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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Nonlethal Force" data-source="post: 3077491" data-attributes="member: 35788">Ischarus took one look at the inside of the cage and saw a disheveled looking man.  He’d obviously not been bathed for a long time.  His facial hair had grown long and it was matted in several places.  His clothing hung loosely from his shoulders and was torn and tattered.  There was evidence that a whipping had occurred as many of the tears in the clothing were parallel to one another.  The figure’s muscle tone was simply nonexistent from having spent prolonged periods of time in the cramped quarters.  In all, there didn’t appear to be much muscle left on the figure.  He had the look of a man who was intentionally being starved within an inch of his life.  Ischarus noticed especially that there appeared to be a great swarm of flies constantly darting in and out of the front of the metal cage.Charis tucked her head into her hands and mumbled something inaudible.  Ischarus thought it sounded like a name but he wasn’t sure.  Charis breathed in deeply and used the palms of her hand to push away her hair as it covered her face when she looked down.  Frustrated, she pulled her hair back and tied it in a simple knot that she expected to come undone the first time that she moved.  She looked up once more at the cage and shook her head in disbelief.Ischarus saw her immediate discouragement as she recognized the figure inside the cage.  “Family, Charis?”Charis smiled and let out a quick, muffled laugh.  She hadn’t expected that comment out of Ischarus.  He knew what a Drakontos village community was like.  “We’re all family, Ischarus, through our dragon father.”Ischarus shared her quick and muffled laugh after hearing her response.  “Fair enough.  Is it immediate family, then?  Brother, Father?”  Ischarus expected that the man being her father would be a bit of a stretch.  The man in the cage didn’t look much more than Charis’ own age, although the unkempt appearance made it hard to tell for certain.  He had thought about adding something along the lines of boyfriend, fiancée, or even husband but for the sake of Semeion and their budding romance he held back his tongue.Charis replied with sorrow in her voice.  “None of the above.  He was a friend, that’s all.  He was a good friend of mine until about a week before I was offered up as Provenience and rescued by you all.  I had tried to get him to understand the necessity of our plan.  I had tried to sway him to see the light of those who desired me to be the Provenience in an attempt to spread my healing to a new generation.  But he was too close to our dragon father.  He was convinced that if our dragon father’s plans were attainable then our greatness and freedom from manual labor was destined to be through creating an army of power and dominating the area.  He thought that our freedom rested upon the enslavement of others.”Ischarus frowned as he listened to Charis.  “If he was so close to the dragon father, why do you think that he has been locked up here?  If he chose to follow the ways of his dragon father over the counsel of his friends, why would he be punished?”Charis shook her head slowly as her eyes focused in on the man within the cage.  “I don’t know for sure, but I have a good guess.  I would expect that the man in the box has been in there for about as long as I have been running free.”Ischarus looked confused.  “How can you be so certain?Charis looked down and away from the box, closing her eyes tightly so as to drive the image out of her mind.  When she was unsuccessful she looked back to Ischarus.  Her eyes were filled with tears.  “The man in the box is Druff.  He used to be a fighter of great strength as you saw the last time you were through here.”Ischarus looked back at the box.  It was not possible for him to imagine the strong and vibrant young swordsman that Ischarus had matched up against so evenly as having turned into this untidy and weak figure before them.  “Druff?  But he was so adamantly loyal to the power of your dragon father!”Charis nodded in agreement.  “But he was the one Rhema charmed to help get the people to run.  He was as big of a factor in their freedom as you all were.  When you made it to the caves, I have no doubt that the wrath of my dragon father focused on Druff for allowing himself to be charmed into listening to Rhema.  He took the blame that was intended for you three.  I am sure that he took my father dragon’s rage for losing me.  The setback to my father dragon’s plan became his fault.  I do not doubt that.”Ischarus spoke softly, hoping to sooth the pain and guilt inside.  “You cannot know that for sure, Charis.”She smiled, but it wasn’t out of enjoyment.  Her face demonstrated that she was grateful for his attempt to make her feel better but his words carried little weight.  “Look at him, Ischarus.  He’s been in there for a long time.”A voice appeared from directly behind the pair and softly put forth a question.  “Menshea?”  Both the language and the name were spoken in a thick draconic accent.Ischarus drew his sword in a flash and spun around to find a young girl, perhaps three or four years younger than Charis.  