Flame 32, Slide 4 Day 5, Mid-Slide, 415 AC
Ursula patted Xandor’s brow with a damp cloth. “We won’t make it to Vagar in this heat on foot. We barely made it here.” With no caravan for the two travelers to join, the journey back to Trisden from Omensound had taken them over forty days. They’d had one encounter with goblins on the way, but fortunately Ursula and her magic had convinced the little green men that the two travelers had nothing of value to the goblins. Xandor had wanted to fight, but even though the goblins were small, they had the advantage of numbers. Ursula was glad Xandor had shown restraint and gone along with her ruse, pretending his sword was only for show and not even fit to be traded. She knew it hadn’t been easy for him.
Now back in Trisden, their next order of business was to continue on to Vagar to return the mouse to Xandor’s girlfriend, Jenna. Xandor had told Ursula everything. She feared the worst, for the mouse had been catatonic since it collapsed in the Chamber of the Seeress. Xandor claimed it had acted this way before, and both young people clung to the hope that the familiar’s owner was all right.
“Where is Jenna?” asked a strange man’s voice.
But Xandor knew the man and replied, “She stayed in Vagar. Why?”
“No,” the man said. “She’s not been in Vagar since she took off with you for Omensound.”
Ursula’s heart caught in her throat. Escorting a mouse from one city to another hadn’t seemed like much of an Age Quest. She didn’t know Jenna, but she knew how important his girlfriend was to Xandor. Ursula couldn’t deny she liked Xandor, and even though she had decided their relationship best remained platonic, she felt a certain empathy with her quest partner. For his sake, she hoped Jenna was all right.
Xandor stepped back. “Jenna didn’t go with us to Omensound.”
The man scowled. “That’s what her note to her parents said.”
As Xandor clenched the hilt of his sword, Ursula sensed the intensity of his grief. “Give me the mouse.” She held out her hand. “I can use it to find Jenna.”
* * *
Willem recognized the feeling of magic. Something was happening, but he didn’t know what.