Frozen Odyssey

Chapter IX

Patchwork and Wardens

Cerulean hit the ground hard and tumbled down an unfamiliar hillside lined with trees. He dug his hand into the earth to help slow his tumble, but it did little good against the loose forest soil. He came to a halt as the ground leveled out. He rolled onto his back and groaned in pain as he felt all the injuries he didn’t know he’d gotten burn and scream at him. He laid there for minutes on end and was about to nod off when he felt something wet drag across his face. He looked to his left to see Lapis looking at him with her head cocked to the side, wondering if he would wake up. He smiled as he saw the dragon’s face.

“Good girl,” He said as he scratched the middle of her head.

I know. She said as he slowly sat up. He took off his coat and tore it into strips of cloth before tying them around his armpit to cover the wound in his shoulder, he also froze it to stop the bleeding. He pulled his bow from his back and disassembled it back into his two axes and hung them at his sides.

“Let’s see if the others are around here.” Lapis nodded and trotted ahead through the thick green brush of the unfamiliar forest. Cerulean broke off a large branch and used it as a makeshift walking stick. He heard a familiar screech and hurried as quickly as he could towards Lapis. He soon came across the dragon and Amber who had bruises on almost every part of her stomach and chest. The fox girl was unconscious as Lapis nudged her head with her nose.

Cerulean checked her pules and was relieved to find that she was alive. He groaned as he bent down and threw her over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes. After walking through the brush for what felt like over an hour, making sure not to drop the girl on her head, he came across a small clearing in the trees and saw Gale facedown on the ground, her hand still gripping her sheathed sword. Cerulean set Amber down gently on the soft earth and did the same with the draconian before setting her damaged leg and arm in ice to keep it still.

Lapis came through the bushes with a familiar hair clip between her teeth. Cerulean followed the dragon and found Nix sprawled out on the ground, her face covered in bruises from the beating she had received from their attacker. He brought her back to camp and laid her beside Amber. It wasn’t long until Lapis came back with the fire sorceress’s location. Thankfully she had landed close to camp and on some soft moss. The area around her looked like someone had lit a roaring fire. Scorched earth and vegetation was all around her.

Cerulean carefully inspected her unconscious body and found that her skin was hot to the touch. He wrapped his hands in ice as he gently moved her body. Apart from some bruises from when she landed, she was fine, but refused to wake up. Once he got back to camp, he leaned against a tree and looked up at the green canopy of trees that shaded them from the sun. Eager to keep his mind off of what happened, Cerulean started gathering twigs and sticks for a fire. After it was lit, he started counting all the wounds he’d collected in the past few hours.

He guessed he had at least three broken ribs and several bruises across his back from when Talis had kicked him through the wagon and a deep cut in his shoulder he’d gotten from the bayonet that had stuck him. Gale’s right arm and left leg were broken, or at the very least fractured. Amber and Nix both probably had concussions and several bruises across their bodies. Sunset’s condition remained a mystery to the man. Physically she was fine, but he couldn’t find the source of her fever or understand why she wouldn’t awaken.

He threw away the notion of getting any sleep and instead found a suitable source of drinking water from a nearby stream. He tore up more of his and the girls’ clothing and used them for some makeshift bandages and rags. Cerulean also found some useful herbs he could use to dull his and the other’s pain when they woke up along with some other medicinal plants. He reached into his boot and pulled out a something wrapped in a bit of cloth. It was one of Arbor’s griffonian steel knives.

He set it near the flames and waited for it to glow orange hot. Cerulean took the burning piece of metal in ice wrapped hands and pulled back the cloth that covered the wound that was sealed by dry blood and ice. With a deep breath, he pressed the hot metal flat against his stab wound that seared shut. He cursed loudly as he tossed the blade into the dirt that sparked as the hot orange metal hit the earth. Normally he would have used him magic to seal the wound, but he didn’t have much of that left. After the pain had lessened, he got back to work.

