Rikel put her hand on her sword. “Can you tell by what or who?” she demanded, too loudly for Jolen’s comfort.

Before Jolen could answer, a voice rang out from the trees. “I apologize,” it said. “My intent was not to startle you. May I approach?” it asked.

The group looked to Lelwyn who nodded. “Aye!” he yelled. “Just do so with weapons away,” he warned.

From the trees walked an Elvish woman wearing a dark green cloak. She had the hood up, obscuring her face and hair. Jolen looked at her for a moment and then bowed. “My lady,” he greeted formally. “I am Jolen of the family Durana.”

The woman started backing away. “Have we met?” she asked cautiously.

Jolen shook his head. “No, my lady,” he answered. “And, if my lady wishes it, we have not met this day, either.”

The woman nodded her head. “I wish it, son of Durana,” she ordered.

Lelwyn bowed towards the woman. “Greetings! I am Lewlyn, a Healer sent by the Order of the Golden Shield to...”

“I already know of the situation in Midway,” she interrupted with her hand raised.

Rikel raised her eyebrow. “Word must travel fast in this forest. Is there something you wanted of us lady...?” she trailed off, wordlessly asking for the woman’s name.

The woman nodded curtly. “I only seek directions to the village of Nighforest,” she informed them.

Jolen pointed to the north. “Head north until the road. The path east heads to Nighforest, my lady,” he explained.

The woman gave a slight bow. “You have my thanks, Jolen of the family Durana.” Before anybody could answer, she started walking towards the road to the north.

Once she was out of earshot, Bewr chuckled. “Why do I get the feeling that she’s even more important than a certain mere agent of the Cardinal?” she mused.

At Rikel’s confused look, Lelwyn answered the unasked question. “It is a trivial matter that would take far too long to explain and has no bearing on our current quest in any event. Speaking of, we should make haste,” he ordered before getting back onto the cart.

Rikel mounted her horse while the others got on the cart. Once everybody was situated, they headed out.

Bewr poked Jolen’s shoulder. “So, who was she?” she demanded.

Jolen turned his head to Bewr. “Who was who?” he asked with a grin. “The only people I’ve seen today are the four of you,” he added.

Kirel, picking up on Jolen’s trick play on words, turned to face him. “Okay, who was it that you did not see this morning after we ate but before we left the camp?” he asked in exasperation.

Jolen turned back to the forest ahead of them. “Well,” he started. “There are many people I didn’t see this morning. For example, I didn’t see either of the Elvish generals.”

Bewr chuckled. “Okay, that was a good one,” she admitted. “Seriously though, who was that?”

Jolen crossed his arms over his chest. “I have no idea what you’re talking about,” he answered.

Rikel turned back to the cart. “I’d leave it,” she suggested. “If he wants to tell us about her, he will.”

The three mages pouted, causing Rikel to laugh.

Jolen chuckled. “Hypothetically,” he started, “if we were to have encountered somebody this morning, she’d be the only woman I know of who had a more difficult lineage to deal with growing up than my sister. Hypothetically, of course,” he added with a stern look.

Bewr started to ask him a question but was stopped by Lelwyn, “Leave him be, Bewr. If he wishes to hold his tongue on this, prying would just be counter-productive in getting more information.”

Jolen was about to reply when he held his hand up for silence. “Does anybody else hear that?” he asked.

Rikel shook her head. “Hear what?” she denied.

Jolen tilted his head. “It sounds like a large number of animals running together,” he informed them.

Bewr’s eyes widened. “It’s a stampede!” she shouted.

Rikel jumped off of her horse. “Quick! Turn over the cart and get underneath it!’ she ordered. The group quickly did as instructed.

Once the group was under the cart, Kirel used his magic to put up a barrier around the turned-over cart for additional protection.

Moments later, a stampede of various animals was upon them, going around the cart and magical barrier as though they were merely a small boulder in their way. Snowhoof, scared by the commotion, ran along with the stampede. Silreth, on the other hand, was still tied to the cart and was hurting herself trying to run. Jolen, seeing this, threw his dagger at the rope, freeing the frightened horse. Once Silreth was freed, Jolen summoned his dagger back.

