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"Oh" River blinked. It appeared Zaria did not like the housewife position. Must have been pretty different from his caravan and traveling life. The wives were also musicians and performers, and everyone was for the most part fun loving. Before he could suggest that maybe the two of them could try performing together once, the mage asked the second question.

It almost made her sound like the guards that had been doubting him earlier. Of course, he was scared. What lunatic wouldn't be, and just as Zaria had mentioned, he really couldn't fight. He'd probably be hiding and cheering everyone else on since he would just be deadweight if he fought. "Well, we're dealing with dragons here. Of course I'm scared, but I'd rather be part of the adventure, where I can feel the danger and meld it into a song then be some bard wandering through the streets aimlessly without action!" River straightened his back and held himself high. He was pretty tall after all. "I'll prove myself somehow." He sighed. "Well, Zaria, what about you? Are you intimidated by those creatures?"

Zaria seemed more serious than he himself was, Bard thought as he listened to her response. More serious than some of the other male warriors who he had overheard bragging about how to slay a dragon and betting on who was going to hit the dragon first.

"Uh huh..." River nodded as he listened to the mage. What a strange way to answer, but it made sense... Or to part of him, it made sense. The rest of him was thinking something along the lines of..Wait. You're either scared or not scared. You can't just be neutral...

But she sure was curious about his background. That typical of bards though. Bards did travel a lot lot, and that was how they made their livelihood. Telling stories of their travels. "Yes, I would be lying if I said we didn't travel. I've been all over the world. Not quite every place yet. Any particular place you'd like to hear about?"

Dame Elenda of Mandor
....along the widening road.

More than once so far the group of Errand-riders had passed groups of travelers resting on the inward side of the path. The sights were gone as soon as they came, miniature herds of myriad mounts surrounding tents and small cookfires. Other times the mouths of caves passed by, glowing softly from the campfires within. The curve of the mountain road constantly widened both its spiraling arc and its natural breadth.

Dame Elenda felt the warming air still cool against her face. Her braid swung behind her from the movement of her mare's trot. The surroundings were darker now, under the shadows of the tall mountains, yet still the path was clearly visible. Later in the night, stationed workers would light torches along the sides of the road. Elenda couldn't see the torches now in the gloom, but she knew they were spaced evenly about ten horse-lengths apart.

Even as Elenda thought about it, suddenly the torches ahead were lit, and figures could be seen hastening back toward their stations on the inward bend.

Sariel nodded. "Where i come from if you dont have optimisim then you have no real reason to live." She said. "I learned at a young age that to not see the silver lining was to llow myself to fall utterly to what seemed to be my dark fate. As of today the optimism has paid off." She said as the lights began to come on. "And to be pessimistic at a time like this would really dampen the mood." She finished and shivered again.

“Hmm… I myself have visited many lands and countries, for my parents were travelers. Tell me about the elven lands you’ve visited. Perhaps you have visited the kingdom that I come from in the east.” Zarìa said. It was quite possible he had been there if he had ventured that far east, as Zarìa remembered it to have been very large prosperous, which made it a sort of center of trade. But even if he had been there, she probably wouldn’t recognize it by name, or even by his description of it.

There were several elven lands that River had passed through, some more welcoming than others. And of course, there were different types of elves just as how there were different divisions among the human race. River knew some of the languages because he picked it up, but for some reason, there were some that he knew even before visiting the lands.

"Well, there are many. There was one land completely full of forests and mild weather. Cascading waterfalls, and at first glance, complete harmony between creatures and elves and nature.

Another land was wintry cold where barely any life was visible outside. Suffice to say, I got out of there quicker than I wanted to. A bit too chilly for me, but an interesting experience nonetheless.

Another one was similar to Mandor and had a bustling trade center, where people from many different lands came to visit. The seasons varied more there and cycled between mild, warm, and cold. The trade center was probably the biggest city in that land. I only recall towns smaller than that around the area."

