“What happened to the nobleman?” Regis asked, already fearing the answer.

“The same thing you’d expect from anyone serving the demons. As soon as they started questioning him, his rune leash began to react. Luckily, the church prepared for such a possibility and brought someone along who was skilled in removing it.”

“So the guy is still alive? That’s good news, right?” The paladin tried to look at the positive side of the situation.

“He survived, but he lost all of his memories up to a certain point a few months ago. He couldn’t tell who charmed him or what his task was.”

“Probably some sort of fail-safe measure in case any of the collaborators were discovered,” The dark elf deduced. “They’re nothing if not well prepared.”

“That’s about all I know. Master Felix left roughly an hour ago to meet with the bishop and a few others. Maybe once they return he’ll be able to tell you more about the current progress the church made.”

“Very well,” Regis stood back up. “We won’t take up more of your time seeing how... hectic things are here. We’ll come back tomorrow.”

“Alright,” Cedric nodded while shaking hands with the two. “I’ll inform Master Felix about your visit and what happened to Mistfield and Thornfell. Until then, good luck!”

“Likewise.” Quentin said as the two headed back toward the reception hall where they used the gateway to return home.

“Well, this was a bust.” The paladin let out a tired sigh.

“At least we told them what happened here and we also got some information. Honestly, I never imagined that the court would be so brazen as to initiate a decoy tactic like this.”

“Tell me about it. We might not have some fancy spy network like most high nobles do, but I’d like to think that we were at least in the loop about the major things thanks to Khan’s group and our contacts in the army and the merchants we do business with. To think that the Exiled Court had so many demons hidden all around Ecragurne. How the hell didn’t anybody notice it before? I mean sure, we weren’t actively hunting them, but that was the job of the army and the church, not ours.”

“I imagine they didn’t have the demons and imps out in the open. It’s more likely that they used the same method as the one in Mistfield.”

“Do you mean the human plus merchant cart sacrifice bomb thing?”

“It’s a lot easier to slip by unnoticed for a human merchant and a couple of guards than an actual group of demons. The worst thing is, those poor sods were probably just regular merchants and guards at one point.”

“Fucking cultist. Compared to these nut jobs, the ones back on Earth seem like complete amateurs.”

“Probably because Earth didn’t have enough magic left to support their endeavours. Anyway, it’s getting late. You should go home got some rest. Tomorrow is going to be a busy day.”

“Yeah,” Quentin agreed as the two headed toward the front door of the manor. “Tomorrow morning then?”

“First, we’ll go to Mistfield to deliver the relief supplies, then we’ll head over to Atraune and talk to old man Felix.”

“Agreed. Goodnight, mate.”

“Night.” Regis replied before closing and locking the door.

Heading over to the dining room, he found a covered plate where his spot at the table was with a small note on it. Apparently, Dana was informed that he might not make it to dinner so the maid left him a large portion of what she cooked, knowing that he would be hungry after returning. After saying a silent thank you while thinking of her thoughtfulness, Regis quickly wolfed down the cooked meat and potatoes before bringing over the plate to the kitchen sink.

He then went upstairs to take a bath before falling into his bed and drifting off to sleep. Morning came fast, along with a decent-sized breakfast, Dana made sure that the dark elf ate everything on the plate to have enough strength for the day. After finishing his breakfast and getting ready, Regis headed out toward the town hall where he found Tristan already working.

“Good morning,” he greeted his steward. “Did you manage to get the supplies gathered?”

“Morning,” Tristan replied. “Everything is prepared and ready. Just let me call the warehouse so that they can bring the crates to the gateway.”

Saying that the steward activated his own ‘far-caller’ to have a quick chat with the guards stationed at the warehouse. After the call ended he turned his attention back to his liege.

“The crates should be brought over by the time you get there. Do you plan on taking a few guards with you or...”

“It’s just going to be Quentin and me this time. Once we make sure that everything is all right in Mistfield, we’ll head over to Atraune. Hopefully, Master Felix will have some information for us.”

“Good luck then. I’ll try my best to keep everything in order here while you’re gone.”

“Thanks, Tristan.” He nodded before turning around to leave.

On this way toward Landwaker Square, Regis used his ‘far-caller’ to reach out to the paladin.

“Quentin, are you getting ready?”

“Sure. I’m already at the inn. Fabien just brought out my breakfast.”

“I’ll be there in a few minutes. The guards are also on their way to bring over the supplies meant for Mistfield.”

“Alright, I’ll be waiting.” The paladin stated before the call ended.

Landwaker Square was as busy as every other morning, the townsfolk heading out early to work or to buy groceries for their daily needs. By the time the loremaster arrived, Quentin was already outside the inn, having a friendly chat with the guards.

“Good morning everyone!” He greeted them, the soldiers stepping into attention.

“Good morning, milord!” They replied while saluting, a notion the dark just waved off.

“Are you ready to go?” Quentin asked, earning a nod as the two walked over to the barrier-protected gazebo that had four decently sized crates in front of it.

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Regis activated the barrier and they hauled inside the crates, the runes of the gateway flashing brightly as they were teleported to Mistfield. Not surprisingly, several spears pointed their way, only to be lifted as the light faded to reveal their visage.

“Lord Regis.” The guards addressed him with a nod before greeting Quentin as well.

“Morning, everyone. Could someone help us bring these supplies over to the manor?”

“Of course, sir.” The soldiers agreed as half of their squad split off to carry the crates.

