DedtooXEpitaphQueen

Zerdu held out a hand to Adaire, offering to help her up. "It's really simple. You just sit behind me, keep one leg on each side of me and put your arms around me, holding on for dear life!" He chuckled slightly. "I'll make sure she takes it slow to begin with. You trust me, don't you?" He smiled widely at her, hoping she'd accept his helping hand.
 
"Of course I trust you Zerdu, I'm just frightened is all." Slowly she took his hand and allowed him to pull her lightweight body up onto the spider behind him. She securely wrapped her arms around him and held on with her knees. "Okay you got me up here, now don't let me fall." She rustled her wings nervously and wrapped her arms around him a bit tighter.
 
Zerdu wrapped his tail around Adaire to make her feel a bit safer. "Hey, it might be a long time since I've been riding and it might be a long time since Azy here has been ridden, but its the kinda thing you don't forget how to do. Now... ZHA!" And with that, the large spider quickly started skittering deeper into the swamps where the trees grew bigger and bigger.
As the trees started to be of the size where you could hardly see the top and you'd need at least ten people to even hope of reaching around it, Zerdu spoke over his shoulder. "You still hanging on I see! That's good! We're getting close to where my tribe's sentries are! We're almost home!"
 
"Will they be alright with you bringing me along? I mean, I'm kind of an outsider..." Suddenly Adaire was nervous about going. She didn't want to cause conflict now that she was finally getting Zerdu home.
 
"Hey, we might keep to ourselves, but we don't hate outsiders! Heck, we marry to other races at times! But I bet I'm the first bringing in a lovely angle like you!" He assured her. "One of my brothers are married to a Nymph, and a sister to an Orc." He looked around, expecting to see the sentries any second now. Yet he could not hear, see nor smell any of them, which confused him a bit.
 
Adaire noticed Zerdu's concern. "Is everything alright sweetheart?" She fumbled around nervously with the bag and glanced around. Something didn't seem right to her.
 
"Yes, I... I just thought the sentries should have seen us by now... We're about to see the town any minute now. But something must be wrong..." Before he had time to say anything more, a scream rang through the swamp. Zerdu brought Azy to a sudden stop. He stared a moment, before he turned her in the direction of the sound and they charged on again.

Only a few moments later, they came upon a battlefield, littered with Goblins and running red with blood. A small group of Lizardkin mounted on spiders and armed with sword-staffs, and clad in armor. The scream seemed to have come from one of the Goblins as it was killed, as one of the Lizardkin's weapons was dripping blood. Then they spotted the two who had just arrived. The leader of the warriors, one with black scales and almost golden armor, rode towards them for a moment, before he hissed and growled aggressively at Zerdu. He hissed and growled in return, yet his was more apologizing. After a short conversation, they all started riding towards the village again, with Zerdu and Adaire on the side. He was squeezing slightly harder on her with his tail, as if to tell her nothing was wrong.
 
Adaire remained silent on the back of the spider. "Ow Zerdu your squeezing my leg too tight!" She whispered. Adaire grabbed at his tail and winced as she almost fell. Quickly she wrapped her arms back around him.
 
"Sorry, sorry." Zerdu whispered back, loosening his grip of her leg. "It's just that I found out that they've been attacked by Goblins. Or rather, another wave of them, as they're trying to invade them..." He was clearly worried about it, yet he tried his best to stay calm. Yet the mix of fear and excitement was a hard one to hide.
The ground under them became harder, as if the area was a road of some sort, yet there seemed to be nothing here. Nothing but the absolutely huge trees. Zerdu looked upwards with a smile spreading across his face. "We're here. Home."
Above them there were houses built on the branches of the trees, with walkways built between them. The walkways seemed to be filled with life, Lizardkin and spiders going in all directions.
Only moments later, the warriors started riding their spiders up the trees. Zerdu turned to look at Adaire over his shoulder and said "Hold on!" before he too steered his spider at the nearest tree, only for it to start climbing it straight up.
 
Adaire nearly screamed as they went vertical, but stopped herself at the last moment. Heights didn't scare her, she flew all the time. She clutched onto him and held on for dear life, at least if she fell she could fly.

Everything was so new to Adaire and she wasn't sure how she was supposed to act. So she remained silent and just held onto Zerdu.

The whole while they were headed to his home Adaire wondered if these people would allow her to help them. She could supply gold and the best crafted weapons and maybe fight but, they seemed like a proud people and may not appreciate her wanting to help so suddenly. Still, she would wait and watch what happened. "Zerdu does this mean they've accepted you back?"
 
