Duesr

Sebastian looked at the Canine across from him in cage. The creature was from the pack known as Mastiffs. A short haired Canine that had a dark brown fur that covered most of its body, the Mastiffs were fierce fighters even without the obedience collars. Sebastian knew that he was in one heck of a fight. The Mastiff had a large scar that ran from the bottom of his eye to the jawline. The weapon that he was fighting with a crude-looking morningstar. This, Sebastian thought, was a worthy opponent. All he waited for now was the bell. Sebastian sat still gripping his rattan sticks just right. The lights began to dim and the screaming audience around him slowly faded into darkness. Sebastian licked his lips. He began to focus and slowly he put himself into what was happening. He forced himself into a place where he no longer heard the screams. The only thing there was him and his opponent. The humid air made him pant, he took his right hand and placed the back of it to his forehead, the rattan now pointed to the earth, he offered a salute to his opponent. Then the bell rang.

The fight was quick. Sebastian jabbed. The Mastiff parried. Sebastian hooked. The Mastiff parried again. Sebastian came down on top of the Mastiff’s head with a third strike. Dizzying his opponent Sebastian came undeneath of the beast’s left shoulder with the top of his, placing the right foot behind the creature he slid the foot of the creature out of underneath of him. The Mastiff howled as it fell onto its back. Sebastian turned and with the butt of the weapon contorted the wrist of his combatant forcing the mastiff to drop the morningstar. The Beast attempted to move but as he did the wrist broke, making the creature scream. Sebastian stood back, his foe now writhing in pain. The Mastiff screamed. “I yield.”

The lights turned back on and Sebastian stood there his eyes adjusting to the light. He saw Ferris Fordin standing there smiling. His wicked grin showing all of his teeth. Sebastian dropped is weapons and walked over to the injured creature. He knelt beside him. The Mastiff attempted to bite him, but Sebastian just whispered something to him, which calmed the beast. He grabbed the beasts arm and closed his eyes. A small light emanated from Sebastians hand and suddenly the Mastiffs paw was restored. The huge beast looked at Sebastian and gave him a whimper. He got up and took Sebastians hand into his, bending to one knee he placed the hand onto his forehead.

Ferris did not like this and with a small wand he said. “Pain.” The Mastiff’s slave collar lit a dark yellow and the canine fell to its knees once again. The beast squealed in agony as Ferris delighted in it.

“There will be only one man that these mutts bow to and that man shall be me.” Ferris screamed. As he screamed an arrow streaked through the arena and struck his hand. Ferris screamed in terror. Captain Gale held a small crossbow that he had managed to sneak into the arena past the guards. Instantly the pain that the Mastiff had felt was lifted and the Canine stood back up. Picking up the morningstar he ran outside of the arena. Cassandra and Ioan went to the doors where they met the town guards. They met each one in the hallway with a quick punch or kick. Cassandra disarmed one of the guards and began to twirl, her ballet-like movements quickly cutting down the guards. Ioan unleashed punch after punch. Each was a precise causing a knockout or some other debilitation to the guard. The arena guests that were left began to cling to the walls at the chaos that was happening around them. Sebastian jumped up out of the arena and headed for Ferris who was now standing behind his two bodyguards. The men attempted to stop Sebastian, but were quickly knocked out. All that was left was Ferris, as Sebastian attacked him, a sword parried the blow. Franklin Fordin stood in front of his brother, now very sober he stood ready to challenge Sebastian. The two fought each other. As quickly as Sebastian thrust Franklin parried and vice versa. The Drunkard was quite the swordsman as it turned out. The fight went back and forth. The two men not yielding to the other. Sebastian stood opposite Franklin, panting. He charged the man and sweeping away the sword with his right hand he brought the left to bear against the man’s the skull. The hit was all he needed to crush Franklins head. Sebastian stood there victorious panting looking at his next opponent. Ferris stood grinning from ear to ear. He pointed at Sebastian and said. “Death.” A green light came from the end of the wand and surrounded Sebastian the dog dropped his sticks and grasped his throat, blood spilled out from his mouth and he crumpled to the ground. The air grew thin and silent. Captain Gale screamed out. “NO!” as he shot another dart into the forehead of Ferris Fordin. The strike killed the man instantly. Captain Gale ran to Sebastian and fell to his knees beside him. He grabbed the body of the man that he had known to be his best friend for many years and held him there. Sobbing he let out more screams. The rest of the battle was lost to Captain Gale. Indistinguishable movement, blurred colors. He heard screaming and barking, but barely. The battle outside of this little world was over quickly, but still Captain Gale mourned and cried. Cassandra and Ioan were the first to arrive at Captain Gale. Cassandra knelt beside the captain and put her cape around him. She wept. Ioan offered up prayers to the the Creator asking for a good place in the life hereafter. One by one the Canines came to Captain Gale. The Arena now held nearly 100 of them in total. The townsfolk who were gathered there had fled and the lights had been dimmed. Now only the moonlight shone through. Gale picked up Sebastian and began to carry him away. The Mastiff stopped him.

