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((Warping time a little. We were heading for the monastry first, right?))

Meri walked along at a trott, keeping up with the horses. Occasionally he would flap his wings once, lifting his feet off the ground for a few steps. He lernt this technique in his travels.

The forest started to thin a little and the track they were on became slightly wider. A mountain range appeared in the distance, another forest surrounding the bases of the mountains.

Meri nodded. "It should be." He pulled out the map he was given. "Saw's there's two ways in. First is up the mountain path, the second is through a series of caves, that, of course, arn't well marked."

Rayel met her eyes readily. She was somewhat surprised by this show of respect, however slight. However, she responded as if nothing out of the ordinary had occured, "Tell us more of these two paths. It seems that the mountain path would be safest, but I have never traveled this way. Is there a heightened chance of running into enemies in the caves, or in the mountains? And which would take the least time?"

"Alright then." Pyro nudged Bale back to a trot, guiding him toward the mountain.

Meri smiled faintly. "My wings aren't really strong enough t' support e'en my small weight fer a little while. If I was t' be scoutin' out the path, I would be needin' t' be in my draconic form, which, as I'm sure ye noticed, isn't exactly small." He smiled again. "I didn't think o' flyin' though, so thank ye fer the suggestion. Even in my apparently infinite wisdom, I overlooked somethin'."

Rayel smiled a bit, then followed Pyro. Her skills didn't include intelligence; she was happy to have thought of something, even if it was entirely useless. Part of her longed to have one of her teachers from the monastery here, so she could rub it in their smug faces. Perhaps she was getting better.

The intelligent knight then tripped, quite spectacularly, over a rather obvious rock directly in front of her. So much for that, she thought sardonically, standing up with as much dignity as she could muster.

"No snakes behind that rock," she said, smiling feebly. Without looking at either of her two companions, Rayel strode forth, as if hoping to leave the incident behind her. However, although she wasn't looking at them, she had forgotten to watch the road.

Gathering herself up again, Rayel climbed back on her horse, deciding he had had enough of a rest.

Pyro saw Rayel trip but kept her snickering to herself. Then Meri mentioned that their weapons should be drawn and Mekaama pulled out her new shield and knife. She eyed the sharp edge on the blade and then decided to put it back. She'd be less likely to cut off her fingers if she just used sorcery.

"Good idea," Rayel muttered, looking up at the sky, as if expecting to see a winged behemoth descend upon them. She urged Cheiron into a trot towards the cave, trying her best not to look nervous. However, part of her mind nagged at her. The knight had heard tales of great wyrms that lived in caves, usually beneath mountains.

Yet, meeting a dragon underground could work to their advantage. At least it couldn't dive bomb them from above. On the other hand, if it blew flames or acid, it would be difficult to run.

Rayel immediately banished all such thoughts from her mind and concentrated on getting into the cave. Such worries could wait for a time.