Once the stampede had passed, Kirel groaned in agitation. “And now we don’t have horses!” he complained. “It’s going to take us even longer now to catch up to the corpse of the poacher!”

Bewr slammed her shoulder into Kirel’s side. “We should probably be more concerned about what scared those poor animals enough to stampede like that!” she scolded him.

Kirel rolled his eyes. “Yes, because stampedes are so unheard of,” he countered, sarcastically.

Jolen raised a finger. “Actually, a stampede in the forest is exceptionally rare. This isn’t a savanna,” he pointed out. “I agree with Bewr, something major must have scared them to get them to stampede like that.”

While Jolen and the Mages argued, Rikel let out a loud whistle. Kirel turned to her. “What purpose did that serve?” he asked, rubbing his ears in pain. “Beyond deafening us.”

Rikel smiled. “The horses should have heard that. If they did, they’ll start heading back. I’d suggest continuing on while we wait but the cart looks too heavy for us to carry.”

Bewr looked the cart over. “I could try casting a spell to reduce its weight; but it’d take longer to cast than just waiting for the horses anyway,” she admitted.

A few minutes later, the horses trotted back towards the group. Bewr walked up to Silreth and tied her back to the cart while Rikel got on Snowhoof.

As the group continued on their way, Lelwyn turned to Rikel, “we are fortunate that our equine companions have such good hearing.”

Jolen suddenly silenced everybody by holding up his fist. “Everybody, to the trees!” he shouted while jumping off the cart and running towards the treeline.

Everybody else quickly ran to the trees just in time for a large shadow to pass them by.

Lelwyn turned to Jolen. “What in the name of the gods was that?” he demanded in fright.

Jolen tried to calm himself. “That was a dragon,” he gasped between breaths.

Bewr forced herself not to faint. “I thought there hadn’t been a confirmed dragon sighting for almost a thousand years!”

Rikel helped support Bewr. “Never mind how long it’s been since a dragon was seen! Where was this one going?”

Jolen look at Rikel with horror. “It was heading straight for Nighforest.”

Bewr started running towards the cart. “We have to warn them!” she shouted.

Kirel stopped her by placing a hand on her shoulder. “If we do that, not only would everybody in Midway die, so likely would the rest of the forest. Maybe even beyond, depending on what the Necromancer is up to.”

Lelwyn stepped forward. “Kirel is right. We have the unenviable position of having to decide between saving a small village or an entire country. And you know that splitting up would simply place us all in greater peril, threatening both quests with failure.”

Bewr looked to Lelwyn with tears in her eyes. “And what if the dragon heads to Elrlith next?” she demanded.

Lelwyn laughed. “A dragon would hardly be a match compared to a singular member of the Mage’s Council, let alone all four of them at once! And that’s assuming none else in the city aided in the defense,” he pointed out.

Kirel placed his arm around Bewr’s shoulders. “Lelwyn is right, Elrlith has more than enough defense without us; we’re all that this forest has right now,” she added.

Bewr sobbed into Kirel’s chest. “And we’re just going to sacrifice the people of Nighforest to do it?” she asked.

Rikel started walking back towards her horse. “There’s no way we’d get there in time to warn them, anyway,” she pointed out.

Bewr looked at Rikel. “I know speed enchantments I could cast on Snowhoof,” Bewr countered with hope.

“Nay,” Lelwyn denied. “Such a spell would drain you, quite literally, to death. Even were you willing to make such a sacrifice, it would still be extremely unlikely for Snowhoof to be able to reach Nighforest before the dragon in any event. And that’s assuming that he survived the entire journey. Even if he did, the dragon would be all but on his heels. Along this path of thinking, madness lies.”

Bewr sobbed. “I just don’t like the idea of not helping!”

Kirel started pulling Bewr back towards the cart. “We know; there’s simply nothing we can do about this. If we had a Summoner with us, things might be different. Even Mages can’t do everything you know.”

Bewr looked to Jolen. “Well, what about at least warning that women we met this morning. Can we do at least that much?” she begged.

