They reached Hact's Sanctuary the next day.

Despite what the Rector had told him, Clay had expected the place to be an isolated Rectory building out in the middle of nowhere. After all, who was going to want to live near a pack of unstable, uncertain adventurers? If anything, it would probably look more like the prison in Crownsguard than anything.

Yet as they reached the hill overlooking the valley, Clay was forced to shift his expectations. There was a Rectory Shrine, but it wasn't some tiny place like the one in Pellsglade. Rather than a simple stone building, raised by patient farmers and a charitable [Noble], the Sanctuary itself looked like a cathedral of sorts, something closer to what he'd seen of the High Rectory in the capital. Stone walls with stained glass windows rose several stories high, with a bell tower that looked like it could rival anything in Crownsguard. It looked old, like the stones of the place had seen more years than all of Pellsglade put together, and the massive front doors stood open in invitation.

A village nearly twice the size of Pellsglade, well on its way to becoming a town of its own, spread out around it. The locals had built actual walls around their borders, a wooden barricade twice the height of a person and patrolled by a group of [Guards] in well-maintained armor. There was a busy market near the Shrine, as well as a small manor house that reminded him of the fancier areas of the capital. He mentally labeled the spot as the home of the 'Lonely Duke', the singular [Noble] in charge of defending the place from attack. His responsibilities apparently only extended to this particular town, and it wasn't hard to see why. There were other, smaller buildings stacked up next to the main Shrine, and unless Clay missed his guess, they seemed like barracks of some kind where hundreds of Peacebound could stay and live.

He glanced at Rector Jersen, who had seemed to relax when the town came into sight. "How many Peacebound live here?"

The Rector thought for a moment. "I'd say something close to two or three hundred at a time. The number goes up and down, depending on the year." He shrugged. "At the very least, we can offer you all a good place to rest. It's been a tough journey, but for now, we are all home."

There were a few sighs among the Peacebound, but Clay ignored them. He looked back and saw Wynn studying the town. The former bandit wasn't watching the place like he was looking forward to reforming his ways, but he didn't seem to see it with the kind of dread that a prisoner would display. Instead, it was almost like he was a wolf gazing at a particularly well-guarded flock of sheep.

Another hint of foreboding stole through him, but Clay shook it off. Whatever the man was up to, it was going to be the Rectory's problem. He had already spent a full five days dragging the Peacebound here, and between chasing nearly two dozen of them through the woods individually, he was fairly certain that he was ready to hand off the responsibility for the rest. Unless the rain had slowed her group down, Lana would have arrived at Glanwood nearly two days ago, and it would take at least another two to join her. They wouldn't have started hitting the highest-level monsters by then, and while he was confident that they would be fine, he also didn't want to miss out on the fighting by that much.

He was still plotting out their journey south when Olivia sidled up next to him. She sighed. "I think I know what Wynn's plan is."

Clay glanced at her and then looked over at the former bandit. Wynn had his arm around Simon, as if he was consoling the [Mage] over yet another unsuccessful escape attempt. "What do you mean? He hasn't even tried to escape."

"Right." Olivia raised an eyebrow at him. "Even though it probably would have been a great time to try while you were busy chasing after the others. Especially last night, when you are practically exhausted from the past few days of hunting people down."

He looked at her. "You think he was using them to wear me down."

She nodded. "Yeah. I do." Olivia looked back at the bandit, and a shadow of anger crossed her expression. "Every time somebody ran, he made sure to come over and welcome them back. I think he was warning them not to tell us who was pressuring them to run. That way, when he does something, you're at your lowest point."

Clay grunted. It wasn't completely out of line with his own suspicions. "True, but he's missed his chance. We're literally going to be walking into the Sanctuary in a little while. If he was going to run, shouldn't he have done it before he got here?"

"Only if he wanted to run alone." Olivia looked back towards the massive Shrine. "If he wanted to take someone with him, and they were already in the Sanctuary, though…"

He stared at her for a moment. "What makes you think that would be the case?"

