"My kind does not travel at all," Pete interrupted and removed a stray strand of red hair from his face with an elegant wave of his hand. "Humans are a boring lot, truthfully, domed up in their cities, so afraid to enjoy the world, they will not expand their horizon until they have covered it behind another wall." Pete sighed and shook his head, without having lost his bemused expression.<br/><br/>He kept smiling at the woman and looked her deep in the eyes, with an eerie air of superiority. He was intrigued by her savagery. Apart from her use of medicine, and her apparent friendship with one outside her own race, she exhibited the traits he commonly associated with all drakefolk, among which philosophy was not one, and Pete decided to poke her a bit before steering the conversation into friendlier territory.<br/><br/>"Skill and fate guaranteed you the kill, but not luck, you say? What is the difference between luck and fate, then, I wonder? Was it not your luck that the monster was fated to be slain?" Pete walked closer to the wurm, keeping a safe distance should it react, and making sure he did not turn his back to either it or the drakewoman. "I do not believe much in fate myself, really. I believe this thing was slain by your sword as guided by your skill and by nothing else, perhaps except for the timely assistance of the merman. Drakefolk are not renowned for much else than their prowess in combat, and I find it to be a reputation well deserved. You are no doubt an honorable warrior, and yet you only dishonor yourself by not taking credit for your kills."<br/>He stepped away from the wurm and came closer to the campfire, and resumed to look her in the eyes with a dreamy, condescending look on his face. "What a grand and intoxicating innocence."<br/><br/>He stood for a while, observing them with a smile. The merman's silence was hardly a surprise, given his lack of a mouth, but he was interested in hearing the woman's reply. He still did not know their names. He decided it was time to make the conversation more enjoyable for all parts involved, and changed the subject.<br/>"I did not offer the horse for a trade. Neither of you, I suspect, has anything to offer me, aside from good company and, perhaps, the relative safety in numbers. The horse is yours to use, because you have more need for it than I, and I will travel with you until the nearest city, or until the merman's wound is healed and he no longer needs to comfort of a steed. Even in these rocky wastes I believe in acting humanely... even if no other human is as I."<br/>His gaze occasionally darted to the merman or to the wurm that remained motionless, but he always returned to stare into the woman's eyes. He rested his sword on his thighs, but did not relinquish his grip of the hilt.<br/>"Or perhaps we can arrange a trade. I told you my name, and usually that makes people tell me theirs, but if I must use coercion then my prize for the horse is not just companionship, but also some knowledge of the companions. I fear I will just offend you if I keep calling you Drakefolk and merman all night. I travel a lot, but the last place I would ever want be is on the receiving end of a drakewoman's wrath."