The journey up the mountain pass was quiet; Hurvun insisted on that. “We don’t know where this beast is,” he said softly. “But there are signs to look for when hunting dragons – well, Elemental Realm dragon. I’m not quite sure what the signs are for a dragon from the Demon Realm, since I didn’t even know the non-Elemental Realms had dragons.”

  Tristan kept his eyes peeled and stopped spinning his crucible as they ascended into the heights and the air grew cooler. Not cold, as they were in the start of Building Season, and it would be a hot forty days until the Harvest Season came in the lower elevations.

  “When looking for dragon signs,” Tristan recalled his grandfather teaching him as a young teenager, “You must be vigilant. First, look for signs of them feeding, decimated livestock, missing people on the outskirts of cities, and the like. Second, you look for places they could hole up. Dragons love to find themselves a lair to then venture out from. You want to fight them in that lair; where they have the least ability to maneuver and use their flight. Half of dragonslaying is tracking.”

  Thus far they had not come across any type of slain animals, trade caravans, or the like. But they were on one of dozens of roads that crisscrossed the mountainous region of the Gredo Expanse. The only benefit is that this road was one of the main trade routes that led to the city states further in the heights surrounding them.

  Travel through the day was quiet and calm, with only the occasional sounds of nature. The pass they traveled through was carved with ancient magics; vertical rock faces shot up on either side, and the close space made Tristan feel like this would be the perfect spot to be ambushed.

  Hurvun must have been thinking the same thing, as he turned around in his saddle, “Keep an eye on the rear, would you?” He looked up to the still-invisible Felicity on her perch atop Tristan’s head, “And little miss, would you mind flying around a bit to see if you spot anyone or anything?”

  She nodded and flew off. Tristan nodded, “She’s off to scout around us.”

  Hurvun smiled, “I never thought I’d meet, much less party with, a fairy dragon. Or travel to the Fey Realm. Quite the experience. Tell me, how do you like Felicity?”

  Tristan shrugged, “She is a trustworthy companion who enjoys causing some mischief.”

  “How old is she?”

  “Twenty years of age,” Tristan replied. “She spent most of her time in the Mortal Realm, hence why she’s keeping me company instead of another fairy dragon. She has the most experience.”

  “And she can take on a humanoid form, eh? Ever thought of…” he let the implication hang in the air.

  Tristan grimaced and shook his head, “No, that’s just…weird. Fairy dragons are like servants to me. Winterbloom are like…the natural rulers of the Fey Realm.” And since I’m seemingly the last one alive in the Mortal Realm…the last Winterbloom…I’m going to be the last lord of the Fey. The thought was gut-wrenching, knowing that an entire bloodline’s continuation sat upon his shoulders.

  Hurvun must have read Tristan’s face, because the older dragonslayer frowned, “Right…well…” he trailed off and looked forward once more. “Sorry for prying.”

  Tristan grimaced, “I like her as a friend and companion. But I don’t want that type of power dynamic, if that makes sense? If I’m going to be with anyone, I want them to be my equal. Plus, she’s a fairy dragon! Not a…”

  “Well, finish your thoughts.”

  “I was going to say ‘like a person’ but she is a person: just able to take multiple forms. But still, I want someone my equal, not someone who I’m inherently above in some type of hierarchy.”

  Hurvun looked back at him, “Ah, I see your mother’s feminism rubbed off on you.”

  “According to Elven culture,” Tristan replied, “the society is matriarchal. If there was another Winterbloom alive, and they were female, they would overrule me.”

  “Interesting,” Hurvun muttered. “Do you plan on finding an Elven wife then? From one of the lesser bloodlines? Keep the whole Winterbloom going? Oh, wait, that would be the same thing, wouldn’t it?”

  Tristan sighed, “You’re right, and I don’t know. I don’t have experience with romance aside from what I saw at court; no one ever approached the half-breed,” he said with some disgust at the word. “They never saw past the slightly tapered ears.”

  “And now they’d never look past your full-Elf looks,” Hurvun replied as he glanced back. “Sorry, Tristan.”

  “And,” Tristan said, “I’m going to live forever if I avoid a violent end.”

  This caused Hurvun to turn fully in his saddle, “Come again?”

  Tristan smiled, “If a scroll I found is to be believed, and The Matriarch’s recollections are anything to go by, I should be able to live forever. That would be a sad life if my partner only lived a fraction of my span.”

  Hurvun let out a barking laugh, “Damn, you have it good. Here I am with maybe twenty good years left.” He scratched his beard and turned forward in his saddle once more, “unless my indulgence in dragon blood let some of their longevity rub off on me.”

  For all we know, it could have, Tristan thought. He saw Felicity flying back and she landed atop his head.

