Pursuers

While Michael and his group were trying to leave the continent, two other people had just entered it. The first was Matilda, or Fouquet of the Crumbling Dirt. Who was returning to provide supplies to her charge, Tiffania Tudor.

It was a duty that'd been handed down to her by her father even before they'd lost their nobility. And as much as it annoyed her to do, she was never one to break a promise. Now that the Reconquista had been defeated, gaining access to Albion was easy enough, though, the tax at the ports had been increased to help the country rebuild. Not that such a thing bothered her, after all, she was quite wealthy from all her ventures in thievery.

Unfortunately, her plans screeched to a halt as soon as she arrived in West Wood, finding that a good portion of the village had left for greener pastures, while those that remain looked weak, malnourished and with hatred in their eyes.

Ignoring them for now, she hefts the big back of supplies she'd brought and walks straight into the forest, heading for Tiffania's cabin... And stopping when she discovers the burned wreckage of it.

...

"What is this..." she mutters, unsure how to react to this. She circles around the area, finding all of Tiffania's favourite plants either trampled and dead, or burned from the fire. There were many items of clothing inside, along with all the furniture, books, and other valuables Tiffania liked... Fortunately, she hadn't yet discovered a corpse, meaning that Tiffania had been taken somewhere for some reason. This still worried her however, Elves weren't regarded well, especially with the Reconquista's demonization of them and their propaganda trying to recruit people to take back the 'holy land'.

She ventures back into the village and speaks to some villages, and quickly discovers that they weren't who she thought they were. Usually these people were kind, accepting... But as they are now? Hateful, and derisive when speaking about Tiffania, or 'Elf-Whore', 'Demon-Bitch', and other insults they threw out at a whim.

"She was burned at the stake in Cendri, but returned to her cabin looking completely healthy?" Matilda asks, sceptical.

The villager nods, "Yeah, some fuckin' noble magic that. Plus that False-Familiwhatever she was runnin' around wit'. Guy killed many of us with 'er help, killed my brother they did." the man says, a furious scowl appearing on his face as he speaks.

Matilda frowns, "False-Familiar?" she questions, feeling as if she'd heard that before.

The man nods, gesturing over at the village elder's house where a poster had been nailed into the wall. A bounty poster, displaying Michael, someone who Matilda had abanded to die in the Academy months ago. Not only that, there was a picture of Tiffania and another man named Ralf next to it.

She rubs her face, feeling as if karma had come back to bite her, "Why me..." she mutters, knowing that she'd have to follow to make sure Tiffania was safe... Her families vows weren't for nothing, enhanced by magic and empowering her own abilities as long as she took care of Tiffania. If she neglected her charge, she would suffer for it.

She lets out a sigh and tosses a silver to the villager before taking the posters and leaving towards Londinium. Hopefully the bounty office would have some information on where they'd gone.

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The other person who'd arrived is none other than Tabitha, atop her dragon familiar Sylphid. Her mission, to kill the False-Familiar, given to her directly from her Uncle, the King of Gallia.

Getting to Albion wasn't all that difficult, Sylphid was strong enough to fly to the continent with some effort, but issues began popping up when she arrived.

She flies down to the middle of a street in a relatively large city, hopping off and looking around for any news of the False-Familiar... The only problem was the fact that she herself seemed to draw the local's ire.

A large group of men wielding swords, bows, and wearing the best armour they could scavenge walks toward Tabitha, the leading man with a cocky grin on his face, "Oi! I don't remember seein' you here before, girl!"

"She must be one of them dragon knights, boss." another says from the side, but the 'boss' shakes his head.

"Naw, our dragons are red, not this weird blue thing... And look at her hair, never seen anyone with her like that before." the man says while pointing at Tabitha's blue locks.

The girl herself just stays silent and waits for whatever they wanted to do. After all, this wouldn't be the first time she'd been attacked in a foreign country. Her size and appearance made her look like an easy target, though, she thought it would be different now that she had Sylphid with her.

"Girl, you're comin' with us. We ain't gonna allow some foreigner to walk around like they own the place." the man says, staying a good distance from Sylphid while walking towards Tabitha, attempting to grab her arm.

Only for Tabitha to wack him in the face with her staff, breaking his nose and sending him stumbling backwards. "Do not touch." she simply says, the head of her staff glowing slightly to show that she meant business.

"Y-you fuckin' bitch! You broke my nose!"

"Boss, are you alright!?"

"Of course not, you fuckin' dolt!" the man growls before turning back to Tabitha, "Fine, be like that! We'll see how the King reacts to foreigners running around his country attacking his men at random!"

Tabitha shrugs at his threat, deciding that she wouldn't find what she's looking for in this town and hopping back onto Sylphid. Hopefully the next town would be friendlier, otherwise finding information on her target would be far more annoying than she anticipated...

She couldn't fail her task, otherwise her mother's life would be in peril... Her uncle wouldn't care what obstacles got in the way, only that she failed his task.