Meliadoul's Journal
Chapter III: A Secret Civilization




Autumn 13, 8:41 P.M.
When I awoke, I couldn't move my body! I thought I was paralized! But, as it turns out, I was restrained. I then heard voices. They were my allies.
"Meliadoul, you up yet?"
"That you, Kyle?"
"Yeah."
"Where are we? And why can't I open my eyes?"
"That monster. It's a spider. It's been taking people and putting them here. Your stuck in a web, like the rest of us. There's a string of webbing on your eyes, keeping them shut."
"Great. Don't suppose you guys can get out of this?"
"Nah. This webs thick, sticky, and streachy, so we can't rip or cut through it. What's worse, some of the people here have been trapped for weeks without food. They're getting weak. Luckily, there is water here. It's in the web. I don't like it any more than you do, but you need water to live...."
"I can't live like that. I'm getting out of here."
I tried to tear off the web, but it stuck. Kyle was right.
"See? It's not gonna happen."
"Wait, I've got an idea! Flame"!
My part of the web began to heat up. The web's watery content put out the flames quickly, while shooting out steam.
"Nice try, Meliadoul."
"I know. Watch."
I moved my body around and the web ripped. I pulled it off me and looked around at my surroundings. I then realized I was on the side of a tree! I quickly grabbed onto Kyle's leg to prevent myself from falling.
"What?! How'd that happen?"
"The water's what makes it sticky and streachy. By evaporating it, I made the web harder, so I could break it. I wish you had told me we were on a tree though."
"Sorry bout that. Couldja get us down now?"
I dropped down to the ground and landed in a bush. Good thing it was a forest. I now had a good look at my surroundings. I was in a small field, and there were spiderwebs everywhere. There were people caught on webs all over. I saw my group, a lot of Karko Canyon residents, and then I noticed something very different. There she was. She was young, a few years younger than I. She had green hair and, from what I could see through the web, a green outfit. She had pointed ears. What was she?
"Hey, Meliadoul's out! Get us down!" That yell was from Moogle.
"Alright, every Wizard with fire capabilities, torch the web! It'll dry up, then you can get out of it!"
They did. Dragoniz, Kazin, and myself were the only ones with fire abilities, so we had to do alot of work. We decided to take care of our group first, so be burnt the web with our people before anyone else. Just Kazin released the last of our people, I returned my attention to the green-haired girl.
"Flame!"
I freed her and she fell, where I caught her and sat her down on a stump.
"Thank you. Who are you guys?"
"I'm Meliadoul. This is my group. We came to help you and the others escape from the spider. Um, can I ask you a question?"
"You want to know what I am, don't you? Well, I'll fill you in later. Right now, we need to take care of that spider." Sure enough, it was back. The thing was giant! It towered high above us, it must have been atleast the size of a dragon!
"Whoa! Alright, Miss, go hide! We'll take care of it!"
"The name's Ivy, not Miss. And I won't sit back. I'm out here to kill that thing too!"
"I won't waste my breath telling you to stop, but take care of yourself!"
At this moment, the spider backed up a few feet.
"What? Why's it backing away?"
"You don't get it, do you? Do you know why it didn't eat us?"
"....no. Why?"
"It's pregnant."
"Oh man. We're on the kid's lunch menu!"
At that moment, the giant Spider spawned 4 smaller spiders.
Ivy looked at them, then to me. "If you want to get out of here alive, stop talking and start fighting!"
I drew my elemental staff.
"Alright, bug! Fusion!"
Nothing happened.
"Uh oh. Lookes like that was a one time show. Alright guys, let's take care of this thing!"
I drew my harvest staff and I felt well rested from my nap in the web. We were ready to fight, as was Ivy. We entered battle.

