The three men wore shawls around their shoulders reaching down to their mid arms, each of them bearing a different color pattern from the other. They looked a bit like tartans from what Teyva could see and it looked like there were a few colors in common among them, blues mostly. Teyva narrowed her eyes at the weapons and then glanced up at their faces. They were all at least middle-aged, bearded, and clearly terrified. Their hands trembled beneath the proffered weapons while their eyes were wide and a bit frantic.

On Teyva’s right, Azrael lowered her hand to her weapon, resting her palm on the hilt. She let out a low growl of open hostility. Behind her, The Marble made his own sound of irritation which came out like a mixture between a gurgle and a moan. Teyva, for her part, raised her hands and offered her widest smile. A smile that had the exact opposite effect of her intent. The three men winced at the sight of her, one of them raising his weapon a bit higher and taking more direct aim at her. She frowned and used her journal to have a quick look.

“Gentlemen, come on now, we helped you guys out!” Teyva said, nodding to her right to where the bodies of many Rliks lay. One of them glanced over while the other two narrowed their eyes.

Rikard spoke up first; “Mighty convenient timing if you ask me, Wildlands ain’t that kind.”

“He has a point,” Elat said to Teyva’s left.

“Not. Helping,” Teyva growled at him before looking back at the three men with as wide a smile as she could manage with a closed mouth. “Guys, seriously, we’re just on our way to Osan, we happened to spot the Rilks and noticed they were laying in wait. That’s all there is to it.”

“I ain’t listening to a word you say, she-devil,” Jona croaked out, “Didn’t believe your kind was even real till I seen your face.”

“She-devil?” Teyva grunted, glancing at Azrael who didn’t so much as tilt her head in her direction, “It’s the horns, isn’t it?”

“Quiet!” David growled, pulling the ready bar on his weapon and gesturing toward Teyva.

“That is quite enough!” Azrael barked, bearing her teeth and taking a step forward; “How dare you! We help you and your people and this is the thanks we get? I am Azrael Unabi, a Warden of the Azar and the woman you are pointing your weapons at is Lady Teyva Akura, who I’ve sworn my blade to. You will show some respect.”

The three men jumped, looking at one another. Teyva barely restrained her own look of surprise. She started to glance over at Azrael when her friend’s voice came over the private channel.

Play it up, Teyva.

Teyva cleared her throat, tilting her head up a bit and doing her best to look proud. It wasn’t easy. She was so used to being yelled at by people back in her past life that dealing with this kind of hostility was hard. Retail had programmed her for submission. It wasn’t like dealing with Elder Yol; she was caught up in the moment there. These people were on edge, fearful, and clearly prepared with their own pre-judgments. She couldn’t even take a breath to center herself. All she could do was offer her coldest stare.

That, fortunately, seemed to do the trick. Jona lowered his weapon and canted his head to the right, “What, you some kind of noble?”

“Just now figuring that out?” Teyva managed to hiss over her rapidly beating heart.

The other two lowered their weapons but kept their eyes on Teyva. Jona scratched his chin and looked between the three of them. “What are you doing all the way out here? And who’s he?”

“He has a name,” Elat growled, “Elat.”

“We were sent by King Thrake to Katal. We are on our return trip to Osan,” Azrael said easily, “Elat is my lover, any more questions?”

The three men looked between themselves one more time before Rikard cleared his throat, “Alright, you two come with us to meet with the caravan boss,” He said, pointing at Azrael and Elat. “You stay here,” He said to Teyva.

“Any particular reason?” Teyva asked.

“We got normal folk in this caravan, they’ve seen enough frightful things today as it is,” Rikard said, “You’ll stay here with these two. David and Jona.”

Azrael let out another low growl and gripped the hilt of her sword, “Trying to split us up?”

“If she doesn’t cause them any problems there won’t be any,” He said, “We ain’t got no hate for the Azar and the Orcs, but we ain’t really sure what the heck she is and the good folk of the Caravan even less so.”

Teyva let out a sigh and sat down in the middle of the tall grass, Nephral’s tail wrapping around her neck and the Sphinx burrowing his head into her cheek. He hadn’t spoken the entire time, instead, he leveled the three of them with his most condescending stare. Teyva glanced over at Azrael who still hadn’t moved from her ready position. She canted her head to the right and offered her friend a big smile.

“It’s all good, Azrael, I’ll be fine. You go, these two fine young men can keep me company until you return. Okay?” Teyva reassured her, reaching back and rapping her knuckles against The Marble’s massive body.

