Aurea simply nodded as an answer. "I guess I am..." Before she could say anything else, a familiar breeze passed her by, and she suddenly turned in the direction the essence-rich gust has came from. "We don't have much time...if any." She murmured. They might've already be late, yet the sun has barely came up. "Have you got anything for me?" The knight asked, turning back to Sir Dreimon.

For a boy who was born and raised in a city, Ox was incredibly comfortable making his way through the forest environment. The one thing he was not comfortable with, however, was the intense cold that seemed to be seeping deep into the fabric of his very being. He had his arms crossed across his chest, with his hands shoved beneath them to keep them from falling off. He also had his hood up and pulled tight around his face, making sure his ears were protected from the cold. He was chewing on some leaves that he pulled from one of the few pockets in his small backpack and each breath he took sent a cloud of mint smelling mist wafting up into the air.

"I swear, if this town doesn't have someplace warm to stay in, I might have to light my clothes on fire." He said to nobody in particular. With his obvious aversion to the cold, some may wonder how he was able to survive his long journeys over the years.

Rook, on the other hand, was completely content with his current situation. Occasionally, he would swivel his head around to check on the little girl who had been placed in one of his sleds, which was the only form of direct interaction he took with any of the current party members including his traveling companion, Ox.

Eventually, Ox came up with an idea to cure his cold and break the eerie silence that hung all around them. He, reluctantly, removed one of his hands from his armpit and lifted it up, using some of his magic to retrieve his cittern from the dimension it was stored in. Once he had a good grip on the thing, he removed his other hand and used it to pull the leather strap over his head to make sure he didn't accidentally drop the instrument. After one or two strums, it was fully tuned and Ox was prepared to play some music for everyone.

......Am...........Em....................Am....................G...........Em.........Am.................Am........................Em................C.....Em...........Am
"Far over the misty mountains cold.... to dungeons deep.. and caverns old. We must away... ere break of day.. To seek pale enchanted gold.." As Ox sang, white orbs of light appeared and danced around him. He started to feel warm, not because he was using magic to do so, because he was always able to forget his troubles by playing music. He didn't even notice it when the cold breeze disappeared.

The dwarf marched at the back of the convoy, keeping his eyes on the sleighs to make sure the weapons weren't slipping and nothing was buckling loose on the rough terrain. As they marched, Rudolph could hear singing coming from the front and looked to see orbs of light around Ox as he messed up the lyrics of a classic Dwarven tune. Rudolph looked down and picked up a rock, hefting it in his hand for the right feel before chucking the rock at the half elf's back. "Hey knife-ears! Oy may have said ya had a sharp tongue, but don't mean you can go around butcherin a good Dwarf song wit it and yer small pixie voice!" He grunted.

The rock hit his back and bounced off harmlessly, though it did sting a little bit. Ox paused his singing for a second to respond to the dwarf's comment.

"Well, I don't hear you singing anything back there. So, I gotta break the quiet some how, yeah? Of course, I'd stop if you would replace me with your beautiful voice." His eyes rolled at the "beautiful" part, but he still had a smile on his face. Even though he was being insulted, he liked having this sort of company around.

"Are you sure about this?" He said as he beckoned the guards above to open the gates. "I can get you a horse but that's it. The town does not want to risk going out to find the den, if it even exists. And I can't leave them."

As the gates began to open, Lera had appeared ready with her bag. The woman was idly waiting for everyone else it seemed.

The dwarf looked at the half-elf. "Don't mind if Oy do." And he cleared his throat. Rudolph's voice was a powerful one, his barrel-like chest giving him the volume and bass he needed to make his notes vibrate in the air as if played with a horn. The flow was slow and steady, much like a church psalm, but it carried within it the methodical rhythm.

"Far over the misty mountains cold.
To dungeons deep, and caverns old.
We must away,'ere break of day.
To find our long forgotten gold."

He picked up the pace slightly as he entered the second verse, emphasizing the fervor of the old tale.

"The pines were roaring on the height.
The winds were moaning in the night.
The fire was red, it flaming spread.
The trees like torches blazed with light."

A rusty cough symbolized the end of his singing. "Con't sing as well as Oy used to, smoking is catchin up on m'." The dwarf grunted as he lit his pipe. "But dat's how ya sing like a Dwarf."

Ox listened to the dwarf's singing and nodded, his normally roguish grin suddenly replaced with a full on smile. The elf lightly tapped the clockwork's arm and looked over at him. "Be right back." He said before stepping to the side and walking backwards until he was beside the dwarf. With his cittern in hand, fingers placed carefully on the strings, Ox looked down at him.

