As Rohaan was speaking, Ash noticed Erik pull out a pipe and light it. Ash had no idea what he was smoking, but the smoke itself was strong enough to make her eyes water and she had to cough nearly every other puff. An unhealthy habit to be sure, though it was quite apparent that most soldiers weren't really concerned at all about leading any kind of healthy lifestyle. Even so, she had never really gotten the allure of dying young. Then again, old age didn't seem all that exciting of an experience either. With that passing thought, Ash was at least happy that the conversation hadn't deteriorated yet. Sure, Rohaan was as antagonistic as ever, but that wasn't going change anymore than the sun rising in the sky every morning. Fortunately, it seemed that Erik was ignoring most of the jabs - either he didn't care or he had much more important things on his mind. Truthfully, it was hard to tell which. Erik took another large puff from his pipe and Ash nearly chocked.

"Aye, it'll be a carriage. Nothing nearly as fancy as whatever you're thinking of, though." He slapped the pipe against his leg to empty its contents, then tucked it away for safekeeping. "Slow, but you'll get to Last Vigil fast enough if you keep to the Imperial roads."

"An armed escort will just slow us down, won't it? We're more than capable of defending ourselves." She was would have been in no significant rush normally, but she was fairly certain that they had just unleashed a dark spirit on the entire world. Besides, she had more than a few questions for the Emperor that she wanted answered as soon as possible. Ash was against anything that could possibly slow them down.

"Both of you are clearly capable. You've already proven that." Erik took a glance over to Thoburas' decapitated head, which was now on display on a pike. "If anything happens, you'll be dead and it'll be my problem. And, well, I'd rather avoid the headache that would cause me. You're just going to have to handle a few additional babysitters." Ash saw the logic in that and decided to not push the issue any further.

"I'm sure you both are tired and angry." Erik proceeded to point out the the tents where they could eat and sleep. "There's nothing all that fancy to eat, but I'm sure it's better than whatever you been eating." He turned to address Rohaan.

"Oh, and try to keep a low profile and don't needlessly flaunt that you're a Shifter to the entire camp. I'm not eager to lose any soldiers today." Erik then turned to face Ash once again. "We leave at dawn, so it's best that you get enough rest by then."

"What if we're late?"

Erik paused for a second, as if he was somewhat surprised that Ash would even bother to ask such a question. "You wouldn't stand me up would you? I suppose we'd have to wait on you. The Shifter would just have to catch up."

"I think you're all set now. If you have any question later, though I have no idea why you would, then I'm easy to enough to find." With that, Erik of Strosberg excused himself and began to walk away, though it wasn't long before he was accosted by a few of his lieutenants.

Ash stretched. "Yup, I'm sort of starving. You coming or do you want me to save you something?" She pointed towards where the food was kept, more than eager to get started.