B3 – Chapter 28: Future Proofing

Tristan stayed mounted, and his senses were on-edge as he kept himself on high-alert. “Attacked by assassins in the Wild Realm.” He felt himself hyperventilating and tried to calm his breathing as the near-death experience vividly replayed in his mind’s eye. “We’re safe here, right?”

Eloise looked quite perturbed, but nodded. “Yes, none can enter the Citadel’s grounds with intent to harm one of our students. Even from other Realms.” She looked to Rory, gave her a brief nod, and then Bertram, wincing as she saw his lack of armor. “Lost your gear?”

Bertram sighed, “Yeah. Tristan’s going to get me a replacement.” He grimaced, “Assassins were pretty brutal. Didn’t help that we had just finished hunting a water dragon.”

Eloise glanced over at Felicity, “What did you want me to do, exactly?”

Felicity frowned, “We need to get back to the Fey Realm. Tristan needs Essence to put into his ring. Just keep us safe.”

Eloise nodded and tapped her staff a few times. The whole group was transported in the blink of an eye to the space in front of their rooms. “I will go and fetch a spare essence elixir.” She tapped her staff once more, vanished, and not five seconds later she came back with a vial held in her hand. She handed it to Tristan.

He knocked it back and quaffed it down, reverse-spinning his crucible. He could feel the cool, soothing liquid settle in his stomach like a brisk, refreshing drink of water. And he felt more relaxed now that he was inside, surrounded by stone walls.

Rory cleared her throat, “Assassins been after you for how long, again?”

“Since I was in Bhant,” Tristan replied.

“Any way to track them down?” Bertram followed up.

“Obadai was working on it,” Tristan replied. “Felicity, use the bangle and see if you can talk to him.”

She shook her head slightly, and the gold bangle jingled as she used the stored Spoken Message: Half-Realm spell within. “Hey, it’s Felicity! … Yeah, we are doing okay. Close encounter with assassins…mhmm…” she frowned and stomped her little paw-claws on Tristan’s head. “That s-u-c-k-s…I’ll tell him.” She flapped down off Tristan’s head and onto Onyx’s instead, so she was looking right into Tristan’s eyes. Her expression was one of annoyance more than anything. “Obadai said that he figured out some information. The assassins are called The Venomous Rose. He doesn’t know their base of operations, or who the leader is, or any of that stuff. But, he was able to figure out that their hideout is not on The Mortal Realm.”

That makes them so much harder to track, Tristan thought. He looked to Eloise, “I know divination can’t go across Realms normally. Is there any workaround? Any spell type?”

She frowned, “There are ways, but given our inter-Realm marketplace, I have an idea. I’ll talk to a colleague of mine. One who is a divination specialist. I can ask her to go from Realm to Realm, attempting divination spells to try and find these assassins.” She sighed, “It would be easier if you have their clothes or something.”

Felicity grinned and reached into her pocket dimension, pulling out a black cloak. “I got one! Snagged it from the beach as we ran off!”

Eloise nodded and took the offered garment. “I’ll put her on it. You lot going to the Fey Realm, I assume?”

Tristan nodded, “I need to be somewhere I know is safe. The safest place possible.”

“Fair enough.” Eloise tapped her staff and vanished again.

Bertram sighed again, looking over at Rory, and mumbling, “I really liked my armor.”

She rubbed his back reassuringly, “It’s okay. Tristan’s gnomes are going to set you up.” She looked up to Tristan with a firm, stern, look, but her voice remained the same tone. “Aren’t you?”

“We already had him measured up,” Tristan replied as he began spinning his crucible and pushing the essence into his ring. “Now, give me an hour and we’ll depart.”

Bertram and Rory went to their bedroom, shutting the door behind them. Tristan, Onyx, the two other unicorns, and Felicity were left in the hall. Tristan dismounted Onyx and sat along the wall next to his room. His armor made a slight rasping noise as he did so.

“The new gear kept you safe,” Onyx commented as he paced over to Tristan.

Tristan nodded, “Yes it did. Really good investment. I still got bruised up.”

“Allow me,” Onyx said as he lowered his horn and it glowed with a deep, yellow hue. Tristan saw the stream of essence pour out and wash over him. Within moments, his bruises were gone and he felt quite relaxed as warmth permeated his muscles. Onyx straightened up, “Huh, that worked.”

One of the other unicorns walked over and nudged him, “We can use wind elementalism, protection, and rejuvenation. Innately, we can heal individuals. Though the strength of such mending is based upon the bond we share with them.”

Felicity tapped Onyx’s head with a paw-claw, “Aww, you big softie, you.”

Onyx shook his head slightly, “I respect Lord Tristan. He respected me and Midnight. No bridles, no harsh words. Even let us loose on the beach for a wonderful nighttime ride. Truly an experience I cherish.”

“Maybe we’ll get beaches in the Fey Realm,” Tristan said with a slight smile.

One of the other unicorns dipped their head, “A part of the realm that was sealed before ours was an ocean of sorts.”

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“See? Oceans are on the table!” Felicity said with joy.

An hour passed and Bertram came out with Rory to join Tristan, Felicity, and the unicorns as they all transported to the Fey Realm. Immediately, Bertram and Rory went over to the forges and smithies to inquire with the gnomes about the new gear.

Tristan, meanwhile, reverse-spun his crucible as he filled up his essence to the brim. He then both-direction spun it, becoming one with the Realm. “Matriarch!”

She flew down from the top boughs a few moments later, landing in her full-sized fairy dragon form. “Yes, Lord Tristan,” she said calmly.

“Assassins targeted me again,” Tristan said as he crossed his arms and sighed. Onyx and the other unicorns wandered off, and Tristan kept speaking. “I can’t go anywhere outside of the Fey Realm and the Citadel of Essence without risking assault.”

The Matriarch frowned, “It is not necessarily a bad thing to be confined to safety, Lord Tristan.”

Tristan scratched his head, then his hand was forced aside as Felicity landed atop his head and began making paw-claw biscuits. “Yeah, well, the Wild Realm was a good opportunity. I acquired several more dragon crucibles with my family spell. And resistances to spell types. Plus, Eloise is going to work with a colleague to try and track down where these assassins are coming from.”