Later that day, after a loud farewell from Ikkul, Nalrik Tilrak came to say goodbye to the citizenry of Bortan. This eventually meant, of course, that he came to the barracks where Dareak and Coxinjarn lived.

Nalrik Tilrak was a Blue Dragonborn who always dressed in white and blue clothes. His blue hair spiked up towards a point at the top of his head, and one would always find him with a smile on his face trying to help whoever he could.

Dareak treated Nalrik with respect, bowing and wishing him a good trip. She wished him luck at the Magic College and said to stay safe. She expected this respect to make Nalrik recognize her as a standout, exemplary soldier.

But then, every other soldier followed her example. When Nalrik asked why they were all saying it, one of the smaller and shyer troops spoke up. "Well... it's procedure. We just wanted you to do well."

He was a White Dragonborn named Elmes Wuqiroth. He had spent his entire life savings on fancy silver and gold armor and a cool matching spear, so he was kinda stuck in the military despite not being the kind of person who really wants to charge into a battle.

"I see... thank you all." Nalrik bowed back to the soldiers and said, "You don't need to treat me with that much respect. Just because my father is the Chief doesn't mean I'm anything special."

"Yeah, I'm special!" Coxinjarn yelled out from atop one of the beds. Dareak realized that Coxinjarn had yet to say goodbye to Nalrik, and now here he was, making a ruckus.

"You are?" Nalrik was quite confused about what was going on. He had never really been shown the more... rowdy antics of the soldiers, so this was no doubt a major shock to the poor eighteen-year-old Dragonborn.

Coxinjarn jumped off the bed, the bed falling back as he pushed off of it. Dareak waited for the worst, but surprisingly, Coxinjarn landed on his feet. Nalrik was about to clap when, after landing on his feet, Coxinjarn just spontaneously fell flat on his face.

Dareak ran forward to grab Coxinjarn, kneeling before Nalrik and saying, "I am so sorry for him he doesn't know what he's-"

Laughter interrupted Dareak as Nalrik was laughing along with Coxinjarn. He said, "It's fine. He reminds me of my brothers. I've had to deal with some rambunctious kids before. Take good care of him."

As Nalrik left, Dareak immediately turned to Coxinjarn, "Let's go. We need to follow him."

"Nah." Coxinjarn shrugged.

"What do you mean 'Nah?' The Chief asked us to follow after him!"

"He asked me to bring one other person. So I choose... Elmes!"

Elmes was curled up in a corner crying. He had his bowler hat covering his eyes, but tried to hide his fear by saying, "What do I need to do?"

"Follow Nalrik with me!" Coxinjarn ordered, though the order was quite casual, as if it was just an invitation.

"Why... why would I do that?"

"Ikkul asked!"

Immediately, Elmes shot up, wiping his tears and in a shaky voice saying, "Oh... well if Ikkul needs me to then wha... what can I do about it? I guess I have no choice."

Dareak had a feeling that Elmes was lying about that and just wanted to get on Ikkul's good side for a promotion, but also Dareak thought that of everyone. She was quite competitive and had trouble believing that other people had different goals and ideals than herself, so for Elmes to not like being in the military was ridiculous.

But Dareak had the perfect plan this time. If Coxinjarn and Elmes were following Nalrik... she simply had to follow them following him!