Dover

As the two of them walked towards Cynder’s camp in silence, Dover took the opportunity to properly size up the sorceress. While he had seen a little more than he expected the previous night, this was his first chance to see her up close.

Due to her slight build, from a distance she could easily pass for someone in her teens, but up close her maturity was more obvious. She had likely seen at least two decades, but she acted both older and younger than that. She was hopelessly naive about the world, but highly educated with magic. She was able to wordlessly start a fire, something which Dover would require a short chant and a magical catalyst to do himself. There was also the strange circle she made around her camp. He had assumed the boar would avoid the obstacles, but instead it blindly crashed through it. Part of the reason it was in such a rage was its confusion at getting tangled in her supplies. Presumably the circle was a deterrent of some sort, but it obviously failed to protect her campsite or to hinder his own observation of it.

She was intelligently dressed for traveling through the wilderness, wearing study earthen colored clothes. If needed she could easily hide from danger or even travel off the established trails. It was a little odd that she wore a jacket as opposed to the more common cloaks travelers utilized, but as a spellcaster agility and freedom of movement were less important. It was also possible she chose this outfit because the bulkier fabric helped conceal her gender, something which is very important for a young woman traveling alone. On the flip side, the fine quality could lead bandits to assume she was a noble or a merchant, making her a more desirable target.

For all he knew, she might be. Her inexperience could easily be that of a noble’s child trying to experience the world.

They finally arrived back at her camp. It seemed as if she had left immediately in pursuit of her supplies. After a quick glance around Dover spoke, “Gather up whatever ya can salvage while I get this gore off me. We’ll eat and head to the ruins after that. We should be there by nightfall.”

Cynder nodded and Dover tossed his small pack down near the edge of her camp before heading towards the lake. He was fairly confident it wouldn't even occur to her to snoop, but hoped she would surprise him. Otherwise he couldn’t leave her to her own devices in good conscience. If he did, he might as well have killed her with his own hands.

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He found himself smiling at the thought of watching over her. Before being hired to train the woman at Driks’ he never would have considered the future well being of a stranger. Living in civilization can really leave a mark after all. Then again, he had never before encountered someone he would describe as a helpless puppy either. He just hoped he wouldn’t regret it.

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Cynder

Back at the camp, Cynder’s mind was in turmoil. Dover made no sense! Was he human? Was he some sort of mystical creature? Having spent the morning with him, she was at least fairly confident he wasn’t a dragon, the scales used in his armor had a different aura then he did. Looking at that armor, and considering his fight against the boar, made her shiver. He probably hadn’t killed a dragon... Probably. He obviously won though, otherwise he wouldn’t have gotten that much scale. The only way to find that much was to take it by force or explore a dragon’s lair.

She ran through all the fantastical beasts she could recall from her reading. Though he acted like an animal, he clearly looked like a human. Most creatures capable of shapeshifting like that had heighted healing though, which he clearly didn’t. He was covered in scrapes and scratches after his fight.

Glancing towards the lake to make sure he was out of sight, she concentrated briefly, her hand morphing into a claw covered with fine red scales. Flexing her fingers she considered their sharpness. Dover’s dagger had oozed magical power, it could probably block her strike. The armor would certainly deflect it unless she got a solid hit.

Returning her hand to its human form, she considered her own dagger. It was made from one of her own claws, so it could cut virtually anything. Based on how he moved, it would be useless unless she attacked while he slept. Then again, not knowing what he was, he might not even need to sleep. She returned it to its sheathe on her belt and sighed. As far as she could tell, she was defenseless against this man. She was also surprised that she didn’t really care.

She smirked when she realized the laws which had been drilled into her memory may all be wrong, all except the last one. ‘Nothing in this realm is absolute, always expect to be surprised.’