Tristan, Eloise, and Felicity reached a small dirt trail that led past an abandoned village. Eloise explained that several places would crop up; homesteaders who were trying to make their own way in the Demon Realm, outside the spheres of safety established by the Demon Houses. "Much of the realm is untamed," she explained. "Demons value strength and progression through adversity. Outside of those protected areas, the wildlife is allowed to flourish and grow. Homesteaders like the ones who once lived in this village…like the village I came from…well, they rarely stay independent for more than a few hundred years. A Demon House will incorporate their village into the overall territory, or the wildlife will grow bold enough to attack and devastate the populace, forcing them to flee."

"Seems like a shitty situation," Felicity replied. "Tristan's realm is so safe in comparison. No one is in danger anywhere!"

Tristan did not engage in the conversation and kept his hand on the pommel of his sword, focusing on observing the surroundings – including the skies above. We're not getting ambushed again, he thought. The next time, I'll see a threat coming from a long ways off. He had his adamant wood bow in his left hand, and had already pulled the string of vines and tendrils down to keep it strung at the ready. A quiver of arrows was hooked onto his amulet belt. There was no movement across the landscape, and the abandoned remnants of the village were quiet.

"Brightmarch, huh? Sounds like a nice place," Felicity said. "What are we going to find there?"

Eloise shrugged. "The Alphinaud family that trains specialized military units. Not the Hexblades – that group is based out of the Ferin region, run by the Nouvax house. That's just their base of operations though; the farming region is a close ally of the Mericlau to the north."

"A group we won't be trying to ally," Tristan replied. "Mericlau and Nouvax won't go along with our plan. What types of specialized units do the Alphinaud train?"

"Terrain specialists," Eloise replied. "All types. Groups trained to handle cities, plains, water, mountains – you name it."

Tristan's eyes caught movement across the horizon, and he readied his bow with an arrow along the string, but did not pull it taut. "Something is over there."

Eloise looked that way. "I don't see it."

"I don't, either," Felicity added.

"Well trust me, something is over there." The shapes that Tristan saw loping across the horizon were getting closer. A gradual approach, but at speed. Some type of boar creature – but they're huge. Easily the size of fully loaded merchant carts, with razor-sharp tusks that jutted out like lances and spiked downward like daggers. Their hide looked scaly with little patches of fur scattered amongst the tough skin. A lengthy tail whipped back and forth, tipped with some type of lethal stinger akin to that of a scorpion. All black, with glowing, green eyes.

The creatures were well within his range, and Tristan pulled the arrow back on the string, feeling the tension in his back as he pulled it to full draw, angled up slightly, and let loose. The shot arced skyward before plummeting down and sinking into ground a few feet in front of the beast. "Miss!" Felicity said loudly.

Eloise glanced at Tristan, "Why not just fly us up?"

Tristan shook his head, "You said homesteaders get attacked by the animals out in these untamed regions. The least I can do is take out these obviously dangerous beasts." He adjusted is aim, spun his crucible, and poured essence into the bow. The arrow coated with a thin layer of rime, and he let loose with a slightly lower trajectory. The arrow rocketed forward, leaving a cascading trail of ice, and it impacted the lead boar in the shoulder. An explosion of ice shattered outward, piercing shards of ice like glass scattering and embedding deep into the wound, eliciting a squealing roar of pain. The scattered fragments did nothing to affect the two other boars charging alongside the lead one.

"That worked," Felicity quipped.

Tristan kept loosing arrow after arrow, drilling more shots into the lead boar – each empowered with the artificed Frost Flurry spell. Each time, his shots hit the instinct-driven creature, who slowed and finally collapsed with less than five-hundred feet between them. It had taken half of Tristan's arrows to take the beast out, and he had used a tenth of his essence. "Eloise?" he asked as he glanced sideways at her. "You going to help?"

She bladed her stance and performed a spell gesture that was very similar to Frost Flurry. But, instead of holding the hand upright like Tristan's spell required, hers was horizontal, and the fingers were spread with the index and middle pushed together, with a gap between those two and the pressed-together ring and pinky fingers. The thumb was tucked into the palm, and she whispered something so quietly Tristan couldn't catch it – even with his enhanced hearing. A sphere of yellow acid formed in front of her, and it held in place. "I'll be able to hit them when they are about two-hundred feet out."

Felicity flew off of Tristan's head, "I'm staying up here and out of the way!"

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Tristan looped his bow around his shoulder and pulled his sword, blading his stance with his left hand extended in the spell gesture for Frost Flurry. He rapidly incanted in Dragon's Tongue. "I summon forth the fury of ice and frost: form shards that will pierce and slash my target." The icicle manifested in front of his palm and grew in size as he poured essence into it, empowering the spell until the shard had taken a full half of his magical power and was the size of a horse.

Eloise seemed to want to match his prepared spell, as her acid sphere grew in size until it was equally as large. But, she was shaking slightly. As soon as the boar monstrosities came into range of her spell, she let loose her acid sphere at the leftmost one. The sphere hit the creature, it let out a deep gurgle, and its flesh melted down to sludge leaving behind bone. The corpse nosedived and flipped twice before stopping with a loud crunch. "Top that!" she shouted.

