Harper built an enclosure for Briar in her room, or at least, she helped Laytia do so. Laytia was ecstatic when she presented the small thorny reptile. She promised to feed him every morning and night that Harper was unable to. Unfortunately, Briar would be spending most of her working days cooped up. Once he grew older, that would change.

  Another few days passed in typical fashion. Harper was getting a handle on her job. She had taken trips to the majority of the common courier destinations. Normally, a courier would stick to the same routes and rarely deviate. Amelia was one of the more flexible couriers though. She often took runs that the usual courier was unable to do, for whatever reason.

  As a result, Harper knew the colony well by now. It’s towns and cities at least. There were numerous villages, isolated homesteads, and forts that she hadn’t visited. She’d be able to navigate to most with directions or a map of course, but it wasn’t as ideal as having been there already.

  Her situational awareness had made strides as well. As a noble, she’d always had guards when in a dangerous area. This had led to her lacking some necessary observational skills. Amelia didn’t just have her paying more attention to the forest, but the people as well. While it wasn’t likely, it was not impossible that someone unsavory would ambush or steal from her.

  It happened occasionally, though the Governor came down with an iron fist if someone harmed his people or interests. There were a couple reasons someone would want a courier's deliveries. Occasionally, they carried valuables and the greedy or desperate took advantage. Another possibility was rival colonies. Their agents may seek to steal an important correspondence.

  On the sixth day, Harper walked into the courier room, finding not just her mentor waiting for her, but Vermon Woodster, the leader of the couriers, as well. It was not unusual to find others preparing or returning, but Vermon was clearly waiting for her.

  Amelia turned to Vermon. “Here she is. I’ll get going now.” The older woman walked up to Harper, putting her hand on her shoulder. “You’ll be with Vermon today, likely for the rest of the week. This run will be a bit more dangerous than normal. Listen to him well, he has a wealth of experience and will keep you safe. I’ll see you later.”

  With that, Amelia walked out the door, no doubt to make one of her usual deliveries. Harper turned towards Vermon with some trepidation. They had chatted several times now, he was nice enough, and she had no doubt about his competence, if stories from Amelia and some of the other couriers were any indication.

  Still, the change in routine unsettled her. Vermon was known for taking the riskier runs; he had advantages that other didn’t. Chances were, they’d be delivering valuable cargo or going somewhere unsafe.

  “Good morning, sir, I will be accompanying you?” Unlike Amelia, he preferred a more formal address. Harper didn’t mind at all; she was used to such things.

  The senior courier appeared to be in his late thirties, but if the rumors were true, he was a decent bit older, kept in prime condition due to his Domains. Greying brown hair peeked from under his cap. He was small of stature, being of near equal height to her.

  Light but tanned skin spoke of years outside. His uniform was a green and brown outfit very similar to her own, having leggings and a practical buttoned suit rather than a dress. Like her, he wore a rapier at his side, but unlike her, no firearms. Instead, a dirk was holstered on his other side.

  The most striking thing, once one saw them, were his eyes. They were dark purple, dark enough that she had mistaken his pupil as being one black mass before picking out the slight color difference.

  He gave her a polite grin. “Indeed. There is a task for which I need some minor assistance. Missus Cavill was correct, this will be more dangerous than you are used to. Don’t worry though, I've done this many times and been perfectly safe. Also, you will be getting a bonus for this, so you have that to look forward to.”

  This assured her worries a fair bit, and the prospective reward was excellent encouragement. “What exactly will our cargo be? What do you need my help with?” She inquired.

  “You will see once we get there,” he answered with a glint of mischief in his eyes. “As to your second question, I’ve never been to Fort Herald. It will be useful to have someone along that’s already been there. And to take a night watch."

  They gathered the scant few messages that had to make their way to the fort and were on their way. Vermon rode a dark grey horse with black hair and a shaggy coat. Harper had interacted with her before; she was unusually ill-tempered among the horses. That didn’t seem to be the case with Vermon though, with him, she was friendly. Humorously, her name was Sunshine.

  The trip to the fort passed uneventfully. The first night was spent in a town and the second in the wilderness. Harper took the latter watch this time. Fortunately, the weather was fair, and her vigil passed undisturbed. It was even shorter than she had thought it would be before the sky began to brighten. Vermon must have waited until well into the night to have woken her. It made sense, his Domain letting him get away with much less sleep.

  He was not as talkative as Amelia, preferring silence over small talk. He had insights that she did not, though. Whenever he spoke, Harper listened attentively. The older man was very adept at stealth. He showed her where to position herself relative to the sun and surrounding objects to best go unnoticed, how to best place her feet and maneuver the forest floor to maintain silence, and how to move her horse in a similar manner.

  The leader of the couriers relied on stealth more than any other member of the group, apparently often eschewing the use of a horse. It was why he was able to consistently take on the more dangerous tasks and succeed. One of the reasons, anyway.

  On the third day, only a few hours from the fort, they came across one of the warning signs for a single Domain creature. One of the trees in the area ahead looked different from the others. Veins of gold ran through its leaves. Near the base of the trunk, some of the roots had lifted and wove together, forming a small shelter. Telltale signs of a tree bonded to a dryad.

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  Dryads could form symbiotic relationships with trees. Their natural magic allowed them to strengthen a tree, influencing it in subtle ways. The tree provided them with shelter and often food. It also bolstered the dryad’s Nature Domain, making it easier for them to form an Apex Domain. This was fairly unique; most creatures had a tougher time developing one.

  Harper steered her horse to the side, intending to give it a wide berth. She and Amelia had encountered one before and reported to the nearest town to be taken care of. They usually sent a hunting party as soon as possible, lest the creature develop an Apex Domain and make the fight significantly harder. Harper would make sure to let the fort’s Magnates know about it.

