She jumps a bit as she's addressed directly, turning to look at Taran, trembling slightly.

"Everything is okay." She tweets softly, avoiding his gaze. "Do not worry about ... birb."

Caelius nods and signs,

Akuma studies the shifters for a moment with a curious tilt of her head before giving a half wave, crossing her arms soon after. "Akuma Meishu. At your service."

"I-I-I al-always w-w-worry ab-about you," Taran says softly, "Y-You a-are o-one of th-the f-f-few fr-friends I-I have, an-and y-you a-are sw-sweet and k-kind. An-And i-if y-y-you n-need h-help, I w-w-will h-help y-you, e-even if y-y-you t-tell me n-not t-to. B-But I-I d-d-don't w-want to d-d-do th-the wr-wrong th-thing an-and m-make th-things w-w-worse ei-either, s-s-so... c-c-can y-you t-tell me wh-what's b-b-bothering you?"

"Hard ... to talk ... Explain .... later." She chirps softly, still avoiding his gaze.

"O-O-Okay, I-I'll h-h-hold y-y-you t-t-to that." Taran responds after a minute of considering. He then hugs the armored bird. "B-B-Before th-the m-m-mission."

She chirps some more, returning the hug.

"I'm Liana," Siepha says quietly from the back.

Tel-Lir smiles slightly at Taran and Kaori's exchange, then returns to her businesslike manner. "Good to meet all of you. And Taran, we'd be happy to share what we can with you about tracking and surviving up here, although a lot of it can't be taught in the space of a few days. I'd wish you luck on your mission, but I find I can't quite bring myself to wish ill will on the Riedrans yet."

Tel-Kas snorts. "I can. Good luck with the monolith." He gives a fanged grin.

Tel-Lir shakes her head. "So quick to forget," she murmurs before asking louder, "If I may ask, Jade-Lin mentioned you were southerners, but didn't go into much more detail than that. Are you fugitive Riedrans? Why are you helping bring down a monolith?"

"We're part of the Summit Road. We oppose the Inspired any chance we get." Vishal then looks curious between the two before asking, "Were you two in Riedra? Born there?"

"I-I'd ap-appreciate an-anything y-y-you c-c-could sh-share th-that w-will h-h-help m-me k-k-keep m-my c-c-companion's s-s-safe." Taran says with a nod to them, "A-As f-f-for us... w-w-we a-a-are m-members o-of the S-Summit R-Road, and w-w-we f-f-fight a-against R-Riedra fr-from the S-south. A m-mission s-s-sent us up th-this w-w-way, an-and... w-w-we f-f-felt th-that it w-w-was on-only r-r-right t-t-to l-lend our st-strength a-a-against a c-c-common e-enemy, s-since the Akiak offered u-us sh-shelter and f-food."

Tel-Kas snorts. "No, we weren't born Taskaan slaves." He makes a disgusted noise. "We were both born in the Telaani clan. Qiku, from birth to death."

Tel-Lir smiles faintly. "But I have spent time in Riedra, in disguise, and Edgewalkers saved my life. The last southerners we spoke with were those same Edgewalkers, who helped us end a great threat to the Tundra in the form of the rising Kalaak barbarians. So I have a somewhat more balanced view of Riedra than most here in the north, though I am also more directly familiar with the evils that can be found there." She tilts her head. "I have never heard of this Summit Road."

 "W-W-We a-are b-b-based in A-Adar, s-s-so y-you m-might n-n-not have h-heard anything." Taran explains. The reveal that they had worked with Riedrans was worrying, but Jade-Lin obviously trusted them.

Taran does notice that while Tel-Lir seems fairly relaxed while talking about the Riedrans, Tel-Kas narrows his eyes. He clearly has little love lost for the Riedrans, no matter how much they helped before.

Tel-Lir tilts her head. "Well, I've never heard of Adar, so no, I haven't," she says with a brief chuckle.

Caelius signs,

 Seeing Taran's surprise at them working with Riedra Caelius signs to him,

"Y-Yes, b-b-but th-that d-d-doesn't m-make th-them l-less h-h-hostile t-t-towards us. Th-They th-think w-w-we a-are d-d-demons af-after all."

Tel-Lir smiles faintly. "I've worked with them. Doesn't mean I share their views. We don't take grand sides up here, aside from a few exceptions." She nods to Jade-Lin, who's at this point left you all to talk while she chats with a few other Akiak. "We help our friends and fight our enemies. How they feel about each other is a secondary concern we deal with when we need to."

“Well I’m just happy we’re you’re friends the .” Vishal replies with a smile 

Taran nods, "I-I a-agree, th-thank y-y-you f-f-for your a-aid."

You all head off to bed and get a good night's sleep. The next morning, you wake up early so that you can set off for Riedra.

The Akiak force turns out to be about twenty five strong in total. You set off rapidly across the Tundra, the Akiak moving surefooted across the snow. When you reach the border in late afternoon, denoted by an almost disturbingly straight and even line of falling snow, the Akiak pause. Led by Jade-Lin, they speak together a shockingly long list of clan names. Then the five headed for the fortress split off and head southwest, while the rest of you continue straight south.

As day turns to dusk, the silhouette of the monolith appears. You and Jade-Lin split off from the group and take a circuitous route that brings you to an area about a half mile from the monolith. Jade-Lin gestures around. "Time to set an ambush."

Vishal smiles and pulling on his fiery magic he touch Cael, Kaoiri, and then Siepha. "There we go, that'll help you stay up in case things turn nasty."