“Where you bonded by friendship to Sebastian?” The Mastiff asked.

“Yes I was, we took the oath of friendship.” replied Captain Gale.

“I am called Tyro. We will prepare the ritual.”

Ioan and Cassandra followed the group out of the arena and into the woods. As they walked they saw the other Canines who were gathered begin to howl, one by one until all that anyone could hear was the deafening noise of the creatures, The longer it lasted the louder that it got. Cassandra listened carefully and realized that there was a melody to it all. She stood quietly with Ioan, his arm around her shoulders. They both began to cry. They followed Captain Gale and the others out to the nearest field that they could find. The Canines stopped howling just then and several of them began to dig. A smaller canine came out with a bowl of water. He cleaned Sebastian as the others dug the hole. Gale was helping with the digging. Once the fur had been cleaned properly, the Canines wrapped Sebastian in clothes. They tightened the wraps and then lowered him into the grave. A Canine that was tall and all golden brown came forth. Ioan and Cassandra would later learn that he was from the Labra pack. A knife was pulled and each of the Canines in attendance cut a part of his fur off and dropped it into the grave. The knife was finally given to Captain Gale who removed his long ponytail and threw it in as well. The Canines then refilled the grave with the dirt. As the last of the dirt was piled on the Canines began to howl once again. As they did one of the younger members came forth and began to sing.

Land of air and land of freedom,

Land of hope and land of peace,

Friend to man, ally to woman,

Our last breath we protect each.

Land of air and land of freedom,

Land of hope and land of peace,

Born from the Creator upon high,

back to our father’s reach.

We are now home, we are at peace.

The funeral ended much the same way that it started. Quickly and with little fanfare. Captain Gale’s tears had all but left him. He had only a few left. Cassandra comforted him.

“Do you need another to replace the bond?” asked Tyro.

“I do not.”replied Captain Gale. “What I need now is information. Why were these evil men in charge?”

“They came into our packs secretly in the night and placed these collars on our necks. The man you know as Ferris was a powerful mage who enslaved us. We were here for many years underground because it was illegal to have fighting of Canines. Then a few weeks ago something happened and suddenly the Fordins were now completely in charge. Ferris bought his way into the circle of Justice. By the way, word will have probably gotten out by now that we have killed a member of the Circle. We must be leaving soon. Do not worry however, Sebastian will be written into out histories.” Tyro turned and ran into the woods. The rest of the the Canines followed him.

Captain Gale stood looking at the grave. A mean look appeared on his face. Cassandra and Ioan looked on as the man said his final words.

“Come my friend,” said Ioan . “There is much evil in this world and who else will fight if not us?”

The three of them gathered their things and set out in the night for Angeles. After all there was still the matter of saving Ailen.

