Ainreth wanted to tear his hair out. He couldn't believe he'd let sundering Orinovo take his Fenn away from him. Attacking their camp at night was one thing, but kidnapping Fenn? And they'd set part of the tents on fire too to distract them too much to notice which way they'd escaped.

They were now tracking where they must have gone, the kidnappers apparently leaving footprints, which seemed a little odd to Ainreth. If he went kidnapping people, he'd bring his horse. But he did his best not to think about any of this, in general. He was on the verge of panic as it was.

The sun only knew what Orinovo had already done to Fenn in the few hours since they'd taken him. What if they had killed him? That was a question Ain was also trying not to think about. It was too horrible to consider. But knowing Orinovo, if they wanted to kill him, they would do it publicly, and probably in Diramisk. That was what they'd done with a lot of their high-ranking soldier they'd manage to capture.

That thought didn't do much to comfort him, but it was better than nothing. At least it would mean that Fennrin was alive. Unfortunately, he couldn't just assume that Fenn was actually being transported to Diramisk and run off in the direction of the capital because that was a stupid idea without any clues as to prove that was what was happening.

So stupid tracking it was.

Ainreth sighed, trying to stave off his worry with irritation. They were in the middle of a field, the sun barely rising on the horizon. Despite the poor light, though, there was no one for miles, that much was clear from just being here and looking around the open space. Which only made him more impatient because it meant they weren't anywhere close to finding Fenn.

Suddenly the person tracking stopped, which due to his internal ranting Ainreth noticed only when he realized no one from their small group was moving anymore, making Sunray stop, too. It was a good thing she was paying more attention than him because if not, they would have crashed.

"There was someone laying here," the trackers pointed at a patch of grass. Ainreth had to peer down at it closely to notice that it looked a little flattened, but if he was the one attempting to track, he wouldn't notice. It was incredibly subtle.

"And then someone was standing here," pointed the woman a bit away from the flattened grass, frowning. "And that's where the tracks end."

"What do you mean they just end?" Ainreth demanded immediately. They couldn't end. Whoever had left these tracks hadn't just disappeared out of nowhere, surely. How could—

Ainreth paused his outrage and frustration as something occurred to him. "Windwalker?"

Windwalkers could fly, after all. There weren't a lot of them, so it hadn't even occurred to him that one of them could be taking Fennrin away, but it made sense. Why risk losing such an important captive when you could fly away with him, untouchable as long as the windwalker in question could handle staying in the air.

From what Ainreth had seen, windwalkers couldn't fly for much more than a few minutes at a time before having to take a break, but that still let them leap over incredible distances fast.

That though just made his stomach churn. If Fenn had gotten kidnapped by a windwalker, they could be so far away. The only hopeful thing about this situation was that the windwalker in question would have to take a lot of breaks traveling this way.

"Probably the most likely explanation," said the tracker grimly.

"Sunder," Ainreth cursed quietly, squeezing his eyes shut. He wished Fenn had woken him up before those Orinovans could have grabbed him, but no, he was always so careful when he woke up sooner than Ainreth, leaving the bed and coming back without Ainreth ever realizing. He'd woken up only when he'd heard Fenn's cry, and by then it was too late, and he was gone along with whoever had taken him. Ain hadn't even seen them so he could rush after them.

If he'd only....

No, that was a stupid way of thinking. He needed to focus on what was, not what could have been. And what was was his beloved in danger.

"They're probably heading to Diramisk. Right? That makes the most sense? So we just have to go east," Ainreth said, turning to the group of five soldiers. They'd chosen a small search party to be less conspicuous, but their red uniforms were a dead giveaway, if he was to be honest. Not that he cared. Right now he would be willing to burn Orinovo to the ground if it got him Fennrin back.

"We can't chase across enemy territory hoping we find—" one person tried to argue, but Ainreth cut him off.

"Of course we can." He wasn't yelling, but there was a sharp edge to his voice that surprised even him. But dammit, he had reason to be angry. His Fenn had been taken, dammit!

Another soldier tried to protest: "Our orders—"

"Great point!" Ainreth cut her off. "You go back and tell Varilik what I'll be doing, which is getting Fenn back."

"Sir, the last thing we need right now is you getting captured or killed, too," the soldier protested again, but he just fixed her with a hard look.

"I'm the best equipped to fight off a windwalker. Petre will watch my back, and we will get our shadowforger back. Now do what I ordered you to, we're wasting time."

The soldiers, including Petre, looked like they wanted to keep arguing, but one glare from him made them reconsider because no one said anything, saluting Ainreth before turning their horses around, the tracking getting up into the saddle of hers and they rode away without another word.

"This is a stupid idea, just so you know," Petre said, mounting their horse as well and turning to rummage in their satchel, bringing out a map and a compass. "The fastest way to Diramisk is...." They hummed, looking around and then back at the map and then the compass. "That way."

Ainreth looked the way they were pointing, nodding, already nudging Sunray to get moving. "Okay, great, let's go—"

He was interrupted by Petre who put their arm in front of his chest, stopping him. "Listen, if we do this, the Bulwark will punish us. So I humbly request that you resist being an idiot."

