The bounty hunter's peril

[ERedBoyd]

Dominic Nettles road quietly on his horse down the dusty roads between the Kingdom of Mellis and it's smaller supporting towns nearing the twilight of night. As the horse meambled on at her own pace, he studied a series of faded documents he had just unrolled for his scroll case. The parchment were rough around the edges and somewhat faded, but they all revealed the images of different people on them as well as crimes committed, last location, and most importantly, how much bounty they would earn should they be caught.

"Look mommy... it's a hunter. See the bags on his horse?" A child on a wagon sitting on his mom's lap, wrapped in a cloak. The air was cool causing breath to mist up in front of them.

The woman said, "That's rude Hannah. You know better than to stare and point." She said as she snuggled in to her husband.

The husband glanced up holding the reigns of his horses saying, "Begging your pardon sir. Meant no disrespect." The man clicked the reigns and picked up the pace of the wagon that they were in heading towards the town Dominic had just past.

Dominic merely nodded and kept going as he glanced back at the bags the child had referred to. He had collected the heads of two bounties so far. A man from the town of Four Kings who had been wanted for murder and rape. That had been the first bloodied bag hanging on the horse. The second had been a tall lean dwarf who had stank of mead and meat wanted to theft to the Dwarven High King of the Mountain, Thawn. That bastard had been the hardest one to catch of all as he managed to ferret his way into a coal mine not to far outside of the city. None the less, the second bloodied bag held the Dwarf's head.

He paid no mind to the travelers though. It was common practice to, rather than lug the entire body back to the bounty holder, to remove the head and only bring the head back. It helped feed into the reputation of bounty hunters being some of the most fearsome fighters and killers in the land. It also made them a target to other bounty hunters as well being that all that was required to claim the reward was to return the head of the bounty.

This is why he kept his bow out and an arrow notched most of the time, sword and sword breaker unlashed in the event they close too quickly. He smiled as he flipped through bounties. He had one more to go. An elven man known as Merlot. Apparently, he was a con artist and cut purse in the local city. Shouldn't be that hard to capture.

There was one bounty for sure he would drop all the others to get too. He flipped to the kitsune bounty poster and stared at it. This one bounty alone could bring him more than triple what all the others could being in combined. Of course there was the complication of bringing the Kitsune in alive rather than just the head but if he had even a hint of where this bounty was, he would donate the other bounties to another hunter and put all his effort into finding and capturing this one.

He yawned once and looked up the road to see the sun nearly set. Glancing about, he heard the river slowly rolling towards the south and turned his mount towards it, just off the beaten path. Finding a nice spot surrounded by a strange band of mushrooms, he slid off his horse and hobbled it. He then settled in for the night hoping to a night of restful sleep. He kept the heads near him as well as his bounty scrolls though partially opened. After a meal of dried meat and some tack bread, he pull his cloak around him tightly and tried to get a few hours of sleep...

(TM by Robert Jordan and WOT series)

 

[Ravishing]

Shayleigh had spent her morning in her smaller form, resting on one of those mushrooms which was actually one of the fae-gates. A little known thing and unknown for the most part in the other lands around. She was a gatekeeper. A chosen one by the Fae King himself. Hand-picked for the duty from the hundred who he'd watched over the course of two moons.

She was handpicked simply not because she was a beguiling beauty whose plum dark eyes matched the far softer indigo of her hair, woven with natural flowers all in some shade of purple. Nor because her lineage could be traced back to the beginning times. But that when it came to protecting something she was a vicious little thing against those they considered enemies. But also because her grasp of their magic was masterful.

Shay had been good at her job. So good that the natives of the nearby town termed the western edge of it, haunted. At least in so far as it came to the nighttime hours. But it was also due to this that this day found her not at her gate, but in her larger form, hidden through the mastery of glamour in the guise of a human woman who could stroll through their markets.