Autumn 13, 9:09 P.M.
That fight as much harder than I thought. The Arachnid Queen was very powerful. She spit venom on us, which hurt us all and knocked a few of us unconcious. With Ivy's help, we managed to run it off, but with heavy losses. We used a lot of our supplies in this fight, but we managed to gain experience and money, so I guess it's okay. At the moment, everyone is working hard to free people from the webbing. I'm on my break right now. I think I'll talk to Ivy and find out some answers. It's a good thing we had a torch, or I'd still be burning web. Ivy's comming this way.
"Hello. So, what's your story?"
I told her of the Elemental Staff, of Byron, of how I was nearly killed, and of how we are trying to help people everywhere we go.
"Wow, that's some story."
"How about you?"
"Well, it's hard to say. I'll have to show you."
"I don't understand."
"And you won't unless I show you myself. Come on, we've got a few hours of walking ahead of us."
"I can't go now. We've got to escort these people back to Karko. Those birds that killed my friend were dangerous. There's no telling what kinds of danger these people could run into."
"I guess your right."
"And your comming with us. I'm not going to leave you alone out here."
"I can manage."
"I don't want to hear that. Your comming with us."
"What makes you think you can make me?"
"I'm not going to let you out of my sight unless I'm asleep or dead. I still have to get some answers"
Ivy let out a sigh. "Well, if your not going to let me go, atleast promise never to call me Miss again, okay?"
"Fine."
When the last of the Karkans was freed, we left for Karko.

Autumn 14, 7:09 A.M.
We returned them safely to the town and spent the night in the inn. I awoke very early, and I felt great from the days and days I had spent resting and healing my injuries. Now, I feel great. The Dragon has also healed. But I told the healer to take care of it until I got back from wherever it is that Ivy is taking me. I see her coming towards me now.
"Ready?"
"I suppose. Should I get the rest of the group?"
"I think you might want to come first, then you can come back and get them if you think the should see it too."
"Okay."

Autumn 14, 9:41 A.M.
We have been walking for a few hours. Finally, Ivy shows me a tree stump.
"This is the entrance." She then took out a green dust from a small sack, put in her hands and sprinkled it on the stump. Once the dust hit it, a green gateway opened up over the stump. Ivy stepped through it, and I reluctantly followed her.
I appeared in the forest, but it wasn't nearly as dark or scary. And it was populated by dozens of green haired people! They all looked just like Ivy! There was an entire village of these people. Some were working in gardens and others were cooking food over bondfires. Some of them, apparently children, were playing with flutes, drums, and ocarinas. Ivy was right, I would have never been able to understand without seeing this.
"Satisfied?"
"I don't know what to say."
Suddenly, everyone became aware of our presence. I stuck out. I had a pointed yellow hat and a blue robe, and I don't think they had seen anyone who didn't have green hair before. I didn't know what to do. Then one of them came over to us. I assume he was their leader.
"So, who have you brought back to us, Ivy?"
"Father, this is Meliadoul. I was caught by the Arachnid Queen and he and his friends helped me out."
"Did you kill the beast?"
"No, we didn't. It spit an acid of a venom on us and we were weakened, but we managed to fight back. It took us a while, but we managed to weaken it to the point where it ran off. But I am afraid of something."
"What?"
"The Arachnid Queen is pregnant. It spawned 4 babies before us, and I'm sure it will have even more."
"This is not good."
"Excuse me, but I don't think we were introduced. I'm Meliadoul.
"Ofcourse. I'm Ivy's father and the leader of our people."
"I don't mean to be rude, but what, er, are you?"
"Fair question. We are called the Children of the Forest. Do you wish to hear of our origin?"
"I'd love to, as would my friends. If you don't mind, I'd like to get them. Could I bring them here?"
"We do not like to bring your kind here. You are fortunate to be here, for you saved my daughter."
"Father! His friends helped me just as much as he did!"
"I'm sorry if my presence here offends you. I'll leave if you want."
"Do so then. But return with your friends. How many are there?"
"Around Twenty."
"Oh my. We have not had that many of your kind here for centuries. But it will be, for you saved the princess."
"Thankyou. I will be back shortly."
Ivy left with me. Once again, she sprinkled her dust on the stump and we were transported back to the dark and dreary forest.
"Princess? Your a princess?"
"Well, yes. I didn't want to tell you. I hate being a princess. I'm always treated special and I can't do anything unless I do it in secret."
"That can't be good. Well, if you want, I'll never bring it up again."
"Then don't."
The remainder of our walk, we didn't speak.

Autumn 14, 3:06 P.M.
It took us a while to get to town, gather the group, and return to the stump. We all entered and we are now in the village. My group is as amazed as I was.
"Now that you are all here, we can begin. This tale is the tale of my people. Listen well.