"No, not yet. That is not something for just the Khornate to decide. Its up to the whole council. But seeing as I've got the gold and gems, thanks to you," He smiled back at her for a moment, giving her a loving squeeze with his tail, as his hands were busy holding onto Azy. "and they are now at war, I see no reason that they shouldn't."
After a few more moments of climbing, they finally got up to street level. Quite a few of the passing townsfolk stared at the angel, some whispered to each other, yet none spoke up about it. The warriors quickly came up to Zerdu and Adaire again, easily seen through the crowd thanks to their red armor. They quickly started escorting them through the streets, heading deeper still into the town.
The houses around them were made mostly of wood, yet most the walls themselves were often nothing more than a large piece of cloth, hung up to block the view, yet allow the heat of the outside to enter the house easily. Most of the houses only had one floor, though some were built on branches right above each other, almost giving the impression of a two story building with nothing holding the second part up.
 
Adaire walked close to Zerdu. "Zerdu... Their all staring..." She took his hand for comfort and kept her head down. "I feel like a freak now." She pulled her wings in closer to her body in an attempt to keep them from being so suspicious.

The last time Adaire had been escorted like this was the night they cast her from heaven. Her own soldiers had been forced to escort her to the edge and thro her over. She had once been the commander of the greatest army to ever exist, now she was being escorted around by common soldiers.

Adaire was a bit angered by this notion until she realized there was nothing she could do about it. Slowly she released her anger but still felt a bitter resentment. Although she was angry, Adaire still admired the architecture around her. It wasn't half bad.
 
Zerdu held her hand and gave it a reassuring squeeze. "Hey, you aren't a freak. And they're staring because they're jealous. They wish they looked as good as you, or had someone like you holding their hand. Who wouldn't?" He whispered in return. "And soon, they'll have the chance to be jealous everyday."

After a short walk, a large building with great wooden walls came into view. It was rather domed, with large banners in red, green, blue, purple and gray hanging on it. "It's the council's chamber." Zerdu explained quickly. "It's where we're going to hear me, and decide if I'm allowed back or not."

They were led through the front gates and into a medium sized room, containing some large pillows to sit on, as well as the same five banners as the outside. The guards hissed something, before disappearing through a door leading further into the building.

"We're going to wait here for a few moments, while the council gathers and gets ready."
 
"Zerdu you know I would do anything to help you stay here. I am happy to see you home and I would love to help your village. I just... I'm happy that your here and that I'm here with you." Adaire kissed him on the cheek and smiled. She clutched his hand. "You'll make sure to give me the attention I deserve later right?" She winked and giggled slightly.
 
Zerdu put his arms around Adaire's waist and pulled her close to him. "Once I'm accepted back, I'll make damn sure you get all my attention. I might have to visit my parents at some point, but they can wait. Because I've got a little angel that wishes for my attention. A lovely little angel that made it possible for me to get back here. And I can't deny it that attention." With a smile, he kissed her passionately, still holding her tightly to himself.
 
Adaire kissed him back softly. "I am glad I met you Zerdu. You have changed my perspective on life. Um, I think they are returning." She pulled away ever so slightly. Sure enough the soldiers were back to fetch him. "Should I go with you?"
 
Zerdu looked into her eyes. "If you wish to come along, you are welcome to do so. But it'll mostly be quite some time of me and the council speaking in our tongue, which could be boring for you. Though, just waiting here could also be boring, I guess..." He looked over his shoulder towards the guards for a moment. "I guess you'll get to see my expression when I'm finally accepted back." He said with a smile.
 
"I would be honored to be by your side." Secretly, she was glad that she wouldn't be left here alone. She didn't fear the natives, but she didn't like the idea of being in his home land without him.
 
"Alright. But please, respect the court and be quiet." Zerdu said, as he took her hand and followed the guards.

They entered a large hall with a five seated tribunal, each seat with a Lizardkin seated with a banner matching their scales behind them. One with red scales and banner on the left edge, and a purple scaled at the right edge. At the inner seats, a blue scaled and a green scaled sat. And in the middle, on a slightly elevated seat, a gray scaled one sat, obviously being the most important one. All of them wore similar robes, each in the color of their scales.

Zerdu pointed towards a set of seats to the side, silently telling Adaire to sit there, after taking the bags of precious metals and stones. He then stepped in front of the tribunal, keeping his head lowered in respect. Then, the gray scaled started speaking. "Zerdu Joz'Ly. Zhraalt harah zs...." He would speak for a long time, and at one point sending one of the guards forward to retrieve the bags of valuables. As time went on, Zerdu's face seemed to change from happy to fearful at every other sentence that was spoken.
 
"I will." She replied as she allowed him to take her hand and followed after the strange looking guards.

Adaire was intrigued by the different colors of scales present. Until now she was only use to Zerdu's green scales. The middle Lizardkin with the grey scales especially intrigued her. She briefly wondered what caused their scales to be different colors. Maybe they hold significance? She wondered as she marveled at them. She was used to other people marveling at her and not the other way around.

Adaire released his hand and gave him the bag of jewels. Before they had come in she had exchanged the simple paper bag for a purple silk bag that she thought would look better. Adaire had been on Earth a long time and learned many languages, now she wished she had learned the language of the Lizardkin. As she watched Zerdu's facial expression change she became ever more concerned. She hoped that nothing horrible was being said because by now she would sacrifice almost anything to help him.