23rd of Cobre, 6pm, 1659 (162 days before Starflower's trial)

The day of departure had arrived at last.

To avoid a widespread panic, everyone agreed it was best to avoid talk of demonic activity except with the local authorities. The villagers had remained blissfully unaware that the young group of foreign travelers saved them not only from the clutches of the Order of the Blue Jay, but also from demonic influence. All they knew was that a group of tourists was so moved from the decline of the jaguar population that they decided to train under a local druid to become strong enough to defend the rainforest.

"Have you decided on a name," Alistair asked.

"The Order of the Jaguar was too easy," Tizoc said, " so we settled for another. We call it 'The Silvered Fangs.'"

"'The Silvered Fangs.' I like it."

Tizoc then clapped his hands and called over the rest of the Silvered Fangs. Even though the efforts of the real heroes had gone unnoticed by the villagers, the current guardian of the rainforest knew it was right to reward them.

"Lenoria," Tizoc addressed the young inventor, "the caestus you possess are made of cold iron. It is a metal that is prepared at low temperatures, and it's effective at bypassing the defenses of demons. However, it's also effective against fey."

"Fey?" Lenoria suddenly couldn't remember if she learned about the fey or not, and it slightly irritated her. "You mean the forest dwellers?"

"They dwell in natural habitats, yes. Some are benevolent, while others wish to see humans suffer. But they're all tricksters by nature, and it would be wise to carry something to ward them off."

"Duly noted, Tizoc." Lenoria took a moment to look at her new weapons. They were forged to look like silvered heads of jaguars with solid handles inside their jaws, which Lenoria could grab on to thanks to the entry points from behind. Despite the excellent quality from the cold iron, Lenoria knew her own fists packed a stronger punch, but the caestus would serve her well should the Blue Jays retaliate with their demon forces. "Thank you."

"Alistair." Tizoc nodded to one of his men, who stepped forward to present an object grabbed in a simple white cloth. "You serve the Hammer of Justice. It is fitting that you take an actual hammer with you to battle. We couldn't tell whether it was magic or not, but it was gathering dust back at the keep. With no owner to claim it, we're fine with you keeping it."

Alistair unfolded the cloth. The weapon presented to him was a hammer with a long handle and a cubed metal head with blunt spikes on one side. He picked it up with one hand, but it was heavy and unwieldy enough that he had to use both hands to lift and swing it properly. "An earth breaker. It's not my style, but I can easily adapt if I ever need it. You have my thanks, Tizoc."

"And for Clara, I went to the market and got you this guitar." Tizoc had concealed an acoustic guitar under his cape and revealed it before giving it to Clara. The elven girl grabbed it and swept her thumb across the strings to test it out, and the melodic tune brought a smile to her face.

"That's very thoughtful of you, Tizoc. I don't know what to say. Thank you."

"You spoke of your dreams and your desire to help your friends. Now that you've awakened as a bard, you can use your talents to do just that." To Alistair and Lenoria, the warrior added, "Thanks to you, the village of Ezmestli was spared from whatever terrible fate the demons of the Blue Jay had in store for it. I doubt this is the last we'll see of them, which is why I must train these men and work with the authorities to bring them down."

"It's for the best." Looking troubled, Lenoria could not ignore her own feelings on the matter and decided to speak about them. "Tizoc, I wish we could stay and help. Those clowns make up a cancerous tumor in our society while disguising themselves as the good guys."

"You've done enough for Ezmestli and the Jaguar Lands as a whole. My people must learn to fight those invaders, and I hope your efforts have laid the groundwork to make it happen." Tizoc grabbed Lenoria's hand, clamping it with both of his. He held her hand high enough to lean his forehead on it, slightly bowing his head to do so. "You have provided a much-needed light for us, just like you have done for Clara. Should you ever find yourself lost and in despair, just know you have a home here with us."

Lenoria was happy to hear Tizoc's promise, which was far more welcoming than the treatment she received at the Guild. Her thoughts wandered back to her first year, wondering how different things could have been if, back then, she had already met every single one of the friends she had now. She would have been far happier, even if they all fell victim to Anne, Thomas, or Starflower's abuse. Not that she wished for that to happen, but she knew Aquamarine and Tizoc would not tolerate any abuse towards Clara, and the thought of Alistair protecting her would have given her the love and security she always needed.

Her journey to Thule was almost at an end, with only one obstacle remaining: The Ragnarok Mountains. How many friends would she make there? And how many more once she crossed the border?

