Necrophage

Caravan: Resurrection

Daelin only barely noticed Zay's outstretched hand as he careened up. He stretched his own out as he plummeted back down, nearly missing the aid before being caught just over the edge of the caravan. As Zay caught him in his momentum he swung down toward the caravan and plunked right into its side with his shoulder. With his wounded Captain's help he managed to secure a hold and clumsily climb his way back on top. His ears were ringing, he may have been in shock from the proximity of the explosion or mana burst or whatever the hell that was. "Thanks Cap'n". Daelin managed. He held his hands against his temples to try and fight off the headache before more realization hit him. "Marilyn!" He shouted. Daelin stumbled back toward the hatch and fell on his hands and knees. He sat there a hard moment, breathing steadily and trying to recover.

"Cap'n." He said. He made two loud coughs, waving the smoke in front of his face. "Marilyn was in the brunt of that explosion." He reported. He decided it would be safer to crouch and stayed with one knee on the ground. "Orders, Cap'n?" Daelin asked.

Caravan: Resurrection

Daelin complied with a nod and poked his head out of the hatch to the roof. "Hey Cap'n. Marilyn wants to know when to stop."

Caravan: Resurrection

"A library?" A look of consternation crossed Daelin's face. "Yeah, no can-do on the library." He looked away from Marilyn out into the darkening night. Daelin looked like he was holding something else back on that subject. "I prefer to experience things rather than read them."

Caravan: Resurrection

Something tiny and prickly scurried across Daelin's nose. Despite somehow having slept through the yelling and arguing between the guest of their caravan and its members this little purple bug had stirred him. Daelin swatted away from his nose as it floated across the room. He sniffled as he lurched back up and rubbed at his bleary eyes. "Hey Captain! Why are we letting these things in? They're nothin' but bad luck." He complained. These violet dragonflies were seldom seen but from what he'd heard they meant something bad was coming. Kind of like the volcanic firebugs that floated around an impact area days before an earthquake or an eruption. Rare but consistent little buggers.

Daelin lurched over the side of his bunk, dangling his legs and yawning. "Might as well get up." He muttered, popping down on to the floor. He moved toward the rations to grab a snack and paused. Perhaps it was the dragon flies that were humming around the caravan or the night air moving in but something was making the hair on his neck stand on end. He didn't know what it was but he'd learned to be paranoid when his instincts told his something was wrong. Sometimes he was wrong, but he would rather be wrong than dead. Daelin had survived years of this for a reason. He grabbed himself a piece of jerky regardless, placing it in his mouth and half-chewing it as it stuck out the side.

The crossbow he had used against the maw hounds earlier was nestled against some of their heavily secured supply crates. Daelin picked it up and pulled a few bolts out of the same crate he'd used earlier. He took them to the front of the caravan and looked out into the dark night over Marilyn's shoulder. Daelin started trying to say something that came out as more of a garbled yawn before he actually said it. "Notice anything off? Something's bugging me." He prodded a pair flies from his shoulder and continued. "An' it ain't just these flies. Nothing in this blasted place does something without a reason. These dragon flies have an agenda. I think they know something we don't." He concluded.

Caravan: Resurrection

Daelin mulled over the answer. "I've had mixed experiences. There's been some trips where there were no encounters at all but those are generally few and far between. The wilds are always encroaching on the routes and no two seasons are the same for the beasts, especially of late." Daelin looked over to Lyullia and shared a forced smile. "The wilds aren't what scares me though. If something is going to eat me I can at least see it coming. I can do something about it." He dwelled on the real topic in his mind.

Politics were scary and Daelin, despite his demeanor payed attention to what he heard. "It's the cities I'm more afraid of lately. There's unrest in Arcadia. The slums and lower classes are getting fed up. If there's a civil war I want no part of it. And that's not all. I've heard the fanatics in Berganfont are getting worse. There's been more cases of disappearing civilians, even whole families than there were before. That's only what gets fed down the vine too." Daelin raised a hand to rub the scruff on his face, this time he started to share a genuine smile. "Don't let me depress you, even I get paranoid." He started to get up so that he could descend the ladder.

