Jackie looked over at Pritkin, obviously worried. It had been twelve hours since they'd escaped, and so far they hadn't seen anyone following them. "Prit..." she said quietly, obviously worried.

"It's okay, Jackie," Pritkin said softly, reaching over and touching her shoulder quickly. "We'll be fine. We just need to keep running, and we'll find somewhere safe to hide. I promise. I won't let them get you again."

Jackie sighed but nodded, walking a little faster. "I'm still worried, Prit. They'll notice soon, if they haven't already."

"Don't worry about that," Pritkin said, his voice just a little harder. "I'll take care of everything, Jackie."

Mel scowled a little as she knelt in by two pairs of tracks along the river's edge. The mages had been this way, but it had been at least an hour passed. She hated that they weren't any closer, but at least they were making good time.

"They've been this way." She said, straightening and readjusting the sword across her back. "About an hour ago. If we keep this pace we will be able to catch up to them by nightfall."

Niko observed the tracks, following the invisible path that led onto the horizon. The mages were certainly closer than he thought. He didn't expect that this would take very much longer.

"There is a series caves nearby that they are likely to hide out in. We should check before heading into the nearest village. One of them is older, he will know it would be foolish to hide in such a small town where strangers are noticed."

Cal snorted. "What, you expect them to be intelligent, Cyrano?" He smirked at his brother, glancing at the other hunter only once. He had nothing against women; hell, women could be scarier than men. But he didn't really like this hunter. She seemed very firmly in the category of "monster = evil = kill it". He knew better by now.

"We need to keep going." Pritkin held Jackie's hand in his own, speeding up his pace a bit as he looked around. The caves would be the first logical place to hide, but that was too easy. He needed somewhere better to hide them, somewhere they wouldn't be found. And he needed to find somewhere fast. Jackie was getting tired.

Mel's eyes narrowed at the younger of the two hunters with her. "They are more intelligent than you would think. The older, Pritkin, knows enough to make him dangerous and would know that the caves would be the first place we would look. But it won't hurt to start there. If nothing else we can get another lead to where they are headed."

She didn't bother to give a command, instead beginning to lead the way into the woods in the direction she believed the mages were in.

Niko didn't bother to look at his brother as he walked passed him, smacking him on the back of the head as he passed. "If they were smart enough to figure out a way to escape, then they will be smart enough to find a place to hide." He said, following Mel into the underbrush. "If they do not want to hide somewhere obvious then perhaps they will go somewhere they think we are simply too afraid to." He offered.

Mel stopped, turning back at him with a raised eyebrow. "You think the heart of the wood?" She asked, her brows knitting together. The deepest part of the forest was known to be dangerous; rumors of dragons and walking trees keeping everyone out. Everyone but the desperate. She turned toward the slowly growing darkness of trees and brush that gathered to the west.

"Perhaps your brother is right, they can't be very intelligent if they ran in there. Especially if they think we won't follow."

Pritkin continued to lead Jackie farther into the forest. They needed to get away, somewhere the hunters couldn't, or wouldn't, find them. The heart of the forest would provide them with some protection, for the time being at least, hopefully enough to let them figure out a better place to hide.

"Come on." Taking a tighter grip on Jackie's hand, he pulled her farther into the forest, taking a looping, winding path that would be hard to follow with all the underbrush and the other animals around.

Cal rubbed the back of his head, shooting his brother a half-hearted glare. "Well, they are mages," he put in. "Maybe they think they'll be safe there, or some shit like that."

Mel's frown couldn't get deeper. Mentally she scowled, wondering how suicidal these mages were. Surely they didn't think that their magic alone would protect them. "Come. We need to catch up to them before they get themselves killed." She said, pulling the sword from her back and hacking the brush out of their way. Her patience was wearing thin, especially when she could smell rain on the air.

"It is desperation before it is stupidity." Niko said, following behind Mel as she cleared their path. Normally he would advice against such action, but they were not being followed, there was no need to be stealthy if they had a lot of ground to cover quickly. "But we should still move forward with caution. Even the weakest of dogs will bite when he is cornered."

