Puzzled at Lyle's request but happy at the Commander's response, he smiled and said to Yrani, "Thank you, I really appreciate it." He gave a short bow again before turning to...well, the guy looked familiar. One of the mercenaries, probably. "Sure. I don't mind. You are...?" He said, as he started walking back towards the battlefield, where private talk could take place. He hoped the good-conditioned ones weren't all disposed of yet.

Lyle followed him, eyeing him as they went. Name's Lyle. Lyle Kerent. Folks 'round here call me Reaver, though. And yourself?"

After stealing a sack and some gems from one of the houses of a corrupt government official who made deals with bandits, Shrike headed out of the capital city and headed east towards his destination. The first two days of his journey were covered by a fierce sandstorm. Sudden sandstorms were common in this side of Talendar's desert and if you didn't know how to deal with them you would get lost as they always blocked out the sun.

The day after the sandstorm cleared Shrike had to change course and move southward. He had to go around a group of desert demons that had lay claim to the area he was originally going through. He couldn't afford to be late so for the whole day he ran, wiping out half his water supply. After he got back on track he stopped by a small village where he knew was a way-station for messengers and caravans. After refilling his flask with water he looked around for potential transportation that was also headed this way. Making sure to keep a low profile, Shrike listened in on the conversations of the people who had gathered around tables in front of the few shops, the people who were at the small inn, the people tending to their animals at the stalls and the people around the well. So far nothing. Then as he passed by a watering trough, he overheard a conversation between a big burly man and a much shorter man who wore the clothes of a royal messenger.
"I hear Nezerus is gonna try to take Boarderwatch again." said the big man as he stroked his mustache.
"That's right." said the messenger, "I don't see why they don't just give up. Boarderwatch's defense is impenetrable. A cousin of mine said that the Reaver was going to be there."
"The who?" asked the big man. A puzzled look came over his face as he wasn't familiar with who his companion was talking about.
The messenger also had a puzzled look on his face. "The Reaver," he repeated, "You've never heard of the Reaver? He's a merc who's been winnin' a bunch of battles for Sarnes lately. I've only seen him in battle once and man can he kick undead butt!" A look of awe overcame the messenger as he reminisced on the great battle he once had witnessed.
"Well we're quite far from the battles as you know so pardon me if I've never heard." the man said as he stroked his mustache once more. "So where're you headed this time?"
"I gotta get to Arana, got a message to deliver from Lord Vo. Hope Lord Vano's still alive though, I hear he's getting worse." The messenger started walking towards the outskirts of town. At first Shrike was disappointed and turned away, thinking that the messenger was just going to go on foot. But then a loud whistle came from the direction of the messenger which was followed by an even louder whistle. Shrike whipped around quickly just in time to see a giant white bird with barrels around it's neck rise up from the desert and walk over to where the messenger was. It was a Roc, the personal transport of the Talendar Royal Messengers. Shrike ran over to the messenger.
"Hey! Hey wait!" he stopped short of running into the man. Now that he was closer to the man, he noticed that he was only a half foot shorter than the messenger. "Can you give me a ride? I'm headed towards Apsaras Oasis and I heard you were going to Arana, you'll be passing by the oasis aren't you?"
"Sorry kid, I'm taking a different route....And that information is CLASSIFIED!!!" the messenger said as he took off his cap and whacked the boy's head with it.
"Ow!" Shrike said as he rubbed his head. Ruby flinched when the man hit the boy's head even though the dragon was on his shoulder. "I'll pay you." Shrike continued.
"Heh, there's no way some brat like you would have enough-" the man's jaw dropped as Shrike showed him a huge emerald he had stolen from the official. "Alright! Welcome to Talendar Air, please keep your grip tight at all times." The two climbed onto the back of the bird and flew off. Shrike and Ruby were enjoying themselves. They had never flown on a Roc before and had never been that high in the sky. Everything looked so small and Shrike named all the towns he knew in his head as they flew over them. They flew straight east for the next two days.

