Fighting Fire with Fire [Brenton]

[Capricorn]

Scales blazed in the sunlight, and a dragon soared over the trees.

Well, she looked like a dragon upon first inspection. The horns, the scales, the wings- she looked exactly like one in every way. Perhaps the only thing that could sway somebody from believing that she was a wild dragon was the chain collar around her neck, something that almost no wild dragon would ever wear. It was a symbol, of sorts- a way to gloat about how thoroughly broken she was. About how she belonged to the Empire. A collar was the symbol of a pet- a thing that belonged to another person, that didn't think for itself. Perhaps that was exactly what she was.

The dragon circled, looking for the place that she was to go to. The landscape was made up almost entirely of trees. She was in the northwestern corner of the Empire, just far enough for the Spine to be but a hardly noticable shadow looming in the distance. And there was forest, as far as the eye could see. Hills and hills of nothing but forest. The hills provided many places to hide, being so steep, and of course, the Spine in the distance provided more places. Perhaps it'd take the keen sight of a creature of the sky to locate the target that they had been assigned.

She had been ordered here to hunt down another dragon spirit. He wasn't with the Varden, but he was an enemy of the Empire, and considered a big enough threat to send people after him. Sherxia would be working with Kialandi, another dragon spirit loyal to the Empire, in an attempt to eliminate the threat. It wasn't a death or victory mission- as bad as faliure would be, dragon spirits were valuable soldiers, and they were needed for the battles ahead, especially as the Varden's siege on Uru'baen began.

The town that she had been sent to was a small place. There were guards, yes, but it wasn't even of any tactical use to the Empire. It dealt mainly in lumber, but it wasn't the main supplier of lumber to the Empire. The guards had been told to expect two soldiers from elsewhere in the Empire, which was different than was typical for this small village. Sherxia spotted it nearby, and dove towards in a spiral to land on the ground. She quickly shifted into her half-elf form- the villagers would probably be frightened by her dragon form. She normally wouldn't care, but she had been told to go into her dragon form only when she needed to.

She walked into the town, giving a nod to the guards. One tried to stop her. "Are you one of the reinforcements from Uru'baen?" He asked.

Sherxia nodded. She supposed that they hadn't been notified about why they were actually here- she wouldn't exactly call her or Kialandi "reinforcements". She walked to where she was supposed to meet him- outside of the blacksmith's shop- and waited.

[Brenton]

Overhead shone the sun in a manner that caused sweat to drip from the skin of humans below as they worked in fields or in the forest, harvesting wood for the Empire. In the cities were many people who hammered away at metal to create weapons or armor for the war that would be fast approaching. Yet in the sky flew a single white dragon, many times larger than any of those who hatched recently since the Fall. For this was no ordinary dragon of the wild. No this was another being who could shift between bipedal and reptilian form.

Currently the being flew because it was faster so his wings were carrying him to where he must meet someone else for a mission. One that he couldn't get enough details on. This was Kialandi Morzansson, a dragon spirit born long ago in the time of the original Riders. He used to be neutral in his standing but after the king of the elves had decided to hunt down someone that Kialandi cared about, the dragon spirit couldn't take anymore and left for the Empire. Now he was an Empire supporter but he wasn't like other Empire dragon spirits. He didn't wear a chain collar.

Yet he had to get focused for this mission sounded a little too close to home in his opinion, literally. If the white dragon was correct then he was hunting his brother Arathale who used to be a spy for the Varden. He couldn't back out but Kialandi could say he wouldn't give information about Arathale aside from what the Empire already knew. That was the best he could do for his brother in this situation and that would have to be good enough. After all, it wasn't his fault Arathale had been stupid enough to spy on Galbatorix.

Finally the small town came into sight and Kialandi landed a little ways off, instantly shifting into his bipedal shape. He had been told not to worry the village or soldiers by showing up as a dragon so that was what he would do. Quickly the man walked toward the town and nodded at a guard who stopped him briefly with a raised spear. "Are you the reinforcements sent from Uru'baen?" Kialandi smirked but nodded in the affirmative before walking past the city guard into the actual town.

