lesser men. This caused a somewhat ill fitting mask, bumps and folds in all the wrong places.

But such was the mission.

As he approached, the forge exhaled. Its breath reminding him of his pets – lavanklai were not easy to keep, but at least he knew they'd keep his family safe when he wasn't around. There were few things that could sense a 'ni coming – but they could. He wasn't sure even they could track the creature he was about to meet.
Warmth pushed against the silk even before he crossed the threshold.
Ash, metal, and sweat – a good mask. He hummed in appreciation, as his large form creeped soundless.
Forge was a good word. Repurposing the bones of gods and the ambition of lesser creatures. Even mistranslated, this word had power.

No guards or banners. Only a single man with clothes far below his station, road dust clinging precisely where he allowed it to.
He stepped inside alone.

His eyes quickly caught onto the pink-red scales and their shimmer in the forgelight. Steel shaping steel, and softer things. And her, the mark. They called her Tairent, but that wasn't the name he cared about. As the heat introduced them, he removed his gloves – the movement purposefully loud, but likely lost in the blunt yells of the work.
Picked up a spare hammer and struck, metal on metal. The best way to get a musician's attention was to play a note out of tune. He could wait until he held proper attention.
„I was told...a dragon tended the fire here.“ Voice warm, faintest accent dancing at the edges. „I expected something...larger?“ Clapping his hand together he remembered a joke befitting the moment.
„Still, fire is best judged by heat, not height.“

He moved no further, every bit of 'ni muscle in him vigilant for the situation turning sour.
People didn't like being found. And his long life had thought him that preparation always beats luck.

„Miss Tairent... I was told you deal in more than steel.“
 
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To Tairent, life was barely more than a chore. A never-ending series of events and struggles one strove to come out on top of, most times failing to do so, pushing against the storm until ones body or mind failed the task and the journey ended spontaneously, regardless whether its reason was a poisoned arrow, a faulty meal or the very world they found themselves in. It was due to this very reason that people sought artificial ways to remain on top, ahead of the event that would reap them like an autumn's harvest.

Magic, Wealth, Knowledge, or even more trivial things such as clothes, weapons or armor played a large role for most of them, always eager to have something, someone between them and whoever wished to harm them. Ironicly, such as with all things in life, the extreme examples were the most interesting ones, the kind that outdid themselves over and over again, regardless of whether they were merely a mere commoner, fearing death at every corner or a weaver, knowing exactly how to protect themselfes and, having acquired enough power to be safe from most threats, eradicating their potential weaknesses one by one. Given that Tairent had been working at the forge for the last few days, she had gotten a very good insight into such people and the longer she watched, worked, the more opportunities presented themselves to her. After all, what better way was there to find victims or weaknesses than by pretending to deliver them the cure? And what better way was there to evade risks, knowing fully too well who was too hard of a nut to crack.

In a way, the last two days, or rather nights, had been fruitful, Tai having taken what she thought was hers to begin with. A tribute of blood. An offering to her depraved nature, her need to kill, maim, harm if only for the sake of feeling another life extinguished between her claws. The smell of iron impregnating the air, more intense, more pure than any forge was ever able to. Sometimes Tai wondered if it was simply within her nature or if her affinity for metal caused her to behave in such ways. After all, her ancestry, the one she thought she was an heir of, hardly stood for blood-thirst, nor for being mysterious in the slightest. Not that it was a conceptual, moral question to her. No. It was merely another fact to be acknowledged, changing nothing about her but giving her more purpose, an excuse even.

And today, it seemed as if another victim entered the forge, announcing themselves with the sound of steel fittings its kin. Was it a plea for attention? Or was it a challenge instead? Straightening her back and placing the hammer on the anvil with a quieter thud than before, rating the piece she had been working on thus far, an axehead to be precise back in top of the coals, Tai stood motionless, her reptilian eyes focusing on the stranger, letting him revel in his monologue, speaking of tests and expectations, the notion of the situation she found herself in leaning more and more towards a challenge than the business most sought to fulfil here. By the time Zayad stopped to speak, an answer was due. Noticing the stranger's appearance, his clothes advertising him as a servant, yet his tone betraying him to have some form of purpose, Tai chose her response carefully. Naturally, she had been thought of being a dragon before. After all, similarities were present and in a world where dragons were all but extinct or hidden away in ways that were beyond mortals, direct comparisons were hard to perform. Naturally, people chose to jump to the next closest thing they could find to find closure. To see their fantasy turned true, even if it came in a bizarre, small form. And while most would have even liked the attention this would have given them, Tai knew that being one of a kind was usually one step short of being the last of a kind. To many people believed in remedies, born from rare creatures and harvested as they lay dead, to cure their ailments. In the glory one could gain from vanquishing a supposed threat. And even while Tai certainly wasn't a dragon without "teeth", she wasn't interested in becoming a public symbol when her actions demanded her having a low profile.