On the morning of the day they were to arrive at the oasis, Shrike noticed a small caravan below them. The people in it were waving up at them.
"Hey, I think they need help." he told the man.
"Huh? What?" the pilot of the Roc said as he looked down to where Shrike was pointing. After some consideration, the man decided to land by the caravan. As the two got down from the bird, one of the men from the caravan approached them. "Thank you for stopping, we are travellers from Arana and we are on our way to Talen. But we have gotten quite lost and ourur water supply is also low. If you have any water with you may we purchase some?" Something about this statement didn't seem right to Shrike, who was standing behind the messenger. He secretly motioned for Ruby, who was on his back, to hide in the Roc's feathers.
"Alright, we've got some water." said the messenger, eager to make a quick buck as the Talendar government did not pay him enough. He turned around to grab a barrel of water from the Roc's neck. Shrike stayed where he was, observing the strange man and the people from the caravan. All of them wore dark, hooded cloaks and, except for the man who spoke to them, their faces and limbs were completely covered. 'Why would they cover themselves up so much?' Shrike thought to himself. Not even the most heat loving Talendaran would wear gloves in this desert. 'And what's that smell?!' a fowl odor was coming from the direction of the mysterious people.
"All right here you go sir," said the messenger after he placed a barrel by the caravan leader's feet. "That will be 10 silver"
The hooded leader grimaced slightly but reached for a pouch at his belt. The black sheathed sword at his side caught the messenger's attention.
"Hey..that symbol...you're a Nezeru-" Before the man could finish two of the men from the caravan pinned him and Shrike down and took their bags. The smell had gotten much stronger now since the people were closer. Corpses, and rotting ones at that. The contents of their bags were spilled out and one of the masked men handed the leader the letters and scrolls from the messenger's bag. "Where is the letter to Lord Vano?!" he asked as he picked up the small man by the collar.
"Wha?!" the man said in shock as he eyed the papers in his assailant's hand.
"We don't know!" Shrike said as he tried pulling the messenger free from the man's grasp. "We're just thieves! My brother and I killed a royal messenger we met a couple of towns back. We just took his stuff and Roc so we could escape the guards and head for Arana! We don't know anything about a letter, we don't even know where the guy we killed was headed!"
Finally the Nezeruan let go and Shrike and his companion fell back. They watched in silence as the man ordered his servants to take all the barrels from the Roc.
"Thank you for your business." he said as he threw 10 silver pieces and the papers at the messenger's face. Shrike and the messenger didn't dare move or make a sound until after the caravan was out of sight. As soon as they were in the clear they grabbed their stuff, scrambled up the Roc and took off as fast as they could.

"Thanks kid, I owe you my life! Unfortunately my life won't be much if I don't find that letter." the messenger said as he looked through his bag's pockets and through the crumpled papers. Ruby climbed out of the mass of feathers and handed Shrike the mass of letters it had in it's mouth.
"Don't worry, it's right here." Shrike said as he carefully handed the man the slightly soggy papers with teeth marks in them. After hearing the caravan leader's statement about how they were out of water, Shrike had clandestinely taken as many letters as he could grab from the messenger's bag and handed them to Ruby. He realized that there was no way they could run out of water so soon if they came from Arana. The Talendar desert near Arana was full of oases. You couldn't walk a day without runing into one.
"I wasn't sure of what I grabbed though. I only knew that you had some important stuff and bandit's always go for people with important stuff. Lucky I grabbed the right ones." he said with a grin. They arrived at Apsaras Oasis that afternoon and Shrike was glad he got there ahead of schedule.
"If you ever need a ride kid, be sure to look me up!" the messenger yelled as the Roc flapped it's wings and started lifting off the ground. "My name's Malachi by the way. What's yours?"
"Shrike!" the boy yelled back and waved as the man flew off towards Arana.

[Here's a book...*huff*...*huff*.... enjoy...:drool:]

It wasn't to long before another caravan was riding up onto the Oasis. 4 camals, loaded down, and an Ox, carrying a single passanger and a few personal supplies. Shrike knew them man as well as the man knew Shrike. It was Mihalik Aravano, a merchent from Arana. His was one of the most successful caravans, not because of his goods, but because of his charm. While he wasn't much to look at, he could haggle a bandit down from robbing and killing him to just taking his pants and an unburdened camel. He was a large man, but not quite so bing he needed the Ox (though a camel definetly wouldn't do). His fair brown hair was cut very close, and his gotee was well kept.