High up in the air Cain was riding on Vaux back, he barely even noticed how he had passed the spear-tip of the convoy, led by Dame Elenda herself. Cain had a more pressing difficulty with the wind, the cold around him and his still not fully working senses. The sky was so cold and clear that millions of stars had to be visible all around them and a waning crescent moon had slowly begun his venture across the clear sky.
Cain let Vaux fly deeper as they got closer to the mountains and Cain felt the air getting thin, after a mere couple of minutes Cain and Vaux dropped out of the air like a stone, Cain laughing brightly for he hoped he was sober again and Vaux crying through the evening sky. It was the only noise to be heard in that moment. Now a couple of yards in front of the convoy Cain landed as he made out the mountainside that he knew harboured Mandor Castle Town.
Mandor Castle Town was renown for it was one of the oldest settlements of Mandor and myths and legends filled its past. Cain had been in there before, but he remembered they had trouble finding it back then, this time he recognized it immediately. The path they had followed forked in two, one of which led further along the mountainside, the other trailed up the mountain and was by far smaller, but they convoy would not miss it.
“Are they here?” - “Is that them?”
The smaller path was lightened brightly by lanterns that were temporarily placed along the way and many hundreds of curious faces staring down at Cain and Vaux. Cain remembered the last time he'd seen a human path like this, he'd received his two-hander from Duke Henry of Hillsworth and was pronounced the Baron of Azurea. Cain lifted his hand for a soft greeting.
”The convoy for the Errand of Dragons Rising is just behind that bend, I am duke Cain of Azurea and hereby, in-officially announce our arrival.” the baron grinned, the people in the first row that saw the grin laughed and chuckled with him. For himself Cain decided it would be proper to wait, there would have been a difference if he'd been sent ahead as messenger to announce their arrival, but he wasn't and he guessed Elenda had forgotten. Besides, everybody knew nobody would sent a baron ahead as a messenger, he was much to valuable for such a task. He lead Vaux to the side of the crowd, greeted a few of the people and stared up at Mandor Castle Town.
He could barely make it out, but he remembered vividly. Just behind the small forest, which devoured the path, but not the lights alongside, there was a large wooden gate and a wooden embarkment, together with the steep hill along Mandor Castle Town was an impenetrable fortification. The path in front of him was the only way in and the only way out. He remembered the legends surrounding this place, apparently this town had survived decades of besiegement, a little number of people knew how. Cain was one of them.
The town was completely split in two, the front part which everyone could see, made of wood, the walls, the gate, the pubs and taverns was only half of the city. The other half was carved into the mountainside, a huge cave made up the second part of Mandor Castle Town. The buildings in the cave were made of stone and wood and the cave was lit by ancient mirror contraptions that had been there from a pre-human age. The back of the cave was open too. On the other hillside, which technically no longer belonged to Mandor there were fields of crop and a small grassland for cows and sheep, as well as the source of a small river. This habitat of life and source of food if need be was protected by another chain of mountains on the other side and in order to get there by other means one would have to travel for miles and miles through dangerous and unexplored land.
Cain let out a sigh. This small, yet amazing town, was a symbol for human creativity and will to survive, and yet wasn't human at all.

“The last sounds familiar, but I ca neither confirm of deny that it is my -or rather, was- my home.” Zarìa said. She doubted wherever River had visited was her country, for it had been, he would be elaborating on the wonderful things about it. She knew that her memories of it were no doubt warped, but even her parents talked about it as a place of splendor.

What she remembered most was how well it coexisted with nature. No, coexist was not the right word to describe the relationship. The woods, the rivers, everything was considered a part of the cities, and they were harnessed and made useful, without harming or disrupting them. Never had she come across a country of its size that was able to accomplish such.

Zarìa was suddenly filled with a longing for her home, and decided it would be best to change the subject before it grew. “I think we should be arriving at our destination soon.” she said.