Magic was a strange thing. Even without any natural talent himself, Leonov could still feel the effects of a spell being cast near him. The very air around Falynn seemed to reverberate with an eerie sound, channeling some ethereal force into the ground. Of course, he knew enough to know that she was channeling her mana into the plant life that she touched, extending her senses through it, into the ground, and throughout the forest for a good distance.

“Is that unique to druids?” He asked, turning to look at Taiki .”Or is that something that everyone can learn?”

Taiki could only offer him a slight shrug. “I don’t think there’s such a thing as unique magic. Everything can be replicated. But I’ve heard that the druids are very secretive about their signature spells.”

If their quiet conversation was distracting Falynn, she showed no sign of it. By now, her hair was lifting slightly from her head as a breeze passed by her. With her acute senses, Roni could tell that the wind had actually shifted. Just a few minutes ago, it had been blowing away from the ocean towards the heart of the Dagorra Forest. Now it seemed that Falynn had shifted it in her area, sending it out to search for their quarry.

“I found him,” she said. Her voice was quiet, but it registered on their ears like the peal of a bell. They immediately stiffened, ready to give chase again. “He’s about two hundred meters that way. He’s not moving.”

Two hundred meters. They glanced at Roni, who had slung the short bow over her shoulder, and was rolling her head from side to side. Could she cross that distance quickly and catch the stranger before he became aware? If anyone in the group could, it was her. Even if she could, the problem then became the struggle of keeping him in place until the others could catch up. All she was armed with was the short bow and a simple chipped dagger. Against someone who could use magic, it didn’t seem like an even match.

Except, of course, they weren’t considering her skill in moving undetected. Without pausing to consult any of them, she broke into a quick run, vanishing between the trunks of the trees on the north side of the road. Suddenly, they lost sight of her. They strained their ears in some faint hope of picking out her footsteps, but of course, there was no sound to announce her location. So they were forced to wait, to move when they got the first signal.

Falynn placed her staff on the ground and tore a chunk of living wood out of the pile she’d rescued. She literally pulled it free with a wrenching sound, as if it were soft clay, and worked it between her hands. The wonder of woodshaping, Leonov thought. The druid girl formed it into a perfect sphere, then set it on the ground beside her staff. With a snap of her fingers, it elongated, twisting in on itself and solidifying into a perfect replica of her staff. She nodded in satisfaction.

“That’s better,” she said softly. When she noticed the other two watching her closely, she gave a shrug. “My staff was getting a bit old. This lump has more power, so I’m trading it out.”

“Err, won’t you get in trouble for that?” Taiki asked, a doubtful look on their face. “I mean, we’re supposed to return it as it is, right? What if they notice?”

“I’m replacing what I took,” Falynn said. Sure enough, she picked up her old staff, turned it into a ball of living wood, and melded it seamlessly with the larger mass. “The rest of the wood will share its life force with the old staff. In an hour, it’ll be nearly impossible to notice.”

“But what if they do notice?”

“They won’t do anything,” Falynn said. “I’m the daughter of the Elder and a ritual priest of Longfang. I’m allowed to use some when I need it.”

They weren’t sure if that logic fit all too well, but just then, there was a burst of green light in the air above the forest. The first signal. They made their way into the forest at once, weaving between the thick trunks as they made their way to the location of the first arrow that Roni had fired. As they ran, Falynn muttered a quiet prayer, and her staff took on the form of a large eagle that took to the sky. Her green eyes were faintly glowing now.

“I can see what the bird sees,” she said. “It’ll tell me where Roni and the stranger are so I can track them.”

“But what about what you can see with your own eyes?” Taiki asked. They seemed to have predicted the outcome before even Leonov or Falynn. Then she sighed as the druid girl inevitably tripped over a root sticking slightly higher out of the ground than its neighbors. “Right. I thought as much.”

Taiki turned and ran to Falynn, picking the girl up easily before she could react. Ignoring Falynn’s yelp of surprise, they broke into a run again, catching up to Leonov in no time. “Just focus on seeing what the bird sees. This way, you won’t trip and slow us up.”

Falynn didn’t argue any further, but Leonov thought he could pick out a red flush on her cheeks in the dim lighting of the forest. She kept her senses focused on the bird, only speaking to give them directions. Taiki didn’t slow down one bit, as, without their pack to add to the weight, Falynn was an easily managed bundle. Leonov had respected the strength and endurance of his fellow warrior. Definitely a good man to fight alongside, he thought.

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Without Falynn to trip them up, they made good time to the site of the first signal arrow. Roni had hastily scratched an arrow in the bark of a tree, just large enough to be seen without causing major damage. As they passed, Falynn’s hand reached out and scraped the bark, healing it effortlessly. Her mind seemed more agile than her feet, at any rate.

After another five minutes of running, they caught up to Roni. She had the stranger grappled, holding one arm behind his back, her face screwed up into an angry glare. “Don’t move, fool! I'll break your arm if you cast even a single spell!”