  She removed her invisibility and cleared her throat to get Hurvun’s attention, “I scouted – no signs of any bandits or brigands. There is a weird sight up ahead. Some type of city that looked destroyed. Bashed to bits.”

  Hurvun clicked his tongue, and Tristan could not see his face, but he saw the man’s shoulders droop. “A shame. Probably our prey. The town…I think it would be Pass Hold. A series of other roads – cuts through the mountains – intersect in that town.” He spurred his mount on to a canter.

  Tristan leaned over and whispered to his mount, “Keep up, if you would.”

  His mount acknowledged the commands and began to catch up with then hold pace with Hurvun’s mount. Felicity leaned down and whispered into Tristan’s ear, “I did see some odd lights atop a mountain, but it was in the direction of the sun so I couldn’t be sure if it was weird or not.”

  Tristan nodded and reached a hand up to scratch her head, “Thanks, Felicity.”

  The scent of cracked, wooden timbers assailed Tristan’s nostrils before they came upon the ruins of the town itself. He gulped as he saw the devastation. What once was a one-lane road that went to an intersection and split off from a central square in the four cardinal directions was naught but a blasted ruin. Every building had been smashed, torn, or otherwise ruined. There were several buildings carved into the stone walls surrounding them, and the front faces were smashed in.

  Hurvun held up his fist indicating they should stop, and he dismounted. “Strange there are no bodies,” he said as he drew his sword.

  Tristan dismounted as well and drew his blade, “Dragons eat people. Well, they can, so that’s not really surprising, is it?”

  Hurvun grunted, “No blood. No sign of a defense. No sign of some type of breath weapon being used.” He went over to one of the facades of crumbled stone and put his ear up to it. His eyes went wide and he sheathed his sword, pulling the rocks away from the rubble. “Come on! There’s survivors!”

  Tristan immediately sheathed his blade and began helping; finding his newfound strength from not just training, but his forging of his essence crucible, and his bloodline’s inherent power. He was lifting rocks that were easily a hundred pounds.

  Felicity did her part, too, shifting to her elfanoid form and helping where she could by removing smaller rocks.

  Hurvun shouted out, “Just hold on! We’re almost to you!” he looked back to Tristan and pointed, “I can see the inside!”

  Tristan gestured for his grandfather to move aside and shoved his arm into the gap. Time to do some essence-weaving. “Ich beschw?re eine Wand aus Eis herauf.” (I summon forth a wall of ice). He willed the ice wall to grow in a circular shape around his arm – and the essence drained from his crucible, into his essence channel, and expanded as he desired to form a wall that subsequently pushed the rocks up and to the side. “Grandfather, check to make sure no rocks will come tumbling from above.”

  Hurvun dashed to his side and reached up, feeling around a bit before nodding. “What are you going to do?”

  The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

  “Remove the wall. “Ich befehle dir, Frost und Eis vor mir, meinem Befehl zu gehorchen. Schmelzt in meiner Gegenwart und werdet wieder flüssig.” (I order you, frost and ice before me, to obey my command. Melt in my presence, and become liquid once more).

  The circular wall melted almost instantly, revealing the interior of the building. There were five people inside, huddled in a corner, who blinked at the sudden intrusion of light. They looked famished, and Tristan looked at Felicity, “Clearcool elixirs, now.”

  Felicity turned into her fairy dragon form, opened her extradimensional storage, and began flying over to each person, handing them a vial. “Drink this,” she said with cheer, trying to keep their spirits up.

  Each person did so without question, and their pallor vanished as they were filled up and had their water needs met. “Thank you, strangers,” the large, half-Broxtar man replied. He was accompanied by a woman, and what looked like three children – all who were bigger than Tristan thanks to their heritage. “I’m Chaun.”

  Hurvun poked his head into the circle, “I am Hurvun Anorox, from the kingdom of Bhant. Let’s get you out of there and get to searching for more survivors!”

  The group was let out well enough, and Chaun stretched a bit before looking around. “Place looks like shit.” He pointed to a pile of rubble next to them, “That’s my neighbor’s house. Come!”

  The next few hours were a frenzy of activity. The trio would clear rubble, Tristan would shove his hand into the gap one they made it, and use his two spells to push the rest of the rocks aside and melt down the resulting ice wall. The activity sped up considerably after they uncovered more survivors, and with the resulting increase in manpower, the entire town’s populace that had taken refuge inside of their carved-out abodes were saved.

  About half the population.

  Chaun explained what happened as the trio were resting whilst other survivors kept at their task. “Three days ago, a massive dragon flew overhead. Immediately the alarm was sounded, and most of us got to our homes.” He sighed, “The beast landed and began talking. Not in Giant’s Speech, but in Standard Tongue. It demanded that everyone follow it to its new keep to serve as worshippers. They…obeyed it.”

