The wind was relentless, and the fog wasn’t helping matters. It made it difficult to see. A day had passed since the search for Talon began, and none of the Ashtari had found him. Aurora was starting to worry. One day wasn’t a long time, but if the mages made it past the barrier, they would never see Talon again.

  Jerome’s stomach rumbled. Aurora ignored her own rumbling and gazed forward, trying to see past the fog. The white mist was thick, and if she weren’t worried about mages, she would have moved it aside. “Erator, move towards the east and tell me if you spot anything. I’m going to check out the west,” Aurora said.

  Erator stood straight and nodded before disappearing into a portal. Scouring the lands was difficult. Having to have an image of a location in mind made it hard to go too far, as most of the Ashtari had never been in the area. Sharing memories helped, but with unfamiliar territory, a power user had to create a portal, look through it, and then make another portal to go long distances.

  All of them were tired from the lack of sleep and very little food. Aurora worried they might be too tired when the fighting started, but she had no choice but to push the Ashtari to keep searching. Time was running out. She created a portal and stepped inside, arriving on top of a mountain.

  I’m too far; I need to stay focused. Aurora closed her eyes and opened another portal, arriving at the spot she meant to, a grassy field with little cover. She made another portal and landed on top of a hill. Nothing. Wiping away some sweat from her forehead, she portaled back to the others.

  Erator arrived a minute later. “Nothing. I saw a couple of people walking around, and they didn’t see any mages,” he said.

  “We need a break,” Jerome said, rubbing his stomach as another rumble escaped him.

  “There’s no time for a break,” Aurora said. She couldn’t recall the last time she wasn’t holding the power. The invincible feeling had never gone away, making concerns seem small and not worth the time to think about. “If we don’t find Talon soon, he’ll be lost forever. We’re moving onto the next spot.”

  Before Jerome or Erator could respond, she opened another portal and stepped through. The two followed right behind. There was no fog here, and the wind was a slight breeze. Trees remained still, except for leaves falling off some. “Explore the area and report back here in twenty minutes,” Aurora said and walked off.

  No mages were nearby. Aurora would sense them using the power to stop Talon from accessing it. She was confident about recognizing mages in the area, and she had told the Ashtari to sense out the power.

  All she saw for the next twenty minutes were trees, a few deer, and birds. No signs of any humans or movement of a wagon. Another dead end. Aurora met back up with the others, who reported the same thing. “We need to meet with the others; follow me,” Aurora said and created a portal back to the Wastelands.

  The others had already arrived. Aurora hadn’t expected to be last. “About time,” Lewis said.

  “We were beginning to think you found trouble,” Tol’Solie said with her strange accent. Aurora had yet to hear anyone else talk in such an accent.

  “No,” Aurora said. “Did anyone find anything?”

  The others turned to Dorvan, who was in the center. “I found tracks, and not just a few. There was a wagon, along with a couple of dozen horses and dozens of footsteps, marching together. I’m confident these are the mages,” Dorvan said.

  “Anything else?” Aurora asked, her mind thinking furiously. Dozens of footsteps would mean more mages joined the ones who captured Talon, or were they foot soldiers? She hoped the latter. If there were fifty mages, that made the task of recovering Talon more difficult. Both sides would take casualties, and she was hoping to overpower a dozen mages with one hundred Ashtari. If nobody died in this rescue, it would help ease tensions.

  “Aye,” Zaldrone said. “I examined the tracks, and they are a little over twelve hours old.”

  “Show me,” Aurora commanded.

  “Follow us,” Dorvan said and created a portal. She and Zaldrone stepped through.

  Aurora squinted as the sun hit her eyes and looked around. It didn’t take long for her to see where the tracks were. A path with large hills surrounding them and this direction led to Mortham Tower. This had to be them.

  “Well?” Dorvan said with a cocky grin.

  “This has to be them. Let’s get the others. We need to follow this path before it’s too late,” Aurora said and created a portal.

  “Agreed,” Zaldrone said.

  “Let’s go,” Dorvan said.