As such, she would neither encourage, nor deny the others, though her eyes slowly turning towards the forge, her hand resting on the surprisingly cool metal of the anvil as she answered:
"A dragon you sought and me you got. What a poor, twisted version of a dragon I would be, don't you think?"
, pausing to shake her head, turning back to Zayad, her tone louder now, more clear as she asked:
"Still, do you really seek the fire? Or is it something else entirely you seek? After all, one does not find the butcher if one wishes to purchase what he slaughters for his craft. However, you are right. What I deal in, dear... customer... isn't steel. Its a tool. A force as ancient as the very ground we tread upon. The means to accomplish anything you seek to do, crave to be, if you carry enough of it and know how to wield it. And have enough coin to acquire it in the first place."
 
He did not smile, even if it may have been the appropriate mask. He simply listened beyond her words, to the implied shape. They were both creatures of metaphor, it seemed. Hers just had more teeth and less sense.
Threatening a 'ni wasn't good business. Zayad may not have been the most dangerous of his kind in terms of direct combat, but there was a reason he was chosen for the higher task.
Every so often, someone had to learn the hard way.

Heat of the forge didn't bother him yet, but he could feel the smoke in his teeth.

„I always found dragons disappointing.“ He cracked a smile not fit for this mask, all teeth and none of the warmth. „It's the ones pretending not to be that you worry about.“
Takoumba taught how truth was simply a well enough polished lie.

He looked at the fire and how it reflected on her scales. Beautiful, like glass reflecting the Sun, right up to the moment you stepped on it. And he couldn't afford such distractions. He needed feet more than he needed beauty; a sad truth of the world.

„You speak of coin. Fine. I have coin.“ His voice lowered into breath, like he was the one stoking the coals.
„But I also know things. Like what vanished in the north. A creature with scales like yours, last seen tearing through the forest near Ogam's Hollow. Metal used to pool from its claws. Familiar? No. Perhaps not yet.“

He'd buried coin in colder places for less promising leads. But this...this he needed.

Zayad kept his distance, softly taking in the gaps between the scales. In this room alone, he had tools plenty for success if it came to that. There was a reason men outlived dragons. One never had to be stronger – only more vicious.
„So a trade, Miss.“ A small coinpurse appeared as if conjured from thin air. It made no sound at first. „I don't need you to be a dragon, I only need you to help find the grave of something that may have been. And if you don't know where that is....well, maybe we can dig together.“

The coins finally jingled, but only when he allowed them to.
 
As far as Tai cared about the world around her, only action or its causes and effects mattered. Due to this, she entertained the metaphorical battle the two of them held in the midst of the dark forge, only brightened by the burning and glowing coals, illuminating their faces, highlighting their features in a unique, almost metaphorical way. Tai, standing there, light reflecting on her scales in a red/ish hue, and the stranger, his washed-out clothes shining almost brightly blue, clearly contrasting. Naturally, the space between them appeared almost purple from a certain distance. A sign of cooperation? Or foreshadowing a conflict to remain pure? Tai couldn't tell.

"And why seek out what disappoints you to begin with? Why bother with something that just doesn't seem worth the effort? Especially when seeing what one could lose acquiring it, and gain by finding it. Another thing to worry about. Right? I am to assume that being a servant must be frustratingly boring to find pleasure in such...", Tair replied, returning the threat in a vague way, never threatening directly, always disguising her statements to be taken as common wisdom, if it weren't for the situation they found themselves in at this very moment.

When the topic of their encounter changed and the stranger revealed his true purpose, Tai let out a quick, strong huff, her hand reaching back down for the hammer, the other one busy to retrieve what she had been working on before from the coals, placing it ontop the anvil, to be worked once more by powerful, precise strikes, each one forcing a bit more of the shape she wanted it to have, onto it, remaining silent, a thoughtful expression written on her face.

