[Aylwen Dreamsong]

Uh oh.

Jadae bit her lip and tried frantically to think of an excuse. She had in fact taken the figurine, but only because she had wrongly assumed that no one would be missing it. If the smith had known that their was something living in the Mountain she wouldn’t have taken the dragon in the first place!

“I have no idea where that came from!” Jadae lied outright. What else could she have said? Arethin elbowed her and Mattius raised a suspicious eyebrow. The Elf-woman shook her head, probably wondering if Jadae was crazed, for everyone in the chamber was almost certain, if not absolutely sure, that Jadae had taken the dragon.

“This human could not act or lie to save her life,” Crystwen muttered in her elvish dialect. Anuion understood enough of the altered words to catch the elf’s distain in Jadae. “You are a little thief, and none better!” exclaimed the elf, now in common.

“I would not have stolen…I mean, I would not have taken it as a souvenir if I had known someone lived here. I didn’t think it would be missed,” Jadae spoke softly at first, but then came just short of yelling at the annoying inhabitant of the Mountain.

“Tell me now, why you are here, or suffer the consequences!” The Elf-woman shouted back, making Anuion’s sensitive ears ring. “I know every trap set in this mountain, and I’m not afraid to kill you all!”

Mattius had been smart in not telling the Elf to begin with. She’d kill them anyway if she could when or if she found out why the travelers were there. Why would she let them continue if she knew they were after her home’s treasure? Jadae kept quiet, and gently kicked Anuion when he went to reply.

“We’ve come to see what was inside the Mountain,” supplied Arethin.

“And steal it, no doubt,” Crystwen retorted, and glared at Jadae.

“No, only to investigate, as our King has sent us for!” cried Mattius, following Arethin’s lead. Jadae kept quiet, knowing how bad she was at lying. Crystwen eyed the group suspiciously.