Lance drew her knees to her chest, her back against the Fiendwall as she stared across the camp and directly at Jason, who was discussing something With Gali and his Defenders, standing at the bottom of the hill leading up to the Faewood. Lance didn't bother trying to listen in on them, her thoughts were too in disarray, chaotic and unable to say on one subject for long. The sun hung in the center of the sky, its light barely able to pierce through the dark and heavy rainclouds above it.
It seemed that it would storm soon, the land cast in a dark grey light. The rainy season was going to begin, soon the lands would be in a constant state of downpour, with only a few sunny days spread between. It was her least favorite time of the year when working as a Watcher… when she still was one anyhow. Rainy season was boring, with hardly anything to do, as humans didn't often try to encroach into the woods beneath the heavy rain. But no matter the weather, a Watcher must watch, as that was their duty. Rain soaking through her cloak and clothes, leaving her sopping as she moved through the trees, constant breaks beneath canopies to dry her clothes, it was awful.
In her opinion, winter was the best season, she didn't overheat with her heavy Watcher's garb, human footprints were easy to spot- even if they tried to hide them. The sparkling snow was gorgeous, and she strangely relished the crunch of it beneath her feet. That could have been the only thing she mildly enjoyed about walking to Castle Blackgaze, among other things…
She frowned, burying her face between her knees. This wasn't the time to be relishing nights spent in Jason's arms. The Trinkett's were exiled from the Faewood, because Terlin was a petty, pathetic child who had lost the game of love to Lance's great grandfather. The true reason for his disdain of Trinkett's made her loathing for him reach a new level. To exile an entire clan based off of that was the ultimate act of petty revenge. He needed to be 'neutralized' as Jason had said, but Lance still wanted to avoid elven casualties if at all possible.
Terlin had some staunchly loyal followers that supported him in all things though. Those deaths may not be avoidable. They wanted the Faewood to close itself off from the world once again, to not allow any humans to pass through the forest forevermore. Lance could not deny that she could see the merits of this proposed isolationism, worrying not about the outside world and shutting out the humans did seem like a good idea… it worked for Umant after all, but was the Faewood not already isolationist?
The Bastion itself rarely let in humans under any circumstances, trade caravans had to do business outside of the Root Wall, and diplomats from Akan-Dar, Grayshane, or any other place were under constant supervision while visiting. They even made sure to blindfold them so they could not see most of the Bastion as they visited, but that treatment was mostly reserved for Akan-Dari diplomats. Human artisans were allowed to enter and do their good work to build the fountains or other such things, but those workers did their work behind tall, temporary walls, so they could not see the interior of the Bastion.
Keeping the city of the elves a mystery from humanity was greatly important, and The Bastion should absolutely maintain that air of mystique. The only reason Jason had been allowed inside without being blinded was because Lance initially thought he was a golem, and had given the Watcher's Oath to ensure that he'd not cause any trouble. After the Harkhall had found out he was an Outworlder and could not possibly be under the rule of Akan-Dar, they saw no reason to blindfold him…
Though Lance wondered if the Harkmother only didn't order it because Jason- Hoplite at the time, had been so abrasive and frankly, dangerous. She likely had realized that the Outworlder would have become aggressive had they tried to demand something like that, and thinking back on how Hoplite had acted- well it made sense. Asking Hoplite to remove his helmet and put a blindfold on? May as well ask the Ilum Tree to uproot itself.
Oh by the Pillars, her family was stuck within the Bone Plains between Akan-Dar and the Faewood. Human thugs would no doubt assault them, either to sell them as slaves or to plunder their valuables, likely both. She shook her head, Lolena was with them, among other strong mages, mere humans wouldn't be able to defeat them. Unless the humans had mages- by the Pillars! Lance stood from the grass, if Akan-Dar found out about the Trinkett's and took them captive, they could discover new information about the Bastion!
