“High Priestess! You were invited to the meeting hours-”

“You!” She shouted ignoring Shuji’s overture and zeroing in on Tilly, her nostrils flaring. Not liking where this was going, he rolled to his feet, meeting her eyes in challenge as she marched up to him, pulling short inches from his face.

“Erash…” Tilly frowned.

“How did he get to you? You reek of his magic, even now, it is incessantly buzzing in my mind!”

“Ma’am, you would have been briefed on-”

“Silence! I need to hear it from him… Although I almost fear the answer enough to wallow in my own ignorance.”

Tilly didn’t answer her right away, instead choosing to stand there and process everything that was happening before him. The hidden thread of Erash’s story was coming to light. She arrived here with a stranger and was willing to join a “weak” Faction at the drop of the hat, all to be able to change her class and “advance”. She had rarely spoken of her past and never mentioned why she left her old Faction in the first place, but now, all of that was beginning to make sense.

As the realization hit him, her demanding haughtiness suddenly didn’t seem so frustrating. Whatever front she normally presented looked nothing like the desperate young woman before him. Her eyes glinted feverishly and her question had been voiced in an almost keening tone. These things combined to shift his harsh impression of the High Priestess and his response softened considerably from the angry retort he had been about to voice.

“He ambushed me at the Auction and marked me for the Hunt,” Tilly answered quietly, looking into her eyes with a growing concern at her mental state. Whatever demons she had been running from had just made it to her doorstep, and he had been the one to bring them…

His answer hit her like a blow to the stomach, bowling her over, as a slow moan emerged from her lips. Octavia, the baker-turned-councilmember stood, motherly worry etched on her face as Erash’s mental distress built to a crescendo.

“How could you let this happen? How could you let him find me again?” She muttered beginning to rock back and forth as she clutched at herself desperately. The sight of her devolving into an almost animalistic fear evoked a roaring in Tilly’s chest. Outrage mingled with a protectiveness so fierce that he felt his guts yanked in her direction. Before he had time to think about it, he had taken the rocking High Priestess in his arms and was holding her tightly. She tensed at the movement, freezing in the midst of a fight or flight response so severe that it shut down all of her normal protective postures. Then, as if all the muscles in her body relaxed as one, she collapsed into his embrace and began to sob.

“I won’t let him find you, I’m leaving in the morning… He won’t ever get to you again, I promise.” Tilly muttered, doing his best to comfort the person in his arms that was part myth, part child.

They stood there for a minute, as the council sat in silence and in Linus’ case, averted their eyes as Erash worked through her fear and grief. Tilly had been at odds with this woman for the entirety of their relationship, but now, holding her in his arms, he couldn’t help but wonder just how old she actually was and what sort of trauma she was fleeing.

“...Thank you” She whispered, slowly pulling away from his embrace. Tilly released her reluctantly, suddenly hesitant to face the relational consequence of his actions. But as they pulled apart, he found her eyeing him searchingly, as if looking for some subterfuge. Sensing the opportunity to diverge from whatever her history was, he spoke up.

“Look, the thing I met at the auction was a monster who has given himself fully to Corruption. I don’t know what your history is with him, but I promise, I am going to end him or die trying. Either way, he won't find you here. That, I promise.”

“He, Oberon is my father.” She whispered in response, her gaze sliding down to the floor.

“I am Titania’s only daughter.”

Those words dropped like a bomb in the courtyard. Tilly had known Erash probably walking in high circles… but the fey were one of the oldest Factions on the plane, and apparently, she was the daughter of two out of the three leaders.

Ichiro was the first to break the silence hanging in the aftermath of the admission. “If you do not mind, Princess… What was the situation when you left your Faction?” he asked softly, somehow managing to make the question seem wholly appropriate to the moment.

At his address, she took a deep breath, before looking up from the ground and meeting the eyes of each of the council council members. Mochizuki stepped forward from the periphery and placed a chair behind her and she collapsed into it gratefully. Tilly joined her, sitting down and leaning forward as she collected her thoughts, her mouth held open as the words slowly coalesced on her tongue.

“Our people have always existed in a delicate balance. My father and his followers always moved back and forth between summer and winter, courting both queens with equal passion. He was ever the agent of change in our Faction and my half-sister and I are the fruit of that change. He was well respected amongst our people both for his cruelty and his cunning. Both are characteristics that I experienced frequently in my youth. It was not perfect, but it was a balance that lasted thousands of years. Then it all changed at the turning of the seasons last fall.” Her eyes grew haunted, and her words sped up slightly as if she wanted to be away from the memories as soon as possible.

The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

“He was prone to go on long hunts with a few of his closest advisors at the shifting of the seasons, and no one ever knew when he would return and his allegiance would shift. My mother was heartbroken at his disappearance, as she always was, and winter was gathering its strength to push its borders in the coming campaign. Then everything changed. When my father returned this time, he brought with him a new source of power, one that he said would unify our people. At the ceremony to commence the fall campaign, instead of shifting his support to Maeve, he blew the horn and sounded a Hunt, declaring that any who did not join as hunters would play the part of prey…”

“By tradition, the hunt was only sounded in times of dire need or supreme triumph for our Faction and had almost never been used against our own people. His declaration shattered the ceremony, with many of the more… wild elements of our courts joining the new shift in power gleefully. My mother’s most loyal guards stood with her, and Maeve stood in opposition to the move as well, but the Change is when they are at their weakest… we lost that battle and were forced to retreat.“

She choked slightly on her words as if the conclusion of the story were being pulled from her throat painfully. In distress, she found Tilly’s eyes, as if she owed him some brief explanation.

