I locked eyes with the hooded figure. Before I could act he threw his dagger at me. It sunk into my arm before I could transform to defend against the blade. I let out a scream of pain and fell back on the balcony.

"Assassins!" I screamed.

I tried to transform but I couldn't focus. The veins on my arm were turning purple and I watched the flesh turn to stone. Petrification poison? That's bullshit. I scrambled into the room. Devin and Folin had jumped out of bed at my scream. Neither had any armor on and they didn't have their weapons yet.

"Assassin. I only saw one but there could be more. He was using a petrifying poison," I said, showing my arm being turned to stone.

"Holy fuck Edsom! We need to get you to a healer!" Folin said. The panic in his voice was surprising.

"Aww I didn't think you cared," I said laughing.

"Now is not the time for jokes. You are about to become a fucking statue," Folin said.

"I will be fine. Get ready to fight," I said and grabbed my bag of holding from a desk. I reached inside and pulled out some Willowshade Oil. I quickly uncorked the bottle and rubbed the oil down my arm. Slowly the petrification ended. I spoke to them, "This is Willowshade Oil. It can counter petrification but only if it happened within the last minute. I have a few more vials."

"We can save the questions for later. Folin I need you to find where the assassins are going. Edsom you are with him. I will alert the others," Devin said. He grabbed his shield and his longsword and then left the room. I looked back but the assassin was nowhere to be found.

Folin grabbed a rapier while I shifted into a wolf-man form. We ran down the hallway following wherever Folin felt like turning. His luck would guide him away from danger. So to find danger he would turn down the paths that felt unlucky. We had reached a door at the end of a long and fancy hallway. We rushed inside to see two assassins climbing onto the balcony of this room. I looked over and saw Amra jump up from the bed. Her meditation was interrupted at our arrival.

Not taking any chances, I covered myself in double the normal fur and breathed in quickly. I huffed and I puffed and I blew a blast of freezing air across the room at them. Bysaes was in a boreal forest and snow had already filled the branches outside. My breath was a dragons unfortunately for them and this level of cold was not something they could bundle up against. Small shards of ice filled the room and both the assassins suffered from frostbite.

Folin took the opportunity to skate across the icy floor. His luck let him slide across with grace and ease. He reached the assassins and slashed his rapier across the chest of one of them. They stabbed back but Folin was unhit.

While they danced I looked at Amra and spoke, "They have petrification poison coating their weapons. I don't know how many there are but Devin has alerted the others."

"Right," she said. Then turned to the assassins and cast a spell. Seven darts of magical energy fired out and hit the assassin Folin hadn't attacked yet. Amra then jumped out of bed on the side not facing the assassins.

I ran towards them myself. I still had my oil and I could resist the petrification better now that I was aware of it. With that confidence, I was less afraid of being hurt. My vestige turned into a long spike that ran parallel to my arm. The other assassin accepted my invitation and we began to trade blows. His skills were better than mine and his knife found purchase a few times. My fur protected me from most of the blows but I could feel my stomach starting to harden. He might have had me beat in experience but I was superior in both strength and speed. He went for a risky stab to my side. I couldn't stop him but I was able to grab his arm once the blade hit. I then created tentacles to hold his other arm. Now grappled I breathed him the cool night air and spewed out a freezing blast.

The assassin did not survive as his head was fully encased in ice. I threw him off the balcony and turned to see Folin and Amra had finished the other one. There were no other assassins to be seen. I took a breath and checked my stomach. The place I had been stabbed was no longer turning to stone. Slowly the flesh stitched itself back together. I hoped I wouldn’t need to spend all my Willowshade Oil but it might come to that. There are other ways to undo petrification but they can be expensive and usually require a cleric to perform the spell.

The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

“Everyone okay,” I ask.

“I am fine, Edsom. Thank you for coming to my aid, but we need to hurry. There could be more,” Amra said, casting a spell on herself. A magical shield formed around her body. She did the same for Folin. I think that is mage armor. Amra then grabs a rapier from the wall. We moved through the hall checking room by room for any assassins and waking up anyone we saw. We found a few assassins and dispatched them easily. Guards arrived during our rounds and soon the whole mansion was buzzing with activity.

It was the next forming when we learned all of what happened. Some rebel groups unhappy with the Rings of Three for surrendering to the Empire had decided to vent their frustrations with murder. Besides the assassins, 20 people died in these attacks. The only casualty on our end was the death of one of Abaxis's cousins.

We spent the next few days attending memorial services. The rest of us were not invited to some of them. They were private practices for the elves of Bysaes Tyl, so only Abaxis attended. Amra gave us a formal commendation for saving her life and our efforts that night. After a week we finished with the services and could fly to Eiselcross.

