Esher stood in the opening of the cave marveling at the beauty of the cave. The light of it sparkled casting a blueish hew on his green cloak. He closed his eyes a moment listening to the roar of the waterfall behind him. He was drenched head to toe, leaving wet footprints as he walked slowly in. Esher felt the biting chill of the water all threw out his body. He took a deep breath and would have said something if not for the serene luminescence around him that took his breath away.

By this point Esher had his mind made up, on two things actually. First, if he were to ever have a wedding, it would be here. Second, he needed to explore it further, regardless that he had no rope to lay out as a path marker. Esher raised his hand touching the crystals; they were wet. He then wiped the water over his brow and turned again to the the tunnel going in a bit deeper.

As he began down he could feel the wet leather of his boots rubbing his feet raw. At that point though Esher could have cared less and continued down the tunnel the radiant light growing dimmer as he went down. After awhile Esher lay down knees up and head propped up against the wall. The waterfall had become background noise and he began to lose track of time laying, wondering how peace could be so peaceful. And so he rested one eye half open and in such a mood that he may have been unaware that the rock was not in fact, a pillow.

Mara moved along in the dark, her footsteps light and graceful, barely making any noise at all. She had been wandering the caverns for a while now, looking for certain things, that would help her in some of her magic, mainly looking for components, which she always seemed to be in need of. Now, she walked back the way she had come, to the exit, and she was so very much not in the mood to get wet again. It had been a few hours since she had first came in here, so she was dry. One thing she hated, was getting wet.

Her long elegant dark cloak fell over her slender shoulders and to the floor. She wore a black and red dress today, that had a small trail to it, but not much. Her black hair was pulled back into a ponytail, so it was out of her eyes and way. On her shoulders, was a faerie dragon, the colorful small dragon laid on her shoulder, its head resting on its front claws, that clung to the fabric of Mara's dress. Her dress flutter around her ankles as she went.

Suddenly, Malie, the fae dragon perked up, lifting its head, and looking forward, its beady eyes gleaming with curiosity and interest. Mara stopped in her tracks, and tilted her head to the small dragon on her shoulder.

"What is it, Malie?" She asked, her voice gentle and soft, almost sounding evil, that would send shivers up someones spine. She turned her head to look forward, and tried to see through the dark, but couldn't see much. She walked forward, and turned around a small bend, then stopped again. Malie clenched onto the dress tighter, and raised herself up slightly, looking like a cat ready to pounce, just a scaled small dragon. Mara looked at the human that lay there. She cocked her head slightly, looking at the man, and considered to just leave, but she wondered why he was here.

Malie, lifted herself up more, then flew from Mara's shoulders and landed on the ground near the mans head. Mara just stood there and watched, and even considered the fact that this person could probably suit her needs in getting herself a captured soul, but she would have to kill him first. She smiled slightly, but decided to wait, she needed a certain soul to fulfill her needs, and didn't know if this one would be the right one.

Esher opened his eyes, which were slitted as he lay, and so now somewhat more accustomed to the darkness. His cloak unwrapped itself from all but his shoulders revealing a hand knit black shirt, remarkably dry underneath the cloak, and a pair of rugged and used black pants with a belt and a longblade in scabbard running between them. He stood cracking his neck for a moment and looking into the darkness and wondering if there was any truth to the rumors.

Esher started to move forward and then stopped and looked to one of the nicer crystals on the wall. A faint smile dawned his lips as he unsheathed his blade set it near him then grabbed the scabbard. He then griped it in both hands and struck the crystal with great force at a point he hoped wouldn't just shatter it. The scabbard clashed with the crystal and sent it into five large shards. Esher's hands shook with the force of the blow and sent the unpleasant sound or ringing metal through his ears.

After looping his scabbard back on his belt and grabbing hold of his sword he reached down and picked up the largest three of the five shards and slipped them into an inside pocket of his cloak. "Uhhhhaa... back to work"

Esher now turned after a good yawn and began walking through the darkness, now taking care to stick to the shadows and make as little noise as possible. Esher walked on a good no more than twenty feet before stopping abruptly thinking he'd heard a sniff or maybe a soft hiss, but as he heard nothing in the next few seconds, he let it go and kept walking.