Olivia glanced back at him. Then she blushed. "I… might have been making a few plans myself. Just in case I needed to rescue someone who was sent here. By mistake."

Clay snorted. "You really think the Council would send me here by accident?"

"Just because they might do it on purpose doesn't mean it wouldn't be a mistake." There was an undercurrent of threat in her voice that seemed like it should be concerning, but he was still grinning as she continued. "I think he's going to try and get someone out of the Sanctuary and use a bunch of other escapes as cover. He probably wanted you to be tired because they'll most likely send you after him, while they use all the others to track down the rest."

He tried not to groan as he thought it over. It sounded just a little too accurate to be entirely wrong. "How long do you think he'll wait?"

She shrugged. "Probably not long. After all, the more he settles in here, the more they'll watch him—and he wouldn't have tried to tire you out if he thought you'd be gone." Olivia looked from him to the bandit again. "I'd say he's probably going to try tonight. At the latest."

Clay looked up into the sky. It was barely after noon, judging by the sun half-hidden behind the clouds. He sighed. "All right. We'll talk to the Rectors and warn them. Then we can go." She nodded, and he heaved another sigh. Why couldn't any of this be simple?

"We are grateful that you have so much concern for the Peacebound, Sir Clay, but we believe that we have the situation in hand."

Clay tried to clamp down on his temper as he looked at the elderly High Rector. The man was in charge of the people at Hact's Sanctuary, and he seemed to have a kind, gentle disposition. Under most circumstances, Clay would have appreciated the fact that the warden of the Peacebound wasn't some merciless jailkeeper. At the moment, however…

He kept his voice even. "High Rector, if what we believe is true, then there could be an attempt to break someone out of the Sanctuary by force. We'd be hard pressed to stop them. If you would just assign an additional [Guard] or two to watch Wynn, it might prevent—"

Before he managed to get the words out completely, an alarm bell began ringing. It was joined by others, and a panicked-looking [Priest] burst into the room. "High Rector, the Peacebound are—"

Clay put a hand over his eyes and sighed. It was going to be another long day.

"So. Here we are."

Olivia's voice was suspiciously neutral, in a way that made Clay grunt unhappily. She raised an eyebrow at him, and he sighed. "They asked for help, Olivia."

"I thought we were going to let them handle it. Especially once we warned them."

He grimaced and looked ahead. The tracks continued heading north, as they had for the past few hours. "Wynn somehow managed to convince nearly thirty Peacebound to make a run for it, in all different directions. Their [Guards] are going to have their hands full tracking most of them down. They needed the help."

She nodded. "Especially with this group?"

"Yeah. Wynn's group." Most of the other fugitives had apparently scattered in all directions, heading for the nearest horizon with little other aim. Wynn, however, definitely appeared to have much more of a plan. "He isn't alone, after all, and they suspect he might be a bit more… violent than the others."

Olivia walked along in silence for a moment, her scythe tilted back over her shoulder. "Didn't they think the Guild would be able to track them? Using the Oath they made?"

Clay hesitated. "No. They didn't seem to think so." He shook his head. "Or at least, they didn't think it would matter. If they wait until the Peacebound do something to set off the Oath, they might be days away from the nearest team from the Guild."

"And then that team would have to hunt them down instead of doing something more useful." Olivia nodded slowly. Her eyes looked intent, as if she was picking apart the problem in her mind. "Still, it does seem like this would be a situation where they could rely on the Oath to warn them if things were going wrong."

He nodded again, his eyes tracing the pattern of tracks in the dirt. Unlike most of the scattered Peacebound, Wynn's group had managed to steal a handful of horses. Clay didn't think that the horses would have that much of an advantage—after all, both he and Olivia had more than enough speed and stamina to make up for the animals, and even a horse couldn't run forever—but it would definitely make it harder to catch them quickly.

