Welcome to Gaia! ::

Earendil smiled warmly at Lin. "Always welcome," he replied, climbing up carefully after her. He settled in behind her, then reached down to help Haldia up. Soon all three of them were on the roc's back, and without Haldia needing to speak to the roc, it spread its wings and leapt into the air.

Earendil closed his eyes gently and smiled as the air whipped past them. It was a much smoother ride than Skyel had been, and without the constant up and down motions. He was comfortable with this, even without being harnessed on.

"Ah, right," Earendil grinned at Lin. "You've never ridden Rhiel before."

He chuckled softly. "It's so much better than riding Skyel. Smoother. It doesn't make me feel sick in the least. This way, I can enjoy flying. Just like on Kelirahc's dragon, I like flying on it as well. But the rocs here ... I don't know why, I just can't handle it."

They soared towards the island and over the castle, heading down the hillside towards the city.

"Probably," Earendil agreed. He turned to Haldia and pointed at the area between the city and the wall. "Best land there, there won't be room in the city."

Haldia nodded. "It does look a bit crowded from here," she agreed. She nudged Rhiel gently, and the roc slowly began to circle towards the ground, wings outstretched in a glide.

Rhiel landed just outside the city walls, and Haldia slid off her back and spoke quietly to her as Earendil followed her to the ground. Then he turned and held his hands up to Lin to help her down.

"Sure is faster than walking," he quipped with a grin.

Earendil chuckled softly and turned to Haldia. "Ready?"

Haldia reached into the neck of her shirt and touched her mark again, and Rhiel vanished in a sparkle of light.

"As ready as I'll ever be," she replied quietly, her voice steeled with determination.

Earendil nodded and smiled encouragingly at her. "Well, let's go. Putting it off any longer isn't going to help at all."

Earendil nodded, linking arms with Haldia so that she wouldn't be able to run away or lag behind. "I'm looking forward to meeting Artemis's mother," he said warmly. "He's a good boy, he must have been raised well, and to me that says he must have a good mother. Especially if she's leaving him in charge of the shop on his own at such a young age."

Haldia listened in, curious but not wanting to say anything. She didn't know what questions to ask anyways, so to her it would be much simpler just to listen and find things out that way.

"I wonder though," Earendil mused as they entered the city, "What his guideline was for what items he could take in return. I mean, how did he judge their value?"

After all, the items' values changed from one culture to another.