Taiki deposited Falynn onto her feet, putting one hand on her shoulder as the druid girl felt the blood rush back to the normal parts of her body. Her head spun a bit, but she nodded, so Taiki hefted the weapon from its clasp on their opposite shoulder and approached the stranger. If he weren’t wearing a mask, they imagined the man’s eyes would be bulging. His face would probably be red with the pain of having his arm twisted.

“Let’s have that mask off and take a proper look at you,” Taiki said. They reached out one hand, but the stranger twisted away, letting out another grunt of pain as that movement twisted his arm a little further.

“Don’t touch my mask,” he said, sounding more scared than angry. “Please, do anything, but don’t touch the mask!”

Taiki ignored his plea, and Roni kicked out his knees, keeping him still. Taiki reached out once more, and their fingers had just barely touched the stiff leather of the piece when a voice from behind stopped them.

“I must agree. Please do not remove his mask.”

All three of them, apart from Roni, spun around. There was the hiss of metal scraping against leather as Leonov drew his sword, but, perhaps wisely, they didn’t attack. They had absolutely no issue with recognizing the stranger. Or rather, they had no issue recognizing his robe. Long, white, form-fitting, and with Nihon-Jan characters. A member of Issho-Ni. More than that, this man was a master. He showed no sign of reply to the presence of their weapons, keeping his hands firmly gripped behind his back.

He was young compared to some of the publicly known Masters of Issho-Ni. His hair, just long enough to be tied into a short ponytail, was a dirty-blond in color, and his eyes were a faint blue in color, a stark contrast to the olive tint of his skin. There was something special about his eyes, they reckoned, but they couldn’t quite place it. He had two swords strapped to his waist but showed no sign of drawing them. They had no doubt that he could draw them if need be.

“I am Ehran Tokugawa,” the man said. “I am this man’s guardian. Please release him.”

Roni made no move to obey his request, even if it was unmistakably an order. “He attacked us. We’re well within our rights to capture him and bring him to face justice.”

“Under normal circumstances, yes, you would,” The warrior said. “But in this case, I must ignore your right. He is under my protection, and so you must release him.”

Roni tightened her grip by the tiniest amount. It wasn’t even enough to cause more pain to the man, but still, Ehran noticed it. In a flash, he crossed the distance and moved in a blur. Before they could even blink, he’d broken her grip on the stranger’s arm, pulled him away, and knocked her flat with a single palm strike. Gadderoth immediately hissed his anger and dove at the stranger, who caught him with the same hand again without appearing to struggle in the least.

“If you could breathe, you could do significant damage,” Ehran said to the little dragon. “Lucky me.”

At that precise moment, Gadderoth opened his mouth and exhaled a rather large cloud of steamy smoke right into the man’s face. Falynn let out a little whimper of fear. Out of all of them, she knew who the man was. If he was speaking the truth of his identity, he was a bad person to anger. But he showed no sign of offense at Gadderoth’s reply. In fact, he actually smiled before tossing the dragon free into the air.

“I have no desire to fight,” he said. “I’m merely here to take Roarshach to safety. As I understand it, you four have what you came for. Forgive him for his attack, for he could not control it.”

They all remained silent for several seconds until Taiki stepped forward. Taiki, it had to be admitted, was in slight awe. Even with the helmet covering their face, it was easy to tell that she was flustered. “Master Tokugawa! I apologize for our rudeness. Please, forgive us.”

“Hm?” Tokugawa turned to look at Taiki, a slight frown crossing his face. “There has been no rudeness. You were merely defending yourself, and I attacked first.”

Taiki dropped into a low bow. Not quite falling to their knees, but close. “Thank you, Master Tokugawa.”

“No thanks needed, Sato.”

Taiki stiffened, and the man laughed. “You’re surprised I remembered you from our first meeting? You’re old man Sato’s apprentice, and he says you’ve got a lot of potential. I don’t forget the promising ones.”

And without another word, he strolled away with Roarshach, acting as if he’d done nothing more exciting than greet old friends at a bar. He clapped the masked man on the back. “You’re getting into all kinds of trouble today, my friend.”

“Thank you for the rescue, Ehran,” The stranger replied. “I didn’t realize it was your turn to watch me.”

“Yes, I drew the short straw. Still, good to catch up. Care for a cup of tea to soothe the nerves?”

The rest of their fading conversation was drowned out by a rustle of leaves as Roni sprang to her feet. She was clutching her stomach, and her face was pale and shaken, but she didn’t seem too badly injured. If anything, she seemed cowed, which was a new sight for them all. Not that they could blame her, of course. Issho-Ni trained the most elite warriors in the world, and their might was renowned across Ahya. Even Leonov had seen one of them in combat, and the experience had been harrowing.

They let out a collective sigh and started walking back toward the road. The silence was only broken when Falynn turned to Taiki and asked, “You’re a member of Issho-Ni, Taiki?”

“No,” The warrior said stiffly. “I was trained by a retired master. That’s how I met Master Tokugawa.”

“None of that matters just yet,” Leonov interrupted. Let’s just make our way to the inn down the road. They have bathhouses.”