The Hero's Price

Suran, Mage Knight of the Sidhe.

> You made a deal with me first, dearie. Let's have a talk.
>
> The Tooth Fairy

Reeling from the brief encounter with the Sidhe Knights, the Dreamers scramble to prepare a defense.  None of them prepared for the price they will pay.

## Plot:

The Dreamers bicker after their encounter with the Sidhe, and Emelya angrily retorts at the imperious Entity, the two seem to be trying to avoid one another as The Entity belligerently tries to get the others to help it come up with a plan.  Lucius weighs in that trying to flee with the townsfolk is probably a bad idea.  Doc and Saoirse also go off on their own, each ruminating in their own ways.

Around that time the guards call out for a new arrival—Gwendolyn Snow—to halt.  Lucius and The Entity make their way over to greet her and haphazardly fill her in on what is going on.  Gwendolyn comments that the group was likely not very good at negotiating with them, and Lucius mentions that negotiation is probably no longer an option after Emelya’s actions.

The Guards call a curfew, and The Entity makes its way to meet with Sir John and the other knights.  Emelya wanders over and joins Saoirse, and Lucius and Gwendolyn join the two and discuss what happened in more detail.  Gwendolyn realizes that the Sidhe are likely very interested in her for her bloodline abilities and that the Sidhe might be returning sooner rather than later for her.

The Dreamers discuss their options and decide that they are going to try to get some rest before the morning, and they hear a distant popping in the forest, but no one recognizes what it is.  Doc suggests that the party simply leave and abandon the fort, and a philosophical argument about the value of life, even the lives of soldiers, ensues.  Lucius maintains that the loss of life, even the lives of soldiers, is unacceptable if there is anything that the party can do about it.

Gwendolyn notices that the strange noises are accompanied by brief flashes of light from above the treeline.  Writing it off, they then discuss the strange changes overcoming the Entity and then make their way over to meet with them.  Gwendolyn introduces herself to Sirs Gavron and Hebron.  Sir Gavron and John are very drunk, and gradually the knights dismiss themselves to go to sleep.

Sir John drunkenly tries to pay the party to leave him behind, and pays them each very drunk compliments.  The Dreamers eventually manage to make him go to sleep and then Gwendolyn and the Entity leave to take the first watch.

Emelya and Doc wander over to check in with Mance, Tyr, and Trumpets.  Tyr suggests that the party is foolish for staying with Sir John and not leaving in the morning.  Emelya gives captain Tyr and Trumpets each a potion for if things go poorly.

Doc stays behind to commiserate with captain Tyr for a while and discuss the situation the men of the fort find themselves in.  They share a wineskin and a hope that they will both be alive at the close of the next day.  Mance expresses displeasure with Doc’s stance on violence, and tells him that if he doesn’t get his shit together tomorrow they will all die.

Lucius quietly thinks about the voice of someone he will never be able to see again, and sits upright through the night, dozing only lightly.

Come morning, the Dreamers take stock, but before they can start any preparations the Sidhe appear at the front gate, accompanied by five more acolytes of their order… and mysteriously when the party denies Ellák his money, he says that he had predicted it, and already killed five of his hostages.

A pitched battle ensues, with Ellák opening combat by enthralling everyone on the walls with only a few words, causing several archers to jump to their deaths and nearly drawing The Entity right into his grasp.  At the same time troops begin to fall in the rear lines as an invisible Tarhos systematically starts to behead them.  Doc and the Entity watch helplessly as Trumpet’s head is severed from his body by the invisible attacker, and the Entity grows increasingly erratic as it tries to get close enough to Tarhos that it would be able to sense her.  Captain Tyr, with only Warbler’s arrows to support him, tries to take on Suran by himself and holds out for several long seconds before having half of his face ripped off by a bead of black force hurled by Suran.  He dies in pain.

Emelya repeatedly tries to find Tarhos, casting Faerie Fire and having Scraps listen for her footsteps.  She narrowly misses the Aes Sidhe a few times, and eventually grows irritating enough that Tarhos teleports to her and tries to attack her.  The Entity intervenes and strikes Tarhos with a thrown, overcharged blade that warps back to its hand.

Meanwhile, on the front lines, Gwendolyn, Saoirse, and Lucius are struggling to hold their own against the largest group of enemy hostiles.  Ellák repeatedly messes with Gwendolyn and Lucius’ minds, Gwendolyn is forced to approach him and Saoirse rushes to her defense.  Lucuis begins to hear Ellák’s voice in his mind and becomes convinced that this dark knight is, in fact, his own grandson.  Lucuis backs off, only attacking the cursed hunters and not Ellák himself.

Saoirse doesn’t relent, however, and does her best to distract and wound Ellák, even after the rest of the party has faltered or been distracted.  Desperately doing her best to keep him focused on her and not Gwendolyn.  Her efforts are rewarded with a brutal strike, Ellák’s blade striking through her chest and blasting her free with a burst of force.  The pained scream draws the party’s attention, but it is too late for Saoirse, who lies dying in Lucuis’ arms.

The Aes Sidhe begin to fall back, but seeing Saoirse’s fate Gwendolyn and the Entity charge into the forest after them, hell bent on vengeance.

Saoirse weakly tries to hand Lucius her last health potion, after one fails to restore her own missing organs.  Her dying breath whispers the words “Lucius, you look… hurt” before her body seizes up and she falls limp in his arms.  Emelya desperately calls out for the attention of the Tooth Fairy, trying to call in a favor to save the heart of the Dreamers, but no response is heard.

The episode comes to a close on this somber note: with dozens of casualties at the fort; Saoirse, Trumpets, and Tyr lying dead; and the party split.