Terlin, that fool! His pettiness would be the ruin of the Faewood, she needed to go and- She bit her lip. Passing through the forest to reach the Bone Plains would be impossible without conflict, and the forest was the only way to go unless they wanted to use the Shot to float down there. Actually… there was another option, one she hadn't considered until just this second. It would be easy to reach the Bone Plains, if they brought out that flying machine contained within, they could just fly over without issue.
It was called the uh… uh the… ah! The XT-Dropship, she believed. She marched right over to Jason, ready to give him a tongue lashing if he tried to tell her to stay behind again. When he'd told her before, she'd been too overwrought to protest, but now that she was rallied, she'd not allow herself to be left behind. Jason turned his helmet towards her, Gali frowning before turning back to the forest, eyes scanning the treeline.
"Jason, I need to find my clan." She told him firmly, stopping just a few paces before him with a glare, "I don't want to hear a single complaint from you, pull out the XT-Dropship, and let's fly over the forest. We will need to get to the Bone-Plains, between Akan-Dar and the Faewood-"
"Affirmative." Jason nodded.
Lance stared, her brows knitting together, "Just like that? You aren't going to tell me fifty reasons not to do this?"
"Negative, if you want to find your clan, the XT-Dropship will be ideal. I considered the idea of using it to launch an assault on the Bastion, but as I'm the only one that knows how to fly it, I can't just be dropped off, meaning I would need to land it somewhere inside. I'm toying with the idea of using Cloaking and Sound Suppression to ease my entry, but I'm sure there are countermeasures in place." Jason explained, "Something that can either see through or outright cancel those spells."
"Well you would be right." Lance sighed, "Gali, if you and your men would please leave us."
"Huh?" He asked, "Why?"
"Because this conversation is going to be personal." Lance frowned, "Now please, if you would."
"My apologies, lady Watcher. I do need to be getting the Defenders ready anyhow." He sighed, looking to the treeline, "If the elves do be ruled by a mad fool as you claim, Jason, then we must be ready to repel them if they decide to expel us from the Fiendwall."
"More like once they decide." Lance told him, "Once Terlin finds out that the threat of the Fiends is gone, he'll want to be rid of you. Your people need to be prepared to flee-"
"Nay." Gali told her firmly, "We no have any intent to leave our home. Even if we did, where would we go? We no can pass through the Faewood to reach Akan-Dar or return to Grayshane, and we no have the materials to build boats to float down the Shot to the other side of the forest, no boatmen would dare sail this way for fear of Kazon, who they don't know is dead yet." He sighed.
"You can't stand up to Terlin or the Watchers, Gali. You have to find a way, at least until he's removed from power." Lance insisted.
"Would you want us to go live in the Ashlands then?" Gali asked, throwing up his hands, "Nay, I will die here a Fiendwaller before I give up our wall. We carved every room of this place with our own hands, we be the ones defending it for centuries against the Spiral Curse, and we do be the ones who live here, not the elves. Terlin will need to pry it from my cold, dead hands." Gali told her, turning to glare at the treeline.
Lance's retort died in her mouth. Who was she to tell him to leave? He was right, the Ashlands was no place to make a home, with dead rotting soil and vampiric dwarves underfoot. If they were forcibly removed by Terlin, it would be a death sentence for every Fiendwaller, unable to travel through the Faewood, the only place they could go would be the Ashlands. Of course Gali wanted to make a stand here.
"Very well." Lance said, "We'll try and stop Terlin before that situation can arise, hopefully."
Gali nodded, "Aye and I hope you do. Now, I will be off, good luck, both of you." He smiled, turning toward the Fiendwaller camp before taking his leave, the Defenders following after him.
"You still won't be joining me for this operation." Jason told her, "When I move on Terlin, stay behind."
"How many times do we have to go over this," She spun, glaring up at him, "I am not your soldier, you do not command me, you do not own me, so do not tell me what I can and cannot do." She pointed at him.
He seemed to freeze in place for a moment, eerily still for a long while before finally, he said, "You're right."
His tone sounded surprisingly pained.
"I'm sorry, the-" He hesitated, "The Draconic part of me is influencing my attitude towards you, I will control it better from now on."
