Nereus hadn't noticed when everyone left. Though he woke from his slumber very quickly when he heard someone yell his name. Standing quickly and grabbing his sword, Nereus rushed out of the shelter. The man's grey eyes turned murderous as he ran forward quickly to grab the horse's reins to make sure Talis didn't run away with Lily. Reaching out with his free hand, the knight quickly tried pulling Lily from Talis. And if the dragon gave him any trouble, Nereus let a hit fly out to weaken his grip on the fox.

As soon as Lily was safely in his arms, he backed away from Talis. Once far away, he placed Lily behind him and lifted his sword.

Callista watched everything happen with wide blue eyes. In the end, when Nereus stood between Lily and Talis she had an idea. It might not work perfectly, but it would buy them time and perhaps even fool Talis. She moved to stand beside the fox and wove an illusion so she looked like Lily and he appeared to be her. This was the only spell she dared weave at the moment, luckily she would only have to hold one of the illusions long enough for Talis to take her instead of the fox.

Letting out a sigh of frustration, Callista tightened her hold on the dragon's arm. "What would set you free? It has something to do with the strange extra spell on your collar, doesn't it?" The young mage was frustrated, all she wanted to do was keep running but if she did that then Talis would bring Lily back to Violet. That was a terrifying though, especially since the fox had been his favorite. Callista had that honor because of her powers, but Lily ... It was because he liked Lily that Violet wanted him by his side.

Shaking his head slightly and glancing at the other two over his shoulder, Nereus then directed his gaze towards Lily. Taking his time, he stood and brushed himself off. All the while the white haired man paid close attention to what was said between Callista and Talis. It seemed like she was at the very least distracting him enough that he could afford to go and speak with Lily. Moving to it beside the fox, Nereus still kept his sword well in hand just in case the dragon decided to try something. "We could always run now," stated Nereus quite simply. "Later on, I could come back and try to buy them from Violet." He just needed some time to save up enough gold for incentive to sway the man first.

It puzzled her, what he said. She couldn't imagine what object held so much power over him, save perhaps a part of himself. What then did Violet posses, and what was Talis? "What are you?" The words were almost a whisper as she spoke. Leaning this way and that, she tried to capture his golden eyes with her blue ones. This was serious. There was a chance she could help him, and Callista wanted to! She really did.

Dropping his sword, Nereus pulled Lily close. Smoothing the fox's hair back to try and soothe him, he bent his head down to whisper in Lily's ears. "I'll try. I'll try with everything I have, but I can't promise that it will work." He wouldn't make false promises to him, nor would he let him think that he would succeed.

He had to try and find a solution for this problem. Lily looked so sad, and so upset. Earlier thoughts of wanting to make the fox smile came to the forefront in Nereus's mind. There just had to be way, but it was difficult to find one when they only had part of the story. Moving to follow Lily, to stand beside him, Nereus crossed his arms and let out a sigh. "I can't make him stay, not unless he actually wants to." Lifting his eyes to the dragon, Nereus grimaced slightly. He didn't like him, but Lily saw the man as a brother. So, for the fox's sake, he would try.

Talis's reaction made her eyes widen. This seemed to confirm for her the fact that he wasn't human, or normal anyway. It hurt a little that he'd turned away from her, so she walked forward to quickly to grab the horse's reins. "Talis, please tell me what you are and how you're bound. As a mage I might be able to help you be free." This wasn'T trying to convince someone to stay, no, it was something a little more personal then that. It was asking him to tell her his secret, one she was sure only Violet knew. Violet and those he was trying to impress with his collection.

"You might not be able to, but I probably could." She'd even felt it, and she'd never thought to question where the energy came from, or why it had seemed so familiar. And Violet, he would probably think another had stolen his precious dragon fang to spite him. Yes she could run away, but she wanted to help Talis more. He needed help, and she could do that for him. "I'll go back, and I'll try to help you get free. He might not have Lily back, but he'll have his mage." Turning to Lily, the young woman sniffled a little but went on. "You can't go back, I think we can survive Violet's wrath though." She didn't say that she wanted to see how Violet would react to her return, though in all probability ... "I want to go back." That would probably shock everyone, it shocked her too.

