traveling, though

	Viri gasped, and her hands flew over her mouth.  Xuriis recoiled.  “They didn’t even get close!” he exclaimed.  “What happened?”

	“Linus?” Viri squeaked.  She teared up as she vainly searched the sky for her friend.  “Where did you go?”

	Castinuve delicately leaned over and patted Viri’s back.  “We need to go,” he said softly.  “Clearly, it isn’t safe here.  We need to report in to the Countess.”

	Hricce hugged the hyperventilated Viri and glared at Castinuve over her shoulder.  “We’re just running?  We should search for him?”

	“In a forest we don’t know?” Castinuve asked pointedly.  “No.  We should go, gather more numbers, and conduct a proper search.”


	Linus tumbled through whorl of light that had engulfed him.  He clung desperately to Noble’s neck as the Celestial Pegasus whinnied in shock.  Both of them plummeted through the mad nothingness that is the inter-planar space, before they landed in the cold waters below.

	Linus kicked up to the surface and broke it with a gasp.  Cold, clean air rushed into his lungs, along with a mouthful of water.  He coughed and spat it out as Noble breached the water beside him.

	“DON’T MOVE!” a voice screamed from a mere few feet away.  Linus brushed his dreadlocks out of his eyes and struggled to turn in his heavy armor, kicking with all his strength.  He saw a phalanx of soldiers in strange armor, pointing spears at him.  “Who are you?”

	Linus took a deep breath.  “Help!” he shouted.  “I’m wearing armor!” He flailed for the shore and scrambled there as Noble burst from the water, neighing madly.  Linus scrambled out onto the shore and rolled onto his back, spitting water, as Noble trotted up on the shore and flicked water violently from its wings.

	The soldiers swarmed over him, spearpoints held to Linus from inches away.  “Don’t move!” one ordered, and the others echoed it.

	Linus couldn’t speak for the water in his throat.

	“ENOUGH!” a new voice roared.  Linus’ eyes opened wider as he saw a new figure join the circle.  The other soldiers shrank away as a mighty elf, clad in enchanted mithril from head to toe, emerged from the ranks and hauled Linus to his feet with one effortless hoist.  Linus doubled over and vomited up more water as the soldier took a step back.  “Who are you?”

	Linus took a deep breath, coughed up more water, and tried again.  “I’m… Linus Vorth,” he said, raising his holy symbol.  “I’m a knight… and Paladin of Torm,” he said.  “I was investigating a Feywild Rupture into the Prime.”

	The armored elf’s eyes widened.  “You… you’re from the Prime?”

	As much as Linus wanted to snap back that there couldn’t be that many human Paladins in the Feywild, he nodded instead.

	“I see.”  The elf removed his helm.  “Then we are not at odds,” he said, gesturing for the soldiers to stand down.  They lowered their spears as he met Linus’ bright brown eyes.  His own were solid orbs of purple-blue, Linus noted.  A psychic?  “I am War Commander Tumnal, leader of the armies of the Wildercourt,” he said.  “I serve under Duke Severus of the Wilderkin.”

	Linus saluted as evenly as he could.  “Sir.  My Celestial Pegasus, Noble, and I… we were investigating the planar merge, the Feywild Rupture, with a party of fey under Knight Castinuve of the Court of Countess Capricorn.”

	Tumnal brightened.  “Ah!  A distant cousin of mine, is she.”  Was he actually an Eladrin? He was far too tall for it, but perhaps he was an oddity.  “Are you wounded?”

	“No, but I need to go back right away,” Linus said.  “They must be worried about me.”

	“Hmm.”  Tumnal looked at where Noble was angrily squaring off with the intimidated horses of the elven soldiery.  “Stand down, men, the Pegasus is no threat to us.”

	The mounted soldiers slowly inched back, and Noble raised his head with a haughty toss of the mane.  Linus held up his sodden arms and shook water out.  “Commander, may I be so bold as to ask where we are?”

	“We stand on the shore of the River of Fancies,” Tumnal said.  “Beyond is the Oldest Glade’s island.”

	Linus looked up sharply.  “Oldest Glade?  As in the fauns of the Oldest Glade?”

	“Indeed.  Do you know them?” Tumnal asked.

	“I consider them friends,” Linus said.  “I came upon them in a state of terrible plague, and I used my bond with Torm to heal them.”

	“Good on you.  Are they safe?” Tumnal asked.

