39

Kaz woke up to find he had been ensnared in Tasi's coils sometime last night, he figured she worked herself to the bone and wanted a good night's rest in her favorite place, wrapped around him. It was still fairly early, so he gently adjusted his two large "pillows" and placed his head between them, he then fell back asleep. Kaz was awoken by the sound of a rooster's call, he tapped Tasi's cheek to awaken the snoring serpent, "Tasi, wake up. It's breakfast time." He grumbles after a long yawn.

Tasi's eyes blink a few times before her coils loosen, she opens her mouth and bares her fangs as she stretches and yawns as well. Now awake, she slips off her favorite t-shirt and slips into her armor. Kaz watches her change, his eyes glued to her the entire time. He then gets up and changes into his armor as well. Kaz assumes Roarke is already up, as his bed was already empty and made. The two exit the room and find an empty spot to sit for breakfast, Lucia turns her head and sees the two. "Good morning you two." She greets them as she carries two plates of eggs and sausage to them, she hands one to each of them along with a fork and a bright, cheery smile.

Not long after they started eating, Ferron sits up on the nearby couch and wakes up as well. Lucia repeats the process and brings him his dish as well and a happy greeting. Ferron moans, but it turns to smile quickly as he receives his food from the upbeat kobold. Kaz gets up after cleaning his plate and takes Tasi's with him to the counter as well. Roarke enters the cottage, he had just returned from bringing Saphana her food out in the barn. Kaz returns to his seat, Saphana pokes her head through the window to say good morning too. Kaz sits up straight, "Alright, now that everyone is here. We're going back into Vance today to tell King Rayne that our preparations are complete. Meet up in front of the cottage when you're ready to go." Kaz instructs.

 Everyone goes about their morning routines, Kaz fetches a small pouch from his things and finds Freida and Richard outside, "This is thanks from all of us, for allowing us to stay here these last few days." He says as he hands Richard a small sack of gold coins. "I don't want to frighten you both, but I really think you should stay inside the capital for a while. Things are going to get extremely dangerous nearby very soon." He explains. Richard takes the gold and shows it to Freida, "I appreciate the warning Mister Kaz, but we won't just leave our home. I promise we'll head to the cellar at the first sign of danger." Richard says as he shakes Kaz' hand.

Salamat speaks up to grab everyone's attention, "You all can head back now, I must stay here with my brethren. They will need my guidance when the time comes to fight." He tells Kaz. Everyone says their farewells and begins the trek around the outside of the castle walls to the gate. As they approach, the guards see Kaz riding atop Saphana. They shuffle around and wave them through the gate immediately and bow as the group passes. Kaz notices a commotion at a nearby store, he hops off of Saphana to investigate. He arrives on scene to find several guards crowded around a large, scaly black rear end that was lodged halfway inside the door. Kaz feels as if he's being watched, he hears the pitter-patter of claws on the stone path. His hand jumped for the weapon at his waist, but it was too late. 

His vision went dark as something swiftly leapt onto his face and wrapped its arms around his head. A petite voice shouts, "Ezra, get off Father's face!" Something smooth wraps around Ezra's waist, brushing across Kaz's nose. Ezra is yanked off of Kaz by Zavi's tail, Kaz bends down and ruffles the fur on Ezra's head, "You got me good Ezra! But why are you two here? Where is Ishvara?" He asks.

Zavi slinks over and hugs her father, she points to the large black rump stuck in the doorway of the store, "Salamat told Ishvara that she was able to enter the capitol now. So she brought us here to look around, she wanted to see the bookstore, then she got stuck in the door." Zavi explains. Tasi overheard their conversation and couldn't help but laugh, everyone walked over to the group of guards except Ferron. He said his goodbyes and headed back to his shed up the road. The guards bowed before Saphana's presence and went back to trying to pull Ishvara out of the doorway. Kaz asked Saphana and the rest to stay with Ishvara and he ran up the street, "I'll be right back, I have an idea!" He shouted back as he dashed towards the clothing store.

