Chapter 1

The hot wind pushed up under Isaac’s wings as he flew over the tavern in his hawkform, searching the surrounding town for any sort of trap. If the men they were looking for had stopped there, they didn’t have any guards outside that he could see. 

Not that they knew something was coming. That was kind of the whole point.

The Mizer had ruled the Eastern Wilds without any opposition. He would have no reason to suspect that King Deresk had set his sights on taking him down, and now, thanks to some intel from Alina’s rebel group, they knew where two men of the Mizer’s inner circle were staying.

With the information from these two, Deresk could likely take down the Mizer’s economic system, which was based on cornered trade. That might be enough to allow people to come and go as they please. This would free them, essentially, as Alina so desperately hoped. 

Not that the Mizer would just allow all that. A confrontation was inevitable. That was another reason getting information from these men was so important. If they could find any weakness of the Mizer’s, they would gladly take it.

The quicker they took down the Mizer, the quicker they could get on to finding and defeating Mortagnan. King Deresk said that Mortagnan was likely getting men and supplies from the Mizer, so the Wilds could be the quickest way to Mortagnan anyway. 

The building the two men were in was made of an earthy cement, reminding Isaac of the buildings in Morristowne, only this building was more of a bleached tan rather than Morristowne’s red. In fact, ever since they’d left the Northern Pass of the Cozars, that lifeless tan had seemed to be the norm—the parched earth, the dry grass, the half-dead trees.

For some reason, Isaac had visualized dense foliage when people mentioned the Eastern Wilds. What they’d traveled through the last few days was just a wide expanse of nothing.  

All the other dozen or so buildings in the tiny town they’d reached looked to be of the same material. It was the first settlement they’d seen since leaving Morristowne more than a week ago. They were still two days away from Veldon, the central hub of the Eastern Wilds, but it was good to see something.

The main bulk of the group, consisting of Deresk, his Paladins, Alina, and Isaac’s father, had moved on toward Veldon. Alina had been adamant that they get there within a certain timeframe to avoid detection. 

Isaac, Vera, and Ace had stayed with Ethnar and Rafe to apprehend the Mizer’s men. They all hunched behind an enormous boulder about two bowshots from the town. 

Vera was practically glued to his side. She’d been that way essentially since the battle at Morristowne. Isaac couldn’t blame her. It had been another terribly close brush with death. If being close to him made her feel safe, then he was grateful for it. Whatever she needed, he would be that for her.

“No one’s outside keeping watch,” Isaac said to the group.

Ace pointed upward. “Ya think? This sun is at Morristowne levels. I don’t care which straw you draw; you don’t go out in this.”

“There’s only a window on the west side of the tavern,” Isaac continued, ignoring Ace’s comment. “So as long as we circle around and approach from the east, they won’t see us coming.” 

“Rafe and I will still approach from the west and try to draw them out of the building,” Ethnar said. “Most of our bestowals are at a greater advantage out of doors.”

Ace clapped his hands together excitedly. “Fine, so long as I get the first shot at the fire guy.” 

Isaac gave him a flat stare. Ace had talked of almost nothing else over the last day since they’d heard about the fire Cragmason from Alina’s courier. In fact, Ace volunteering them was how they’d gotten chosen for the assignment in the first place. 

The matchup, of course, made sense. So they’d leaned into it. In addition to Ace’s waterskin, they all wore full waterskins for Ace to utilize in the expected battle. 

“What?” Ace asked. “What’s better to fight fire than water?”

“We know,” Vera said, her voice forcedly even. “Now listen to the rest of the plan.”

Ethnar nodded to Vera appreciatively. “If we can get them to launch their first attacks at Rafe and me, you three can launch attacks from behind. Ace will target the fire Cragmason and Isaac’s hawkform will attack the other non-bestowed.” He nodded to Isaac. “Keep the arrow in reserve unless one of us is in serious danger. Remember, we want to capture these men to interrogate them, not kill them.” He looked at Ace as he said the last words. 

Ace threw up his hands in innocence. “Me? Really? Isaac has killed way more people than me.”

“And who destroyed the dam at Elsdon?” Ethnar asked, voice serious. 

“I um…yeah, well, I wasn’t actually there to… you know…” Ace folded his arms. “It was still Isaac’s idea,” he muttered.

“Do not shift blame for your actions, young Cragmason,” Ethnar said. “I do not assume to know whether what you did was right, but I am very grateful to you for it.”

“You’re welcome,” Ace said. “Can we get on with it?”

Isaac agreed. He was feeling the pre-combat jitters, his thumb rubbing nervously against his bow. The sooner they got this done, the better. It still amazed him that he was actually here, fighting alongside Paladins at the order of King Deresk. 

At first, he’d been surprised King Deresk hadn’t sent more Paladins along, but as he looked around him, he could see that they had more than enough firepower to get the job done. Or well…they had enough to get the job done against firepower, at least. It was possible that Rafe and Ethnar could have handled this mission on their own.

“Yep,” Rafe said, standing up. “Let’s move out. Isaac, ‌let us know when you’re in position.” 

Ethnar stood as well, following Rafe down toward the tavern. Isaac waited with Ace and Vera for a few minutes before they headed down as well, though traveling toward the other end of town. 

They looped around the back of the tavern. Ace ran excitedly to a barrel set at the bottom of a rain pipe at the corner of the building.

