When the Pirate ship landed at the dock with all the pomp and circumstance of a visiting dignitary, Diana knew that Jonah had been right. This was for publicity, to appease frightened people who screamed in rapture for the Heroes entering their town. She kept this possibility in mind while picking each location. None of them particularly large enough for the news to immediately spread. Rowoak was leagues from any major city, whose stone and sometimes concrete construction spanned for miles across and consumed great portions of her Kingdom. Landing in one of them she might as well be returning home, here she wasn’t supposed to be blinded by photography or shouted at in such adoration. The Rowoak citizens equipped with cameras slid forth like spiders from their dens, pushing past the others, wanting to immortalize this visit. No simple devices either, ones meant to take glossy pictures to appear in the paper.

Diana smiled and waved, turning the displeasure inward as a practiced professionalism came out. Something like her mother’s regal composure, but without the fine lined features to make it shine. Her sister had the perfect mix of their father’s rounded details and the queen’s classical sharpness. The little girl also had a drive to be photographed, turning her head one way and the other. Even after hours at an event her face could still take a respectable pose. It hurt Diana, to wish that her sister was back, a desire to have her old place as the older and once portly princess. She would rather be called fat a thousand times over than have subjects yelling their sympathy as they were now. They called mostly at the Heroes, but countless faces turned from relief to sorrow for her.

They hadn't moved from the dock in several long moments, she couldn’t keep the falsehood up much longer. Gripping her staff tightly, she subtly pushed the Guardian forward. Her hand at his back must have been like a fly, but at least he had the sense of a horse. Glancing back, an understanding smile shifted his beard and he made his way through the crowd as the party’s plow. All of the Heroes had been eating up the attention, the good publicity. What a farce… They might as well be hunting birds with flutes and drums and no weapons. There was a boiling sense of fury and disappointment in her. It would be better to have stayed in her cabin or with Jonah to practice her magic.

Spying her glare as they made their way through the streets of marbled wood pillars and many peaked roofs, Angelina leaned into her. “The people love seeing their princess, their Heroes. It makes them happy, you’re not the only one grieving, your highness,” she said, sneakily gesturing to the waves of people following them. The crowd of colorful clothing, braided sleeves and pale skinned people, joined with children now, ranging from young teens to those small enough to be knocked over if they weren’t careful.

Diana smiled at the children, their tiny hands waving frantically as they were held back by their parents. She could fake it, for now at least. There were tears on people’s faces, it did well to wash her bitterness away. Aiko chuffed at her side, keeping away from the people, even though many fingers pointed at the beast. It was easy to spot the Druids, even if they were not formidable, they still bore familiars. Many were as Luann had dreamed of hers, robins, bluejays, squirrels, mice and more, all perched on shoulders or on the top of the Druid’s heads. The most frightening ones she saw were raccoons or ravens, curled around necks or dancing along on their padded and designated shoulders. They didn’t start to appear until they were deep in the town, there was no reason for Druids to rush to see their princess. Quietly the designated Druids, some wearing hides over their normal clothing as well as some with twigs, bones, or feathers weaved into their hair, all bowed their heads as she passed. Many of the small animals followed along with the actions of their masters, beaks lowered and wings spread out, rodent eyes closed and tails dipping. She had no rule over them, the sources were more important, but she appreciated the respect, as she wasn’t used to it from other Druids.

Past the marketplace and at the edge of the well maintained groves of rowoaks, the mayor was waiting for them. A man of some mastery and expertise as well as graying hair and beard, he gave Diana a deep bow, the eagle on his shoulder gripping the leather padding with powerful talons. Straightening out, he introduced himself, Kian, as well as his wife beside him, Isolde. She was a similarly wizened woman of apple cheekbones and white streaked hair, a dusty furred bobcat following beside her. When she gave a smiling curtsy the feline bowed its head, cautious eyes given to Aiko. Both Druids wore the Weaver cloaks and clothing like Diana, except dyed a clayish brown and red like their trees, an indicator of their constant practice. Though it was rare, it was possible for a Watchdog to still be lurking either on land or sea. They had been cleared out and maintained on this eastern side of the Kingdom by proven Druids in the Envy woods. A single egg of a Watchdog could hatch and reproduce in a matter of months however. This was one of the main duties of any Druid.