Ainreth pouted, actually kind of hurt by those words with how upset he had been already. "I don't do stupid things on purpose."

Petre sighed, their face softening. "I know you are very worried about Fennrin. I worry, too. But we need to think first instead of rushing into things. Okay?"

Ain nodded readily, taking a deep breath in a useless effort to try to calm down. "Yeah, yes. Okay. So what do you think we should do?" Clearly, Petre had some ideas, or they wouldn't be saying things like that. They were always good at staying cool in stressful situations.

"If I could fly, I would choose the most direct path to Diramisk, assuming that is where they are taking Fennrin." Petre said, once again pointing toward the forest on the horizon. "So I suggest we go that way and hope we manage to catch up. Ask the locals if they've seen a person flying in the sky."

Ain's eyes bulged out in shock as he grinned in delight. "Oh, that's right! You can speak this weird language. Great thinking, little guy!"

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Petre sighed, nodding tiredly, but they were fooling no one. Ain could see the little, proud smile they were trying to hide so badly. "Okay, then let's go. While we still have a chance."

Ainreth certainly hoped Petre was right about that.

++++++++++++++

The farther they got, the more Ain worried. And the more he was likely to make mistakes, but that couldn't be helped.

Asking civilians about seeing someone flying around was difficult because everyone could recognize him, and he had nothing he could use to conceal his identity with aside from his uniform cloak, which was a problematic choice for a variety of reasons. So he had to hang back or make himself invisible while Petre asked around.

They had shed recognizable parts of their armor to better fit in, stuffing the shoulder pads and signature red cloak into their saddle bags, though he was sure it was still apparent who they were. Petre had mentioned feeling like the peasants had been regarding them with a deep suspicion. The people here hadn't been very useful, probably for that reason, but there was usually at least one who was willing to tell them that yes, they had seen a man in the sky.

This was the tenth village they'd come across, and it was now noon, two days later. Ain was slowly starting to lose hope, no matter how much he didn't want to give in. He couldn't give up on Fenn, and he wouldn't, but he was already trying to think of ways he could get him out of Diramisk. Even when flying, the city was still at least a week away, but Ainreth couldn't help but be pessimistic.

If they couldn't catch up, then it didn't matter how much time they had left. They simply wouldn't catch up, no matter what they did. And that was what was bothering him. But he just pushed Sunray to go faster, despite her tiredness. He would have to apologize to her later, get her some carrots or apples in thanks for putting up with this.

"We'll find him, Ain," said Petre for what felt like the thousandth time. But it wasn't enough. Ain wanted them to repeat it a thousand times more. They were the only reason he was keeping it together at this point.

Ainreth had almost forgotten what it felt like to worry about someone so much it felt like someone had reached into his chest and squeezed his heart.

"I know," Ainreth replied, nodding to reassure himself. "I know."

They sped across another field, dirt and grass flying, kicked off by their horses' strong hoofs. That was all this country seemed to have at its disposal—fields. They stretched on in all directions, some with cross, most without. Somehow Ainreth had never realized just how little forest there was in Orinovo, certainly less than in Lys-Akkaria.

Oh, how he missed his home. He couldn't wait to get out of this sundering country and take Fenn somewhere nice. They had earned a vacation. Or ten.

He was so preoccupied with his grumbling that when they reached the top of a hill, he almost missed the dark dot in the sky. But when he did, his eyes went wide, and his hand flew up to point at it.

"There!"

Petre immediately looked that way as well, frowning into the distance, putting a hand above their eyes to shield them from the sun high above them.

Ainreth didn't wait for them to react, pushing Sunray to run faster. They had to catch up. They just had to. And Ain hoped to the moon that this wasn't a random, completely unrelated windwalker. No, this had to be it.

Petre caught up with him quickly, their own horse galloping as best he could, though it was clear the animal needed a break. Ain suspected Sunray was going to bite him once he let her rest, but that was a price he would gladly pay if it meant getting his Fenn back.

They kept up the pace until the windwalker began to descent, landing near a cluster of trees at the bottom of a cliff. But even from that distance Ainreth could see the figure throwing another person to the ground that they had been carrying over their shoulder just moments prior.

Ainreth winced at the sight, his heart stuttering before rage filled him, making him see red. Oh, this person was so dead. Not only do they kidnap Fenn, but they just throw him around like that?

Ain quickly made himself and his horse invisible, hoping that Petre would stay back because he couldn't manage to make them invisible as well without knowing exactly where they were at all times.

He wouldn't have patience for it now anyway, though. He was barely keeping himself hidden as it was with how jittery he was. Once he was close enough that the sound of Sunray's hoofs beating the ground would arouse suspicions, he made her slow down, heading to the other side of the group of trees nearly silently to hide Sunray before climbing off, reading his sword.

Sunray snorted as she became visible once more, making Ain wince as he let go of the light around her. He wouldn't be able keep her invisible once he went any farther anyway.

