An ongoing mission

Tah'lyia's words couldn't have rung more true if the gods and goddesses themselves appeared and spoke them. He didn't have Dax's resolve, having killed countless of enemies. He never told Dax about his first fifty years, when he had ended up having a body kill count of just innocent lives in the millions. He was no where near as destructive as his father, his numbers reaching into the trillions by now. He knew this, for he had his clones count the many paintings his father had. Such a way to remember those one killed he always thought. Paint the first moment you see of the person you kill. It was rather creepy, to be honest.

His second sight was showing nothing out of the ordinary. Maybe the animals could sense him for what he half was? He was more connected to the world thanks to Byblis's unknowing showing 'spell' she connected with to her forest. Demigora knew how bad the demon horde was, having almost burned completely to ash thanks to them. So it knew how bad a demon was within it's presence. He shook his head, smiling slightly. "They are cautious of me," he spoke softly. "I don't mind. My kin don't deserve trust. And neither do I. You know my crimes. And I am sorry."

Listening to her, he couldn't help but be drawn to her more. She was wise, like most of her kind. She was a warrior, proud, intelligent. What was there not to like and admire about? Humans lived too short a life to become so one with themselves. He would live at best two hundred years, if he was lucky.

"My wife has been gone now for four years," he spoke softly, looking down. "She was a Blood Elf of the Cresent Blood Elves. She was a natural fighter. She loved battle." He chuckled slightly. "After she fought me, and lost for the first time, she swore she'd gut me before the crowd. Didn't matter it was just a spar between us. I was so scared of her. But she confessed to me later, in private, that she had been waiting to find an equal or better to admire." He looked back up at her. "I was only seventeen, and had only been fighting for two years, but only in spars. She was so skilled, I was shocked I beat her."

Taking a deep breath, he smiled at her. "I'm sure there have been other warriors that have caught your eye? Or have you been so focused on your call, that you have never thought to look for a mate?"

He knew this was a personal question, but he couldn't help but ask her. How else to get to know someone then to ask such personal questions?

She was indeed a royal, this he could tell for sure. Some of his family members spoke like she did about such things. Duty, charge, the people. It was spot on for a royal member, even for one not wanting to be upon the throne. Some royals were taught to respect the people, for they needed them as much as their people needed the royal members. Some things were just universal.

He looked over his shoulder at her, his hood hiding half of his face. "You can be cautious of me all you like. In a sick way, I would perfer that. But if you ask Dax, I am not one to be worried about. I'm a true gentleman." Shaking his head, looking forward. "They sense me easier cause of my connection to the world. I'm half fire demon, by blood." He looked back over to her, "I have a true demon form, though I am half human and keep this form. If I wanted, I could be in a demonic form. Harder to get around," he said smirking slightly, "but no one would be able to stop me if I did."

He continued along the hidden path, worried that the forest might attack him if he did continue without reasuring it that he meant no harm. The world had a way to deal with lone demons. He had hidden himself quite well throughout his life...until now.

A smile appeared upon his face. So he had a chance? If she allowed herself that is. But he could be patient. He would gladly show her that he was like that which she saught.

Upon Skyler's words, he nodded. "It is true. He may be half demon, but he is a true gentleman and friend. If not a bit scary with how natural his powers are." He chuckled, finally noticing how quiet the world was around them.

"I don't know what they are so worried about? You wouldn't hurt a fly. Not without being provoked that is."

He looked back to Tah'lyia, smiling again. "And I'd protect you if need be."

He held up his hand, shaking his head. "No thank you. I have my own store of liquids that I drink. It is rare that I drink water, and Dax can't drink water until after the noon day sun. Some sort of ritual day tradition." He smiled at her and turned back around. "And I must say, I am surprised by you, Lady Tah'lyia. Most people from any continent would be scared out of their mind knowing they were in the company of someone that had demon blood, what with the constant fear of the demon horde rising up and sweeping over the lands." He shook his head. "I just want to have a normal life. Sadly, being a prince, and part fire demon, that isn't something I will be able to have willingly." He looked back over his shoulder, "But, it is nice to have friends, like Dax, and hopefully yourself, to keep me grounded."

He summoned a small cup of his Hydra Tear Tea and took a sip from it, keeping focus of the trail. The silence was almost too creepy, even for the likes of him. But as he focused his energy to display that more of a human, and less of the demon, the world around them began to relax.