  “Enchantment spell,” Tristan whispered as he looked over at Felicity who was laying on the rock next to him.

  She nodded, not bothering to be invisible since they were not within the Human-supremacist kingdom of Bhant where anything remotely abnormal was viewed with suspicion. “Possibly. I did not know that dragons can use enchantment. Well, except for fairy dragons.” She lay her head down and Tristan reached over to give her some head scratches. “Further down the neck, please. My shoulders are killing me.” He obliged and shifted up his motion, and she sighed.

  Hurvun stroked his braided beard, “Dragons are known to have essence crucibles in rare instances. And in some other cases, they have rare permutations of something akin to a bloodline that enables unusual spell types.” He looked over at Chaun, “Continue the tale.”

  “The beast then destroyed the town, collapsing every structure and the front of each carved residence.” He sighed and put his head in his hands. “Half of the town, just up and enchanted!”

  Tristan looked around and stood up, “I’m going to keep helping with the rescue efforts.”

  Night began to fall and Tristan looked over at Felicity as he looked out at the half-Broxtar, the handful of full-blooded Broxtar who towered even taller over their peers, and the few scattered other heritages. They were debating what to do, and Hurvun stood silently next to the few leaders that had emerged.

  “Felicity,” Tristan muttered. “Could I use my ring to bring refugees back to the Fey Realm?”

  “If they are near you? Yes. If they are in contact with you – like you were with me when I transported when new first met? Yes.”

  Tristan smiled and stood up, waving his hand, “I’ve got a solution!” he shouted. “Well, for the short term, at least!”

  Everyone turned to look at him, and his grandfather gave Tristan a curious look before a sudden flash of realization went across his face and he spoke up, “Come on up, Tristan. Tell them your plan.”

  Tristan walked through the parted crowd and made sure to flourish his cloak slightly when he got atop the small pile of rocks the leaders had been standing upon. “I am Tristan Anorox, also called Tristan Winterbloom. I have a means to transport us, all of us, to the Fey Realm. You can stay there, safe and secure, while my grandfather and I track down your missing kin. Then, once all are rescued who can be, we will travel to another town of your choosing – within reasonable distance – and bring you out of the Fey Realm.”

  There was muttered conversation and hushed talking. Felicity flapped up to Tristan and perched atop his head, her sharp voice piercing the air, “I am Felicity Glimmerwing! Advisor to Tristan Winterbloom! You may notice that I am not a dog, as some of you have pointed out. I am a fairy dragon! And the Fey Realm is so amazing! We’ll give you a place to stay while we get everyone back.”

  Once more, conversation stirred up, but the group of decision-makers behind Tristan caught his attention, and he turned to face them. Chaun had been elected one of those leaders, and he let out a bellowing cry, “Silence!” The whole crowd went silent, and he looked at his fellow leaders, “These two helped us escape our confines and survive. They helped us. I say we trust them. Who is with me?” he raised his hand up.

  Slowly at first and then quickly gaining speed, hands shot up until almost all hands were raised. A few of the other leaders seemed skeptical, and one of them voiced his concerns over the slight din, “What about getting out of that place? You could just be taking us there to imprison us! We all know that Elves can enchant people.”

  Tristan looked at the man and scowled, “Then I won’t take anyone who wants to fend for themselves. Simple problems require the simplest of solutions, don’t they?”

  The man looked around and saw that there were only a handful of scattered individuals. “Well, fine then! Anyone who doesn’t trust the Elf, this way! I’ve got a hunting lodge up the mountain that we can shelter in.”

  Six of the people split off, and the rest crowded around Tristan. He chuckled and scratched the back of his head with his hand, “Now just give me an hour to do the spell,” he said.

  Felicity tapped the top of his head, “Good job,” she whispered. The group of people began going to their homes to scavenge what they could.

  Hurvun walked up and clapped Tristan on the shoulder, “I’m proud of you for taking that initiative,” he said. “Definitely wish you were my son instead of grandson.”

  “If you hate father so much, couldn’t you just disown him and name me heir?”

  “I could, but then he would just form a cadet branch for his own house. Plus, he is my son, and I love him even if he’s not turned out how I would have wished.”

  Tristan nodded, “He was a decent father…until the whole half-breed thing.” He grimaced, “And now that I’m full Elf? You should have seen his look in the royal court when I confronted him.”

  “Not wise, confronting him in front of his peers.”

  Tristan shrugged, “What is done is done,” he said softly.

  The hour passed rapidly and Tristan instructed everyone to put hands on each other’s shoulders, and then the group at the center of the circle reached out to touch him. He pushed the last bit of essence into the ring and the flash of white manifested before the whole group was arrayed in front of the Queen’s Wood.

