Tristan got his breath back and stood up, leaning against the root wall to do so. "That…was…taxing."

Felicity shifted to her Elfanoid form and stood alongside him, patting his back encouragingly. "You can do Fourth Order spells! Which probably means more studying." She let out an exasperated groan as she pulled her hand away and tapped her foot impatiently, "Just spending more time reading and gesturing...so boring."

Tristan straightened up and peered into the next chamber of the Vault he had just unlocked. Shaped like the prior one – a large, shaped root creating a pedestal, another Vault door with other rings across from the pedestal, and a dangling, glowing pod of some type hanging from the ceiling of the chamber.

But unlike the prior chambers, there was no stone box atop the pedestal. Instead, he saw large, cylindrical tube seemingly carved from a single piece of wood. It had letters in Elvish across the length of it, and as he picked it up, he saw that there were rings that could be rotated to form various words. A small, red mark was painted along a side of the object. "What is this?" he asked as he held it up toward Felicity.

She frowned as she peered at it, leaning in close. "No clue. Some type of puzzle?" She snatched it from his hand, only to drop it as she hissed in pain.

He barely caught it before it hit the ground, "What happened?"

"It burned me!" she said as she backed up and hissed at the object.

"Must be like the stone containers," Tristan said as he gestured back to the room behind them, where one such container was toppled from his prior unlocking of the Third Vault. "The Matriarch couldn't touch them without pain." He began spinning the various letters around, "Hmm…a puzzle? Spelling out words, maybe."

Felicity walked over to the five-ring door on the far side of the room, "Looks like there's more layers to this onion we'll need to peel back." She reached out to touch the door with a finger, and pulled it back with a small, "Ouch!" as she shook her hand. Frowning, she returned to Tristan's side.

"Let's take this upstairs. Maybe we can get other eyes on this and get some help." Tristan left the Vault with his prize in tow, Felicity following a few steps behind, and ascended the root trees. He spotted and walked over Thallia, who was just outside the Queen's Wood with some Nymphs at the pool. "Hey. Do you know anyone good at puzzles?"

She frowned, "Not me. I know Unicorns love a good puzzle. Maybe go check with them." She waved her hand dismissively, "I'm busy setting up the diplomatic corps – only interrupt if you have something important."

Tristan ignored her blasé behavior toward him and dismissed it as part of her personality which he understood well enough. Heading behind the Queen's Wood, he went to the start of the Springthaw Meadows; the lush green and purple grasses billowing in the wind as they made a dancing wave. Spinning and reverse-spinning his crucible at the same time, he connected to the Realm's essence. "Prish! I could use some help!"

Not thirty seconds passed before he heard the thundering beat of hooves, and the majestic Unicorn Herd Leader arrived, spreading the grass like a ship's bow slicing through the waves of the sea. He dipped his head once he came to a stop in front of Tristan. "Lord Tristan, how can I serve?" he looked up at the Fey Lord.

Tristan held out the object, "I need help with this. Ever seen something like this?"

Prish stamped his foot against the dirt, "I have!" he said excitedly. "This is something called a cryptex. The inside contains something, and you have to create a specific word or code by lining up letters along this red line." He snorted, and it almost sounded like a chuckle, "An easy puzzle."

"How would you know?" Felicity asked as she walked over to Prish and put a hand on his front-left haunch. "You Unicorns making puzzles?"

"We run, we frolic, and we keep sharp wits," Prish replied with a slight physical nudge to push Felicity gently aside. "Cryptexes are easy to deal with. You can brute force them easily enough just by trying every single permutation of letters." He let out a slight whinny before continuing, "But this has Elvish lettering. Give me a moment…" he tramped over to the edge of the Springthaw Meadows, where the grass gave way to dirt, and began tracing out the whole Elvish alphabet in several columns – the same number of columns as the cryptex.

Once Tristan saw what he was doing, he helped out, and Felicity even got her hands dirty as they finished the laid-out version of the cryptex letter options. Then, Prish walked around to the base of the carved-into-dirt design, and went silent – his eyes narrowing and his ears tucking along his skull.