To those she found receptive to her light-fingered touch in stealing small things. She gave the gift of fortune to. One found extra coins at the end of the day. Another who might have otherwise had to sleep in the barn again, found himself taken in by the innkeeper's wife into the common room and given stew, while he was told he could sleep this night by the fire. A third found a couple of strangers returning to buy her fresh produce.

Even as Shay in her redheaded guise nibbled on the stolen apple while perched on a higher stone wall. Legs dangling down and tangled with and between points of her near ankle-length white dress. Those who frowned at her, and hissed at her to move on. One found herself suddenly with ants biting her toes in her boots, as she shreaked up a storm of cussing that drew the attention of the local law. Another burned his fingers time after time until he almost wept at the pain while cooking the meats that he put in buns to sell.

It took her a few hours to lazily eat that apple, eyes darting here and there even as she faded from view, still sitting there. Idly amused she took a moment and threw the core, allowing it to bounce off the shoulders of three separate folks, before it suddenly donked off the lawman's head causing him to turn about looking for the culprit. She'd never liked those of the law, something about their positions held irked her in ways that made her itch!

 

[ERedBoyd]

"Hey! Don't move!" A man growled in the darkness!

Dominic's eyes shot open, gripping for his sword, though freezing as he found tip of a sword pressed to the underside of his head! His eyes followed the blade up to the handle and then to the man holding it! A man in a green shirt and red vest stared down at him, his eyes narrowed ready to push the sword deeper into him! His eyes shifted to see two more men standing nearby, one rummaging through the bags on the horse, grabbing pieces of tack and shoving it down his throat and the other acting as a lookout off the main road in case the city guard came through.

"What do you want?" Dominic said knowing what the answer was going to be. His breath misted on the cool air.

"You a bounty hunter are you not? Those heads aren't they? We will be taking them." the man said with a thick Taraboner accent.

"Sure... take them. I don't want no trouble." Dominic said reaching slowly to the bags and pushing them towards the man.

"Nice and slow... nice and slow you hear. Don't do nuttin stupid." The sword holder growled.

"Of course now. All yours." He said.

He was waiting for the exact moment which came the moment the bandit's eyes slid away from him to the bag! A dagger slid out of his sleeve and he threw it as hard as he could while batting the sword away! The steel buried to the hilt through the sword holder's left eye! He screamed out as it happened, causing the other two to spin around! A second dagger was in his right hand and planted it into the second man's chest right at the heart to the hilt!

"Hey!!! We need help here!!!" The third man said as Dominic leapt to his feet, gathering the heads and shoved the scrolls roughly into the pouch and sealed it! He yanked the two daggers out first two victims... oblivious as to where they landed which happened to be in some kind of strange mushroom patch. Funny... those shrooms looked really good to snack on too bad that blood covered all of those not crushed by the bodies.

The third man threw his hands up saying, "I didn't even want to be part of this... um.. please..."

Dominic accidentally stepped on another batch on the ground as he kept his eye on the third man! This time he made the mistake and looked down a moment! The third man, a wirey dirty man's hand moved, revealing a steam powered pistol and fired!!! The shot of scalding metal blasted just near his head, causing Dominic to drop once more, destroying another mushroom and flinging both is daggers at the last man. The blades landed in his neck and chest! The man slumped to his knees and then collapsed face down into yet another fae pile. He rolled the man onto his back and removed the knives and the pistol. He had heard of these things but never seen one. After a quick pat down of each of the dead men, he found some coin, a bag of metal balls presumably for the steam powered gun, and a few more bounties, he gathered his things, got back onto his horse and quietly slipped out of the ruined campsite, hoping no one saw him.

He didn't realize in his haste to depart that when he was packing his knives away, one of them slipped from his grip and fell into the brush unnoticed.

 

[Ravishing]

Finally some hours later, with still some sunlight left in the afternoon, Shay found herself deciding to return back to her Gate. Each gate was a precious thing. That unseen form shrunk and her wings began beating quicker than a hummingbird. Propelling her small foot tall form unseen through the town and towards the western woods which verged to the edge of the town close enough she could see even from a distance.

