"I think I see home!" Alice cried, hopping from foot to foot with glee as they finally drew within a few miles of Persistence, Iowa. "I can see the plume of cooking smoke, looks pretty impressive. I wonder how many more people they have since we left?"

  A cold wind whipped across the prairie, winter's snow having started to fall around them over the st week as they traveled eastbound across Nebraska and Iowa. The four friends trotted at a quick pace down country roads, accompanied by Moonwhisper who occasionally vanished into the cornfields to go hunting. The week of travel had been uneventful, very few monsters willing to make themselves seen by the eighth-level adventuring party and even most lone travelers trying to avoid contact, presumably afraid of bandits.

  "I just hope they remember who were are ... and that nobody went into my room," Colin said. "I had dangerous experiments set up in there and if anyone went in, well, it would not be good for them if they did."

  "I swear, if you burnt down my vilge!" Alice joked, hip-checking the wizard pyfully.

  "I am excited to see the town as well as Colin's room of experiments," Deirdre said, expression carefully neutral while Colin blushed at the implication. Bridgette guffawed, spping her side as she looked between the two elves.

  "I'm sure he's got lots of things he'd love to show you in his room."

  As the party got even closer to Persistence, it became obvious that the plume of smoke was not a normal cooking fire, instead being the smoking remains of a building. The cookhouse where Becky had spent most of her time making such delicious meals for the vilge was burnt to the ground, only the hearth remaining as the charred wood remains smoked. Alice's face was a mask of fury as she strode into the vilge, kimono billowing around her as Bridgette, Colin, and Deirdre followed. They had decided to let Moonwhisper roam the surrounding area for the moment instead of surprising the town by bringing a giant wolf in immediately.

  Travis looked up from where he stood, sifting through the remains of the cookhouse, eyes flickering across the four as he reached for a weapon, only to suddenly stop as he recognized Alice. "Holy shit! I am so happy to see you guys!" He jogged over, giving the trio hugs before gncing in askance at the elven woman standing near Colin.

  "What happened here?" Alice said, her voice frosty. "I'm happy to see you, Travis, but I'd like an expnation."

  Travis sighed, a bck leather gloved hand coming up and running through his now shoulder-length hair. He gnced around, grimacing as he realized there was nobody else he could pass this responsibility on to. "Okay, you remember that Warren guy from a few months ago, the one who showed up and nobody knew where from, and he was trying to beat up Becky and Kyle?" Alice nodded, the man's face immediately fshing in her mind's eye as she remembered the creepy asshole.

  "Well, he came back - with a few friends. They raided the town two nights ago just after dark. Kyle's in a coma, hasn't woken up. They beat the absolute shit out of him, breaking his arms and legs. I'm honestly shocked he's still alive. They straight up murdered Jacob, all I can assume is that he got in their way somehow. I found him ying outside the cookhouse, throat slit and a dagger in his back. And Becky is missing, presumably taken by them. I'd been out on a patrol, and we were chasing down a new kobold den, it got te and I decided to camp out instead of returning home. This is all my fault. If I'd been here, maybe I could have stopped them."

  Alice's face had grown colder and colder as the rogue had continued his expnation, only softening as he tried to take bme. She sighed, trying to get her thoughts in order, and set a hand on his shoulder. "First, it's not your fault. If it's anyone's fault, it's mine. We should have been here weeks ago but ran into a few deys, some we couldn't avoid and a few we could have. Second, I'm going to hunt him down and hang him by his balls. Do we have any idea where he went?"

  Travis grimaced, pulling a folded piece of paper from his storage ring and passing it to the healer. "Not exactly, but he did leave us this."

  I had heard much about you from my friend Daniel, how beautiful your women were and how weak your men were. He was not wrong on either account. Next time I come visit, I expect a tribute of at least three women, or I will kill three more men. You have one month.

  Alice read through it quickly, passing it to Bridgette, who read it and then handed it to the elves. Deirdre snarled, staring at Alice as she finished reading it. "We must rescue her and stop this."

  "No argument here, but we have to find him first. Any ideas? Also, sounds like Daniel is finally rearing his head and trying to make trouble for us. I thought we were done with that creep, but I guess not."

  Deirdre whistled, Moonwhisper loping into town and slowing next to her. Travis panicked, scrambling backwards and drawing a weapon as the enormous primal dire wolf padded to a stop next to the short elven woman, fangs dripping with saliva and paws sinking into the soft earth of the farm. Colin smirked, patting Moonwhisper on the fnk and called to Travis. "Don't worry, she's friendly." Travis gaped at Colin in disbelief before staring back at the wolf, slowly sheathing his sword. Deirdre turned and looked at Colin, quirking an eyebrow as the wizard stood there next to Moonwhisper. Colin suddenly stammered, looking sheepish, realizing he might have taken a bit too much credit for the wolf, then staggered as Moonwhisper butted her head into his shoulder in a friendly nudge.

  "May I have the note?" Deirdre asked, holding a hand out toward Alice. Alice nodded, handing over the small piece of paper. The elven woman sank down into a crouch, running her hands along the note carefully and examining it as Moonwhisper sniffed it, her giant nostrils nearly inhaling the paper. She stood, gncing around the town, and then trotted off toward the edge of town, beckoning Alice to follow her. Following a trail that only she could somehow sense, she twisted her way through the field until she was about a half-mile away from the farm and found a small abandoned campsite.

  "He was here," Deirdre said. "I believe before the attack, but passed through here after - didn't stay. I can continue tracking, if we are ready to depart?"

  Alice's face twisted, unsure of the answer. "I need to try to heal Kyle before we go. I may not be able to do much for him, but I'm going to try at least a few quick healing spells. Then I think we should be ready. Colin, Bridgette? Anything urgent you guys need?" Bridgette shook her head in the negative, but Colin nodded.

  "Let me swing by my room, I have a few items I want to pick up that might be valuable. I'll be back in 20 minutes, then ready."

  Travis sighed, gncing between the others. "I assume you want me to stay here and keep an eye on things?"

  Alice gave him a hug, sympathetic. "I know it's not the most fun task, but yes please. That would be amazing. I trust you and I know you'll do a good job. You couldn't have predicted this and I don't hold it against you."

  Travis nodded, eyes hardening. "I'll make damn sure to protect Persistence and fix it up for when you guys get back. Please bring her back safe."