"You wouldn't happen to know any other songs, would you?"

"So I hear you plan on riding off, Aurea?" The young adventurer quipped, "Need an extra helping hand, or a town's worth of alchemy?"

It didn't take long for the team from the church to appear just below Rhea's hiding spot. Esther's lantern glowed slightly, the light signalling the Order member of danger and she began to look around cautiously.

"Shh," Esther warned the rest of the party, bringing her finger up to her mouth. "Someone is with us."

Without hesitation, she unsheathed her weapon. The blade glowing white in heated intensity. The girl on the sled tensed up and hid with the weapons while Rook simply let go of the sled itself and began his own search.

"Be careful, Rook." Ox said, carefully making his way to the front of the group near the sled. He took a seat on the sled with the girl, making sure she was ok without saying a word. Then, he started playing his cittern, letting the magic flow into his strings. He expertly bent the magic so that it mainly affected his allies, making them feel stronger if they were willing to listen. Anyone who wasn't currently in his party that could hear his music would start to feel physically weaker.

Rook made a perimeter check around the path, starting off checking the right side of the path and, if he found nothing there, he would check the left side. If he found a living creature, human or not, he would attempt to grab it by the neck.

"Not really, but I fail to see anyone with a better idea...Or any idea, for the matter." Aurea murmured to the knight, and just nodded completely unsurprised by his second statement. "Understandable. Still, that's better than nothing."

Her eyebrows raised a little when she saw Lera, all ready to depart, behind the opening gate. She haven't pondered long on merchant's proposition, before she slowly shook her head. "I don't think that's a good idea." She said simply, but with an audible note of respect. There were two ways she could've approached her goal, and neither really guaranteed success. With a major back up behind her...or alone. Anything in between was endangering people for no reason. "I'd like to say you would do more good here...but I see you're going somewhere?"

Since she waited for Sir Dreimon to come back with the mount, Aurea had a second to spare for a talk.

Visage's body tensed. He cast a glance around the group, casting telepathy so that he could speak without making sounds.

"Something large -- or a group of large things -- has passed through recently. The underbrush over there is trampled, and I feel we're being watched...."

He targeted his telepathy only to the group members he knew, ensuring no one else could hear. With a hushed motion of his hands, he summoned a wolf. In the language of the druid he spoke into the creature's mind, commanding it to find anyone hiding around them. As the sound of music drifted to his ears, he was familiar with the ways of a bard and let the chords sink into his mind, strengthening him.

After so doing, he shifted his clothes into a dark camouflage pattern and drew his bow, stringing a silver-tipped arrow {the one from last night he never shot} and pulling to full draw as he stalked along behind the wolf.

_________________________________________________

With it's vision, hearing, and sense of smell it should be heading towards Rhea.

It seemed like quite a dumb time to play music, so Rhea just shut it out completely. The wolf on the other hand seemed like a very unique sort of opportunity, especially since it was Visage's doing. Upon looking up, the wolf locked eyes with Rhea for a moment, but a hardly audible noise down the Lycan path caught both of their attention. The noise grew louder and a very distinct smell shortly followed. Still only noticeable to the wolf's keen senses, however.

Visage looked so cute with his bow and silver arrow, which was hopefully a sign that the dwarf came through and had silver arrowheads waiting.

"Unfortunately, I do not have a destination in mind. I go where the wind takes me, and this quest is just another path," Lera adjusted her bag, "If I can use my talents to help others, that's fine with me."

"I won't let anything like a loud screeching to put me out of commission."

The little girl looked to Ox with curious eyes, if not a bit suspicious and listened to the tune the bard had begun to strum. Esther eyed the man before she looked to the rest of the forest.

"It is quite possible that the creatures who had passed by be the lycanthrope. Though through this direction it could mean they had come from the town," Esther noted. She looked to Visage who had shifted in form and then the wolf that had been called on.

Rook decidedly went alongside his four pawed ally, his steps slightly alerting the canine to its presence. The wolf growled before assuming its actual job of hunting down whoever may be the eyes that watch over them. The wolf had easily spotted Rhea hidden among the bramble and locked eyes with her but something else had gotten its attention.

A sound that appeared a bit off the trail leading back into the town.


It didn't take any longer for Sir Dreimon to come along with four horses and Rabbit trailing behind him.

"I'm coming with you," Sir Dreimon said as he handed the reins to Aurea, Lera and then Rabbit. "You can't be foolheaded enough to think you can find the lair and defeat them all yourself. You may be skilled but with no one guarding your back, you're as good as dead."