Something was wrong. Wrong? No. No, no, no. The words echoed unspoken in her mind as she blurred and was there. A few feet to go and her heart broke at the sight of it. Some mushrooms were missing entirely as if something had plucked them up by the base and eaten them. She dashed about madly, almost ping-ponging like a small ball of light as her rage began to shatter the glamour that was usually always masking her from the Others.

Thus this bright little spark flung itself about, over the dead bodies there. One she touched and it teleported off into a nearby field, landing with a ripe thud to hang off the farmer's scarecrow, its main spike smashing through the dead man's head. Another found itself grabbed by her larger form and thrown deeper into the woods as it landed the earth gave way to swallow it whole. Blood. Human blood marred everything that hadn't been ruined in some manner or had been missing entirely.

She got to see as she knelt the last threads of that Gate's magic departing. Reaching out with a pale shaking hand she drew it into herself. A winding vine of green sprung up about her left forearm and became near tattoo-like there. It pulsed to her eyes giving her a sign that the one who was responsible for this destruction was alive.

Plum-shaded eyes turned almost black as a murderous rage hit her, a tilt back of her head as she screamed her frustrations to the air around her. It was a high-pitched sound that set every animal uneasy. As she stood feet crushing the last of those dead and ashing away mushrooms that had been perverted by the blood of man. It was then as she looks along the usual way people came here she noticed something glinting. Metal.

She took four steps and dropped to kneel. Hands cupped together as she seeks to whisper her voice more a hum of words spoken fast in the language of the Fae, her spell came then as a whisper of darkness that unfurled from between her lips and lowered lilting to coat the dagger then. A tracking spell of the old ones took hold of it, and turned to coat the weapon with black-fae-dust that made the thing born of man safe for her to touch. Lifting it, her hand curled about the handle and she looked to the smear of blood that glowed purple a thin line in the air.

It was then she stood slowly and everything shrank as she began flying off unseen again as her glamour reasserted itself and she went slowly after the one she needed to make -pay- for his transgressions.

 

[ERedBoyd]

Dominic stepped out of the local magistrate, bouncing the bag of gold in his hand as he looked back into the office saying, "Pleasure doing business with you officer!" He quietly slipped his bag of coin into the inside pocket of his vest, the safest place he could put it as the door closed behind him. The tall bounty hunter had just turned in his two bounties each worth enough for a month's work of common labor. Now... it was time to enjoy a little of his pay.

He turned and looked back to the town square and smiled. He loved the little bit of irony in himself. He hated dealing with people but loved being in towns and cities like this one called White Bridge. An entire city was built around what some said was a magical white bridge that crossed the Narafel River which had been there since the beginning of time. No one had any working knowledge on how the bridge got there and no one claimed credit for it. One thing about it though, it was magically charged to remain in as perfect condition today as it had been when it was built some 5,000 years ago or longer. The stones on the bridge never wore out, the ropes and pulleys and stones never faded with time.

Though the bridge always looked new, the town built around it didn't. The smells of blacksmiths forging swords, of stables tending to their horses, fresh bread from bakeries and ale from pubs filled his nose. The smell of unwashed bodies and tanneries did take away a bit from the smells of the city but overall the place was beautiful!

Dominic walked down the main street, bow and quiver slung to his back, sword and daggers in their holsters, his horse by the lead. He had shoved the gun into one of his saddle bags to look at later. He had heard that steam tech was starting to become the rage in the cities. The engineers had found some confounded way to create horseless carriages to move things around. Problem was, the damned things tended to blow up as much as actually work. Until that was fixed, he would rather just trust his own horse than some machination.

He heard the sounds of laughter and lute playing fill his ears as he approached the Wandering Pony Inn and Tavern and smiled. This was what he was looking for. After a brief stop at the stables to ensure his horse was tended to well, he slung his saddlebags onto his shoulder and walked into the inn. He slipped the mistress of the inn a few pieces of silver and she gave him a key. 20 minutes later, he had stowed his gear in his small room on the third floor and headed down for his meal.

