Rise of the Dragon Riders {CLOSED}

[Chloriosus]

Arrow roused up from his sleeping state, shooting up from the reclining positon in a particularly large pot like the stones he and his brother hurled at various people, places, and things. At the sound of his brothers words his face paled considerably, if that was somehow possible with his already chalk white skin. "Oh no,", he breathed, scarcly alowing sound to come from his lips. "The doom will surly be upon us now! How could we be such slumber-bumblers!?!"

[Chloriosus]

Ice turned back to freeze on of the drekis mouths shut before nodding and answering. "Yes, I believe so. This is around the time they take that vile stuff, though their even worse without it when they have headaches, or whatever. If we find them in the mess hall and reach them as their drinking, well have to get them to spit it out."

[Chloriosus]

The rumbling and stirring mixed with arguing and incessant fighting among some riders appeared to have woken many dragons that day. This was in fact not the case for Rush, who lay nicely blending in on a thickly foliaged tree, observing the bustle underneath him. He was keeping a specifically watchful eye on a certain roof where Zurak, his dark haired rider could be seen climbing off, deftly sliding down the wooden planks, and landing a clean jump on his feet, doing a practicing wheel with his cog-like weapon. He rarely caged Rush, who preferred sleeping outside anyhow, and he also usually sneaked onto or sometimes even into other people houses to catch a nights sleep ever since he had gotten "kicked" out of his parents house. Right now he could be seen mouthing off angrily to the owner of that roof, who was sending very threatening protests at him. Rush diverted his gaze off of his rider. They had been awake up till very late that night, having been part of the division that had captured the enemy elf. Unfortunately her acursed poison dragon had been spotted fleeing the scene appearing wounded, but as to whether or not he had made it back to his pathetic home still remained in question. Naturally, this meant their attack on that detested Nest had to be rescheduled onto an earlier day. However, Rushs mind dwelled on other things. At the moment, he was keeping specific watch for Syrillys, a small dragon with a mind-messing power, whose optimistic and ever talkactive attitude was an incessant nuisance to Rush on a regular basis. He knew if she found him, she would somehow manage get put into the same attack position as him, and then his peace would be gone, along with probably half of his concentration and three quarters of his sanity, which was questioned by many. He didn't see her anywhere, but he knew she was probably somewhere down there. As he looked down he spied a thin and scrambly brownish dragon fumbling about with his food. Rush swiftly took off from his tree and shot towards the unlucky fellow, snatching his food as he landed and then slowly pinning the terrified dragon down to the ground. The smaller one, who was unfortunate enough to be the bearer of the name "clucky", gulped and began squirming as Rushe's claws drew up to his thin neck. "Good morning, chicken.", Rush said, looking sympathetically down upon the dragon as if it were more worthless than the ground, which is in fact very important to our survival. "Laid any eggs this morning?", Rush continued, forcing his voice into one of bity amused ness. Clucky shook his head, or at least made an admirable attempt to. "What a shame, I might have eaten it.". To this statement Clucky nodded, swallowing hard again and beginning to turn a rather reddish color as he struggled to breathe in more air. Rush looked at him with grating despise before releasing his throat, yet taking care to keep his tail and stomach pinned. "Oh well, there's always tomorrow. You might be wondering what brings me to you today. It is in fact a very important matter and I need you to answer my question truthfully.", his claws tightened around Cluckies neck, "honestly", his claws tightened even more, "and with complete abolition of all deceit." His toothy and mocking grin spread across his face as a vapor. "Agreed?" Clucky nodded, this time backing up his useless headshaking with squawking sounds. "Yes, yes, I promise, just tell me what you want already!" Rush's grin vanished. "So impatient.", he sighed. "Well then, here is my question. Where. Is. Syrillys?" At this Cluckey's red color vanished and turned to an ashy gray, for alas, he had no idea where that flighty thing was! However, as the larger green dragons voice became rather desperate and his breath quickened as a purple dragon (not Syrillys) flew above head, he calmed. "You tell me.", he mocked back. "She's your friend, if my mind doesn't play tricks on me." He instantly regretted that statement as the grip on his throat was reinstated instantly and with much more force than last time. "Alright, alright, let go, I'll tell." The next instant he found himself thrown against a tree in undignified fashion. His mind raced to find an answer to the question he knew nothing about. Then he remebered overhearing somewhere that "the shorty" was not enthusiastic about being in the water attack. "She was put in the water attack. Yes, that was it, the water attack, and they left long ago. Your safe, your safe." He looked around for Rush, but only saw his tail disappearing behind several houses as he joined into the frenzy of the cavorting crowd, beginning on his way to meet up with his rider. Well, at least she wasn't anywhere around here. As a whole he was rather surprised she hadn't told him she was to be in the water attack. She usually was silenced by nothing. He reached a certain tree where he and Zurak met up with each other and began to wait for him. His brain began hatching plans to pester more dragons, when his train of thoughts were shattered by that all too much known voice.

