With in seconds the fight was over.  Altor staggered back to the main camp.  It was slow going because of his sore chest.  As he worked his way back another light started to grow.  He noticed that a wagon was on fire.  Luckily it was by it self.

   ?Report.?
   ?Seven bandits dead, three captured and thirteen escaped.  Three of our guards are dead and the rest have only superficial wounds.?

   A high-pitched whine came from behind Altor.  It was the merchant that owns the wagon train.
   ?M-m-my wagon!  Who burned my wagon?  I could have been in there!?

   The head guard went over to her and gave his report.  All she wanted to know was who burned her personal wagon.  Altor found solace in the fact that only her personal wagon was burning and not her goods.  He was just about to fess up to the arson when he was called over by the second in charge.

   ?Okay I know you are new but we try to conduct our self like an army.  Many are ex-military so it is second nature.  Tell me where you were, what you did and any other thing you think is important.?

   ?Well I had watch to night.  I noticed the animals were acting up so I went to investigate.  Three men were untying them.  I sent a light up in the sky and attacked the three.?

   Her eyes quirked up and she said, ?You made that light??
   ?Yes,? he said a little shame faced, ?I did.  And I think I was the one that started that fire.?
   ?Did you also make that noise??
   ?Yes.?
   ?Hmmm? Continue.?
   ?Not much else to say.  When I squeezed the horn it frightened the horses.  A donkey kicked me in the chest.?
   ?Okay thank you.?  She said and left to talk to the head guard.

   He sat down and waited to get told off for sparking the personal wagon of the merchant but nothing happened so he turned in for the night.

   It took a day to round up the pack animals but it was a lot easier then normal because they camped near the only source of water for a day in any direction.  Then when the last animal was found they packed up and moved.  As the days passed he garnered foul looks from the merchant but she did not confront him.

   Not being a regular of the troop he was not in the loop of information but he heard enough.

The ones that attacked them is a large group that lives in the caves near the watering hole they stopped at.  Their typical method of getting money is to sneak in to camp and frighten all the horses.  When that is done they spread out and grab them before the animals make it back so they could ransom them back to the merchant.  This time the bandits had some one new leading.  That person got greedy and wanted to kill the guards so the merchant would have to hire the bandits to get across the desert.

   It was at this time that he realized that he had no weapons.  He left his hammer and pick back at his sleeping area.  He cursed himself for having obsidian instead of brains.  But as it turned out he would not need them.  One of the bandits was sprawled on his back, whether it was the sudden light in the sky or the loud noise he did not know.  Altor charged headlong into the other two.

   He caught the first hard in the chest.  That one crumpled right away.  The second bandit recovered enough to realize what was happening.  He whipped out a long thin blade.

   The light that Altor sent into the sky went out.  His eyes adjust quickly the inky night.  The one facing him still had the dazzle of the light in his eyes.  Altor pressed that advantage.  Or at least he tried to, the scared pack animals would not oblige.  They got buffeted away from each other.  A donkey, scared by the loud noise, was braying and kicking back.  A horse pushed him into the one of the kicks.  Luckily it was at the end of the kick and though it still hurt it did not break any ribs.

   A cacophony of ringing steel arose back at the living area.  He caught orders caught by the head guard.  This lasted for seconds and then stopped.  He made his way back, painfully and with a lack of breath, to find three figures face down in the ground.  Each was dressed all in black so as to help hide them in the moonless night.

   Altor volunteered for the worst shift on guard duty, the early morning.  Dwarves are hardy folk and when it is needed they can still reasonably well on as little as 4 hours sleep a day.  Altor on the other hand has trained himself to work on little or not sleep for days at a time.  This is because of his penchant for invention.  Some times he comes up with an idea that he just cannot stop thinking about, let alone sleep, while it is unsolved.  And he is still young, only 142 years old.  Besides the early morning guard slot is the best time for him to be along with stuff he wants to tinker with.

   It started with the noises of disturbed animals.  At first he did not think if it much but when the nickering and braying became more distressed Altor went to investigate.  Dwarves are not as whisper quite as say elves but here in the wasteland with nothing under feet but, hard packed, dry dirt silent movement is very easy.  He approached the animal pen from around a wagon.

   Dwarven eyes told him all he needed to know.  Three dark figures are systematically undoing all the restraints of the pack animals.  From the looks of it they are nearly finished, with only one stringer left.

