“Remind me again, why are you coming?” Tristan asked Merrick. True to his word, after locking away Shadow Fist’s kern and hobbling him, Tristan intended to leave the River Caldera. The final step of the conflict was coming. He had no intention of missing it.
“We are fighting, while I never got the opportunity to become an Elder, I still intend to protect my homeland,” Merrick said, then he shrugged, “Also there are quite a few people that I would like to see again.”
More tier fours would always be better than less tier fours, even if Merrick and Kerri were the weakest specimens. Hadrid had alluded to the idea that not everyone who broke their kern received a force. Merrick had received a sizable boost from the essence reservoir, but he hadn’t gotten a force. It was slightly disappointing.
Tristan shouldered the pack. Elder River had filled it with essence reservoirs from the temple’s exposed stockpile, an odd hot plate that could liquefy metal, some forging tools, and a care package for Eve. He was not sure what was in the box, but he wouldn’t pry into his friend’s family life. Well, not more than returning a lost uncle.
Helen had given him something as well, though he was not sure what to think about it. In a normal family, he was sure it would have been sweet, but a shirt with Trys’s little palm prints dyed into it did not appeal to him. Even if he did wear it, the first flame elemental he ran across would ruin it.
“Is there anyone in particular you are looking forward to seeing, maybe I know them,” Tristan asked as they started jogging.
It would only take an hour or two to arrive in the Lake Caldera thanks to the amount of ground a tier four could cover.
“Do you know Eve, Gravis, or Cole?” Merrick asked.
“I know your niece, we fought the horde of ghost crabs that Elder Plain dragged in and she spent a lot of time with me at the mine before the Lord of the Underworld showed up,” Tristan was about inform Merrick about Cole, but the man was giving Tristan a death glare.
“She spent a lot of time with you?” Merrick asked, “Did anything happen between you two.”
Tristan was bad at reading situations, but even he could tell what Merrick was angling at. He did not like the insinuation that he couldn’t control himself. Maybe things would be different if Merrick stood a ghost of a chance of enforcing any threat, but if the man could not give Tristan the benefit of the doubt, then Tristan would push back.
He decided to mess with the man, “Sure, after we fought Regis, the renegade civil protector of the Lake Caldera, I realized that I could not live without Eve in my life and gave her my heart. Since then we have been through many painful things, but she made me whole.”
All of it was true. If Eve had not gone to Elder River and gotten the malnutrition artifact, Tristan would have died from Bruce’s spear. He did hand Eve his heart, literally, without her it would not be beating in his chest.
Merrick’s face turned red and he looked like he was about to explode.
“I am messing with you,” Tristan sighed, shaking his head, “You take things way too seriously.”
Marriage was not something Tristan had seriously considered. Definitely, not with Eve, she was already engaged even if it was to a coward. Though if he had to pick someone, she was the only one who came to mind. He shook his head to dislodge the frivolous thoughts that Merrick had put in his head.
“Oh, good,” Merrick smiled, “I was worried she had been smitten by a necromancer.”
That was about the most insulting way that Merrick could have phrased it. Tristan chose to focus on the second part, “Once again, not a necromancer, you weren’t dead. Why is it easier to believe that I can break the laws of life and death than you simply not being dead?”
This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.
Tristan slowed a little to allow Merrick to keep pace. It was a surprise to Tristan that he was faster than another tier four. All the ones he had spent time around had forces, even if they weren’t related to speed, normal forces flavored the essence with a bit of the force's potency. A sliver of any force was a substantial boost to anyone's essence, as most forces were colossal world consuming things that only spared the planet they stood on due to being in a separate realm.
Tristan did not benefit from the same essence quality upgrade that Siren, Regis, and Luke enjoyed. It was a worthwhile trade off for versatility in his opinion. Vulcan proved that a good weapon could more than close the gap. He just needed to learn to make a replacement for Vulcan before he was returned to his descendants in the other plane.
