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"You're right, and Syanthe can find us if she wants to." she added, then ran off in the direction Saro and the orb had gone, trusting that he would follow her.

Saro watched the smoke rise from the water, then slowly snake towards the tree after a minute of hesitation, as if trying to pick up her trail. She didn't do anything about it, and just watched it.

Karik paused, panting. He saw the priest and another girl up ahead, and ran after them, brushing the priest's hand with his head as he caught up to them, hoping he'd be recognized and not mistaken for a wild wolf.

"A friend of yours I take it?" Zyriaut asked as she glanced to the wolf, who ran ahead of them, seeming to dissapear into a shadow.

She nearly fell out of the tree, and into the thing's grasp, when Karik appeared beside her in the shadows provided by the leaves, in his human form again. "What the hell are you thinking? And it's still after you?" he asked, seeing the dagger in front of her and the shadow below.
"What are you doing here? Coming to protect Akarni's precious daughter because he told you to?" she asked, roughly shoving the blade back into it's sheath, to it's displeasure.
"No, beacuase I'm not going to let you do anything." he said, grabbing her and pulling her into the shadows he had come by, not giving her a choice.

He pulled her out where they had been, where she had argued with Syanthe. He pushed her to the ground against a tree, glaring at her and daring her to move and see if she could get away.
"What the hell were you thinking? You know what he'd do if you died, and he doesn't even know it's still after you. It would bring back your corpse to him, despite anything you did." he said, glaring and leaning against a tree, to wait for the other two to come back.
She said nothing, staring at the ground and trying to ignore him.

"As long a-" she stopped, seeing the cloud circling the bottom of the now-empty tree, then turn on them. "Run!" she said, grabbing his wrist and pulling him back to way they'd came, praying nothing would self-combust in her panic.

"What do you want? You wouldn't be here otherwise." Saro accused, looking up.
"The priest to come to the city so I can stop babysitting the girl. Only she, or you, could get into trouble within two days of entering a city..." he sighed, ignoring the glare he recieved.

The cloud meandered after them, more concerned on finding its prey than hunting the two before it.

"Why does Akarni want her? You wouldn't watch her otherwise."
"I don't know. I just do as I'm told, unlike you." he said, tying the insult into his words before looking up to see the girl and priest come running.

Zyriaut caught up to him and stopped when she saw Saro and Karik, speechless. "How did you get back here? Nevermind, the thing's behind us somewhere." she said, panting as she mentally commanded the orb she had sent after Saro to watch the cloud.

Saro spun on Karik, pulling herself to her feet. "You have to get us out of here. Take us to the city, then dissapear back to Akarni and tell him to dimiss the thing from his service." she said quickly, hoping he'd actually listen to her for once.
"You have no control over me. And the only one I'd take would be you." he replied, glaring.
"You came here to get him," she motioned to Father Michael, "so that you could leave her and stop watching her. So you have to take him, otherwise you might have to watch her for longer. And bring her simply so you have another in your debt." she said quietly, moving to where she was standing in front of him, closer than she would normally be.
"You simply want her to live. And, you shouldn't be trying to make deals. That's what got you into this in the first place. Two more years ,Saro. And the last two were easy for you."
"Because you can't do anything worse to me other than having me rob a mansion or two. And you gave me everything I needed. So will you get us out of here?" she asked, taunting him and moving half a step closer.
He sighed, then stepped around her. "Walk into the shadow of the tree, you'll end up on the edge of the forest." he said, motioning where to go. "And Saro, counting all the other things in the last week, you have another 6 months." he whispered, knowing she'd be able to hear, and he knew he was right when he recieved a glare for his efforts.

"Ladies first?" she remarked dryly, grabbing his wrist and pulling him in behind her, not giving him a choice in the matter. She stumbled out in the edge of the forest, like Karik had said, with no way to go back the way they had came.

"You were right, I don't do what I'm told." Saro said dryly, as he turned to leave through a different route, though the portal was still open and would only close when a third person stepped through. Saro put her foot on the small of his back and shoved him through, the shadows closing behind him. She turned and fled, racing away from both Karik's coming pursuit and the cloud.

He stumbled through, then spun around. "What happened to her since I last saw you both?" he asked Father Michael, not bothering to chase after her. She'd be gone by now anyway.

"Syanthe! Come back! Please!" Zyriaut yelled back at the eagle, then shot Father Michael and Karik an appologetic look before running after the eagle, ignoring the glare she felt burning into her back.

"What did she say, specifically? Or rather, has Saro done anything to her? Directly or indirectly? Anything that could have hurt the girl and the blame could be traced back to Saro?" he asked, hating the answer he already knew.

Saro reached a lake and ran to the cliffs that bordered two sides, along with a waterfall from the mountains nearby. Tears slipped down her cheeks unnoticed as she fled from the cloud that wasn't far behind her. She dove into the water and swam under the waterfall, the pounding water not affecting her from her practice at swimming against the ocean currents. She surfaced and climbed onto a ledge that led to a cave where she'd be safe, for the moment.

"Damn it... Now she really will let it have her." he spat, glaring at the dove before turning back to him. "Go with them, Ako's in an inn, I don't remember the name right off hand. And do you want me to bring Saro back to you or take her elsewhere?" he asked, annoyed that he had to ask.

"You can rest on me, I don't care. You're not that heavy as a dove." Zyriuat laughed, pretending not to hear what was happening behind her.