Tristan went through the portal with Eloise close behind. They emerged in Saumur, and the city looked much as it did when they first arrived. The duo went down the side streets they had before, heading to the same inn and tavern they had first gone to. When Tristan asked why, Eloise replied in Demon's Tongue. "My contact should have left us some information."

The Rogue's Gallery was quite empty when they arrived, and Tristan immediately felt that something was off. Not even a barkeep? He thought. His hand drifted to his sword's hilt. He spoke in Elvish. "Felicity, something is wrong here." He spun his crucible and pushed the cooling energy into his armor, activating Scales of Our Foe, Armor of Ice, Near Miss, and Lucky Instinct in one burst. The back of his neck tingled, confirming that his natural instinct was right as Lucky Instinct reinforced the idea. Something was wrong.

Tristan grabbed Eloise and pushed her to the wall as a throwing knife was launched from a magical darkness that his sight could not pierce at the far end of the bar. He caught the blade by the hilt as it flashed by him, and he threw Eloise behind him to the doorway. "Run!" He backed up, swatting away a bevy of three more throwing knives; the small lengths of metal no match for his armored carapace and reflexes. He got outside, shut the door, and turned around only to see Eloise facing off against a pair of Demons; the city guard, dressed in fine full plate and holding halberds. They were holding the end of the alley, and there was no way out.

"Felicity, turn Eloise invisible!" Tristan wrapped his arms around her, and pushed the spinning essence into his dagg- Damnit! It got melted! I don't have invisibility artificed anymore! He had completely forgotten to replace the weapon and the spell artificed within, and did not have Greater Invisibility memorized since he had it in an item. Okay, the plan can still work.

There was a sparkle in the air in front of Tristan, and Eloise vanished. He barely bent his knees, then jumped, whispering in the Standard Tongue. "I will glide on these mighty wings!" The spectral wings manifested, and a split-second later, he followed up with, "The skies unfold before me!" angling his toes straight down.

The duo rocketed into the sky. Tristan could feel Felicity pressed flat against the top of his helmet, hanging onto him. He followed up with another use of Dragon Leap and attained even higher altitude. Looking down, his sharp vision could see the Demon guards sprouting leathery wings that they flapped to rise into the sky – and more joined them from adjacent streets.

"I don't have their maneuverability," Tristan growled, feeling agitated that they had stumbled right into a trap and now were on the back foot. "We have to flee."

Eloise had caught her breath and wits, and tried to speak – he could feel her chest expanding and contracting under his arms. But because of the invisibility Felicity used, Tristan could not hear her. "We'll head southwest. I have a letter to introduce me to Stramal Alphinaud." Tristan angled his feet behind him, and once more Dragon Leap caused them to shoot forward like a bolt fired from a crossbow – lancing across the skies over the Demon Realm's capital city. A whole host of Demon guards flew after them, but Tristan's speed far outpaced theirs. They were clear of the city within seconds, and soaring over the landscape, painted a dappled orange thanks to the morning sun that cast a handful of scattered shadows across the plains and farmland surrounding the city.

Eloise suddenly appeared in front of Tristan, and she was screaming. Tristan winced and growled loud enough to be heard. "Stop screaming. It hurts my ears."

She quieted immediately, huffing in deep breaths. "We were ambushed!"

"No shit," Felicity replied.

Eloise shook her head. "I don't know how! We were so careful!"

Tristan immediately felt a pit in his stomach. "That contact of yours, they worked for the Citadel?"

"One of them did."

Tristan used another Dragon Leap to push them ever further, but he felt his crucible almost out of essence, and let all except for Wing Glide fade as they continued to sail across the skies, their pursuers so far off they were less than specks on the horizon. "I would bet they were captured, tortured, and said everything they were doing."

"What were they doing?" Felicity asked.

Eloise sounded like she was panicking, hyperventilating, and she spoke rapidly between those fast breaths. "I asked him to look into the Demon King's castle and see about those half-breeds. See if our theory was right. He was supposed to leave reports for me at the tavern."

"And we were ambushed," Felicity said. "They know. They knew where we would be. The question is, what did your friend know about our plans?"

Tristan shook his head. "We need to know more about the friend before we can discuss what they might have shared."

"His name is Ross," Eloise replied. "A Demonkin who I was good friends with. He helped me get to the inter-realm portal and to the Citadel to join it hundreds of years ago. He ran an orphanage in Saumur. We kept in touch, and I looked at the orphans for prospective essence-weavers to bring to the Citadel. He had contacts in high society – Demons who wanted to show they were altruistic and build their reputation would donate to keep the place operational."

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"What did he know about us and our mission?" Tristan asked.

"All he knew is that I, in my capacity as an individual and not working for the Citadel, was here with a mercenary named Marius. We were investigating disappearances of bloodlines. He was going to gather information for me. That's all he knew; your name, my name, the information I wanted him to track down, and the drop location."

"You mentioned one of them not working for the Citadel," Tristan prompted.

"Yeah. Let's land first, and I'll tell you about her."

Tristan rolled his shoulders backward, and increasing their rate of descent, flattening out the trajectory by rolling his shoulders forward. He began pumping his legs into a running motion as he landed, keeping Eloise held up high enough that she would not be knocking against his legs. Slowing to a jog, then finally a walk, he was able to reduce the momentum enough to stop. Gently setting Eloise down, he looked back to the horizon where they had just come from. "They did not follow us," he said. "Or at least, they aren't on the horizon. We should keep walking." He turned to the southwest and began walking, muttering to Felicity. "Use Alter Form, but change my skin tone and horns."

