Private The Hawk and the Dragon

[Hawkflesh]

There was no avoiding reality. Hawkflesh, elf swordsman and reaver. Slayer of men and beasts, was utterly lost.
He stopped under a brief shaft of dull grey light in the forest and looked up letting the soft and frustratingly sporadic rain beat an uneven rhythm on his face.

I had been a full week since he'd been given the letter to take to the masters of the Knights of Anathaeum. He had to lead his horse by foot through the thick brush because somewhere a day or so back he'd lost the trail fleeing from a wolf pack. Not his finest hour.

Onward he trudged through bramble and thicket. Ripping his cape and feeling the cold water worm it's way under his skin. At some point his nose began to drip but in the wet he let it, trying to ignore the feeling.
At last twin miracles happened. Firstly the rain let up. Clouds permitted sunshine, dim but welcome enough to see clearly and secondly he emerged at a rather pleasant clearing. The site was new which meant that he was at least not walking in circles.

Striding out towards the centre he considered stopping for a while to let his horse graze a bit. It would not fill the stallion but it might help. He was running low on oats.

@Petra Darthinian

 

[Petra Darthinian]

She had found a weird wet man in the woods.

His trek through the trees had been tracked by Petra's careful ones. She had dogged his steps as he ventured ever closer to the Monastery, Norvyk having spotted him an hour before from up on high during their daily patrol. Curious more than anything, Petra had convinced her dragon to land and had been watching the stranger ever since.

She could see he was an elf, albeit a strangely homely one, but the gait of his walk spoke of the skill he had with a sword. And for that she was wary from her place in the trees. Gold eyes flashing from the verdant shadows of foliage as she tried to make sense of the man's purpose in the area. His lack of care with the noise he made and the trail he left gave her some semblance that he was not on a mission of stealth, although if he was, he was right shit at it.

It wasn't until the man had led his steed into a meadowed clearing filled with snake grass and wildflowers that Petra seized her moment, for if anything happened there was enough room for Norvyk to land and handle business.

"Well, hello there." Came her purring cadence from behind him. Dropping down from her place in the boughs and stepping from their shadows. Her scaled hand resting on the head of the hammer that hung from her hip.

@Hawkflesh

 

[Hawkflesh]

Hawkflesh turned slowly, deliberately and with the impression that he was already looking at his newfound companion before his eyes actually set upon her through the matted wet locks of his dark hair.
For a moment he stood watching her, noting her ready stance and the casual tone, the scales of her face and hand, the sharpness of her ears and glint of her eyes. He drank all these details into his own dim eyes and understood two things instantly.

The first was that this woman was almost certainly a positive sign that he was close to his destination. The second was that he was perhaps in a great deal of danger.

"Hello."
He spoke in a voice deep as the sea and with a calm gesture of putting his hand on his hip let display the hilt of his own weapon, a simple but effective longsword. Just to let this stranger know that he was willing to defend himself despite how dripping wet he was.

"You do not happen to know where a deceptively hard to find Monastery of infamous Knights is do you?"
The smile he cut across his face was a bit too sharp to be honest looking.

At his side the horse was getting a bit skittish.
There was more going on here than he saw.

@Petra Darthinian

 

[Petra Darthinian]

"Infamous? Ya don't say." Her question was paired with a wolf's smile. "I didn't realize we had garnered such a poor reputation. Then again, I suppose it depends on who exactly you heard it from."

The tops of the trees that surrounded the clearing, began to bend and dance from great buffets of wind. The air changed with a feeling like charged pressure.

"That begs the question then. Whose stories have you been listening to?" Her voice raising to be heard over the strange sound of a beating drum.

No, not drums. Wings.

Norvyk landed but a moment later a good distance behind the strange man and his horse, the dragon's neck arching like a striking cobra, the earth vibrating from the deep rumble that began in Norvyk's chest. His reptilian gaze flashing like cold metal coins, watchful and hungry.

@Hawkflesh

 

[Hawkflesh]

Not able to hide his shock at the appearance of the dragon Hawkflesh jerked into a reaction hand on sword and eyes wide. As it landed the grass bent before its might but as grass always did it sprang back up again as Hands, his horse, bolted for the treeline. At least he would not be a dragon's desert.
The dragon was small for a dragon but clearly more than a match for him. It had a saddle on it and bridle, Scales matching the ones on the strange woman. It did not take an artificer to work out that this was the woman's creature. The irony was not lost on him, escaping wolves only to be snacked on by a dragon.

"You are of their number then, these Knights of Anathaeum?
He did not wait for an answer as his cloak which whipped about him as if caught by sylph spirits bloomed red against the green of his world. The green of the grass, the woman and the dragon.
Relaxing a bit he let his hand slip from his weapon and he stood up straight, or at least as straight as a mortal dared in the face of a dragon and its rider. Hawkflesh wiped his wet nose with the back of a thin finger before he spoke again, the snot droplet clung to him like a newborn as he shook it free from his hand.

"The poor reputation probably comes from the sacking of homes and farms, the raiding of cattle, the murder and the kidnapping. People tend to get attached to their spawn."
Up his hands went in a placating gesture.
"Don't ask me why though. I hate kids personally."

He met her smile with one of his own not like a thing of prey but like a cut that moved of its own volition into a grin, as if it enjoyed stretching the skin to unwanted shapes. Death in this beautiful place would not be so terrible, he wanted to imagine that there was some circumstance in which he could take both woman and dragon but that was a dream higher than the stars. Maybe he could give her a bloody good scar though to remember him.

