Anaya woke at mid-day, feeling more rested than she’d felt in ages. She rubbed her eyes and yawned before looking to Brugo and breaking into a wide grin. The big brute was sleeping peacefully against a log while Mabel and a pair of squirrels raced up and down a tree trunk, chattering and playing.

Anaya watched their antics for some time, feeling a strange fondness toward the little mouse when it accepted a few berries and nuts from the squirrels. She’d been right about this place. This forest wanted to protect them. One way or another, it meant to see them through to their goal.

Eventually she pulled her eyes away from the playful animals and turned to look for Harpyn. She knew he’d been in a sour mood when they’d stopped, but she didn’t know how to help him. After all, it wasn’t her fault that he couldn’t feel the magic.

However, she realized instantly that Harpyn was not laying in the grassy clearing. And neither was the sword.

With a start, she jumped up, pacing a circle around the clearing’s edge, wondering if he had gone to relieve himself or perhaps on a short walk to keep from waking them. It made sense that he’d take the sword. He wouldn’t want to leave it unattended, even if they were safe.

Still, she had a sinking feeling growing in her gut. What if he’d taken off with it? Where would he go? Would he still go to Yaal to meet with the mages?

She ran to Brugo’s side and woke him with a nudge of her boot. He grunted and rubbed at his eyes before taking in her expression.

“What’s wrong?”

“He’s gone. Harpyn is just… gone.”

Brugo groaned, setting his axe head-down in the dirt as he leveraged himself up to his feet. “He’ll be back. He’s more scared than a little old mouse,” Brugo said. “No offense,” he added when Mabel gave him a squeak of dismay.

“I don’t think he’s coming back,” Anaya said slowly. “I didn’t wake you right away. He’s been gone for some time. Look, even the grass has straightened where he was laying. You can’t even tell he was here. I don’t see any tracks either. What do we do?”

Brugo slid the axe into the loop at his belt and looked around. He heaved one big sigh and said, “We continue on to Yaal.”

“And leave him out here alone?”

Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

“He’s not alone. He has the sword. The way I see it, he either took off with it, and we’ll hear about it soon enough. Or he got it in his head that he didn’t need us, and he’s headed to Yaal anyway.”

Anaya chewed her lip, looking anxiously out into the woods. Full of magic as they were, they weren’t giving her any clues. Finally, she rubbed her hands over her face and took a deep breath.

“You’re right. Let’s get going then. Maybe we can catch up to him if he’s headed that way.”

Brugo held out a hand and let Mabel hop on, but not before she gathered a few more tasty gifts from the woodland creatures. She stored them all in Brugo’s apron pouch and then disappeared for her daytime nap.

As they left the clearing, Anaya knelt and picked up a large red fruit that had fallen from a tree. It was mushy and no good for eating, but she mashed it into the tree bark at eye level.

“If he isn’t ahead of us and he comes back this way, we should leave a trail for him to follow.”

Brugo grunted his approval and followed her deeper into the woods.

As they walked, Anaya called out for Harpyn, hoping that if he was nearby he would answer, but the woods remained quiet save for the sound of birds and the other critters. Anaya called to the harpies, willing them to spread out and search the woods. She hoped they might be able to sense the sword’s magic. But they stubbornly refused to leave her side, and merely made faces at her when she pleaded with them to help out.

“Is it getting any easier?” Brugo asked once.

She gave him a look. “Which part?”

He shrugged. “I don’t know. Controlling it, I guess.”

She shook her head. “Not really. Sometimes I think I’m starting to understand, and then the next time I try, nothing works. The only magic I’ve been able to consistently use since I was little is calling up plants from the soil. But that only gets you so far.” She sighed. “I really wish I could speak with my grandmother. She would know how all of this connects.”

Although she hadn’t mentioned it to her companions, she was worried that she’d missed her chance to find her people. When they’d left the main road, she’d known it was her last opportunity to find the caravan. Of course, she was now starting to doubt that the caravan was even out there. She’d never forgotten the soldier’s words back in Torg Uyen. If her people hadn’t been spotted by now, it was probably true that they were being held somewhere, and it was best that she get to Yaal immediately to find out why.

The forest rose and fell in gentle hills. There was plenty of fruit to eat along the way, and they even came across a gentle stream once where they rested for a while. The sun was now fully overhead and many of the creatures of the forest were hiding from the heat.

Through it all, they didn’t see a single sign of their companion or the sword. There was no evidence that Harpyn had cut his way through the brush, or any of those telltale burn marks that they’d seen in the wheat field as the sword passed through.

As afternoon came, they climbed a hillock and looked out between the trees. The woods stretched on ahead of them for a long while, but in the distance, shrouded by mist, they could just make out the peaked roofs of Yaal. They could only see the tallest buildings from here, but it was enough to lift Anaya’s spirits enormously. If they just pressed on, they could probably make it by the end of the next day.