I woke up to the sound of snoring. Cracking open my eyes, I could see the tavern ceiling above me. The sun shone through the windows, illuminating my room. Sitting up was too painful, so I laid there. From what I could feel, I was still wearing the same clothes I had worn the night before. Smoke still hung in the air, the smell emanating from under the covers.

From my position laying on the bed, I looked over to the source of the snoring. Another bed was pushed into the room, in the corner across from me. A small table, a single rose placed on top of it in a vase, divided the beds from each other. Nia lay on the bed, snoring in a continuous pattern. Her neck was wrapped in a white bandage, her blonde hair draped over her pillow. A large red stain seeping through the bandages marked the spot where Nia was stabbed.

For a brief moment, fear overwhelmed me. My heart pounded in my chest as I stared at Nia’s bandages. Was she dead? No, she was clearly breathing. The excitement and chaos of the battle had been too much for me. Even after getting some rest, I could still hear the sounds of death, feel the heat from the fire.

I closed my eyes. Was that how it was when Henry and Arienne were taken? Were they as scared as I had been? As scared as I was? Those thoughts filled my head as I drifted back asleep. It was a restless sleep, but sleep nonetheless.

I was able to sleep for another hour before a knock at the door woke me. Nia continued snoring without a care in the world. I looked towards the door, stretching my neck to avoid sitting up. It creaked on its hinges as Greenspring pushed it open. He was dressed in moss and leaves stitched together with branches and long bits of grass. As he entered he placed his staff off to the side.

He smiled as his eyes met mine. Greenspring slowly walked over to the side of my bed. Grabbing a chair, he sat down next to me. As he bent down, he audibly groaned in pain. I tried to see if he had any injuries from the night before, but he didn’t have a lot of skin showing.

“Good morning, Norman. I see you have woken from your little nap,” he said, smirking.

I could only move my head to look at him, “Can’t say it’s a good morning. Though I can see you’re looking well.”

He laughed before he pulled up his sleeves. Cuts and bruises covered his arms, but none of them were still bleeding. They looked as though they were weeks old. I knew that Greenspring was a druid, so I assumed he had used some kind of healing magic. Still, it would have been nice if he had used it on me and Nia.

“My transformation helped me avoid any major injuries, but magic can only do so much,” he said, shaking his head.

“Transformation? Does that mean that wolf was you?”

He nodded, rolling back down his sleeves. “Few druids can perform such a feat. If only it would have...” His smile fell as he turned toward Nia. “They took her Norman, they took Tamara.”

Henry, Arienne, and now Tamara. They were all gone. “Are you sure?” I asked. I needed to know, needed to know if there was a chance Henry and Arienne were still alive.

“I saw them knock her unconscious and carry her towards the east. Had there been fewer of them maybe I could have—”

“No, don’t think like that. There’s no point dwelling on it. What’s done is done.”

We sat in silence. Greenspring looked out the window, his expression grim. As much as what I said was true, I couldn’t help but feel regret. While they were struggling to protect Tamara, I was acting like a clown at the tavern. I knew this would happen, and yet I did nothing to stop it. It was my fault Tamara was gone.

Greenspring fidgeted with his beard as he said, “When you left, the three of us watched the harska. We had to make sure that he did not escape. What I did not account for, what we should have been prepared for, was that he was not alone. Nia was the first one to smell the smoke. Tamara went outside to check what it was. When we heard her scream, we rushed outside. We were already surrounded. I could not do anything but watch them take her away.”

He looked me in the eyes as he continued, “They attacked from behind the sunset— a clever trick. Twenty, maybe more, harska charged at us. Nia, of course, grabbed her axe, so we were able to fight them off. But we could not reach Tamara before more arrived.”

Both of us jumped from Nia banging her fist on the table, knocking the flower vase on it to the floor. The glass shattered, scattering the pieces and the flower all over the floor. She sat up in her bed, the mattress creaking as she did, and turned to Greenspring.

“You should have followed her. You should have left me to fight the others and followed her. If you had—if we had fought harder, she would still be here.” Tears welled in her eyes.

“Do not be a fool,” said Greenspring. “You would have died and then we would have lost both of you.” 

“I should have stayed,” I said, staring up at the ceiling. “I could have helped.”

Nia wiped her tears with the back of her arm. “Ain’t your fault, we thought it would be safe.”

“None of us are at fault,” said Greenspring, leaning back in his chair. “There is nothing any one of us could have done to save everyone. It is like Norman said, what is done, is done.”

Both Nia and I nodded. Even though I knew Greenspring was right, I still blamed myself. I blamed myself for losing Henry and Arienne. Time and time again I wasn’t there, and people suffered for it.

But what could I have done? I wasn’t a fighter. Sure, I knew a few tricks, but I was no match for creatures like the harska. In the back of my mind, I knew I should have stayed on the farm. When I left, all I could see was my dreams becoming true. I never considered what I would have to do to get my family back.

“We can not change the past,” said Greenspring. “But that does not mean we have to let this go.”

Greenspring stood up. He looked at me and Nia, extending his hands toward each of us. Closing his eyes, he muttered something under his breath that I couldn’t hear. Flower petals formed around his fingertips, creating a sweet smell in the air.

The flower petals peeled off his fingers and fell towards us. One by one, the multi-colored petals formed and peeled off his skin. As the petals reached my bed, they sank into the covers reaching my skin below. I could feel the soft petals touch my skin and sink deeper, reaching the muscles underneath. Already my injuries felt better. I looked over to Nia, who pulled off her covers, and watched as the petals disappeared below her skin.

After a minute, Greenspring twisted his hands around so that his palms faced upward. The petals that hadn’t reached our skin drifted back towards his, sinking back in as they reached him. He opened his eyes and smiled, wrinkling the corners of his nose. Then like a candle going out, his face grew serious.