He dismounted, then started pulling out water jugs to fill out the Oasis.

"Yo, Aravano!" Shrike said as he approached the other caravan. "What're you doing here?"
Ruby flew ahead and dived into the water, relieved by the cool liquid from the desert heat and happy to get a drink.

Mihalik nearly dropped his jug, whriling to see who was speaking to him. Spotting Shrike, he threw his arms open and walked towards him. "Shrike!" He yelled ((in a russian-like accent)), "My Little Big Friend! How is the desert treating you on this day?"

"Meh, same old same old." Shrike said right before he was crushed in his friend's bear like hug, his feet were lifted off the ground..
"Urgh....can't....breath...." Shrike struggled to wiggle free but it was no use. Meanwhile Ruby remained unfazed by it's master's suffering as it stalked a giant scarab by the edge of the oasis. The red afternoon sunlight made the little dragon look as if it was on fire as it hit Ruby's red scales.

After a long hug, Mihalik let him go. "How is things. Last I heard," he laughed, "you were running from the Red Sun Bandit Clan? You look as you've done well since then. COME!" His voice raise in pitch. "WE SHOULD DRINK!" He grabbed the jug again and headed towards the Oasis. "OH, My friend, have you heard from the Arana Captial?"

After the merchant released him, Shrike breathed in as much air as he could in an attempt to re-inflate his lungs.
"How is things. Last I heard, you were running from the Red Sun Bandit Clan? You look as you've done well since then." his friend said. "COME!WE SHOULD DRINK!"
He followed Mihalik as he walked towards the edge of the oasis with a jug in his hand.
"OH, My friend, have you heard from the Arana Captial?" his friend continued.
"No." said Shrike. He rubbed his right cheek as a flashback of his encounter with the Red Sun Bandit Clan played in his head. They had managed to catch him stealing from them and kept him in their fort's prison. He was beaten up for 2 strait days before finally escaping. He had to stay away from cities for weeks because the Red Suns had a wide network. "What about the capital?"

As he filled his jug, he frowned. His voice lowered slightly, despite no one around. "They say the Vizer is dead, and Princess Arana is missing. No one knows what happened, but it happened the same day as her 22nd birthday. Some are worried it's the Nezerus forces, but the King was unharmed."

His ears perked up at the news as he listened quietly. 'At least Malachi will get to deliver his message.' Shrike thought, his bright blue eyes watching his friend as he poured some water into the nearly empty flask Shrike held out. 'Did that guy from Nezerus have anything to do with it?' he wondered. He considered telling Mihalik about his encounter on the way to Apsaras but decided against it in the end.

"Still," he continued, his voice returning to normal, "there's no proof she's dead, and she was always one to help people. Maybe someone she knew was sick that night and needed aid, and she's just hearing about it herself. Let's hope she's all right. If things look bad for Arana, you can bet your pretty dragon Vo will sell them down the River for Taarn. A dark man, that Lord Vo is. Greedy, too. Much to Greedy for a Provincial Lord. He wants more, I'll bet you that."
He took a long swing straight from the jug, then offered it to Shrike to refill his other Flask. "If you're headed for the Capital, get out of the desert fast. I hear Nezerus scout teams are poking around. Avoid them at ALL cost. Some of them are just theives, and graverobbers, but tale tells of a man."

He looked into the distance, and Shrike knew he was going into his 'a tale to tell' mode. "A man, they say stands 7 feet tall. His eyes as Red as The 5 Hells combined, and his breath as terrible as all the corpes army of Nererus. A Terrible, Wicked man, who wears only Black, save for a Cape, stained red with blood. A hood obscures his face, and he weilds an Axe larger then he is." He shudders, then glances at Shrike. "They say he has left 20 dead. The only people who survived were the women, like he was looking for one in particular. People are saying HE'S looking for the Princess."