Hugging Tizoc and shaking the hands of the Fangs, Lenoria bid farewell to her new friends and boarded the wagon. Clara did the same immediately after, while Alistair shook all of their hands and waited for the girls to board the wagon.

"This isn't goodbye, Tizoc," Alistair promised. "We'll see each other again, hopefully soon."

"We shall. Please take good care of Clara until then."

"We will. All of you, watch yourselves in case the Order returns."

"We'll be fine," said the nervous former Blue Jay from the other night. "Tizoc has been strict with our training, but I know we're getting better and stronger each day."

Tizoc pointed at the setting sun with his finger, then pointed north. "May the Feathered Serpent-"

The Silvered Fangs joined in on Tizoc's blessing. "-carry you safely to your destination."

It took a little while, but Alistair eventually made it to the wagon and, along with his companions, rode the vehicle into the sunset. They had rested enough, and it was time for an overnight trip to the mountains.

This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.

***

Two hours after departing Ezmestli, Lenoria, Alistair, and Clara made it to the border. The border guards inspected their equipment and other belongings for about 20 minutes before giving the all-clear to let them pass. An uneventful passage of time, but certainly a welcome one.

Once the border was a good distance behind them, Alistair parked the wagon on the side of the forest road and passed out rations to the girls before moving over to Chestnut to feed him a small bale of hay. Once that was done, the trio sat at the driver's seat and snacked under the starry sky.

"Say, Al," Lenoria said after munching on her serving of dried beef, "do you know if Gabrielle likes samurai?"

"I...have no idea, actually. Why do you ask?"

"Clara and I were thinking about making some living statues molded after samurai. We were wondering if that would be perfect or in bad taste."

"Truth be told, I haven't worked that closely with Lady Gabrielle," Alistair admitted. "I was mostly just a bodyguard when Lord Beau was absent. There must be a reason she chose you for this job, though."

Lenoria held up three fingers. "I was at the top three back at the Guild, and the only one who specialized in golems and other constructs. Thomas was focused more on steam power, while Steiner worked on teleportation magic. My guess is that she looked at the list from the top and made her way down until she saw my work. I actually had to convince her to bring Clara with me."

"I did not know that." Alistair looked over at Clara. "Were you not on the top five, Miss Clara?"

"I was, but I just wasn't what Gabrielle was looking for." Clara shrugged. "Don't sweat it, you two. I started this journey not knowing what I was going to do with my life, but thanks to Mrs. Hunter, that's changed."

Clara brought her feet up and turned around to look back inside the wagon through the window. Atop her backpack, books, and weapons sat the guitar Tizoc had gifted her. Feeling a mix of gratitude and remorse, Clara turned back around and set her food to the side.

"Tizoc is a thoughtful man, isn't he? He deserves as much credit as Mrs. Hunter and Instructor Gardens for helping me figure things out."

Lenoria arched an eyebrow. "You changin' your mind after he gave you a gift?"

"Not exactly. It's just...I feel awful for turning him down, even though I was honest with my feelings. Did I do wrong?"

Alistair and Lenoria exchanged looks for a brief moment. Both knew what to say.

"Miss Clara, I firmly believe that honesty is the best policy, even when it hurts."

"Yeah," Lenoria agreed, "you told him how you felt. It would be cruel to string him along with false hope. Plus, you're still hurt about Instructor Gardens, right?"

Clara nodded begrudgingly.

"He was a great inspiration for you, and there's no changing that. You're gonna be hurting for a while, so it's best if you know how to deal with it the right way before you move on. If you can avoid using other people on the rebound, you'll be able to move on without hurting other people."

Clara absorbed Lenoria's advice like a sponge with water. Tears had welled up thinking about that awful night, but she was able to withhold them and smile instead.

"Thanks, you two. I feel much better." Clara cleared her throat. "We should probably get a move on."

"You're right." Alistair grabbed the reins. "It's a good thing we resupplied at the village. It's going to be a while before we see the cable car company near the summit, and it will be cold before we make it."

"It's alright." Lenoria scarfed down the rest of her rations. "I may not have bought a swimsuit, but I do have a cute outfit for the cold mom bought for me before I left the Plateau. It still fits!"

The trio nodded before Alistair flicked the reins to get Chestnut to continue forward. The brave steed neighed and obeyed his master without complaint down the hill they were on.

"By the way," Alistair said, "what do you mean when you said, 'on the rebound?'"

"Oh. Hehe." Lenoria giggled. "That's just a term used for when someone goes on a relationship to get over the last one. Also known as visiting your three friends, Hops, Scotch, and Bob."