“It was then, in our flight, that my mother came across Wisdom, and begged her to spirit me away, charging me to grow in strength and only return when the Faction had achieved balance again. That was the last I saw of her, and now, judging by your experience at the auction, I can only conclude that my home has been shattered. I am bound by my agreement to not send any message to my family, as it would risk revealing your location to a possibly hostile Faction, but now, I am not sure there would be anyone left to answer…”

Hiro’s face slowly hardened as the tale unfolded. As she finished, he cleared his throat and spoke up, his deep voice ringing with a respectful timbre, “My deepest condolences High Priestess. I fear that many of the old powers on the plane share some similar story of struggle in recent months as our enemy has successfully waged a campaign to subvert or destroy any opposition it would face before the contest has even begun. But they will not go unopposed.” He declared, the weight in his voice shifting towards anger.

“What we have achieved here is unprecedented in my knowledge of the flow of power on the plane, and yet, we must not be allowed to rest on our victories. For the first time, the battle for our survival is not on our doorstep and this leads to a dangerous temptation to delay or hold back some of our strength from the coming fight. But, if Corruption’s advance is left unchecked, we will be giving up everything we have gained for the sake of temporary comfort. Our Patron’s Champion goes now to prepare the way, and we will assemble all we have to join him on the field when the time comes. Do any on the council oppose this course of action?”

The remaining members said nothing, Linus went so far as to scoff at the possibility of an alternative. Even the new councilor, Livius who looked sick at the thought of further fighting, nodded his head slowly in agreement. Tilly had come to terms with the fact that he was going to lay it all on the line to give these people a fighting chance and protect a place he had come to admire. But to see them respond with such commitment struck a deep chord in his Mana Well thumbing through him to his core. The burning determination in Tilly had already been feeling deepened, reaching down through the layers of his motivations and suffusing his soul. Everywhere the warmth went, peace was left in its wake, and for the first time in a long time, Tilly felt like he belonged.

He knew who he was, and what he had to do. He was done protecting himself or hesitating… he had been called upon to protect this Faction, and he would do whatever was required to see them through the coming war. The fear of death slid off his shoulders, leaving behind an aching desire to see his goal achieved at all costs.

“He will not be going alone. I will accompany the dragon and Jonathan Tillman to the Contested Lands.” Erash whispered, breaking the heavy silence that Hiro’s question had elicited.

Tilly whipped his gaze around to the puffy-eyed fey princess, “You don’t have to do that! I don’t think we will be walking, and I have no idea how you would even be able to come.” he responded quickly.

At that, some of her characteristic haughtiness returned, “Oh? And how did you think you would be traveling to the Contested Lands? If you were picturing riding the beast, you are sorely mistaken.” She sneered, a small genuine smile ruining the normally iron mask of superiority she wore.

Tilly choked down his answer, realizing that at the back of his mind, he had assumed something like that, and hadn’t spent a minute of his time, actually thinking through how he was going to convince the dragon to take him along.

“I have a means of following the dragon, and between us, we will convince him to head to the Contested Lands along our desired route, does anyone object?” she asked cutting Tilly out of the decision entirely and turning toward the council as if it were already decided. Her previously displayed vulnerability was gone like a puff of smoke and what was left was steely determination.

“Can… the young one… perform your duties?” One of the honu elders asked.

“Adequately. She has proven an acceptable pupil and she clearly holds some favor with our Patron. She will more than suffice for the time I am gone.”

Ichiro nodded sadly, tracing the changing of the weave around them as their course was set, “it is decided then. You two will go and prepare the way for our forces, so that we may establish a forward operating base for those who will stand in opposition to Corruption. I only wish more of us could join you, but I believe flight is beyond any others here…” He trailed off looking down the line of councilors.

Chewing on the problem of convincing the dragon to bring him along, Tilly had an idea splash through the murky waters of his mind, “Shuji, what do you need to transfer my holdings with the Commerce Guild to Alliance accounts?”

“A simple affidavit affixed with your mana signature for a locked period of time would suffice I imagine.”

“Awesome. Can you get me one of those to sign for the transfer of any loot I take with my world ring over the next month? I want it to all be added directly to the Alliance accounts.” Tilly said confidently.

Shujis eyes blinked owlishly at the absurd request, “Are you sure Mr. Tillman?”

“Oh yeah.” He answered, “We will see just how flexible the Scorch’s definition of Domain is, worst-case scenario, you guys will just have to withdraw everything that comes into my account and physically store it at this branch… I’m going to sell myself as a mobile deposit to our new ally for some grade-A pillaging. Speaking of which, if we can figure out how to get him to agree, where are we sending him?