        "Good Morning Rush!!! Oh great hawk, Iv'e been looking all over for you! Guess what! We're both in the ground attack! Together! Oh well be so good!! I almost thought you had been put in the water attack, so I almost started crying, but then I thought of that you would never do such a thing to me, and also the sky was red, so of course I'm happy again! You'll forgive for thinking such things about you, won't you?" Her babbling of words stopped as she anxiously looked at her friend who nodded. "Yes, yes of course." The small lavender dragon happily rubbed her head against his wing. "Thank you so much! I knew you would, I just knew it! You're the nice type of dragon that does such things! Oh, I have an idea, what if we go on a hunting expedition together?" Her bright eyes lit up and almost started glowing exited blue light. Rush contemplated this. No, this was by no means a good idea, any hunting expedition with her was inevitably fruitless. " No, I'm afraid I can't, I have to go look for Zurak.", he excused himself. "Oh of course! That reminds me I should go find Rosten, I told him I'd be gone just a minute, but I'm afraid he doesn't understand what I say, so its fine if I stay out longer. Oh wait, I have an idea! We can look for them both together!!! Come on!" She began tearing through the crowd and with a sigh, Rush followed her condeming that brown dragon to certain demise in his head. "Remind me to kill Clucky later.", he mumbled as several riders and dragons cleared out of his way, some shooting him disdaining or disgusted glances. "Reminding you to kill Clucky later.", Syrillys noted cheerfully. "Oh and by the way, I was also supposed to remind you to kill Forthwind too, but I believe he died yesterday, so I didn't say anything earlier." She cheerfully strutted and bounced along her somewhat snaky friend, smiling brightly as she noticed several individuals stepping out of their way. "Oh look, they're letting us through. Must be because everyone like you so much.", she noticed, he mind becoming even more filled with happiness that she had so many friends.

[Chloriosus]