   He rummaged in his cloak of many pockets and came out with two things.  He closed his eyes.

   The first was a round ball with a tube that narrows to a point sticking out.  He snapped the tip off then he snapped the tube near the ball.  He poured of some liquid from the tube.  When he did that it started to get hot.  He dumped the hot chunks into the ball and threw it away form anything flammable.  Seconds later a loud FFFSSSHHH was heard.  Some thing shot straight up trailing red sparks.  Then a light drifted lazily back to earth.  To some one that has their eyes adjusted to a moonless night the light was dazzling.

   Altor opened his eyes and let them adjust to the light.  At he same time he inflated a leather bag, the second thing, that he got out of his cloak.  He squeezed hard on the leather bag and an ear piercing noise came.  It left his ears ringing. ?I must find away to fix that,? Altor thought to himself.

   He bellowed, ?To arms!  To arms!  Bandits!  To arms!?

   Altor decided to cross the desert that is the natural border between the two great empires.  He could have used the series of dwarf tunnels to get across but that would open him up to questions that he did not want to answer.  More to the point, it would open him up to certain obligations that would be needed to fill; such as staying with any of his cousins he would meet and he has a very large family.

   He took a job as security for a large caravan.  Sure bandits do attack well-armed caravans but it is better then being caught alone in that wasteland.  He intentionally found a merchant that paid each member instead of hiring an organization.  That way the others in his group would not have a motivation to let him die so the could get a bigger cut of the money.  It was a pittance of what he could get otherwise but that did not matter to him he just wanted passage across.

   It was the first night out that he would have to earn his pay.

As much as I disliked the griffins, they were accomodating and hospitable. They provided me with one of their eyries next to their warrior-chief, high from the lower classes and sheltered well from the wind. As much as I would have preferred a deep cavern, the nest was surprisingly soft and warm, and provided a decent net to carry off my pay in when the ordeal was over.

The day after slaying the female warrior was a busy one, with multiple challenges and trainees, mostly male. Unfortunately, not a one of them failed the test - the worst part of the job was the smug smirks on their faces when they pinned me under their paws. Still, regardless of the outcome, I received what they had promised me, and the thought of the gold and of leaving them in a few weeks' time allowed me to press through. The next day made up some ground when a young male met his death under my claws after I soundly defeated him. Even now, I chuckle at the thought of his arrogance before the battle and his fear when I received the chieftain's orders. The next day brought four more challengers, and even now I pride myself on having slain every one of them.

It was the end of that fourth day when the warrior-chief approached me again.
"You are skilled, dragon," he said. "I'll admit, I hadn't expected you to prove yourself so well and slay so many of our fighters."
Upon hearing this, I couldn't stifle a small chuckle. "I want to ensure only your best can go through, griffin."
"Indeed. I don't regret my decision hiring you." We both spread our wings and took flight towards our eyries to rest for the day's end. I looked towards him as we settled.
"But why now?" I asked. "You have had these lands for a long time, I would have thought you would have training fighters of your own kind here before."
"We wanted to study dragon fighting habits," he replied bluntly. "Our lands neighbour with the dragonlord Zala. We have been harrying her and her land recently, but we plan soon to drive her away entirely. With her defeat, we shall expand our territory, train more fighters, and conquer yet more land. We seek some day, hopefully soon, to defeat your Rathi and capture his palace."
I nodded. "Surely you don't expect me to fight beside you?"
"Of course not." He laid himself down and yawned. "But not only does your skill allow only our finest fighters to fly beside us, but I have spent time studying your technique, the movement of your body, your attacks and defensive stances. My warriors will make great use of this information when we attack Zala and others."

The griffin lowered his gaze and glared at me. "I tell you this in confidence, dragon. If this news were to somehow reach our enemies..."
I laughed. "And lose such a valued customer? Worry not, wingcat. I want only two things - my gold, and to be left alone should you get what you seek."
"We do not forget debts, dragon," he replied. "Your expertise has proved invaluable. You have my word that my fighters will let you be even when we are done with your services."

Sorry for taking so long to resopnd but if you still want to the I am game.

   Not knowing when or even if his message will find the intended recipient Altor decided to try and find that crazy old hermit dragon.  Well first he had to find out if he is still alive.  The best way, it seems to him, is to travel to the northern port.  He packed up all that he thought he would need on his trusty donkey Granite.