"Got it! A new Demonkin body coming up!" Felicity began muttering, and Tristan felt the familiar tingling along his skin.

Eloise quickly walked up next to him. "Thank you for keeping me alive. Quick thinking, what you did."

Tristan glanced at her. "Now tell me about the other contact."

"A Citadel of Essence professor. She knows nothing about you at all. I only asked her to keep me apprised of the going-ons politically within the Demon Realm. We didn't have a drop spot for intel. The only times I spoke to her were in-person, at the Citadel."

"Then your orphanage friend is the one who was captured," Tristan stated. "But he was only looking into the bloodlines and half-breed issue we uncovered. Felicity? Evil genius time."

She cackled and her tone dropped to that of an otherworldly, evil entity. "This bloodline replacement plot is a closely guarded secret. Any who are not required for the implementation of the plan are to be eliminated. Any who might even have an inkling of what I am doing needs to be eradicated with prejudice. Including anyone they could have informed." Her voice shifted to her regular voice, and expressed concern. "What about the orphanage? Did this Ross guy have any friends there he might have talked to? Guilt by association might mean they are going to be killed, too."

Eloise gasped. "We need to warn them!"

Tristan turned to her and grabbed her shoulder firmly. "That would have been one of the first things they did." His face tightened into a scowl. "They are dead already, or in the process of being tortured for information." I wish we could do something to help, but the best way to deal with the situation is to proceed with our plan. Get the Tousles and Alphinaud Houses on our side, coordinate the uprising, and then make our opening.

Eloise glanced behind them to the capital. "You're right." Then, she whispered. ". . . And I hate that you're right."

Tristan saw a shadow appear far ahead of them, and he immediately spun around, drawing his sword, and scanning the morning skies. Shit. Far up above them, in the skies, a group of six Demons flew – heading toward them. How'd they get there without me noticing? They weren't on the horizon. He spun his crucible, pushed the lingering essence into his amulet holding Pocket Dimension II, and then grabbed the last of the supreme essence elixirs. Slurping each down in turn, he reverse-spun his crucible to suck in the power faster and was filled to the brim. "We have company."

Felicity had already turned around upon seeing his acquisition of the elixirs, and she let out a high-pitched growl. "How'd they get here so fast?"

Eloise began looking around them for some type of cover. "Demons are almost all essence-weavers. Or capable of being one. They have crucibles. Maybe one of them has teleportation?"

Tristan pushed his essence into his armor and the sword, activating Dragon's Doom and Elemental Imbuement – Multi with a focus on fire and lightning. "We're going to be in for a fight," he stated bluntly as he bladed his stance to present the smallest target possible.

The Demons began to swoop down, and Tristan could see the telltale sign of vented essence in the air as small waves of magical energy thrummed from them. Weapons ignited in a blaze of flame, and he quickly recapped what they were capable of. Enchantment which I'm protected against. The same for smoke, fire, and poison elementalism. I have to be wary for hexes, binding, and summoning. "Eloise, get to cover."

"No!" she said with angry defiance. She brandished two daggers that blazed to life with a sickly, yellow, pallid glow. "If the Demon King killed my friend, these fuckers are going to pay!" She began a complicated spell phrase, but oddly enough just kept a ready stance with her weapons.

Tristan ignored her and focused his attention on the rapidly-approaching Demons. They were all outfitted in half-plate with chainmail covering the gaps between the plates. They held war hammers, picks, and maces – perfect for getting through tough armor like Tristan's. And their leathery wings which were unencumbered spanned different hues of green, brown, red, and black. Only six of them. Tristan pushed some of his essence into his bracer, launching a Chain Bolt into the skies from one of the rods embedded in his gauntlets. The bolt of lightning arced up, slammed into the lead Demon, and then spread, leaving behind a yellow, crackling static on each of them.

The blow seemed to do something harmful, as they twitched and their wings seemed to lock in place for a moment, splitting them up ever-so slightly. Tristan immediately followed up with another surge of essence into the stored Bolt spell, hitting the lead Demon and triggering the charge effect on all of them. A brilliant burst of bright yellow connected the whole group of six, and he could hear the shouts of anger and pain.

Keeping ready, he saw two orbs of yellow shoot into the sky next to him. One of them splashed into the lead Demon, who began to scream as his armor melted. The whole group was able to dodge the other orb, and Tristan glanced sideways to see Eloise still standing there, but both daggers were in her left hand, and her right palm was held out. "Acid elementalism," she stated bluntly. "Granted by bloodline. My one blessing in life."

Felicity flapped off of Tristan's head and flew to the left at a slightly upward angle, "I'll drop some lava on them when they land!"

Tristan considered firing off more spells. Ice elementalism has too short of a range right now. Enchantment is going to be useless – they're around it their whole lives and probably have good resistance. Same with fire and the others. All of a sudden, he felt queasy, and took a staggering step back. The Hells-

His foot slipped on something and he fell to the ground with a clattering thud. Somehow, his sword flew out of his grip and spun off to his left, landing in the soft grass. The squish of a mud pie beneath him let him know exactly what had caused the fall. For a moment, he was thrown back mentally to his hunt of Felicity years ago. Hexes! He had been cursed with misfortune. Shit!

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