The stranger was as bold as he was alien to her. Coming to her with such a strong lead meant that she had left a witness alive. Someone to tell the tale. Maybe even someone to send someone after her. However, believing her to be a dragon was, as far as she knew, far from the truth and showed how little Zayad really knew about her. About what he was trying to find. Likewise was the idea, that men were superior by design. The actual truth was, mankind prevailed throughout its history only because its numbers were far greater than those of its enemies. As soon as it came down to a single one of them, their might faltered, their so-called strengths becoming weaknesses, deprived of the support and superiority by sheer number that they were used to possessing. Tai however, had always been the underdog. Her very anatomy befitting a world that was against her, her nature driving her to be a predator in a world where living meant to eat or be eaten, either directly by the sword, or slowly by taking the knee to another. It was this very trait of hers that drove her to overcome the odds as she had in Ogam's Hollow. And right now, odds weren't stacked against her. No. The "scales" were shifting towards her, even if only one of them was able to see this fact.

For now however, she would play coy.

"I do not know if you noticed, but I am neither towering above you, nor brandishing wings. Likewise, I find the logic in your reasoning... interesting to say the least. Seemingly on the hunt for something that seemed to have caused great peril, yet already planning with its supposed demise standing as a fact, to the point where you seek help in digging for its grave. Tell me, are you certain that you aren't just looking for a shovel? Beats using your hands to dig for something, right? Even more so if that thing still roams around, what makes you so certain that instead of going to dig together, we aren't going to die together?"
 
He listened to the hammer, because its thump told more truths than its owner. The only true voice in the room. Each strike louder than her words, but less revealing. Still, he let her finish up. It was only polite.

„You mistake me for someone who fears a grave.“ His words were slow, to the hammer.
„Or someone who expects to die with his hands in the dirt.“ He thought it proper for his mask to close the distance, but the killer in him knew better.
„I don't need a shovel, Miss.“ Though, looking around the room, she could forge one. „I've been digging since before your name ever reached me. Colder places and harder soil.“ The coin danced quietly back into the folds. That was no longer their dance. He was quick to catch the new rhythm. „What I seek isn't safety or knowledge, only confirmation.“ His voice sharpened at the edges, the smoke betraying him.
„That what I suspect is true. That the dracophage didn't just kill. It changed.
Bent flesh into myth and memory. Bent shapes into monsters and warnings.“
His eyes didn't leave her now.
„And I believe one of them walked away.“

The forge could yell its protest. He had time.

„If you believe it lives, even better. Graves are simple. It's the ones who still walk that need help being found.“
 
"You seem to mistake me for someone seeking a grave"
, Tairent interrupted the stranger as he stood there. After all, the answer given didn't do her question any honor, and she was left with more questions than before. If anything, if she wasn't sure that it was her that he was seeking to begin with, it would have fueled her suspicions even further, fearing that, while Zayad seemed very certain about his goal, he was unaware as to how he would acquire it to begin with. Still, given the fact that she could hardly use the suspicion or overwatch gained by the stranger's appearance and apparent interest in her, she was inclined to bite. Even if only to get a drop onto the other if necessary. Tairent hated engaging in something she wasn't certain she would be the sole and undisputed victor of.

"Expecting. Expectations are such a letdown, aren't they?"
, Tai taunted the stranger, hinting towards his earlier disappointment, before continuing:
"Regardless. If you are looking for someone to do the hard work for you, you'd better be ready to pay. This job here pays well. Accommodation. Food. Coppers. I expect at least more than I make now. As for that droco- or dracophage thing of yours, I neither care enough nor think there's value for me to exploit. As such... state your offer. Flashing a bag full of coins is only good to attract whores or thiefes, not laborers."
 
He didn't flinch at her taunt. Didn't rise to the bait. That would be too easy.
„You're right about the coin. Mere bait for thieves and fools.“ It was harder to keep pace once you'd already missed the rhythm.
„But I didn't come here to buy a tool.“

„I came here because something in the north left a trail that doesn't make sense. Metal that bled. Roots split like ribs. And something in the shape of a dragon... but wrong.“
He didn't step closer. Just noted how the heat didn't seem to bother her. Unsure whether that added to his case, or ruined it.
„I think whatever touched it also touched you.“

He held her gaze, steady. Not accusing. Not afraid.

„I don't want to kill or own it. I want to understand it. And I think you might be the only one alive who could.“

He paused, just briefly. Then softer, enough to make her lean in, if she chose:

„But if you're just another story someone else already wrote, maybe I'm in the wrong forge.“
 
Listening in to the stranger's explainations again, to his fancy words with no clear intention or meaning behind them, flowery embellishments instead of cold, hard facts, Tairent couldn't help but to let out a sigh laced with the collective frustration of their conversation thus far. The stranger wouldn't tell her clearly what he wanted, would he? Obviously not. He would have had ample time by now to do so. To get her invested in his idea or goal. Instead, he had chosen to state that somehow Tai was important to him. That he wanted, or maybe even needed something of her.