Mara watched from where she stood in the shadows, her dark eyes watching the human, quite eager to see how he acted and all, since she did need a fresh soul, she had a few, but they didn't suit her purposes, she needed someone who was a strong person, who could handle things easily. She watched the man get up, and then break a crystal into shard. Malie stayed in her own little shadow, also watching the man, till he started walking off, Mara waved her hand slightly, and Malie flew up, and landed on Mara's shoulder again, and just perched there, staring after the man.

Mara looked around where she stood, and then listened to the mans footsteps, then she herself started walking, slower this time, and quietly. She continued to follow him, thinking of a why how she could speak to him, now wouldn't be a good time, seeing as he would most likely accuse her of following him and such, and that would just annoy her.

But as she considered her options, her slipper got caught in a crack, and Mara tripped over her feet, and fell to the ground. She hit the ground hard, she tried to stop her fall with her hands, which then caught on the rough ground and cut them. Her fall made quite a ruckus, and her cry of surprise echoed throughout the cave. Now, she was on her hands and knees. Her knees scraped and hurt, and her hands. She moved herself into a sitting position, and stared at her hands. Her skin was very fragile, it didn't take even simple falls lightly.

Malie was clinging to her shoulders, eyes wide with fear. Mara groaned slightly, mainly in annoyance, as she clambered lightly to her feet, but felt slightly wobbly.

Thirty minutes the human has been wandering the caves looking for his companion. He had already gotten used to the whole lay out and has been using his ears to navigate. He continued to run with a pouch of rations at his side and the water skin attached to his back pack. He was prepared incase he got lost but then again Laurence prided him self on a sense of direction. He was wearing a dark brown leather vest with several pouches lined against it on a bayonet type item. Under the vest was a long white tunic which is weaved to prevent ripping. Around his waist was a black leather utility belt which held random small tools and items that an adventurer needs. For pants he was wearing brown cotton breaches with a few toughened dark brown leather pads for general protection for the wilderness. Lastly he was wearing dark brown leather field boots which the front part of them lightly went up to protect his knees. The area that covered the shins also was heavily fortified with leather.

Laurence continued to run silently as he did not tire and the young Albino’s crimson red eyes wandered. ”God damnit Esher where in the hells are you?” He mumbled to him self in a rather annoyed manner. He continued to move with great stamina as he felt his heart race. Esher always wanted to see these caves and on there way to another town to find work, we set up camp near the waterfall. But when Esher was supposed to be on watch duty, he had wandered off. This drove Laurence to be even more annoyed in this situation. He quickly jumped over a rather big piece of rock as he continued to run quickly. His eyes focused on the small visible path he could see until finally he saw a shadow he could barely make out and then he heard someone’s voice cry out in pain.

As he saw the man looking the other direction he figured he would get the jump on him. ”ESHER YOU SON OF A WENCH!” He called out as he sprinted toward his companion aiming to tackle him. This was no random act of violence in fact they were very good friends. As Laurence sprinted and got closer to Esher he could feel the sudden push on the back of his right leg. Esher had tripped him with the sheath of the blade and he knew he did since the push gained strength as he began to stumble near the direction of the sound. He continued to tumble trying to regain his balance but momentum was currently his enemy as he turned quickly and fell on his back lightly. He anticipated slight minor pain due to the fact momentum had slowed down but instead he fell on something soft. He turned his head in the dark cave and squinted as he found that he fell on a female figure. His cheeks lit up bright red as he quickly bolted to his feet. ”Oh my gosh I am so sorry!” Laurence said to her as he held out a hand to help her up.

Esher Jerked and turned around hearing a cry from surprisingly close behind him. What he beheld was a vision of loveliness. A well dressed elf getting up from within perfect shadow other than the light of a solitary crystal reflection that passed over her lips as she arose. Cute, he thought as stood there staring at her, Cute, Sneaky, and probably deadly. With the first two the third often follows. Still she has two good points established...wait, was she...