	Linus hesitated.  “They are… secure,” he said.  “I don’t know if they’re safe.”  He looked back across the river at the innocent-looking island.  “My people have no quarrel with them, but… well.  I need to go back and report to my master that I’ve found the source of the breach.”

	“I see.”  Tumnal stepped back and looked out at the island too.  “You are clearly withholding something, Paladin Vorth.”

	“Yes, out of propriety.   It’s not my story to tell.  I may also be wrong.”  Linus wrung more water out of his gear as Noble flicked off its mane again.  “So… my party will be worried about me if I don’t get back there soon.”

	“Right.”

	“So… how do I get over there?  Do I just go in, and appear somewhere in the Prime?” he asked, turning to look at the island.

	“More or less.  At first, it was spewing random streams of energy into the woods,” Tumnal said.  “Now, it seems more constrained, but every so often, it still flares up.  We’ve had a few people get drawn in, but they come right back once they walk back through the orb on the other side.”

	Linus looked around the edges of the island.  “Are there any spots on dry land that connect to the area of the spell?”

	“No, but we’re arranging boats to be sent down the river,” Tumnal said.  “Our hope is to find the source of the spell and destroy it, but only after the Oldest Glade is drawn back through.”

	“I can help with that,” Linus said.  He walked over to Noble and tapped his flank with one hand.  “Sorry about the spill, buddy, I was as surprised as anybody,” he said in Celestial.  “Can you get us back there?”

	Noble seemed to glare at him, but after a moment knelt so Linus could mount him.  “All right, Knight Tumnal, if I may, I’m heading back to report,” he said.  “I’ll return if I can find a way to do so safely.”

	Tumnal nodded.  “Good luck, Paladin Vorth.”


	Viri was still sniffling as she followed the others towards the edge of the trees.  She had taken a moment to have a good cry after seeing her new friend disappear.  Castinuve was silent now.  Mentally, he was calculating how to protect the others if a second Gorgon appeared.

	Behind them, the roiling magic pulsed for a moment, and the party was bowled over by a sudden gust of intense wind.  Castinuve rolled to his feet in an instant, and his jaw dropped.  Noble had missed him by inches as the huge Pegasus erupted from thin air with a great draft, scattering the fey.  Linus fell from Noble’s back

	“Linus!  You’re okay!” Viri squealed.  Linus tumbled from Noble and dropped to his knees, shaking.  He looked up and smiled in time for Viri to barrel into him and wrap him up in a hug.  He patted the faun girl as he slowly rose to his feet.

	“I’m fine, thanks,” he said.

	“Why are you all wet?” she asked, once he had managed to extricate himself.

	“I fell in the River of Fancies,” he said, removing his helm.  “I met a large group of Feywild soldiers there, staking out the Rupture on their side.”

	Xuriis walked up with apprehension on his young face.  “You saw the River?” he asked.  “Who were these soldiers?”

	“Soldiers of the Wildercourt, under Knight Commander Tumnal,” Linus said.  He started shucking his gear as the others clustered around.  “He said he was working on a way to create a path from the island to the mainland, and it looks like the whole island is immersed in this anomaly.”

	“Incredible.”  Castinuve crossed his arms.  “Then the other side is safe?”

	“It would seem so.”  Linus shed his helm and started working on the armor plates of his boots.  “No sign of what’s causing this.  I need to report back to Neverwinter and tell the Alliance about this.  We may be able to find a wizard to study it safely.”

	“Then we should be going home,” Castinuve said decisively.  “If you are well, and our debt is paid, then I should rejoin the Court and report my findings.”

	“Works for me,” Xuriis said.  The fauns all nodded.

	Linus blew out a breath of relief as he started peeling off his sodden armor plating and pads.  “I need to dry this, or it will rot next time I wear it.  I’m planning to break for a meal now, anyway, then I can escort you back across the river, if that’s alright with you all.”

	“Your company is welcome,” Castinuve said.  “What of your village, though?”

	“They won’t bother anybody,” Linus asserted.  “They don’t even have basic infrastructure yet.”

	“Then let us rest here for a moment, then we can leave together,” Castinuve said.  “We know the way back.  We can make good time.”

	“Fine.”  Linus gathered his discarded items.  He pressed his hands against the ground and cast his spell, and a meal appeared at their feet, of water and simple foods.  “Dig in, leave some for me.  I need to go work on my gear.”