A caravan, consisting of twelve identical carts, traveled along a forest path toward Wishmoore. The carts themselves were camouflaged; they were painted with a splattering of various shades of green. All curtains inside the carts were drawn, preventing anybody from seeing the contents within. Each cart had an ox assigned to pull it—some had two. Escorting the caravan was a collection of roughly two dozen men and women. Most appeared human, though some were visibly hybrids.

Riven, Cili, and Galina had been tailing the caravan for almost two hours straight. It was Cili’s lead regarding the sea serpent scales that had led the group to the path the caravan traveled. They then carefully followed the tracks and footprints that were left behind, staying deep within the forest to avoid being seen.

“Stop here!” The man at the front caravan raised his hand. Unlike the others, who all had on black suits, his suit was a deep wine red. His undershirt was pitch black with a white tie. His dark skin contrasted with his slicked-back spiky white hair. The most notable article of clothing was the set of golden ring piercings around his ears.

The clopping of ox hooves, the spinning of wagon wheels, and any idle chatter disappeared in an instant.

“What is it, Xavier?” one of the men further back asked.

“Where’s Calvin?” Xavier asked.

Everyone quickly looked around in confusion.

“He was assigned to number 7, yes?” Xavier asked.

“I think that’s right,” a dwarven woman at the far end of the caravan replied.

Xavier marched down the caravan; everyone else stood in silence, their eyes fixated on Xavier.

Once he arrived at the seventh cart in the caravan, he went to open the door. Unfortunately, Xavier went for the door opposite Riven, Cili, and Galina who were still hiding in the nearby woods, so they couldn’t see what was inside the cart.

Immediately, even as far as they were from the cart, a sudden chill blasted through the surrounding forest. The area where Xavier had opened the door froze instantaneously; the grass stopped swaying in the wind, and half the bark of several trees was coated in ice.

“That fucking idiot,” Xavier groaned.

Shifting carefully through the foliage, the trio moved to get a better view of what Xavier was doing. Stepping back from the cart, Xavier had a singular hand stretched outward and tensed, but not fully closed as if it were holding an orb despite there being nothing visible in his hand. Floating just in front of him was what looked like a lifesize, hyper-realistic ice sculpture of an adult man.

“Did I not tell everyone at cart 7 numerous times to keep your eyes closed when feeding?!” Xavier shouted.

Nobody said a word.

Xavier let out an exasperated sigh. He lowered his hand, and as he did, Calvin’s frozen body followed his movements.

“That’s like what you do Galina,” Cili said.

“I didn’t know anyone else could do it without a skill.”

“He could’ve used a skill, and just said it quietly,” Riven said. “Too early to come to any conclusions.”

As Calvin’s body was set down in the shade, Xavier turned back to the caravan. “Can anyone fix him?” he asked.

“I can,” one man said, rushing over.

“Wait, you idiot!” Xavier exclaimed. “You’re at cart 4. A single phoenix feather will melt half his body off, and at this point, I don’t trust any of you to follow protocol. Is there anyone else who can help?”

A woman from cart 9 raised her hand, and Xavier beckoned her closer. She placed a hand on the frozen body and clutched something around her neck that none of the trio could make out from such a far distance.

“Unfreeze, [Restore].”

The ice slowly began to melt, giving way to bright red skin.

“Ahhh!” Calvin screamed as his sense of feeling abruptly returned.

“Consider yourself lucky. A frostbite basilisk’s gaze kills you after a day of being frozen. Just a few hours could lead to permanent loss of one or more limbs,” Xavier said. “Now, somebody not from cart 4, help this man up and get him on an ox. Medics start treating his frostbite.”

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A giant orc woman and a human man rushed to pick Calvin up and prop him on an ox. The woman who had healed him earlier began applying a salve to the red marks on Calvin’s skin.

“We can’t afford to lose any more time. We’re already behind schedule. Any more delays and we’ll miss the auction entirely,” Xavier said.

“The auction?” Cili wondered aloud.

“Shh!” Galina whispered. “He’s still talking.”

“Don’t forget. Our primary mission is to deliver the specimens not just alive, but in pristine health,” Xavier said. “No buyer wants a half-dead animal, even if it’s from the other side of the world.