Pritkin made his way closer to the center of the forest, having to slow down some the farther in they went. He was starting to get worried, but he didn't show it.

Jackie was stumbling along next to him, already exhausted. She'd gotten a few cuts from plants and things around them, and she nearly twisted her ankle. She started to lean more heavily on Pritkin as they made their way towards the center of the forest, heading uphill as they did.

"Thank you, O wise one." Cal snorted but followed after them, his eyes never stopping to rove around as he kept sniffing around. He had a better sense of smell than a human.

Mel led them on without pausing, keeping a quick pace, certain the other two would be able to keep up. That was, after all, the reason she had brought them along. It had been thirteen hours now since the mage's had escaped and she doubted they had stopped. They would be getting tired. They would have to stop.

Suddenly a different scent assaulted her nose. It was faint, but the source was clear. "Magic. I smell it. We're close."

Once again, Niko didn't bother to regard his brother as he slapped him on the back of the head. The action was as normal as breathing for the elder brother, even when he was in the process of tracking possibly dangerous mages. Not that he believed these people were dangerous, but the Chantry wanted them back, and religious zealots did have a tendency to be dangerous.

"We should be close."

Pritkin frowned when they neared the top of the hill, the trees around them becoming more scarce. He had a bad idea about where they were.

"Come on, Jackie, stay awake," he said quietly, tugging her along with him. "Just a little farther."

Jackie had been half-asleep on her feet. At least until she saw the nest ahead of them. Rocks and twigs and branches and leaves formed a large circle, protecting the half-dozen eggs inside. Each egg stood a little over half her height, almost three feet tall. She stared at them.

"Pritkin..."

Cal glared at his brother again but kept walking. He paused when he heard something above them, something loud and growling and not very happy shounding.

"Niko, what the hell made that sound?" He looked up above them, wary.

Mel was too concerned about catching up to the mages to notice the tell tale signs of exactly what they were walking into. It wasn't until she heard the roar from above them, the last warning, that she realized just how deep they had stepped in it.

"Oh shit." Was all she could mutter as she watched a giant shadow begin to descend upon them.

Niko, unlike Mel, had been paying attention to all of the signs. The reduction of trees, even this deep in the forest. The scorch marks. The pile of bones not too far past a point they had just walked. The rumors were right, the heart of the forest was a very dangerous place.

"It sounds like a dragon. A very pissed off mother dragon if I am correct."

Pritkin grimaced at the roar. "Too late," he muttered, turning to look at the large red dragon overhead. "Stay behind me, Jackie." He kept his eyes on the dragon, noticing only briefly that the hunters were almost upon them.

Great. It never rained but it poured.

Jackie looked up at the dragon with huge eyes, already starting to go over any spells she knew that could help them escape this alive.

Cal growled and pulled out his Desert Eagle. "Dammit, Nik, I told you you should have let me bring those grenades."

Mel cursed, picking up her pace to reach the top of the hill just as the dragon touched down, eying them with threatening eyes. It was only then that she noticed the half dozen eggs that were laying around the nest. Her stream of curses started again as she pulled her long sword from her back. Her weapon stood nearly as tall as she, the blade itself ending at her shoulders.

"Stay behind me." She barked to the mages, leaving no room for argument. Damn was she glad she had worn at least a few pieces of her armor.

"Grenades would only piss it off, Cal. And God forbid you damage the eggs." He told his brother as he raced up the hill after Mel, taking a place at her side, pulling his katana free. "Can you hold its attention?" He asked to the woman standing next to him. If she could keep it occupied then it would give him a greater chance to attack without being worried about getting scorched.

"No need to worry about that," Pritkin said, his eyes narrowed as he watched the dragon. "We can keep it distracted."

The dragon took its first step towards them, and Pritkin let a spell fly. Ice formed around the dragon's front foot, and she roared, unable to continue for the moment.