Cerulean set up several sharpened sticks and a few traps around the campsite to ward away any animals that might come snooping along with a leaning shelter he made over the four unconscious girls out of some branches, leaves and twigs. He and Lapis stood guard over the four women for two days and two nights. It was late into the third night when Gale finally woke up. As soon as her eyes opened she was met with pain and the cold touch around her arm and leg that were encased in ice. “Easy,” Cerulean said as he crouched next to her. He put a hand on her back and helped her sit up straight. “you’ve been out of it for quite a while.”

“What happened, where are we?” She asked as she looked around and her eyes rested on the other three girls. “Are they?” She couldn’t form the last word.

“They’re alive. Just unconscious and have been that way for two days now,” He said as he reached into his pocket and pulled out a few roots. “Here, chew on this, it’ll help numb the pain a bit.” She took the root and chewed it slowly, shivering at the foul taste.

“I don’t know where we are.” He hadn’t strayed too far from the camp in case he needed to hurry back. “What’s the last thing you remember?” Gale rubbed her head and thought for a moment.

“I just called down the lightning on that,” She paused. “thing.” Cerulean sighed and told her what happened after they had seemingly defeated the assailant. Arbor’s death, the dragon egg inside the box and how Sunset had miraculously saved them. Gale slammed her good arm into the earth and cursed.

The bushes shook and Cerulean was on his feet in a second with both of his axes in hand ready for a fight. He set his weapons down when he saw it was Lapis dragging two frozen rabbits in her mouth. “Nice catch.” Cerulean said s he took the rabbits and started to gut and skin them. He used Arbor’s dagger to gut the small rodents.

He ran a stick through them from end to end and set them over the fire to cook. Cerulean tossed Gale his canteen and she drank from it slowly. The cool water was a relief to her two day dry throat. The smell of the burning rabbits washed over the camp and it’s occupants. Amber’s eyes slowly opened and she let out a loud groan as her body let her feel every bruise and damaged piece of flesh.

“Welcome back from the brink.” Cerulean said as Amber slowly sat up. The fire light caught her face and Cerulean winced as he saw several black and blue marks across her stomach, chest and face.

“My everything hurts.” She said as she looked down at her pants that had been cut to just above her knees and her shirt covered no more skin than below her chest. Her brown vest was also gone as well, yet her hat remained somewhat intact. “What happened to my clothes?”

“I had to cut them up for our bandages.” He gestured to her arms and the other injuries the group shared. His clothes were in tatters as well, he had several days worth of stains and it was in torn in ways that would make Rarity’s face go pale and faint. Amber slowly moved closer to the fire and warmed her hands. “At least you’re awake now.”

Amber joined them in eating the rabbits as Cerulean explained what happened after she was knocked out. Her fox ears went flat against her head and she stared at the ground between her feet. Cerulean gazed wearily at the fire and he was starting to nod off. He’d been up for close to three days with almost no sleep. Gale noticed this as she ate and assured him he could rest while she took the watch. He didn’t argue. He laid his head down in a soft patch of earth and let sleep take him.

Cerulean could smell the fires, hear the screams of his friends and the only family he had ever known. He remembered the stinging cold of the snow against his face. He knelt down in the snow unable look away from the horrible scene. People being slaughtered and burned. More than anything he recalled the flames that lit his family’s tent and carts. Those purple flames that would never go out until nothing but ash remained. He could feel the heat on his skin and the flames lick at his face He looked down and he screamed as he burned.

His eyes shot open as he felt an incredible heat radiating on his back. He looked to his left and saw a massive torrent of fire covering Sunset’s body. Lapis was already breathing frost on her in an attempt to quell the flames. Amber was on the ground doubled over, whimpering softly. Thankfully Nix and Gale were out of danger from the blaze, but the draconian was just staring at the flames. Cerulean bolted to his feet and approached the inferno as frost came from his hands. The flames died back quickly and Sunset seemed unhurt. When the last of the surrounding flames were extinguished, he turned his attention to Amber who was now cursing and weeping.

