Violante was bored, but she knew better than to say it out loud. As Krayan would say, "Don't say it out loud, or something will happen." Well, she wanted something to happen, whether or not it was good. She mulled over what she should do in this regard, and finally said, "I'm bored."
Krayan turned to her and opened his mouth to say something when a huge shadow fell over them. They all looked up to see a great, gold dragon descending on them. Krayan groaned.
"He is the first guardian of the Mist of Vision." He hastily explained as a stream of flame came toward them.
Violante ducked and the fire breezed over her, singeing her slightly. The dragon spoke.
"Why do you seek the Mist of Vision?" the dragon asked. "Turn back now, or one of you will be killed."
Krayan drew his sword. "Try me."
Violante stepped forward. Their goal was to keep him alive, was it not? She had no desire to have Delse track her to her grave, in all honesty, and now she spoke up. "I'm sure we can come to an agreement without fighting." She turned to look straight at Krayan as she said this, reaching out and pushing the sword down. "The dragon never said he wanted to fight, anyway, and I'm sure if we wished he would let us go by. Maybe we should ask nicely." she finished brightly, with a slight warning tone in her voice that said, 'If you don't ask nicely, you'll have more than a dragon to worry about.'
Krayan resheathed his sword. "Thank you for your warning." he said. "But no thanks. And outta curiousity, who'll die? And how?"
"That is not in my authority to say." the dragon replied. "I warned you, however, and when you come to me for help, I won't say I told you so."
He spread his wings, as if to leave, but Violante had one question.
"Wait! Before you go, what's your name?"
He paused briefly. "Periculus." Then he was gone as swiftly as he had come.
Krayan gave Violante a Look. "I didn't need your help."
She rolled her eyes, but decided not to say anything. It would be bad for her health to get Krayan into a worse mood than he was already in. She noticed Harec watching her and glared.
Harec turned away abruptly, chuckling a little to herself. Violante decided not to worry about what she found so funny and picked up her pack from where she had dropped it earlier. "Shouldn't we be moving on?" she asked.
"Yes." Krayan had been looking carefully at the position of the sinking sun. "We'll need to be finding a place to stay the night. Harec, Violante, I want you two to scout ahead and find one."

They did so, nearly outdistancing them. When the sun had almost set, they came upon a group of trees. It was a small cluster, consisting of about twenty to thirty, and there was a clearing in the middle that would do well for a temporary camp. Violante left Harec to begin setting up, and retraced their steps back to Krayan and Tulzir. She was almost upon them when she heard talking. She slowed, staying out of sight. It seemed they were talking about either Harec, or her, or both of them.
"She holds promise." Krayan was saying. "Rough around the edges, but then again, they all are."
"Well, she holds more promise than anyone I've ever seen." Tulzir said. "Good-looking, too."
"Yes, Tulzir, I know how you're absolutely taken with her." Krayan's voice took on a slightly teasing tone. "When's the wedding?"
"I'm not sure Delse approves. In all my years here, I've never seen any two agents get married."
"That doesn't mean they don't. I've considered it... once. I think the reason Delse doesn't seem to approve, is because of you. When you asked her that one time..." Krayan's voice drifted off in a slightly teasing tone.
"Hey, I was young and inexperienced then! I know better now, and I wouldn't go for her anyway."
"So who would you?"
"Maybe Harec. I'm sure I could help her fight better."
"Oh, come now. That can't be the only reason."
Violante decided to make herself known. She stepped out into the open as if she had just come up. "Hey, guys, we found a place. Harec's starting to set it up."
"You," Tulzir made no great effort to hide the rage that grew in his voice. "Left Harec? What if she gets attacked?"
"She's not going to." Violante said. "But if it makes you feel better, we can run."
They did, and Tulzir led by a lot. They had no trouble keeping up, for he reached the little grove Violante had described before they did, and let loose with a heart-rending scream.
Krayan and Violante caught up and stared. It wasn't pleasant.
Harec lay in a twisted position on her back, with three arrows protruding from her chest.