Emery was a mess. He was sitting on a bench outside of the mage encampment with his face buried within his hands. Chester was sitting next to him. As far as Chester knew, Emery had mentioned that Chickadee might be back at some point today. The mage patted Emery on the back as the poor squire let out a groan.

Both of them had a lot on their minds. Pegasus had become a pain. The knight was used to calling himself one of the elite. After all, he had been teaching at Braytons for years and had churned out dozens of successful mages. Though Grand Temple might scoff at the quality of the elementalists he trained, he was capable of polishing turds into shining gems. He held a great deal of pride in his work and Braytons.

Now he was locked up and under the scrutinizing eye of Doctor Mona Saxifrage. She had a way of making innocent comments that sliced him to his very core. “Ah, I didn’t think anyone could get a good education outside of Grand Temple,” or, “such a shame that you have to work under such mediocre conditions,” and finally, “poor you. I would never put up with everything you have to.”

None of the mages liked Doctor Saxifrage or her son, Bryn, all that much. They took so much joy in carrying out their experiments. Not only had they harvested every type of sample that Chester could safely provide, they often had them channel spells for hours at a time.

Chester especially hated it. He had to summon and manipulate ice for six hours yesterday. Six hours while under the effects of the blasted bracers that Chickadee had locked on him. The ones that nulled his magic and numbed his senses.

When that little mage came back from wherever he went, Chester was going to demand freedom. Chickadee was dancing free out in the fields while Chester was tortured and imprisoned. He had absolutely had enough.

So when Chickadee came riding in along with Veximarl and Alton, the first thing Chester did was… Nothing. He did absolutely nothing. Emery had run ahead and pounced on Chickadee the moment he dismounted Martyr. He was slathering kisses all over the bewildered mage before Chester had a chance to stand up.

“Am fine!” Chickadee pried Emery off of him. He was utterly confused up until he remembered that Emery was his boyfriend. Then he came to the realization that it was probably not okay for him to have forgotten that fact.

Alton looked around. “Is Doctor Saxifrage here? I need to talk to her.”

“We agreed to let Chi handle it himself,” muttered Veximarl. “He can speak on his own behalf.”

Alton gestured to Chickadee, who had buried himself in Emery’s arms. “It’s Chi. How is he supposed to speak with anyone without a translator?”

Veximarl shook his head. “Our only job is to support him as his captain and his commander. He must defend himself if he wishes to stay at Braytons.” Alton glared at him. “It’s for the best.”

Chester had wandered over. He was beginning to have second thoughts. These bindings… They weren’t really what he was stressed out about. It was just something to blame. Whether it was the fact that he hated being at the encampment, or he was too weak-willed to control his magic, he needed these on so that he wouldn’t have to admit that it was his fault.

He didn’t have much time to either find courage or doubt himself. Chickadee approached him and grabbed his wrists. The bracers popped off and fell to the ground.

“No, wait,” whispered Chester. He had wanted to be the one to ask for them to be removed. There was a speech and everything.

“Do not need,” said Chickadee with a kind grin. “If something happens, I’ll save you.”

Chester had always been a cynic. Even though he had come to Braytons with the hope that he would find some use for his weak magic, he had never hoped of accomplishing much. Even his uncle, whom he admired so much, was a Grand Temple graduate. Braytons was just an excuse to find a way to measure up to his hero. Something which he had been failing yat. Yet somehow, when Chickadee asked him to have faith in him, Chester couldn’t help but to give him his trust.

“Hmm…” Chester did a small nod. “Alright.”

“Where is Millie?” Chickadee asked calmly.

“Out hunting with Trewarne and Moontear,” replied Emery. “They let her leave as long as she doesn’t use magic or go near buildings.”

Chickadee was going to let that slide for now. He will murder Basil and Peter later. “Pegasus?”

“In field two,” replied Chester. “They’re working with Kindrick today.”

Chickadee looked around. It looked like they had expanded the mage encampment while he was away. Several smaller housing units had been added, along with a church and a school. There were children running around the school at the moment. Chickadee noticed that they had copied the bracer design he had given Chester. All of the children were wearing them.

Tyrtain was a part of this world again. The elementalists were going to grow in strength because of it, and it would affect the younger ones more than the adults. Chickadee clenched his jaw and formed his hands into fists.

This wasn’t right. Binding their magic away wasn’t the way. He was going to have to prove it to them somehow.