Ailen, Enot, Kenny and Rathamon set out on foot for the rest of their trip. They could see the skyline of Angeles in the distance and knew that they would soon arrive. Enot kept a moderate pace, partially not to outrun his compatriots and partly because his wounds had yet to fully heal. Kenny had gathered most of his bones and placed them neatly back into his pouch.

“Why do I need to brace myself for what is to come Rathamon? The last that I heard from my mother Angeles had become quite the urban destination. She had said that through her efforts and the other leaders of the community that crime was at an all time low and poverty was very low. I would expect a near Utopia.”

“Your mother was a good woman, but in recent years the Circle of Justice has become frankly less just. A few of the territories were able to remain untouched by the corruption, but a large part has not.”

“How is it that the King has allowed this?”

“The king understands that his monarchy is limited. The true power lies in the Circles. His forefathers created the circles to ensure that Panganor would never become enslaved to a fascist leader. King Mahalan has done all that he can, but he is limited by his own laws. Mahalan is not unwise though, it was he that supported your mother in her efforts to sign the treaty with the Balthairans. However when your mother died it seemed as if though their was already a plan in place to subvert all of her work. I am not as familiar with this world as I am with Balthair. It is very different here. I attempted to cast some of my magic to see if I could glean some more information, but I was blocked somehow when I got near to Angeles. I am not certain what did this, but I can say this, Dark Magic is present.”

The group came up to the city gates of Angeles and there they saw a beautiful gateway. The top of the gateway said. “Welcome to Angeles! The city of Angels.” Ailen smiled and stopped for a moment. He closed his eyes and began to take deep inward breaths. He could smell the ripe fruit and succulent pork. He opened his eyes and started to walk into his hometown. As he walked he saw the Market just getting ready to close. He stopped and purchased several sticks covered in chicken, he dipped the chicken into a jar that was sitting there, the sauce dripped off as Ailen chewed on it. The chicken had a sweet taste to it and the smell was wonderful. Ailen had not had the Angeles Market chicken in some time. The taste was amazing. He walked the path through the market picking out various treats that he and the others enjoyed. It was a real treat to be had. As they walked throughout the market Ailen noticed that the people’s faces were not at all pleasant. He stopped at one vendor.

“Why do the people of Angeles seem to be sad. Is it the death of the lady Dial?”

“That is part of it, my friend. The other is that we are now being taxed for selling here at the market. The Lady never taxed us prior to this, it helped that we were able to better feed our families. Taxes were taken from the rich Casino owners down the road, but now they have eased their burdens and placed it upon us.”

“Who has done this? It was to my understanding that after the death of a Circle-member that no new laws shall be made.”

“That is very true my lord, however this is no new law, just one that was rediscovered by the intermediaries that were sent by the circle members. It seems that they felt that we were not giving our due diligience by living tax free.” as the two men talked a large group of guards came down the road. The man who was talking to Ailen looked down and began to clean up his spot.

“You there! I hear that you have been speaking ill of our laws.”he said to the man who was speaking to Ailen.

“Not at all sir, just selling some food to these gentlemen here. Wasn’t I?” he looked into Ailens eyes, pleading for him to sustain the lie.

“He was in fact selling food to us, however I do not see why he would be hounded like this if he had been speaking ill of the laws. It is his right as a citizen.” The guards behind the man fanned out behind him surrounding the Ailen.

“He does have that right, however there are new laws and one of them is that you may speak freely of our country, but you must always do so in a courteous manner. This man is accused of speaking poorly of our beloved country and spreading lies. We will have to search your cart.”

“That is also illegal. You cannot simply search a man’s cart because you believe him to be capable of possibly being traitorous. You must have proof of first the man breaking the law.”

“But if the man has nothing to hide then he will not mind if we look at his cart, its for the safety of the people.”

“Safety? I do not see any brigands around here and moreover you ignore what I just said. Your suggestion indicates that all people should be willing to submit themselves to being searched for the safety of others, which means that you do not trust the people that you serve.”