Felicity tapped Tristan, then leaned up to his ear, whispering; "If a horse is smarter than you, what does that make you?"

"No idea," Tristan muttered back.

"A horse's ass!" she snickered and giggled.

Prish shook his head and glanced to Tristan, "Try Koordinointi." (Coordination).

Tristan switched the letters around to line up with the red line and smiled as the end clicked open with a slight pop and hiss noise as the seal was breached. "Thank you, Prish. You are smart."

"Smarter than Tristan!" Felicity added.

Prish dipped his head, "I am not the smartest puzzle solver amongst the herd. Anything else I can aid you with?"

Tristan shook his head as he took the lid off of the end of the object and retrieved a scroll curled up inside the cryptex, and along with that, he also heard another item rattling at the bottom. Shaking the container, he was able to get a purple pouch out of the end. "Interesting," he said as he held the two items in one hand, and the cryptex in the other.

The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

Felicity was practically buzzing with excitement as she gripped his forearm, "Come on! I want to see the treasure!"

Tristan grinned at her enthusiasm as he felt his own greed from the dragon crucibles he had consumed bubble up in him. Setting the cryptex down on the ground, he opened the silver drawstring on the pouch. Inside, he saw what looked like perfectly round acorns; a shimmering blue and purple intertwined together. "Any idea what these are?"

Felicity shook her head, "Nope! No clue. Mom probably knows."

Tristan sealed the bag and handed it to Felicity before he unfurled the scroll. The Elvish words were second-nature to him as he read it aloud to Felicity:

You have solved the cryptex

and can now read this text.

Child of the dynasty

these seeds will flower to the finest tea.

Drinking this brewed delight

will increase your mind, a rite

long since passed down along

from Winterbloom to those who belong.

Your world will expand

and you will grow to understand

the true nature of frost and ice,

ascending to new heights.

Now for a secret long kept secure

About why the Elves had to endure

In the Mortal Realm, not our own,

Entering the unknown.

The Realm's Essence waned,

and all life was drained

from the entirety of the land.

Due to the population's demand.

Felicity listened intently before nodding finally, "We knew that much about the Fey Realm being drained to the point of dying from the population being too large."

Tristan nodded as he furled the scroll, "But why write this down if the Fairy Dragons knew already?"

"Maybe a precaution?" Felicity offered up as an explanation with a quizzical tone. "The survival of Fairy Dragons was not a given. And maybe they thought that The Matriarch could…I don't know…go insane?" She pointed to the scroll, "It's like the other ones – giving a little bit of information about Winterbloom."

"Right. The first Vault Scroll told me about my ability to naturally command. The second was about annexing Lost Realms through Grafting. The third was about how to open up the way to other Realms with my staff." He tapped the wooden staff looped through a leather ring on the back of his armor. "Which we haven't tried yet."

"Should we?" Felicity asked.

"Not until we have unsealed every part of the Fey Realm, and I've spoken to someone more knowledgeable about realmwalking as a spell type," Tristan replied. "From my last conversation with The Matriarch about the topic…Zeltana may have accidentally caused the doom that required her sacrifice." He frowned, as something the Highlord said popped into his mind. "The Highlord said the first entity in a newly created Realm is the Realm Protector…but Zeltana was the first one made in this Realm." He looked to Felicity with the frown tightening into an unsure expression. "Did Zeltana give that power to The Matriarch freely?"

"Let's ask her," Felicity said as she handed Tristan the items – including the cryptex from the ground – shifted into her fairy dragon form, and flew off to find The Matriarch.

Tristan sighed, "Didn't need to do that," he muttered as he both-direction spun his crucible. Raising his voice, he spoke with the Realm's power flowing through him. "Matriarch, mind meeting me?"

Felicity came flapping back and landed on his head a few moments later, "Found her! She's on her way!" She poked his head, "I found her before your little Realm-merge trick!"