Awakened by the angry shouts of the inhibitors of the house he had been sleeping on, Zurak grogily got up and fingered his belt to make sure both knives were still there, before jumping off the roof and gazing up at the window with a scowl, his dark eyes lined with dark rings. He really hadn't slept much that night, and he by no chance his that fact. A burly man with a red beard stuck his head out the window. "Roof slinker!", he shouted, shaking his fist. "If I catch you sapling throwing an act like that again I'll make sure ye won't, not to me, not to anyone else! May your pieces all be undefinable and lie all over the place to be eaten by worms!" Zurak angrily took up a rock and hurled it at the man, hitting him square in the foehead. "Piece me apart yourself old man, if you think you are the first one who threatened me with this than you are more hollow and falling apart than your roof, which I might care to add will leak next time it rains, curtesy of myself!" He added an extra helping of loudness to that last bit, and flung another pointy stone at the man, who became angrier and lumpier yet was also abashed by the audacity of this young fellow. Nonetheless, his face grew redder than his beard, and he spat down,"You Son of varmints brood, I'm coming down there to piece you apart right this moment! Do you have a deathwish!?!" Zurak drew himself up and reached menacingly for his knife. "If you are to stupid to come up with an answer to that, you are a waste of breath!", he yelled back, before backing down the street and mingling with the crowd, shoving and pushing his way through anyone in his way, spewing insults at whoever dared look in his direction, and tripping little children whenever he got the chance, laughing as they got a facefull of dirt. He strutted along being a general nuisance and as usefull to society as a piece of moldy bread. "Where is that doggone dragon?", he asked himself, standing on tiptoes to glance over the tumult of the crowd. There, over many heads he could make out the knife-like tail of Rush. Kicking up dust into peoples faces as he went along, he walked over to Rush, exagerratedly rolling his eyes as he saw the smaller lavender dragon with him, apparently talking to him. He clambered up Rush and shot her a disdainful and poisonous glance. "Shoo will you, you flity thing.", he told her irritably, glancing about sharply to see if her rider was in sight. "Oh dear, it seems your rider is here. Its a shame I haven't found Rosten yet. He is likely quite irritated right now." Rush glanced at Syrillys as her eyes started blurring. "I'll give you some advice.", he told her slyly as he noticed her skin begining to darken. "Fly up really high and use your foggy stuff. that way the area will clear and you can find him better." Syrillys jumped at this idea, not in the least taking heed of Zuraks shooing. "Ooh yes, I didn't think about that, that is a very good idea.", she answered, begining to look for a good place to take off. As she glanced about, she noticed the short almost childlike appearance of Rosten, trying not to get trampled in the crowd. "Oh hawk, it seems like he is most unhappy.", Syrillys noticed. Indeed, Rosten had had a very bad day. He had gotten up late, spilled his coffee because the table was too high, had gotten waylaid in some street and rather beaten up despite his defensive acts. Then, he had lost his bootlaces, and had found them tied to a ceiling board just above his reach. Thus, he had to wait until someone was kind enough to get it down for him. That wait alone had taken 45 minutes. Then, he had uncaged his dragon, which had given a short little courteous roar and then disappeared. He was less than thrilled finding that she had been associating with THE person- excuse me- LOW DOWN PUTRID BEAST- persons dragon, which was even more sly, maniacal, and low down than his rider. He had even been known to eat fellow dragonlings as a newly hatched dragon, and was still rumored to eat the bodies of the ones fallen in battle, since the bodies of dragons he had been known to have fights with rarely turned up after battle. "Siry! ", he shouted angrily up at her. "Get away from that vile snake spawn!" He eyed Rush and Zurak with sparking hatred, one of which was grinning and the other who was returning the death glare. Who did what will be left up for your imagination. He was still livid at Zurak for cutting his hair in this ridiculous fashion. "Keep you snake tailed toad eater away from my dragon!", he shouted up at Zurak, beginning to finger his whip, imagining the satisfaction of tearing the elf boy to shreds with it. Zurak as you can imagine was not at all happy about that speech, but returned a mocking gaze. "Whats this? I small bat screeching at me?" At this Rosten grew infuriated. "I'LL SHOW YOU BAT SCREECHER!", he screeched very much in the fashion of a bat, and swung at Rush, who used this opportunity to take off. "Bye Rush, see you later!", Syrillys called after him, glancing worriedly at her rider.

[tenebria]

Alalëa shifted on her cot, a mumble rising from her lips as she frowned, turning her head slightly to the side as if in avoidance of something. Suddenly, with a strangled gasp she sat up, eyes wide and breath coming fast. It took a few moments for her mind to adjust to the fact that she was awake and she let out a shuddering sigh, brushing her hand over her eyes as she swung her legs over the edge of her cot. Such a vivid dark dream, born from the scroll she had delved into the evening before... and yet with such a horrifying ending that her mind could no longer even comprehend to remember it. She shook her head violently and reached under the bed to grab her leather boots, pushing her feet into them as a small frown creased her brow. She had an inexplicable feeling that she had forgotten to do something. The frown intensified as she reached to the small wooden table that stood beside to grab the leather thong and flip her hair over to begin braiding it, her hands working deftly as her mind ran just as fast. Something about last night... what had she forgotten? She tied the leather strip and stood, reaching for her arm braces, and then her eyes widened. OF COURSE! Visilva! A bit of relief slipped into her now that she knew the source of the uncertain feeling, but then she frowned once again. If she wasn't back by the time she got to the stables, there would be some harsh punishment awaiting her. Finishing buckling her braces, she began walking to the door, grabbing her sword as she did so and buckling it around her waist, throwing the door open to greet the first rays of sunlight.

[wingfeather]

Harrow shook his head and looked around in genuine fear, ''we need to get some of that repellent drink,'' he said in a hushed tone, and then we have to leave this place, at least for a little while. He began searching from where he sat for the needed ingredients for the repellent, ''I already feel like I'm going to die,'' he said frantically.

[wingfeather]

''Right, perhaps that drink is what gets them to be so reckless in the first place. Maybe if we keep them from drinking it for a few days they will behave themselves and act like normal people,'' he suggested. This idea appealed to Fire but the idea of keeping the twins from drinking that dark morning water was a daunting task and he knew it would not be for the faint of heart, but he and Ice were lucky, Fire supposed, since technically speaking their heart was twice the size normal dragons their size would have.