Kian and Isolde were incredibly kind and level with the Heroes and Diana, dispensing their sympathies and well wishes swiftly. They walked beside Diana as they entered the unpaved path through the rowoak groves. One side springing up as assisted saplings, the other close to fully grown, either extending for several miles. Diana didn’t say anything as they continued, even though she knew a bit about every settlement worthy of being a dot on a map, she didn’t expect Druids so practiced and neatly adorned to be the heads of the city. Nor did she figure that her party would be followed by more Druids, strangers and ones she had dismissed at breakfast. She blamed her mother for any sourness that was in her, for there was none in her father. Anything that could be construed as gossip was stated as fact with him. Her sister had been far too optimistic. The loss of her had intensified everything in Diana, good and bad. The desire to hunt Blodwyn had made her push down all the fragility inside her. Even as she knew that it was impractical, that she wouldn’t reasonably subdue the bitch for some time, it was the only thing that saved her from collapsing.

“I think you’re brave beyond your years,” said Isolde, her voice sweet with only a sprinkling of age. In her sweeping look across the groves, her eyes had landed on the wise woman and Isolde had lept the chance to bring words from the princess.

“Thank you,” Diana said, smirking.

The mayor’s wife nodded, tucking a spare silver curl back behind her ear. “I would understand your mother’s presence, back with her old friends,” she went on, laughing softly. Probably because the “old friends” were twice her own age and fresher than a rose’s first bloom. “To take up such a mission after the loss of your sister, I would not be able to do such a thing. I remember losing a loyal hound at your age, I was unable to leave my house for a week. I could hardly eat for some months after. The place he slept, that mat bed. I would sit and stare at it for so long.” She frowned. “I am not saying the losses are comparable, miss. I understand you are not only brave but well trained.” She sighed, gripping her marble wood staff. “What I mean to say is that you are better than most other Druids I know, than many other people I know. I suppose I should expect nothing less from a regal Druid. You would not be a future leader, were you not a step above the rest of us.”

Diana only had one grandmother, her maternal one passing before her birth. This Isolde reminded her of her paternal one, the hopefulness that she held for the youth. Of all the responses to the death of Luann, it was she that was the most sincere, the most heartbroken besides those not residing in the castle Magi. Diana ached at Isolde’s grief and positivity. “I’ve studied all I can and continue every day, I wish only to restore balance, wise one,” she replied.

Isolde smiled at the respectful address. “You will and I hope that you find something useful in this forsaken cave,” she said, gesturing with her staff towards the end of their path. “We investigated it some, but the blasted thing is more complex than a colony of ants. If you don’t find any Ash Makers, then I hope you find something of use. The townsfolk have pleaded with us to seal it off before.” She shivered. “When we saw those gray coated people at its mouth, ugh… I regretted that we never agreed to it. The bats can find a new home.”

“I’ve helped relocate them before, it’s far too much effort,” Diana said, trying to push out the negativity that bubbled up in her.

“Fish have more rhythm in their schooling,” Isolde said, chuckling.

The two exchanged some stories of various work they had done, separating animals from people and vice versa. The older Druid had accomplished far more than the younger expected, even a tale of basilisks in the Envy forest that were encroaching upon a human settlement. She fought with a team, but the magical Watchdogs were nothing to be taken lightly. Angelina smiled at her conversation with the fellow Druid. At least they were moving along towards a goal while speaking. All total it took some two hours to walk to the pathway of the cave, locally called the Toothy Pit.