Her black hair with red highlights and the red flecked irises of her eyes gave her away as a Drakontos of this village.  Much of her facial figures were incredibly similar to Charis that it was uncanny.In another instant Ischarus pounced on the girl and trapped her mouth underneath his leather gauntleted glove.  He was careful to make sure that her nose was completely free from being blocked so that she could still breathe.  Switching to the language of the Drakontai he spoke directly to the girl.  “Make no sound.  Even seeing us could get you killed by your dragon father.  Do you understand that your life is in danger and not necessarily by us?”Of course, the girl nodded.  From her perspective she knew her life was in danger.  Ischarus had drawn his sword and charged her position before she could react.  There was no doubt in the girl’s mind that her life was in danger.Charis quickly moved to the girl’s position.  “Harrah?  Is that you?  You are so thin!”The girl nodded in the affirmative quite vigorously.  Of course, it was impossible to reply on account of Ischarus’ hand covering her mouth.Charis smiled broadly.  “Ischarus, this is a friend.  Her parents were two of the most vocal supporters of the plan to make me Provenience.  She won’t yell or tell anyone that she has seen us.  Will she, Harrah?”Harrah shook her head slowly from side to side.  Her eyes shot to Ischarus upon hearing his name.  She recognized it as a Drakontos name itself.  Yet, she knew that his eyes and hair did not contain the red flecks and highlights as did those of Charis and herself.  Where she expected to find red she only saw the glistening of the color of mercury.Ischarus lifted his hand only an inch from her face, completely prepared to reapply the pressure should the need arise. “No loud sounds, correct?”Harrah spoke softly in the draconic language.  “No loud sounds.  You are a strange Drakontos.  How have you shed your red color and replaced it with that of refined metal?”Charis smiled, remembering the exact same thought the first time she recognized Ischarus as a Drakontos.  “He is not of our tribe, Harrah.  He is of a tribe with another dragon father.  His father dragon is the color of his eyes, not red like ours.”Harrah spat upon the ground.  “You are the enemy of our father dragon.  We all know of dragons who have the coloring of your eyes.”Ischarus could only smile.  She was correct, of course.  His father dragon was a natural enemy of her own father dragon.  “Our father dragons may be enemies, but that does not imply that we must be enemies.  The one you call Menshea is my friend.  We call her Charis.”The girl smiled.  “You speak wisely, Drakontos of another tribe.”Charis interrupted the polite introductions.  It was time to have some answers.  “Harrah, what happened to Druff?”Harrah looked to the ground.  “Druff has been abused by our father dragon as a sign of disobedience.  For several weeks Druff and others like him hunted our people in the tunnels and the surrounding area.  He and the others returned many of our tribe back to our father dragon.  As more came back, our father dragon imposed much more harsh and strict penalties upon us.  You say I am so skinny, but that is because we are forced to work twice as hard as before and have hardly any time to hunt.  Many of our fellow tribesmen have not eaten meat for a month.  We live simply off of the berries that we can forage for at night when we should be sleeping.  Once Druff and his men were certain there were no more left to find and that you had escaped for good, our dragon father imposed even greater penalties upon our community.  The children were taken away.  Husbands were not allowed to mate with their wives.  In fact, our dragon father made it so that men and women could not even meet and if anyone violated the rule they would be punished with death by our father dragon’s breath.  As the penalties increased greatly, Druff began to see what he could not see before you left.  Druff could not see what you and my parents and others like you could not convince him of.  Druff saw the cruelty for what it was.”Ischarus heard a snap of a twig around their location, but a quick search found nobody in movement.  The trio said nothing as they searched the area around them.  After several minutes of silence, Ischarus nodded for Harrah to continue.Harrah spoke more softly than she had earlier.  “Druff met with the male elders, for he was not allowed to meet with the women.  Together they all devised a plan.  The elders proposed to our father dragon that if he would remove some of the restrictions they would investigate as to who the traitors were that were still in the community.  Our father dragon agreed, and removed all of the punishments that divided our community.  He refused to remove the increases to our labor.  Our elders thought the compromise would be enough and was worth the sacrifice.  At Druff’s proposal they turned Druff in as the traitor.  Immediately our father dragon’s rage turned upon him.  We have lived easier for several months because Druff is tortured.  We begged for him to not make this choice, but he insisted.  He had seen our father dragon for the abusively powerful figure that he was and knew that escape was impossible.  