“You shouldn’t have taken such a risk!” Ben had been saying the same thing the whole damn trip, and Wulfram felt one of his eyes twitch. He was still exhausted from whatever spell Drust, the Hesiodos shaman, had used. A soul travel circle. Alastar had been so quick to suggest it, and it had worked! But when Wulfram suggested using it again, Drust and Ben had both refused.

“The soul is a very resilient thing, but not invincible.” Drust said as they rode towards the city, pacing their horses to cover the most distance in a short amount of time without tiring them out.

“It also isn’t meant to leave your body.” Ben said. He glanced towards the shaman, doing his best to taper down the hostility in his voice. “I told you Wulfram, it’s blood magic, it’s dangerous! Any magic that tampers with blood, with the soul, it’s forbidden for good reason.”

“Enough!” Wulfram snapped. “I am well aware of your opinions Ben, reiterating them again and again will not make your case any stronger. What do you think would have happened if a Hesiodos princess had been raped and possibly even killed in our capital city?”

“I’m still not convinced she is this lost princess.” Ben said, his knuckles white on his reins. “All we have to go on is blood magic and the say so of the Hesiodos shaman and seer. It’s too damn convenient.”

“It is anything but convenient.” Alastar cut in. “She’s in your capital city, which is deeper in your kingdom than any of us have been since before the clans were united. She’s also soul-bound to your prince, which means I couldn’t go against my late mothers wishes even if I wanted to. For now, I’ll ignore the fact you called my people liars for the sake of diplomacy.”

“Ben is my advisor, and one of my oldest friends. He meant no offense, he’s just turning into a suspicious old man.” Wulfram said. He looked at Ben with a smirk, and shrugged at the glare the other man shot him. “It’s true. Think through it logically, this situation is at the best inconvenient for us all. If we assume Dani really is the lost princess, that means she’s been in our kingdom, in our capital, for years. Living in the squalor of the Tangle and stealing to survive. We can blame her disappearance for the latest hostilities with Hesiodos, which has done neither kingdom any favors.”

Wulfram frowned as he mulled over the situation. He couldn’t deny some level of convenience to her resurfacing now, after being soul-bound through the crown. But that didn’t really change anything, did it? “Her resurfacing puts certain things back on the negotiation table, such as an alliance marriage. If anything, that is more convenient for us than for Hesiodos.”

“Who else does it benefit though? I have a problem with all these coincidences falling into place. Who benefits from the Hesiodos princess resurfacing after so many years?” Ben pressed, glancing at the rest of their group. “Surely you’ve wondered about that?”

“I have.” Alastar confirmed, and Wulfram nodded his agreement.

“I admit I have as well, we need to move carefully. Confirm that she’s who Alastar thinks she is, and see what worms wiggle to the surface to take advantage of the situation. I’m hoping she’ll be able to answer some questions herself.”

“I am hoping that as well. I would like to know what happened the night her caravan was attacked, and how she got away.” Alastar said. “That may answer many questions by itself.”

“We could stop by the site of the attack, but after so many years, there would be nothing left to investigate. And I want to get back to the city as soon as possible.” Wulfram clenched his reins tighter, his nails digging into his palms. He needed to know if Dani was safe. He hadn’t felt any spikes of panic or anger through the bracelet, but what if that just meant she was unconscious? Or worse? He looked down at the bracelet, the blue gemstone still glowing faintly. If he concentrated hard enough, he imagined he could feel her heartbeat echoing through it.

“Not necessarily true.” Drust said and glanced at Ben. He shrugged slightly, returning his gaze to Wulfram and Alastar. “The ground is sure to have been soaked in blood, we may be able to summon memories of what happened there.”

“More blood magic?” Ben shook his head with a scowl. “Are all of Hesiodos magics related to blood magic?”

“Not all, but blood provides the strongest connection to the soul, and the place the body carries the most magic.” Drust said, not seeming bothered by Ben’s disgust. “We are very careful in how we use it, and it is not suitable for all purposes. Healing for instance is very dangerous to do with blood magic, and attack spells made with blood magic are forbidden. But it is the best for tracking.”

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“And soul travel apparently, and summoning memories.” Ben waved a hand at the road. “What else will you use it for?”

“It is only good at summoning the most traumatic, bloody memories. The ones that have soaked the ground with blood. It is unpleasant, and often not useful.” Drust said. He looked at Alastar, a frown on his thin lips. “It may not be useful in this case either, but the option needed to be known.”

Alastar nodded, staring at the back of his horse's head as he thought.

After a few minutes, he nodded again. “Let the dead rest, watching memories of that night is unlikely to help us right now. We can always return to the site, but for now the priority is finding Daniella and making sure she’s alright.”

