bethen avilla ; the circle mage (bethe) wrote in thedas,
"Figures there'd be only enough horses for the sodding Templars..." Byron grumbled from somewhere behind and to Beth's left, all eyes on the back of the rider up front as he went on ahead to check out a light in the distance. The sun had gone down, and the narrowing canopy overhead was blocking out moon and starlight, such that Aurin was quickly swallowed up in the darkness as he rode outside of the reach of their magic-fueled lanterns. Byron was completely right, though -- the Chantry and the Circle had only arranged enough four-legged beasts of burden so that their guards could flank their charges on all sides and carry some of their traveling gear. Slow as it was, from a tactical standpoint, it made perfect sense. No mage could outrun a horse, and no Templar would let a mage outsmart them to steal one for the purposes of escape, either.
"Eh, you'd probably fall off five seconds from getting on, anyway," Emrys teased, to which the other mage responded with a little kick of dirt at his feet and an elbow jab to the ribs. He gave a playful shove in return, forcing Byron to stumble back into the petite elven mage at their right.
"Hey, watch it!" Lirana hissed at the pair and gave a push back, irritated enough at having to march such a long distance in the damp weather of spring, only to be further antagonized by the antics of her traveling companions. How she ever thought volunteering to become a Grey Warden would be a good idea was beyond just about everyone else in the traveling party; she was never shy about expressing her disdain for ugh, nature, nor how infantile she found certain people's behavior to be. Still, she was quite good at Spirit magics and had written a very thorough thesis on Mana that was the topic of discussion at several Circles across Thedas; no doubt she would be of great use to the cause, even if she did complain an awful lot.
"Please be careful," Beth chimed in, having stopped to make sure everyone was unhurt in the dim light, and that the conflict didn't escalate. She was hardly any older than the other magi in the group, but her seniority at the Tower and maternal qualities had frequently placed her in the position of soothing egos and diffusing tensions. Better her than the Templars, though their escorts were hardly the worst that Knight-Commander Cullen could have assigned to the task. In fact, to Beth's fortune, at least two of them were men she genuinely liked and could cooperate with well. Lirana was still bristling at the boys, almond eyes even more cat-like now that they were narrowed with annoyance, but she did nothing more than give a loud 'hmph' and stomp on ahead.
"Yeah, yeah, sorry," the young man muttered, rejoining his friend to continue their banter. In spite of their racial differences, Byron and Emrys had been inseparable since as long as Bethen had known them. They were both orphans of the Blight, and though they had never met before arriving at the Tower, they got on immediately like brothers. When one decided to go fight the Darkspawn, it went without saying that the other was sure to follow on the next grand adventure. That was another thing Lirana didn't like about them -- they didn't take this situation seriously enough. To her, it was strictly a matter of duty to preserve civilized society and defend it from the grasp of evil, not an excuse to gallivant through the countryside for entertainment and glory.