 

[Ravishing]

She first saw him heading through the town. The pale violet line of her ancient tracking spell, tracing an unseen line to him there as he walks. A narrow of her eyes as she darted along with him there. Flitting about him at times and taking him in fully. THIS is the thing which broke and killed the gate? This? Human?

Fury raged in her eyes before she began to inwardly muse. No. Killing him would be too easy. Too easy by far. First she had to torment him. Torment before the final pleasure of released from that torment by killing him with the very dagger of his she had tucked to her hip. First she stole an arrow of his. It shrunk and flitted from his quiver and she added it into her pouch as it shrunk further down into the bag of black fae dust.

She watched him stow the odd looking thing but she had no idea what it was. People in the village hadn't used them. At least not that's she'd seen. This place far bigger than she'd imagined human cities to be. She stole a few coins from the lute player as she darted in ahead of him, unseen.

Watching him pass over coins to a woman, then head upstairs. She followed him and as he stowed his gear and left. She first dove into the bag and rifled about in it. Finding a sock she grabbed it and pulled it and her out of the bag, then she hid it under his pillow. It smelled foul so she was assuming he had to wash it yet. So, that should teach him. Then she flitted down and circled about the room in general.

Choosing a spot up in the rafters, she settled in to watch him. If he indeed ordered a meal, he'd find a rat tail in it, no matter the meal he ordered. Shayleigh ensured it.

 

[ERedBoyd]

Dominic growled, "Again?!?!?!" He drove his hand into the big bowl of beef stew and pulled out... yet another rat tail!

"You.... you... that wasn't in there before!" The busty tavern maiden Hilary Cooper growled as she leaned over the table once more and tipping the stew bowl back towards her, suspicious that Dominic had planted the rat tail in it! She glared, "I poured that bowl up myself!! There was NO rat tail! You had to have put it in there!"

"Mi'Lady! Why would I do such a thing?!?! I have traveled all day to reach your fine establishment! All I wanted was a meal and a place to sleep and perhaps... someone warm to lay with" Dominic said with a half grin though with all disbelief. The truth was he WAS certain she hadn't put that rat tail in and he was ALSO certain he hadn't done it. He said, "I ask not for my money back... I merely want a meal!"

In the corner of his eye, two brutes who had standing at the main entrance of the tavern began to stand up. Dozens of other patrons were now also watching the issue and glancing at their own meals suspiciously as if they might find tails of their owns. A couple of new arrivals, having seeing the fiasco, opted to turn around back out onto the road and moved on to the next inn.

Dominic slowly stood up and said, "Please, mi'lady. Perhaps a loaf of bread will suffice? Would you be willing to provide me a loaf of bread?"

With daggers from her eyes, she snatched up the bowl of stew, his mead, and spoon and stormed back into the kitchen! A moment later, more screaming took place as some woman in the kitchen began her tirad on the stew! A moment later, heavy foot stomps came from the kitchen and a woman who was a wide as she was tall stormed into the dining room. Her right hand rung on her flour covered apron and left sported a dough roller as if it was a cutlass and pointed the wieldy thing at him saying, "You!!!! You are trying to ruin my reputation! Out OUT OUT!!!" She waved that roller right under his nose!

Under any other situation, he might have found some humor in the scene. Somehow rat tails kept magically appearing in his meal! However with the two tuffs from the door eyeing him and fingering their short swords with a practiced measure, he merely nodded and said, "I will... go back to my room then. I... apologize for the inconvenience."

Gathering his cloak and pack, he turned and headed back up the stairs expecting at any moment to be hit with that roller. He found mild relief when it had not happened. However as he reached the second floor and was halfway down the hall, another young woman appeared on the back stairs holding a loaf of bread. He had seen her also walking the tavern floors serving drinks and trying to avoid slaps to her bottom! She had been a looker too and had this entire meal not really put him in a sour mood, he might have offer to dandle her on his knee.