Long ago, centuries ago, we lived near Karko Canyon. We were peaceful with the Karkans. We coexisted as if we were the same species. But one day, a princess from our village and a Karkan prince met and fell in love. They did this in secret. Although our people and the Karkans were great allies, love between our two species was unheard of. Doing so would be going against the will of the gods, for we would create a new type of life that was not ment to be. But these two were so much in love that they didn't care. They defied the gods and secretly had a child together.
A farmer from our village stumbled upon them one day out in the forest. He saw them together with their child. He quickly informed a priest in our village of their relationship and the new being that they had created. The priest percieved this as heracy and, with a warrior from the Karkan tribe, went to the forest and found them. The priest ordered the warrior to kill the child before the gods were further angered. The warrior attempted to, but the prince guarded it with his life. They faught eachother and the warrior was greatly wounded. The priest healed him and the warrior eventually triumphed in defeating the prince. He then killed the child. The prince, filled with rage, tried to kill the warrior. The warrior, however, was a better fighter and killed the weakened prince. The priest then took the princess back to the villages. There, the warrior suddenly cried out that the priest had killed the prince and that he had tried to save him. The people turned on the priest when they saw the blood of the prince on his staff. The warrior, being as clever as he was, had planted it there. The people of Karko attacked the priest and princess for killing their leader. The priest was killed, but as they were about to kill the princess, the army of our people saved her. They saw the Karkans attacking the princess and the dead High Priest and quickly went into battle. The Karkans were great warriors, but our mages managed to transport our entire village into this dimension, away from the forest. Unfortunently, the princess didn't make it through the dimension and was captured by the angry Karkans. To repent for her sins, the Karkans sacraficed her, the first sacrafice by them of anything but an animal. They claimed it was the only way to repent for her actions against the gods. Her dying words were "As long as the forest stands, I will be with my love, your prince." To this day, we have lived seperate from humans. They have long forgotton us, as time tends to do. But the forest stands. The Princess of the Forest still exists as a godess, although no one has seen her in ages. They say she is still searching for her love and her child.

"Wait, so you guys are confined to this small village for all eternity?"
"No. We have our entire forest. It's a mirror of the other world, except in place of the Karko Canyon village, we have the caves."
"Caves?"
"Yes. There are 3 dragons in the caves. They guard the greatest weapons in this dimension. We leave them alone, however, because we don't need weapons and they are far too powerful for us anyway."
"Best you not play with fire then. What was that dust that opened the gate through the dimensions?"
"It's a special dust made by the wizard who created this dimension. They stored their supply here. Ivy is the only one who uses it, for she has to kill the Arachnid Queen. As the Princess, she has to."
"Why?"
"That's a story for another day."
"Okay...I don't suppose you'd let me have some of that dust?"
"No! It's forbiddon to let anyone but descendants of the princess use them!"
"You mean Ivy's a descendant of the princess in your story?!"
"Yes, as am I. But anyway, you will not have the dust. However, Ivy will go with you when you leave."
"What!?!"
"Ivy, you must destroy the Arachnid Queen. It's your duty by blood. And you can't do it alone. You must have the help of these people. Meliadoul, you and your group can stay here for a few days. We have longed to have some commerce! We never get visitors here, so our shopkeepers would welcome your group! Buy our weapons, armors, and items!"
"Thankyou for your kindness. I'm sure my group would love to stay."

Autumn 15, 1:21 A.M.
Ivy and I snuck out from the rest of the group early in the mourning. We needed time to talk without all of the guards and the strange looks from the locals. We walked into the woods a little ways and stopped next to a glistening stream. It was bright and sparkling in the moonlight.
"You have more questions?"
"Yeah, I do. Why is there a moon here?"
"We created a small world based on what the world was like centuries ago. The great mages of long ago even created a moon for us."
"Thats incredable."
"We think so too. It's amazing how powerful they were."
"If they were so strong, why did you run from the Karkans?"
"We didn't want to start an all out war. We are a peacefull people, contrary to our history."
"I see. Wait, it just dawned on me. If the princess in your legend was killed and her baby was killed, how did you descend from her?"
"That's the part of the story my father wouldn't tell you. It shames him. For you see, the princess was already married to a prince from our people. It was one of those arranged marrages between two families. She did not love her husband, but was forced to have a child. I'm a descendant of that child. She is still my ancestor, but the prince was not."
"Well, I suppose thats all I can think of right now."
"Then can I ask you something?"
"Fine."
"What are you in it for?"
"I don't understand what you mean."
"Are you helping people around the world to gain the power of the Elemental Staff? Are you doing it because your a nice person? Or is it just because you want to be rich and famous for helping people?"
"...I'm in it for a reason I don't need to share with you."
"Wait, you mean I can tell you the heritage of my entire family and you can't answer that?"
"I'm sorry. But it's not something I want to share."
"Fine, don't then. But if you can't trust others, how can you expect them to trust you?"
"Faith. I have to have faith that they will trust me."
"Faith can be a very dangerous thing."
With that, Ivy got up and left me sitting there. I didn't get up. I simply remained by the small stream. I thought back on my past and then threw a rock into the stream, causing a giant ripple.

