They didn't make it back.

  Hamond had not gotten to sleep easily last night. The empty blankets on the floor nearby were a grim reminder, and it had taken some time before exhaustion finally overtook his worry. But he had slept deeply, and woke feeling...determined. A sense of certainty about what he had to do this morning. Where he had to go, who he had to find, all of it was clearly laid out in his mind.

  Edeline would've been proud of that one, Hamond noted. Accidental, yes, but maybe he was better at poetry than he'd thought. He'd make sure to share it once she was safely back.

  He really ought to be focusing, but there just wasn't much he could do at the moment. After they'd eaten, Hamond had gone looking for Captain Takhat, but she was nowhere to be found. No one seemed to know where she was either, which was very odd. Maybe it had something to do with that warning Merytuya had been wanting to give the captain yesterday.

  Regardless, he couldn't waste another moment seeking Takhat out. It was time to head out into Lasfont, with two goals to accomplish. The choice of which to pursue first was obvious. Hamond was only going to seek out the bird woman if he found no sign of Edeline or Myronel.

  Or the Witch of Wrath, he corrected himself. As much as he'd rather not encounter her, Hamond supposed the older thaumaturge could be in danger as well. How, he did not know, but it was a possibility nonetheless. He'd only know for certain once he got there and started his search.

  The ladder he'd previously used to get up to the roofs wasn't around, so Hamond would have to find another way up. Preferably something out of the way, where people weren't looking. This street was a little too crowded for him to just climb up off a crate or such. The children playing in the sun, the huddled men and women watching, the workers moving about...they'd all notice Hamond if he tried something.

  After going up and down a handful of narrow paths between buildings, Hamond finally saw it. A large barrel...a cask of sorts, really. It was likely empty now, with whatever beer or wine it once held been drunk by the people here. Why it had been left outside, Hamond didn't know, but it would work well enough for his purposes.

  Hamond grunted as he carefully climbed up. It wasn't quite tall enough to reach the roof's edge from standing on it. He'd have to jump and hope he could grab on. Gritting his teeth, he leaped off the cask, stretching his arms up to catch the roof's edge.

  He fell just a little short.

  The cask tumbled sideways from the force, and Hamond barely was able to keep his balance as he landed on its rounded side, hopping off onto the ground in the least graceful way possible. Thankfully it hadn't made too much noise, but it proved this wasn't going to work. Myronel might have been able to just reach, but Hamond just wasn't tall or strong enough to make it without further aid.

  Although...there was one other thing he could try. Returning the barrel back to its original position, Hamond climbed back on it once again. Bracing himself for the jump once more, Hamond waited a moment, then leaped again. But as he rose, he spoke the words to call on a spell.

  "Ventus fugit."

  Normally, Hamond used that spell to send gusts of wind sideways, for knocking enemies away. In this moment, though, he aimed the spell upwards, relying on the burst of air to lift him up just enough. Once again, he reached out for the roof.

  This time, he just managed to catch it.

  Hamond lifted himself up halfway, then rolled over onto the roof. He needed a moment to catch his breath, but it was better than not being able to do it at all. There was a time when, if asked to do something like that, he would've immediately refused. How things had changed...how he had changed.

  Rising to his feet, Hamond surveyed the area. The hard part was over, and all he had to do now was...wait. He dropped back down, not believing what he was seeing. Of all the...Aether, what were they doing here?

  Standing on a roof a few buildings over, in fighting stances facing each other, were Captain Takhat and Senby.

  It made sense once he thought about it. If he and Ugotlas had trouble finding a private room to hold their discussions in, finding an open enough area to spar in would've been even harder for the captain. Senby, of course, would have suggested going up on the roofs for it, even if it exposed the pair to the heat of the day. The only true surprise was them being so close to where Hamond had made his way up.

  It left him in quite a precarious position. If either looked over, there was no doubt they would see Hamond laying there, with no way to conceal himself. Any sudden movement on his part might also catch their eye, and then he would be caught. But being too slow about it would lead to him getting discovered.

  A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

  Still, he had to try. Carefully crawling forward, he kept his eyes on Takhat. The two advanced towards each other, and exchanged a pair of spear thrusts, both dodging each other's strikes. At least they were focused on each other, so maybe he would be able to avoid attention.

  A shout echoed from the street below. Hamond couldn't make out the words, but whatever it was, it was enough to draw Takhat's attention...right as Senby thrust his spear in her direction. Too slow to dodge properly, the weapon caught the captain's arm. Takhat slumped down.

  As Senby dropped his spear and hurried to Takhat's side, Hamond sighed. He didn't want anyone hurt on his behalf, but he couldn't deny he was relieved at the perfect distraction. Continuing to move forward, he made his way to the far side of the roof. Glancing back, he saw Takhat lowering herself down off the roof, aided by Senby.