   Altor has all ways been an odd dwarf; he has been afflicted with the bane of all respectable dwarves, wanderlust.  At a very young age, only 50, he would ask his teacher what was beyond the home cave.  Most everyone would get that pitying look on their face and shake their head.  Well not his great great gammer, she would tell him of the rocks of foreign lands.  But of course she was crazy.  She claimed that elves, dwarves, griffons and humans all are decadences from one Great Tree that has been lost to the world for thousands of generations.

   In all his travels he has learned to tolerate the different races.  This above all else has landed him in the most trouble.  Now he is trying to contact a dragon of all things.  Sure dragons and dwarves do not get along but to Altor all the old grudges don?t matter.  It is how he is treated one person of any random race, which is what matters to him.

   He does try but old grudges still haunt him.  All along the way he reconsiders his plan to help the dragon.

   It took some time for Altor to get his laboratory set up just as he wants it.  The greatest amount of time was eaten away by the fact that he had to receive all his equipment at the small house that he has set up on the outskirts of Grila.

   When that was done he sent a  message to the dragon?s nephew because he had no idea how to contact the actual dragon.

<the only way he got to me so bad was because he was sneaky and tried to take me by surprise, now that im aware of his plot i'll be more careful, but i think if its ok i will stay with you this time, thanks for the save Vae, very many thanks>she scratched under his chin and hugged him gently around the neck before she stepped up into the saddle again. though he didn't go far, not even flying as they walked through the forest.  After a short distance an odd sight appeared, a mountain of rusted, burned, and twisted metal, flecks of white and black paint still visible here and there.  And surrounded by the wreckage of what had once been the massive human valkyrie shuttle stood a large, strong looking red tree, to which Vae pressed his head against*

<This is my anscestor, the last great leader of my line.  I came for his council on the days events...>
*she slid off his back again and stood next to him, putting her hand on his shoulder*<wow, he must've been...a very brave and noble being, to have stood against this metal beast and its army,...what did he say when you asked?>

<He was felled in battle against a human just before one of your kind called Jakesully destroyed this metal machine.   The battle was great and against many foes, and Eywa rewarded his sacrifice, as with all of the fallen here>*Vae motioned toward the red trees* <Some brave, some strong, some wise, and some foolish, but all heroes.  They answered the call of Eywa with their lives.  To today he says many things, and speaks of a future that only Eywa knows.  But we will be needed soon enough.>

<needed? only Eywa could know for what purpose, these days it seems like the only real threat is from the dissensions within the tribes, like Nathael, ever since the great war the people have started to fight amongst each other instead>

<He does not have the answer to why we will be needed.> *Vae looked at the tree with what looked almost like a sad expression in his eyes*  <The humans brought so much change, so much loss...Eywa may not be able to repair all that has been damaged>

*she patted his shoulder lightly in sympathy and understanding*<well maybe we can help, we'll just have to be ready for whatever is coming>

It was only moments before Vae crashed through the brush between them, and turned to cry a threat at Nathael, tail raised for a strike and teeth out and bared.  Xenedra put a hand on Vae's shoulder, trying to catch her breath, bleeding slightly from a small cut above her eye from where his fist had hit. 

"Just stop this Nathael, you have a higher duty to the people, to the clan, is this how you want to be remembered? as a murderer? just because someone other than you shows some promise?"  He glared at her and stepped back out of range of Vae's teeth  "They would hardly know you were gone, you humiliated me, and i will regain my honor no matter what it takes.  I am the chiefs son, soon i will run this clan, and i refuse to let anyone question me or my authority"  She spat at Nathael's feet and hissed at him, "You know nothing of honor."  Nathael was about to strike her again but Va'gre stood in the way, so instead he only backed away. 

"This isnt over Xenedra, any time your alone without your pet you had better watch your back or my knife will pierce through it"  He turned and walked off through the brush and she leaned against Vae's side.  <what an asshole>

<Thank Eywa for the fallen ones>  He said, looking down to her.  She leaned against him, still trying to catch her breath <what happened to you?>  <I went to....the only one I have to go to for wisdom and advice, it was he who told me you were in danger.  I am sorry I was away for so long.>

<Vae, i already went and uprooted you from your old life im not about to deny you some time to yourself, it wouldnt be right for me to do so, you dont need to be sorry, though i sure am glad they warned you to get here in time>

<I should have kept you close for safety.  I would like to return to him for a short time longer...but this time you should come>