He realized that he had put his faith in the wrong source and it was now coming back to haunt him and his fellow Drakontai.  He wanted to die rather than live and mourn the errors of his past.  Yet, our dragon father would not grant him that request.  Our dragon father decided that Druff would become the icon for what happens to those who lose faith.  As a form of torture, our father dragon allows him 20 minutes of exercise a day.  That is enough to keep his body from deciding to die.  Our father dragon only allows Druff to have exactly enough food to prevent him from dying.  He is always hungry, however.  Our dragon father gives him just enough to keep him from dying.  But through his sacrifice we have found ease.”Harrah’s eyes dropped to the ground, mourning Druff’s condition.  Charis was about to speak, but each of the three Drakontai present heard another snap of a twig.  This time, Ischarus saw who was moving around them.  It was an aged man, especially for a Drakontos of red dragon lineage.  Ischarus estimated that by his look that the newcomer was several decades older than Ischarus himself.  Ischarus caught his eyes in a stare of his own but did not speak.  He motioned for the figure to come out of hiding.As the figure moved, Harrah whispered with a smile on his face.  “Papa!  Why have you come into the woods and left your work?”The man closed a few steps closer and then looked at the party.  “I remember you,” he said as he looked to Ischarus.  “You are the one who came and began all of our trouble!  You were the one that stole our …”  His eyes glanced to Charis.  His tone changed to one of being stunned. “Provenience?”  He bowed his head in respect and stepped two more steps forward.Charis looked at the man and her eyes filled with compassion.  “Xando.  It has been forever.  Please, come and approach.  I have returned for you all, and I have brought friends.”The man looked up as his name was spoken.  “That is impossible.  Do not speak of such things.”  Xando approached Harrah and embraced her lovingly.  “Harrah, when you did not return from retrieving wood for my fire I grew worried.  I had to come and see if you were safe.”Ischarus spoke with little emotion in his voice.  He was smart enough to realize that he and Charis were alone.  Too many Drakontai would mean an ever increasing amount of danger.  “She is safe.  She is safer now than she has been in months.”Harrah spoke softly to her father.  “Listen to Menshea and her friend.  They speak truth.  That is something that has vanished from our village for years.  And it has only returned in the cage.”Charis looked down again at the mention of Druff.  She lifted her head and spoke directly to Xando.  “Xando, how many in the village are loyal to you?”Xando smiled, and his thick gray mustache curled around his lips.  “As many as before.  But I can say that there is only a handful still loyal to the father dragon.  Those who are not loyal to me have been swayed by Druff’s sacrifice.  Many may be loyal to me.  But all are loyal to Druff.  There is not one in the village who would not listen to Druff.”Charis’ eyes brightened.  Her mind regressed to the time when she was a part of this community and she remembered the village routines.  “Good.  Then tell each family member to send one representative to your house after the fire is extinguished for the night.  Tell them to come in darkness and bring no light.  Druff will speak with them.”Both Xando and Harrah looked with curiosity upon Charis.  Even Ischarus had to admit that her words had him interested.  As Xando looked to her he began to question her words.  Charis cut him off and pointed to the village.  “Do not ask.  Go!  You both have been gone too long already.  And take wood with you!”Charis had stepped back into the mode of Provenience.  Xando and Harrah felt it natural to obey her and they did.  They knew the wisdom in her last statement. Charis and Ischarus watched from the cover of the woods to make sure they both safely returned to their house with the wood.  Only once they were safely in the house did Charis give one more glance to Druff in his cage.  “I always knew Druff was noble.  If only he had not been so stubborn before you came.  If he would have had more wisdom before you came things would have been different.  But, we’ve had enough of the past.  Come, we have plans to make.  Those plans will require all our input.”Charis began to move away from the village.  Ischarus stopped her by grabbing her elbow lightly.  As she turned to face him, Ischarus smiled and spoke.  “Menshea?”Charis blushed and looked down to the ground.  “It is a nickname, nothing more.”Iscahrus released her and they began to walk quietly through the woods together.  Ischarus continued to pry.  “A nickname?  You get a name like Menshea and you expect me to be satisfied with that explanation?”Charis smiled broadly and gave Ischarus a nearly flirtatious look.  As her head turned back to look at him, her hair fluttered freely through the air.  Had her interest in Semeion not been so obvious, Ischarus might have considered the look for more than what it was as offered.  “We do not always get what we want, Ischarus.”She knew they were far enough away from the village to be able to make a bit of noise.  