By the time Andrew and Lord Justin arrived at the scene, the soldiers had bound most of the bandits and loaded them into two of the wagons. Several of them had small wounds, and Andrew couldn’t help but notice Jarnvaror had burned the leader. The soldiers had done an admirable job administering first aid, but his condition was rough. Off to the side, Anna and Peter sat with Jarnvaror. Three blue Wisps hovered around Anna as she looked out into the desert. She had a bandage wrapped around her thigh, which was stained red. The dragon was licking the wounds along his shoulder and wing, while Peter tried to wash those along his neck. Even without Peter’s connection, Andew thought thought the dragon was bristling with rage.

“Sorry we’re late,” Andrew said, walking up to them.

“I don’t think it would have made a difference,” Anna said.

“What happened?” Andrew asked, gesturing to her leg.

“The enemy mage,” she said. “He must have hit me, but I didn’t feel it until after he’d gotten away.” Andrew listened as Anna described their attempted ambush, and how the mage had foiled it, wounding her then Jarnvaror before escaping. “None of us could get close to him,” she muttered.

“We could still go after him,” Peter said.

“Jarvaror couldn’t even take off with those rocks flying at him,” Anna said. “What would you do if he knocked you out of the sky?”

Peter only shrugged and turned back to the scales he was cleaning. The Wisps pulsed, and it seemed like they all drifted a little closer to Peter.

“Is he doing okay?” Andrew asked.

Peter shrugged again. “Nothing too serious. Those rocks were flying so fast they only put little holes in the wings.” Jarnvaror rumbled something. “Yeah, I bet they’re sore. But it’s not as bad as that time Mjolniri bit them. You should still be able to fly, this time,” Peter told the dragon. Andrew recognized the name of one of the other dragons back home, though he wasn’t sure which one it was. “It’s the other bruises I’m worried about. Jarn says it was like being battered by another dragon’s tail. Just, twenty at a time.”

“That’s it?” Andrew asked. “Why not run him down?”

Peter rolled his eyes at Andrew. “You ever had twenty people sucker punch you all at once?” Peter asked. Andrew shook his head, understanding, but Peter continued anyway. “Now change it so the person is the size of a cat, but still just as strong and he’s battering you over and over—"

“I get it,” Andrew interrupted. He decided he should just be grateful they weren’t hurt any worse. As he thought, Lord Justin approached with his lieutenant, Frederick. Andrew nodded to him, then looked back at Anna. “We’re probably going to need to go after the mage again,” Andrew sighed.

“When we’ve captured so much of his group?” Lord Justin asked. “We’ve caught most of the troupe. This should discourage them for a while.”

“Maybe,” Andrew said. “Or the mage might just form another party with his Wisps.” Andrew paused. “We should ask the other bandits what they can tell us about any others. The ‘blondie,’ the bandit in town mentioned, especially.”

“I’ll help with that,” Anna said. “It may be useful to have Halcyon’s help while we’re questioning them.” She stood up and winced, her hand moving to the wound on her leg.

“It’s alright,” Andrew said.

“I can still walk,” Anna objected.

“You should still rest. Besides, we can bring them over here and let Jarnvaror growl at them if we think they’re lying.” Anna smiled and sat back down. The dragon snorted as Peter conveyed the words for him.

Moments later, one of the bandits was sitting bound between the three Wisp seekers, Halcyon hovering close. Between the Wisps’ calming influence and Jarnvaror’s presence, the man seemed dazed. Andrew asked most of the questions. Unfortunately, after the first question, the rest of the answers seemed to all be the same.

“Does anyone else in your group have Wisps?”

“Think we’d be sitting here if we did?”

“You might.”

“We don’t. Only Sakir used ‘em.”

“And how did he get them?”

“Don’t know.” “What do you mean you don’t know?”

A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

“Don’t know. He and his uncle left one day and came back with them. Made his magic stronger. Don’t know how he got him. Didn’t ask.”

“What about your contacts in the city then? Who do you talk to?”

“Inaros handles that.”

“Inaros?”

“Big man. Sakir’s uncle.”

“Not your captain today?”

“What, Qenna? Just a good fighter.”

“Who would know about Sakir’s Wisps, then?”

“Don’t know.”

Andrew groaned in frustration and dismissed the man. Each bandit they interrogated gave them similar answers, some in more words, some in less. Andrew hopped moving up the chain of command would help. He had four soldiers carry the burned man, Qenna, over to lay before Anna and the dragon. He glared at them from the stretcher. Jarnvaror bared his teeth. The man didn’t even flinch. Then he entered halcyon’s influence. His expression twisted. He seemed like he really had dealt with Wisps more than the others. He was much better at maintaining his own feeling as the influence washed over him.