Tristan thought, doubt it, but kept the verbal retort to himself as The Matriarch flew down from the top boughs. He spoke to her as she shifted into her Elfanoid form. "How did you become the Realm Protector."

The Matriarch's expression shifted to a soft smile, "Well, Lord Tristan, Zeltana elevated me to the position. After she created the various species of the Fey Realm, she chose to cede control to the strongest and wisest of her creations; choosing to live a life of luxury and excess. I was the strongest and wisest." She shifted a glance up to Felicity, "Though my children do not always express this wisdom."

Felicity sagged slightly at the comment, but shot back with a rapid, "Well…we think fast on our feet…"

Tristan tried to ignore her discomfort, keeping the anger at The Matriarch's insult to Felicity pushed down. "She gave you control. Good. All I needed to know." He shoved the cryptex into her hands, along with the scroll, but kept the seeds. "I'm going to grow some tea…and Matriarch? You are not to denigrate Felicity. Chide and admonish, sure…but not insult."

The Matriarch winced slightly, as if struck, and her voice softened. "I apologize, Lord Tristan." She glanced up to Felicity, "Sorry, daughter. I was just pointing out a fact-"

"Yeah," Tristan said, cutting her off. "But the way you said it came off as very rude."

"What he said!" Felicity said as well.

The Matriarch nodded curtly, "Again…I apologize." She manifested her wings and flew up to the top boughs, out of sight.

Tristan felt the anger that was simmering fade down. "You didn't get too hurt by her words, did you?" Tristan asked.

"No," Felicity said. "But thank you for standing up for me. Sometimes mom's jokes are a bit harsh; it depends on her mood. You might have interrupted her from doing something she was really enjoying when you asked her to come down."

Tristan frowned, "Then I am going to ask you to go to her and clear up the situation. Ensure that she does not view me unfavorably despite my behavior toward her."

"Damage control? Sure! I'm good at that!" Felicity flew off to the top boughs.

Tristan went to the plants that were in the crafting and market area, heading to the section with various beans and leaves for all types of teas and beverages that he had grown. He used the Gloves of the Growth Shaper to create a new planter box, filled it with some dirt, and then buried the seeds.

He put a palm down on the surface of the dirt, and lifted his hand up and away as he twisted his fingers; just like if he was pulling a string straight up. "Nopeuta näiden kasvien kasvua. Auta niitä juurtumaan." (Accelerate the growth of these plants. Help them take root).

Invoke Growth cast, he saw the silvery light of his spinning essence crucible spindle down to his fingertips before reaching into the dirt below, grabbing ahold of the seeds and causing them to take root and grow. He pulled his fingers up, standing as he did so, as a gorgeous, light-blue bush with purple roots grew to full height. Barking for a ladder to be brought over, a fairy dragon set one down next to him as he clambered up. The entire bush was fifteen feet tall, and quite wide – necessitating his moving of the plant pot after the spell had concluded.

Now, to grab some of the leaves to make the tea, Tristan thought. Taking the leaves between his thumb, middle, and pinky fingers, he curled the index and ring fingers into his palm, speaking the spell phrase for Perfect Harvest. "Anna minulle hallussasi oleva palkkio." (Give me the bounty you hold). His fingers glowing silver, he acquired several handfuls of the leaves.

Taking them over to the alchemy station, he boiled up the water and was just putting the leaves in when Felicity flew back down. "The Matriarch says she accepts your apology, and is sorry for her harsh remark – she was in the middle of talking to Logos from the Thought Realm."

Tristan felt a slight pang of remorse for his earlier pulling her away from the important work she was doubtless invested in. "Well…thanks for doing damage control," he muttered.

Felicity perched from the trees above, hanging down by her tail near the boiling bot of leaves. "No problem!" She sniffed the air, "Mmm, smells tasty!"

"Just boiling up the tea to drink," Tristan replied. He could smell the sweet, almost minty fragrance. It was a cooling mint smell that seemed to pierce into his mind through his nose. Refreshing and rejuvenating. Turning the artifice-powered heating surface down to a low simmer, he sat down on a small bench to wait.

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