Naturally, Tai wasn't well-versed in the dracophage or anything regarding dragons beyond the most standard myth. Winged beasts, covered in near-inpenetrable natural armor which apparently put the sturdiest steel into its place with ease. Fangs long enough to skewer a knight in full plate armor. Claws sharp enough to bisect a rider and his horse swiftly. A surprising affinity for wealth as well, at least in some tales. First and foremost, however, their gargantuan size and deadly elemental breath made up the stuff of legends, regardless of whether it was able to freeze something in place in the middle of the desert, or hot enough to burn even under water. Truthfully, she didn't see herself as fitting to the description except for 2 of those tales. So why in all heavens did the stranger put up such a fight to lure her away from this place?

Needless to say, Tairent wouldn't be able to let the situation pass without engaging it in some way or form, preferably one that didn't include violence. After all, it would only be a question of time until her craving would come over her again and the least thing she wanted was a witness, or someone throwing logs between her legs. As such, she begrudgingly had to cooperate for now. Her lack of enthusiasm was clear, however, as she started to answer:
"You aren't going to leave me alone unless I help you with your stupid quest, are you?"
, before shaking her head anew, not even waiting for an answer as she acknowledged:
"Very well then. Match me in my salary here and meet me by the end of the day and I will accompany you to heavens knows what you are babbling about. However, if you expect me to fight something, you might as well save your breath."
 
He let her exasperation wash over him. The dance had been far from easy – but not an unfamiliar rhythm.

„I don't hold your frustration against you. I spoke in circles because I had to.“ His voice was slowly shedding the pagentry. Careful. The nose of a hunter. He had tracked beasts in human skin before. The question pressed inside – was this another one?

„If I were the thing from Ogam's Hollow... Maybe the right question would've made me flinch. Made me snap.“ He glanced to the hammer. „You didn't. And that tells me something too.“

Lies were better, but even truth could serve when properly aimed. Zayad never dealt in pure truth. The end product was always diluted.

„The quickest way to be rid of me, and the many eyes watching us both, is to take the coin. Help me. And then send me off to be someone else's problem.“

He didn't argue the point further. Reluctant acceptance was good enough.

„One of mine will find you come sundown.“ He placed the the purse on the anvil, gently. „And will return with either you or the coin.“

He left without another word. With an unspoken answer to what would happen if she kept both.
 
She had been right. There was more to the stranger than the eye met, than all the fancy and soft-spoken words had been trying to paint them as. So much so that Tai was beginning to wonder whether or not she was being set up in a specific way. Was Zayad the same as her? Probing and searching for victims to dispatch of in a quiet place?

Thinking about the whole conversation they had had so far, it almost seemed to make sense. Predators often held some form of territory, and even while Tai certainly wasn't bound by a territory, nor cared about who pissed on a specific tree first, she understood that others might have seen it differently and might have even tried to take on another predator. There was no way for her to tell from what she had gathered now.

Zayad had remained as elusive as he had been at the very beginning when he had appeared out of thin air, probing her with questions that were much too specific to be asked based on visuals alone. Regardless of the ultimate goal, however, and maybe even more importantly, he seemed to have had success in his first task. Not that this stopped him from probing even further, hiding his questions behind mental tests as if Tai wouldn't be able to see through them.

Needless to say, looking happy about having passed his "questions", wouldn't do her any good, seeing how it confirmed what he likely already suspected to begin with. Seeing through the thing and telling him, however, would be even more detrimental, telling him he needed to try harder. No. What she needed to do was to feign ignorance. Luckily, her annoyance would be a suitable way to channel it.

"Well, who says you aren't the thing you pretend to search for? You-..." she eventually gave out, suspicion, albeit faked, written all over her face by the time she stopped before adding: "-... you arent really slow enough to try to drag me out in the woods and-..." shaking her head slightly, her eyes narrowed, letting the question stand openly, yet clearly waiting for an answer, likely diverting the trap back onto the sender.

The message was simple. Tai apparently believed that Zayad might have been the creature responsible for the killings. She only hoped that it would be enough to make the stranger believe that she actually wasn't related and that her suspicion was genuine.