But, as Andrew asked the questions again, he got the same answers. Qenna laughed. “I was worried I’d have to come up with some lie to spite you. I don’t even need to! I don’t even know what you want!”

“What about where Sakir went?” Peter asked over his shoulder. Andrew looked back at him, and Peter continued. “We saw him riding those rocks all the way back to Nuidia. But where would he go in the city?”

Andrew grinned at his brother and looked back to the wounded bandit. The mans face had grown stony, and he didn’t say anything. “You might as well tell us,” Andrew prompted. “We can always ask the others. And lets be honest, cooperating is probably the only way you avoid the gallows.”

“I’m dead anyway,” the bandit muttered. “Look at these wounds.”

“I think I’ve survived worse,” Peter said, patting his legs. Andrew thought he might be exaggerating a bit too much, but as he saw the light of hope spring into Qenna’s eyes, he thought it best not to say that out loud.

It was several seconds before Qenna opened his mouth to reply. “There’s a place close to one of the lord’s homes. East end of the city. It’s called Alephrias. Those in our business often… frequent that place when we’re dealing with high paying... clients. Inaros was supposed to be there, today.”

“Is that the only meeting place?” Andrew asked.

“No,” Qenna said. “There are dozens of other places. Pubs, inns, that sort of thing. We don’t all use the same ones, though, even in the same group. I don’t know all of Sakir’s and Inaros’s favorites.”

“I see,” Andrew said nodding. “Thank you for cooperating.”

“If this doesn’t win me amnesty, I swear I will haunt you all to death,” Qenna chuckled. The guard’s carried him away.

“Well, young man. What are you thinking?” Lord Justin asked.

“I’m not sure,” Andrew said. “It will be a risk to find the mage, but I think we have to.”

“What will you do when you find him?” Lord Justin asked. “I don’t think any of you are strong enough to fight him. Accept the dragon, maybe. But even if you do bring him, or you could fight him, the city won’t tolerate you making an arrest inside their walls.”

Andrew nodded. “We need to handle this carefully,” he agreed. He looked over at Peter. “Maybe it would be best if we had Jarnvaror serve as lookout for a while. Do you think he could spot the mage from the sky?”

Peter thought for a moment. “Think you could pick that guy out of a crowd?” he asked the dragon. Jarnvaror hissed. Peter grinned. “I’m sure we could get him.”

“Just watch him,” Andrew said. “I don’t think we want to go after him while he’s still inside the city.”

“You saw what he did fighting,” Anna pointed out. “I don’t think waiting for that is really in our favor. But they didn’t attack us openly in the city.” She turned to Lord Justin. “The Nuidians don’t tolerate the bandits causing trouble within the walls, either, right?”

The lord nodded. “No. They have sanctuary so long as they keep the peace. No one can fight if it isn’t in a duel.”

“A duel?” Peter asked, perking up.

“Are you suggesting,” Andrew began, ignoring his brother, “that we should find them while the guards are watching?”

Anna nodded. “We should use the city rules to our advantage, to get close, and see what information we can get.”

Andrew looked in the direction of the city, as if he could see through the walls. He was sure the bandits would be able to get around those rules better than they could. They had years of experience working with Nuidian nobility and soldiers, and they might even be well liked. The Wisp Seekers, though, would still be strangers. He had no idea if they could really use the rules to their advantage. Of course, if the Nuidians really were as strict as Lord Justin claimed about violence in the city, that may not matter. But the risk still ate at him.

“How do these duels work?” Peter asked. “Are they just to the death or what?”

“Most of the time,” Lord Justin said. “They are used to settle disputes of honor. Some who are desperate might use it to settle debts. But that is rare.”

“We aren’t dueling them,” Andrew said. “Even if you could beat the mage, how would you get information out of him afterward? How would you get the Wisps?”

“I could duel one of the lords,” Peter suggested. “If I win, anyone in the city would have to surrender their Wisps to us.”

“No,” Andrew said. “Even if you could win, we don’t want to make enemies.”

Peter crossed his arms. “I can win,” he insisted.

“As long as it’s not a mage, maybe you could,” Andrew agreed, thinking of the Mottled. He looked back at the city, then shook his head. “But I don’t want us just going in swords drawn. I doubt dueling lords works that way, even if the guards would let you get close enough to do something about it.”

“We’ve gotta do something,” Peter said.

Andrew nodded. “I know. Maybe I’ll think of something on the way.”