~ ~ ~ Following the orders of the Great Druidess Aer'ie Van'Zant, the human warrior, Jericho, vassal and loyal follower, along with humongous Dire Wolf Tawny left the ruins of the Alliance of the Faiths Temple, and retraced their steps back to the Dias of the Trinity, their arrival point.  The 5'8" Warrior dressed in plate mail armor is dwarfed by Tawny who, as big as the largest draft horse, pads ahead of the man zigzagging back and forth with her nose to the ground to pick up any scents.  The armored man carries a sword and a morning star, one at each hip, and easily bears the weight of the armor and weapons without encumbrance.  Upon Jericho's arrival at the Dias, the last of daylight fades, bathing the landscape in darkness. ~ ~ ~

 ~ ~ ~ Tawny pads around the Dias checking for new scents since they'd been there only an hour or so earlier.  Mean while, Jericho digs out of his pack a lantern, and proceeds to light it with his flint and tinder.  After several moments of clicking away, the Warrior lights the lamp with a piece of tinder, and holds up the lamp, lighting up the surrounding area in a 30' radius.  An evening breeze, an early precursor to a building storm, gently blows out of the north-northeast, and hisses through the trees of the surrounding forest.  With the Dire Wolf guarding the area around the Dias, the human lowers the lamp, and in a regular volume of his baritone voice, starts talking to himself saying "Rosa, are you there?"  A silver piece clinks down onto the marble surface of the Dias in answer.  With assurance that the Arch-Druidess still monitors their arrival point through the Mirror of Mental Prowess from Mornbryn's Shield, the follower continues with his report speaking to thin air "Aer'ie wants continuous observation of the arrival point at +15.  She also wants you to mobilize and assemble the Stone Giants, the Centaurs, the Galeb Duhr, the Sky Riders and their Giant Eagles, Hippogriffs and Pegasi, the Unicorns, and the Others, and reconvene the Circle of the Druids to organize them and counter any meddling with the weather now before this night passes.  Next report, barring any emergencies, will be at day break.  Did you understand everything in my report?"  Another silver piece clinks down.  The Warrior nods, and give the thumbs up sign before heading back to the Ruins of the Alliance of the Faiths Temple to find Aer'ie Van'Zant with Tawny leading the way. ~ ~ ~  

~ ~ ~ More aware of the surroundings by sight, sound and scent than the human, the huge Dire Wolf curiously zeroes in on something of interest to her, and with ear tensely perked forward, takes an alert posture intently staring at some bramble bushes growing along the river.  Tawny gives a throaty deep growl at the hiding creature, and then wuffs over her shoulder at the clueless two-legger behind her to draw his attention to their possible dinner meal. ~ ~ ~

 ~ ~ ~ Releasing a sigh of relief, Jericho returns his attention to the miniature dragon, and after a moment's pause of his own to regard the find, asks "Alright come out little morsel.  The big bad wolf has gone." ~ ~ ~  

 ~ ~ ~ Not fully cognizant of her mental voice during her first attempts perhaps due to distance and the steel helmet upon his head, the Warrior finally puts two and two together, and connects the small plaintive voice to the bedraggled dragonet.  The man crouches down, flexing at the knees, and seeing the quite desperate condition of the Pseudodragon, figures the little one could probably use a lift.  Jericho mistakenly wonders why let alone how the miniature dragon knew to come to this small village in search of his Mistress, and tells the small one "Looks like you've come a long way, Little one.  You must bear important news."  The human gathers his cloak into a hamock for the dragonet, and tells her "Come climb into my cloak.  I will take you to Aer'ie." ~ ~ ~

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 ~ ~ ~ No sooner does the Warrior pronounce those fateful words than the Bane of all Flying Creatures shows up as if by magic, but in truth merely horrifically bad timing.  The hyper-energetic Pixie, Cher'ie, another follower of the Great Druidess, suddenly appears directly between Jericho and the Pseudodragon.  Rapidly beating her beautiful wings and excitedly clapping her hands together, Cher'ie cries in ecstatic glee, "Oh!  She's precious!!!  What a beautiful Pseudodragon!!!" and zips down to the ground in front of her, touching down.  The miniature 1' tall woman like a wildly spinning top pokes and prods the little dragonet examining her front and rear claws, each of her wings, even her dangerous tail, and lastly her neck and head.  The Pixie coos at the wretched shape of the poor Forest Dragon, and plants a kiss on the tip of her snout before demanding of the human "Well!  Just don't stand there gawking!  Carry us to Aer'ie!!  She's in bad shape!!"  Cher'ie throws her arms around the neck of the dragonet, and tightly hugs her saying "Don't you worry, Beautiful!  I'll take good care of you." ~ ~ ~ 

 ~ ~ ~ At the sudden appearance of the Pixie, the Bright Shiny One audibly groans, "Oh Goddess, not her!" and when she starts getting a little too personal with the protesting drake, objects "Here now!  Leave off, ya blasted wannabe butterfly!  I'm taking her to Aer'ie!  Now see what ya've done!  Ya've disturbed her.  Huh?"  The man blinks at the flash of mental image sent to him, not recognizing the face of the Elven Woman, and when Rashwen crumples in exhaustion, forgets his anger at the willy-nilly Ms. Caregiver.  The Warrior plucks the dragonet from the ground, wrapping her in his cloak, and ignoring the Pixie's tirade, once more sets off for the ruins of the temple to find his Mistress. ~ ~ ~