Autumn 17, 6:31 A.M.
A few days have pasted since our arrival. I have been avoiding Ivy as much as possible, but in a small village like this, it's almost impossable. I then heard from the leader of the village that they needed some fire wood. I quickly volunteered to get it, for it was a way to get my men and women back in shape. They had been hanging around in leisure for the last few days and needed some good, hard work. We all embarked into the woods. Ivy came as a guide.

Autumn 17, 8:01 A.M.
We have been chopping wood for the past hour. Even the mages have been doing so, because I don't want them to become dead weight once they run out of magic. One of my men, by the name of Big Moogle, came over to me. He seemed young and energetic, yet inexperienced.
"Meliadoul, haven't we got enough wood?"
"Oh yes. We've had enough for a while. This is training, my friend."
"I don't see why we need it. We beat down that spider, didn't we?"
"One thing you rookie swordsmen need to learn is that you can always get stronger."
At that moment, I heard someone yelling. It sounded like a woman, probrably Alma Beoulve.
"Meliadoul! Come quickly!"
We all rushed over. It was Alma Beoulve and we all saw what she was screaming about. There was a ghostly spirit in the air. It was covered in a misty haze and it was hard to make out.
"What do you want spirit?"
No reply from the ghost. Another of my men jumped out. It was Moogle.
"Hey, phantom, he's talking to you!"
The spirit then let out an evil laugh. Moogle lost his temper.
"Are you laughing at us? That's it!"
Moogle unsheathed his sword and jumped at the spirit. He hit it, but it formed into a pure gas and ran down the blade. It went into Moogle and he fell down.
"Moogle!"
We ran over to him, in his lying state. He suddenly got up as if it were nothing.
"You okay?"
Moogle let out a laugh similar to the one made by the spirit and then rose his sword. 2 dead human-looking creatures came up from the ground beneath us.
"Moogle's possessed! Alright then, we're gonna have to free him!"
I tried to grab his shoulder, but he turned and hit me with his bare fist, knocking me to the ground.
"Okay... Plan B. Kill those two zombie things and weaken Moogle enough to help us bring him back to the village. But don't kill him, he's still one of us!"
With that, we entered battle.

The fight was no more than 5 or so minutes. The undead zombie creatures were no match for our flame spells. Moogle, on the otherhand, was much stronger. He used many great skills on us that we had never seen. It must have been the spirit. Speaking of the spirit, now that it's out of Moogle's body, I'm going to have a talk with it.
"Spirit! Why did you possess my friend?"
"I don't have to share my reasons with the likes of you!"
Ivy looked into it deeply, then walked over to my side.
"That's the spirit of the warrior who started the trouble centuries ago!"
"So it is! Alright, why did you start the fight between the Karkans and the Forest Children?"
Again, the spirit didn't speak to me. It ignored me and began to fade.
"We've weakened it too much. It's fading."
Within a few seconds, the spirit had completely dissappeared. There was nothing left for us there but to grab the wood and return to the village.
On the way back, Moogle confronted me.
"I'm sorry about that."
"It's okay. It wasn't you fighting. But I'll tell you one thing, you were tough! I'm glad your on our side!"
"Gee, thanks! Well, I wanted to tell you something. From the possession, I remember how I did the Spirit Sabre move. It should be helpfull in the future."
"Great! Well, I guess we should get some rest. I think we beat you pretty badly."
"You don't look too good yourself. I kinda fried you guys with that last move..."

