Chapter 10: The Rescue

It was around midday when Kalann and his companions found the Urts that had taken Faro captive. It had been a long night of searching, and the desert was a large place. But thanks to Laura's sharp eye, they never lost the trail. The four of them were all worn out from lack of sleep, but they were pleased to have finally found their friend.

The Urts had set up camp in a ring of boulders, and they had chained Faro to the largest one. All six of them were asleep, snoring loudly. Kalann suspected that strong ale had put them to rest; the stench of alcohol was in the air.

"Get these chains off me!" Faro was shouting. "I can take you with my hands tied! Let me go or you'll be sorry you ever messed with me! And once my friends find me, they'll-"

"-Free you and be done with it," Kalann interrupted, walking up to him.

Faro gave a start. "Kalann! Don't jump out at me like that, you almost gave me a heart attack!"

"Good to see you too," Kalann sighed. "Sleep well, I hope?"

"Like a baby." Faro peered past Kalann. "Don't worry, Selia, I still have all my limbs!"

"And thank the spirits for that." Selia shouldered past Kalann and embraced Faro. "You're hideous enough as it is."

Kalann burst out laughing. Now that the immediate threat was over, he was suddenly feeling in much higher spirits. "Alright," he said, "let's get you out of there."

He knelt down and examined Faro's chains, Sparks shuffling up behind him. They were wrought iron links, too tough to break by sword. But there was a lock on the opposite side of the boulder. "Any idea which one of them has the key?" he asked.

"We don't need a key," Laura said as she walked up to him. "Let me take a look."

Sparks raised a skeptical eyebrow, but Laura was already examining the lock. Cautiously, she slid a dagger into the hole and twisted. After several seconds of tinkering, the lock snapped off and the chains fell to the ground.

Faro was on his feet in a flash, stretching up to the sun. "Ahh," he moaned, "I missed mobility!"

Kalann glanced over at Laura, impressed. "Wow. I'm glad we found you."

For the first time since they met, Laura managed a smile. "Your flattery is appreciated."

At that moment, there was a harsh growl from behind him. The Urts were waking up, realizing what was going on.

The rest of Kalann's party was by his side in an instant. "Five to six," Sparks said. "But they're all drunk."

"I like those odds," Faro smirked, snatching his sword off the ground. "Dibs on the one with the hand ax!"

The Urts charged forward, but Sparks' prediction was correct. Bleary-eyed and unfocused, they were unprepared for the companion's counter-attack. Faro charged ahead and crashed into them like an avalanche, sending them tumbling. One of them stumbled to a stop at Kalann's feet, and he lashed downward with his sword. There was a shriek, a spray of green blood, and the Urt's head went sailing over the dunes. He glanced up; the rest of his friends had made similarly short work of their prey. The Urts were dead.

Kalann breathed a sigh of relief. "That was almost too easy." It was the first time he'd been in an actual fight, and he was surprised how easily the rhythm of battle had come to him. His nerves were still humming with energy; he felt like he could've wrestled a giant sandworm and lived to tell about it.

Selia glanced around. "Anyone injured?"

"Fresh as a waterfall, doctor," Sparks quipped. He glanced at his staff. "I didn't even get a chance to practice my magic. Pity."

Faro stretched his arms. "Next time, we'll take on an army. That should give you plenty of opportunities, right?"

Kalann sighed. As much as he wanted to bask in the afterglow of Faro's return, he knew it wouldn't last. He turned to Laura. "We should get back to Pailan. How long will that take us?"

She looked up at the sky, pursing her lips. "If we leave now and don't stop to rest... we'll reach it before night falls."

Selia nodded. "I just hope our leader is in a forgiving mood."

"We'll deal with that when we come to it," Kalann said. "Let's get moving. I'll feel more comfortable once we're back in the village."

The rest of them agreed. None of them noticed a dark figure crouched behind a nearby boulder, watching them with deadly intent.

* * *

Kaston watched as the humans trekked across the desert. Makuran had ordered him to find the recipient of Evartan's message and kill him. He had tracked down his master's cowardly brother in Aridus before; it only made sense that he had delivered his message to someone in Pailan. And indeed, after listening to their conversation from the shadows for some time, he had heard them discuss a mysterious letter they had found. The warning was out. The question, then, was what came next.

Kaston slipped behind a dune, keeping himself hidden in the shadows. From their conversation, he was certain that the black-haired one was the man Evartan had delivered his message to. But why him?

Whatever the reason, it would be too risky to try a frontal assault. He suspected that the man in robes was a wizard, and he likely had a few nasty tricks up his sleeve. He'd have to take a more careful tact.

Besides, there was something curious about the black-haired human. Kaston couldn't tell what was nagging him, but some invisible force urged caution around him.

*Perhaps I won't kill him quite yet,* he mused. *Let me test him, and I'll see what he has up his sleeve.*

Kaston reached into his pocket and drew out a glass orb. Inside it swirled a thick grey mist that sparked with points of red. One could just barely make out the formation of a minuscule structure hidden by the fog.

Kaston raised the sphere into the air and softly intoned a word of power. "Traxi!"

The orb rose into the air. Kaston turned to the retreating back of the dark-haired man, focusing all of his energy on him. With a soft hiss, the glass shattered, and the orb's interior faded into the sunlight.

The trap was set. Satisfied, Kaston dissipated into shadow.