Azrael finally looked back at her, rolling her jaw as she worked out her own feelings on the matter. She looked up at Elat and finally nodded, letting out a sigh. She stood up straight and began walking toward the three men. Elat was quick to join her, stowing his bow over his shoulder and giving Teyva an uneasy look. Teyva grinned at him and shrugged, leaning back in the grass and casting her face up to the sky. A few moments later they had left with only the two twitchy humans staying behind to keep an eye on her.

“Atrocious,” Nephral whispered angrily.

“Oh hush you,” Teyva shushed, scratching beneath his chin, “They’re scared.”

She glanced up at the two men and caught them in the midst of an argument. Both of them were staring at The Marble with a mixture of fear and confusion before looking back at one another and bickering in low tones. Teyva restrained a grin and shifted a bit on the ground. With their guard down it felt a little easier to speak, “You know, it’s not polite to whisper like that in front of a lady.”

Both of them turned to her, wide-eyed as if they’d forgotten she was there. “R-right, sorry,” David grunted.

“Don’t apologize!” Jona chided him with a slap to his arm.

“Did you boys have a question?” Teyva pressed, resting her elbows on her knees and staring at them with her big yellow eyes, “Seeing as I’m not going anywhere for a while, you’ve got me all to yourselves,” She teased.

The two men looked between themselves, Jona scratching his chin and David looking a little embarrassed. Finally, David spoke up, “What is that thing?” He asked, pointing at The Marble.

Teyva glanced back at the black-and-gold monolith behind her. She laughed and rapped her knuckles against him before turning to the two men; “This is The Marble, he’s a good boy. He protects me, isn’t that right dearie?” She asked, leaning back against the hard stone and looking up at the sheer stone.

“That thing is alive,” Jona confirmed.

“As alive as you or I,” Teyva said, “He’s just shy, come on, say hello to the two curious gentlemen,” she urged the creature. The Marble shifted a bit, the massive bulk swaying once before two eyes opened up on its surface and acknowledged the men. They jumped back, scrambling for their weapons before The Marble closed his eyes again. The two men looked at one another and fell silent, clearly having decided not to ask any more questions of the scary lady with the monsters.

They fell into silence and Teyva eventually pulled her skill book from her [Old Satchel] and began to read. She was interrupted after almost two hours, looking up to see Azrael and Elat return with Rikard in tow. Both of them looked relaxed if a bit annoyed. Teyva rose to greet her friends. Azrael gave Teyva an appraising look, making sure that she was okay. Teyva shrugged and grinned at the two men before putting away her book and leaning back against The Marble.

Elat was the first to speak, “They’re on their way to Osan as well, fleeing the destruction of their settlement.”

“No wonder they’re on edge, what happened?” Teyva asked, glancing at the three men who had turned in to talk among themselves as well.

“Lydan,” Azrael said grimly.

“Bless you,” Teyva quipped.

“Nothing to joke about,” Elat countered, “The Lydan is a behemoth that prowls the Wildlands. Too big to fight. It destroyed their entire settlement in a matter of hours. These folk are the survivors.”

Teyva’s face went still, hours? How big was this thing? She glanced up at the men again and frowned. “So did we work something out?”

“Their leader was far more forthcoming and polite,” Azrael grunted, “They have some room in their rear wagon for us to ride along but we need to help them if something comes up. Also…” She trailed off, her expression growing stormy.

“What?” Teyva asked.

“They want you to stay out of sight, your appearance unsettles them to be frank,” Elat said.

“You look like a Lydan,” Azrael bit out, “White skin and horns.”

Teyva blinked, looking down at her hands and then up at her companions. Elat looked apologetic, Azrael looked furious, and both of them looked like they were about to settle for just walking and not bothering with the caravan at all. Teyva let out a weary sigh and ran her fingers through her hair. “It’s fine, besides, I can shift things up if I have to.”

“Wouldn’t recommend it,” Elat said, “They’re wary as it is.”

“Fair,” Teyva said. She opened her mouth to speak when a sound cut her off. It sounded like something between the lowest note a tuba could make and a roar. The air itself shook with the sound and a few trees nearby rustled as birds fled. The sound rattled through Teyva’s chest and she looked up to see the three men casting their gaze southeast before breaking into a run towards the Caravan. Teyva looked to her friends. Azrael had gone pale.

“Let me guess,” Teyva muttered.

“Lydan,” Azrael breathed, “We need to run!”