“Let me see.” He said in a gentle tone as he knelt in front of her. She nodded and slowly spread out her hands for him and in the faint glow of the fire, Cerulean assessed the damage. Amber must have tried to smother the flames with her hands while they were still small and she now had second degree burns on her palms and fingers.

“How bad is it?” Gale asked as she limped over to the two.

“Not as bad as it could have been, but definitely not good.” He said as he looked at the girl’s raw hands. “What happened?”

“We don’t know.” Gale said. “One second, everything was fine and then the next it was a raging inferno.” She cast a look at the unconscious sorceress. “She used magic in her sleep.”

“This day just keeps getting better and better.” He said as Lapis walked over to them and she looked at amber’s hands.

Could one of us freeze them to help the pain? Lapis suggested.

“No, I can’t use my ice magic on them.” Cerulean stated.

“Why not?” Amber asked with tears in her eyes.

“Any kind of rapid change temperature to a body part could permanently damage your nerve endings or worse, we’d be forced to amputate it.” He said as he let go of her wrists.

“You’ve done this before?” Gale raised an eyebrow.

“Sort of, I knew someone who’s foot was frost bitten, so the idiot stuck it in the fire to try to get it warm. Not only did it burn him, several of his toes snapped off like dry twigs.” Amber gulped and her heart started pounding. Cerulean sighed and looked at her hands. “However, if we don’t do something then they could become infected and then we’ll have a whole slew of problems.”

“So what do we do?” Cerulean thought for a minute before he stood up with his canteen and went to the nearby stream and collected some water. Once he was by the fire again, he unscrewed the cap and moved his hand in long sweeping motions over the mouth piece. Slowly, water rose out of the canteen and he moved it close to the fire. Gale watched as some of the liquid slowly started to bubble.

Before it came to a boil, Cerulean pulled it away from the flames and the water slipped on his hands like a pair of gloves. The water was warm like a bath you’d soak in. He knelt down in front of Amber again and looked her in the eyes. “This is going to hurt,” He stated calmly. “but I need you to keep still while I try to slowly cool your hands down. Understand?” Amber gulped and looked down at her raw palms, she was next to useless without her hands. She looked back at Cerulean and nodded.

Cerulean slowly put his water covered hands on hers and Amber winced as she felt the lukewarm liquid on her burned skin. She clenched her teeth and whimpered as her tail thrashed around at the pain. The water slowly started to get cooler as the minutes went by. Cerulean pulled his hands back and panted heavily. Amber slowly flexed her fingers and winced. There was still a lot of pain in her hands, but definitely less than there was. “That’s the best I can do for now.” He panted. “Keep them covered with cloth, but let air get in every once in a while.

Amber nodded before wrapping her arms around him as best she could without touching her hands to his dirty clothes. “Thank you.” She said before giving him a small peck on the cheek as a token of her gratitude. Cerulean returned the hug before he sat back and panted.

“If Sunset goes all inferno again, wake me up.” He said before his eyes rolled back and he fell back onto the earth. Amber quickly got beside him, but relaxed as she saw his chest fall and rise. Gale just stared at Cerulean. He’d been up for three days straight, made a fire, a small shelter for them while they were unconscious and he’d just healed a serious burn. He certainly earned his rest.

The next morning, Cerulean awoke to a somewhat pleasant surprise. Nix had awoken and Gale was catching her up on what happened after she was knocked unconscious. The alchemist bit her lip and huffed. “Well, that was a waste.” She turned as she saw Cerulean get up and make his way over to them.

“How’s the head?” He asked as he stood up and looked at the bandage.

“Ringing like a church bell, but otherwise still working.” She said as she rubbed her temples.

“Good, you can never tell with head wounds.” After a small breakfast of cooked squirrels, courtesy of Lapis, Cerulean started to draw a few symbols in the dirt. He pointed to the X he made. “We’re here and there’s a fresh water brook here.” He pointed to a few squiggly lines. “I haven’t done too much scouting, but now that most of us are awake we can start covering some ground.”