  The fairy dragons that were at play immediately stopped what they were doing.

  “Invasion!”

  “Incoming!”

  “Defensive positions!”

  Tristan waved his hands, “No, stop! It’s fine! Just refugees!”

  The fairy dragons almost instantly paused their combat preparations and began flying about the group who were either cowering, taking up defensive stances, or just standing in awe at the sight of the Fey Realm.

  Tristan turned around and put on his biggest smile he could, “It’s okay! Everyone, just be calm!” he looked over to the fairy dragons, “Stop flying around randomly, and get some clearcool and starberries.”

  The arrayed fairy dragons flew into a cluster almost like a group of starlings, chatting rapidly in Elvish, before splitting up and darting into the forest in various directions. The Matriarch flew down from the top boughs in her elfanoid form, her large antlers protruding up out of her head almost as if a crown. She folded her wings back as she landed, and there were gasps from the refugees. ”Lordi Tristan, en odottanut teid?n tuovan takaisin... kahdeksankymment? ihmist?.” (Lord Tristan, I was not expecting you to bring back…eighty people).

  ”Lohik??rmeen hy?kk?yksest? selviytyneit?. He ovat vain v?liaikaisia asukkaita, kun pelastamme heid?n yst?v?ns? ja perheens?. Sitten ved?mme heid?t pois toisesta heid?n kaupungistaan.” (Survivors from a dragon attack. They are only temporary residents while we rescue their friends and families. Then, we’ll pull them out at another town of theirs).

  She shrugged, ”Kuten haluatte. Huomaa, ett? vain haltiat voivat k?ytt?? t?m?n valtakunnan olemus.” (As you wish. Be aware, only Elves can use the essence of this Realm). She swapped to the Standard Tongue, “Welcome to the Fey Realm. You are welcome to stay as long as Lord Tristan wishes you be allowed to. Please, make yourselves as comfortable as you can.” She pointed off to the training field, “Go that way, to the clearing.” She looked over at Felicity, still perched on Tristan’s head, “Guide them to the clearing. I’ll send the other children to get tents and other camping supplies off in the far reaches of our Realm.”

  Felicity nodded and took off, circle over the crowd, “Okay everyone! Come on! This way! We’ll get you some starberries to eat, some clearcool to drink, and get tents set up once they arrive!”

  The group of refugees moved away in a cluster – some having to be dragged as they just stood in awe of the place they found themselves in. Tristan was joined by Hurvun who looked up The Matriarch, “A dragon took their people captive using an enchantment spell. We will rescue who we can, bring them back here, and then relocate them to another city in the Gredo Expanse.”

  The Matriarch nodded, “They are welcome to stay as long as Lord Tristan wishes.”

  Hurvun glanced at Tristan quickly, “Mind talking with me for a moment? I have a question to ask.”

  The Matriarch glanced at Tristan for approval, and he gave a quick nod. She led Hurvun inside, and Tristan chose to follow the refugees to the clearing. Fairy dragons were delivering huge hauls of starberries and buckets of clearcool. Felicity flew over to Tristan and landed on his head, “Well, this is going to keep my siblings quite occupied.”

  Tristan nodded and put his hands on his waist as he let out a sigh of satisfaction. “It feels good to help people.”

  “Shame that you’re the last of your bloodline.”

  “Don’t remind me,” Tristan muttered.

  Chaun walked over and bowed deeply at his waist, still coming up to Tristan’s head thanks to the size difference. “Thank you, Lord Tristan, for taking us in.”

  “Don’t mention it. Tents are on the way. Just make yourselves comfortable.” He glanced at Felicity, “There’s nothing here that can hurt them, correct?”

  “Nothing except their own stupidity if they trip or something,” Felicity replied.

  Tristan met Chaun’s gaze and smiled, “Feel free to roam. Just…please stay out of the Queen’s Wood itself. That’s all I ask.”

  Chaun nodded, “I’ll pass it along and make sure that the children don’t get wind of the restriction. You know how they can be; wanting to get into places they are not allowed.”

  Felicity grinned, “Oooh! I know a great place they can visit nearby! It’s a small hovel with a ton of jumpshrubs growing all around it! An enormous bouncy cave!” She flew over to the children and began gathering them up before zipping off – chased by some of the adults as the kids ran after her.

  Chaun chuckled, “Thank you, again. If you can save our people, I would be forever indebted. We all would be.”

  Tristan dipped his head slightly, “I will keep that in mind.”

  “You know…you do strike quite a lordly figure. I didn’t really see it until you spoke in front of the survivors…but I can absolutely see it now.”

  Tristan grinned, “Thanks for that.”