Not that she was destined to get an answer, seeing how Zayad left as he had appeared, not a word spoken unless in his own agenda, leaving the dragonkin alone in the forge, staring at the door, before slowly creeping forward, pulling it closed and returning to her work. Needless to say, when the evening came she would be ready, but for now, she still had work to do.
 
One of the junior men was sent. Because if the quarry truly was dangerous, it wasn't a good idea to have the trap sprung on your best foot. Unarmed and unarmored. Just road leathers, scuffed at the corners. Miradi make, if one knew how to look. He crept in before sundown. Because the Lord taught that even on time was late. Day belonged to the ready – and it was much easier to be ready when you were first.

Quiet shadow of the doorframe, he stalked from afar. It was not his job to be clever, but it helped survive the service. He knew why he was sent in place of someone propely senior, so he timed his silence to the strikes of the hammer. Only once the hammer was properly down would the forgeshadow speak:

„Miss Tairent?“ Voice flat and polite, as per regulation.

He gave a bow of deference. Didn't stare or study further. She'd already been measured.

„My Lord asked me to return with your company, or the coin. Said you'd know which.“

And no more was necessary. She'd come or she wouldn't. The rest hardly concerned him.

Teaching said that if you wanted long enough, the answer would walk to you. And if they didn't – that too was valuable information.
 
Waiting inside the smithy, still hammering absently on the iron beneath her, the coins stored in her backpack along with the rest of her few worldly possessions, Tai stared in the direction of the sunset through a small crack between the boards that defined and restricted the smithy, unsure when Zayad would return. Or rather one of his. Not that she minded either ways. The knowledge that Zayad wasn't alone was all she needed to stop herself from walking out of the city with him and making sure he wasn't found again. No, too great was the risk he had taken precautions. Too great the risk that she would be uncovered as what she truly was. A predator disguised as prey. However, returning with him intact and alive could give her an alibi, if things ever came push to shove.

Not that her mind lingered too long on the thought, seeing how the slightest creak of the door behind her tore her out of her absent state, painfully returning her to the here and now as instincts sprung into action, her eyes trying to make out who was entering, his voice telling more than her tired eyes were able make out at a glance.

It was time.

Giving the stranger a faint nod, Tai let out a quiet sigh, before returning the iron into the coals, letting her hammer fall flat onto the anvil. Standing there, almost hesitant, she gave out an apologetic look to the stranger, as she spoke:
"A moment please."
, upon which she turned, reaching for a shovel, feeding the fire a few more loads of coal. Enough to last through the night, likely. For her, it felt like the right thing to do, almost like she wanted to say good-bye to it. After all, the smithy, as simple as it was, had fed her and kept her warm at night, while its boons had satisfied her plentily.

Finally done, she turned to the stranger, reaching for her backpack and stepping towards him, shrugging slightly as she asked, her reptilian eyes fixed upon him:
"Why ask when you know the answer already. Certainly your lord values you enough to tell you what you are sent to fetch, arent you?"
, eventually reaching the door, either stepping out after him, or squeezing through it with him still standing in the doorway, before making her war to the water barrel next to it, beginning to wash her hands and rinse her face, taking her time to ask anew:
"Where are we headed either ways?"
, before letting out a short sigh, dipping her head into the barrel whole, trying to get her hair at least partially clean before heading out into the wilderness.
 
She had decided, then. That would fare well for his next service review. He still couldn't fully turn his back on the creature – but if she was of a mind to come, he wouldn't fight her on it. People rarely said no. He never understood it – if he had a choice, he'd be as far from the Lord as humanly possible. But not everyone got the choice. Sometimes you were simply born to service.

A nod, like they were in agreement.

„I am to take a preplanned route to the eastern gate.“ He pointed opposite of the dying orange. „There, further transport should be ready.“

„Ready when you are, Miss.“

Unless stopped, he began a slow walk to the exit. In a very roundabout way, Tairent could notice. Instead of a straight line via the main tradeway, the youth led her through the city in circles, before doubling back to a more direct route – then there he would double back again before proceeding. A fiveminute walk stretched to nearly twenty. Never explained any of it, but his shoulders visibly relaxed when the gate was finally in sight.

„Once outside, you are to present this sign.“ Thumb, index and middle on his right extended while the other two hooked the loose left thumb as rest of the fingers closed into a fist. „A man in green silk should approach you. Answer to his question is: yesterday.“ Said it all like it was just another tea greeting.

„Mother's blessings, Miss.“ His bow was lower than Zayad's had been.

The local operative was not meant for the journey, there were tasks still unfinished. So he left her – a sign, and the hope that his service had earned him favor.
 
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