Magic had invaded his life once before, leaving ashy devastation in its wake. This was his to face. His to conquer. It wouldn’t destroy his family a second time. For Brenna, who was his sunshine in a dark and foreboding world, he would face the destructive force that had once ripped his heart out.
Barrett's Forest, Realm of Eldridge –One Week Later
Rodricwashuntingghosts.Which should have been impossible.
Argh!He picked up a rock from the soil and threw it over the edge of the ridge to the forest below as he cursed aloud. “Kavesh!”
The pit of fear that had lodged in his gut when he’d returned home to find his ten-year-old soul-daughter abducted grew darker and more vicious each day. He was a Preddari, the most elite class of hunter in Eldridge. Yet he was failing. The mercenary group that had taken Brenna remained elusive, their trail slipping through his fingers like smoke.
Emotions as turbulent as the storm overhead battered his weary soul. The destructive force of magic had once set his world ablaze, leaving him scarred. He’d never expected the flames to reach him again. To take Brenna with such ferocity.
His vision blurred as he fought against the horrifying images clawing at his mind—visions of what might be happening to her. He had to find her. Before it was too late and she disappeared into the slave trade, never to be found.
Forcing the fear to the back of his mind, he found the hunter within and tried to center himself. The sky had grown darker while his emotions spiraled.
Where would they have taken her?
Walking around the clearing carefully one more time, he tried to analyze the people who he assumed had taken Brenna—what choices and actions they might take.
In all but extreme cases or issues within the capital city itself, Eldridge outsourced the headache of dealing with the magic users to private mercenary groups who were all too happy to take care of such incidents for their benefit. Because his home realm maintained such a negative but heavily hands-off approach, even the slightest use of magic was enough to get someone picked up for the criminal offense.
As far as he knew, mercenaries that picked up mages whisked the offenders away to unknown holding locations before offloading them for profit in other realms. Eldridge was physically one of the largest realms in the world. At two weeks ahead of him, and with no further trail to follow, they could be headed anywhere in the realm.
Magic criminals were eventually sold and sent to all manner of places; occasionally returned to their realm of origin to face stronger punishment, sometimes imprisoned indefinitely, and frequently sold to other realms or private operations as industrial slave labor.
Finding her was critical.
A glint of red caught his eye as he turned away from the tree he’d been studying. There were no flowers or berries of that color anywhere nearby. Jumping, he caught the thick strands that were dangling from the branch.
His breath hitched at the sight of ruby thread woven around a small silver medallion.
“Brenna,” he whispered, hope soaring in his chest.
No one ever looks up.He’d taught her that many years ago when instructing her in forest survival. He smiled fondly at the memory.That’s my girl.He’d searched the trees surrounding the clearing, but only to just above his height. She must have thrown it quite high and deep in the thick leaves for him to miss it.
He whistled loudly for his preddari brother, Sev, who was helping him hunt.
A few moments later, the shadows shifted to show Sev striding out of the trees farther up the path. The setting sun shimmered in a dusky amber glow through the trees, haloing Sev’s wealth of long, wavy hair as he moved. Power, grace, and fluidity marked his movements as he walked stealthily through the forest.
Sev was an incredible hunter, and the single friend Rodric trusted without reservation. A fellow preddari, Sev was responsible for the territory bordering Rodric’s. As soon as he’d realized the direction the mercenary group was heading, he’d called on his friend to help.
Though Sev’s eyes were nearly the same shade as his dark brown hair, they shined with warmth and concern. The man’s compassion had always confounded Rodric, considering the tragedy and hardships his friend had faced.
“Found something?” Sev asked.
“Brenna’s bracelet.” He held out the precious keepsake.
The ruby threads were frayed, torn off the rest of the bracelet, which was dark brown leather. It had been specially made by her mother, turning one of Rodric’s hunter medallions into a wearable symbol of his place in Brenna’s life, presented to her when he was named her soul-guardian. It was a traditional gift for the occasion, usually kept in a box after the child outgrew the small charm. Brenna, however, had refused to take it off, and had insisted on having her mother weave it onto a new bracelet that could grow with her.
Sev took it and gently rubbed the dirt away from the face of the medallion. “Your territory’s Preddari mark. Definitely hers, then.”
“Yes. She threw it so high I almost missed it. But there are no tracks to indicate where they went after camping here. Anything where you were searching?”
“Nothing.” Sev shook his head as he handed the medallion back. “Which is… concerning.”
Rodric sighed in frustration, running his fingers through his own hair, pushing the strands away from his face. He was going to have none left by the time he found Brenna. “These people are like ghosts in the woods.”
“Ghosts, huh? That’s a new one.”