  Nela would have to handle that problem. Now, he had to figure out how to get down onto the street. There were no barrels or such here, and a burst of wind would not slow his fall nearly enough. He needed footholds, so the question was if he had a spell that could create them.

  It was time to experiment. "Lithoistos," Hamond said, calling forth yet another spell. A stone spike materialized and sped towards the wall...only to bounce off of it, falling down to the ground before dissolving into dust. The stone brickwork of the buildings here was just too sturdy for that spell to penetrate. No temporary footholds for him to get down.

  Well, as Hamond knew, spells couldn't solve everything. Still, he didn't see anything that he could climb down on. Takhat had probably had men pull anything of use in, and that included any tables, wagons, or such that Hamond could have dropped down on. Understandable, but it didn't make this any easier.

  As much as he wished he'd thought to bring rope, there was no way around it. He'd just have to hang himself down from the roof, drop down, and hope he didn't hurt himself. Hamond had wanted to avoid that, but he didn't have any other choice.

  Grimacing, Hamond did just that, gripping tightly as he lowered himself into position, before releasing his grip. Trying to kick off the wall to mitigate it somewhat, he landed heavily in the street below. His knees were a little sore, but otherwise he was fine to keep moving.

  The way to that one street should be...that direction. Hamond had taken a moment to look at the map when he'd been searching for the captain, making certain he knew just where to go. It would've been terrible had he set out only to get lost in Lasfont. Between Edeline and Nela, he would never escape the jokes that followed.

  As he moved away from the safe area, it struck Hamond just how unnaturally quiet the streets were. This would be the final fate of Lasfont if they weren't successful - an empty crumbling town of nothing but dust, heat, and memories. Nothing but the Sluice, still trapped in the ancient prison that was the statue of her.

  Hamond increased his pace.

  One advantage of the silent emptiness of Lasfont's streets was that there was nothing to delay him. Hamond had expected it to take perhaps an hour or two, but he made it there in only a fraction of that time. Lasfont wasn't that large a town, after all. More dense than most, with buildings standing tightly together.

  At least Hamond knew he was in the right place. The street lined up with what he'd seen on the map. Also, there was the matter of the body of one of the creatures...or men...Hamond still wasn't sure what to call them. Whatever it was, it was laying sprawled out down the road, clearly dead.

  Approaching it, or him, Hamond noticed three things. First, unlike the others, which kept their human faces even with acquiring animal features, this one was just a hairy Remuati man with the horned head of a taur. The second thing was that it...he was huge, far taller and broader than a normal man. If he were standing upright, Hamond would just have come up to his chest.

  The third and final thing was the sword slices visible on that same chest. It was definitely the work of Edeline or Myronel. No sign of the Witch of Wrath's spells, but that wasn't important. So then, where did they go after slaying this taur man?

  There were no obvious signs, meaning that he'd just have to search building by building. Better to start with the closest then, and work his way down the street and up the other. Hamond headed towards the nearest house, a larger one. Maybe this was the house Senby had been forced to work in?

  A shrill shriek interrupted Hamond's thoughts. Spinning, he saw the bird woman on one of the roofs on the other side, wings spread. Even while startled, he noted it was the same one who had shown up yesterday, the one who had been staring at Captain Takhat. Also, now that he had a closer look at her...maybe it was his imagination, but she seemed younger than he had originally thought.

  The bird woman, or rather girl, lowered one wing. With the other wing, she folded it halfway, and then waved it repeatedly in his direction. To Hamond, the meaning was clear. She was beckoning him to follow. If he'd lacked proof before that the victims of the Sluice's spell could retain their minds after their transformations, Hamond now had it.

  He was reluctant to follow, but Hamond had to admit to himself there were no obvious clues to the whereabouts of any of the three. He might as well see where the bird girl was leading him, and go from there. Turning away from the body of the taur man, Hamond walked across the street.

  "What do you want?" he called out.

  The girl didn't answer, instead turning and starting to waddle forward along the rooftops. Hamond started to wonder why she didn't fly, when a disturbing thought struck him. What if she was unable to fly? They'd certainly never seen her take wing, and there was certainly no one to teach her how to do it.

  A matter to deal with later, if possible. For now, Hamond kept pace, which was easy enough. The bird girl led him further down the way, having to slow down to navigate her way across the small gaps between each building. No question about it: flight wasn't possible for her.

  She finally stopped on the roof of what looked to be a house, one that actually had a door up there leading out. Instead of going inside, though, she simply spread her wings, looking down at Hamond expectantly. So she wanted him to look inside this place then? Hamond supposed it wouldn't hurt to take a quick look, although he found himself wishing the place had a curtain in the doorway instead of an actual door.

  Maybe he was starting to get used to the way things were in Lasfont, Hamond noted. Setting that thought aside, he reached for the door handle. Trying it, he found it unlocked, so he opened it and stepped inside.

  Check out the Heirs of Hyarch website!