  Lying on the ground, shaking like a leaf, was Talon Astero, the king of Azzellia, who had been beaten once more. Blood was dripping down the side of his face where a fresh new cut had been placed. He was wheezing for air. I will kill them. I will kill them. The same chant was racing through his mind. It was the only way to forget about the pain.

  This was the longest the mages had gone without healing him, and this had been their harshest beating yet. Talon felt his cracked ribs. He groaned and coughed up a bit of blood. The mages were around him, not laughing or saying anything. What was going through their arrogant heads?

  One day... That’s all I have left. The thought made Talon want to cry. There was no hope of rescue anymore. The mages sent scouts in all directions and reported nobody following them. Corvin had no way to get to him. The Ashtari were at the Wastelands, most likely wondering what was taking him so long, or they had returned to the School of Power. What would Qidan do? No, the better question was, what was Qidan doing? Surely, he had to be worried about him?

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  Talon could feel Qidan somewhere far, far away. The distance was too great to put an exact location, but the fact he was so far didn’t bode well for him.

  That was his only other chance of hope, albeit small. If Qidan learned of his capture, he could go to Mortham Tower and pretend to be shocked and rescue him. Talon knew the odds of that were unlikely, even if Qidan wanted to rescue him. He had been to Mortham Tower before. Royal families were required to visit a couple of times. Strong power users were locked down tight and had multiple mages guarding them at all times. The mages would leave more than two for him; he was far too important.

  There was nothing more depressing than that thought. A mage walked up to him; one Talon didn’t recognize as it was one of the newcomers. He placed his hand on Talon, and a cold, familiar, misty feeling splashed over his body. He felt his cracked ribs heal themselves, and then the mage stopped, stood up, and walked back to where he had been standing.

  Talon found it easier to breathe, and that was his only comfort. The cut was still bleeding, and his entire body ached in ways he didn’t know were possible. His wrists and ankles were raw from the chafing of the ropes.

  “Falcon, how long until we can portal out of here?” Asagara asked.

  “Less than a day,” Falcon said.

  “Good. Kamorra, Zelena, put Talon on the wagon. We ride once he’s secure,” Asagara commanded.

  Talon wanted to fight but found the familiar invisible strings grip him tightly and lift him off the ground. He bit his tongue to stop himself from screaming with rage. There was no point in wasting what little energy he had on it. The mages only laughed when he lost his temper, and how could he blame them? He was as helpless as a babe. Over a hundred soldiers and thirty mages, what could they have to fear from him? Even if he somehow broke the wall blocking him from the power, the other mages would take him down in no time.

  His body landed harshly onto the wooden plank, and his wrists and ankles were tied, much like before. Talon couldn’t stop a groan from escaping his mouth, which elicited a chuckle out of Kamorra. Zelena looked at him with pity and shook her head before walking off. He was secure, and the mages were getting on their horses.

  “We ride!” Asagara said, and the horses moved.

  Talon grimaced as the wagon rode over rocks, causing splinters to tear into his back. He could feel something wet dripping down from his many scratches on his back. He tried to distract himself from the pain by looking at the surrounding area.

  They were riding through a mountain area. So many cliffs to ride on. A good place for a trap, if only Corvin could have made it here somehow. Movement caused him to freeze. He could swear there was someone watching them. Talon squinted, trying to get a better look, and saw silver hair? Then it was gone. He blinked and started to laugh. He was going insane! This wasn’t the first time he had seen illusions of people following. The lack of sleep was causing him to hallucinate, all false hopes of rescue.

  Zelena poked her head out of the cover of the wagon and saw Talon laughing to himself. “What are you laughing at?” she asked.

  Talon didn’t answer as he kept laughing. Not even the pain could get him to stop. Then he stopped and looked back, wishing what he had seen hadn’t been a mirage. But there was no one there. Nobody was following. Zelena shook her head and went back inside.

  Voices inside the wagon made him focus. “We’re less than twelve hours away from this barrier,” one of the mages was saying.

  “Finally. Then we can portal to Mortham Tower and see what secrets Talon has,” Zelena was saying.

