As Aingeal and I bring the hot air balloon down to rest on the gravelled driveway, I see faces peering out of the manor house in front of me, their expressions a mixture of confusion and alarm. The alarm disappears as the riding group rattles to a halt not far away from the basket, Nicholas very obviously at its head.

  Before we have time to do anything more than dismount, the doors to the house are already slamming open. A familiar figure strides out.

  “Lord Nicholas! Lord Markus!” Sarran’s eyes rove across our assorted companions and relief shows very obviously in his expression. “You were successful,” he concludes. I smile at him.

  “We were,” I agree with satisfaction. We were even successful at avoiding any beast attack on the way back – fortunate considering the numbers we returned with.

  His eyes linger on Alyna and Rory who are hesitating near the basket, standing behind Loran.

  “And you seem to have expanded your numbers a little. Did you…” he hesitates for a moment. “Are they…replacements?”

  It takes me a moment to realise what he’s actually asking, and a bolt of indignation briefly lances through me – as if I could have replaced anyone as easily as that! But the emotion is brief – I know that he’s just trying to find the most diplomatic way of asking whether anyone died.

  “No,” I tell him after a pause that’s brief enough he might not have noticed. “No casualties.” and then I bare my teeth in another grin. “Not on our side, anyway.” Though, having met Alyna and learning more about her story, I can’t help a nagging sense of guilt that wonders how many more like her I might have killed, even if indirectly. Well, I can’t feel sorry for being rid of Dexil or his closest companions.

  Sarran clearly isn’t bothered by similar thoughts; he nods approvingly.

  “As it should be, my lord.” Then he turns to Nicholas and I see him twitch slightly at the fractionally raised eyebrow on the lord’s face. I’ve spent enough time recently with Nicholas that I’m pretty sure I can read it perfectly – Sarran really should have properly greeted Nicholas first as the lord and his employer, but as they’re friends, Nicholas isn’t going to take umbrage. “Ah, I hope I find you well on your return, my lord,” Sarran murmurs, bowing in greeting.

  “Indeed. Is all well here?”

  I listen closely – we’d both been concerned that the kidnapping of my companions might be a distraction of sorts, but the manor itself looks much as it did when I left. Sarran’s words confirm that our fears were unfounded.

  “All has been quiet here, my lords. Bar a message from an ‘undisclosed sender’ that the guards intercepted.”

  Nicholas frowns.

  “A message? For who? Markus?”

  “Yes, my lord.” Sarran holds out a small roll of parchment to Nicholas. I move closer so I can read over Nicholas’ shoulder. It’s full of flowery language which says little and means less, but there is an underlying message that makes me clench my fists – this was meant to be the follow-up to torturing Loran. A concealed warning that the only way I could protect my companions was to seek ‘help’ from ‘generous parties’. It’s unsigned, but I could hardly mistake who this is from.

  “Torrent’s information source is clearly behind the times,” I say when I think I can keep my voice and face calm enough to do so.

  “This did arrive more than a tenday ago,” Sarran points out. I work it out – it’s taken us six days to travel from Whalehost, and we were there for two. Add in the seven days for the journey between Sandend and Whalehost…it’s been fifteen days since I rescued my companions.

  “How much more?”

  He considers it.

  “Thirteen days or so,” he informs us finally. I exchange a look with Nicholas who now knows exactly what went on even during the time we were separate.

  “It makes sense,” Nicholas comments. I nod.

  “He must have sent the message out before he got the news. Or perhaps before I even attacked – it must have taken some time to travel.” In the end I shrug. “No doubt he knows now.” I feel my lips pulling into a snarl as I think about the lord who still hasn’t had his comeuppance, and forcibly straighten them again.

  “Other than that, is there nothing urgent to report?” Nicholas checks with Sarran.

  “Lord Fell made contact – he asks for an audience.”

  “In person?” Nicholas asks, both eyebrows rising slightly this time.

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  “On the mirror.”

  “Ah.” Nicholas considers it for a moment, then turns his head to meet my gaze. “He probably wishes to discuss the recompense – I doubt he likes the feeling of being in debt to us.” Then he turns back to Sarran. “I can offer him a slot tonight – we will be heading for Azaarde in the morning.”

  “So soon,” Sarran comments, looking slightly dismayed.

  “The sooner Markus sets off, the better,” Nicholas tells him firmly. “We don’t want any more complications. We also need to speak to Maxence and his heir on the mirror – please set that up for tonight as well.”

  “It’s very short notice,” Sarran comments, then he sees the expression on Nicholas’ face. “But I’m sure he’ll be able to make time. I’ll go and set that up now – unless you need me to do anything else?”

  “No, those are the most urgent tasks. Though I’ll need to meet with you shortly to discuss the details of the last month.”