On the way toward the Vidal manor, the dark elf and the paladin could see the people already working hard, trying to restore the buildings that got damaged during yesterday’s demon attack. They couldn’t help but let out a sigh as they watched them work. This could have been Thornfell if the mountain pass wasn’t there to protect it.

As they reached the Vidal estate, the sight of the still active barrier greeted them with makeshift tents taking up most of the area outside the building. Those who were still around were mostly children and their mothers or the elderly, some of them giving a wary look as the two arrived.

“Lord Regis,” old Desimir greeted him, his eyes shifting towards the crates. “These are...”

“Some supplies including food and healing potions,” Regis explained. “Figured you could put them to good use.”

“Of course,” the man nodded slightly to the side, the guards bringing the crates over. “I’ll make sure it gets distributed among the people. Please go inside. Lady Zola and the others are waiting for you.”

The two gave him a slight nod of approval before heading inside the building, tracing along the familiar path toward the study. A gentle knock later they entered the room, finding Zola sitting behind her desk with Galen and Magda sitting on the nearby sofa as usual.

“Morning everyone!” The outlanders said in nearly perfect sync.

“Welcome back!” Magda spoke up first, standing up to pour some tea for their guests.

“You’re just in time,” Galen said as he shifted to the side to let them sit down. “We were just talking about the reports from the guards.”

“So... how bad is it?” Quentin asked, Zola answering with a disheartened sigh.

“Thirty-eight dead, half a dozen buildings completely collapsed, nearly two dozen have their roofs and wooden parts burned down.”

“It will take weeks to fully repair everything,” Galen stated. “Did you manage to find out anything about the attack or at least inform the church about it?”

“We went to Atraune, but Master Felix was out of town with the bishop to meet with some other big shots,” Regis explained. “We did, however, find out from his second in command, Cedric, that we weren’t the only ones hit. Apparently, there are dozens of reported demon attacks on the outer regions of the kingdom.”

“He promised to inform his boss and we planned to go there from here.” Quentin added.

“So it’s happening all over Ecragurne,” Zola sighed again. “Do you think they will attack again? I’m not sure how many such attacks my people can endure.”

“I don’t know,” the dark elf answered honestly. “We believe that it is a distraction tactic to pull our attention away from the main problem.”

“The main problem?” Galen asked with a puzzled look on his face.

Regis and Quentin spent the next quarter of an hour explaining the situation regarding the Argents and the Exiled Court to them, everyone's face turning paler by the minute.

“And you only decided to tell us now that we’re about to face a bloody archdemon and its army?” Galen asked baffled by the news bomb.

“To be fair, it’s not something you can just tell everybody.” Regis sighed.

“I admit that we should have told you about it sooner,” Quentin said. “But we also only learned about this recently and yesterday wasn’t exactly the best time to talk of this.”

“That is true,” Magda agreed. “But still... to think that those damned fools would try to do something like this. Are they completely out of their mind?”

“One way or another, there will always be people willing to do anything for power.” The dark elf remarked.

“That might be true but the Exiled Court was well-known and respected by everyone. They were the proof that dark elves weren’t all callous and bloodthirsty. Back in Harmarond the people often called on them to help decide arguments between the noble factions since they were notoriously neutral.”

Galen had to take a deep breath to calm himself down before continuing with his thoughts.

“To think that their hero was a traitor who made a pact with an archdemon is inconceivable.”

“And now her descendants are planning to let the demon loose on this land.” The paladin added, earning a sigh from the rest of them.

“Is there anything we can do to help?” Zola asked, but the loremaster just shook his head.

“I don’t think so, at least nothing comes to my mind besides not letting Mistfield turn into an imp-infested ruin.”

“We already suffered heavy losses,” Galen reminded the noblewoman. “Not to mention that Mistfield wasn’t exactly among the top military powers to begin with. If the church indeed plans to mount an assault against the Exiled Court and the royal forces, then whatever few soldiers we could send would be like a drop of water in a barrel.”

“I must agree with them,” Magda said as she sat back down. “We have barely about a hundred soldiers from which only thirty or so are shardwakers and none of them are tier two. They might have been able to fight the imps from behind the barrier, but they would be washed away by a tide of lesser demons the moment they set foot on the battlefield.”

“What about you,” Galen turned toward the dark elf. “Will you join the church and this... Felix to fight against the court?”

“I don’t even know if there will be a war to begin with. Hopefully, they’ll be able to stop them from summoning the archdemon and his army, but if not, then they might call on us as well. I’m not sure what we can offer though besides a couple of war golems and a few outlanders. We have even fewer soldiers than you do and I would rather not ask them to fight to the death. We’ll need them to lead the people to Menelrond with the worst would come true.”

“You’re planning to leave?” Zola looked at him surprised.

“I know how it sounds, especially after all the effort and work we put into rebuilding and expanding Thornfell. However, let’s be honest. Nobody wants to die. I might be willing to fight but I’m not going to ask a bunch of farmers and craftsmen to run into their certain death.”

“No one’s blaming you for it,” Galen sighed. “If anything, we too should think of similar emergency plans for the sake of the people.”

“But...” Zola tried to argue. “You’re not a simple lass any more,” Magda stopped her. “But the ruler of this town. Your duty is to your people. Ensuring their survival by all means is what you should be thinking about. If Ecragurne falls into the hands of an archdemon, it won't take a month for their forces to raze this kingdom to the ground.”

“I… you are right,” the young woman let out a defeated sigh. “Do you think that my people would have a chance to escape if the church cannot stop the demons?”

“About as much as my people.” Regis answered honestly.