“Serve? Do I look like I am a waiter or a concubine. I am a lieutenant in the guard of Angeles. I am here to protect these people, even from themselves.”

“Ah, I get it now. You have bought into the noble lie then. You believe that you are better than these people and you must guard them, otherwise they will do harm to one another.”

“Well yes, people when left to their own wits will inevitably cause one another harm. Enough of this debate I will need to search your cart now.” the lieutenant pulled his sword as did his men. They went to grab the cart when Ailen grabbed the lieutenant’s shoulder.

“I am afraid that I am going to have to stop you.”

“ I’d like to see you try.” the lieutenant swung his body around to hit Ailen with the sword as he did, Ailen simply pushed him in the back sending him tumbling forward. The lieutenant tripped and fell into the street in front of him. Ailen laughed at the sight of the man and walked away.

“STOP! Or I will have you arrested. Duel me now.” the lieutenant stood up and two of his men dusted him off.

“Lieutenant I will not fight you. I am certain that we can settle this in a more dignified manner.”

“I have been insulted and you shall fight me now or my man will kill you and your friends.”

“I will not.”

“Fight me coward.”

“I will fight you.” came the voice of Rathamon. “I’ll be your man.” he winked at the lieutenant.

Rathamon came out to the middle of the street, he had the wide brimmed hat resting on his head. He looked up at the man before him, his eyes squinted.

“What is your weapon?” the man growled.

“This.” replied Rathamon. He held up a small Tungsten stick that was placed in his right hand.

“Fine.” said the lieutenant. “Just say when.”

Rathamon looked up from under his hat and smiled. “When.” The lieutenant pulled his sword up above his head and began to bring it down upon Rathamon, but as he did a manna bolt screeched out from his hand striking directly into the lieutenant’s chest. The man was thrown backwards, his armor was now smoking from the blow.

“Seize them!” he yelled. As the other guards moved towards him they quickly fell to the ground and the noise of snoring could be heard. Rathamon looked over at the Canine and smiled. He had seen and cast a sleep spell of his own in the past.

“A second group of guards rounded the corner and began to run towards them. Enot quickly picked up a barrel and shouted. “Bowling Time!” the barrel crashed into the second group and they quickly saw them sprawling around trying to regain their footing. Ailen laughed and grabbed the apple from the young boy walking around selling them. He tossed the lad a silver and leaned against the building. He watched as unit after unit attempted to arrest his friends and each failed against the might of Kenny, Enot, and Rathamon. Each laughing at what seemed to be nothing more than fun. Finally a man on a white horse came riding into the area. Ailen recognized him as the Captain of the Guard. Several other men rode in on horses lances at the ready. The man climbed down from his horse and stood looking at the thirty guards now all laying on the ground. The man removed his helm and walked up to Ailen.

“I am Captain Fairmore. I see that you and your friends have had a lot of fun. I will have to arrest you by the laws of our lands.”

“I must apologize Captain, but I must refuse your offer.”

“It was not an offer and you shall find that I am not as easily handled as some of my men.” he gripped his sword. Ailen knew that it would take more than a shove to deal with this man. He was taller than him, as unusual as that was for a Panganorean and very broad-chested.

“I am afraid that it was your men who attacked me. I was simply voicing my own opinion, unless that freedom has also been outlawed.” replied Ailen

“He was prodding us for a fight sir.” said the recently revived lieutenant. “I was simply down here listening for men speaking ill of our sovereignity.”

“Your soveriegnity is granted to you by your people.” Ailen responded.

“You will have to come with me, where this can all be sorted out later.”

“Once again I must refuse your offer Captain.” the Captain flipped his hand and his men surrounded Kenny, Rathamon, and Enot. The three of the did not budge.

“This is your last chance, your giant and your mages will not be able to overcome all of us now.”