"I'm going to get some rest before night falls. Figure I can take first watch." Before his head dipped down into the hatchway he mentioned one last thing. "Just don't forget Lyu, not all beasts wear fur and claws."

Caravan: Resurrection

Daelin sat down on the roof. He noticed movement from the corner of his eyes. Unable to determine exactly what it was through the trees he disregarded it. He glanced at Lyullia before taking in the air around him. "I like it out here. Sometimes quiet moments like this make the danger worth it. You can almost forget your troubles as you feel the beat of the venbu moving across the road, listen to the birds and feel the wind. Almost." He shrugged and fell silent as he kept up his watch.

Caravan: Resurrection

Daelin sat down atop the caravan. Looking out behind them and watching the area that the maw hounds came from. Perhaps he was being hard on them. Sometimes that's what it took though. Even the captain had gone soft here. The situation may have dredged up memories of old times in the veterans to hit them harder than it should have.

Daelin gripped the rail tightly and sighed. Out here one could think when they weren't caught up in complications. The air was crisp, the sky was beautiful and the sound of birds chirped like music. Their absence was always a sound of danger but for now they chirped merrily away. These wilds were wonderful when they weren't trying to kill you.

Caravan: Resurrection

Daelin placed Neale into an unused bunk and nodded to Noru. He studied everyone's shared mood. The anxious feeling was palpable. "The hell is wrong with you all?" He questioned the dour mood that had stricken everyone. "Are you stuck on what happened? We just saved a man from certain death and you're all depressed? Get real!" He shouted. "Right now we should focus." He pointed at their guest. "On him in particular and on getting to our destination."

Zay may have been on edge but this didn't bother Daelin. He'd been through worse and everything he'd gotten through was worth a celebration. What did bother him was how the team was handling it. "Hell, I'd open a drink for y'all to share since we made it out of there but I didn't bring one." Daelin shook his head. "Shame on me." He turned to go to the ladder. "We all signed up for this. Complications ARE the job, otherwise there wouldn't be so many of us just to run between cities. Consider this event a warm up for the hell to come." He started his way up the ladder so he could continue to keep watch outside. "Harden your hearts people, we're not even half way there yet."

Caravan: Resurrection

"Damn!" Daelin swore. He dumped the crossbow to the side on the interior of the caravan and sprinted out. Drawing his ax he planted it deep in to the back of the neck of the maw hound that had been dragging their guest away for good measure. Satisfied with the gurgle of blood it released as he pulled it back out, he flicked the blood off quickly as he returned it to its sheathe on his back and peered around him for any immediate threats. The maw hounds were occupied with the others and quickly losing but that didn't mean there weren't more alerted by their cries in the distance. These types of beasts often traveled in packs. If they got away soon the corpses from these ones would feed the later beasts and keep them off the caravan, most likely. With a huff he knelt down and grabbed Neale by his good arm and corresponding leg in a fireman's carry. The man was of course heavy, dripping with blood and pure dead weight but Daelin was no slouch in strength. He was used to carrying lumber and this felt significantly easier. Daelin lifted the man into a more comfortable position before he mustered everything he had to sprint back into the caravan, wary of the dogs even as he moved back in.

Caravan: Resurrection

Daelin stretched out his fingers to the ax embedded in the ground. With a push of his will, it jostled free and whipped back to his hand. "These buggers are fast!" He exclaimed. Daelin sheathed the ax on his back and descended the ladder quickly. "If anyone's got fire this is a good time to use it." He said as he unclasped a box and tipped open the lid. He had made sure a couple of things made it into the caravan. More weapons was one of them. A crossbow a few other goodies were in this box. He pulled it out along with a bolt. Using one muscular arm he drew the string back, nocked a bolt and pointed it for the door. "Complications are part of the job, eldi." He said. Pyra and Flin were doing their best to defend themselves, which left Noru and their guest with one closing in fast. Daelin aimed for the maw hound closing in on their vulnerable stranger and launched a bolt at its slavering mouth.