"Oh. Haha," Alistair chuckled.

"Kiss and dip."

"Okay."

"Coitus and annoy us."

Alistair averted his gaze from the girl and kept his eyes on the road. "I-I get it now."

"I see you're as childish as ever," said a familiar voice.

"No way." Lenoria rummaged through her pockets and, sure enough, her Soulstone shined with a jade-colored light. "Pearl, you're awake!"

"I'm feeling a little groggy, so I'll need a few hours to get my bearings. My apologies for being late, but I have made a full recovery."

"Better late than never," Alistair said. "I don't think we've properly introduced ourselves. I'm-"

"I know who you are," Pearl said coldly. "This one here wouldn't shut up about you ever since the day she met you."

Lenoria covered her face with embarrassment. "P-Pearl, that's supposed to be private!"

"Welcome back, Pearl," Apus said. "Looks like you made it in time for the mountain portion of the trip."

"Then our destination is not far now," the raven woman said solemnly. "I see you've gotten stronger, Lenoria, but you have a long way to go. I just pray any potential enemies don't catch us off-guard."

***

That same night, around the same time...

~Starflower~

Starflower looked back a couple of nights before.

After Horseface dropped him off at an abandoned warehouse, Starflower said his goodbyes and used a [Teleport] spell to teleport himself a safe distance. He had offered to take Horseface and his remaining lackeys with him, but thanks to the letter that was found on Thomas, Horseface didn't have the heart to skip town when his family was being targeted.

Of course, the letter was a fabrication from Starflower himself, but the old horse didn't know that. "Pitiful fool."

Starflower had teleported to a fork on the road somewhere in Cedar Forest. One road would take him to Ulysses Crossing - the location to his previously owned vacation home - and the other would take him to Hammer's Reach. With the deed to the home no longer his, he had no reason to travel to Ulysses Crossing. Plus, if Horseface was ever captured, the deed he gave the old horse could provide a lead to his capture.

He was going to Hammer's Reach to think about his next move.

The Bounty Squad that set out to find Starflower met an unfortunate end. They had used a scrying spell to locate him, followed by a teleportation spell to arrive at his current location. What welcomed them wasn't the bell of victory, but a lightning bolt that bounced from all three of them. One mage died instantly, while another - a female dogfolk - was knocked unconscious. The lone survivor, a halfling, was quickly impaled by a volley of icy spears. When the dogfolk mage woke up, she found her friends had been slain and she herself suffered internal injuries too great to heal.

Starflower took a piece of his own hair - which had been confiscated during his arrest - from the dog woman that was bleeding out on the dirt road. As far as he knew, that was the only thing from his own possession that had been hidden away for a situation like this, yet his sense of freedom felt restrained at best. He would have to stay awake for days if necessary to ensure no one from the Helix City Police Force snuck up on him. He wasn't about to count Constable Richards out just yet; the man was known to be cunning enough to bring even clever criminals to justice. To bring Horseface in for tax evasion must have been nothing short of genius.

Starflower spent that very night in the woods. He stayed awake throughout the whole night and, feeling fatigued, he decided to watch the outskirts of Hammer's Reach before making his presence known. Throughout the day, he would observe the townsfolk through the holes on the palisade walls, and after going through a couple of days without seeing the police, he decided it was time to go in through the front gate at dusk.

He arrived at his destination soon enough. A gaggle of repairmen worked to repair the main gate - from a giant attack, as he later found out - so the guards were letting anyone through as long as they had no reasonable suspicions to stop travelers. As word of the jail break had yet to reach this humble little village, the elf was allowed to stay at Hammer's Reach with no issues.

"Horseface must have kept them busy by staying in the city. But I can't stay here for long."

His suit sprinkled with dirt, his hair tangled and messy, and the stench of sweat finally catching up to him, Starflower stumbled weakly towards the local inn. The village felt desolate at this time of night, the sound of the winds and the local crickets being the only things keeping him company.

And then came the sound of crumpling paper at his feet.

It was a newspaper, dated two weeks ago. What caught his eye was the sketch of a burning building, and the headline made his heart race. "No. No! This can't be! Who did this? My pride and joy...gone?!"

78 CONFIRMED DEAD, INCLUDING 3 INSTRUCTORS, AFTER TRAGIC EXPLOSION AT THE ARTIFICERS GUILD

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(There's another preview for ya. Starflower shall return on July 13. Mark your calendars!)