“Where is field two?”

Chester led them to the field, with Emery clinging onto Chickadee’s hand the entire time. Kindrick was standing in the middle of it. He was covered in sweat. His hand stretched outward and the coins on the ground hovered for a moment before they fell again. Saxifrage and her son, along with Pegasus and Naiov, were standing outside of the field.

“His results haven’t improved much since he left Grand Temple,” muttered Saxifrage. She flipped through her folder. “He’ll never qualify for a Moonseed ranking at this rate.”

“Do not let the uniqueness of Kindrik’s abilities disqualify him from the elite,” argued Pegasus. “The power of his spells and his stamina are more than enough.”

“But he can’t walk,” replied Bryn in a cold and harsh tone. “He can’t walk while casting and he has to drop his coins when he needs to run. It’s weaknesses like that which stop his progress.”

“I doubt that the opinions of a pair of clerics truly- Get out of the field!” Pegasus’s hair floated for a moment as a wave of anger washed over him. “Cully!”

Chickadee had walked over to Trenchall and grabbed onto his hands. The bracers popped off of Trenchall’s wrists. “You’re free now,” he said softly. “No more chains. No more fear.”

Trenchall stared at him for a moment. He then smiled widely. “... Yes.” He tossed out a hoop and his coins snapped to it.

“Cully!” Pegasus began to stomp his way into the field. “How dare you interfere?! These tests are for our safety! You, a lowly deserter, have no right to be here!”

Saxifrage raised a hand. “Every elementalist has the right to be imprisoned here while we conduct our experiments.”

Pegasus gritted her teeth. “Then after you have cleared us safe enough to leave here,” he continued, “Cully is getting shipped back to that wretched Carapace. You have no right to call yourself a Braytons squire!” He shook a finger at the blacksmith. “You are expelled! I’ll have Lady Till make certain of it this time! ... Compton!” Pegasus turned to Chester. “Use that device of yours to get in contact with Bronzescale! We’ll have Dalkirk come handle him!”

Chickadee patiently waited for Pegasus to finish his tirade. “I’m going to protect everyone.”

“How dare you,” snarled Pegasus.

“No more bindings. No more hiding.” Chickadee outstretched his hands. “I’ll protect everyone!”

“You were told to protect everyone by giving them bindings,” growled Pegasus. “A task that you were quick to abandon. No one is going to trust your traitorous self now.”

“Fight me,” replied Chickadee with a smile.

“... Pardon?”

“Fight me and then you’ll have no choice but to put your faith in me,” replied Chickadee.

Pegasus glared at him. Chickadee smiled back innocently. “Furrow! The pendants!”

“No pendants,” said Chickadee confidently.

“You’ll die if you don’t wear one,” spat back Pegasus. A faint breeze picked up as he clenched his hands into fists. The winds let out a roar above them as he flicked his fingers open.

“No I won’t,” replied Chickadee.

That smile of his was pissing the knight off. Pegasus tore off his bindings. Unlike the bracers that the others had been forced to wear, Pegasus only wore ones that could be easily removed. That alone was enough to enrage Chickadee, but there was so much more about the knight that made him angry.

Both of them had the same thought at that moment. If they had a chance to teach the other a lesson, they were going to take it.

The war fan was unbuckled from behind Pegasus and whipped open. Pegasus grinned cruelly for a moment… Then he paused. His eyes fell went to his fan as his smile faltered. What confidence he had before had vanished completely, so much so that the knight had been left trembling. Dropping the fan, he began to stare at both his hands.

Outside the field, Naiov had begun to hyperventilate. He fell to his knees and clutched onto his chest. His face had gone pale. Trenchall was sitting down to rest, but he was staring at the field with a set of wide eyes.

Chickadee walked up to Pegasus. He reached up and poked the tip of the knight’s nose. “I’m going to protect everyone,” he repeated confidently.

Pegasus nodded. His knees had turned to jelly and he collapsed to the ground. He had to clamp both of his hands over his mouth to keep himself from vomiting.

Alton looked around. “What happened?” He looked over to Chester for answers. The mage was holding his hand to his mouth. He was also shaking. “... Compton?”

“... He silenced him,” whispered Chester.

Alton tilted his head. “He… He, what? Canceled out his magic somehow?”

“He commanded the elements to ignore Sir Pegasus' calls,” whispered Chester. “He was completely cut off from their voices.”