  It feels odd to realise that I’ve been here over a month – though by my standards, I’ve been here less than that since the months here are only twenty-one days long. Most of that has been on the road, but I’m slowly starting to feel like I’m getting used to this place. And in another month or two, I’ll be leaving it again.

  “Go get cleaned up,” Nicholas instructs me, his voice interrupting my thoughts. “Then come and meet me in my study. We need to discuss the topics that are likely to be raised in the discussions tonight.”

  “Sure,” I agree, feeling resigned to the thought of noble-speak. I have to admit that the last few days have definitely been more pleasant than the first half of my time here. Between the nobles at the palace and my Bonded being kidnapped, I was starting to think that this world is even more dangerous than the samurans’. Which it probably is, in its own way, but the last few days have proven that I don’t have to jump from crisis to crisis. Hopefully we’ll have some time to train and find our feet in the next few weeks.

  At least the down time during the journey meant I was able to level up to twenty-six – and get more than three-quarters of the way to level twenty-seven. The ambient magic might be poor here, but we have Energy Hearts. When that runs out, we’ll probably have to resort to beast Cores, but in the meantime I still have a good number of Hearts.

  Nicholas departs shortly after, striding into the house. I suspect he wants to get clean himself – those riding got dustier than those of us flying. Just another benefit of not riding, though I know I should probably learn the skill at some point.

  Stablemaster Beacon and a group of stablehands come to lead the horses away – I’m tempted to keep Tempest with me since he’s currently one of my Bonded, but in the end decide not to rock the boat. It’s not like I’m planning on keeping him Bound to me in the long-run – I’m just seeing how things go with his Energy channels. And on that front, I’m hopeful.

  His percentage towards Evolution has been increasing – it started at eighty-three, where according to Nicholas it’s been stuck for the last seven years – and is now at ninety-four percent. Impressive progress by most standards – it’s almost like a river has built up behind a dam for years and has finally been allowed to pour free. And from what I can see, his channels seem pretty healthy with no reappearance of that magical cholesterol. I’m not saying too much to Nicholas at this point – I don’t want to raise his hopes only to dash them later if it doesn’t work.

  My animal companions don’t need any instructions – they head around the manor towards our rooms. Those who were running are clearly tired and will probably go to sleep straight away. The rest have other things they want to do – the three Pathwalkers in particular are anxious to continue the projects they had been working on before they were kidnapped.

  I decide to leave the balloon where it is for now – I’m not sure how we’re going to travel to Azaarde. I’m about to stride into the house myself when a voice brings me up short.

  “Markus? What would you like us to do?”

  I turn to see that the three humans are still present, uncertainty in their expressions, though for different reasons, I suspect.

  If there’s one good thing that’s come out of the amount of travelling I’ve done recently, it’s that it’s allowed us to get more used to each other. Something about Loran being freed spooked Alyna and Rory – both of them seemed to walk on eggshells around me for a good two days. But after a full day of being in the balloon together, they relaxed a bit.

  Alyna’s been talking a lot with Hunter, sharing their enchanting knowledge and working on discoveries together. A conversation with Rory revealed that his parents hadn’t had the money to buy him an apprenticeship, but they’d managed to get him an indentured servitude contract in exchange for learning the trade at the local tannery.

  He hadn’t lasted too long in it before he ran away and ended up becoming a mugger, leveraging his natural strength to steal from others, but he has some knowledge of tanning techniques and the differences between animal hides. I might be able to find some use for that, but in the meantime, we need to figure out something for him to do. Perhaps blacksmithing with Happy – or leather-working with someone else. I’m still on the fence about that, though – he didn’t seem terribly enthusiastic about the idea, though he didn’t reject it outright either.

  At least Loran is set – though he decided to go to Azaarde with us, I managed to find him a master who’s willing to travel with us as the ship’s carpenter. He’s calmed down a bit from that first day of being freed – after the discussion with my other Bonded, he seemed a lot lighter. And then finding a master carpenter to teach him the trade has settled him – I think he’s more able to visualise the future, knowing that he has one that doesn’t depend as much on someone else’s whims. He’s still a bit awkward with me at times, but that seems to be fading with time.

  “We’ll be heading off bright and early tomorrow morning, so make sure you rest a bit in preparation,” I tell them in a thought. “If you’re restless, you can always ask the steward or someone for something to do. But I don’t have any specific tasks right now. Actually, Loran, would you be willing to show them around a bit?”

  “Of course,” Loran agrees, then frowns a little. “I’ll need to talk to the steward about beds. Where would you like them to sleep? With the other slaves or with the pack?”

  I hesitate for a moment, then decide to delegate that decision.

  “I trust your judgement. Just let me know whatever you decide. And make sure you all get something to eat.”

  If the little smile that curls at the corner of his mouth is any judge, he appreciates my trust.

  “Yes, Markus.”

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