Autumn 17, 8:45 A.M.
When we arrived at the village, Ivy and I told her father about seeing the spirit.
"He possessed one of my men and made him attack us. Fortunently, we left that battle without anyone losing a limb or anything."
Ivy continued.
"Father, why would the spirit of that warrior be in our dimension?"
"I don't know. Apparently, it went through with us long ago. Or it followed the humans in."
"One way or another, it's gone now. We weakened it through Moogle, and it couldn't even hold form long without a host."
"I don't want to sound ungrateful, but could you please leave tomorrow morning? Once talk gets out that the spirit of that warrior was in our forest, the fire of hatred towards humans is bound to burn again in my people. It's for your own good, as well as ours."
"I understand. We'll leave tomorrow morning bright and early. Thank you for your hospitality."
For the rest of the day, the group stocked up on supplies, knowing that we would have a 2 hour trip back to Karko Canyon ahead of us.

Autumn 18, 9:09 A.M.
Well, we left early and have now returned to Karko Canyon. We left the town of the forest children without much stopping us. I guess they wanted us gone. But we're here now. I went to check on the Dragon as soon as I returned. It's back to fighting strength. It's a good thing too. I promised Ivy that we would look for the Aracnid Queen and I fear that it will grow stronger as we do. Our Dragon would be very usefull against her. Also, now that the people have returned, it seems that the town has changed. But the biggest shock is the townsquare. It has all of the things that were solely in the Forest Children's village! Apparently, with the woods cleared, the shopkeepers gained access to the materials needed to update their inventory. Well, I'm going with Moogle to the healer now. We're going to see if there are any side effects to his little possession. His keeping Spirit Sabre could mean he also kept other things. We're speaking with the healer now.
"So, you were possessed."
"Yes, I was."
"Do you remember what happened?"
"Yes. I had no control over myself. I felt completely helpless."
"He learned how to do the Spirit Sabre attack. It's something that the spirit that enhabitted his body did. I'm afraid the spirit may have left other effects as well."
"A very wise concern. Let me see."
He then did a few tests that seemed to combine both magical and medical knowledge. At any rate, they were above me. Finally, after a few moments, he talked to me in private, with Moogle standing on the other side of the room.
"This is rather odd."
"Is something wrong with him?"
"Well, it's like this. The spirit is gone, but it left small ammounts of Spiritual Energy."
"Spritual energy?"
"Yes. Spiritual Energy is part of you. Your body holds it. It's what makes you live. There are many kinds of Spiritual Energy. The Spiritual Energy in Moogle is mostly his own, but there are minute ammounts of other energy in him."
"What does this mean?"
"His body will do one of two things. It will attack it like an invading virus and kill it or it will mix with it. In the case of the former, he will remain unchanged."
"And if it mixes?"
"In the event that it mixes, then Moogle's body will change slightly. It probrably won't effect him in any way at all, but he will have spiritual energy within him. If either of these happen, he won't be effected greatly at all."
"Well, if it does mix, is there anything we can do about it?"
"I don't want to sound cruel, but if it mixes, it could be for the better. You see, in the town of Tandar, there is a special guild. It trains warriors of all types new ways to use their skills. There is a man there who trains people how to use their Spiritual Energy. He can't get pupils easily because it requires that you have strong spiritual energy while still being able to control it. I believe if Moogle goes to him and trains, he could learn how to harness this new power of his. It would be a waste for him to simply ignore it."
"I understand what you mean. Where is Tandar anyway?"
"It's not far from here. I'll show you." He pointed to it on the map on his wall.
"Okay, I guess we'll go there. Doesn't seem like there's much else we can do."
I again thanked the healer and left the room. I then talked with Moogle. He was nervous when I spoke with him, so I didn't tell him about the Spiritual Energy. I suppose I'll have to tell him when we reach Tandar.
As we were speaking, I heard arguements from outside. Moogle and I quickly reached the source, the townsquare's streetcorner. It was Ivy and Rochel, the traveling swordsman.
"Why did you leave!?!"
"I didn't like it there and I'm doing fine here, thank you!"
"Your family has been worried! How could you put them through this?"
"I didn't belong with them and they knew it! I belong in this world!"
"Time out! Hey, you two come with me. We're making a spectator sport out in the open!"
They nodded and followed me into the Pub, where we sat down. Moogle had left us to go shopping.
"Okay, now that we're alone, how do you two know each other?"
"You mean you can't tell?"
"I'm one of the Children of the Forest and she's the Princess...."
I had never realized it, but sure enough, Rochel had a slight resemblence with the Children of the Forest. But it was different.
"Hold up. Sure, there are some resemblences, but you don't look like a forest child! You look more human than that!"
"That's because I've grown strong. The Children of the Forest rarely enhance their fighting abilities, so they never die of age. I've wandered around the planet for the last 50 years learning all the techniques I could. I despise the Forest Children, so I wanted to become human. By working as hard as I have, I've grown more and more human. Finally, after all of this time, I've reached a human state, only my hair has remained green."
"What do you mean dispise?!"
"You hate the humans for 1 human's actions. After time, they have forgotton about our kind, and have moved on. We today, after all of this time, still hold a grudge against them. They are more matured a race than we, and I want to be like them."
Before I realized it, they were shouting again. The pub owner shot me an evil glare and I quickly quieted them again.
"Listen, I'm going to Tandar soon. I know Ivy's comming with me to take care of the Arachnid Queen, but Tandar also has many opprotunities for you to learn new moves, Rochel. I want you both to come with me so we can sort this out. It's my fault Ivy's here and I don't want to be responsible for reviving an old grudge, so we're going to settle this. But not now. Now, I'm going to go get my group together and spread the news on our plans. You're both old enough to stay out of trouble, so just keep apart for now."
I didn't hear another word from them. They simply nodded and left, Rochel going back to the streetcorner and Ivy to the inn.

