Across the Threshold

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The six adventures rode through the gates of Dreadfort. Shade looked around in awe. He saw mechanical iron beings, building what looked to be a large flying ship. Dreadfort itself towered over the surrounding village, casting a menacing shadow.

As they rode past a medical wing, Stella squealed and charged inside. She ran to an injured woman with blue hair in a medical scrub and embraced her.

"Azura!" Stella exclaimed. "It's so good to see you again!"

"Stella?" asked the woman, Azura, asked. "When did you get back?"

As the two women began chatting, Rain shook his head, smiling.

"Come on," he told the rest of them, "those two will talk all day."

They continued twords the main complex, leaving Stella and Azura to their conversation.

As they arived, Shade noticed a man wearing high-tech armor. This confused Shade, as from what he had seen, this world was miles behind the technology from Earth. But this armor looked more advanced than even the most sophisticated pieces of tech back home.

"Who is that?" Shade asked.

"That is Ser Patrick," Rain replied, "Grandmaster of the Frostbourn."

Rain steped forward to greet Patrick, but before he could even speak, Patrick slapped him across the face.

Shade and the others instinctively drew their weapons, half expecting an attack. However, Patrick helped Rain back up, saying, "It's about time you returned. We need to talk."

~ ~ ~

"First off, I need some explanations," Patrick began. They were in Patrick's office in Dreadfort, and Patrick was pacing back and forth.

"I need to know what took you so long to return, why Stella is now an Netherkin, where you picked up three strangers, and why Ceris is with you when we had clear reports that she was captured."

"Those answers are mostly quite simple." Rain replied. "We took so long because Stella was turned into a Netherkin by a Nether Assassin, causing us to have to rest for a while. We met Kane and Ciara after Stella was transformed, as they wanted to kill her. Shade, well we don't really know how he got here, other than a vague knowledge that had to do with the End Crystals. And Ceris, well Shade rescued her from her execution in the End."

Patrick looked bewildered. Rain sighed.

"Should I go through the trip in detail?" he asked. Patrick nodded, gesturing for him to proceed.

Over the next hour, the six adventures took turns telling Patrick about their journey. Patrick listened attentively, asking questions all the while.

"So," he began, "Ceris made you an Ender Watcher, Stella was turned into a Netherkin by Djinn, Kane and Ciara are undead Netherbanes who want to help us, Shade is a traveler from another world who absorbed one of the most powerful artifacts in this world, and Ceris was rescued from Naeus by Shade."

"That about sums it up," Rain replied. Patrick rubbed his forehead, deep in though.

"So," he asked, "what now?"

"We must locate the rest of the End Crystals," Ceris told him.

"Can't you just tell us where that are?' asked Rain. "You did hide them after all."

Ceris shook her head. "No, I can't. You see, I didn't actively hide the Crystals. I just sent them away, instinctively hiding them. That way, Naeus couldn't force the information out of me."

"Well, do you have any clues for us?" asked Stella.

"Only that they are not in the End," Ceris replied.

"Couldn't I sense them?' asked Shade. "Seeing as I have a Crystal inside me."

"You could," Ceris replied, "with training. You'd have to learn how to harness the End Crystal at will, and then use that as a beacon for the other Crystals." She sighed, "Unfortunately, there is no one left who knows that skill to teach you. You'd have to learn on your own."

"And that's where your wrong, my queen," a voice said from behind them. A black and purple frog teleported into the table in front of them.

"I can teach him," the frog said, glaring at Ceris. "That is, if you convince me to."