B4 – Chapter 21: Found out!

Tristan went through the portal with Eloise close behind. They emerged in Saumur, and the city looked much as it did when they first arrived. The duo went down the side streets they had before, heading to the same inn and tavern they had first gone to. When Tristan asked why, Eloise replied in Demon’s Tongue. “My contact should have left us some information.”

The Rogue’s Gallery was quite empty when they arrived, and Tristan immediately felt that something was off. Not even a barkeep? He thought. His hand drifted to his sword’s hilt. He spoke in Elvish. “Felicity, something is wrong here.” He spun his crucible and pushed the cooling energy into his armor, activating Scales of Our Foe, Armor of Ice, Near Miss, and Lucky Instinct in one burst. The back of his neck tingled, confirming that his natural instinct was right as Lucky Instinct reinforced the idea. Something was wrong.

Tristan grabbed Eloise and pushed her to the wall as a throwing knife was launched from a magical darkness that his sight could not pierce at the far end of the bar. He caught the blade by the hilt as it flashed by him, and he threw Eloise behind him to the doorway. “Run!” He backed up, swatting away a bevy of three more throwing knives; the small lengths of metal no match for his armored carapace and reflexes. He got outside, shut the door, and turned around only to see Eloise facing off against a pair of Demons; the city guard, dressed in fine full plate and holding halberds. They were holding the end of the alley, and there was no way out.

“Felicity, turn Eloise invisible!” Tristan wrapped his arms around her, and pushed the spinning essence into his dagg- Damnit! It got melted! I don’t have invisibility artificed anymore! He had completely forgotten to replace the weapon and the spell artificed within, and did not have Greater Invisibility memorized since he had it in an item. Okay, the plan can still work.

There was a sparkle in the air in front of Tristan, and Eloise vanished. He barely bent his knees, then jumped, whispering in the Standard Tongue. “I will glide on these mighty wings!” The spectral wings manifested, and a split-second later, he followed up with, “The skies unfold before me!” angling his toes straight down.

The duo rocketed into the sky. Tristan could feel Felicity pressed flat against the top of his helmet, hanging onto him. He followed up with another use of Dragon Leap and attained even higher altitude. Looking down, his sharp vision could see the Demon guards sprouting leathery wings that they flapped to rise into the sky – and more joined them from adjacent streets.

“I don’t have their maneuverability,” Tristan growled, feeling agitated that they had stumbled right into a trap and now were on the back foot. “We have to flee.”

Eloise had caught her breath and wits, and tried to speak – he could feel her chest expanding and contracting under his arms. But because of the invisibility Felicity used, Tristan could not hear her. “We’ll head southwest. I have a letter to introduce me to Stramal Alphinaud.” Tristan angled his feet behind him, and once more Dragon Leap caused them to shoot forward like a bolt fired from a crossbow – lancing across the skies over the Demon Realm’s capital city. A whole host of Demon guards flew after them, but Tristan’s speed far outpaced theirs. They were clear of the city within seconds, and soaring over the landscape, painted a dappled orange thanks to the morning sun that cast a handful of scattered shadows across the plains and farmland surrounding the city.

Eloise suddenly appeared in front of Tristan, and she was screaming. Tristan winced and growled loud enough to be heard. “Stop screaming. It hurts my ears.”

She quieted immediately, huffing in deep breaths. “We were ambushed!”

“No shit,” Felicity replied.

Eloise shook her head. “I don’t know how! We were so careful!”

Tristan immediately felt a pit in his stomach. “That contact of yours, they worked for the Citadel?”

“One of them did.”

Tristan used another Dragon Leap to push them ever further, but he felt his crucible almost out of essence, and let all except for Wing Glide fade as they continued to sail across the skies, their pursuers so far off they were less than specks on the horizon. “I would bet they were captured, tortured, and said everything they were doing.”

“What were they doing?” Felicity asked.

Eloise sounded like she was panicking, hyperventilating, and she spoke rapidly between those fast breaths. “I asked him to look into the Demon King’s castle and see about those half-breeds. See if our theory was right. He was supposed to leave reports for me at the tavern.”

“And we were ambushed,” Felicity said. “They know. They knew where we would be. The question is, what did your friend know about our plans?”

Tristan shook his head. “We need to know more about the friend before we can discuss what they might have shared.”

“His name is Ross,” Eloise replied. “A Demonkin who I was good friends with. He helped me get to the inter-realm portal and to the Citadel to join it hundreds of years ago. He ran an orphanage in Saumur. We kept in touch, and I looked at the orphans for prospective essence-weavers to bring to the Citadel. He had contacts in high society – Demons who wanted to show they were altruistic and build their reputation would donate to keep the place operational.”

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“What did he know about us and our mission?” Tristan asked.

“All he knew is that I, in my capacity as an individual and not working for the Citadel, was here with a mercenary named Marius. We were investigating disappearances of bloodlines. He was going to gather information for me. That’s all he knew; your name, my name, the information I wanted him to track down, and the drop location.”

“You mentioned one of them not working for the Citadel,” Tristan prompted.