[wingfeather]

Tanarad and Rygar raced back to the Nest at what the considered a comfortable pace, but to a lot of others it would be dubbed as breakneck. The soared quickly over the Nest then turned and landed at the stables, most of the dragons seemed to be only just waking up. Tanarad jumped down lightly from off Rygar's back but had to put a hand out on the dragon's bronze neck to steady himself, after such a ride even Tanarad could not keep his feet after having them so tight for such a ride. He heard a high lilting sound which he knew to be Rygar's laugh. Tanarad made to draw his hand away but found he would collapse upon the floor if he did and he did not want the further embarrassment in front of his dragon, ''I'll get there lad,'' he said with a smile. We shall see he heard Rygar's voice in his head. Tanarad shook his head and after a few more minuets he straightened and pulling his hood down low, ''I'll go and see what the have at the mess hall today,'' he said walking away, carefully at first, but then he gained balance and the cramping in his legs eased so that he could walk faster. Generally he and Rygar would get their own food from what the forest would provide but today he didn't feel like it and instead came to the Nest where he risked having to talk with people.

[tenebria]

Kivlaa started with a flash of alarm rushing through her as the stoic guard let out a gruff surprised call from further down. Her first impulse was to race over, but she was rue to abandon her post, and felt it was incredibly imperative to point out the ever increasing black shadows on the ocean's horizon. Thankfully she did not have to wait long, as the dark haired elf strode swiftly down the parapet, his golden gaze fixated on her questioningly. "Show me" he said shortly, and she let out a low rumble of uncertainty, glancing over to the horizon. He moved to the edge of the wall and narrowed his gaze, not for the first time that morning wishing for a good old fashioned spy glass, the type of which his father had always kept on hand. Really it was becoming more and more of a welcome concept. But as his gaze adjusted to the light, he clenched his jaw slightly, his grip tightening on the spear. In his view all that was visible were mere black dots... but he could already tell they were getting larger, which meant they were getting closer, and moving at quite a rapid pace. And no kelpie was that big, nor could a dragon keep such a low steady flight. To him, it meant one thing. Ships. He turned to his dragon as she let out a questioningly impatient growl. "Ships, they're ships Kivlaa" he said in a steady tone. Her eyes widened slightly and she glanced towards the horizon, shifting as if feeling the tenseness now emanating from his body. A strangled cry echoed suddenly from the direction he had been patrolling, along with a rather loud thud, and his reason for his own warning returned to him. "We must report what you have seen, but first a more immediate matter is at hand, and I need you." he said brusquely. Kivlaa gazed at him and then lapsed into one of her foreign moments and gave him a swift bow, feeling as if it suited the occasion. He sighed to himself internally at her ways as she jumped from the tower to the parapet, shaking the ancient stones slightly as she landed. With a heavy movement he jumped onto her back, abandoning his spear against the wall, and urged her to make haste over the edge. It was, after all, the swiftest way to their problem.

[tenebria]

Visilva was sure as she soared towards the Nest, she could feel the poison slipping through her veins to her legs and wings. It probably was more psychological than physical, but her wings began stiffening as her thoughts ran rampant. Letting out one more desperate cry, she found the ground rushing up much more swiftly than she had anticipated, and braced herself for a hard landing. Her claws hit the earth and dug into the soft dirt, her flared wings barely keeping her from committing an undignified nose plant. The dust rose around her as she let her wings droop, the exhaustion from the long flight suddenly becoming very apparent. At this point she could hear a hubbub of young voices, and turned her eyes to perceive a group of wide eyed sleepy stable boys examining her from a distance with confusion and fear. She growled, then realized that the katana was still reflexively clenched in her jaws. Almost having to force her mouth open, she let it drop to the ground with a faint thud, releasing its partner from her claw as well, then glancing around for anyone who might be of assistance. She quite hoped to spot her own rider, as no one would be able to understand her better, but her searching gaze did not catch a glimpse of the violet haired elf. A sudden billow of air buffeted around her, and a flash of silver scales caught in the sunlight almost blinded her as a female dragon landed in a most elegant perfect landing, a golden eyed elf staring at her sharply from atop. "Visilva, i do believe you are called, I happened to hear your call and we immediately came to search out the problem... which I assume there certainly is" he said, getting straight to the point as he swung off of the silver dragon, who tilted her head curiously at the older shadow dragon. Visilva tested her jaws and her throat, and realized she really wouldn't be able to get much out unless someone had some sort of antidote for the cursed poison dragon's venom. Deciding to take a chance and test her vocal cords, she said in a much strangled tone "Crimson and his rider, patrol by the Vail. I followed, saw other dragons and I think riders. I searched for both when it was safe, I only saw him, wounded, and he gave me these to bring back, something happened to his rider." she said, then coughed at the effort the long sentence had drawn out.

