Thelessia

Delaney stepped into the other side of the passage created by the shadows via the Shadow Dimension. She cloaked herself once more and walked toward the village. She traveled around hearing snippets of conversation, including conversation between two greasy male villagers.

"Yew reckon them soljers ate the food? Should we send word to them fellers in the mountins?" one asked the other as they warily watched a small, decrepit house set apart from the other village houses.

"Ont know," the other said and then spat a wad of something brown on the ground at his feet. "Them fellers scare the ghost outta me. I also ont wanner make them soljer fellers upset if they ain't eat the food yet," he said warily.

The conversation happened as they shuffled through the village. 

The mountains, huh? She gathered some shadows in front of her and stepped through them again, coming out closer to the mountains. This time she just did a basic Shadowwalk. She then shifted her shape, turning into a black mist before coalescing into a large black cat with sharp green eyes. She ran through the mountains, using her animal senses to follow the traces of mountain trolls. From what she overheard, the mountain trolls were mixed up with the Dragon Hunters.

It wasn't long before she found where the Dragon Hunters were hidden. Cloaking herself in shadows she went through their camp, counting them. They were laughing and talking amongst themselves. She couldn't understand their language. She headed toward what she realized was a spacecraft. It was rugged, strangely brown, and about the size of a large house. After memorizing the layout of their camp and observing the behavior for a bit, she ran back down the mountains. She jumped into the shadows and popped out near the house.

The house was protected by wards. They were powerful, but not powerful enough for her. She ran up to the door, scratched on it, and meowed.

Inside the house, Britiana had taken about half an hour to finish her drawing. She said a word in Emphyralian Draconic and the writing glowed brightly before disappearing. She smiled and rubbed her hands as if dusting them off.

Guennit and Darius had finished their discussion and were now including the entire company in how to deal with the mountain trolls and the Hunters. Darius was trying to dissuade them from confronting the Hunters themselves, trying to describe their technology that was beyond anything they could even imagine.

Sariya was half listening, but she wasn't a soldier. While they were talking, she was using some supplies in her dimensional storage pouch to make new arrows. When Chrystianna saw what she was doing, she provided some better materials than what she could find on Thelessia.

She looked over when Britiana finished her work and smiled. "Done?" she asked.

"Yep!" Britiana said.

Sariya looked over, observing her quiver. "What did you do to it?" she asked. It didn’t look any different.

"It's very simple. Put an arrow in and never run out again! It's an infinite dimensional pocket spell combined with an infinite copying spell. It will also copy and provide other things, but I mainly made it for your arrows," she explained. She stood  and stretched her tired muscles. Afterwards, she handed the quiver over to Sariya. 

"I also strengthened it, and your blood bonded it to you so even if you accidentally misplaced it, it'll eventually return to you. If you ever get tired of it and want to replace it, a strong enough mage can break the bond, or just find me," she explained with a bright expression.

She stopped suddenly and turned her head with a light gasp. Then she heard scratching at the door.

Darius and the soldiers became alert again. Britiana held up a hand and opened the door. A large beautiful black cat waltzed into the room nonchalantly. Its body turned into black mist and coalesced into a woman in a cloak with her hands up. "I come in peace with intelligence," she said.

Britiana nodded. "It's true," she assured the others. She could tell that the newcomer meant no harm to them. She could sense her trepidation, but there were no negative emotions toward them.

Delaney pushed her hood back revealing a light umber face with warm undertones, piercing green eyes, a smattering of freckles across her nose, and long red hair in a neat braid. She appeared to be human, but her shifting seemed to say otherwise. "My name is Delaney Crowley. I came to Thelessia looking for a new home for my family. I was about to return when I discovered a house protected by high level magic beyond what this world should have.

"While I was waiting for the owner to return, I discovered this lady arriving through a tear in the Void," she nodded toward Chrystianna. "Through the Void I could feel more residual magic spill through. I was more than I've ever felt before.

"My apologies, I've been following you all for a while," she explained. She had a sheepish tone to her voice.

"Being cautious isn't anything to apologize for," Chrystianna said with a soft smile. "My name is Chrystianna Silvermoon," she then introduced Britiana, Darius, and Sariya. "I'm sorry, I'm not familiar with my son's colleagues," she added regretfully. She realized again there was so much about her children she didn't know.

"I'm Guennit, these are my men. We're the Hawk Talon Company," Guennit said simply.

Delaney nodded at them in greeting. 

"You said you had intelligence?" Darius asked, getting down to business.

Delaney became serious again. She walked to the table. "May I eat while I talk?" she asked. There was still food left, and she realized she was starving.

One of the young soldiers in the company quickly vacated his seat. "Please, sit here ma'am," he said bashfully with a red face under his dusky skin.

"Thank you," Delaney said and wasn't polite. She sat, and began to fill a plate with food. The young soldier poured her some water to drink. After she began eating, she began telling them about everything she saw, both outside Tarrytown and when she arrived there.

Everyone listened to her, only interrupting to clarify occasionally.

Britiana was almost bouncing. Her eyes were glowing. "They actually have a spaceship? An intact spaceship?" she asked.

Delaney looked at her curiously. "You know what a spaceship is?" she asked. She didn't mean it as an insult. A lot of planets with low technology had no concept of space travel. Even planets with higher level magic would rarely contemplate traveling to the stars.

Britiana giggled. "Of course! We even built one," she said.

"I don't," Sariya said. The soldiers nodded. "But from the description, I assume a ship that can sail in space," she added. The soldiers didn't know how to react.

Chrystianna nodded. "We always knew the Hunters had space crafts, but we were never able to find one intact. They would set them to self-destruct when hunting. If they didn't return after a set period of time, they would explode, leaving nothing behind," she explained. 

Delaney was quiet. She didn't know the situation on their planet. "I have an idea," she said and glanced at Sariya. "I need to ask you some questions, but perhaps not in front of so many strangers," she said.

Guennit stood. "Come lads. Let's make our presence known. Do a patrol. Gleck, Tolin, keep out of sight and watch for villagers who try to head toward the mountains. No need to treat them kindly," he said. He did not appreciate being lied to schemed.

The soldiers agreed and stood, leaving the house in a bold way.

"Should we also leave?" Britiana asked Sariya.

"No need. Please say whatever you need to say," Sariya said to Delaney.