She approached him and said, "Mi'Lord. The Mistress refuses to claim you did not get fed and gives you this and requests you not return downstairs till morning.

He accepted the bread and said, "Thank you miss..."

"Nala. My name... Master is Nala." She said with a hint of a blush.

"Thank you Miss Nala." Dominic said and had to admit she WAS a looker. He said, "I think... I will heed her advice. Thank you." He tipped his head and then pulled the key from his cloak and opened the door to his room.

"How DID you do it Master?" She said calmly but very curiously.

"How did I do what?" He said pausing half way into the room.

"Get the rat tail in your soup sir?" She hesitated and said, "I... have been watching you and you didn't put the tail in that I could see with either bowl of stew or the pheasants or the lamb plate either. So how did you do it? Are you a magician?"

Dominic sighed. Of course... she believed I did it too. He eyed the loaf of bread with a strong suspicion of it. He set his cloak and pack just inside the room and turned to her with the loaf of bread. Just a hard loaf made of flour, salt and a bit of water. He said, "You brought this from down stairs did you not?"

"Yes sir... straight from the kitchen." she said curiously watching the loaf.

"Are you sure they don't bake rat tails in their loaves?" He asked.

She giggled saying, "No Master... no rat tails... "

He held the bread in front of her and broke it in half. As he suspected, a long rat tail appeared as if it had been baked right into it. She screamed in horror and took a step back!

Her eyes shot from the bread to him and back to the bread once more... before saying, "You... your... You are a sorcerer! A sorcerer!"

Dominic quickly dropped the bread and said, "I am no such thing and please don't spread such rumors! I don't know what is going on but I will try and find out." While sorcery wasn't exactly forbidden, anyone who was known to cast spells and use magic was generally frowned upon and run out of town. The LAST thing he needed right now was to be thought of as a sorcerer. He smiled nervously and slipped her a gold mark saying, "Please... I am not a sorcerer, just a man who needs some sleep and a meal. Will you keep my secret?"

She looked at the mark and then to him and slowly nodded and backed away and headed back down stairs.

He muttered, "Well shit." He knew she was going to talk and soon he would be run out of town and that was if he was lucky. He slipped back into his room to prepare to leave...

 

[Ravishing]

Shayleigh had found herself dying with laughter up in those rafters. Each time a meal was brought to him, one snap of her fingers later. A rat tail. More and more giggling up there, as she found herself at one point floating about up there bobbing with the laughter making her wings flutter so hard she propelled about a little. Eventually, she seemed to contain herself. She watches him get up and relocate along some stairs only to run into a younger prettier female with bread. Again, with a snicker-fit, she snapped those fingers.

However, as the female exclaimed about sorcery at him, there was a minor frown. No. No one else got to have fun with her person. Thus she followed the girl for a moment and dusted her with light fae dust, flitting unseen to whisper that there'd been no such occurrence and she would continue on her way without divulging about something that clearly hadn't happened.

Satisfied the female wouldn't remember the event the way it occurred, her magic was powerful and plenty to overcome a human mind. She raced off through the air in time to see him seeking to find his bag. A smirk on her lips as she had the laces of one boot undone, setting it up to make him stumble a little within the confines of that room. There was then a listening of her to the sounds of those heavy boots coming up the steps. She phased through the door to peer along that hall and found of of those men who usually watched the door lingering up there. Another frown. Maybe it -would- be better if he left there. He was hers to play with not someone else's.

She found herself flitting along and dusting him too, turning his eyes blind to the passing of her victim, so he wouldn't be seen. A nod then before she flitted back and found herself most oddly dusting the victim, whispering suggestively. "Need to check my laces." It wouldn't do to have him hurt himself in some small manner while he was within a place she now needed him out of.

As she also let him find his pack and his missing sock sitting half stuffed into it. It did look then as if someone had rifled through it a little. Well, she had but, never mind that. Places like this also prided themselves on keeping the riff-raff out of customers' bedrooms!

 

[ERedBoyd]

10 minutes later, Dominic was sliding up onto his horse with the saddlebags back in place.

