Falling Dragons

A Dangerous Path

Boros and Kelsey walk together silently, occasionally bickering about the spellbook that he was forced to remove a page from. He begins wondering where exactly they were headed, knowing that the path they were on leads to a small town. Surely, whatever she had planned required a larger town. They walk for a while
⁵before his curiosity gets the better of him. "So where exactly are we heading now, Kelsey? There's just a small town this way."

She looks back him confidently with a big smile. "We're going to get a couple of horses." She says this, maintaining her goofy grin. Boros thinks that she must be pretty proud of her idea to be so happy about it.

He simply smiles back at her. "That's a good idea, Kelsey." He tries to enforce her confidence before he questions her planning. "But why didn't we get a horse in the last town?" He watches her visibly deflate as the words leave his mouth.

Kelsey stops moving for a moment as she realizes how much time they've wasted. The hours spent traveling could have almost gotten them to the town if they had horses. Rather than accept her mistake fully, she defensively yells at Boros. "You could have mentioned buying a horse too, ya know!"

Boros stops and stands completely still for just a moment before erupting. "How was I supposed to know you wanted a horse?!" He yells out of confusion, attempting to defend his actions. "You haven't informed me of anything. If I knew half of the things you had planned, I could have helped considerably more." He begins to calm down, reducing his volume to a speaking voice again.

Kelsey still appears just as defensive as before, continuing to shout. "I thought you were supposed to be the genius wizard prodigy!" She begins mocking him, using a terrible and exaggerated impression of him. "I'm Boros, and I know everything. I've got my head so far up my ass, I can't think of helping my ally without being told exactly how to help." She walks back and forth, deepening her voice to further exaggerate her insulting impression of Boros.

Boros is slightly irritated at first, but seeing the tiny wolfgirl in front of him with her cheeks puffed in anger almost seems too adorable for him to be upset. Once she imitates him so crudely, however, he begins becoming enraged. He can't resist fighting back, using his own imitation. He makes his voice as high and shrill as he can, posing to appear dainty. "Well, I'm Kelsey. I'm so spoiled that I expect everyone to instantly know exactly what I need whenever I need it, even if I don't know what I need. Instead of accepting my own failures, I blame everyone around me." He turns to stare at her after his small rant. Kelsey is visibly angry. Her hands have formed small fists at her sides. Her cheeks have puffed out as she stares up at him. Her stance has become rigid. Boros begins to wonder if he took it too far.

Kelsey turns around suddenly, in a huff. "Fine!" She yells as she starts walking away. Boros follows closely behind. "You're an ass, Boros!" She yells again, refusing to turn her face to him.

Despite catching up and walking beside her, Boros doesn't get her attention. He retaliates. "I'm an ass?" He says, sounding half surprised. "How am I the ass?" Even though he asked a question, Kelsey doesn't respond. "You're being awfully rude, Kels-" Boros is interrupted before he can finish speaking.

Kelsey holds her hand up to him, her palm standing upright and flat, motioning him to stop. "Shut up, Boros!" He feels angry at first, prepared to once again lash out in anger for belittling him. Before he can, she comes in close to him and whispers. "We're being watched."

Boros doesn't understand quickly enough to prevent him from speaking in his normal voice. "Watched? What do you mean?" Kelsey grabs him by the collar of his shirt and drags him down to her, face to face.

Kelsey continues whispering, her tone slow and sharp. Boros can tell that she is serious this time. "Shut up. We're being followed by someone. Now, be quiet before we-" She's cut off by the sound of clapping in the distance. Boros and Kelsey turn their heads to see where the sound is coming from. They see a fairly open road with mostly grassland on both sides. There's a few buildings spaced out quite a distance apart, most likely farms or storage to provide for the nearby towns. Behind a few barrels, an armed dragon man emerges. He wears heavy plate mail armor and carries a shortsword in his hand. A small dragon man emerges from one of the larger trees nearby. He's clad in a dark cowl and darker leather armor, carrying two small daggers with him. A final man shows himself from behind the building, wearing only a pair of pants, and continues clapping mockingly.