There were six people in Wynn's group, from what the Rectors had been able to tell. Aside from Wynn himself, there had been two [Guards], both of whom had apparently been bribed. Another former Rogue, known on the records as Flint the [Fighter], had also been seen on horseback, as well as Tippet the [Dragoon]. Neither had very long records, but they were known to be shifty and had been at the Sanctuary for quite a long while.

The real cause of concern, however, was the fourth Peacebound, one that had been at the Sanctuary for nearly three years now. They called her Dana Reddson, the Queen of Thieves. She was a [Burglar] who had been born to a family of [Nobles]; apparently, a family tradition of stealing money meant for Crownsguard had conferred the [Class] on her. She'd taken the Peacebound Oath in order to avoid being labeled a Rogue, but none of the members of the Guild had trusted her to stay on the straight and narrow.

Now, it looked like Dana had taken her chance, if she hadn't somehow managed to bribe Wynn to set the whole thing in motion in the first place. Between the four of them, and the [Guards], they had the beginnings of a fairly effective group of Rogues and bandits. Who knew how much damage they'd end up doing if Clay didn't bring them back?

The question made his head hurt almost as much as the fatigue from the constant escapes in the days leading up to his arrival in the Sanctuary. Clay shook his head and forced himself to focus. The quicker they found the fugitives, the sooner they could return to facing the problems that really mattered. At least Lana had to have already started her work. The Peacebound couldn't run forever.

Clay stood in the clearing and stared at the split in the trail. A feeling of something like frustration laced with rage filled him.

They'd been following the trail north for nearly two days now, always following the trail of camps and hoofprints left behind by the fleeing group of fugitives. He thought the distance between them was closed, as the horses grew tired and the Peacebound felt more and more secure. In fact, he'd started to think they might catch the group on the following day.

Until now, at least. There were two different trails in the mud before him. Two sets of hooves went galloping out to the northwest; another group of four sets turned to the northeast. He looked back and forth between them, trying to think through the possibilities.

Olivia walked up behind him, her own eyes on the tracks in the fresh mud. "So. What do you think?"

Clay sighed. "They split up. Obviously." He gestured to one set of hoofprints, the ones that bent east. "Two of them are off on their own, while the other four are sticking together."

She grimaced. "We can't chase both of them."

"No." There was the chance that he could send Olivia after the two, but he had no intention of doing so. "We'll stick together. The last thing we need is to get split up and ambushed alone."

Olivia smirked. "As if that would give them a chance." She looked to the trail of the larger group. "So we go after the four, right?"

Clay shook his head. "No." She gave him a surprised glance, and he crouched down to point at the tracks. "Look at these hoofprints. Do you see anything off?"

She looked from him to the prints and back. A moment later, she shrugged. "Aside from one group is bigger than the other? Not really."

He gestured at the larger trail. "The bigger group has horses that are leaving hoofprints of different depths. Two of them are much lighter than they were before."

Olivia blinked. She looked at the other trail. "And the two that broke off alone?"

"Much deeper than before. Like they are carrying extra weight." Clay felt a hint of satisfaction twist through all the fatigue and frustration. "I'm betting that they sent off the two [Guards] one their own, leading two unused horses. Then they loaded up the other two with two riders each and went off in that direction."

Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

She frowned. "Or two of the Peacebound took the extra horses in order to escape faster. They could switch horses that way, right?"

"True." Clay shrugged. "At the same time, I don't think the other Peacebound would go for that sort of trick. I'm betting the four of them would stay together. Otherwise, why would Wynn bother taking them with him?"

She looked back and forth between the tracks. Then she sighed. "So we head northwest?"

"We head northwest." Clay stood up and rearranged his equipment again. "If the Guild or the Rectory wants to hunt down the [Guards], they can do it on their own time. We only care about making sure the adventurers don't cause trouble."

Olivia snorted. "That sounds a bit ironic, considering." Clay grunted, but still smiled. If Wynn had hoped to throw any pursuers off, he'd failed. He looked forward to dragging the former Rogue back to the Sanctuary. It wouldn't be long now.