“Nia, Norman,” he said, facing each of us in turn. “Please, we must right this wrong. Help me fix my mistakes, help me save Tamara.”

Nia jumped from the bed, shaking the floor. She reached out toward the druid and put her hand on his shoulder. Her expression was as grim as his. Greenspring returned the favor and placed his hand on hers. Silently, they both agreed. They turned towards me, their eyes gleaming with hope.

Wherever Henry and Arienne were, they were suffering. I knew that to be true. How could I lay there crying for myself when they were in danger? Taking a deep breath, I tried to ignore the fear that still dwelled inside me. They needed my help.

“I promised to save my family,” I said, tears starting to fall down my cheeks. “I didn’t know Tamara for long, but she’s family—you all are. I’m not sure how much help I will be, but I will do what I can.”

Nia leaned down beside my bed, her eyes red and her cheeks puffy. “Thank you. These harska tore our loved ones away from us. I promise, Norman, we will make them pay.”

With that, our rescue team was formed. We talked for the next couple of hours, making a plan for how we would save Tamara and my family. I would be support, using my magical music to bolster the frontline fighters. Nia would, of course, be the frontline fighter. That axe would be very useful in a fight, and Nia was the best to wield it. Greenspring would be both support and on the frontlines. switching between his wolf form and human form. I still didn’t understand how his transformation worked, but I had seen how powerful it could be.

I also asked to see the exact limits of their abilities. Nia could only fight—no magic ability of any kind. Truthfully, I was disappointed. Three magicians were something to be reckoned with. Greenspring’s magic focused on healing and defense. Using a wolf-shaped pendant he wore around his neck, he could either summon a spirit wolf or become a wolf. As a wolf, he couldn’t cast spells. He was limited in how often he could change forms.

Greenspring left for the forge to try and figure out where the harska had gone. Nia and I, now recovered from our injuries, left to gather supplies. Thanks to my performances at the tavern, we had plenty of money. 

We needed food, water, and horses for transport. Lucky for us, the market had most of the supplies. I had to haggle with one salesman for horse feed, but other than that it went well.

Nia picked out three horses for each of us from a group of ten. Each horse picked out was a mustang, which from what I heard was a rare horse in these parts. Nia’s horse was brown and much larger than the others, my horse was chestnut colored, and Greenspring’s was gray. His was the shortest of the bunch.

I looked at my horse, trying to think of some name for it. We would spend a lot of time together, so I wanted to give it a good one. My first thought was to name it Brawn, due to his strong legs and muscular chest. Later on, when I met up with Greenspring, I asked him what he thought of it. He seemed to think it was a good name, so Brawn he was.

Nia didn’t name her horse, preferring to call it a horse. Greenspring named his horse, Yabani. When I asked where he got the name from, he said that Yabani told it to him. Yabani shook his head as if he was nodding in agreement.

Before we left, I tried to find David. He was in the middle of haggling with another merchant when Nia and I approached him. Raising an eyebrow, he eyed Nia up and down before doing the same to me. “You have a curious energy around you, Norman.”

“I’m leaving town. Thank you for helping me, David.”

He nodded, handing the other merchant a bag of coins. The merchant thanked David before heading off to another stall. “I hope you find them,” said David.

“We will,” replied Nia, turning to lead the horses to the forge.

“If you’re ever in Xalir, feel free to visit my farm. You’re always welcome,” I said, waving goodbye to the elvish merchant. He nodded, waving goodbye as well.

Nia, Greenspring, and I met up outside the forge. I had the horses behind me, their packs filled with supplies. It would last for a week at least. They stood nervously in a group as we watched Greenspring look for clues. He squatted near the furnace, poking around at the ash-covered ground. After tying the horses to a nearby post, I walked over to him.

“Look at this, Norman,” he said, pointing to a particularly ashy spot. “What do you notice about this?”

“Looks like the roof caved in and burned down. You can see the hole if you look up.” I pointed toward the roof above us. In several spots, the wooden beams that made up the structure were missing or burned.

“True, but look under the other holes. There is a distinct lack of ash under them.”

“Maybe the wind did that?

“Not this precise,” Greenspring said as he stood up. His bones creaked loudly as he did, but I noticed that he had no physical signs of discomfort other than the sound. Greenspring looked down towards the ash pile and spoke clearly, “Let the winds speak the truth!”

A small breeze formed around the blacksmith’s house. All the ash that had fallen around the house flew into the air. It formed a ball in front of Greenspring. The ball hardened into a solid object, falling to the ground in front of us with a soft thud. In the place of the ash pile, were harska footprints heading past the house.

Greenspring looked at me and smiled. “If we follow these tracks, we will find our blacksmith.”

Nia walked over to us and examined the tracks. She frowned. “Can you tell how old these tracks are?”

We watched as Greenspring reached inside his shirt, pulling out his wolf pendant. The blank eyes of the wooden totem glowed red. Off in the distance, I heard the unmistakable sound of a wolf’s howl. I turned to look for the source, seeing nothing but the open fields surrounding the village.

I turned back towards Greenspring, who was now accompanied by a gray wolf. Its yellow eyes focused on the footprints. Lowering its head to the ground, it sniffed around the forge. Suddenly, it moved toward the east, keeping on the scent as best it could. The three of us got on our horses and followed after the wolf.

Though I was nervous about facing the harska, I tried to stay brave. If I was to save my family, I couldn’t let fear control me. Still, it was very exciting to be on a real adventure. It was like I was living in the stories Piopus used to tell me. I used to imagine leaving home and going on an adventure, but now those dreams were coming true. I looked towards the Sapphire Mountains, my heart filled with hope.

Henry, Arienne, and Tamara, we will save you.