She looked back in the direction they were headed and broke into a run, expecting Ischarus to chase.  She was not disappointed.[Sblock=Color-Free Speech Section]Ischarus took one look at the inside of the cage and saw a disheveled looking man. He’d obviously not been bathed for a long time. His facial hair had grown long and it was matted in several places. His clothing hung loosely from his shoulders and was torn and tattered. There was evidence that a whipping had occurred as many of the tears in the clothing were parallel to one another. The figure’s muscle tone was simply nonexistent from having spent prolonged periods of time in the cramped quarters. In all, there didn’t appear to be much muscle left on the figure. He had the look of a man who was intentionally being starved within an inch of his life. Ischarus noticed especially that there appeared to be a great swarm of flies constantly darting in and out of the front of the metal cage.Charis tucked her head into her hands and mumbled something inaudible. Ischarus thought it sounded like a name but he wasn’t sure. Charis breathed in deeply and used the palms of her hand to push away her hair as it covered her face when she looked down. Frustrated, she pulled her hair back and tied it in a simple knot that she expected to come undone the first time that she moved. She looked up once more at the cage and shook her head in disbelief.Ischarus saw her immediate discouragement as she recognized the figure inside the cage. “Family, Charis?”Charis smiled and let out a quick, muffled laugh. She hadn’t expected that comment out of Ischarus. He knew what a Drakontos village community was like. “We’re all family, Ischarus, through our dragon father.”Ischarus shared her quick and muffled laugh after hearing her response. “Fair enough. Is it immediate family, then? Brother, Father?” Ischarus expected that the man being her father would be a bit of a stretch. The man in the cage didn’t look much more than Charis’ own age, although the unkempt appearance made it hard to tell for certain. He had thought about adding something along the lines of boyfriend, fiancée, or even husband but for the sake of Semeion and their budding romance he held back his tongue.Charis replied with sorrow in her voice. “None of the above. He was a friend, that’s all. He was a good friend of mine until about a week before I was offered up as Provenience and rescued by you all. I had tried to get him to understand the necessity of our plan. I had tried to sway him to see the light of those who desired me to be the Provenience in an attempt to spread my healing to a new generation. But he was too close to our dragon father. He was convinced that if our dragon father’s plans were attainable then our greatness and freedom from manual labor was destined to be through creating an army of power and dominating the area. He thought that our freedom rested upon the enslavement of others.”Ischarus frowned as he listened to Charis. “If he was so close to the dragon father, why do you think that he has been locked up here? If he chose to follow the ways of his dragon father over the counsel of his friends, why would he be punished?”Charis shook her head slowly as her eyes focused in on the man within the cage. “I don’t know for sure, but I have a good guess. I would expect that the man in the box has been in there for about as long as I have been running free.”Ischarus looked confused. “How can you be so certain?Charis looked down and away from the box, closing her eyes tightly so as to drive the image out of her mind. When she was unsuccessful she looked back to Ischarus. Her eyes were filled with tears. “The man in the box is Druff. He used to be a fighter of great strength as you saw the last time you were through here.”Ischarus looked back at the box. It was not possible for him to imagine the strong and vibrant young swordsman that Ischarus had matched up against so evenly as having turned into this untidy and weak figure before them. “Druff? But he was so adamantly loyal to the power of your dragon father!”Charis nodded in agreement. “But he was the one Rhema charmed to help get the people to run. He was as big of a factor in their freedom as you all were. When you made it to the caves, I have no doubt that the wrath of my dragon father focused on Druff for allowing himself to be charmed into listening to Rhema. He took the blame that was intended for you three. I am sure that he took my father dragon’s rage for losing me. The setback to my father dragon’s plan became his fault. I do not doubt that.”Ischarus spoke softly, hoping to sooth the pain and guilt inside. “You cannot know that for sure, Charis.”She smiled, but it wasn’t out of enjoyment. Her face demonstrated that she was grateful for his attempt to make her feel better but his words carried little weight. “Look at him, Ischarus. He’s been in there for a long time.”A voice appeared from directly behind the pair and softly put forth a question. “Menshea?” Both the language and the name were spoken in a thick draconic accent.Ischarus drew his sword in a flash and spun around to find a young girl, perhaps three or four years younger than Charis. Her black hair with red highlights and the red flecked irises