"They really don't care for the demon kind," he spoke softly to himself.

He bowed his head to her slightly. In all of his excitement he forgot to even notice that she had offered him water. He would have politely declined, but he was just so distracted by her. He shook his head, taking a deep breath. "I'm sorry Tah'lyia. I should pay more attention. Sky is right, I don't drink water until after the noon day sun. But it isn't a tradition. It is the rite of purification. After waking, one must pray, then fast until noon, before taking a sip of pure water. Then the day is allowed to start. I don't know why I hold on to such silly traditions. But they are what make me who I am." He smiled weakly to her.

He looked down, keeping his eyes away. What was making him act like this? She just just someone he had ran into. Was he so lonely that he would take a chance at courting a lone traveling female on quest? How selfish and desperate was he becoming?

"I am sorry for my behavior," he finally spoke after awhile. "I am not normally like this. Please, forgive me."

Tucking the bag of water back into her pack, she looked aroud casually. Hoisting the pack a bit higher on her shoulder, she glances back over to the quiet animals as they went back onto their own things. Nodding a bit to Dax, she gave a weak smile. She wasn't sure what he was apologizing for, but she figured there was something he had done that he wasn't happy about. Popping her neck from side to side, she sighed softly with the pain of the feel, but it felt wonderful to stretch her neck too. As they continued to walk, she just enjoyed the company, not very much for lots of conversations. Actually, she enjoyed listening to them banter back and forth, although sometimes she couldn't tell, but it sounded like Skyler was trying hard to either intimidate her, or impress her. Either way, if he mentioned his royal or demonic status again, she was going to scream or cause herself to go deaf. Other than that though, she enjoyed listening to them joke around with each other and chatter on about past things. It made her miss friendly talks with her brother, her generals and her friends. It felt like home. It was nice.

Seeing how Tah'lyia didn't speak much, he desided to just be silent himself and let Dax speak with her. It was nice to be around his friend again. Seeing him flirt with the woman, while trying not to make a fool of himself, was rather nice. He missed such things. He missed many things.

He suddenly stopped. His father was in Val'Dariah. He could feel the massive amount of energy particals bleeding off into the sky, even from so far away. Damn it, his father wasn't suppose to be there. He still needed time.

Taking a deep breath, he continued on, shaking his head and mumbling to himself incoherantly. This was bad. This was very bad.

Sensing that this trip was to be a quiet one, he simple bowed his head towards his friend and smiled. He then looked at Tah'lyia, but before he could say anything, he tripped and fell over a root that had been sticking out. He hit the ground hard, rolled forward with his momentum and popped back up with as much eligance and grace as he could muster. He shook his head, dusting his new cloak off from the dust and dirt.

"Well that was embarassing." He turned to her, "You alright? You didn't get hurt did you?" Wasn't that her line? He couldn't help it. And why did he just trip? He wasn't a clumsy man. He was a good fighter, able to keep his balance with anything. That was just odd.

"Sorry about that. I'm not normally this ackward." He looked down, desiding to stay quiet for the rest of the journey until spoken too.

He stopped suddenly. He felt his son. He was upon greater as well. Something must be up. He looked over his shoulder at both of them and smiled slightly, "I'm sorry. Something is up. Half of my family is upon Greater now."

He walked over and handed Dax a small black capsule. "If you need to escape, throw this down and you two will automatically transport to me. I don't want to take away from your journey Tah'lyia. So I will go by myself. I hope to see you two at the city soon."

And with that, he walked into Dax's shadow, vanishing from the spot.

(Sky is now in the city)

Smiling slightly, pocketing the capsule Sky had given him, he nodded to her. In some ways he was glad his friend was gone. That gave him time more to focus on Tah'lyia. She was a strong woman and he liked that very much about her.

He looked down a bit, chuckling, "Yeah, evil roots." Shaking his head slightly he continued down the path towards the road. "I can handle myself in battle. I was trained in the monistary to be able to defend myself. I took that to the arena with me."

Looking around a bit, he took out his divine eye card and pushed his powers into it. He wanted to make sure they were safe to go at any pace. From what he could tell, there was nothing wrong or out of place. "We should be able to reach the next town before night fall. Then we can reach Val'Dariah quicker. Hopefully the storms have ended by then."