A day later, Clay crept through the forest, closing in on the campfire ahead of him.

It was fresh, with smoke still rising from the coals. He could smell the remains of a rough breakfast, one that had probably consisted of hardtack and water. The fugitives likely weren't eating any better than he and Olivia were, though perhaps their horses' saddlebags had carried more supplies.

The poor horses hadn't been able to travel very well with double riders. Each hour had brought Clay and Olivia closer, until he had started to see hints of the group through the trees. The fugitives must have caught sight of them in turn, which had spurred an irritating sprint into the wilderness, heading almost due west as if they meant to lose him in the trackless forests between the territory of Crownsguard and Purlane. It had taken almost another full day to close the distance once more.

This time, however, Clay had been careful to creep up on the would-be Rogues. His weariness had faded a little as he'd started to anticipate the end of the chase, and he smiled as he moved a little closer to the camp.

Sure enough, he'd caught them as they were pausing for lunch. He saw someone brushing dirt over the last of the fire, while another was tending to the pair of horses. Neither animal looked especially happy to be there; both were nearly shaking with fatigue, even though the saddlebags on either mount looked to be nearly empty.

He recognized Wynn a short distance away, talking with a woman that had to be Dana. Neither appeared happy. Clay crept a little closer, hoping to catch some of their conversation.

"—they have to have lost us by now. Otherwise, we'd have seen some sign of them." Wynn's voice was both patient and frustrated. There was an undercurrent of concern as well, as if he wasn't nearly as sure of himself as he pretended. "If we keep going at this pace, the horses will be blown, and we'll be on foot. How long do you think you can avoid them, then?"

The woman snorted. She gestured to the forest around them. "Maybe we can work up some [Fortitude], then. Better to walk tired and free than well-rested and captured."

Wynn grimaced. He shook his head solidly. "The way you want to do it would leave us exhausted and under their thumb. You need to listen to me. I can get us out of it. You know I can. That's why you hired me."

Dana studied him for a moment. "You did come highly recommended." Then she lowered her voice. "At the same time, if you don't come through, I'll make sure that you don't get the chance to turn on me. You'll be dead on the forest floor before that happens. Understand?"

The former bandit raised an eyebrow. "Tough talk for a level one [Burglar]. Are we forgetting which one of us has the experience?" He made a gesture, and a hint of fire glowed in his palm. "I was robbing caravans while you were studying books in that place. Don't forget which of us has the advantage here, Queen of Thieves."

"All that power, and still running from a pair of [Commoners]." Dana shook her head, making a tutting noise with her tongue. "It doesn't seem to be of any use, Wynn."

Wynn stepped forward, his expression angry now. "That [Commoner] single-handedly took down the Skull and Bones gang. It didn't even take him a full day." He shook his head. "The man has to be even more dangerous now, and everything I've heard about that girl he's with suggests she's worse. If you feel like finding out for yourself, then go ahead and walk back to meet them. Believe me, I won't be following you."

Dana watched him for another moment. Then she laughed, throwing her head back and her arms wide. "Oh, Wynn, you are too easy to tease! Of course, I believe you about all of it. I just want to be sure we are on the right course. Now, can we—"

She paused as a stick snapped off to the south of the camp. The others all froze, their expressions abruptly blank with alarm. They nodded to one another and formed a quick line, facing in the direction of the sound. Their distraction turned their backs to him, something that Clay used to steal in a little closer.

Wynn spoke first, his voice firm. "Whoever is out there, come out now. We don't want to fight, but we'll defend ourselves if we have to."

Dana chuckled to herself, muttering in a much quieter voice. "Or if it's fun."

The bandit gave her a quick glare before he raised his voice again. "Come out now, before it's too late."

Clay set down his spear and drew his knife. He eased his way forward, leaving behind the underbrush. As the Peacebound continued to stare at the forest, searching for any sign of an attacker, he crept up behind the one furthest back, a man carrying a large knife that he assumed was the [Fighter]. Flint was still scanning the woods when Clay quietly grabbed his arm and laid the knife against the man's throat.