Veximarl was confused. “But Sir Pegasus would get his magic back once Chickadee stopped silencing him, would he not? Is the effect not temporary?”

Chester hesitantly nodded. “But mages of that level are rare. They’re said to be chosen by the elements as our keepers. At Grand Temple, they’re called the Lunar Guard. They have the ability to permanently strip elementalists of their powers.”

“Chi would never seek to strip any mage of their powers,” replied Veximarl. “I assure you that you are all quite safe.”

Chester shook his head. “... It’s not that we are frightened of being silenced, we are frightened of the implication.”

“Because Chickadee made a weapon that can do it,” muttered Alton.

Chester shuddered at the idea. “Lunar Guard are rare. Even the worst of us can live a full life without the fear that our powers would be taken away.” He looked down at his wrists, where the bracers had once been. “If he made a weapon…”

Then practically anyone could permanently silence any elementalist for whatever reason they see fit. Chester and Naiov had already lost control of their powers once before. There were others at the encampment who had done the same. The crown may deem it wise to rid all the elementalists of their powers permanently.

That was the implication that had made all of them ill. Chickadee was a gifted creator of magical items. The likelihood that he had created such a weapon was much higher than him ascending to the same level as a Lunar Guard mage. This moment that they witnessed could be the start of another civil war, with the rest of Lustro against elementalists who were frightened of losing their powers.

“Wow,” whispered Emery. “Chi really is amazing.” His eyes sparkled with admiration.

But Alton knew better. “He found Tyrtain,” he whispered. Both Chester and Emery looked over at him. “He wasn’t working with mages researching Tyrtain, he was being trained by Tyrtain.”

“Alton,” hissed Veximarl.

“They should know the truth before they start spreading stupid rumors,” whispered Alton. “Chi would never create such a dangerous item. Tyrtain taught him out to do it.”

Chester didn’t know what to believe. He began to stare at Veximarl. Veximarl looked away. The silence was so heavy at that moment that Veximarl couldn’t help but to laugh nervously.

“...” Chester shook his head. This month had been a bizarre one.

Alton raised his voice. “Chi! Tell them about Tyrtain!” Chickadee began to wave his arms about. “It’s fine! Tell them about him!”

“Tyrtain?” Saxifrage put her hand to her chin.

Chickadee jogged over to where she was standing. He didn’t exactly know where to begin. “Ah… Miasma…” There was a lot to explain and he wanted to be precise about it.

Saxifrage sat down on the ground and began to write in her notebook. “You theorized that the disappearance of miasma was due to a god’s influence. When the elementalists started to lose control of their powers, you realized that the god who had gotten rid of the miasma was Tyrtain. You wouldn’t be allowed to look for him without evidence, so you ran away in order to find him. He gave you the boon of being able to silence other elementalists so that you could protect them.”

Chickadee stared blankly at her. He then nodded his head.

“Professor Rosethorn is going to lose it when he finds out,” whispered Saxifrage. Her voice was vibrating with excitement. “I’ll be able to write a thesis that will turn the entire religious community on its head!” She began to cackle uncontrollably.

Veximarl leaned towards Alton. “Is it alright to tell them about Tyrtain?”

“He made one,” whispered Alton. “He definitely made a weapon… We can’t let Grand Temple find out about it.”

Veximarl slowly nodded his head. “Agreed.” He then raised his voice. “Sir Pegasus, are you still in need of assistance? Miss Fletch should be at the barracks. We can contact her on your behalf if you still wish for Sir Dalkirk’s presence.”

Pegasus was a broken man. He shook his head as he struggled to stand up. “That won’t be necessary,” he muttered. “Report back to the barracks. Inform Stonetoe that his missing squire has returned.”

“Yes, sir,” replied Veximarl. He pulled out his letter and began to message Tish that he’ll be back soon. Perhaps there was still time for them to do something together before his afternoon duties started.

Alton waved a hand. “We’re heading back, Chi! Anything you need?!”

Chickadee was in the middle of being interrogated by Saxifrage and Bryn. “A-am fine!” He called back. “Will contact by letter if need something!”

“You better!” Alton replied.

Chickadee smiled to himself as he watched them leave. He had done it. Tyrtain was free. Not only that, but he knew he would be able to protect his fellow elementalists. It didn’t matter to him what he had to do or what he had to create in order to get it done… He had done it.

Everyone was going to be safe.