Jackie stayed in the back where Pritkin had pushed her, keeping track of everything. She didn't need to use any spells yet.

Cal got a few shots off, aiming for its eyes and mouth. It roared again, the ice already starting to crack.

Mel nodded a little to Niko, knowing that this was no time to argue with the mages that they would just get in the way. Quite the contrary, now they needed all the help they could get. With a shrill whistle she rushed forward, catching the dragon's attention. "Come get me, bitch." She yelled, hoping that the dragon would turn its aggression on her while the others attacked.

With the dragon distracted, Niko disappeared, running along the beast's flanks and slashing at the muscles and tendons, ending his sword between the layers of scales. He heard the dragon roar in pain, but was gone before it could kick out at him. He turned his attention to the other legs, again slicing between the scales to cut at the muscles.

Pritkin fired another spell at it, aiming right at the dragon's head. It turned away from Mel to focus on him, only to be hit with another spell by Jackie. It turned in her direction, and Pritkin lobbed a flaming rock at it, hitting its eye. That made it roar in pain and moved back a bit, and Jackie threw a rock at it. She missed, but the dragon was successfully confused, not sure where to attack first.

Cal covered Niko, keeping track of him and making sure he wasn't about to get bitten or anything as he continued firing at the eyes and mouth and nose.

Mel took this opportunity to attack herself, rushing forward and swinging her sword down in a mighty arc across the dragon's chest. Blood gushed and the warrior smirked with pride as the creature stepped back, howling in its own way from the pain.

Niko ducked the swipe of the dragon's tail as it recoiled from Mel's hit. The ninja took this opportunity to jump onto the creature's back, hovering for a moment to gain his balance before racing up its spine, intending to make it for the head before it could do any serious damage.

Pritkin lobbed another rock at it, being careful to not hit any of the three hunters. The dragon was slowing down some, but he didn't relax. He wouldn't relax until it was down for good.

Cal jumped to the side so he wouldn't be stepped on and fired a couple rounds into its unprotected belly. The dragon roared again, and he smirked and ducked and rolled to the side.

Jackie had been edging around to see if she could find some other way to distract the dragon, or attack it without getting in someone's way.

Letting her guard down was Mel's first mistake. She hadn't bothered to head Niko's advice about cornered dogs and took an opportunity to rush the giant creature. She launched herself into the air, aiming to arc her broad sword across the dragon's neck. But the beast turned quickly and caught the warrior in its jaws. Mel hardly had anytime to register what was happening before she was being shaken and torn at like a rag doll. For the second time that day she was thankful for her armor.

Finally, after what seemed like forever for her, the dragon flung Mel aside, over Jackie's head and into a nearby tree. The majority of damage had been taken by her armor, but a small amount of blood was beginning to leak into the fabric of clothing around her abdomen where one sharp fang had managed to make it through.

Niko swore as he watched the dragon turn Mel into its chew toy. The beast's thrashing made it impossible for him to get close to the head in an attempt to stop it. Instead he pulled out his knives and began throwing, aiming for the creatures eyes and bottom jaw. Two sank into the tender flesh at the junction of the jaw and neck while another hit a corner of its eye. But the way the woman had been leading them was laying lifelessly on the forest floor made him worry that perhaps he was too late.

An errant swipe from its tail caught Jackie off guard, sending her flying back to land next to Mel, groaning as she hit. She wasn't bleeding, but she did not want to move. The instant she tried to get up, blinding pain seared through her, and she immediately fell still again, panting quietly.

Pritkin growled, quite clearly furious now. He threw another spell, this one forming ice in the mouth of the dragon when it opened its jaws to try to fry Pritkin. Ice formed all along the inside of its mouth and down its throat.

Instead of letting it suffocate, which would have been more pleasing, Cal emptied a whole clip into the dragon's eye. It swayed for a few moments before crashing to the ground, dying.

Mel did very little moving on her own. Her eyes were open, and she remained conscious, despite the amount of blood that was beginning to pool at her side. Most of it was absorbed by her shirt, but it was obvious the wound was deep. She felt the crash of the body of the dragon but it felt like it was far away now.