Autumn 18, 12:00 P.M.
I just finished my lunch. The group has started gathering supplies again. I myself am saving my money. I'm going to need it when we get to Tandar. I asked around and it's got a reputation for more than just training. It is a great marketplace with many powerful weapons and armors. We will leave for it tomorrow. Boy, our little group has grown so much. We've started as a band of rookies and picked up many new allies allong the way, including a powerful dragon, a forest princess, and now, a master of the sword! We're going to become even stronger in Tandar! Things are definently looking up!

Autumn 19, 5:22 P.M.
We've been traveling all day. It's a two-day trip to Tandar, so we're only half way to our destination. It's starting to get dark and the sun will be down soon. We're resting in a field. The grass is a dead shade of brown and it's about a foot tall. I'm using this time to speak with Rochel and Ivy.
"Rochel, how did you get to this dimension?"
Before he could answer, Ivy blabbed "He stole some of the powder used to open the portal and went through!"
"Really? You stole from royalty?"
"Yes, I did. I had to get away. I would not let my sister be raised to hate humans. So I took her here."
"Your sister?!"
Ivy was as shocked as I.
"You mean your not the only forest child here?!"
"Of course not. I brought my sister with me."
"Where is she?"
"Sadly, I don't know. Over the years, we grew appart. I would go on journies to learn new swordskills and she would practice her innate gift for magic. You know, the technique that Ivy uses. All female Forest Children have it. As she spent time in guilds, I spent time accross the land training under masters. After a while, we lost contact with eachother, with both of us never in one place very long. I don't even know if she's still alive."
"I'm sorry to hear that."
"I don't worry about her. Her magic, when I last saw her, was incredable. She had already become a master of the standard spells and was creating some of her own. She's much more powerful than you or Ivy."
Ivy and I both gave him a gee thanks look and rolled our eyes. Just as he had said the story, I noticed a black cloud forming. I then heard my archer friend Ness 16 shouting
"Fire! There's a fire in the grassland!"
We quickly got up, as did the rest of the group. We were there rather quickly, but to our suprise, we saw that the fire was actually moving around! It took me a moment, but I realized that there were creatures in there. 2 fire beasts and 3 people, who appeared to be swordsmen, who were all covered in flames. They looked at us and the swordsmen raised their weapons.
"Who are you guys?!"
The lead swordsmen replied calmly "Hey, I knew I'd find you here!" He was staring at the Dragon. "Byron's got a nice bounty on you!"
"Back off, hothead. That's my friend your messing with."
"You must be Meliadoul. Well, Byron wants you dead as well. Alright guys, get'em!"
Before I knew what hit me, they had ingulfed the surrounding field in flames. It's a good thing we have Rochel, Ivy, AND the Dragon here! Rochel pulled out his sword, Ivy cracked her knuckles, the dragon exhaled a puff of smoke through it's nostrals, and we entered battle.

It wasn't a very long battle. Once our ice doused their flames, they became fairly easy to defeat. A few of us were burned, but it's nothing we won't recover from shortly. What worries me is that Byron has mercenaries after us in addition to his own men. We are easily spotted, for we have the giant dragon with us. If only there was a way to conceal it....