((lol, That was quite a post Minty! But very enjoyable to read ^_^))

"Me..." Eramthgin said vaguely while looking around for a good subject. Ah, there's one that looked...nope. Missing an arm. "I'm Eramthgin Lanrete, though They call me Era." Aha! There's a good one. Only slightly damaged when a spear had grazed a piece of rib off. Eramthgin scuttled over to the corpse and took out a small knife, squatting down and immediately began to work on it, scraping away the useless (and mangled) flesh and keeping the pretty bones beneath.

"Pretty, pretty bones..." He whispered, and for a few moments he completely forgot about the man still standing nearby. Then the memory came back and he turned around, "Why do they call you Rea..." A pause, "...Rea-whatsis? Wouldn't Lyle be shorter and easier to remember?"

Lyle shrugged "It's just what they call me. Kind of like it, my self, but I don't mind Lyle. Whatever you prefer." He looked around to make sure no one else was around, the whispered to him "so answer me this straight, Era. You're the one who made these bodies dance earlier, weren't ya? I know it wasn't none of my boys, and one of my guys up there says you showed up then vanished right quick before he could figure you out."
He glanced behind him to make sure no one was eavesdropping, then looked back at him.

Eramthgin blinked. He had a hunch it was what Lyle wanted to talk about, though he wasn't expecting the...well, attitude? Most people seem wary when they know of his occupation.

"Yeah, you can say that. I asked someone and he said the Nez people were invading, and they'd already took over Vex. I liked Vex. Now they're all filled with stupid Nezzies." He pouted slightly, holding up a bone and looking at it for damage. "I don't like it when people ruin things I like."

Tossing the cleaned bone into a bag, he moved on to the head, taking out a hook to get rid of the brain. "Funny how you don't seem to mind though, I have the impression that most people don't like my kind."

Well, your impression is dead on. A lot of people don't. Personally, I don't care. There are two things in this world I hate; people with no honor who use another man's honor to get what they want, and people who try and kill the King. Princes Taarn used the King's honor to goad him into a one on one fight, then killed him. This much I know... Taarn's going to die. I just hope I get to be there to see it."

He glanced around again. "So, I don't suppose you know how the big bad Nezzy-King got his dead-dancing powers, do ya? I mean, I don't think you know the guy personally, but, you know, they say he's the most powerful Necromancer ever. Even more powerful then any other legend about them. You don't just find that kind of power in a stall at the market." He lit up a pipe, then let out a puff of smoke.

"Tar?" He cocked his head to the side and went through a list of all the names (the shortened versions) he knew in his head. Tar wasn't one of them. "I don't know him, how old is he? Last time I was out was probably a few hundred years ago...He wasn't in the guild either when I last checked."

Unbeknown to most, there was a guild for necromancers, and it was in their secrecy code to never betray its whereabouts. Or their existence, for that matter, but Eramthgin was hardly one to care.

"Most of us keep to ourselves, but there are others who prefer the glamor and fame." He shrugged, "Tar-King might be one of them. He might've gotten his knowledge from the guild library." He had a few copies of the Corpse Preparation series in his cave too...hm, probably should've brought them along, he couldn't quite remember how to properly make a zombie doll anymore...

Tossing the cleansed skull into his bag, he continued on to the next body, a young-looking one, probably around the age of 17...killed by a stray arrow to the chest. Mmm. This one would make a good model. If only good corpses are always so easy to come by, he thought...then a idea struck.

"You're mercenaries, right?" He asked Lyle, while removing the flesh from the body, "Against the Tar-King of Nez? Are you their leader?"

The boy was entranced with the merchant's tale. He was relieved that the man he described was not the man he had met earlier. Still, he shuddered at the thought of ever meeting the behemoth from his friend's tale. Shrike was in no way a brawler. He knew the limits of his strength and had to rely on his wits and luck to escape the dangers he had gotten himself in before. "Hey Aravano, where are you headed?"

