Ryelle more or less ignored everyone until after the crystal man had told them why the dragon was destroying the village. Then she looked at the beast for a few seconds before nodding her head as if she had made a decision. â€œYouâ€™re right, Yovela. There is no way we can hope to fight that beast and win. This village can be rebuilt once it has fled, but lives? Lives cannot be rebuilt.â€ She glanced down at the village and at the scores of people still trying to run and escape the dragonâ€™s wrath. â€œWe do not have to fight the dragon to save the people. It surely wonâ€™t notice a few extra people ruing about its toes. So the plan is this; we avoid any contact with the dragon and simply free a many of those still trapped by the dragon as we can.â€ She turned to face the little group around her. â€œAre you with me or not?â€<br/><br/><br/><br/>Tom sighed heavily as Ryelle spoke. The girl was crazy. Heâ€™d have liked to shove her off a cliff or tie her up and take charge himself, but the girlâ€™s mother had wizards scrying him. If he put a toe out of line from his duties, the wizards would teleport and slay him instantly. Why on earth had he agreed to tis job? A soft smile caused his lips to quirk upward as an image of a beautiful maiden with a chubby little boy in her arms popped into his mindâ€™s eye. Ah, yes. All he had to do was get through this mission, and the pay for his services would set them up for life. That was if he survived that long. He looked at the rampaging dragon and scratched at his beard, but what choice did he have? â€œIâ€™m with you,â€ he said as he hefted his club again, raising it in hopefully a confident manner.