{-Rennyn-}

He knew he wasn’t thinking straight, he could recognize all of the signs that meant something was wrong. But he couldn’t bring himself to do anything against it. There must’ve been something, somehow, that he could do to change it… but even if he could, he had a feeling he didn’t really want to. Dhymos’s plans were always going to be the most important. Too many things had been lost before—too many people had been hurt—because Dhymos was able to do whatever he wanted for too long. And somehow, that was the only thing Rennyn could think of, even while he knew that Mira was in danger.

What Viragi had said was only more troubling but, somehow, Rennyn didn’t really doubt his decision to go there first. In fact, a part of him—a loud, near-deafening part—still wanted him to try to see what Dhymos was doing anyway. But they had to find Mira. He knew that.

So why was it so hard to acknowledge it?

“We know that the mercenaries headed west, but not anything besides that,” Kaylin mumbled. Or, at least, he assumed she was mumbling, because he couldn’t quite hear her right. She sounded distant, far away—just out of the waters he found himself in. “I doubt they’re going to be as easy to locate as Viragi was.”

Seldir nodded grimly. “Viragi probably wanted us to find him, so he would’ve made himself a lot more obvious. Those mercenaries’ paychecks probably rely on the fact that no one catches them. They’re going to make sure they’re well-hidden and far from any obvious place.”

“Or maybe they’d choose an obvious place to stay in?” Lyrei offered. “I mean, if their goal is to be somewhere someone doesn’t expect them, then an obvious place would make more sense. Everyone would assume that they were going to be somewhere subtler, so they wouldn’t look in any place where they’d draw attention to themselves.”

“We weren’t told what they looked like, were we..? If we had, we could’ve just asked around for them—even if they weren’t with Lady Mira, someone might’ve seen them then,” Noa said.

Then, finally, Rennyn muttered, “We’ve got to keep an eye out for anything that seems too well-placed or obvious. There’s a chance they’re trying to plan a trap for us. I know that, by now, they probably realize that we’re coming.”

“But you were still the one who decided to check on Viragi first,” Kaylin pointed out. “Which, need I remind you, could’ve probably been a much more dangerous trap than anything these mercenaries could try to pull.”

I know that, was what a part of him wanted to say. The other half decided, It’s Dhymos, though. It’s well worth the risk, considering what else he might be capable of doing. So, as even his own mind couldn’t come to a reasonable conclusion, he simply stayed silent.

“I know we passed it already, but could we go back and ask that soldier more?” Lyrei offered. “We’re not too far away and it might save time searching by ourselves.”

“I have a feeling we’re not going to get any more information out of him,” Seldir remarked. “We were barely able to get what we did, I don’t think he’s going to be willing to tell us anymore… if he knows. There’s a chance that, purposely or not, he wasn’t told what the guys looked like.”

A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

“It’s better if we just keep moving,” Rennyn decided. “If there’s a chance he doesn’t know anything, then we’re just going to be wasting more time. I… don’t think that the mercenaries would’ve gone too far from here. If this was something they were asked to do by a council member, then I have a feeling they’ll want Lady Mira close by. They have to be able to ‘find’ her again if people start getting too nervous or bold.”

“But we still don’t know where we’re looking or what we’re supposed to be keeping an eye out for.”

“We’re looking for anything suspicious—or a little too unsuspicious—where we might be able to locate some other mercenaries. They’ll know a lot more about who we’re looking for than anyone else would. A part of their job depends on keeping an ear out for any valuable information, after all.”

“So we’re heading towards the closest tavern? In suburbs like this, we’re probably not going to fina ny until we come back into town.””We’ll figure it out. Just trust me.”

Even Rennyn wasn’t quite sure how he expected them to do that, when he understood he gave them no reason to, and he didn’t necessarily trust himself, either…

…

It had to have been luck—if it wasn’t, then it was something of Dhymos’s doing, and that just made things worse. They were able to come across some mercenaries who were able to take a guess at where the ones with Mira might’ve gone. Those men had been more attentive than the regular civilians, and likely overlooked when it came to any bribes made by the soldiers, so they were even able to pinpoint a location: an old, abandoned building nearby, which was rumored to be the new home of some local bandits.

Being as worth a shot as anything, Rennyn led the others there.

It wasn’t quite out of the way, but it wasn’t all that obvious either; whatever bandits must’ve been staying here haven’t caused too much trouble yet, so the soldiers weren’t looking for them. The place may have looked abandoned, at first glance, but it was clear the closer they got how it was only a facade.

This place was still in use. And, with any luck, it’s where they’ll find something about Mira’s whereabouts.

“This has to be it,” Rennyn announced. “Do you think you’re all ready? We don’t know what we might come across in there.”

Surprisingly, he found that he preferred if they were all together. There might be threats in there, but… he understood that he wouldn’t be able to fight them off on his own, and he wouldn’t want to leave the others without supervision. All of those options just lead to prime opportunity for Dhymos to do something, and Rennyn wanted to avoid giving the enemy even a fragment of the upper hand.

“You know that I can handle myself if it comes down to it,” Kaylin pointed out. “I haven’t learned nothing in all of the other lives.”

Seldir nodded. “As long as Lyrei and Noa keep closer to the rest of us, then I don’t think we’re going to run into too many problems. Judging from the base and what little we’ve seen so far, they don’t seem like the most well-organized type.” He paused. “But I don’t think we should just charge in there, either. If there’s a chance that we’re wrong about how prepared these guys are, then we should leave. We don’t want anyone to get hurt.”

“Yeah. If any of you turn out to be in any real danger, then we leave. Hopefully they’re smart enough to realize what will cause more trouble than they should really be getting themselves into…”

And then, with one last glance at the others, Rennyn led the way into the base. All they needed was confirmation that these guys either did or didn’t know where Mira was, and where she might be if they did. And he wasn’t exactly in the state of mind to try to solve things the slow way. He’d get the information they needed, they’d find Mira, and then the whole thing can be solved.

Dhymos would have one last thing to distract them with and, hopefully, they’d be one step closer to defeating him for good.