About two streets later Kaz was greeted by an overly excited Telos in front of Malcolm's store. After peeling out of the fluffy hug he received he headed inside with Telos behind him. Malcolm ran up to greet him as usual, Kaz kept walking to the back room, "I need to talk to you in private." Kaz said in a serious tone. Malcolm looked surprised and followed him into the back. The three sat on stools in the back as Malcolm poured a cup of tea for everyone, Kaz took a sip and set the cup back down before speaking up, "Very soon a large force of demons will attempt to invade the capital, the guards have kept it quiet to avoid a mass panic, I was hoping I could borrow Telos when the time comes." Kaz explains. Malcolm drops his cup, it shatters on the stone floor and creates a puddle of tea and slivers of ceramic. Telos grabs a dustpan and sweeps up the broken cup and sets a towel over the puddle. Malcolm looks down, "I want to let him, I really do. But the thought of him getting injured, or even." His words trailed off. Telos wraps Malcolm in a hug from behind, "I'd be fine. You know how Mister Kaz is, he wouldn't let me get hurt." Telos reassures him.

Malcolm reluctantly agrees to let him go with them for the time being. Before Kaz and Telos departed Malcolm asked them to wait for a minute, he disappeared upstairs for a moment and called Telos up. Telos shrugs his shoulders at Kaz and runs upstairs, Kaz can hear a bit of shuffling going on, followed by the sound of footsteps on the stairs. Telos comes out in a set of leather armor, extra padded in all the vital areas. Telos stretches out, "This is amazing! It's so light, and it doesn't inhibit my movement at all!" He shouts. Malcolm smiles, "I had talked with Mister Ferron a few times before, I decided to try my hand at working leather. This is my first creation, I can't think of a better time to test it out!" Malcolm tells Telos. Kaz watches Telos tackle Malcolm to the floor in a bear hug. The two laugh as they get back on their feet, they both shake hands. Telos follows Kaz out the door, "Oh, that's right. We have an issue you could help us with, Ishvara is." Kaz stuttered, "She's kind of stuck down the way in a door. I was hoping you could give her a hand. Maybe blow her out of the doorway with your wind?" Kaz asks nervously. Telos looked extremely confused, "Why is she in the capitol?" Telos asks. Kaz explains the pact they had previously signed with King Rayne and the other parts of their meeting in detail. "Oh, I see. That's great news! I think I might be able to help." Telos replies. They finally arrive at the store where Ishvara was stuck.

The guards step aside as Kaz returns with Telos. Kaz patted Ishvara's rear end, "I brought Telos, he's going to try and shove you out with his wind magic." Kaz told her, "Alright, please do hurry." Ishvara's voice echoed inside the store. Telos closed his eyes and raised both arms above his head, he began mumbling under his breath and lowered both hands directly in front of him pointing at Ishvara's chest. His eyes shot open and glowed a pale green, the dragon's body was coated in a green aura and was propelled backwards out of the doorway. Several books fell off of the shelves inside as a result, but Ishvara was successfully dislodged. The guards cheered and returned to their usual routine patrols, Ishvara got back to her feet and thanked Telos. As soon as his name was spoken, Zavi and Ezra both leapt onto him, "Uncle Telos!" They shouted while latched onto his waist. Telos bent down and patted the two kids on the head, he was then greeted by the ladies and Roarke.

As everyone was catching up Telo's ears twitched and he dashed to Kaz and drew the mithril blade from his waist as a woman's scream echoed through the streets. A dark four legged figure flew around the corner with the woman in its talons. Telos quickly leapt into the air and hurled the blade at the beast, the sword found its mark and lodged itself deep in the scruff of the demon's neck, sending it plummeting into the ground. Everyone looked on in amazement as Telos plucked the blade from it's neck and drove it into the demon's eye putting an end to its pained screeching. Telos helped the woman up, she clung to him and kissed his fluffy cheek before running off. Everyone looked up as the bell tower rang in the distance, a guard approached Kaz and the others observing the deceased demon in the street. The guard catches his breath, "Sir Kaz, they're coming. You and your party make your way to the courtyard by the guard's barracks." He huffed before bowing and running back in the direction he came. Kaz and company headed to the designated meeting place while Ishvara flew off back to Rath.