Taris pulled his eyes away from Aera’s to look at Envy, “It should be. I made sure to leave enough of myself behind to keep them busy for days. Weeks if they’re incompetent. But just in case, I have a few more special surprises in here.” He set Aera partially on a couch and held up a leather bag, its contents clanking together dully. “We’ll be ready for them, Envy.”

He slipped the bag into his belt and lifted the pale elf in his arms once more, gesturing to the Kartaian to open the door. As the two walked to the waiting carriage Taris gave a grim chuckle, “To be honest, Envy, it will be strange to play the mage again. I’ve only used my Shadowmancer skills for nearly 20 years, and then mostly just to augment my physical abilities. It will be fun to practice my other magic again.”

With help from the two humans they got their precious bundle inside the enclosed cabin, Envy next, and finally the assassin. Russel hopped into the driver’s seat and grabbed the reins while Hadhen took the watchman’s seat up top. Taris nodded to Envy, who knocked on the wall of the carriage, calling, “Let’s go Russel, full speed back home.”
The thief rocked slightly as the coach lurched forward and looked back at the other elf, “This is going to be a very stressful ride, whether we run into trouble or not, Assassin.”

The Shadow Elf only nodded, “You aren’t wrong, Thief.” He grabbed a pair of blue diamonds from the pouch on his belt, rubbed his thumb once over each and released them to float above his head. Taris’ ears twitched and eyes closed as the gems began to glow softly, tendrils of icy fog undulating from them. A film of frost lined the corners of the windows, without chilling the rest of the cabin.

Envy eyed the frost, “Assassin?”

“Defensive wards,” Taris replied without opening his eyes, “They’re safe to us and your boyos out there, but should be enough to give anyone else a [i]really[/i] bad day.”