  “Wait.” Vermon held up a hand. He turned to her. “Stay here. Keep an eye out and yell if you see anything else coming. If I signal you, draw it out of the roots.” Without giving her a chance to respond, he jumped off his horse and ducked into the shadows provided by the nearby trees.

  He intended to kill it now then. Harper dismounted Nimbus and watched the dryad tree warily. Unlike most single Domain ambush predators, like spiders, dryads were considered strong in direct fights. They took the form of a humanoid with bark skin and twisted features. They still bled, albeit slowly enough that it was a strategy rarely used.

  The most common way to kill them was to hack at their tree like flesh until they could no longer move or hit one of their few vital organs. If Harper had to guess, Vermon would do the latter. Unfortunately, their organs were not always in the same spots, a benefit of their plant-like biology.

  Only a short distance away from her the shadows wrapped around Vermon, concealing him from her view. Harper waited in silence for several minutes, waiting for him to make his move. He was likely scouting around the tree, making sure that the creature wasn’t nearby.

  Eventually he unveiled himself, suddenly being in front of the tree itself. He held up a finger towards her, then turned and silently scampered up the tree. Get its attention in one minute then, she thought nervously. That minute passed all too quickly.

  Harper readied one of the rocks she prepared. Here we go. She threw several rocks at the dryad's shelter, very quickly she heard loud shuffling from within. The Nature creature crawled out of the single entrance, standing up and analyzing her menacingly.

  It had solid black eyes and a long face. A branch protruded above its head like a horn. Thorns covered both its arms, as well as its legs. A few leaves with golden veins adorned its body, most on the horn-like branch.

  Harper watched in tense anticipation, hand on the hilt of her sword. She doubted she could beat this enemy on her own. The dryad took a step towards her and her stomach lurched. Just then, Vermon jumped from the tree, weapons first. Both weapons hit their mark, the rapier in the torso, and the dirk in the head. He bowled over the creature, knocking it down.

  He easily jumped back as the dryad reacted and took a swing at him. Apparently, no vital organs were hit. Both weapons were still stuck within its body. The tree-like creature continued to attack, Vermon avoiding every strike with ease. Eventually, he found what he was looking for. The shadows around them coalesced and sharpened to a point. It surged into the creature's navel as it was stumbling from a missed attack.

  The dryad struggled in place, trying to wrench itself free. The area around the shadow started to frost, keeping it in place and damaging its insides. Soon, the dryad stopped struggling, slumping to the ground. He’s got an integrated Auroral Domain as well as an Apex Umbral Domain. Judging by his speed, he was a Magnate. Likely a Squire as well. She supposed it made sense. The Governor wouldn’t hire just anybody to be the head of his couriers.

  Vermon dug the creature's core out; it was right below where he had punctured the dryad. The core went into his bag. He opened his aetherspace and shoved the corpse in, apparently having ample space to do so. He whistled and his horse obeyed, coming to his side. He looked toward Harper and gestured forward, continuing down the trail without a word.

  Harper complied, jumping astride her horse and speeding up enough to catch up to him. It was just another day and an easy fight to him. That’s how I want to be, she thought. She caught up and they continued their ride. Several hours later, they arrived at the fort.

  Harper’s gaze wandered to the river and her eyes widened. A large, scaled corpse sat between the bank and Fort Herald. They had killed the Tyragator. The front of the carcass was hanging down, into a pit. Harper couldn’t see from her current position, but she bet that the pit was filled with spikes. A trap had been set for the returning enemy.

  Then she realized what they were there for. “We’re going to carry its core back, right?”

  Vermon replied, not looking over. “Yes, it's too likely that an opportunistic creature would sense the core and ambush the carriers. They send me when something like this happens.” He patted his courier bag. “My bag and my Domain will keep its presence hidden from all but the most perceptive creatures, none of which have been spotted in this area in years.”

  They reached the fort and greeted its inhabitants. Vermon collected not only the core, but some of the more valuable components, all of which went into his aetherspace. Unfortunately, cores could not be stored in aetherspaces, only absorbed or consumed. So, it went into the bag.

  The next morning, they began their ride back. Harper had some time for questions before they started to ride fast enough to make conversation difficult. “Sir, do you know if the Governor is going to give this to one of his people? Or does he plan on trading it for a different Potentate core?”

  Vermon answered after a few seconds of silence. “Neither. The core is going to be shipped to Magnon, when the next ship capable of hiding it leaves. He’ll receive a tax break in return.”

  Harper furrowed her brow. “Why? There are plenty of people who need it here.” She gestured towards the fort as evidence. “It seems to me that the area could use more Potentates. It's much more dangerous here than in Quilen.”

  “Can’t, the law forbids it. The Core Act from a few decades ago declares that only Governors and their heir are allowed to absorb three Domain cores. Every such core acquired must be sent back to Quilen, along with ample taxes. How else will they fund their wars?”

  He said that last bit with a hint of sarcasm. A frown marred her face. That seemed rather shortsighted by the king. She knew that it was illegal to claim a Potentate core without permission, but she thought that the Governors would be allowed to give such permission, not be banned from doing so.

  The northern coalition’s colonies and the efferans were both potential sources of conflict. Potentates, while not one person armies, served as a banner for others to rally around. Casualties would be much higher if the other side had more Potentates. Magnate Aliuses just couldn’t stand up to the likes of dragons, tyrannuses, ursas, and other powerful creatures.

  On the other hand, who was she to question the king. He probably had a good reason to divert a resource as valuable as three Domain cores to Quilen. If they succeeded in the takeover of northern Magnon, the whole nation would prosper, the colonies included. Besides, if a conflict arises, I’m sure the kingdom will send aid.