He turned his mount out of the stables and headed down the road. It wouldn't take long for word to get around that a sorcerer had been there. With any luck, the rumors will fade away in a day or two. He just couldn't figure out the rat tail thing though. He KNEW that the rest of the stew had been normal. He had watched them pour it into the bowl in the kitchen on that third bowl and yet, a rat tail had appeared. He had been going to that inn for 2 years now when he stopped between bounties and NEVER had a problem with them. But his good reputation with the inn was over. He would have to find another place to eat.

He reached into his saddlebag and pulled out his pipe and a pouch of tobacco. Stuffing a bit of tobacco into the pipe, packing it tightly... then reached and pulled out a rough bag of matches, light one up and begin puffing on the pipe a moment....

Once he had a night burn going, he turned his steed out of town and road nice and slowly. He had no heads to turn in so only the worst of the worst would attempt to rob him. He never noticed anyone following him.

Unfortunately, as he had was reaching the outer gates of the city, he heard something that stopped him in his tracks. He heard a woman screaming and she was very close. He turned his head to the gate guards who poked their heads out of the guard shack but didn't appear to have any interest in investigating.

Footsteps could be heard down in an ally between two residences that caught his ear and he turned and spotted in the shadows of the alley a woman racing through the alley towards him! He slid off his mount and stepped clear of him. At least 5 men he could see just coming out of the shadows though as they grew close!

As the woman darted out, she made straight for him. Her dress was torn, her lip cut, and her eye slightly swollen. It was evident she had been roughed up. She ran passed him and tucked behind him! 5 men darted out of the shadows onto the main road out of town and spotted Dominic stood prepared to fight.

"Turn her over to us." One of the men spoke with a Andorian ascent!

Dominic kept his sword drawn and ready to fight. His eyes shifted to the guards who remained at their posts watching. Clearly they were bought off to ignore whatever happened here...

"Please SIR!!! They tried to .... tried to..." He felt her start to weap on his shoulder... and never felt her other hand tuck into his pouch and lifted his small bag of gold he had.

 

[Ravishing]

Shayleigh was flitting about him closely, thus as he stopped regarding the ruckus, she followed him. Noticing the way the female tried to steal from HER victim. She frowned. He was her plaything to torment. Not someone else's! Thus she seeks to first lift his gold purse and shrink it down into her white fae-dust pouch.

Then she darted between the men zipping about unseen undoing their shoe laces, and a belt or two. As two of them went to advance and were suddenly tripping over trousers which fell rapidly to about their ankles. Shay found herself whispering things to the woman, convincing her to escape and run with the money. Despite there being nothing more than Dominic's sock clutched in her hand.

Even as that women fled in the unintended direction. It left one of her partners staring after her in confusion. Exactly how did one demand a woman back who'd just run off with the money? While Shay flitted up to Dominic's shoulder, whispering. "Time to leave." Her enchanting voice sounded more like his own conscious reminding him to get out while the going was good!

 

[ERedBoyd]

"Time to leave was right!" It was a bit funny though that that little voice in Dominic's head seemed more feminine than he had anticipated! Was everyone's conscious female? Further, he found it incredibly odd that about his sudden fortune! How could suddenly EVERYONE's belts and shoes unwrap and tangle them up? What in the hell was going on?! He turned to address the distressed woman to find her running away from him... towards the stables of all places... with his sock?

That left him puzzled as well not sure what to make of it and he shook his head. What in the hell was going on?

"What did you do to my sister!" One of the men wailed which snapped Dominic's attention back to the bumbling men! One of the bigger ones was just about back in his britches and Dominic said nothing and just slid onto his horse and headed to the outer gate. "Come back here you thief!" was the last thing he heard from that crew.

Unfortunately, there was another problem that came from it. Dozens of pedestrians has seen the events play out. The belts and pants, the shoes, even the confused woman with his sock... and on more than one lip he heard "Warlock.... Sorcerer..."