………..

Folsen 31st of Sydenstar

“Everyone ready?” Devin asked.

A collective yes was heard. I was already in Roc form sitting on a large branch. The trees of this boreal forest were huge. Combine that with the cold and snowy climate this forest might never suffer from a forest fire. Honestly, if it wasn’t for the Cerberus Assembly the Empire would not have had a chance of beating the elves of Bysaes Tyl. This forest is almost too defendable.

The Formation said their goodbyes and boarded my back. The harness we made was secure and all tents tied down. I waited for them to tie themselves to my back. Devin shouted they were ready and I leapt off the branch. I flapped my massive wings and was given the lift needed to clear the canopy.

Soon I flew over the Frigid Depths, the ocean that separated Eiselcross from Wildemount. These frozen and slushy waters hold many secrets and many more dangers. They are mostly unexplored and I fear the unknown creatures that are locked away in the ice. Quajath, the Undermaw is not the only thing encased in ice around here. One day explorers will unleash a thousand different horrors from these waters.

But today we fly far over them. High in the sky like this I fear only one predator. Dragons. There could be any number of unknown white dragons flying these skies looking for prey. Gelidon, the Nightmare in Ivory was the one I was most afraid of. I might be immune to the white dragon's frost but she can still beat me in a fight of strength. If we encounter her I will need to rely on the others to help me kill her. If we can defeat her I need to be the one to kill her. Her powers are needed to reforge to create the magical metal Iceflex.

Iceflex is a type of mithral infused with wintery magic. It was the key component to fixing the vestige Star-Razor. Fjord will be the one to use this blade and dedicate it and his life to the Wildemother. So I need Gelidon's innate white dragon magic, so I can recreate this metal for the Nein. The option of sparing her life is also there.

The wind rushed through the air as I enjoyed the breeze. It had gotten super cold and the others had bundled up in the tent on my back. Abaxis did have a telepathic bond spell and I was now looping into it.

“How long do we have anyway,” Lupine asked.

“Eta to Balenpost is around 10 hours. We can land there and get an inn for the night. As we go further north the sun will be up for less time. You all have winter gear but traveling at night will be hell on your body. Best we move during the daytime,” I said to the group.

They began to play cards and other games to pass the time. I asked them for stories of their adventures and I learned a lot more about them all. Devin was from a simple village north of Emon. He trained with some of the guards there and once he came of age he decided to walk the world. He acted as a mercenary for a while before he met the others. Carmilla was born on Darktow. She is a pirate born and raised at sea. She lived that life until one day her ship sunk in a storm. She was the only survivor. Deciding that was a sign she wandered the world as well. Folin was born in Emon to wealthy parents. Lucky from birth it seems. He lived a life without ever needing anything as he had it all. Nothing harmed him and he was always full. He got bored of that life and decided to pursue adventure so that he could have the fun he never had as a child. Lupine was from Stillben. She was raised on the stories of Vox Machina and grew up trying to be a hero like Vex and Vax.

We decided on Balenpost. Abaxis might encounter trouble at a Uthodurnian outpost and he wasn’t in the mood to deal with it. When Molaesmyr fell most of the elves fled to Uthodurn. They combined their kingdom with the dwarves to create the Diarchy of Uthodurn. Now if that isn’t the most ‘I got you bro’ move I have ever heard. The dwarves just gave them access to their city and recreated their government so the elves could also be in charge. It’s incredible to learn about. But this has led to some conflicts with the elves of Bysaes Tyl. Abaxis said he didn’t want to get involved. I understood that.

Ten hours later I saw the southern tip of the island of Foren. From this high up I could also see Balenpost. I began a descent towards the town. I have gotten over my fear of being discovered and now I am openly using my powers more. Leaving Bysaes Tyl as a Roc was my most recent example of this. I swooped down and slowed myself for a landing. We were about 500 meters from Balenpost. I am sure if they had guards they would have seen me do this. Everyone got off my back and I untransformed. I got to work grabbing all the ropes and metal rings so we didn’t lose them in the snow.

“Well thank you all for flying Air Edsom. I hope you had a lovely flight,” I said. No one laughed at my joke. I there wasn't enough skyships to make air lines yet.

“It was way too fucking cold. It's too fucking cold here. And it's going to be even more fucking cold the further we go. Why did we agree to this?” Folin asked.

“Because our friend asked us for help,” Zenix said.

“Yeah, that's right. Better be worth it Edsom,” Folin said.

“Don’t worry. I have a list of things we can do while we are here. I am sure some of them will be profitable,” I said. Then without waiting, I walked towards Balenpost. There are few places in the world where I can gain as much power as I could here in Eiselcross. This is going to be an eventful few weeks.