“Which way?” Amber asked as she looked around.

“If we follow the stream, we could find a river and that usually means people.”

“We don’t know how long that will take, or if they will be willing to help.” Nix pointed out. “We could run into those,” She pause as she looked for the correct word. “things again.” They all had barely escaped with their lives and they were in no condition to fight.

“Besides, what do we do with her?” Gale pointed over to the still unconscious fire mage.

“Does your alchemy work on wood?” Nix nodded, but held up a hand.

“I know what you’re thinking and it won’t work,” She sighed. “Alchemy requires precise calculations and a steady mind. If I try to use it in my condition, it could backfire and my hands will end up like her’s, maybe worse.” She gestured to Amber’s bandaged hands.

“Okay, so we do it the old fashioned way.” Cerulean put a hand to his chin as he thought. “We’ll need two strong sticks about six feet long, maybe about eight or ten shorter sticks and something to lash them together.”

“Where are we going to get rope?” Amber asked.

“These trees have vines in them.” Gale said pointing up to the canopy of trees. “I could get those.” She said putting a hand on her blade. Gale flew up to the trees and cut down several vines while Cerulean went out and chopped some green branches and trimmed the nubs with his axe. Nix got to work on lashing the whole assembly together, she was surprisingly very good at knots.

Without her hands, Amber was forced to watch over the camp and Sunset while the other three toiled away. The stretcher came together within an hour and they even had enough left over to make Gale a proper splint for her arm and leg along with a crutch. Since Amber and Gale were hobbled, the task of carrying Sunset fell to Cerulean and Nix while Lapis scouted ahead. They trudged through the underbrush as the sun rose high overhead. The air grew humid under the damp canopy and Cerulean’s shoulder stung as his sweat dripped onto the cauterized skin.

“So where did you learn all your little tricks?” Nix asked as she looked back at Cerulean.

“I have been wondering that myself.” Gale said in her accented voice. She when her good arm started to ache from the crutch she had taken to leaning on Amber for support.

“I learned a lot of things from my vagabond troupe.” He answered in a pointed tone as he glared at Nix. “We had close to two hundred people, actors, singers, craftsmen. Even merchants would travel with us for protection.”

“Protection? Do they all know how to fight?” Amber asked. Cerulean shook his head.

“No, the road can be a dangerous place when you’re alone, so it’s safer to travel in large groups.” He paused. “Even some mercenaries traveled with us. They’d get a roof over their heads after a job and they’d help deter any bandits that were stupid enough to try to attack us.” A small smile cracked across his face. “We traveled a lot and performed in the towns that let us.”

“Where is your troupe now?” His expression turned stern and he brushed the question off as he looked up at the afternoon sky.

“We should make camp, it’ll be dark soon.” He said as Lapis came bounding through the bushes.

There’s a road up ahead! Cerulean nodded as he relayed the message and the group quickly made their way through the trees. A clearing came into view and Cerulean had never been so happy to see a dirt road in his life. The group stopped in their tracks as they came across an all too familiar bit of road that still had the shattered cart and two dead horses who’s corpses had started to rot. The surrounding area was charred black by Sunset’s flames and several of the trees were singed.

“Let’s look around a bit and salvage what we can, then make camp.” Nix said as she and Cerulean set the stretcher down.

“Are you crazy?” Amber said in a panicked tone. “Those things could still be out there.”

“If they were looking for us they would have found us.” Gale piped up. “Our camp was not six miles from the road and our fire would have drawn them in.” Nix, Cerulean and Amber started looking through what was left of the ruined cart. Much of the food was destroyed but there were still goods to be used.

Some iron pots and pans made it through along with a good bit of gold from the haul that hadn’t been turned to ash by Sunset’s magic outburst. They moved the broken end of one cart on it’s side so it was against the wind to use as a shelter. They filled the pot over the fire with some vegetables and some of the rabbit meat Cerulean had frozen back at camp.

