There was no denying it now: the hunters’ trail she had been following had finally grown cold. The mountain slope with its footholds that more often than not gave way under her weight was starting to become more of an obstacle than it should be. The young woman was unused to this type of terrain and because of that, progress was painfully slow, but, with time, her pace gradually began to pick up. It was still not enough, however, as even the slowest of her targets had managed to slip out of sight. Pulling her travelling cloak closer around her body, Rosalie decided to stop and rest for a while behind a collection of large, jagged rocks as she set her grey backpack on the ground and pulled out a few of her precious maps.
								
Though the maps portrayed the same, one area, it was becoming more of a pain to decipher them. It was not that she lacked the knowledge of how to read a map, but because none of the pages accurately showed where landmarks, towns and cities were. Rosalie believed she would be fine and even if she was not yet familiar with these grounds, she didn’t need anyone to tell her that the higher she went, the colder it would become. That was a given.

Looking back over how far she had gotten, Rosalie was just able to see the buildings that made up Kalandor, her starting point, and just hoped the group of mercenaries found what they were looking for so she wouldn’t have to go any higher. If anything, she would probably have to turn back. She knew her limits, and she felt as if she were pushing them just by deciding to take on the task of following the men and women through such uneven ground on her own. Grazing her knees and elbows just reaching this point was nothing compared to the fall that awaited her should she slip near the edge. Reason told Rosalie she should have brought someone along with her from the very start, but then she would lose all thrill of sneaking around on her own.
		
This mountain -Rosalie was currently making the effort to trek up- was famous for its tales that prevented children from going anywhere near its base, said to be home to angry spirits and the like, but curiosity was a powerful thing indeed. She was also a bit unnerved, but so far, no real danger had presented itself to her. Besides, the very people she was following hadn’t complained about the stories, at all, so it must be safe...at least. 

To be completely sure it was safe, her light brown eyes would flutter up from her maps for a moment, checking her surroundings for a few long seconds before dropping again. By repeating this motion every few minutes, Rosalie could be sure that she did not miss anything that would seek her out as easy prey. It was difficult, she realised, to relax in such a rough environment - even more so when she was venturing through unfamiliar grounds. She didn’t see herself as completely alone, though, as there were some strangely familiar people here but the problem lied in keeping them in her line of sight. [i]I’m sure I’ve seen them before...but where?[/I] She thought with a growing frown, peeking over her hiding spot very briefly like a mouse would as it prepared to make a daring dash from the safety of its home.

There was nothing but the occasional howling of winds to keep her company and frowning clouds to pin her down for the time being. Sometimes, if she was lucky, it would carry voices of hunters hidden somewhere out of sight to her, indicating that the direction she was heading in certainly was the right one. Would she have thought differently if it were quiet and not a sound was uttered? Perhaps, but times like that rarely ever reared its head at her. She doubted playing hide and seek as a child and getting herself locked in one of the cupboards -as realisation dawned on her- counted as one of these moments, either. It did teach her a lesson, though, and that was to be careful and prepared.

 Rosalie Sylvazard was armed with two daggers strapped to her waist, both very well concealed beneath the folds of her clothes but were set in a position that they would easily be drawn. No matter how rarely she drew the second blade, it would serve as a nasty surprise for anyone thinking she was foolish enough to arm herself with only one weapon. She loved surprises, but only in moderation when the time was right; it just made life all the more interesting and worth living to her. Take today, for instance: it was a surprise in itself that irritated her, but at least it was not the norm.

It truly was fortunate that she had a vague idea of the general direction she should be heading in. If not for that, Rosalie would have given up the very second she found out about the maps and swore that if they were people, she would have more than just a headache at the moment; she would have a breakdown. 
“No...this is North from here...not North-East...” She mumbled, scribbling over her location whilst heaving a sigh. It was far too late to get her money back for these and she might as well throw them out the first chance she got. The young woman almost rolled her eyes at her luck, leaning most of her weight back against one of the rocks like it would alleviate her growing frustration. Perhaps Fate favoured the hunters more than it favoured her.

The group of said hunters she was currently tracking had waltzed into her humble little town of Kalandor fully armed and had been talking excitedly amongst themselves. If that had not been enough to draw attention, the large group had also been spending coin like it had been grown on trees, speaking of the riches they would make once they had completed the hunt for the famed Blood Dragon. Rosalie was not entirely sure over whether the dragon was female or male, but it was a dragon who has managed to evade humans taking it in for slavery for many years. Until she found out its identity, she would keep referring to this particular one as ‘it’. 

Though said to be the most vicious, there had not been enough reports to make the presence of this particular beast official after it had just suddenly vanished. People claim to have seen it while some dismiss it as nothing but a character in a story someone made up for instant fame. If she were asked, Rosalie would probably agree with the latter. If this winged lizard had been spotted, wouldn’t it have razed cities to the ground by now - just as the books had depicted?

Not many saw Dragons as intelligent creatures but parts of their bodies such as their scales, claws, fangs and even hearts had value amongst practitioners of magic -as rare as they were. Rosalie did not immerse herself in the arts, though. What she planned to do while participating in the hunt was to try her best at obtaining proof of the Blood Dragon still being around. Whatever she could scavenge, really. A lot of people would pay for such evidence, even if it was just a scale. Again, that would be verging on the impossible, but since she was already making steady progress, she might as well.

Chasing this myth was a lost cause, but it was worth a try despite the conditions being terrible and harsh out here. For now, the young woman would take the hunters’ excitement as a sign. Hefting her grey backpack over her shoulders after storing her maps, Rosalie started off once more, hoping that if she continued going straight ahead, she would find one of those familiar faces.