Niko lept from the dragon's back, landing beside his brother as the beast finally fell. He watched the dragon for a moment longer, making sure that it was down for good before he looked over his brother. "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine," Cal said, looking over his brother quickly for any injuries. "I don't think they are, though." He turned to look at the two women.

Pritkin slid to a stop next to Jackie, on his knees next to her. "Jackie? Come on, Jackie, stay awake."

Jackie flopped one hand at him. "Shuddup, Prit," she muttered, her eyes only half-open, her vision blurry. "I'm still alive. Check her first."

Pritkin's eyes narrowed dangerously. "Jackie..."

"Check her, Prit. She'll die without help." Jackie remained stubborn, even as her vision started to get dark around the edges.

With a soft curse, Pritkin turned to Mel and started investigating her. He knew a little bit of healing magic, but Jackie was much better at that. He would be able to stop the bleeding, though. And he focused on doing just that, chanting under his breath with his hands a hairsbreath away from Mel's wound.

Mel was fading in and out when she heard voices around her. She had only become recently aware that there was someone close to her, another female. The mage. Her mind offered, but could give her little more than that. Their conversation held little meaning other than a noise to hold onto. Then there was someone in her line of vision, blond hair and green eyes that looked like they wanted to be somewhere, anywhere, but there. She opened her mouth to speak but only a soft, strangled gasp came out.

Niko's eyes narrowed a little and he hurried to the side of the two who had fallen. Neither of them looked to be in good shape, but the older of the two mages was tending to Mel, much to the other hunter's surprise. Niko looked down at the second mage, the girl, noticing how her eyes were becoming unfocused.

"No slipping into unconsciousness now." He said, his voice light as he knelt at her side. "A dragon's nest is no place to sleep, even if the mother is dead. We still have the eggs to worry about."

Pritkin continued chanting softly, watching as the bleeding slowed and then stopped altogether. It wasn't the best patch job, but it gave her a head start on recovering.

"That should hold, for now at least," he said quietly as he leaned back. "One of you better have bandages in your packs, because I didn't bring any with me." He scowled at nothing in particular.

Jackie started to laugh and ended on a pained gasp. "Don't make me laugh," she said, her voice rough with pain. "It hurts. And I don't think baby dragons eat people. We should be safe enough here."

She closed her eyes briefly, struggling against the roaring in her ears and the pain in her chest and stomach. She would have a lot of bruises, at least, when she woke up again. At least that's what her self-evaluation told her.

Mel looked up, already feeling better, if not a bit tired simply from the loss of blood. "There are a few rolls in my bag." She said, her voice hoarse, as though she hadn't spoken in days. "I dropped it over there somewhere." She gave a wave of her hand in the direction that they had come in from. It was as detailed as she could get at the moment.

Taking a moment she looked up at Pritkin, catching his gaze. "Thank you." she muttered roughly.

"That still doesn't make it okay to fall asleep right now." Niko said, touching her briefly so she would open her eyes. He was no hearler, and didn't know the extent of her injuries, but he knew it was not safe to let anyone sleep with a head injury. "Wait until we are at least somewhere safer."

Pritkin looked at her for a moment before he nodded once. "Just don't make this a habit," he muttered before he got up, jogging over to get her bag and bring it back.

"This might hurt. Hold as still as possible." He found some disinfectant and started to clean her wound carefully. Who knew what kind of bacteria was on that dragon fang?

Jackie nodded a bit but didn't move. "Think my ribs are broken," she muttered, looking up at Niko again. He was kinda pretty, actually, with his blonde braid and gray eyes.

"You're pretty." She laughed, just a tiny bit so it wouldn't hurt.

Cal's lips twitched into a grin. "Hear that, Nik? Now I have to go get you a dress so you two can be pretty together." He smirked.

Jackie bit her lower lip to keep from laughing, and then to help hold the pain in.