The winds suddenly picked up a cold chill to them and by the time Ametrine landed on the ground, it had turned into freezing rain. The rain drops were so big they resembled that of hail and pounded on Merek and the dragon. Instinctively, Ametrine provided shelter for the human with her wing as it umbrellaed over top of him. The dragon offered to stay awake as Merek took cover while the two of them waited for the storm to past, but there was no way that the man could let her do such a thing. He scoffed at her, "are you nuts!? You might be a dragon but you'll freeze, we are finding shelter!"
The two of them walked slowly huddled together in a random direction, hours seemed to have passed before they stumbled upon a small cabin off in the distance. The cabin had a warm glow emitting from its tiny windows and smoke was dancing above the chimney. Next to the cabin was a barn large enough to house both Ametrine and Merek for the evening, or at least until the storm passed. Once inside the barn Merek noticed the animals staring at the beautiful winged beast before them, he knew that they were not staring in awe but yet, were staring in fear. Merek caught her fleeting thought about eating them but it was so quickly gone that he did not pay it any attention. He barely heard her voice echo in his mind as he was contemplating what to do in case the owner of the cabin decided to check on his livestock during the storm. He turned to Ametrine with a serious look on his face, "I'm going to go check out who are most gracious host is, stay put and I'll signal you if I'm in any danger." Merek didn't give her a chance to reply before he vanished into the shadows beyond the barnyard doors.
Merek swiftly moved toward the cabin, staying beneath window height as he moved with grace. The man was adept at sneaking around, a skill he had acquired from man years of being a dragon slayer and a thief. He placed his back against the wood walls of the building, softly moving toward the window, inching ever so slowly. Merek turned his body, placing his stomach against the side of the building and gently raising his head to glance through the window. His eyes peered over the sill and into a room swallowed by candlelight; there were mountains of texts spread across several tables and old tapestries pinned to the walls. Traces of a single person were obvious in the room by the goblet sitting on a desk and a wooden board graced by bread and cheese. Merek's mouth began to water at the sight of the food and his stomach grumbled, remembering that it had been awhile since his last meal. He knew that he wouldn't be able to hunt that night and thought about sneaking into the home to retrieve himself and Ametrine a meal for the evening. Common sense kicked him in the head and he continued to look for clues on who their host was and what kind of a person he was. Merek noticed that there were no hunting trophies on the walls and no signs of weaponry, what he did notice though were beakers filled with strange liquids and jars with herbs. A mage... or a wizard of some kind. But where is he? Did we trip some kind of barrier when we entered the barn, I'm sure myself of Ametrine would've felt something of that nature though.
A crash sounded from within the cabin and Merek dropped his head quickly to avoid detection. He could hear muttering on the other side of the wall, a male's voice. A young male's voice. He listened closely and determined the man was alone in the home. Merek slowly raised his gaze over the sill again to capture the image of a young man, approximately in his late teens to early twenties flailing around the living quarters attempting to collect papers and books in a pile on the floor. The crashing sound, he must've stumbled and dropped them. The man had medium length reddish brown hair and wore commoners clothes. "Oh gosh oh my, oh goodness.. Terrence what in GOD'S name have you done!?" the man spoke, his voice confirming that he could not be older than 21 but why was he alone? A magician, or a wizard, so young would be an apprentice. Merek noticed symbols that he recognizes from Ametrine's nest on one of the tapestries and retreated back into the shadows as the young man finally managed to struggle to his feet. Merek returned to the barnyard, relieved, confused, and weary of their host.
"It seems the man that owns this cabin is a young lad, I believe his name is Terrence, or at least thats what he called himself. He has no signs of weaponry in his home and instead his living space was filled with texts, tapestries, papers, beakers of different solutions, and herbs. He's clearly dabbling in the magic arts, of what kind I don't know..." Merek trailed off, picturing the symbols on the wall, "I did notice some draconic symbols on the wall, which to my understanding could only be read by dragons and wizards of the highest order. Men his age involved in magic are usually apprentices, it's strange that he is alone and he is working on such intricate pieces. I think it's best we keep our guard and take turns sleeping, who knows what this kid is capable of." Merek spoke with a seriousness that Ametrine had not seen since the day they met when they faced the Prince together. She had almost forgotten that he was a warrior at heart.