As if cued to prevent him from ever having a social life, Esher heard the rampaging footfalls of Laurence charging through the darkness. Esher sheathed his sword pushed on the pommel of the hilt lodging the sword firmly between a rock and the ground and then took a step to the side and watched ans Laurence fell backwards and then landed against the elf. Esher winced as they collided, not anticipating that he'd manage to fall all the way over to her.

Esher paused a moment in thought and then started in on Laurence, "Wait a minute, that's just not fair. She was clearly stocking me first." He smiled looking at her and walked forward hand outstretched with the same offer as his compatriots brushing Laurence's hand too the side as he walked next to her and crouched to her current high, "Are you alright? That was a nasty couple of falls."

She continued to look at her hands, examining the damage on her pale skin, and grimaced, at least she had a healing spell, but she hated to waste her magic on it, but if she wanted to continue what she had been doing, then she would have to use it. She then heard a shout, and she looked up, and slightly turned her head, and right then, a different man came and tripped, and knocking her over again. Mara once again cried out, and Malie the faerie dragon screeched, and flew to the air, hovering near the ceiling of the cave. She hit her hands again and her arm, as it hit the ground. The man quickly got up, and apologized, but she didn't say anything, just lifted her sleeve over her hand and stared at the ugly bruise on it now. She sighed, then looked up at the two.

The one who had fell on her, offered his hand, but then the other, the first one she had been following pushed his hand away, then crouched near her. She looked at him, her dark brown eyes not having much emotion in them, except a little pain. She managed a weak smile.

"Are you alright? That was a nasty couple of falls."

"I'm sure I'll be fine." She said, and looked at her hands again, and started to mumble strange, spidery words of magic. Her hands then glowed a light purple, healing the cuts on her hands, then her bruise healed somewhat too, all that was left was a small bruise. She rolled her sleeve back over her arm. Even though she healed her hands, the palms still seemed a little red.

She shifted slightly, and smiled a calm, beautiful smile.

"Now, help me up. I hate sitting on this hard ground." She said, and lifted her hand upexpectantly. Right then, the faerie dragon flew down, and landed once more on Mara's shoulder. The dragon stared at the two men, eyes glaring at them.

Laurence was lost for words as he offered his hand to the female and Esher the one who knocked him into her knocked his hand out of the way. His eyes were cold at that but then again he was being Esher and that left a soft smile on his face. As the woman completely ignored him he crossed his arms over his chest as he became straight faced. The woman was pretty he would not go against that but she managed to hit one of his major pet peeves. She does not seem to be the one to really advocate for her self and let alone not have a fine set of manners. As she listened to her response as she demanded Esher to help him up only drove Laurence to sneer.

”Yes Esher it would be kind for you to help the poor helpless woman up due to being the cause of her second fall… Let alone the same woman who was probably stalking you.” He replied rather coldly as he glared at the woman. He did not like how she ignored him and he even offered her his hand and she blew him off. Whatever she was definitely not worth his time and she was now Eshers problem. ”Besides what the hell were you doing in this cave anyways?” He asked the woman his normal gentle tone vanished as the annoyance of Eshers disappearance and this encounter alone set him in a bad mood.

He then let out a soft sigh as he massaged his temples gently to help clear his head. He was beginning to develop a headache due to this over all situation. He was hoping Esher would not bring that woman along knowing that she would probably slow down there travels significantly. But then again if she was a moneyed individual or related to someone who had a great amount of money the trip would not be that bad. ”Esher please tell me you are not going to have her travel with us in the trip? We are already short on time and she is just going to slow us down.” Then again they were not timed in the first place but he needed an excuse for her not to travel with them. With that he slowly took out a water skin and took a sip of water as he placed it back attached to the bag.

Zane opened his eyes and saw the humans. He thought to himself "Humans, should be easy to steal from." Zane slowly took out his shortbow and a few arrows preparing to attack just in case. He used his disquise skill to take the appearance if his wings from view. Zane slowly pulled back the bow and put the arrow in. "What are you doing here?" he demanded.