He urged his steed further on, quickly heading to the West. Andor was the next major city and it was about 3 days ride from White Bridge so he didn't push it. He passed several men and women on foot walking to or fro from the main road, farmers with their wagons filled with gourds, wheat, and flour, merchants with their merchant guards... they all studied him suspiciously as he went along.

The day was pretty uneventful and he had reached a rather little known campsite by the Tauren River once more. As the sun was beginning to set, he gathered some firewood, rolled out his bedrolls, tied off his horse so he could feed, and finally pulled his small wooden flute out. He rarely brought it out but he had a suspicion the Gods were upset with him for some reason he could not understand and so he began playing a soft gentle tune his papa taught him as a gift to the Gods for fortune.... and he couldn't shake the feeling that he was still being watched.

 

[Ravishing]

With whispers and murmurs and suggestions, Shayleigh supplied the five men with various tasks that would only occur long after her victim had come and gone. It ensured none of it was tied to him and it included the woman putting the blame on her siblings and friends, regarding poor maintenance of self and gear. With things found worn down by natural occurrences. He was by and large forgotten about.

She followed him of course. The people who gave him weird looks she frowned at yet left alone. It was as he set up camp finally that she settled herself down near a taller flower leaning against its stalk. She heard him playing. Something of it reminded her strongly of songs she knew from home. The faelands. Thus she settled there simply watching him unseen.

His dreams however simply because of her closeness, came to be of a pair of pale eyes watching him, of feminine giggles, and sweet whispered words. Her dreams for once, blank and she awoke puzzled. Normally she always dreamt of home. She watched him then, if he got anything organised to eat, and he might realise a small part of it vanished when he wasn't looking at it. Of course it was because she stole it direct from him and nibbled.

 

[ERedBoyd]

"Wh.... No... Don't .... ?!?!" Dominic shot up to a seated position in a bit of a panic! With the disorientation of sleep still fogging his mind, he spun his head around looking for... someone. He couldn't recall who though and instinctively reached for a dagger on his side before stopping. Whatever, it was that had been in his dream he got the distinct feeling hadn't been there to hurt him.

He just sat quietly a few moments, pressing his hand to his head and waiting for his brain to kick start to life once more. The air was cool and damp. In the distance was the sound of a thunder. He slowly raised his eyes up to see a cloudy busy sky. A warm breeze blew across his skin and as his eyes moved towards the horizon, he understood why... a thunderstorm appeared to be a brewing to the west.

He quickly stood up and began to gather his things though as he saddled and packed his horse. He grabbed into his provisions, tearing off a chunk of bread and a bit of cheese and dried meat and sat them on the saddle as he tried to snack while he ate. He filled up his water skin down at the creek and was soon on his mount and heading East towards Andor. He never noticed the missing piece of food though and even if he had, he would have assumed animals as opposed to fae's.

As he road along though, it became clear to him in the next hour that he would not be able to outrun the storm as the skies grew darker and darker. Andor was a full day's ride so he changed his immediate plan and began to hunt down a farmhouse that he might be able to take shelter in.

After meeting three attempts to arrange for shelter, he found himself and older portly man with a receding hairline, thick mustache that covered most of his mouth and leathery skin named Tam at a large sheep farm who agreed to allow him to stable his horse in the barn, offered him a bit of dinner, and his barn loft to sleep in for a crown and a song or two on his flute.

Fat rain drops began to fall on his thick brim hat as he finished stabling his mount. It was only noon by the time the sky opened up and the rain began to drench everyone! The farmer let him in his home with his satchel. He met Tam's wife Kari who was a tall neckly woman who had a nose and ears a bit too big for her face. To Dominic's mild surprise though, a young attractive woman barely past her 18th name day walked in from one of the back rooms named Egwene. She wore a rather nice blue dress and slippers and he knew right off the bat... she would be trouble for him. He knew she could channel though he wasn't sure just how he knew. He had nearly gotten chased out of town with the accusation of being a sorcerer... and he by chance runs into a real life Sorceress...