Drifting Through Realities
Chapter 21 - Know when to walk away, know when to run
Okay. So either the Fae still had a link to my very soul, or they were guessing as to where I was. The fact that there was a Black Dog in my bloody bedroom kinda discounted the second option. I didn't know how their magics worked, nor did a lot of other people I ran into. And...well, the Hunt was something I had a little bit of practice with.
Namely, how to run and hide from it. But over the years, as they'd gotten used to my tactics, the Fae had changed theirs up as well. They didn't just use magic anymore, something that they'd learned I could block. They used a plethora of servants and wild beasts to find me, things that I'd had to dispatch. Much like the Black Dog, in fact.
Running from the Wild Hunt was by no means a simple affair anymore. Though one of my friends in one of the worlds I'd been to had actually been fool enough to stand and fight the Wild Hunt. Rather successfully as well, he managed to keep them from getting at me until the dawn broke, at which point they retreated. I miss that guy.
I would need to go over my list of supplies, see what I had, what worked, if I intended to run from my last Wild Hunt. I got the feeling this one...was gonna be big.
Granted. The Fae might be one of my only tickets out of this world, and perhaps I could force another Drift again...
But something told me I wouldn't survive until the time came for me to Drift once more if the Fae took me out of this world. I'd made a fool of them far too many times. They might just kill me. Or no, wait...it was always the horrible torture first, then the killing.
I took my bag and put it on my bed, before reaching in and rummaging around for my supplies.
Hmm. Rod of Discord from that fool who stood and fought the Wild Hunt? I pulled out the pink wand and looked over my shoulder, waving it once and appearing in the middle of my room. Check, and it still worked as it should have. I walked back to the bed and placed my teleportation rod on it, shuddering as I felt the chaotic influence brought on by using it slowly dissipate.
What else?...Oh. There was that collection of wands I managed to pick up back in Raneria. I didn't know how much charge they had, or what they could all even do, but they might prove highly useful in escaping my pursuers. Especially that weird, multi-colored one. That one looked...interesting.
Gem bag? Eh, not really useful in this case. Though...a few Ioun stones might prove useful for defense if nothing else. I pulled it out and rummaged around, before finding the three stones I had and setting them to one side. Defenses, heightened awareness, and regeneration was what these three promised, and I'd take anything I could get.
Scroll case? If I recalled correctly, this thing held every scrap of knowledge about the Fae I'd found, from every world I'd been to, to include the stuff I remembered from my time in their lands. Might be a good idea to brush up on my understanding of their rules.
Couldn't use Tick Tock or the house, this was a chase, not a holdout. I still had more than enough crystals that I could use, though. It'd be easy to just pull one out, charge it, and drop it behind me as I ran, to throw them off my trail. Heck, if I made a big enough circle, they'd have no way to get at me.
The problem was, though...in the last hunt, when I'd pulled out a crystal and used it to defend myself...the power of my old master had just...overwhelmed the jewel. He'd apparently learned how to put up with my shenanigans. So...not even staying in one spot was a real option.
Oh, the potion bag! Hmm. I had a lot of elixirs of strength and speed. And healing. Could not forget the healing. They'd saved my ass on more than one occasion. I also had a thermos full of the Hetrodyne brand of coffee. I was...saving it for a rainy day. The preservation spell in the bag would make sure that nothing happened to make it taste any less than perfect.
What else was in her-Are you kidding me? I still have a phaser? Sheesh! How old is that thing? I, uh...hope that Starfleet guy isn't too upset that I nicked it. I needed a long-range tech weapon that wouldn't easily run out of power, and this seemed to be a good option.
Sewing kit...strands of magic-resistant metal...couple of days supplies of fruits and nuts...Oh. Oh ho ho. Now here's something I could use.
I pulled out the spike of Rowan wood and turned it over, humming to myself. Along the length of the spike, I'd had several magnets, or as they were called in the world I picked them up, lodestone, embedded into the wood. I'd learned a few things as well. Origin was good and all. But this was a weapon designed to hurt Fae. Which was why I'd had a dozen made. I'd nearly forgotten about them. The only thing it wouldn't stand up to was a Fae Lord, like the one that had claimed ownership of me. But for all his minions and everything that would likely be doing the actual 'hunting' of me, I had more than enough hurtsticks for them.
...Assuming they all didn't snap of course. Now, where to start? Hmm. I should probably start by saying I was going to be sick down at the club, then read up on my Latin and rules of the Fae courts. Assuming I survived the hunt, I wanted to be able to say the boon I wanted right.
The only way to properly deal with a Fae is in a dead tongue. That way, the words don't evolve, have extra meanings, and give them a chance to wiggle out of their agreement. The Scholar's tongue is one such tongue, and I was lucky enough to have a passing understanding of it. I would need to brush up on it, but hopefully, I still knew how to request for the Fae to go home and stay there.
This was going to be a long two days of studying.
...I mentally debated getting the locals involved. I wanted help, yes. But...The Wild Hunt had torn apart lives before. Kingdoms had tried to stand up to it, and many men had fallen in the attempt. All because somebody had killed the Black Dog after it had seen me, and nobody put two and two together. Nobody but me. Thousands. There must have been thousands that died trying to keep me safe from the monsters baying for my blood outside the walls. I would not subject anyone here to the same fate. I would be the bait, the lure. They would chase me, and I would keep the rest of this entire bloody world safe by running for my life.
Then maybe I would tell them about the monsters that kept coming for me, world after world, time after time. The ones that would not, could not, for some reason, leave me alone.
I cracked the scroll case open and began to read.