As she continued to search, Nix came across her batons, Summer’s staff and Amber’s damaged gauntlets. They all had been burned by Sunset’s fire before she had teleported them away from the trio of monsters. Gale lamented at the loss and tossed them aside while Nix kept her batons. They had also found some fresh cloth and re-bandaged their wounds with a few ointments that were in the cart. Amber’s hands were still throbbing in pain, but the ointment and fresh bandages were an improvement.

After some fresh bandages and ointments being applied by all, Cerulean grabbed two pieces of wood and made a cross before he scratched Arbor's name on the wood. He stuck it in the ground where the former thief had died.

“Does anyone want to say anything?” He asked as the three girls all looked at one another and shifted uncomfortably.

“He was a guy trying to live his life as best he could.” Amber stated. “We can’t blame him for that.”

“He had good taste in materials.” Nix said as absentmindedly felt a few gold coins in her pocket. Gale then said something in draconian that made the other three look at her oddly.

“I think in your tongue it means may his soul find peace.” She shrugged. Cerulean sighed and looked at the marker.

“He may have not been an honest man, but he tried to save us and I won’t forget that.” Cerulean and the three sat back down near the fire as the pot of stew finished cooking. A few hours passed and the sky turned from a light orange to black.

“Hello?” Cerulean whirled around at the voice with his axe in one hand as Gale pulled her blade out. His teal eyes fell upon a man in his forties. His black silver streaked hair was long and unkempt. His cloak had several patches sewn into the fabric. What was most notable was his large pack, it looked like it had been with him since the day he was born.

The older man let out a yelp as he saw the axes gripped in Cerulean’s hands. “I saw your fire and I was wondering if you’d let an old man share it.” Cerulean’s eyes took in his form and he relaxed. It was a traveling merchant, a peddler. Nix spat into the flames.

“Take a hike.” Cerulean glared at Nix and made the motion for her to shut up. Cerulean held out a hand and helped the older man to his feet. If it was one thing Cerulean knew it was to always be polite to a peddler. You never know if they might have something useful. “We don’t have anything to spare.” Nix stated.

“Can it. I made the fire, so by right it’s mine. I will allow him to share it just as I am allowing you to.” Nix huffed and crossed her arms as Cerulean turned back to the merchant. “I’m sorry for that,” He said as the man stood up. “my friends and I have had a rough couple of days and are on edge to say the least.” In the light of the fire the peddler got a better look at the group and the state of their injuries.

“It seems that way.” He gulped as he sat beside the blue haired man and set his packs down. “Bast, peddler for the equestrian merchant guild,” He said as he shook Cerulean’s hand. Cerulean introduced himself and the other girls, barring Nix and the unconscious Sunset, did the same. “If you folks need anything, I’m always willing to trade.” Nix then straightened her back.

“Let me see your proof of trade.” She said holding her hand over the flames. Cerulean was about to protest, but Bast removed a pendant made of iron from around his neck. The iron had the etching of a horse on it. He tossed it over the flames and Nix caught it in her hand.

She stared at the pendant closely and rubbed on it with her fingers. Cerulean saw he hands tense and she nodded. “It’s legit.” She tossed it back to the man.

“What is that?” Amber asked as she sipped from her bowl.

“Proof he’s no con man, it’s the merchant guild emblem.” Nix took a sip from her stew. “You’ll meet a lot of traders, or peddlers trying to sell you junk to make a quick coin, but the Equestrian Merchant guild peddlers are legitimate businessmen and they’re marked by that medallion.” She pointed to the iron disk that once again hung around Bast’s neck.

“So it’s like out guild marks?” Nix nodded at Amber.

“It’s better to be cautious.” He said as the group heard a groan coming from the fire sorceress. Nix leaned over and saw her eyes opening up.

“Ugh my head is killing me.” She groaned as she sat up.