  Twelve hours? Talon grew desperate and tried once more to summon the power. He did everything he could to beat against the invisible wall to no effect. If the mages knew he was trying to grab the power, they never mentioned it. Sometimes he had beaten at the wall for hours to no effect. Time was running out and all he could do was lie here, waiting for the inevitable.

  The pain was starting to overwhelm him and he began the same chant. I will kill them. I will kill them. I will kill them.

  “Did you see them?” Dorvan asked when Aurora returned, sliding down a hill. Her face was calm as ever. If he didn’t know better, he would think Aurora was treating this like a training exercise. The others were stressed about Talon’s capture, but Aurora didn’t appear to care.

  “That’s it. I counted over a hundred soldiers and at least twenty mages. I don’t know how many are inside the wagon,” Aurora said.

  “We should grab the others and attack. The mages won’t see us coming,” Dorvan said.

  “You grab the others. Have them come here but don’t attack until I return,” Aurora said.

  “What? Why?” Dorvan asked. What could she be doing that would take her away from this spot? Was she going to try and distract the mages?

  “I have to speak with Corvin,” Aurora said.

  “Why? We don’t need his help,” Dorvan said.

  “We don’t know what those soldiers have. They could have artifacts that protect them from the power. Besides, Corvin was most insistent, telling me he had people who would be helpful,” Aurora said.

  Dorvan bit his lip. That was a waste of time, but they were at least half a day away from the barrier. “I hope we don’t need them, but go. I’ll grab the others.”

  Aurora smiled and put her hand on his shoulder. “Thank you, Dorvan,” she said, and was gone in the blink of an eye.

  She’s incredible. I wish I were as strong and calm as her. Dorvan thought, shaking his head to rid himself of the thought. He didn’t have time to admire Aurora; he had to get the other Ashtari and prepare to fight a battle against the mages. The thought sent shivers down his spine.

  Aurora walked right into Corvin’s tent, ignoring the guards. Thankfully, the guards hadn’t tried to stop her. If they had, she would have brushed them aside with the power. What surprised her was that the battle she thought was about to start almost two days ago hadn’t started. Eshil Domain’s forces remained on their side of the hill, and Azzellia’s on theirs.

  Upon entering the tent, Aurora noticed four strangers she hadn’t seen last time. A giant man with a huge sword on his back. He looked familiar, but she couldn’t recall where she had seen him. Next to him was a smaller woman with red hair and two swords strapped to her back. A handsome man with blond hair and a sword attached to his hip. Another man could use the power but wasn’t an Ashtari, and a woman Forest Dweller. Interesting.

  “Have you found him?” Corvin said, turning his attention away from the others the moment she entered the tent.

  “Yes. There are at least twenty mages and a hundred soldiers,” Aurora said. She wondered who the strangers were. Clearly, they were the ones Corvin wanted her to take with them, but they didn’t look strong. The man with the giant sword looked strong, but his strength meant nothing to the power. The power user had potential but wasn’t trained, for his strength was on the weaker side.

  “You need to act fast,” Corvin turned to the strangers. “Will you assist?”

  The large man answered, “Yes. We’ll need to get to camp so I can bring my army.”

  Army? Who is this guy? Aurora thought. “We can do that. One question, why hasn’t Eshil Domain attacked?”

  “I asked Harold for another day to discuss the situation with my lords.”

  “He agreed?” Aurora said.

  “Not at first. He relented, though I had to pretend that I was seriously considering surrender,” Corvin said. “That won’t be for long. Eshil Domain is preparing to attack, hopefully you can return before they do.”

  “We’ll try our best,” Aurora turned to the large man. She barely went past his stomach—lord, he was tall! “Where are your troops?”

  “Three miles to the east.”

  “All right, I’ll portal us there, and we’ll leave. I hope they are ready,” Aurora said.

  “They are.”

  “Then follow me,” Aurora created a portal and stepped through. She hoped the Ashtari could take out the mages with no casualties on either side. They would need the prisoners when the mages came to confront Talon.