of her eyes gave her away as a Drakontos of this village. Much of her facial figures were incredibly similar to Charis that it was uncanny.In another instant Ischarus pounced on the girl and trapped her mouth underneath his leather gauntleted glove. He was careful to make sure that her nose was completely free from being blocked so that she could still breathe. Switching to the language of the Drakontai he spoke directly to the girl. “Make no sound. Even seeing us could get you killed by your dragon father. Do you understand that your life is in danger and not necessarily by us?”Of course, the girl nodded. From her perspective she knew her life was in danger. Ischarus had drawn his sword and charged her position before she could react. There was no doubt in the girl’s mind that her life was in danger.Charis quickly moved to the girl’s position. “Harrah? Is that you? You are so thin!”The girl nodded in the affirmative quite vigorously. Of course, it was impossible to reply on account of Ischarus’ hand covering her mouth.Charis smiled broadly. “Ischarus, this is a friend. Her parents were two of the most vocal supporters of the plan to make me Provenience. She won’t yell or tell anyone that she has seen us. Will she, Harrah?”Harrah shook her head slowly from side to side. Her eyes shot to Ischarus upon hearing his name. She recognized it as a Drakontos name itself. Yet, she knew that his eyes and hair did not contain the red flecks and highlights as did those of Charis and herself. Where she expected to find red she only saw the glistening of the color of mercury.Ischarus lifted his hand only an inch from her face, completely prepared to reapply the pressure should the need arise. “No loud sounds, correct?”Harrah spoke softly in the draconic language. “No loud sounds. You are a strange Drakontos. How have you shed your red color and replaced it with that of refined metal?”Charis smiled, remembering the exact same thought the first time she recognized Ischarus as a Drakontos. “He is not of our tribe, Harrah. He is of a tribe with another dragon father. His father dragon is the color of his eyes, not red like ours.”Harrah spat upon the ground. “You are the enemy of our father dragon. We all know of dragons who have the coloring of your eyes.”Ischarus could only smile. She was correct, of course. His father dragon was a natural enemy of her own father dragon. “Our father dragons may be enemies, but that does not imply that we must be enemies. The one you call Menshea is my friend. We call her Charis.”The girl smiled. “You speak wisely, Drakontos of another tribe.”Charis interrupted the polite introductions. It was time to have some answers. “Harrah, what happened to Druff?”Harrah looked to the ground. “Druff has been abused by our father dragon as a sign of disobedience. For several weeks Druff and others like him hunted our people in the tunnels and the surrounding area. He and the others returned many of our tribe back to our father dragon. As more came back, our father dragon imposed much more harsh and strict penalties upon us. You say I am so skinny, but that is because we are forced to work twice as hard as before and have hardly any time to hunt. Many of our fellow tribesmen have not eaten meat for a month. We live simply off of the berries that we can forage for at night when we should be sleeping. Once Druff and his men were certain there were no more left to find and that you had escaped for good, our dragon father imposed even greater penalties upon our community. The children were taken away. Husbands were not allowed to mate with their wives. In fact, our dragon father made it so that men and women could not even meet and if anyone violated the rule they would be punished with death by our father dragon’s breath. As the penalties increased greatly, Druff began to see what he could not see before you left. Druff could not see what you and my parents and others like you could not convince him of. Druff saw the cruelty for what it was.”Ischarus heard a snap of a twig around their location, but a quick search found nobody in movement. The trio said nothing as they searched the area around them. After several minutes of silence, Ischarus nodded for Harrah to continue.Harrah spoke more softly than she had earlier. “Druff met with the male elders, for he was not allowed to meet with the women. Together they all devised a plan. The elders proposed to our father dragon that if he would remove some of the restrictions they would investigate as to who the traitors were that were still in the community. Our father dragon agreed, and removed all of the punishments that divided our community. He refused to remove the increases to our labor. Our elders thought the compromise would be enough and was worth the sacrifice. At Druff’s proposal they turned Druff in as the traitor. Immediately our father dragon’s rage turned upon him. We have lived easier for several months because Druff is tortured. We begged for him to not make this choice, but he insisted. He had seen our father dragon for the abusively powerful figure that he was and knew that escape was impossible. He realized that he had put his faith in the wrong source and it was now coming back to haunt him and his fellow Drakontai. He