B4 – Chapter 13: Charting a new course

Tristan woke up from his wonderful dream, finding Felicity curled up next to him. She must have slipped into bed, he thought as he gently extricated himself from her grasp and got up. How long has it been? He walked to the door and opened it, finding a fairy dragon attendant on the other time. “What’s the time?”

“I think around late morning?” he replied.

Tristan nodded and closed the door, turning back to Felicity who was starting to stir. Walking over to her, he ran a hand along her shoulder. “Hey gorgeous, time to get up. We’ve gotta get back to work.”

She yawned, and stretched a bit before grabbing his arm and clinging to it. “Mmm…good dreams…”

He playfully pulled her arm off of him, “Come on, we have to get going.” Successfully extricated once more, he began putting on his gear, and Felicity helped him don the rest of the armor before she shifted to her fairy dragon shape. Nestling in her usual spot atop his head, she quickly cast Alter Form, turning Tristan into his Marius persona.

Exiting the Queen’s Wood, Tristan made his way to the dirt circle, but stopped himself. “Right, we were going to ask The Matriarch about multiple rings.”

“I did,” Felicity replied as she made her paw-claw biscuits. “She said that there are only five in existence, and the remaining four should be held for future heirs should the worst happen.”

“Makes enough sense,” Tristan replied. “Oh! That reminds me, I should set the return location for Otherrealm Retreat here, in case I need a quick getaway.”

Felicity poked the side of his head, “Then you’d be stuck here until the once-a-Season Citadel event.”

Right…because the ring would only transport me to the last place I used it…which would be here in the Fey Realm. I really need a means to transport myself across Realms whenever I want. He sighed and spun his crucible, pushing the essence into his ring. Activating it, he returned with Felicity to the Citadel, and using the student pins, the two traveled back to the inter-Realm market. Heading through and acquiring some sweet pastries to satisfy their cravings, the two reached the Demon Realm rift. Handing over their citadel pins to the rift warden, Tristan stepped through the opaque film once more.

As soon as he arrived in Saumur, his bangle began vibrating. Oh, Eloise is trying to reach me. He spun his crucible and pushed essence into the platinum ear-cuff. “Hello?” he asked in Demon’s Tongue.

Eloise’s voice came through, in a whisper. A pained whisper. “Finally! I’ve been trying to reach you for days!”

Tristan immediately moved to the side of the market square and began walking toward one of the city walls along the clean, well-kempt streets. “What is it?” he asked.

“I went to talk to the Parslile estate over in Avonal, and they threw me in the dungeons! I don’t have any gear except the ring for this spell, which I’ve managed to hide by swallowing it over and over.”

Tristan grimaced in revulsion, “I’ll come rescue you-”

“These are strong essence-weavers. You’ll need to be cautious.”

Tristan turned course and started heading to the eastern side of the city, planning to immediately head to Eloise’s location. “Why did they throw you into prison?”

Elosie sounded exasperated, but she calmed her voice. “They…did not act like Demons. In fact, I saw no Demonkin at the massive, mountain estate. Only Demons, servant imps, and quasits. They were aloof, and all had a haunted look about them. I don’t know why they chose to lock me up. But you need to get me out.”

Tristan glanced up at Felicity and spoke softly in the Standard Tongue, “Eloise has been captured.”

Felicity frowned, “Jail break?” she asked with cautious optimism.

“Yeah,” Tristan replied. He swapped to Demon’s Tongue again, “We’re on our way.”

Leaving the city was easy enough – very similar to the last time that Tristan left the capital. After giving his reason as wanting to travel for a contract, he was let through with no issue and walked with resolve. We need to travel faster, he thought as he kept moving on foot. He checked the sun in the sky overhead, noting it was just before midday. “Felicity, how big can you get now?” he asked in Standard Tongue.

“Last time I tried, a pony,” she replied. “You’re a bit too big to ride me.” She giggled, “Well, in that way, I mean.”

Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

Tristan shook his head at her innuendo, “Let’s see about acquiring a mount.” The road was fairly empty – merchants having already gone into the city, and presumably would leave later in the day. But there were a few, small farmsteads and tiny towns dotted around the capital. Stopping in one, Tristan inquired with a woman who was tending to a small garden in front of her house. “Excuse me. Any place to buy a mount around here?” he asked in Demon’s Tongue.

The woman got up from her squat and turned to face him, glancing up and down and taking him in. “Maybe. Got coin?”

“I do,” Tristan replied. “I need something to ride, and I’ll pay handsomely for it.”