“Yeah, you are suggesting that a silver devil is more skilled in healing arts than any of my father’s specialists,” Merrick said, “I mean no insult when I say this, but silver devils are known as savages.”
“Aside from me, have you ever met one?” Tristan asked. He would not deny that he was a bit of a savage, he lacked manners.
“Well, no,” Merrick said, “So what does the metal kern let you do if you can’t affect death and life.”
Tristan opened his mouth and then paused. When his abilities were listed off, rot, hunger, healing, and infusion, it did sound like a zombie lineup.
“I can make metal, it's a metal kern,” Tristan answered like it was common sense because it was.
“Well, regardless, thank you,” Merrick said.
His eyes widened slightly as they topped a hill and the Lake Caldera came into view. It was a sight from their elevated position. A ring of tents surrounded it, and even from this distance soldiers could be seen drilling in formation. In the distance, intermittent flashes of lightning could be seen. Tristan had left a few healing reservoirs with Luke. Was he manufacturing more tier fours or just beating up on some poor warriors?
“I can guess where Cole and Eve are, but I have no idea who Gravis is,” Tristan said, “Where would you like to go, I have things to do so I will just be dropping you off.”
Merrick smiled slightly, “Take me to Eve.”
Tristan nodded before continuing towards the Lake Caldera. Predictably, Eve, Cole, and everyone else of importance were in a meeting at the stewards building. Janis was guarding the door in his gold and blue armor.
“Hey, Janis go get Eve, tell her that her uncle, Merrick, is here,” Tristan said.
Janis gave Tristan an odd look, as did Merrick. The man stepped inside though. Good, now that this task was behind him he could focus on what was important. Getting Vulcan back. If battles were won on information, having a super ancient and knowledgeable general would be a great boon. The fastest way to get him back would be to expend the metal and fire, a spar with Luke was what Tristan had in mind.
Unfortunately, he was interrupted by Kerri, “How dare you use…”
Tristan looked over his shoulder to see Kerri’s mouth halfway open. He was impressed that the idiot could halt his flow of words before making a fool of himself.
“Who is this,” Merrick stage whispered to Tristan.
“He’s the idiot who’s engaged to Eve,” Tristan stage whispered back.
The dark expression came back and Merrick glared at Kerri. Tristan decided that watching Kerri getting his teeth knocked in would be a great use of his time.
Then Eve came out a frown on her face. It was aimed at Tristan, and she barely seemed to register Merrick, “Tristan, you know you shouldn’t interrupt these meetings, they are important.”
Instead of defending himself, Tristan pointed at Merrick. The man had a weird expression. It was an odd mixture of loss and happiness that Tristan couldn’t quite place. Once Eve saw the her uncle, she froze, almost like she was seeing a ghost.
Then she said something very confusing, “Dad?”
Dad? He would have been less than ten when he had Eve. Ruth was a bit older, so even younger for her. Tristan inspected the artifact. Tier six, it was super potent, maybe it could have locked all the body’s processes. Age was not something that could just be casually overcome, but he would also be shocked if a force like the architect force was incapable of interacting with it.
Tristan was not sure what to think of the situation. Merrick was not even ten years older than his daughter anymore, he had lost the chance to be a parent.
Merrick nodded at Eve’s question. They both approached each other, meeting in the middle of the steps. Eve frowned, smiled, then hugged Merrick and started crying. Her dad returned the hug.
“Everything will be fine,” He said.
It took a few minutes, but Eve finally regained control. She took a deep breath and took a step back.
“It's been a while, I missed a lot,” Merrick smiled, “I have a lot of lost time to make up.”
Eve nodded.
“I hear you're engaged,” Merrick said, glancing approvingly at Kerri, “I see you took my advice on the value of rings.”
Kerri’s face froze. Tristan mirrored him.
“Uh, Tristan gave this one to me,” Eve said with a laugh. Merrick’s glare landed judgingly on Tristan.
It was time to be anywhere else.