It was a great open maw of black straight into the earth. The rim of which was trimmed with rounded stones separated by the roots of nearby trees to give it a gap toothed smile. Except these teeth extended down deeply until the shadow swallowed them. When the Heroes and Diana reached the lips, Ryul the Ranger appeared, perched across the way. The masked and silent elf pointed down the throat, then to what constituted a pathway. He was the designated scout, and had been for hundreds of years. Now his royal purple armor was shaded black like the shadows and he signaled in gestures to Angelina. The mayor couple and the others had left them a hundred yards back, the groves having ended not far away. Mossy hills rose beside the pit, the outermost border of Rowoak before the hilly landscape extended for miles. Many wished to clear the wild trees and overgrown brush and plant just a few more rowoaks, but this pit, ever growing from rainfall, kept them away.

“He says that he found tracks inside, men and Watchdogs,” Angelina translated, pulling out her gun and flicking back the hammer. “Nothing too big, just burrowers, but be on your guard.”

The Guardian set his helmet on his head, the face a featureless shield. With an adjustment of the wings the curved metal of his face lit up with a bright glow of golden runes of protection. The rest of his armor followed suit as he drew his sword. His hand twisted on the handle lighting it up with scarlet runes of destruction. “Only fitting that Ash Makers make their home among serpents,” he said with a scoff. “Should they remain, we will slay them both, keeping only those worth interrogating for the wretch’s location.”

The Rider slapped his bare chest, skin shining with transparent armor, a breastplate and gauntlets as well as everything in-between, they fit neatly to his form. His long and powerful fingers ran across his etched spear, lighting up the shaft with the same shine as the azure head. “I ‘ate caves, and I bloody ‘ate having to walk everywhere,” he said in his accent, thicker than pudding. “I don’t know how you lot do it all the fuckin’ time…” He shook his head with a huff.

From the air the Pirate formed four globes of ice the size of cantaloupes. Humming into them, they floated with a stark glow and began hovering around her in a lazy circle. “That should be enough light for you to see, princess,” she said with a stern nod. “Thankfully you have your tiger to see as well. Keep between us, please, I know you have dealt with such creatures, but they can vary quite a bit in size.”

“I worked with a team of Druids, I know how to keep safe,” Diana said, inscribing a Druidic rune of the sun over her staff. The one line, unbroken, depicted the sphere and beams, giving off a narrowed beam of light. This one specified to not give off much heat, but the warmth would be helpful in the dark. On the other side would be Aiko watching for her.

Ryul appeared beside them with a phase jump, walking slowly down, past the rows of gapped teeth. This was it, progress. Even if it had started with a farce of pictures and publicity, it would end with something substantial, something solid. This mission would hopefully get her a step closer to Blodwyn.

On the ship, Jonah watched until Diana and her escorts were absorbed into the crowd. Losing her, he kept following her progress by the hulking figure of the Guardian cutting a path through the people. Beside him Kalyah fit her cap on her head, adjusting the pure white doctor’s bag in her hand. He wondered what exactly a magic healer would need to keep healing people. She stayed in place, readying herself, the gangplank firmly affixed to the side of the ship. From the other side of the ship came Coal, in one talon a pair of fishing rods and the other an empty cooler that echoed as it hit the deck, the item nearly as big as him.

Lucy had snuck up behind Kalyah, her hands settling on the Pixie’s shoulders. “Going to get some extra scratch and attention in town?” she wondered, her thin cord of a tail flicking about the air.

“I’m going purely to heal people, I won’t accept anything beyond what a normal priestess takes,” Kalyah said with a tense of anger in her eyes. “Which as you know is something as small as a smile.”

The devil’s eyes went to Jonah, still rubbing the healer’s tight shoulders. “She used to be more fun before you came. She’d heal and I’d whore, we’d have a good bit of spending money by the end of the night. Of course, the only scruple she kept was whoring herself for free---”

Kalyah leaned back and elbowed Lucy in the gut. On contact, a spark of white magic cracked out of her body and spread across the woman’s core. Screaming, Lucy clawed at the afflicted area.