Lance blinked. That's right, she'd almost forgotten all about that. Lithia had claimed that Dragons, even half-Dragons, were prone to becoming possessive of the people they cared about, to the point that they began considering the person as 'theirs'. In Jason's mind, as much as he wanted to deny it, he viewed her as belonging to him. Of course he didn't want her coming along for his upcoming battle with Terlin, his attachment had likely only intensified during the journey back here.
Well, she supposed that in a way, she was his. At least when it came to love, but she'd not just sit around while he put his life in danger. Lance was a warrior, not a pretty little bauble to leave on a shelf. It must have been hard for him though, this hyper-attachment must have been difficult to fight against, as Jason felt emotions at a rate of five times stronger than anyone else. The fact that he had this much control of himself was impressive, she was sure that a lesser man- er, Dragon, wouldn't even try to manage these urges. Wait a second… if he could feel emotions at five times that of a mortal then that also meant that he felt five times as-
The tips of her ears reddened, best not to think about that right now.
"Lance?" Jason asked.
"Forgive me I got lost in my own head for a second there." She apologized, "Listen, I'm not angry with you. I'm sure it's hard to manage this Draconic possessiveness, but please just remember, this is my home." She said, gesturing to the forest, "I can't stay behind for this, I must do what I can to save it."
Jason nodded, "I understand. In that case, I propose a compromise."
Lance quirked a brow, "And what would that be?"
"The tungsteel armor that we scavenged," He began, "For this assault, I want you to wear it. It will protect you from most ballistics we may encounter by Terlin's forces."
Lance frowned, but instead of shaking her head, she nodded, "Very well, Jason."
A single stray bullet could end her life in an instant, he was right. For this, it would be best to armor up. Sneaking around wouldn't be easy, but stealth likely wouldn't be an option anyway once they began. Before they did any of that though, Lance needed to ensure that her clan was safe. There were over five-hundred Trinkett's out there, wandering the Bone-Plains, she could not leave them without protection.
"Affirmative." Jason said, relief clear in his voice, "Maintaining Cloaking on the Rhino should be no issue, then I can cloak the dropship so we won't be spotted flying overhead. On that subject, flying straight to the Bastion while cloaked, is it possible?"
Lance shook her head, "You can fly over it with no problem, but there are safeguards in place for Cloaking spells. The Greater Fae of the Ilum Tree here maintains a barrier around itself, stretching all the way to the Root Wall; anything that enters while cloaked, will have their spell removed by the Greater Fae."
"I see." Jason said, "Can I Counter this cancellation?"
"A Greater Fae possesses magical power akin to that of a Dragon, or so I've heard. If you were more experienced, then it could be possible, but as you are now I seriously doubt it." Lance frowned, crossing her arms, "If only Belaine were here… I hope she's okay."
"I hope so too." Jason nodded, "But she could be compromised as well. Terlin is her brother."
Lance frowned, "Just because they're related, does not mean that they are on the same side. Belaine has made it clear to us how she feels about him, I'm sure she wouldn't truly betray us for Terlin. She may be in a position where she cannot support us openly though, if we encounter her and she outwardly claims to serve her brother, take it with a grain of salt, she could be lying to keep herself alive."
"As in pretending to be on his side." Jason nodded, "I'll keep that in mind."
"First things first though, please let us go find my family." Lance pleaded, "You don't know how dangerous this world is to elves outside the Faewood."
"Ferow seems to have done fine for himself." Jason pointed out.
"Until he met you." Lance smiled, "Not so fine these days I'm guessing."
Jason's head then whipped toward the treeline. In one smooth motion, he drew the Fortis and aimed it at the woods. Lance brought up her chain-blades, whirling to face whatever it was that approached, only for her eyes to widen. A root wiggled in the air, like a finger, beckoning them forward from the edge of the forest.
"What the-" Lance began before she gasped, "Jason put your gun down!"
"What is that thing?" He asked, lowering it only partially, "One of the trees? Is it asking us to come up to it?"
Lance smiled, tears budding in her eyes. "Yes, that's my tree, Meris."