-----Abram and Bradley are heard talking to Romney about a chance meeting they had with the Dread Pirate and the other rogues.
-----"Thank ye, sir." Sol replies politely to Zepharon. He then directs the physician towards Raven and Rinda before heading over towards Abram and Bradley. Without preamble, he butts in, "Abram, repeat what ye said. What was that about th' thieves?"
-----"Thanks, mommy." Sarah says happily, giving her father one last peck on the cheek as she departs with her mother. After all she's gone through, and all the times she's faced death it feels divine to be pampered again. The young mage begins to wonder why she ever left.
-----The talk of the thieves makes her frown a little. Somewhere deep down she's still mad at the one that stole her spells. But she reminds herself that although they didn't seem to care for anyone but themselves, they never really hurt anyone either. So taking a deep breath Sarah tells herself she's wiping the slate clean mentally. Still thinking about it is giving her a headache so she lets herself be taken aside by her adopted mother, pausing only to blow Sol a kiss as she leaves.
-----"Please forgive me, but I will return soon," the Lord Wizard says urgently, kissing his daughter on the forehead and waving to the hooded diviner. The wizard then briskly walks to the trail road while grasping a few components from his pouch on his belt.
-----First, Zepharon gestures with his arms as if scooping great amounts of air toward him. In the next moment, he whistles loudly which seems to echo and carry far off through the forest. Then another casting is accomplished and the Lord Wizard's form begins to float and rise into the air. Zepharon rises many feet into the sky and just as his blue robes becomes difficult to see against the partly cloudy sky, a loud bright trumpeting call is heard.
-----Suddenly a gigantic draconic shape, over eighty feet in length, appears from the east. The great dragon, its scales a bright brassy color in the morning light, soars high over the town and flies near the Lord Wizard. It slows enough that Zepharon quickly grabs at the base of its neck and hoists himself across its back.
-----Circling once over the encamped troop, the dragon with the wizard riding just in front of its wings banks off and flies quickly off to the east. They are soon lost from sight by the tall treetops.
-----By this time, Sarah is with her mother inside their tent while Abram and Bradley as well as everyone else outside stand agape at what had just transpired.
-----Just before the Lord Wizard had excused himself, Bradley was just beginning to speak. But then as Zepharon began his conjuring, everyone fell silent. By the time the dragon appeared and then hurriedly flew off, the guards from Oakwood as well as most of the town's population was too flabbergasted to do much more than stare at the sky.
-----Finally, Bradley began to utter, "D-d-d-dragon. T-t-that w-was a d-dragon!"
-----Shaking the surprise from his head, Abram then commenced to answer Sol. "Aye, . . . aye, the thieves. Well now, since we last saw you, we escorted the elf Marast all the way to the Town of Oakwood. There, we were assigned to accompany one of the troops back to the Town of Redmarsh. The troop was under the command of the Lady Paladin, Xavia Parian and our first stop on the way south was the village of Navlot. Little did we know that the village was besieged by werewolves and we stayed the night there rather than take the chance of losing any who would help in the reclamation of Redmarsh. On that very night, the halfling who calls himself the Dread Pirate and his gang rode into that very village and we were forced to spend the night together in what remained of the village's tavern."
-----The dragon certainly made an impression on Sol, too. Eyes wide and his breathing shallow, the Gorian watched mesmerized, as the Lord Wizard flew to his mount. Like the other two Sol had recently encountered, the tremendous creature inspired awe and wonder in the young warrior. This time though, there was none of the fear for his friend's safety, only delight at recognizing one of the good dragons that Zepharon had shown him through magical images.
-----"Truly, I am blessed . . . " Sol whispered to himself, grateful once again for where his life had led him. It was true that beauty had many forms . . .
-----His wide smile took some time to fade, though by the time Abram had finished speaking, Sol looked distinctly pensive. He had some questions to ask the scarred guard, and he didn't hesitate to ask them, "What happened then? Considering their crimes an' all . . . An' more importantly, what o' th' werewolves? We knew something was odd wi' that place. I'm now sorry we didn't stay longer. Vengeance had its grip on me back then."