“Ugh, turn it off, turn it off! I fucking hate when you do this!” She pulled open her shirt to her crimson skinned, seemingly uninjuried, belly.

“What’s wrong? What did you do?” Jonah wondered in a panic.

“It’s numb, pacisfist my fucking ass,” Lucy growled, sneering. “This is harming me, I’m in distress. Shouldn’t your goddess be mad at this?”

“Your body is still perfectly fine,” Kalyah answered dispassionately. “Your mind won’t stop saying the wrong thing and your soul has no remorse over these actions. Those are all problems for the rest of the Three. I think you need to speak with Psyin to correct your verbal diarrhea. Especially when you did want to sleep with me again. I know I’m a more generous lover than Angelina, mermaids aren’t known for their submissiveness.”

Lucy snorted, tail going limp. “I won’t disrespect my Pixie again,” she said, derisively.

“I’m not your Pixie,” she replied pointedly.

“I’m sorry Kalyah, okay? Goddsdamn, you know how much of a brat I am,” Lucy huffed, embarrassed.

Kalyah snapped her fingers and Lucy breathed easier, rubbing her belly. The noise had brought a dockworker across the gangplank. The man looked over the strange cast by the rails, a ways from where they parted to allow for the bridge. Jonah must have been the most normal, his robotic hands catching the midday light.

The worker spotted the petite nurse. “Oh, have you come to help the Trio we have here, miss?” he said politely.

The Pixie stiffened at that. “You have one stationed here?” she asked quietly.

“Aye, we’re a timber town, lots of nicks and cuts to heal, not to mention rope burns and bumps on the docks here,” he said, gesturing about. The man was neat, clean, and sensibly dressed in jerkin and high shinned breeches. It was Jonah’s work to keep guessing the level of technology around, assembling all he knew already. “We’re waiting on a crop at the moment, so all we have are runny noses and burns from the ovens. The Trio complain about getting bored around this time of year.” He gave a weary sigh. “I hope the Heroes scrub out whatever creatures are out by the Pit, we’ve not known war here, barely seen a Watchdog around. Not one that the Mayors couldn’t handle killing.”

Lucy smacked her lips as Kalyah seemed distant, considering. “The Heroes could take out a legion of Order members on their own,” the devilish woman said. “Don’t worry, good man, you have nothing to fear. Kalyah was ready to administer aid, but she doesn’t want to butt in on a Trio. We should probably take it easy, wait for the Heroes to return at your pub over there.” She tilted her head to a building with colorful windows.

“I would like us all to go fishing!” Coal declared, holding up the rods. “What say you, Traveler Jonah? Fancy testing those arms in luring some fish?”

Jonah smiled, taking the rods in hand. “Yeah, I might as well,,” he said. A somber note hit him. “Diana might not be back for a while, but it doesn’t really matter if I’m here or not.” He shook his head. “I need to stay active and fishing is good for that, walk there, casting, yep.”

“Exactly,” the Tengu cheered.

“There’s good fish out by the warrior’s point,” said the dock worker. “Best of luck, I’m needed.”

“Thank you, sir,” Coal went on, flying to the rails to perch. “We’ll bring back many in your honor!”

The dock worker laughed, waving to them. Others of his coworkers marveled at the birdman, who he made it a point to greet and address. Jonah held the cooler as well so he had his talons free to point and wave at them.

“I’ll go change, there’s no way you can make it on your own,” Kalyah said, making her way to the lower deck stairs.

“Do you mind if I go with you?” Lucy asked timidly as the Pixie passed.

“I don’t care, it’s up to Jonah and whether he wants you to disturb his therapy being all loud and annoying,” she said sharply.

Lucy turned to him as Kalyah vanished below deck.

“Yeah, yeah, it’s fine,” he said, confused on whether he had a say or not.

“I’ll be good,” she stated with a rueful grin.

All he could hope for was that Diana’s trip was as exciting as catching fish. Then he feared that some monster fish might appear. The rods he held did have a lot of arcane runes scribbled into them.