“They will not need to Captain.” came a voice from down the road. A large creature with a Bull’s head came walking down the road. He was finely dressed in a purple robe that was outlined in yellow. A set of glasses sat on his snout. “This man you have accused, is Ailen Dyal. Son of the Lady Dyal and rightful heir to his mother’s seat in the Circle.”

The Captain looked stunned at the man before him. The lieutenant became slack-jawwed at the news. Each man dropped to one knee. The lieutenant looked up and said. “Why did you not tell us My Lord.”

“You would not have believed me if I had told you. I also wanted to see how my people were treated by its protectors. I am disappointed. Very disappointed. Please all of you stand. I am very displeased by what I have seen here. The people of Panganor should not be treated this way. I need each of you to remove your sidearms.” Ailen watched as the men removed the swords and various other weapons. They pile them into the middle of the street. “Thank you, now you are all relieved of duty. Go back to where you came from and leave Angeles alone.”

The men sat in shock at the news. Slowly one by one they left until only Ailen and his friends were left.

“It is good to see you once again Tandoc. Thank you for your assistance.”

“Your mother would never had forgiven me if her only son would have been arrested. I have only one question now that you have diminished our Guard , who will protect the city.”

“Tandoc, I would like you to meet Enot Faed. The new Captain of the Guard.”

“Captain? He is the Guard.”

Captain Gale sat silently in his cabin aboard the Century. He had not know failure in his life. The death of the Duchess was weighing upon him. He had been given a simple task, take the Duchess to Panganor and then make sure that she signed the treaty. A treaty that would bring lasting peace between the Kingdom of Balthair and the Republic of Panganor. The Duchess however was now dead. All hope was lost. The King, Waylan by rights, would be disappointed. He would not be callous or uncaring towards me, just disappointed. He had never wanted to disappoint the King. He was after all the one who had taken him from his father’s farm outside of Sharde and placed him in the Royal Navy. He thought back all those years ago and how his father had been so proud of him. The Farmer’s son who was now a Captain of a ship. This was to be his last voyage. A simple trip that he was to take before he was to retired back to the farm life. He could still smell the sweet harvest of the fall. His father grew wheat and vegetables in abundance. His father would take him out as a boy and show him how to plant.

“Take the seeds in your hand and gently let them fall out. Not too much, not too little. Not all of the seeds will grow, but we want to give each of them the chance.”

He had heeded these words and used this throughout his career. He would teach each of his sailors that it was not what he could for them, but rather what they could do for themselves. Each sailor took this trust in them as a personal responsibility and each of them responded with their best work. Captain Gale never had to micromanage his crews. He always knew that each man would give their best. That, of course, did not only apply to the men, but also to Sebastian. His first mate was an odd choice. He was not a native Balthairan, but a Canine. The choice turned out to be very wise.

The choice that he now faced through was different. The news that had been brought by Ioan was not an easy pill to swallow. The Duchess was now dead and Ailen, one of his other passengers, life was in danger. King Waylan would need to speak with him and perhaps send another to sign this deal. The choice that now sat in front of Captain Gale was hard. He needed to make one soon.

“Sebastian.” yelled Captain Gale.

“Bring me Ioan and Cassandra. I also need you to appear so that I may have your council.”

“Yes Captain.”

Sebastian summoned the two most recent members of the crew saying only that it was most urgent that they come. The three of them entered the room.

“My friends it is most troubling to me that we have now received news about the death of the Duchess. I am not certain exactly how you know this Ioan, but I trust you.”

“Thank you, My Lord. I speak only truth.”

“And you Milady, you have always been blunt. We are now faced with failure in our mission and this new gentleman says that Ailen is in grave danger. What should I do? Should I return the ship or should I go attempt to rescue the man?”

“I think that you should do both. The men can return the ship and we can go save Ailen. I am certain that you, Sebastian, and myself would be far more inconspicous then a crew of sailors even if they are pretty good privateer look-alikes.”