Nereus looked back to Lily before walking forward. Catching some of what Callista said made him shake his head in disbelief, especially her last words. The woman was crazy for wanting to return to a life of servitude! What would make her do that? It didn't seem possible. "Look Talis, I may not like you very much but you're important to Lily. So please, stay for his sake and I'll do everything I can to make sure you don't return him to Violet." He was certain he could do so, despite the fact that he was a dragon in human form.

It was so hard to explain that even she wasn't sure. Maybe it was because she actually liked Violet, or the times when he was kind to her. That happened so rarely though, because Lily had been the one he always paid attention to. The fox was such a delicate creature, even Violet seemed to take greater care with him. Sighing, shaking her head, the young woman vaulted up onto the horse and wrapped her arms around the dragon. The confidence Lily showed for her made Callista smile as she turned to wave to him slightly. He was her friend, and she would miss him terribly.

Nereus watched the whole conversation unfold with mixed feelings. "Lily, say your goodbyes. They need to leave and make sure he doesn't send anyone else our way." He knew he sounded cruel, but his priority right now was protecting Lily and no one else. It was Lily he cared for despite his early misgivings, and it was the fox he had vowed silently to keep safe and happy.

The young woman held onto the dragon tightly as he heeled the horse forward. She wasn't sure how long it would take to reach their destination at the pace they ran. She anticipated seeing Violet again, was actually looking forward to it. Definitely strange to want to see the person who'd kidnapped you and made you his slave. She just wanted to know if he would keep seeing her as nothing more then a thing. It had been a big reason why she'd run away in the first place.

Wrapping his arms around the fox, Nereus sighed. "I won't say everything will be fine, but from what I can see they'll do everything they can to find you again. What you need to do is escape, and find happiness so when they find you again they'll know this was the best choice for everyone." At least he thought it was. Then again, Lily was the one he focused on not the others. Though in truth, he wanted the fox to be happy and safe. Placing a kiss on Lily's forehead, he smiled a little and tried to guide him back to the little shelter. "Try and sleep again, and if not we'll have to take this apart and hide it. Then we can start traveling again."

"You're right about that last part. Now, try and get some sleep Lily." Sitting down on the packed down snow, Nereus felt his eyes droop and then flutter open. After staying up for so long in order to keep an eye on everyone, he'd missed some sleep. Then what he'd been able to have had been interrupted very rudely by Talis. Leaning back, he glanced at Lily with a small smile. Maybe he would want to sleep the way they had the night before?

She knew that, but still wanted to figure out why she had conflicting feelings about Violet. Callista knew herself well enough that she knew it would haunt her forever if she didn't figure it out. "There's something I need to figure out." There was no way she was telling Talis that she might actually like Violet. A small possibility to be sure, but it was there. Besides, the dragon needed her help.

His words left a bitter taste in her mouth. Callista was definitely crazy, and quite sane at the same time. "You'll never know if you aren't free and freeing you is why I'm going back." The slow pace of the horse had the blue eyed woman grimacing a little. She just wanted to get it over with. All this waiting had her on edge. She knew a punishment was coming, a painful one in all probability. The silvery haired mage tightened her arms around the dragon with a small sigh while hiding her face in his shoulder. This just wasn't her day.

A look of complete and utter surprise crossed Nereus's face when the fox sat on his lap. Though soon enough one arm went around the other man, while his free hand lifted to run trough Lily's soft hair. Deepening the kiss, the knight had to stifle a moan at the way his companion was moving. He didn't wonder for a moment what was going trough the fox's mind. Nereus was a little ashamed that he was giving in so easily, but oh how he'd wanted this since meeting Lily! Though, there was just one thing bothering him. Pulling back slightly, he blushed uncharacteristically as he murmured a few words. "Bear with me Lily, I've never been with a man before." It was a little embarrassing to admit such a thing while in the midst of their current activity, but it was obvious. At least, he hoped it was especially with his earlier reaction to certain information.