“Well, look who’s up.” Amber mumbled into her bowl. Sunset shook her head and looked around in a confused panic.

“Where are we, what happened, where are those things?” Her chest started heaving.

“Take it easy Sunset,” Cerulean said as he cautiously approached the mage. “you’ve been out for a few days.” The last thing he wanted to do was startle the mage especially with that fire of hers. He noticed that Nix and Amber were slowly inching themselves away from her. Her eyes then fixed on the stranger. “This is Bast, a peddler.” The man tipped an imaginary hat to her.

“Miss.” He said with a smile as Cerulean poured her a bowl of stew.

“Eat this and we’ll talk. Calmly.”

“We don’t need you burning down the camp, again.” Gale kicked Amber with her good leg and gave her a pointed look. Amber rubbed the sore spot and returned the glare. Sunset’s head dropped and ate the stew mechanically as she saw Amber’s bandaged hands.

“I’m sorry.” She said as she began to shake. Amber just stared into the fire actively ignoring the apology. Cerulean rubbed his eyes and went back to his seat beside Bast.

“You kids have been through a lot.” Bast said. “I’m not gonna ask, ain’t my business, but if you need anything, my store is always open to those on the road. Some new clothes perhaps?” He said as he noticed their raggedy clothing.

“We don’t have much.” Cerulean stated in an exasperated tone. He couldn’t blame the man for playing his trade, but he wasn’t in the mood to barter.

“I’m willing to trade.” The group turned out their pockets and rifled through what was left of the cart as Bast rifled through his packs. He produced several different articles of clothing and laid them out. The group of mages produced a small bag of salt, the bloodied scraps of clothing that were next to useless, some silverware, the iron pans they were using and a few other bits and bobbles. Bast rubbed his chin and examined the goods.

“I can give you four shirts for the silverware.” Nix frowned at the offer.

“These are good steel and you expect us to trade them for used shirts that the moths have been at.” Her tone wasn’t malicious, more of a challenge. This was a game to her. Bartering was an essential part of traveling and while Cerulean was good, he didn’t have half the energy or business knowledge Nix had. They bartered back and forth in a friendly argument. She managed to talk him into five shirts and pants, some fresh bandages for the silverware along with a small bag of salt.

The deal was done, and they all had new clothes to wear. They took turns going behind the wagon and changing. Amber smirked as she called out for the archer’s help due to her hands. Cerulean was about to walk over when the other three girls gave him a pointed look. Seeing the implications he sat back down next to Bast with an embarrassed blush on his face. The peddler chuckled to himself as Cerulean blamed the color of his cheeks on the firelight. Sunset was delegated to assist Amber and Gale with their clothing.

Gale’s armor was easy enough to remove once she pointed out where the buckles and straps were. She hobbled back out wearing along sleeved red shirt under her chest plate, bracers and a pair of pants. Cerulean was about to get changed when Bast pulled out a few good cloaks. Cerulean’s eyes widened. A good cloak is possibly the best thing one could have on the road. It would keep you warm if there was a chill and you had no blanket and would keep the elements off your back as you traveled. “What about that cloak?” Cerulean asked as he pointed the darkest one of the five.

“Ah yes, I got this off a lavish merchant in the West.” He opened the cloak and Cerulean saw it had several little pockets on the inside. “A fine make too, feel the fabric.” Cerulean felt the fabric and it was quite good and there were no holes in it. It didn’t even look like it had been worn.

“It is quite good. How much?” Bast threw on his best injured look.

“This is quite expensive.” Cerulean grinned and pulled off one of his boots and pulled out something wrapped in cloth. He rolled open the fabric and Arbor’s dagger shined in the fire light. Bast’s eyes widened as he looked at the small blade. “Is this real griffonian steel?”

Cerulean nodded. Bast picked up the blade in his hands and examined it. “The blade is a little blunt.” He said as he ran his finger along the edge, but pulled his finger back as he reached the tip and a small bead of red appeared on his finger. “Still, it is good steel. Do we have a deal?” He said before he put his finger in his mouth. Cerulean pursed his lips and he thought.