Wulfram let out a barely audible sigh, a bit of the tension fading from his shoulders. He had been worried that they would insist on using their blood magic, which would have put his own men ill at ease. It was bad enough they had a scroll made of human skin! “Then we ride, and we pray.” He said and urged his horse to go just a little faster.

The sooner they got to the capital, the better. But it was still days out, even if they split their group up! And there was safety in numbers, he doubted they would see as many bandits as they had going to Hesiodos, but their group had two very high value targets in it: himself, and Alastar.

They didn’t have to wait long for someone to decide the prize was worth the risk. They were halfway to Aurum when a flaming arrow flew over one of the hills, landing directly in front of Wulfram’s horse. He cursed as the horse danced back from the fire and drew his sword. “Ambush!”

Another arrow flew through the air enroute to Alastar, but the larger man snatched it out of the air, unbothered by the fire that licked at the wooden shaft. He tossed it on the ground, scanning the hill as horses crested it. “I count twenty mounted.”

Wulfram scanned the road and hills around them, searching for more attackers. “I don’t see any to the south, but they could be hiding. Are you up for a fight?” The odds weren’t in their favor, he knew that his people were up for the fight, even Harvick could use his magic to even the odds a bit. But he wasn’t sure how combat-oriented Alastar’s people were, half of them were women! Including his guards.

Alastar grinned, oddly sharp teeth glinting in the fading sunlight. “Always.” He growled and urged his horse towards the attackers with a shout that sounded more like a roar.

Wulfram couldn’t help but grin, raising his own sword so that it caught the light. “For the honor of Cresenvasht!”

And then he was riding towards the attackers as fire arrows rained down around them. Harvick stayed back on the road, hastily drawing sigils in the dirt letting out the occasional curse as an arrow messed up his work. Drust raised his arm, cutting into his own skin, his chanting washing over the battlefield as the two groups clashed.

They were outnumbered, and these people weren’t normal bandits. Wulfram’s sword rang against one of the attackers, metal sliding against metal as he moved his horse in close. Their armor was too good, and they didn’t fight like bandits, they fought like knights. A bad mix right now, but their only other option had been to run.

Maybe they should have.

Gryff charged forward, his blond fur catching the light of the sun, shining like gold as he swung his war axe, lopping the head off one of the attackers. He didn’t stop there though, rounding on another attacker as their sword cut into his back. He let out a shout, his axe swinging again.

Then Wulfram lost track of him as his own attacker drew a dagger, snaking it in beneath his guard. Wulfram let out a shout of pain as it pierced his skin and cursed himself for being a fool. He knew better than to take his attention off an adversary! He was too close to cut him with his sword, so he used the pommel to slam into his face, the man's nose crushed by the force, then kicked him off his horse to be trampled beneath their hooves.

Vines erupted from the ground, tangling around the enemy horses, leaving their riders to either dismount or defend from on top the struggling beasts. Shimmering shields popped into place around their teams, and Wulfram grinned, swinging his sword through another enemy. The mage and shaman were doing their jobs, good.

An arrow flew by Wulfram, thudding solidly into a man that had been preparing to stab him in the back, but Wulfram had no time to thank whoever shot it for the save. Two more men had already taken his place, driving Wulfram towards Alastar.

Wulfram’s grin disappeared, and he growled, eyes flashing. What were they trying to do?

As he got closer to Alastar, the big man’s form flickered, shifting to look like one of the attackers for a brief moment. But the shield around him pulsed, the illusion shattering. “They have a mage!” Wulfram cursed, too busy defending himself to look for whoever had tried to cast the illusion. Were they trying to get them to kill each other? He could only imagine the turmoil that would cause! Who would want that?

“I see him!” One of Alastar’s guards shouted, her red hair flying as she rode past them. She raised her spear to throw, not slowing as she took aim and let it fly. It bounced harmlessly off some shield that the mage had around him, and arrows were flying towards the woman.

Wulfram let out another curse as he cut down his two attackers. Others were being choked and pulled under the ground by the vines, the earth heaving with their struggles. That left the archers and the mage. “Alastar! With me!” He rode towards the remaining attackers, Alastar quickly pulling his horse alongside him. Moira was already at the mage, but before they could reach her a spike of stone shot up through her horse and into her.

Alastar let out a roar of rage, flame licking at his lips as he bore down on the mage, his sword swinging down and crashing into the mages shield.

A spiderweb of cracks formed around the mage, and in another hit, the shield shattered with the sound of a thousand glass shards. He didn’t even have time to scream as Wulfram’s sword came down on him.