The [Fighter] went suddenly still. Clay pulled him backwards, separating him from the group as they continued to look ahead of them. He saw the man with a spear, probably Tippets the [Dragoon] step forward and poke at a bush ahead of him. "I don't see anything. Do you?"

"Not a thing." Dana looked over at Wynn, her expression clearly bored. "You know, I hope you don't take this the wrong way, but it seems like you are starting to get paranoid, my dear. Maybe you could—"

She paused, suddenly looking back at the camp. Her previously casual demeanor shifted to one of alarm. "Where is Flint?"

Clay had managed to bring the [Fighter] back into the underbrush. Flint was now staring at him with fearful eyes as Clay kept his knife on him. He raised a finger to his lips as the other Peacebound began a panicked search of their own camp. Tippets started to back towards the edge of the camp across from him, his eyes about as wide as they could go. "Where is he? Did he run? Why didn't we—"

A moment later, Tippets was suddenly lifted into the air. Clay couldn't see the tendrils created by the Ballad of Air, but it looked close enough to what might happen if an invisible giant wrapped a hand around the [Dragoon]. Tippets had just enough time for a startled whimper before he was yanked straight back into the forest in a sudden rush of snapping twigs and rustling leaves.

The remaining two Peacebound spun around, weapons in their hands. Clay had to try hard not to snort as they shouted and cursed. Olivia hadn't really wanted to keep things less lethal; she hadn't seen any reason not to open with a double volley of ice spears from the Canticle of Ice. Still, she'd done a fairly good job of neutralizing one of them without killing the man.

He started his own recitation of the [Chant], hoping to be able to pick off either Wynn or Dana, but before he could finish, Wynn went pale. "It's them. They found us. What have you got me into?"

Dana laughed, even as she backed towards the horses. "Maybe the mounts could go a bit faster now, Wynn? I think we should—"

She cut off as Wynn abruptly raised both his hands and pointed them at her. Energy gathered in his palms, and the former bandit spoke loud enough to be heard clearly. "Sir Clay, I know you're watching. If you don't give me a way out, I'm going to cook her where she stands."

Clay froze, the [Chant] falling from his grasp. He watched as Dana frowned at Wynn. "That's not funny, Wynn."

"I'm not laughing, 'Queen'." Wynn's expression was a snarl as he glanced around the clearing. "I mean it, Sir Clay. You can't stop me before I launch the [Charm], and she's not going to dodge fast enough either, not at this distance. So you either let one low-level Rogue off the hook, or you're going to be dragging a charred corpse of a [Noble]'s daughter back with you to the Sanctuary. Your choice."

He watched for a moment. Then he sighed and stuck his knife into the dirt in front of Flint. The [Fighter] was still staring at him like he was some kind of monster, but Clay only gave him half his attention as he drew out his bow.

It wasn't the same bow he'd used in Pellsglade, or the one that Orn had given him in the Academy. Both had been decent weapons, but David had done his best to improve on what he'd been given before. The bow now in his hand looked a little like the standard issue [Guard] warbow, but a closer study revealed how the wood glimmered with a half-visible sheen, and how the string seemed more like a strand of steel rather than simple fiber.

The arrows weren't normal either. Each one was sturdy enough to make shattering unlikely, even at the force he was using. They were a mix of narrow bodkin points and broadheads, each seeming to be tipped by a sliver of lethal starlight more than plain iron.

Between the bow and arrows, Clay knew he could punch a broadhead shot straight through a steel breastplate at a hundred strides. Beyond that, he could still cause more than enough damage to bring down an unarmored man like Wynn. Of course, if all he wanted to do was kill the former bandit, the man was barely a handful of strides away. A single shot would do it easily.