The blacksmith's shop was where he was headed so Kialandi walked the short distance thinking to himself. How would they think of him and Sherxia as reinforcements unless the king didn't tell the soldiers what was actually happening with the two arriving? That was most likely. Suddenly the dragon spirit looked up and saw a female standing next to the blacksmith's shop who wore a look as grim as any who were in the Empire ranks. That was Sherxia all right. Been a long day of practice and my sword is damaged. Do you know of a good place to get it repaired? If this was Sherxia in her own body instead of someone controlling her then she would know he was giving a challenge. Only someone who knew they were to meet at the shop and then search for the rogue dragon spirit would be able to confirm what he was looking for.

((Just think of something for her to say back. Wasn't certain of how he would greet her on this mission.))

[Capricorn]

Sherxia glanced around for the one who she would meet, anxious to get started. She wanted to be able to do the mission as quickly and effectively as possible, but all the same she knew that she shouldn't be so impatient. Kialandi would be here soon, she'd just need to calm herself. Just as her thought finished, a man entered her field of vision. She turned her eyes to look at him. He looked like a half-elf, but she wasn't quite sure.

He spoke to her, asking of a place where he could repair his gear. A sort of code, Sherxia assumed. She looked at him, tilting her head slightly. "Kialandi..." She murmured, just loud enough for him to hear, before responding to his question at a normal volume. "There's a blacksmith just behind me." She saw no reason for code- they were in Empire-controlled territory, after all- but she played along with it anyways. If it'd make him feel better.

For good measure, the dragon spirit tossed back her hair on one side to reveal her slightly pointed ears before allowing her hair to cover her ears once more. She dropped her voice to a murmur once more. "No time for code, Kialandi. We should strike quickly, before our prey is alerted to us. Perhaps we should first him in our mortal forms, so that when he tries to fly from us, we can attack from the rear. He'll never see it coming. I'd like to eliminate him- either by capture or death- as soon as we can."

The look in Sherxia's eyes showed how eager she was to get started on their mission. Despite being forced into servitude to the Empire, her passion for serving the king was evident. The way that she called their target "prey" showed that she was either very ready to engage in the thrill of the hunt or was thinking of him more as an animal than a human. As a dragon spirit, after being forced into the Empire, Sherxia had experienced others thinking her to be a mindless beast rather than an intelligent, sapient being. However, she had long since ceased to care.

[Brenton]

Kialandi nodded at Sherxia as she spoke his name and then told him there wasn't time to speak in code if they were on a mission. Yet the next part was something that the dragon spirit almost couldn't bear to think about doing to his brother at the time. Sherxia was prepared to hunt down Arathale and try to get close to him by being in their human forms but that wouldn't work and Kialandi couldn't explain why it wouldn't. With a nervous glance at the ground, the male dragon spirit shook his head slowly and tried to find a way to explain without incriminating himself.

The target isn't going to be fooled in such a manner as that since he was spying on the Empire for so many years and has angered the king in many ways. He has connections with great powers such as the elven king, Nelfarion, Camarat, Skailah, and others who have taken down the Empire in ways we don't understand. His fighting style is unlike any I have see before and the way he became a dragon spirit is unhear of by our kind for he wasn't born like us. He took the lives of many wild dragons and several dragon spirits as well, all from a tender age when he was cast from his family like a plague. This is no ordinary target for us to hunt.

Kialandi quickly looked at the sky and then back at Sherxia with determination in his gaze and steel in every line of his body. He is also my brother and I have seen him fight shades and enemies such as Ashendale who has controlled more dark energy than even Galbatorix. We can't underestimate him like this. Plus he knows what I look like after searching for me for so many years after I was taken and sent forward in time to Morzan who raised me as his own son.

Kialandi drew his blade slightly, revealing the first three inches of the blade, before letting it slip back into the sheathe without fully drawing the weapon. He knew of ways to get to Arathale but others had hunted this dragon spirit and he had evaded them all even when they were able to sense magic from a distance. He was powerful and that was all there was to it. Slowly Kialandi breathed and then he cast a withering look at Sherxia.

While we are told to hunt Arathale, if you don't treat him as a person and with respect then I will have to restrain you too Sherxia and I will if it comes to it. He is my brother through blood and blood is thicker than water in all states of nature or magic alike. Don't cross me in this hunt no matter what the cause.