“ I could not agree more with you Cassandra. The crew will be able to sustain this ship and Second Mate Downey can take over the ships duties. Of course, that is assuming that Sebastian will be joining me.”

“I am your retainer.”replied Sebastian.

“I am also accompanying you. This world is unsafe for the likes of you and there will be blood spilled along the way. I would suggest that we sail to another port as Ferry has become very unfriendly at the moment.” said Ioan

“Where would you suggest that we dock?”

“My thoughts are that we should dock at Wavepoint. It is further south of here and no-one will be expecting us to arrive there. There is one catch however, the trip would take us a half day and then we would at best be able to get to where Ailen is located within two days. This would give us approximately twelve hours to find him and prevent the plot against him.”

“What is this plot that you speak of exactly and how do you know so much about it?” asked Cassandra

“I was sent here by an old friend of Ailens to assist you. An augury had been performed by a man named Rathamon who is an old friend. Some years ago Ailen, Myself, Rathamon, and a few others were members of an adventuring group. As is the usual with those groups we grew bored and eventually went our seperate ways. I have spent the last five years wandering the world. I promised myself that I would never allow myself to become so embroiled in a group again, but Ailen is different. He always understood me and for that I owe him a debt of gratitude. Rathamon came to me and said that he needed help with this, I gladly volunteered.”

“How then did you catch up with us?” asked Cassandra. Ioan stopped for a moment and removed his shirt. The others looked at him in astonishement. He had gills on his neck and and his torso was colored blue.

“Are you one of the Darbon?” asked the Captain.

“I am the last of the Darbon. There are none out there like myself. I have searched these many long years to find more of me and there is none. The island of my ancestors sank after the Red Dragons killed my people. They slaughtered them, leaving only me behind. I am the last.”

“We would be glad then to have you join us. Sebastian tell the men to set sail for Wavepoint.” said Captain Gale

“Where did you learn all of that wonderful magic that you used on the ship.” asked Cassandra

“I did not learn it, The Darbon each have unique gifts that when they die are passed to their heirs. When my people were all killed, I began to vomit uncontrollably. I felt sick to my stomach for months, until one day I woke up and felt this uncontrollable thirst. I wanted so much to drink, but no matter how much I drank I felt that I was always parched. It was then, after drinking all of the mugs of fresh water that I could find that I began to feel drawn to the water around me. I came to spot in the woods and there I began to manipulate the water. I would tell it to rush and it would, I would tell it to calm and it would. I had absorbed the knowledge of my people, including the magical knowledge. I am now able to control even the smallest drop of water by a mere thought.”

“Whoa, well then. That’s a long story.”

The journey to the town of Wavepoint took the exact amount of time that Ioan had told the Captain. As they sailed Captain Gale explained to his men the situation and how dire it had become. He wanted them to know that he was not abandoning them, but rather he had need to complete this quest that they were all now on. The men wanted to go with him, but as he explained the King would now need them more than ever. The Captain knew that there would be much evil in the world and that that evil would need to be defeated by every able bodied man. The group arrived at Wavepoint as the sun was setting and disembarked. The Captain had traded in his uniform for an odd looking hat and some dirty old rags. Sebastian had messed up his fur to appear unkempt. The group would need to be discreet. They got off the Century with almost no fan fare. The boat quickly disappeared from harbor and you could see the tears running down the face of the old Captain. Sebastian seemed to whimper a little. The group turned around and walked into town. Wavepoint was nothing like Ferry or Wayside. The locals were a little more gruff to say the least. The town had at one time been a fishing community, but then the Fordins happened to the place. A local merchant, Ferris Fordin, had started to buy up a lot of the local fisheries. After a short time he started to close them down, which to the rest of the fishermen was fine seeing as this allowed them to catch more fish and make more money. Fordin was not interested in fishing. He was, however, interested in fighting. Not just any kind of fighting, Canine fighting. It was illegal throughout the country but that did not stop the local underground fights from happening, especially after Fordin bought himself a seat in the Circle of Justice. He was able to choose the local sheriff at that point and he choose his dimwitted brother Franklin. Ferris made sure that Frankling was paid well enough to look the other way. The two men hired thugs to walk the streets and make sure that no one was causing problems. The Captain knew that they would need to get in and out of town quickly , otherwise they might get into some trouble. The group made quickly for a local barn that the Captain knew had rides in and out of town on a daily basis. Panganor had quite the reputation for its mass transportation. Large Carriages were pulled by several oxen back and forth throughout the land to major provinces. The Ox-cart were particular popular in more rural areas. Captain Gale walked up to the barn and asked when the next cart would be leaving.

