Book Two, Chapter Four: Tamer and Shadow

[albatross]

Tiger notices Kris leaving, and she stays with the team until she is sure everyone is fine. Then she makes her way back to the camp and briefs Ionic. Once she has done so, she takes Ionic's place watching the unconscious man.

Jeckle finds the cave exactly as the team left it. No one has been there, the same dozen or so blank spots are on the wall. There are lots of canines and felines, but none of them really look the the wolf and the panther Tiger and Kris saw. There are snakes, but not like the one the dragon fought. And she also can't find a rhino, a white crane, and ant or a black scorpion - though there is a red one.

The creatures which disappeared are still gone.

******

That night, the entertainment tent is closed and small knots of soldiers gather together, talking quietly. Word of the four dead men has spread quickly throughout the camp, and many more troops are carrying weapons now.

Tiger leaves the plane with four medium sized bottles of whiskey, two in each hand. She has rigged a portable monitor for the unconscious man, and she glances it at occasionally as she tests the different ranges. She can see his heart-rate and there is a video feed in case she needs it.

She makes her way to a rock near the shore, dumps out all the bottles at once, still holding two in each hand. Then she lofts the bottles into the air and shoots them out of the sky. The four shots from her pair of revolvers blend together, like an especially slow gunshot.

She sits on the rock, looking at the stars and thinking carefully.

[Marcethus]

Steelfist positions himself near the Plane and goes into rest mode.

[dakota]

Khris had wandered aimlessly. He couldn't understand why the death of the four soldiers had bothered him, especially considering how many had come at his hands. At some point, as it was coming on dark, he checked his watch and saw he was gonna be late getting back. He knew Tiger wouldn't worry about him as he made his way along the shore. The sun was fully set by the time the camp was coming into sight, and the only thing louder than the noise of the camp was the rumbling of his stomach. It occured to him he hadn't eaten since breakfast.

[shiivster]

*Jeckle counts how many pictures are missing. besides theirs and the 5 she's seen so far to get an idea of how many are still out there. while there, she checks the batteries and retrieves the data before heading back outside

*she'll head to camp in a round about route so tracking her back trail is a hopeless job. she waits to make her report after she compiles the data.

[albatross]

Upon second inspection, Jeckle guesses that there are little more than two dozen empty spaces. The team has faced at least seven that she knows of, and the seven members on the team would suggest there are about ten unaccounted for.

*****

A few hours later, after everyone has had a chance to get cleaned up and get a little rest, Tiger returns to the plane, waiting patiently for the rest of the team to arrive.

[shiivster]

*Jeckle shows up. her body accustomed to working strange hours stands well for her now. she settles on the ground and draws pictures in the sand. checking the watch, she looks up.

'missing about 10. no one since us'

*she resumes playing 5 tic-tac-toes at once trying to figure other things out.

[Marcethus]

Steelfist comes out of rest mode and scans the area around the plane just as a standard security measure.

[dakota]

Khris knew he was going to be late, but he didn't care as the camp came into view. He slipped in and headed for his tent long enough to pull a bottle of single malt from his bag. He knew he shouldn't while on a mission, but he needed to straighten his head. He took a strong belt and replaced the cap as the warmth of the whiskey slid down and coursed through him. He then made his way out to the plane. As he arrived, he rapped his knuckles on the hull, " Did I miss the meeting?"

[albatross]

"Barely started," Tiger replies.

"Any thoughts on tonight's battle?" Her tone is calm and relaxed. She waits to hear the observations of the rest of the team, still mulling her own ideas.

[Marcethus]

Well we confirmed that they do get stronger as they defeat other Ring Creatures. *mentally thinking to himself* ~No offense Glaurung~

"Though we have no idea why those four were out there when they were or why. Unless it was specifically for us to fight them or a possible ambush gone wrong."

[dakota]

" When I got there, the ring creatures were sparring." Khris pointed out while taking a seat. they were waiting for a fight, we just gave it to them."

[shiivster]

*Jeckle comments once as she wipes the games out 'went back to the cave. no one's been there since we left. one thing i would ask ma'am .. how many people did your father send to find .. whatever it is? from my calculations .. there are about another 10 missing from the walls that we haven't seen yet. once summoned they stay that way. they don't return to the walls of their birth. once we know how many he had, then we can find out how many 'innocents' found the spot. from the reactions of how they react on the death of their .. creature .. its clear the bond is snapped and the survivor tries to kill everything in sight or goes insane. how knows if its permanent or not. can't help more than that yet. still working on theories at this point'

[Marcethus]

Steelfist looks to Khris, "I see." *stroking his metal chin thoughtfully* "It would be a good idea talk to the injured one once he wakes up and see what intel we get from him." *musing to himself*

[albatross]

"Excellent work Jeckle." Tiger responded. "Ten," she repeats to her self. "The crane, the ant and the snake were huge - and Glaurung, Pantera and Khamai grew after winning. There may only be seven or less left depending on if the other have defeated anyone."

"Severing the bond is clearly damaging. We should keep that in mind not only making sure none of our creatures are destroyed, but that our opponents, especially the ones who have defeated someone else will be playing for keeps - even if we don't kill them."

"I doubt my father sent anyone to watch us or to interfere. I suspect all of the people we are facing stumbled across the cave or researched it independently. I wouldn't call them innocents, since many of them know more about this game than we do, but I doubt they are minions - they don't feel like his people anyway." Tiger doesn't bother telling them that the extreme pride her father possesses gives him traits that mimic honesty and honor. His honor is twisted and his mind is strange, so that it could be dangerous to expect certain behavior. He was only honorable to those he respected, and that could always change. "I haven't felt any deja vu, so there are no significant minions here."

"I'm going to ask a question, and I don't want anyone to answer it right away. Which creature are we going to turn over? It is what we came to do. Perhaps we should start thinking of developing one of them appropriately. I know giving away a creature presents incredible risk for the person giving it away - I doubt any of us would want someone else responsible for this bond, unless it is reformed to the receiver."

[dakota]

" There might be a problem with that." Khris pointed out, scratching his chin." These creatures are bonded to us, so how do we know we could turn them over even if we wanted to?" He thought about their guest recovering on the plane. He smirked, " We could always turn over the wounded guy's ring."