Sirus watched the group, silvery scales hidden among a cluster of crystals. Here, he blended into the surroundings, near invisible among the vibrant crystals. His silver eyes flicked from one person to another as things unfolded. Nothing of too much interest seemed to be happening, until a half-dragon showed up. Just as any other dragon, He felt a dislike to the half-dragons, undeserving of draconian blood. The huge dragon glared, eyes trained on the thing as it drew it's bow and trained it on the group he had been watching. The man seemed quite sure of himself, undisciplined. Sirus saw a need to teach the man a lesson in humility.

He drew his breath slowly, preparing to speak. The air in the cavern moved slowly at the disturbance. "They have as much if not more right to be here than you, half-breed." His voice rolled throughout the caverns, a deep thrumming accompanying them. Sirus enjoyd the beauty of these caves. He spent much time here after losing his cave in the north. He missed his treasure and sought to replenish his hoarde, no matter how long it took. The dragon stared at the Half breed with anger in his eyes.

"Lower your bow, or you will regret raising it in the first place." He threatened, quite seriously. These vermin who pretended to own the places they visited disgusted him, it was a band much like this man who kept disturbing him in his cave, trying to steal his treasures. Many of them spent the rest of their days frozen into the walls of his icy cave.

Zane noticed the dragon, he could not tell which kind but he didn't care. None the less he hated dragons for making him like this, so different. He wanted to kill all dragons no matter what they were. "Shut up dragon, before I kill you.." He did not fear the dragon one bit, he just loathed it. He could not forget the other thing that dragons did to him, deprived him of.

"Huh," Esher stared at his new and hopefully very brief acquaintances. Ignoring Laurence's question, not that he wouldn't have anyway, he waisted no time in not only grabbing the womans hand and pulling her up but then pulling her quite rapidly away from the draconic voices and into another passage of the cave then let go of her hand and kept going. He figured she'd follow but if not, oh well, more pressing things than figuring out why see was stalking him.

This wasn't quite how he'd pictured waking up when he was dosing only moments ago. This both confirmed the roomers that there was something living in this cave to be true and sot them down as it was described to be vastly different. Esher took a glance over his shoulder to see if Laurence was keeping pace right as a bead of sweat fell into his eye and obscured his vision. "Laurence, you with us? Stalker lady, you ok?" Esher, realizing he hadn't caught her name, then tried to ask but found it only came out as panting and his full on sprint was taking it's tole.

Esher got to the end of this some hundred foot tunnel and stopped abruptly at the turn seeing the marks of claws the side of his head hued into the stone with no regard that it was lined with crystal. "Sweat flaming lands! Better and better..." Esher looked to the faces of whoever fallowed, hoping someone had an idea.

”Besides what the hell were you doing in this cave anyways?”

She looked over at Laurence, and smiled slightly. Sure she had ignored him, for a little while, but she had no intention of doing so for long, seeing as two souls would be better then one, and hopefully she would get what she wants from these two fools who should fall easily into Mara's plans. "I am merely looking for ingredients to some spells." She said simply, and waved her hand slightly as if it didn't quite matter. Malie looked at the two suspiciously, not trusting them to be around Mara, even if she could easily protect herself.

”Esher please tell me you are not going to have her travel with us in the trip? We are already short on time and she is just going to slow us down.”

She listened to him speak to the man Esher, and wondered why he suddenly didn't like her, oh well. Esher grabbed her hand and pulled her up. Then there were draconic voices, and her eyes widened with interest, even as the man pulled her rapidly away from the voices. She didn't resist, and when he did let go of her, she followed, not wanting to be stuck in a cave with dragons. Malie though, had perked up, and made strange little bickering sounding noises.

"Laurence, you with us? Stalker lady, you ok?"

She sighed in annoyance. "I am not called 'stalker lady', my name is Mara." She said. She hatyed how they called her stalker lady. She mumbled something in elvish under her breath as she followed along, as she went her feet barely touched the floor, grace in each step, even if she was hurrying to follow. She didn't notice Esher stopped ahead, and stumbled as she had nearly ran into him, then turned to look at what he was staring at, and Mara grumbled in elvish.

"Great. Just when I don't want to deal with a dragon." Mara said mainly to herself, or to Malie. The fae dragon made a strange hissing sound, its colorful dark eyes glowering into the darkness of where they had come from.