Kivlaa was pleased to take flight, even if only for a few moments, and she plunged with undue speed off the edge, causing Dálkr to grip the handholds on his saddle most violently. Despite her vertical drop, she landed with her usual elegance, folding her wings on either side and stretching one out for an easy dismount for her rider, all while staring with plain curiosity at the shadow dragon, which whom she had had few interactions with, if indeed she ever had spoken with the formidable creature. Her rider spoke in his usual brusque tone, and she waited eagerly for the response, taking note of the stained blades which lay in the dust before the dark dragon. But as Visilva spoke, she couldn't help but be surprised. For such a large dragon she certainly had quite the strangulated vocal tone! The moment she paid attention to the words being spoken, she felt slightly foolish. Obviously she was exhausted or wounded, or both, which was altering her tone. Hardly did she have time to dwell on this matter, as the meaning of the words settled. Other dragons and riders, coupled with the disappearance of a rider... it could only mean enemies. Add that on with the ships seen on the horizon... and it was easily surmisable that true trouble was headed their way. But her first thought was not of this, but rather how to relay such important information to her own rider, which was quite literally impossible. "Do you know if the other rider is alive? where is the other dragon? How far from the Vail was it?" she spewed out the questions in her lilting tone.

Visilva shook her head tiredly, forcing her tongue to form the next words, and not even bothering to register the strange accent of the dragon she was addressing. "No. His wing is wounded, but he is on his way. Not far beyond at all" she replied, managing to get an answer out to each question. But then came one she had no answer for.
Kivlaa listened with a worried frown, glancing to her rider, who was looking rather frustrated at all the dragon speech that he had no clue of the meaning, although he had just noticed the blades and began striding towards them with a serious expression. Her gaze shifted back to the Visilva. "How am I supposed to relay this information?" she asked helplessly.

Dálkr shifted in annoyance as the dragons seemed to delve into conversation, the darker one with hesitation and seeming difficulty, and his own with surprise and concern. What he would give right then to be able to understand their speech! A sudden glint redirected his attention, and he took in a quick breath as he noticed for the first time the two weapons strewn on the ground. Katanas, by the look of them, and quite distinct in their colors. He strode over to them and bent to examine them closely before lifting one by the handle and turning it. Dark stains covered most of the blade... which certainly did not bode well.

[tenebria]

Alalëa strode swiftly down the path, keeping her gaze straight, although her mind wandered slightly. It concerned her that no matter Visilva's age, the dragon was constantly continuing to pull such childish stunts and jokes. She was quite revered by many in the compound, and one would think that would change her ways. That combined with how she had acted before the two had become close. Why she had been one of the most feared dragons in the stable! A rueful look crept into her gaze. Was it possibly her young nature that was changing her own dragon? She frowned slightly. Surely she didn't act THAT foolish as to inspire such behavior! Maybe it was her encouragement for Visilva to speak with the other dragons... for certain she would understand if she'd been spending any time near that despicably incompetent storm dragon. She rounded the familiar turn, and swiftly pushed the thoughts from her mind. She could speculate on such things at another time, right now the first task of the day would simply be to track down said dragon. As she calmed her mind, she noticed a hooded figure striding up the path opposite her, and slowed slightly. It took her quite a few moments to recognize the man, in fact until he was almost past her. It was that loner, the one who habituated the forest at most times, and owned the stunning bronze dragon, was it not? She had no time to ask as they passed each other silently, and she shrugged. No matter, it wasn't like she was dying to speak with him on any matter, it was simply curiosity. Quickening her pace again, she headed for the stables.