The small dragon had finished it's hunt for food and flew towards Shrike's shoulder. After it landed, it wrapped it's tail and body loosely around the boy's neck and fell asleep. It made Shrike look like he was wearing some dead animal scarf.

Lyle scratched the area under his eyepatch "well, these guys aren't exactly MY mercs. I'm just the guy most people put in charge of Mercinary teams. I do have a few guys I work regularly with, out in what used to be the Provincial Capital. We go from resistance group to resistance group, helping them deal with defencework."

"As for Taarn, he's about 30 now, but he launched this war, and his dead army, about 9 years ago, so he was about 21, I guess. That's one of the reasons they say he's so good."
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Aravano started to pack up his stuff. "Why, to Talen, of course. I have goods to deliver. After all," he attached his water jug to his Ox, then turned to Shrike and spread his arms wide, "Heh heh, it's my job." He closed his arms again, then patted him on the shoulder and smiled at him. "Take care, my friend. Until we meet again!" With that, he hauled himself up onto his Ox.

[@ Fading Existence: Sorry it's a little late but TY :) ]

"All right, just take care after passing Kumul village. A bunch of demons have set up shop at Hami pass." he advised Mihalik. Was he forgetting something? He waved goodbye at the huge man until he had finally disappeared into the horizon.

The sun was already setting and Shrike had to prepare for the arrival of the infamous Gur' Tyrus crew. They were infamous not only because they manage to steal plenty of gold and other treasures every month but also because they manage to lose almost all their plunder by the beginning of their next raid. This was due to their leaders' frivolous habits and the members' greed and slight stupidity. The leaders of the Gur' Tyrus bandits were the Gur' Tyrus family. The father,who was part giant, would spend his share of the loot on drinks and women and the mother, who was part ogre, would spend her share of the loot on gambling, clothes, and men. The eldest son had inherited his mother's gambling habits although he was worse off at it. The eldest daughter would spend her share on an excess of clothes and jewelry in order to snag multiple boyfriends. She was quite a looker but her extreme temper would usually get the best of her and the men would run away from flying tables or carriages. Any man she managed to keep for long periods of time would soon find themselves in deep debt and living in the royal dungeon. And lastly, the followers of the Gur' Tyrus family are barely given anything by the leaders that they have to steal from each other or the head family in order to put anything in their stomachs and to buy more weapons and vice resulting in less and less members each year.
The only reason why they have been successful for so long is due to their second son and two youngest children. The second son was in no way a brawling brute like the rest of his family. In fact he is quite meek, but has a sharp mind. His strategies and knowledge of building layouts and local news have helped the Gur' Tyrus bandits pull off great heists on a monthly basis. The two youngest children are twins, a boy and a girl 2 years older than Shrike. They act as bodyguards for their kinder, older brother, protecting him from attacks from enemies and family alike. They are capable of standing up to their parents massive strength and are two of the best lock pickers in Talendar.

Shrike walked over to a small rock formation on the other side of the oasis. He moved a few smaller rocks that were lying at it's base, revealing a small crawlspace. This was Shrike's secret hiding spot for the Apsaras Oasis. He had discovered others like it at some of the other oases in eastern Talendar. After crawling into it and rearranging the smaller rocks to conceal it once more, he waited for nightfall and for the Gur' Tyrus thieves to arrive. From what he had heard before arriving at Talen, the oldest Gur' Tyrus son was going to lead a raid on one of the Aranan towns near the Arana-Talendar border. The father was originally going to lead them but had been captured at Talen. The rest of the Gur' Tyrus bandits were going to try to bust him out sometime after the oldest son returns so that they would have enough money to hire more bandits to assist them.