Unfortunately, Clay had higher standards to keep. He grimaced as he pulled out an arrow from his quiver—a normal one he'd fetched from the Academy stores, not something from Pellsglade—and fitted it to the string. The point was narrow, and he hoped it wouldn't cause too much damage.

The draw on the new bow was fierce, to say the least. Despite that, he stepped carefully so that he had a clear view of Wynn. Flint stirred, and Clay paused long enough to give him a raised eyebrow. As the [Fighter] stilled again, he looked back at the scene in the clearing.

Wynn was moving constantly, shifting his position and looking in all directions as if he expected Clay to materialize from the air around him. His expression was a mix of desperation and brutal determination. It reminded Clay of an animal caught in a trap. Quietly, Clay started the Ballad of Air again. Even if it wouldn't be fast enough, it would be useful after.

Dana, in contrast to her former partner, was just watching the man circle her, turning to face the magic gathered in his hands. "You know, I really don't think this will work, Wynn. You should have thought this through."

"Shut it, hag. You're the reason I'm even here!" Wynn looked around again. He was side-on to Clay's position now, and Clay could see fire flickering in the man's palms as he turned to present a profile. "Sir Clay! Answer me, or she burns!"

Clay waited just a moment longer. Then, in one smooth motion, he drew the arrow back and let it fly.

His shot crossed the distance in the blink of an eye. It struck Wynn right in the forearm, moving at a speed that seemed to split the air with a roar. The force of the impact twisted the former Rogue nearly off his feet; the magic he'd gathered sent a spear of fire searing out into the forest. Branches shattered and leaves caught fire, but Dana was left untouched.

Wynn screamed, clutching at the shaft stuck halfway through his arm. He staggered, his face frozen with pain and disbelief etched onto every feature. As he fell to his knees, Clay completed the Ballad. Tendrils of air lashed out, wrapping around the man and slamming him to the dirt. He heard the bandit scream again, the sound muffled by his new position.

Dana raised an eyebrow at the sight. Then she shrugged and drew a knife, stepping forward. "Well, turnabout is fair play—and I did warn you, Wynn."

She lifted it, and Clay prepared to shove her back with one of the Ballad's tendrils. Then he relaxed as a blurred figure shot from the opposite side of the clearing, landing with surprising force between the [Burglar] and her prey.

Dana backed up as Olivia rose from a crouch, her scarf drawn across her face and her scythe ready to strike. Her eyes widened as she took in the sight of the weapon—and then she smiled. "Well, aren't you just fascinat—"

She didn't quite manage to finish the sentence before Olivia lunged forward, the butt of her scythe sweeping out to catch Dana across the legs. The [Burglar] cursed in surprise as her legs went out from under her and her knife went spinning away. Dana started to scramble back on her hands and feet, only to freeze as Olivia brought her scythe up and around in a deadly slash.

The blade stopped just above Dana's face, and the [Burglar]'s eyes nearly crossed trying to stare at it. Olivia spoke quietly a moment later. "Do not move. Do not speak." Then she spoke a little louder. "Clay?"

Clay grinned. He stowed his bow and pulled his knife from the dirt. It took a moment to gesture for Flint to stand up and head back into the clearing. The [Fighter] still seemed paralyzed by fear, but he eventually got the picture.

They emerged from the underbrush together, and Olivia's eyes flicked towards him for a heartbeat. Her hands moved in their combat sign, just for an instant. Two down. Secure?

He responded in the same way, his hands moving. Secure. No problems. She nodded, her eyes once again fixed on Dana. The [Burglar] hadn't moved. Instead, she was smiling with a disturbing amount of sincerity.

Clay spent a few moments finding some rope and tying Flint up. He did the same for Wynn as well, though the man had long since passed out from the pain. The arrow had gone clear through his right forearm and partway into his left; it took a bit of effort to draw it out and bandage the wounds. As he finished, Olivia tied Dana's hands behind her back, and then went to wherever she'd stashed Tippets.

Dana was still grinning at him, her eyes unnervingly bright. "So, you're the Commoner Hero. It's nice to be able to put a face to the name." She tilted her head to the side. "And your friend? What's her name?"

