“This way,” Jen said, urging her horse forward. The hoof prints she was following had to be Arturo’s: a single rider heading toward the nearest town, Holbeck. Caldian was trailing slightly behind, not saying much.

When she asked him to join her, Caldian had agreed without hesitation. It was tradition for the mentor to go with their student. That was why Jen went straight to him. She was a little disappointed Arturo didn’t try following her. It would have made her mission easier.

“Slow down,” Caldian ordered.

Reluctantly, Jen slowed her horse down and made sure to keep calm. One of the top rules was to keep your composure. She was usually good at that, until now. With her brother coming back, she found herself unbalanced and it was hard to keep up a calm façade. “I want to make sure we catch up to him before he leaves Holbeck,” she said.

Caldian’s long black hair flowed with the wind and he looked at her doubtfully. “I understand your reasons. Focus on the objective and keep emotion out of it. For all you know, Arturo has friends and may plan a trap for you.”

“He wouldn’t do that,” Jen said hotly. She forced herself to keep calm and pushed away the urgency to rush forward. “We won’t be able to track him if he leaves Holbeck. I doubt he’ll tell anyone where he’s going.”

“Don’t assume anything, even if he is your brother,” Caldian said. “You’re leading this mission. If you want to move faster, we can. Just make sure you’re being smart. I imagine your brother wants to talk to you as much as you want to talk to him.”

If that were true, would he have rushed to Holbeck? Jen thought. “He could have killed a few of us while trying to retreat. Whatever has happened to him, he’s a good man. That I know,” she said and urged her horse to move faster. Caldian did the same.

At their current pace, they would arrive at Holbeck within the hour. There was a good chance Arturo wouldn’t be there. Jen had left early in the morning and it was taking them longer than she’d expected to find her brother’s tracks. Lucky for her, nobody else had gone into the forest where they’d fought.

They followed the tracks until they disappeared close to the town. Jen stopped and looked ahead, seeing more people than she’d expected. “Looks like he did stop here,” she said and moved toward the entrance.

“I agree. The question is, is he still here?” Caldian said.

Jen hoped he was. She and Caldian left their horses at a nearby stable and moved through the town. The crowd was odd. There were lots of people, some here for the festival, but a lot looked ragged, as if fleeing from something.

“Bandits, most likely,” Caldian said as if reading her mind.

“Probably,” Jen said. The Whispering Mists had taken care of many bandits over the years, yet there seemed to be no end in sight. Law and order needed to be restored or the bandits would only get worse. “Let’s split up. Go into each inn and ask about a tall man with a big sword, wearing a brown cloak.”

“All right. Meet back here in an hour?”

“Count on it.” Jen walked into the first inn while Caldian went in the other direction.

She walked into an inn and got a few whistles, which she ignored. Jen looked around and asked the innkeeper if anyone had seen Arturo, described him, but got blank looks.

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“Hey, little lady,” a fat man with a scar running across his throat said. He glanced at the swords on her back. “Can you swing those?”

“I can,” Jen said and went to move past him when he grabbed her wrist.

“Why are you in such a hurry?”

Men. I should have gone into the nicer inns and had Caldian take these. Jen pushed the man back, breaking his hold on her wrist. “Keep your hands to yourself or I’ll rip them off.”

Taking the hint, the man raised his hands. “Sorry, ma’am; didn’t mean any disrespect.”

She hadn’t expected an apology. Nodding to the man, Jen moved past him and onto the next inn, where she had no luck either. Each inn was packed but not a single person had seen her brother. Was she wrong? Could he have ridden past Holbeck in fear of being pursued by her clan?

The next inn produced no results either. Jen figured she had time for a couple more inns and then she would have to meet up with Caldian. Hopefully, he was having better luck than her. Entering this one was worse than the others. Dirty and some fighting.

“Have you seen a large man with a giant sword and a brown cloak? Should have armor on?” Jen asked one of the servers.

“Doesn’t ring a bell.”

“Of course not. Thanks anyway.” Jen walked around and asked a few more people with the same result. Sighing, she went to leave the inn when someone walked in front of her; an ugly man with a few teeth missing. She was ready to smack this one if he tried anything.

“Are you looking to arrest the man you’re describing?” the man asked.

“You’ve seen him, then?” Jen asked.

“Yeah, he grabbed me and slammed me against that wall there—” he pointed at a wall that had a few cracks in it.

“Why?”

“Dunno. He was very eager to hear about the attack on Talin Grad. I told him to go away and then he grabbed me.”

“Attack? What attack?”

The man shrugged. “Raiders or something. They attacked Talin Grad a few days ago and have been holding it since. Supposed to be strong fighters.”

Jen hurried out of the inn, ignoring the man when he asked where she was going. Talin Grad was near the Robris Ocean, which could only mean one thing. The people who had attacked Arindall were here and Arturo was going after them. Why else would Arturo be going to Talin Grad in such a rush? What bad timing!

She was disappointed not to see Caldian at the meetup spot and paced impatiently for ten minutes before he finally arrived. He looked at her questioningly and Jen realized she wasn’t doing a very good job of maintaining her composure.

“Caldian, I need you to go back to camp. Tell Modric the invaders are attacking Talin Grad. We need our entire clan there to retake the town and push them back,” Jen said, barely keeping her voice calm while inside she felt panic rising.

“I can’t command Modric,” Caldian said. “I’ll do as you ask, as you’re in charge, but know that I can’t guarantee he’ll pack up camp and send everyone to help.”

Jen thought for a moment. Modric said Arturo would be needed for the upcoming war and he believed the people raiding were preparing for an attack. Surely, he would send help. “I think he will. Modric wanted my brother for this reason. To fight against the invaders. Tell him everything I told you and he’ll send help.”

“You may be right,” Caldian let out an exasperated breath. “Wait, what are you going to do?”

“I’m going after my brother,” Jen said. She had no choice. Her brother was going into a dangerous city with no backup. She couldn’t let him die. If this was anyone else, she would go back with Caldian. But this wasn’t just anyone, and she was determined to help him.

“Modric may not like that,” Caldian said. “Why am I bothering to tell you this?” he said with a shake of his head. “Be careful, will you? I would hate to have my best student die before fulfilling her potential.”

“Don’t worry about me,” Jen said and almost embraced Caldian, except they were in a public area and it would be frowned upon. “Be quick.”

Caldian walked with her to grab their horses, then they parted in different directions, Jen speeding off toward Talin Grad.

You better be alive, you big buffoon, Jen thought, wishing she could move faster. If only a mage was nearby, she might have been able to convince them to create a portal. Stop wishing and focus!

Her belly rumbled but she didn’t stop. A delay might make the difference between seeing Arturo or not, and she would push her horse to its limits. Please don’t do anything stupid.

Jen traveled well into the night before being forced to camp. She set out again the moment the sun rose the next morning.