The shadow-kissed woman heard footfalls, turned to regard their source. "Took you long enough." Giving Donovan a grinning smile not dissimilar to a wolf attempting to earn one's trust, she grabbed Aza as the smaller woman happily shrugged off the armored man, pulling her up onto her horse with one hand on a slender forearm and the other offering support to the woman's rear. Not at all out of necessity. "Glad to meet you in person finally - our last encounter was<em>far</em>too brief."<br/><br/>Giving a soft word of encouragement to her horse, she led the other equines around to allow Donovan easy access to whichever he wished to ride. While Donovan secured his packs and mounted, Methuseld untied his horse from hers, allowing him free reign. The other two would stay secured for now - although Aza seemed to enjoy riding with someone, it never hurt to have a fresh horse. With Dean riding the third, the fourth could carry their things - since each horse carried less weight they could ride for longer. Speaking of Dean...<br/><br/>"Where's the shadow?" She looked from Aza to Donovan. Slowly, it dawned on her. "Really?" She waited for an explanation, then shrugged, shaking her head. "Very surprising. Though he was rather... puny... last I remember him. Maybe not<em>that</em>surprising then. Hyah!" She kicked her horse's flanks, and off they rode - her friend the gate guard was given only a sarcastic pout as his parting gift.<br/><br/>The city's blood-soaked streets grew more and more distant, its imposing gates less threatening by the second. They were riding at a comfortable - no need to tire out the horses - and so rode next to each other along the spacious road, flanked on either side by tent-speckled desert. In the opposite direction rode merchants on camels, caravans with imposing guards on horseback, and other weary travelers eager for a bath and comfortable night's rest. Donovan spoke up, complimenting her on her boots. She laughed, picking up easily on his obvious confusion, which (to be fair) he'd made no attempt to hide.<br/><br/>"Like what I've done with the place?" She asked, casually gesturing to herself with a delicate wave of the hand. Now of almost even height with her two companions, it was hard not to take stock of the dark woman's luscious smooth thighs spread against the saddle, naught but a black leather thong hiding her womanhood from the world, while the muscles in her abdomen coiled in intoxicating rhythm with the movement of the red horse beneath her. As she spoke, two things became obvious. The first was that Methuseld's accent with its trademark "z"s and rolling "r"s, acquired long ago in her homeland of Ardore, was totally gone. In its place was something more familiar to the three - a sort of mimic of a more upper-class Kulrathi. As refined and elegant as Methuseld's speech had been, yet alien nonetheless. The second was that each word coming from her beautiful lips was said with perfect enunciation, perfect pitch and intonation - it sounded oddly surreal given that it was only a woman speaking. That's all it was, right?<br/><br/>"Methuseld asked me for a little help. She's tired now, so she's taking a nap. A long one. We don't want her coming back before she's fully rested and ready, do we? So in the mean time, I'll be keeping her safe, comfortable, and close. But don't worry. I know you think she's sour, dour, boring as flour - I, on the other hand, am<em>far</em>more interesting, and much more fun as well. Oh - and<em>way</em>more powerful. I'm what she wishes she was. Which is why I'm here, in charge of this<em>lovely</em>body, and she's indisposed but very much alive and in one piece...-ish. Which is all to say we'll be having plenty of fun, the three of us, and you have nothing to worry about, Donovan." Giving an annoyed tsk, the black-clad warrior glanced up at the hot, rising sun, and wrapped her pale flesh in the tattered black cloak hanging from her back. Perhaps a hint as to her nature, perhaps not... Yet whatever skill or magic she'd used to stay alive, clearly she was not immune from the elements. That much was obvious.<br/><br/>Remembering the conversation, she extended a hand, touching Donovan's in a familiar manner. "Oh, by the way, it's a pleasure to finally meet you. Methuseld's told me a lot about you, you handsome devil. No, I suppose that's not quite true - Dean was the devil, wasn't he? You may call me... ahh... hmmmm... I was going to reverse the letters in Methuseld's name to take as my own, but now that the sound was about to leave my lips I no longer like it. No matter, we'll figure it out. For now you may call me "Sexy", "Gorgeous", "Beautiful", or "Ravishing". Oohh, preferably the latter - ravishing sounds fun. And that goes for you too, little one," she said, leaning back into Aza a little.<br/>