It took another hour before they were all ready to go. It was a group of Alister, six knights, his father, and the tag-a-long, Wisteria. Alister was dressed in an adorably tiny set of intricately engraved black leather armor which matched his father’s, both with their hair tied back - Blas’s black hair in a much longer ponytail, and Alister’s in a tiny white fluff that was barely contained by the tie. Wisps of white hair escaped around his forehead and curled, already sticking to his skin in the humid air. There was fog out today, an ill omen.

Wisteria didn’t own any fancy armor, but she had a couple plain leather pieces she had strapped to herself, looking by far the most out of place. The knights were also in leather armor, though theirs was dyed an earthy green with gold thread, each matching. If Alister remembered correctly, it was Fern, Darren, Seoln… Yelna… oh, and Rupert and Uther. Only one was a woman, Yelna.

Yelna had really pretty hair, if she’d ever show it from under her cap. It was a bright emerald gem color, with gem eyes too - super rare! Gem hair or eyes usually came with special affinities. She was really strong, and honestly? Looking at her and her muscles made Alister feel strange, not quite attraction, but appreciation for her appearance.

The male knights were cool too. Most of them were blond with brown or green eyes, and one, Fern, had ginger hair and really really light brown eyes that made him think of golden sunlight.

Wisteria just had black hair and eyes. Yes, her face looked cute with her hair tied back like that and messy strands clinging to her cheeks… and her eyes shined like deep ocean waters at night… but she wasn’t nearly as interesting to look at as the others! Alister refused to pay her too much mind. She forced herself onto his hunt!

Blas hefted Alister up onto a pale horse with a lot of black freckling, then Wisteria up onto the same horse behind him, “She’s not familiar with riding, and your lessons have been going well. Just make sure to go slow, Alister.”

“Yes father,” he grumbled, cheeks flushing ever so slightly as he grasped the reins. He wasn’t her keeper damn it!

Wisteria paid his strangeness absolutely no mind, so excited to be a part of everything, “Thank you again for letting me come along my lord!! I promise I’ll do my best!”

Blas chuckled, “That’s all anyone can ask of you. I’m sure you’ll do great.”

Alister sighed, giving up. He didn’t want to let her steal his thunder, but he knew that was immature of him. She was here and would do her best. He just had to do his best too. He glanced back and up at her, “I can do my magic without issue now, so you can rely on me, ok?”

“You can do magic?” she asked as they started to move as a group, “Is that because of your past life thing?”

Alister nodded. She continued, “That’s really cool! Can you do like… really awesome magic stuff? Oooh! Can you summon a meteor? Or or or like divert a river flow or something?”

Alister laughed, “Hah! Not yet no. I used to be able to. I need to get my core to the right color, then I should be able to! I’d be able to do that and more. Right now I’m a bit limited. I can do simple spells as easy as breathing, though.”

“That’s still really cool! How do you make your core dense enough?”

“Practice and meditation. You just have to condense it,” he answered.

“You make that sound easy,” his father chimed in, riding alongside them on a black horse, “It’s a bit more complicated than that, Wisteria. You have to have a lot of control over your mana, and it’s a delicate process that takes a lot of time and effort. It involves condensing your core, yes, but there are also considerations to take, such as the exhaustion of your mana pool during the process, the risk of contamination, damage, and then the pain of a core explosion once you reach the next stage. All of these need to be taken into account.”

Wisteria nodded along, in awe of how knowledgable the duke was, “That’s incredible! I wanna make my core the best of the best.”

“You’ll have to work hard,” Blas smiled, the kid was so sweet. Her mother was having a rough time but raised her child well. It was commendable. To be a single mother was fraught with difficulty he couldn’t imagine. Wisteria was a brave sort, no doubt making her mother’s job more interesting.

The fog was cool and dense, making an already humid day feel like they were drinking the air. The trees around them soaked in some of the moisture, thinning the fog enough that they and the horses could see more than five feet ahead of themselves. Anything further than ten feet was swallowed again by the sea of white.

They were all chatting with each other, even the knights, relaxed as they traveled miles off from town. The first night had nothing interesting happen. The knights hunted a couple of rabbits that they ate over a fire Alister was all too happy to spark up with a flurry of magic. That was how he was right now. Any excuse to use magic, he was using it. All manner of cantrips and low-level spells - making water for the pot to boil, wind to clear out the area of leaves for the sleeping bags, a small night light orb to glow beside Wisteria and him. He was so proud of himself for his healed core. Being able to use magic without pain was amazing, like breathing freely after breaking your ribs.

Wisteria only added to his inflated ego, excited for every usage. They were still chattering with each other when Blas chucked a stick at his son’s bag and gruffly told the kids to go the fuck to sleep from the other side of the small round campsite.

Another day passed, foggy and again without anything of interest. There was a passing herd of spirit deer, deer who had fur of strange white, blue, or grey colors, and horns that looked like they were made of crystals with spirit flames between each split. They were very good for materials, but Alister didn’t want to hunt them - they weren’t strong enough, he’d at least prefer a dire something or another. Wisteria refused as well after Alister did. They found an older track of a large bear toward the evening of that second day, and so they camped nearby, deciding to follow it in the morn.

If he was being honest, Alister couldn’t see the bear tracks at all anymore. Even last night, the only way he could spot them was if his father pointed them out directly. Now they were completely lost to him. There were a few spells he could think to use, but it seemed it was unnecessary. His father had skills in this field, he made it look easy, and caught the trail of the beast in short order.

It was a few hours of slow riding, the trail getting warmer, less distant, until a strange sound resonated through the trees. If spring wasn’t such a damp month, perhaps they could see further through the forest. Even now, the fog was dense for another day, and it made the scene an eerie one. But it was not the only thing.

The wailing… A scream ripped from the lungs of what sounded like a child, perhaps a teen… pain in it that echoed from loss. Loss of a child, a parent, a lover, a soldier, who knew? The wail was more than disturbing, it was horrific. Everyone stopped in their tracks. Wisteria gripped around Alister’s waist as the whole of the group felt their hair rise and shivers trickle up their necks.

In the shadow of the distant echoes, Blas motioned ahead, his voice hushed, “Look there.”

In the direction of the howling screams, the body of the dire bear they were tailing was in a crumpled heap. Massive slashes were torn into its skin and its innards spilled in a coagulated mass beside it. Flies hummed about the corpse, eager to take advantage of the decaying meal. Blas drew his horse closer and stepped off down to the ground, eyeing the dead beast with concern and sadness.

“This sounds like a fairy gone mad. Rabies, perhaps. Fairies are strong, but they are among the weakest of the Fae. We will be cautious but move forward. I cannot allow a creature to remain in such pain as this. Alister, Wisteria, stay in the back and use only ranged methods, just in case.”