“Might I try it on, just to make sure it fits?” bast nodded and Cerulean unbuttoned the remains of his white shirt. Bast let out a gasp and practically jumped out of a skin as he pulled off the shirt. Cerulean had a good collection of scars along his chest along the cuts and bruises from the last few days. Cerulean looked down and sighed.

“It looks worse than it is.” Bast wasn’t staring at the scars, his eyes were focused a silver medallion hanging around Cerulean’s neck. It looked similar to Bast’s own medallion except it had a wolf’s face etched into the metal.

“What’s that?” Gale asked as her eyes focused on the metal. Bast gently reached out and gripped the metal between two fingers. He let the metal go as he yelped slightly and the metal went back against Cerulean’s skin.

“I didn’t know you lot came this far south.” Bast gulped. He looked at the other girls who all shared the same look of confusion on their faces. “Beg your pardon my ladies, bargaining is my nature and I didn’t know.” His tone was shaky.

“Bast,” Cerulean said putting a hand on his shoulder. “you didn’t know and you didn't do anything wrong.” Bast nodded and ate his soup with shaky hands.

“Okay, what is going on?” Amber said throwing her bandaged hands up. “You take one look at his jewelry and suddenly you’re as nervous as a whore on her first night.” Sunset squinted and her eyes went wide.

“That’s a Warden’s emblem,” She said as her face went ashen. “Where did you get that?”

“I am not familiar with your country’s politics. What is Warden?” Gale asked in her draconian accent as she looked at Gale and Nix who both just shrugged. Cerulean rubbed his head as he thought of a way to explain it. He looked back to Bast.

“Do you have a map I can borrow?” Bast nodded quickly and pulled out a map of the country. The group leaned closer to the fire as Cerulean set his hand on the country. “Equestria’s a big place, but the Princess’ guards can only travel so far at a moment’s notice. To solve this little problem, there are people stationed in the more remote reaches of Equestria to enforce the throne's laws.”

“But what do they do?” Amber asked.

“Wardens have the authority to levy taxes, form an army and almost as much political power as Celestia herself.” Sunset stated. “The only people who can challenge their authority are the other wardens or the Princesses themselves.”

“So they are constables?” Gale asked.

“No,” Cerulean said as he thought how best to explain it. “Celestia and Luna are Captains of the ship, the Wardens are the first mates while the other nobles like Barons and Counts work for the Wardens.” Gale nodded in understanding. Cerulean then gestured to his medallion. “This marks me as one of the warden of the north’s rangers.”

“Rangers?” Nix snorted.

“We go out and provide protection for people who live inside the warden’s jurisdiction from creatures, bad people, anything that ruffles the boss’s feathers.” He said with a shrug.

“So how much territory does your boss own?” Amber asked. He pointed from the edge of the Crystal Empire, dragged his finger north and then made a line with his across until he hit the edge of the continent. Nix whistled at the large expanse of land. Cerulean gave Bast back his map and tried on the cloak. He smiled at the warmth and feel as it hugged his damaged body.

“That’s fine work.” Cerulean said looking at the coat. “We got a deal? If that doesn’t cover the cost, then I have something else to trade,” He said with a wry smile. “something rare.”

“What?” Nix asked.

“A story,” Bast raised an eyebrow.

“I’ve been traveling for a long time, I know most stories from these parts.” He said proudly.

“This isn’t one of your southern stories of princes rescuing damsels in distress from trolls or dragons. It’s a story from the north so you can expect three things; snow, pain and a lesson.” Bast sat back and pondered his words. “And if you don’t like it, I’ll give you the dagger free of charge.” The merchant smirked and held out his hand to seal the deal. Cerulean shook it before he went to go change into his new, clean clothes. Once he sat back down, Lapis sat in his lap and settled down before he began his tale.