He didn't want to take from her without having to give back. He had traveled quite a few years himself. He had so much experiance with it being from Lesser, he knew what had to be done. Watching her as he walked, he couldn't help but smile. At long last she stopped. He was use to walking for days without stopping and eating. But things with him were different.

Stopping, he brought out a small blue tablet and put it into his mouth and began to suck upon it. He made sure not to crack the tablet, knowing if he had the water within, a lake full, would come rushing out and into his mouth and body. He had seen what had happened to those that cracked the capsul. It wasn't pretty. As for food...Well, that wasn't exactly hard to come by. One way to waist, yet use your powers was to summon things to eat. Not create, but summon what was around.

"That sounds wonderful, truth be told. I was getting a bit worried. I'm glad we reached the road." He took out the blue capsul and sighed. "I need to get more of these in the next town. This is my last one." He looked up at her. "It is the reason why I haven't been taking your water pouch. I have water capsuls. They hold a lake full of water within. Handy, if not a bit dangerous."

Watching her work, he almost felt helpless. But he didn't want to get in her way. Smiling, he sat down next to the fire and decided to watch it so it wouldn't get out of hand. It was nice being on the road finally. The trip to the next town was just what they needed to get too. He did leave without getting proper items for travel.

"Alright, take your time."

He watched over the rabit until she got back. He did wish he had another tablet for her. But he didn't. He'd have to show her where to get them once they reached Val'Dariah.

Smiling at her, he looked about, "It smells good. You must have been traveling for some time now to cook this good?"

Sitting back, watching her work, his eyes began to wander around the area. It had been some time since he last had a major traveling time. He had come to Val'Dariah almost a full year ago, hoping to get away from the bounty hunters. Sky was a big help, but there was no way he was going to see him upon Divide. Going into demon controlled lands as a human was virtual suicide. And he never seemed to have enough money to use the travel hub to the blood elves that lived upon Divide. Hell, even going to Cresent Icebreak was expensive. Plus, he was a wanted criminal upon Lesser. Going to a pure city like Cresent Icebreak would surely end him in jail, waiting to be exicuted on Lesser.

He looked over at her, smiling slightly. He reached into his pocket in his cloak and pulled out his special set of cards. He held the divine eye up to show her the picture of the blue eye in the center of the elaborately decorated card.

"Divine eye. I usually have these cards on me for when I do battle. I do have some magic ability, but not much. This card allows me to see things using divine magic. I have a spiritual eye and an arcane eye card."

"I'm what is known as a card fighter. I'm good enough that I don't need to use them until towards the end of most fights. I have natural skills as a fighter." He sighed softly, "And yes, unfortunately, I have killed other fighters. I try not to, but sometimes the fights....They do get out of hand. Usually because the other fighters play to the crowd."

He was glad she understood. Killing was not nessassary. But that had more to do with his years at the monistary then any true code against killing. Yet there were many times in which he let the other live, even though the crowd wanted blood and death. He simply wouldn't do it.

Smiling softly, he leaned forward and took a chunk of the rabbit meat and bit into it. He had money, the town they were going to would be reached shortly, so they could buy supplies. Supplies...

"Tah'lyia, do you have any travel money? The town we are going to is has a major market place, as is the city that were are moving too. I was wondering if you had anything in the way of money or barter. If not, I would be glad to help you get supplies. With the winnings from Sky, I have more then enough."

Hopefully she wouldn't take his offer of kindness as a slap in the face. Not many places took foreign currency. Common coins usually were exchanged in major cities, but not in small towns.

That was unusual. But he had to remember that most elves that had never left their homelands before were like this. Even some city elves tried to live off the land as best they could. Sticking to one's nature was usually a good quality. But they were going to populated cities with customs and laws completely foreign to her. So it was best that he was with her for this.

"That is admirable. I wish most societies were like that. But unfortunately, where we are going, money is what makes the world go around. I have the money for us to travel and stay at an Inn once we get to Val'Dariah. And if need be, to get the information you need to find out who has attacked your home. Sad to say, money is the currency of the world."

He reached over and took another chunk of the rabbit, nibbling upon it this time, thinking. She was lucky to live so free and oblivious to the world. But walking into that world without him would have cost her a lot of grief. Thieves were clever in the cities, the back allies were dangerous to even the normal city crowd, let alone to visitors.

"I'll watch over you once we get to the city. I won't let anything bad happen to you. I promise."