Jolen shook his head. “I don’t doubt that she’s smart enough to want nothing to do with a dragon. In fact, her not leaving the forest might be a good thing,” he mused out loud.

Lelwyn got back onto the cart. “As much as it saddens me to leave the denizens of Nighforest without protection, our current quest must take precedence,” he ordered “To that end, we should make haste to follow the animated remains of the poacher that Rikel slew.”

With that, the group reluctantly headed out.

As it was approaching noon, Jolen randomly chuckled. Rikel raised her eyebrow. “What’s so funny?” she demanded.

Jolen pointed at a small clearing away from their path. Following Jolen’s direction was a single skeleton walking in a circle because its legs didn’t have the same length.

Bewr scratched her head. “So,” she started. “Do we just leave it alone or do we do the honorable thing and put it out of its misery?” she asked the others.

Lelwyn shook his head. “As entertaining as watching the skeleton tirelessly wander in circles may be, should it be repaired, it could become an actual threat,” he explained and then turned to Kirel. “Kirel, would you do the honors?”

Kirel shrugged and quickly cast an ice spell, freezing the skeleton solid. The skeleton’s momentum forced it forward, where it shattered into several pieces upon impacting against the ground.

Bewr pretended to swoon. “My hero!” she joked.

Kirel started blushing in embarrassment. “Please stop,” he begged the others.

Jolen, catching onto the teasing, slapped Kirel’s back. “That was quite a heroic display of magic!” he mockingly complimented.

Lelwyn placed his hand on Kirel’s shoulder. “Aye,” he smiled. “That is indeed the kind of great battle that epic songs and poems are made of; this day will be long remembered!”

Kirel shrugged Lelwyn’s and Jolen’s hands off of him in annoyance. “If you’re done teasing me, don’t we have a village to save?” he asked.

Rikel smirked. “You mean we can’t do both at the same time?” she asked rhetorically.

Kirel rolled his eyes and urged the horse pulling the cart to go faster.

A few hours later, Rikel stopped her horse. Lelwyn signaled Bewr to stop the cart walked up to Rikel. “Why have you stopped?” he asked.

Rikel gestured to her outstretched sword. “What does it mean if my sword is directing me to go in two different directions?” she queried.

Lelwyn nearly tripped. “That should not be possible,” he objected slowly before turning around. “Bewr, we require your assistance!”

Bewr handed the reins to Kirel and hopped out of the cart. “What’s up?” she asked.

Lelwyn nodded towards Rikel. “The direction spell we cast on Rikel’s sword is giving her conflicting information pertaining to the direction of the poacher,” he explained.

Bewr’s eyes widened in disbelief. “What?” she demanded. “That’s not possible!”

Lelwyn chuckled humorlessly. “Indeed,” he agreed. “That is why we require your assistance.”

Bewr nodded. “Got it,” she answered. “Okay, how far apart are the two directions?” she asked Rikel.

Rikel thought for a moment. “One is almost directly due south while the other is slightly westward,” she reported.

Bewr chewed her bottom lip in concentration. “And when did you first notice the two different directions?”

“Just now; had I noticed it before, I would have let you know immediately,” Rikel added.

Bewr nodded. “Okay, if the poacher’s body is no longer in one piece, it’s possible that you’re being led to each part,” she explained. “Assuming the body’s separation is intentional, it’d be logical to assume that the larger part is where we want to go. Which direction is the stronger pull?”

Rikel thought a moment. “The southward one,” she answered. “But only just.”

Lelwyn cleared his throat. “Then let us make our way southward,” he ordered. “Should that be the wrong direction, we can easily double back to the other location the spell is directing us to.” The others nodded and they continued on.

Later that afternoon, Jolen jumped out of the cart. “Wait here a moment,” he commanded before climbing a tree. He shouted down to the rest of the group. “There is a white tower about an hour’s walk to the southeast.”

Rikel drew her sword, finding it wanting to point strongly in the precise direction Jolen indicated. “That tower must be where the main part of the poacher’s remains were heading,” she observed, spurring her horse to go faster.

Jolen got back into the horse. “If we hurry, we should be able to get there by nightfall,” he explained.

Lelwyn nodded. “Then let us make haste,” he ordered.