“Now as I said, there may be something at this auction capable of curing Mrs. Willow’s affliction. If there is anything presented at this auction you believe is capable of saving her life, you must inform me immediately. In the case that I am unable to be reached, you have my permission to bid any amount of money necessary to acquire the item. Use your discretion wisely. There will be consequences for purchasing an item not beneficial to Mrs. Willow.”

“Well, that complicates things. Elric’s alchemy with a philosopher’s stone is definitely something they’ll want to cure a fatal illness,” Riven said.

“Willow? Why does that name sound familiar?” Galina wondered aloud. “Cili, isn’t your friend called Willow?”

“You did say that,” Riven said.

“Wait, Xavier! Holy shit, I didn’t recognize him. He looks so different!” Cili exclaimed.

“You know him?” Galina asked.

“Yeah, but I can’t say anything.”

“Why the fuck not?” Riven asked.

“I just can’t! I also can’t say anything about Willow, okay. It’s for her safety.”

“For her safety? We aren’t gonna hurt her,” Riven said.

“How do I know that?” Cili asked.

“What is that supposed to mean?” Riven asked, genuine frustration rich in her tone. She lurched forward, invading Cili’s personal space.

Galina placed a hand on Riven’s shoulder and pulled her back slightly. “We’ll talk about this later.”

“Oh, we will.”

Cili looked as if she wanted to say something, but before she could, Xavier spoke up.

“You know, on second thought, before we go, maybe I should just take a headcount.” Xavier clapped his hands together. “[Detect] X [Link].”

Had it been a chant skill, the trio may have been able to react. Before any of them could even get off a quick cast, a massive pulse of an essence radiated outward from Xavier. Every person within a certain radius of Xavier felt an acute pain in their brain for just a moment—everybody except Riven, Cili, and Galina.

The moment the pulse reached the trio, the orb suspended at the apex of Galina’s staff began to furiously gyrate; it began to bounce back and forth like a pendulum threatening to leave suspension at any moment.

“Ah!” Xavier clutched his head as soon as the pulse radiated out. “Feedback?”

He reached his hand toward where Riven, Cili, and Galina were hidden. Xavier closed his hand into a fist. As he did, the ground beneath the trio began to violently shake. Xavier tried to raise his hand, but it felt as if weighed several hundred pounds.

“What the hell?!” He extended his other arm. Both his hands balled into the fists, and once again tried to raise his arms, but his telekinetic grasp on the ground wasn’t strong enough to rip it from the earth in one fell swoop. His arms shook violently, and every muscle was tensed, but despite his best efforts, they rose incredibly slowly.

“I think we should run,” Galina said.

The ground beneath them was beginning to rupture and tear. Vines burst out from underneath the soil as trees began to violently shake.

“We can’t run. We’ll leave tracks,” Riven said.

It was clear Xavier hadn’t seen them. Otherwise, he would’ve used his telekinesis on them to restrain them directly rather than trying to upend the ground they stood on.

“No, we won’t.” Cili clutched the talisman of bone around her neck. “Without a trace, [Vanish].” The feet of the trio became enveloped in Cili’s essence. “Let’s go.”

Each footprint the three left behind disappeared before they had a chance to make another.

Xavier let his arms collapse to his sides and opened his white-knuckled hands. “Everyone search the area!”

After a 15-minute search of the surrounding area, it was unanimously concluded by all members of the caravan that there was no one nearby. However, Xavier pushed back. He ordered another search. Then another. Only after three searches, and reminders of his previous statement about them not having any time to waste did he finally stop.

As the caravan readied to move forward, Xavier nonchalantly extended an arm out toward a tree. As he closed his hand into a fist, the tree’s trunk immediately split into chunks.

Xavier glanced down at his hand as he continued to squeeze and unsqueeze it. “The dampening effect is gone now. Where did it come from? It didn’t just react to my skills, it stopped my natural abilities as well. And the feedback, it’s just like … no, they’re all dead, right?”

A hellish grin crept across Xavier’s face, stretching from ear to ear. He covered his mouth with his hand to hide it, but his joy was unmistakable.

“What’s got you in a good mood?” one of the men asked.

Xavier coughed and beat his chest, wiping the smile from his face. “I never thought I’d get the chance, but it seems my dream may come true.”

“And what’s that?”

“I think I might get the chance to kill one of the bastards who wiped everyone I ever loved throughout my entire childhood off the face of Fable.”