He crept along the line of trees, reading his sword to run the misborn through, his fingers still twitching, keeping light from hitting him. But before he could strike, he heard a familiar voice that made him pause.

"I'm tempted to give you water. If you don't make trouble," said blighted Neven Oretski of all people, and Ain's eyes widened. He had been planning on stabbing whoever had dared take Fenn away from him, but since it was Neven who had done it....

Well, they had wanted to capture an experimented-on soldier, and this one also happened to be the kapetan of the Orinovan army—one of the highest-ranking soldiers there were. Certainly a very useful captive.

Ainreth turned his sword around so that he had the butt of the handle ready, creeping closer, walking behind Neven, who was paying his full attention to Fenn on the ground. It made Ain feel like his heart was being shredded not to look at the shadowforger, but he knew he couldn't. If he did, this would all go wrong.

Finally close enough, Ainreth swung his hand, wanting to slam the sword handle into Neven's temple as hard as he could. But at the last moment, Nev dodged, making Ainreth stumble and lose control over his invisibility.

His eyes wide, Ain tried to quickly pull himself together enough to disappear again, but before he could, Neven was throwing a burst of fire at him. Ain barely managed to duck out of the way in time, feeling the heat sting his skin as he rolled away, getting back to his feet just in time to see Neven quickly grabbing Fenn.

Ainreth almost panicked when he saw Nev reach out with his hand, about to take off. Ain's own hand flew up by instinct, sending blinding light at Neven's head, hoping to the moon that he wouldn't hurt Fenn with it.

The effect was immediate. Neven stumbled with a cry, dropping Fenn and throwing his hands over his eyes far too late to avoid being temporarily blinded. At least Ain assumed it was temporary—he had been too desperate to focus on such things properly.

"Kerva! Ty sranyj vo!" yelled Neven, throwing around some fire blindly in Ainreth's direction. Ain was already running to tackle him, though, Neven's blindness making it incredibly ease to wrestle him to the ground. Before Nev could properly, Ain was grabbing his sword and slamming the handle of it into Neven's temple. The man went limp immediately, knocked out cold, finally letting Ainreth take a deep breath. But he didn't give himself any more time to relax than that, getting to his feet and rushing to Fennrin who was now squirming on the ground.

Ain gritted his teeth at how tightly tied up Fenn was now that he was properly looking at him. The poor thing could barely move.

"Liri!" He quickly fell to his knees in front of the other man, pulling the gag out and dragging him up to hug him close, squeezing so tightly that he knew it must have been uncomfortable for Fenn, but he couldn't help it.

"Ain," he breathed in relief, pressing his face into the crook of Ain's neck. He looked exhausted, and he had reason to be. That misborn Oretski probably hadn't let him rest. "You found me."

"Are you okay? Oh sun, I was so worried!"

He hated letting go, but he had to so he could free Fenn. Ain cut through the ropes binding Fenn as fast as he could before pulling the sundering hand clamps off. These weren't lockable, but even if there had been padlocks, Ainreth wouldn't have been deterred. He would melt the blighted things off.

"I'm okay. He didn't hurt me," Fennrin confirmed, nodding, though his eyes were still deeply tired, circles beneath them. "Thank you for rescuing me."

Ain scoffed, kissing Fenn's forehead. "Of course I came to rescue you, you dummy."

Fennrin smiled, his tired expression lighting up a little as he stretched his arms. They must have been cramped after being tied up like this. "We need to secure Oretski."

Ainreth scoffed, grabbing the hand clamps and crouching down by the Orinovan's limp body. He quickly shoved the oppressive metal onto Neven's hands before grabbing the cut length of rope that had bound Fenn just moments earlier, using it to tie Neven's wrists together behind his back.

Throughout all of this, Neven didn't stir at all, letting Ain also tie his legs together before shoving the gag the kapetan had used on Fennrin into Nev's mouth. Ainreth grinned. Perfect. Neven wasn't getting away from them. Ainreth would make sure of that.

Ain stopped basking in his achievement when he heard Fenn groan, looking back at him to see him stretching his arms. There were angry lines on his wrists, his hands.... It made Ainreth grit his teeth seeing it and kick Neven for daring to take Fenn. But he'd save that for when the Orinovan woke up. No use getting his anger out on someone who was unconscious.

"He didn't do anything to you, did he?"

Fennrin shook his head, rubbing his wrists with a grimace as his eyes focused on the horizon instead. Ain's gaze followed his, finding Petre riding their horse to them. "We should go. We can't stay here. Orinovo might find—"

"Yeah, I know," Ain said, hugging Fennrin close again, kissing the top of his head as he closed his eyes for a second, brushing his fingers over Fenn's hair. "It's okay."

As Fenn melted into his hold, so did Ainreth, letting out a long breath. The weight that had been trying to drag him down was finally gone. Now they just needed to get back, find their army. And bring their prisoner for interrogation.

Ain took a glance at Neven, still unconscious. He was aware that the man wouldn't talk, Ain knew Nev that much at least. They would just have to convince him to. And then put an end to this whole conflict.