[tenebria]

The guard thumped his fist disgustedly against the Varp's unpenetrable hide, then slashed him with all his anger in the movement, the barbed whip adding to the criss cross of scars showered on his scales. Varp let out a hiss of pain as it hit a not so old scar, reopening the wound to the early morning air. He ground his teeth but remained in his defensive position until he heard the footsteps fading, no doubt the guard heading off to go torment another beast. With a shudder he uncoiled, and wasted no time in moving across the large space towards the sounds of growling and snapping dragons. He was late. Which meant the best he could imagine for himself would be perhaps a bone or a scrap of hide to chew on. He hissed again in displeasure, then silenced as a guard glanced his way, his hand resting on his sword. Lowering his head to the ground he scuttled onwards. Best to not attract more attention. At least not until he wanted to. He was within a few feet of the rolling mass of dragons fighting over the fresh meat, when a deafening roar shook the camp, followed by a blasting electric shock, blinding his eyes for a few moments with the intensity of the evil red lightning that raced over the ground in waves. Morvok had found Diavolo.

[wingfeather]

Elexian's gloomy mood grew thicker as he approached the stables, ''why is it so quiet,'' he thought to himself. He glanced around quickly as he walked and noticed the cloaked figure before he brushed past him. Elexian did remember him to be Tanarad, the strange Nest citizen who didn't even reside at the great mountain fortress, just popping up every once and awhile and disappearing without anyone even noticing. He entered the stables now and stopped when he saw gleaming bronze in the shadows, a pair of bright and luminescent green eyes stared back at him. He recognized the dragon to be Tanarad's. He sighed deeply, merely being in the presence of the reptile soothed his mind slightly. Elexian was also aware of the dragon's remarkable ability to be able to speak to humans through transition of thoughts, but one could only create a path for thoughts if an opening was created. He had always wanted to try and do it, but the dragon was had always been nervous and never could he get the chance. Rygar at the moment did not seem any different at the moment for already he was backing himself into the dark corner. Elexian took a deep breath and cleared his mind trying to calm his emotions and focus his mind on the dragon in front of him, ''hello,'' he said in a very soft voice. The dragon just stared at him. Elexian tried again, ''you have no need to be afraid.'' Still no answer. Elexian turned, he would have to try another time. Hello something said quietly to where he almost didn't hear it, wait, did he hear it? Elexian turned back to the bronze dragon but he was gone, where to? Elexian could not tell.

[wingfeather]

Dagor held up the newly forged weapon, he had finally finished after several years work, it was a sword with an almost white blade made of some metal he had found long ago when he was a young dwarf living in the northern mountains of the Vail, the hilt was an artfully carved gold painstakingly mined from the Blacktooth Hills that were fashioned to look like entwining dragons' tails, the guard looked like flames spewing out of two identical fire dragons. All along the hilt was also set pure white pearls he had acquired from the kelpies, and at the pommel was a huge a dark emerald of worth unknown, he said it was the heirloom of his house and the most coveted of gems among dwarf-kind. Dagor took out a dark sack and carefully wrapped it around the blade and carefully stuck it into a secret hiding place beneath his work table.

[tenebria]

Dálkr's scowl deepened as he straightened, glancing at the dragon then back to the blades in his calloused hands. He'd seen these before... wielded by a young female rider, the one who was without speech. But this was certainly not her dragon. Confound it, where was this dragon's rider? His molten eyes flashed in helpless impatience.

Visilva's tail swished in annoyance. She had just traveled in extremely trying conditions, and this dragon couldn't solve one problem? Did she have to do everything? "Well if he has any intelligence he should be able to figure this out on his own" She snorted in a gargled fashion, her snarky behavior resurfacing.

Kivlaa wasn't sure how to react to that. Was that a compliment? It hadn't really sounded like one... but she really wasn't much socialized... maybe it was the tone to use when using this certain compliment. Choosing to ignore, getting a bit flustered, she looked to her rider, who's eyes were glimmering with a warning frustration under the surface. And of course she was stuck in between both of these increasingly frustrated creatures. Her silver brows lowered slightly and she shifted her tense shoulders. There had to be a solution. "Well... I think we need YOUR rider" she said hesitantly after a moment. "She can understand you best of them, and hopefully knows something of the missing rider" she said, with a bit more firmness.

Visilva frowned, then gave a slow nod. That did seem to be the best course... she only hoped her rider would be more RELIEVED to see her than angry.