“Tomorrow morning.” said the unpleasant woman at the counter.

“Great, now we are going to need to get rooms for the night.” sighed Cassandra.

“Where are we going to get rooms at this point?” asked Ioan

“We can get hotels near the taverns by the sea.”

“ We can sleep in the woods, I have several tents.” replied the Captain knowing that the taverns were the place where most of the illegal fights took place. He had noticed that Sebastian had been tense since they left the boat.

“I can take it, if you can.” replied Sebastian.

“Well then, I guess it is the tavern after all.”

The group walked back to the taverns where they saw something that maded everyone’s teeth grit. In cages alongside each of the taverns were cages filled with Canines. Each of them had what appeared to be crude gladiatorial weapons in their hands. Each of them looked with longing eyes at them as the passed by.

“Why do they fight if they know that they will only be killing their kinsmen?” asked Cassandra.

“ It is a cruel thing indeed, look around their necks. What you see there is called an obedience collar. When they enter the ring a magic user says a simple incantation and it reduces the to their base savagery. They become killing machines, bred for the entertainment of men. They call is sport, but I see no sport in any of it.”

“Hey there! Yelled a man at the top of his lungs. Captain Gale turned to see a fat man surrounded by a large group of men, all heavily armed. He reeked of alcohol and could barely stand. “Is that your dog?”

Sebastian tensed his fists ready to strike.

“ He is a free Canine.”

“Oh really, I did not know that they were free. Usually I have to pay a grand sum for them. I am Franklin Fordin. Pleased to meet all of you, especially you.” he said as he stumbled into Cassandra. Franklin spilled his drink all over her. Angrily she punched him in the nose breaking it. Franklin fell backwards onto the ground. The Men surrounding him pulled their spears and pressed them directly into the face of Cassandra. Captain Gale pulled his sword and Ioan pulled his hand back into a strike.

“Now, now gentlemen please everyone let us stop this before there is any bloodshed.” said a cool voice from the darkness. A slender man poked his head out of one of the finer taverns. He wore a tunic that was outlined in gold. The man was especially tall and bald. His nose, which was large, was pointed clearly into the air. “Can’t we all get along here?” he smirked.

“I am certain that my brother meant nothing by the accident. Did you Franklin?”

“None at all.” Franklin answered with a burp.

“My name is Ferris Fordin, Welcome to Wavepoint. You are standing outside of one of my Inns. The Flying Tiger. Isn’t that a glorious name for an Inn?” he smiled at the group.

“Now we can let this little incident be forgotten, can we not?”

“I think so.” Captain Gale replied.

“Excellent! Now we just need to have a collar for that beast.” he said pointing to Sebastian.

“He will do no such thing.” Captain Gale retorted.

“Oh, but he will my dear friend. You see in Wavepoint if you are a Canine who has been involved in assault you are to be collared at once and moved to the local prison. Clearly I am able to under my power forgive all of you, however I can do nothing for him. Lets not make a scene.”

“I will not stand for this.” Screamed Captain Gale. He unsheathed his sword. Sebastian removed the two sticks from his back and got into a crouched position. Ioan stepped in between the men.

“There must be an agreement that we can come to so that we do not have to send him to prison.” Ioan said. Ferris rubbed his chin at this and then grinned, all of his teeth bared. “He can fight!”