"You can ask her yourself." Clay dragged Wynn over to the horses. The animals gave him nervous sidelong glances, and he tried to soothe them with a few whispers and strokes. "You might have plenty of time for that while we drag you back to where you belong."

She didn't seem bothered by that prospect, or at least, not as much as she should. The [Burglar] seemed fascinated as he hefted Wynn up and into a saddle, before having Flint join the unconscious bandit. "I'm surprised you just aren't killing us right here. You have to know I'm not going to stay put."

Clay gave her a direct look. "I became a hero to kill monsters, not people." He secured Wynn to the saddle with a rope. It wouldn't be perfect, but with Flint's help, the man shouldn't fall off easily. "If the Guild or the Rectory wants to kill you, they can do it. I have bigger problems to deal with."

"For now." Dana grinned. "I guess that means I just need to become a bigger problem, huh? Interesting."

Olivia reentered the clearing, dragging a clearly unconscious Tippets behind her. She looked from Dana to Clay and back. "Keep in mind not all of us feel that way, Peacebound. Stay at the Sanctuary, and let us take care of the real problems."

Dana's gaze was fixed on Olivia again. She seemed captivated by the mask-scarf that covered Olivia's face. "More and more interesting."

Olivia ignored her, hefting Tippets up into the second saddle and tying him to it. She spoke in a low voice. "It'll take us four days at least to bring them back to the Sanctuary. Five or six, if we aren't lucky with the weather."

Clay grunted. He didn't like the state of the horses, and the prospect of dragging the Peacebound to Hact's on foot seemed unpleasant. As Olivia went back to pull Dana to her feet, probably a bit more roughly than necessary, he thought over their options. Five days to Hact's followed by another two to Glanwood meant at least another full week before they could support Lana—and that was if the Rectors didn't come up with some other chore for him, like tracking down yet more of the fugitives that had escaped their net.

He scowled for a minute. Then he took out a map of the area, tracing their probable course over the past few days with his fingers. As Olivia wrestled Dana into place on the second horse behind Tippets, an idea started to dawn on him. By the time Olivia came back to him, he was almost grinning.

She gave him a curious look. "What?"

Clay tapped on the map where the Sanctuary was located. "You're probably right about the time to go back to the Sanctuary." Then he moved his finger west on the map. "If we just ignore Hact's, though, and head straight to Glanwood, it's almost the same distance, because of how far west we probably are. We'd just have to head south instead of heading back east, too."

Olivia paused. She nodded. "That's true. We might even get there faster." Then she looked back at the Peacebound. "We're not planning on letting them go, are we?"

"After all this? No. Not at all." Clay shrugged. "At the same time, we don't have to be the ones who drag them back to the Sanctuary. I'm sure Baron Glanwood would be happy to take that problem off our hands once the Lair is done."

"Wait, what?" Dana's voice was almost indignant. "You're dragging us close to a Lair? We can't get close to one of those. We're Peacebound!"

Clay gave her a stern look. "Well, maybe this experience will help you remember that next time you decide to go for a run." He shook his head. "We're going to be killing the place, anyway. You'll be fine."

Flint spoke up, his voice trembling. "And if you fail? What are we supposed to do if the monsters come?"

He gave the [Fighter] an exasperated look. "Die like the rest of the [Commoners], I guess. You'd have a better chance than they would, honestly." The man's eyes bugged out a little, but Clay shook his head. "You won't need to, though. We'll take care of it."

The [Fighter] seemed entirely unassured. "Right. Sure."

Dana burst out laughing, a high, disturbing sound. "Oh cheer up, Flint. I mean, they handled us well enough, didn't they?" She eyed Clay and Olivia, her smile wide. "Maybe we'll even learn something."

Clay shook off the feeling of unease and looked back at Olivia. "Any objections?" She shook her head, and he nodded. "Then let's get going. We've been distracted long enough."

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