wanted to die rather than live and mourn the errors of his past. Yet, our dragon father would not grant him that request. Our dragon father decided that Druff would become the icon for what happens to those who lose faith. As a form of torture, our father dragon allows him 20 minutes of exercise a day. That is enough to keep his body from deciding to die. Our father dragon only allows Druff to have exactly enough food to prevent him from dying. He is always hungry, however. Our dragon father gives him just enough to keep him from dying. But through his sacrifice we have found ease.”Harrah’s eyes dropped to the ground, mourning Druff’s condition. Charis was about to speak, but each of the three Drakontai present heard another snap of a twig. This time, Ischarus saw who was moving around them. It was an aged man, especially for a Drakontos of red dragon lineage. Ischarus estimated that by his look that the newcomer was several decades older than Ischarus himself. Ischarus caught his eyes in a stare of his own but did not speak. He motioned for the figure to come out of hiding.As the figure moved, Harrah whispered with a smile on his face. “Papa! Why have you come into the woods and left your work?”The man closed a few steps closer and then looked at the party. “I remember you,” he said as he looked to Ischarus. “You are the one who came and began all of our trouble! You were the one that stole our …” His eyes glanced to Charis. His tone changed to one of being stunned. “Provenience?” He bowed his head in respect and stepped two more steps forward.Charis looked at the man and her eyes filled with compassion. “Xando. It has been forever. Please, come and approach. I have returned for you all, and I have brought friends.”The man looked up as his name was spoken. “That is impossible. Do not speak of such things.” Xando approached Harrah and embraced her lovingly. “Harrah, when you did not return from retrieving wood for my fire I grew worried. I had to come and see if you were safe.”Ischarus spoke with little emotion in his voice. He was smart enough to realize that he and Charis were alone. Too many Drakontai would mean an ever increasing amount of danger. “She is safe. She is safer now than she has been in months.”Harrah spoke softly to her father. “Listen to Menshea and her friend. They speak truth. That is something that has vanished from our village for years. And it has only returned in the cage.”Charis looked down again at the mention of Druff. She lifted her head and spoke directly to Xando. “Xando, how many in the village are loyal to you?”Xando smiled, and his thick gray mustache curled around his lips. “As many as before. But I can say that there is only a handful still loyal to the father dragon. Those who are not loyal to me have been swayed by Druff’s sacrifice. Many may be loyal to me. But all are loyal to Druff. There is not one in the village who would not listen to Druff.”Charis’ eyes brightened. Her mind regressed to the time when she was a part of this community and she remembered the village routines. “Good. Then tell each family member to send one representative to your house after the fire is extinguished for the night. Tell them to come in darkness and bring no light. Druff will speak with them.”Both Xando and Harrah looked with curiosity upon Charis. Even Ischarus had to admit that her words had him interested. As Xando looked to her he began to question her words. Charis cut him off and pointed to the village. “Do not ask. Go! You both have been gone too long already. And take wood with you!”Charis had stepped back into the mode of Provenience. Xando and Harrah felt it natural to obey her and they did. They knew the wisdom in her last statement. Charis and Ischarus watched from the cover of the woods to make sure they both safely returned to their house with the wood. Only once they were safely in the house did Charis give one more glance to Druff in his cage. “I always knew Druff was noble. If only he had not been so stubborn before you came. If he would have had more wisdom before you came things would have been different. But, we’ve had enough of the past. Come, we have plans to make. Those plans will require all our input.”Charis began to move away from the village. Ischarus stopped her by grabbing her elbow lightly. As she turned to face him, Ischarus smiled and spoke. “Menshea?”Charis blushed and looked down to the ground. “It is a nickname, nothing more.”Iscahrus released her and they began to walk quietly through the woods together. Ischarus continued to pry. “A nickname? You get a name like Menshea and you expect me to be satisfied with that explanation?”Charis smiled broadly and gave Ischarus a nearly flirtatious look. As her head turned back to look at him, her hair fluttered freely through the air. Had her interest in Semeion not been so obvious, Ischarus might have considered the look for more than what it was as offered. “We do not always get what we want, Ischarus.”She knew they were far enough away from the village to be able to make a bit of noise. She looked back in the direction they were headed and broke into a run, expecting Ischarus to chase. She was not disappointed.[/Sblock]</blockquote>

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