@Petra Darthinian

 

[Petra Darthinian]

"The Barons tell you that, did they?" Petra couldn't help the sneer from coloring her voice.

"Is that who your missive's from? The pock-marked, knock-kneed, & cowardly? Do you speak for them or just find yourself in need of their coin?"

Her suspicion was reflected in Norvyk prowling closer, his tail whipping with the ire of a perturbed jungle cat.

@Hawkflesh

 

[Hawkflesh]

The dragon made sweat itch down his back.

"Nothing so grand. These Baron's might have at least given me a map or better directions."
To calm himself a bit he kicked a sod of earth, severing some flower heads with the toe of his boot.

"I passed by Oakstead and saw what you did there. Folk are real rattled after that raid. They don't have the coin to pay me anymore. Hell if they make it another season it'll be a damned miracle but every now and then I take a job pro bono."

A thin hand moved up to the centre of his chest and gripped his tabard. His smile still carved into his head like a scar.

"Just my giving nature I guess."

Then he gave a look to the dragon and felt a primal fear crawl into his brain and threaten to seize his mind.

"To be honest though," Hawkflesh returned his gaze to the knight. "I didn't know you had a dragon when I took the job. Old Frann left that part out."

Lousy woman could have at least told him what he might be up against other than *evil folk on horses*. Now he was going to die because of that old hen. Just his luck he'd go looking for cavalry and find a dragon rider.

@Petra Darthinian

 

[Petra Darthinian]

The confusion was fleeting on her face, but Petra couldn't stop the horror that colored her voice. "What are you saying? That Oakstead was raided and folk are blaming the Knights for it?" Norvyk accompanied her outrage with a deep rumble. Would they need relief aid? Supplies? And from what this stranger was implying, would they even accept the Knights' help?

Perturbed, Petra crossed her arms and took the measure of the elf before her, a long scathing scan from top to bottom. He seemed to know more than what he was willing to say, and whether he was here for coin or sabotage, she did not know. But she felt compelled for the safety of her Monastery to find out.

But first, she had to know. "Why do you resemble the image of a thoroughly drowned street cat?"

@Hawkflesh

 

[Hawkflesh]

Well... she had not commanded the dragon to eat him or his horse so that was something.

Keen as he was he did not miss the moment of surprise on the woman's face, perhaps she was not with the Knights of Anathaeum. It would be a relief to learn that they are not enemies but his thoughts on this were stalled by her question of his appearance.
Looking down at himself he could not exactly argue the fact, even now a bead of wet gathered on the tip of his nose, it had travelled the long journey from his scalp all the way between the canyon of his eyes and just needed the tilt of his head to break for freedom and the inevitable soil beneath his boots.

"Because I am alone, hungry and cannot fly above the rain."
Gently he gestured towards the dragon and even took a few paces circling the woman that he might see if Hands had made it to safety without losing track of either of them.
"Have you spent so long aloft that you forgot what simple travel is like?"
Again he held out his arms but this time to present himself.
"This, it looks like this!"

The daft beast was grazing at the edge of the clearing. Why did he bother?
"Since we are asking questions though, why is your hand scaly, I'd bet it has something to do with him but it beats me what. I hope it's not catching, green simply isn't my colour."

As he spoke he felt his smile waver. Looking at the dragon made him very uneasy and he considered that to be a very sensible response but it did not help him feel any better about it.

@Petra Darthinian

 

[Petra Darthinian]

"No, but I can tell that red is." Her lip unable to stop the lifting curl at his remarks, the urge for sudden violence curdling in her chest as she tracked his movements She wasn't usually one to just kill outright. But she found she could make easier exceptions for rude fucking men.

Norvyk snarled behind the stranger, irked by his rider's growing ire and the closing distance between them.

"I don't think you're quite in a position to be asking me questions, friend." Huffing petulantly, she chose to ignore his curiosity about her arm. "But if you have a message for the Knights, I will not fault you for a job you were paid to do. But please stop wasting my time and hand it over." She bit the last words through her teeth. "And then. My dragon AND I, will generously give you until end of day to get the fuck out of here."

@Hawkflesh

 

[Hawkflesh]

"It hides blood stains very well."
Fear was a funny old thing.
It kept you from acting right up until the moment it turned into anger.

Hawkflesh turned and faced the dragon, his face suddenly flush with outrage and waved his arms at it.
"OH GO AHEAD AND GROWL IF THAT'S ALL YOU'RE GONNA DO YOU LOUSY REPTILE! CAN'T YOU SEE THE ADULTS ARE TALKING?"

It might well have been the last thing he ever did but in that moment it felt entirely worth it. If nothing else it helped him feel better and who knew, maybe dragons were like dogs and just needed a firm hand.

The use of adults was more a general term than a technical one. Being only in his 90's Hawkflesh was barely out of adolescence.
Not that many would notice.

When he was done with the beast he turned about again to face the Dragon's owner hoping he'd have time to answer before getting turned into a char grilled scarecrow.
"My message is to be delivered to The Monastery and I'll deliver it, thank you. Oakstead can't pay me because you took everything and burned the rest, that whole pro bono line was just me trying to not sound like I'm taking on a charity case. I'm here to get the children back."

Solid as his words were and perhaps startling as his outburst was his situation had not changed and he was painfully aware of it. Still, at this point there was nothing for it. Hawkflesh put his thin hand on the hilt of his sword and shrugged. The letter was a plea from the Elders of Oakstead for the return of their children. He doubted it would sway any hearts but he did not like to half finish a job. Even an unpaid one.

"That or die trying I guess!"

@Petra Darthinian