Tristan smirked and poured more essence into the Frost Flurry, leaving himself a quarter of his total capacity as it grew to the size of a small tower – just like he had used against the fire dragon who had sought to enter and conquer the Fey Realm. The boar reached the hundred-foot distance, and he let loose. The creature didn't even attempt to dodge or avoid the icy death. The spike slammed into the skull, tore right down the center, and split it in half before shoving the sides off to the left and right. The icicle embedded itself behind the now-split corpse that slid to a stop.

"Not bad," Eloise said with a shaky voice. She put her hands on her knees and sucked in some breaths. "Gods, I haven't done that type of essence weaving in a while."

Tristan kept his smile plastered on his face as he sheathed his sword and moved forward to the corpses. Felicity landed on his head. "No crucibles," he commented as he got closer and did not feel that rush of a slain creature's crucible rushing into him. "Why would they charge us while taking injury?" he asked as Eloise walked up behind him.

"The untamed regions are filled with wildlife. They won't back down unless they see overwhelming numbers. They also tend to stay away from the main roads because those are well-traveled. Two people on foot? Probably saw us as easy prey."

That answer satisfied Tristan, and he looked over the eviscerated bodies. "Anything useful we can get out of them?"

"The hide might sell for something."

"We don't need money," Felicity commented. "We are rich."

"Money, sure. But we are going to be heading to the Tousles house after the Alphinaud. Those are craftspeople. They would probably appreciate the hide and tusks. At least the head of the intact one would make a magnificent hunting trophy."

The idea of having a trophy room was alluring to Tristan. A place where he could put items from successful dragon hunts – and any other dangerous creatures he happened to slay along the way. But, realistically, he had no way of preserving the bodies – and Felicity would be against using her storage dimension for corpses. "I think we'll just leave them for now," he said softly. "Let's keep moving. I'm sure other wildlife will see the two, lonely travelers and come for us." He grabbed his bow and held it loosely in his left hand. He spun his crucible and activated Pocket Dimension II. Quickly re-stocking his arrows, he let the dimension close.

"Understood," Eloise replied. "Maybe Felicity should fly up high and be overwatch? Let us know sooner when things are coming."

Tristan used his left hand and gently scratched Felicity's head between her antlers. "What do you say?"

"Can do. But I want some nice back scratches later!" She took off, flapping her wings as she soared skyward.

The hours passed without further incident, and the two finally reached the main road. They came upon one of the walled locations, and going inside the fortification, found they were not alone. There was a whole trade caravan present. Wagons had been pulled inside and placed along the walls, while tents were set up toward the center. A roaring bonfire was blazing a short distance from the well, and there were sounds of merriment as musicians plucked strings while singing songs.

The sounds quieted as Tristan closed the door with a loud thud. He turned and waved. "Hey there!"

The merchants glanced amongst themselves, but one in particular – a portly Demonkin dressed in traveling robes that were a deep, yellow color, stood up and dusted off his attire. He put his hands into his sleeves and walked over. "Fellow travelers." His voice had an odd lilt to it that Tristan had not heard before, but was deep and rumbling in tone. "Please, join us. All fellow Demonkin are welcome."

Eloise pulled her hood back and slipped her mask down to reveal her full face. "Thank you for your offer. Are you sworn to a house?"

The merchant grinned, but it was the grin of someone who was treading softly in unfamiliar territory of conversation. "Ah, who else but the Tousles."

Tristan sighed with a little bit of relief, and quickly followed that up with a response. "We're not sworn, but are heading that direction." It was the truth, as the main road they were on would cut south before forking in three directions. "Not merchants, though. Or craftspeople. I'm a mercenary." He held out his right hand, "Marius Lestrange."

The merchant pulled his arms out of his sleeves and shook firmly. "Call me Bedivere Blackridge." He gestured to the bonfire, and the merchants gathered there who began to converse once more and strike up music as the possible threat was dealt with. "Please, join us."

Tristan bowed his head politely. "Thank you. We do have some minor goods we have picked up along the way, and I would love to hear some music in exchange for some coin. If you have food, I wouldn't mind trying some local cuisine."

Bedivere cracked a wider smile. "Ah, a traveler, eh?"

Eloise spoke before Tristan could. "Yes." She shot a glare at Tristan. A reminder that he needed to watch what he said to prevent any possible slips.

"Ah, yes." Tristan quickly replied. "Traveler. Hence why I'm seeking a new house to pledge to."

"Ah. Well, the Tousles could use more warriors. Your gear looks amazing under that battle damage. We have a smith with us if you have coin."

"I am good." Tristan gestured to the bonfire. "Please, let's join your friends. Oh, before that." He glanced around. "Where can we set up our tent?"

Bedivere gestured to a spot in the corner away from the wagons. "No one set up over there yet."

"Perfect. We'll set up our tent, then join you for food and song." Tristan headed over that way.

Felicity whispered in his ear in Elvish. "Make sure you sneak me bunches of little bites!"

"Of course."

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