Shrike awoke to the sound of many voices. He had unexpectedly fallen asleep but was lucky enough to have been awakened by the thieves' drunken ruckus. It seems that their raid was successful as Shrike saw through a small crack in the rocks the huge sacks of treasure and various expensive objects that burdened their camels and horses. They also had some prisoners with them tied up beside their rides and closely guarded by men with swords.
"Gah!" whispered Shrike to himself as he suddenly remembered what he forgot to tell Mihalik. He had forgotten to inform him of the strange caravan he had met that was led by a man from Nezerus. Shrike suspected that the caravan might have been one of those Nezerus scout teams the merchant was talking about. He mentally beat himself up before settling for the hope that Aravano would manage to wiggle his way out of another jam should he meet them. Besides, the Nezeruans were already way ahead of the merchant and their paths wouldn't cross. 'I hope the desert demons get them' he thought, as he continued to watch the bandits, hoping that they would soon drink themselves to sleep.

Fwroc Gur' Tyrus, Eldest son of the Gur' Tyrus family, couldn't believe his good fortune. Not only had the raid been so successful, but he had found this woman passed out in the dunes south of town. If it hadn't been for one of his men being from Arana, he would have never know the face of Princess Judith Arana. To think, HE, Fwroc, had managed to find Arana's run-away princess. Did he ransom her back to Arana? Sell her to Slavers? Sell her to Lord Vo? Keep her as a personal Slave? The choises were endless. Calling for more wine, he looked at the crown in his hand he had picked from her head. She lay a few feet away, still passed out. Nothing could go wrong for him now.

"21?! Hm, most of us don't really start learning the deeper arts until past 50. If Tar's as good a necromancer as you say he is, he's quite a talented one then." Eramthgin was slightly surprised at the youth of the Tar-king, even he didn't start looking into the more complicated works until he was past 28, himself.

Continuing with their earlier conversation, he said, "So you guys are like resistance specialists? Perhaps I can join? I can't make any promises with listening to orders and all those other army stuff, but I can help knock out some Nezzies." ...And collect more beautiful pretties along the way, he mentally added. Two birds with one stone, if all goes well.

Shrike continued to watch patiently as Fwroc drank more wine, a crown in his hand. He waited until they had finished their party which, fortunately for him, lasted only a few more hours since they drank more wine than usual. Normally they would have lasted until just before dawn. Ruby awoke from it's nap just as the last man fell asleep, a cup of wine falling from his outstretched hand. Shrike carefully and quietly moved the rocks that covered his hiding spot and crawled out. He re-hid the crawlspace and stealthily made his way to where the bandits were. He looked around to make sure no one had woken up. They were all out cold. His gaze then fell on the unfortunate prisoners who he believed were asleep. One of them wore clothes that seemed more expensive than those that the other prisoners wore. A rich person's daughter no doubt.
'Well, nothing I can do for them here.' he thought. He couldn't afford to try to free them since it could take a while to wake them and he might wake one of the guards in doing so. 'Besides,' he reassured himself, 'I'm sure the Talendar council wouldn't let the people of one of it's allies remain in the hands of rogues. Arana would have their heads.' He walked up to one of the camels that had the largest cargo and started looking through the treasure. Suddenly, he heard a voice from the direction of the prisoners and froze.

You there! The voice whispered urgently. "Please, you must get me out of here!". The one in the dress was sitting up now. Her leg was tied by a chain, and the chain staked into the ground. "Please, I beg you, you must get me out of here! I will give you anything you want, but you must hurry. The longer I stay here, the more I put these people in danger." She looked around, scanning the horizen. "And I don't want to be here when it starts!" She looked at him pleedingly.

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Lyle scratched his chin. "Well, you've proven you're willing to fight, and it couldn't hurt to have an expert of a different aspect of Death around. As for the taking orders part, I doubt I'd put you on the front line anyway. You can summon up a whole party of dead guys. Much more useful then swinging a sword in this war."
He looked around the field. "Welcome to the resistance. If you'll excuse me for a minute, I need to go find someone."

Shrike was about to say something when one of the guards of the hostages suddenly awoke. Shrike quickly ducked behind the camel and the woman lay down close to the ground, keeping her eyes slightly open to watch the man. It seemed the groggy guard didn't notice anything and staggered towards the small tent of the leader a few feet away. After fumbling with his pants, the guard began to relieve himself, having had too much to drink. Shrike moved closer to the princess. "I can bring you with me but I can't bring the others." he whispered, watching the busy guard while waiting for the woman's reply.