“Rats! Empty.” He pounded his fist on the edge of the barrel. “Well, we couldn’t have it be too easy.”

Isaac held back a smile. He could have told Ace that the barrel was empty. He’d seen it in his hawkform earlier, but he’d said nothing. Best to have Ace discover things for himself. 

Ace climbed onto the barrel and up the rain pipe to the roof. Man, the kid could really make his way around.

Isaac and Vera came around the far side of the tavern, stopping at the corner to the front face of the building. If things went according to plan, he wouldn’t have to round the corner at all. 

He nocked an arrow regardless. 

In his hawkform, he lowered his flight circle to be within striking distance when the time came. Ace crouched on the edge of the roof below him, sphere of water already floating in the air.

Isaac let out a loud squawk to indicate they’d all made it to their positions. 

Ethnar and Rafe strode up, stopping three dozen paces from the front door of the establishment. Rafe’s hands hung loosely at his side while Ethnar held his staff to one side, like a walking stick.

“Utikah, the one called Flamethrower,” Ethnar yelled. “I am Ethnar of the Paladins of Valoria, and I have come to arrest you for your crimes against your fellow man.” 

At first, nothing happened, but then Isaac heard a scraping of chair legs and some whispered conversation. A moment later, the front door opened and out stalked two men. The first was a short Tahirean with an obsidian keystone necklace. That would be the Flamethrower. The second was a thick, Valorian-looking man with a nose that appeared to have been broken multiple times. That matched up perfectly with Alina’s description of their second man. 

A third man stepped out of the tavern. He wore a black vest and had a face that looked like he’d been permanently squinting his whole life. With this sun, maybe he had. 

He had a green gemstone set into his belt—always something to make one wary.

“You tore me from my card game, Paladin,” Flamethrower shouted across the distance. “The fellas inside were about to lose big.” 

“Why don’t you go grab them and give yourself a little more of a chance?” Rafe said from beside Ethnar. 

Flamethrower smiled. “Ah, but I made another wager. Put quite a bit down on it…”

He waited, looking at Ethnar and Rafe expectantly. They just stood there, wind whipping their clothing.

Flamethrower moaned. “Ah, you lot are no fun. I was hoping you’d ask. Well, no matter. I wagered how long it would take us to get rid of you.”

With the last words, he thrust his arms forward, a plate-sized beam of fire erupting from his hands. Ethnar and Rafe rolled evasively in opposite directions, the blast of fire passing between them.  

Isaac dove down onto the back of the broken-nosed man as planned. As thick as the man was, he dropped quickly, face slamming against the hard earth with a crunch. That nose just couldn’t catch a break.

Isaac rose, appreciating the increase in his hawkform’s strength after his deeds at Morristowne.

A torrent of water fell from the roof of the tavern, landing forcefully onto Flamethrower’s hands. His fire beam fizzled out almost instantly, and he looked up in alarm.

Coming out of his roll, Rafe ran toward Flamethrower, ready to take the Cragmason down. 

The ground beneath Rafe’s feet suddenly twisted, as if turned into liquid. A whirlpool of earth sucked Rafe down up to his mid-torso, then solidified again, leaving Rafe thoroughly stuck.

So the man with the green gemstone was most certainly a Cragmason.

A second later, a similar whirlpool opened up beneath Ethnar. The Paladin had anticipated as much and leapt away from the pool, though not quite soon enough. The twisting earth caught a foot and pulled before solidifying. It yanked Ethnar to the ground, his back foot buried up to his knee.

This was not how this was supposed to go.

Isaac whipped around the corner, aiming his arrow at the black-vested man with the green gemstone. The man’s eyes were focused intently on Rafe and Ethnar.

This was Isaac’s chance. 

Still, he hesitated. He’d helped save them all last time by not shooting. They wanted these men alive so they could get information from them about the Mizer.

“Do it,” Vera whispered, as if reading his thoughts. “I’ll heal whatever is needed afterward.”

Isaac didn’t need to be told twice. His arrow flew, striking the man in the gut just as he turned toward them. 

The earth beneath him made a rumbling sound, and a pebble next to his foot quivered, but nothing else happened. The Cragmason fell to the ground, grabbing at the arrow. 

Flamethrower had enough time to recover from Ace’s first attack and blasted a stream of fire at the roof, forcing Ace to duck backward. Without a line of sight, his water stream dropped to the ground. 

In his hawkform, Isaac dove at Flamethrower, who ducked back into the doorway, blasting out fire that forced Isaac’s manifestation back into the sky. 

To Isaac’s surprise, Vera ran out from behind the corner, running along the length of the building. Flamethrower greeted her with another fire attack. Vera held up her arms to protect her face, but kept running forward. 

As if by magic, the cap on her waterskin pushed itself off and water spewed out, dousing the flames coming from Flamethrower’s hands. 

Vera ran into Flamethrower head long, knocking them both to the ground. Flamethrower’s neck whipped back with the contact and his head hit hard as they fell. 

Though stunned, Isaac still had enough sense to follow Vera’s charge and knelt on top of Flamethrower’s neck, subduing him. 

Vera recovered from her fall and, arm skin knitting together, yanked the obsidian necklace from Flamethrower’s chest. She turned and threw it as far out into the desert plain as she could—which likely wasn’t far enough to be out of Flamethrower’s range. As soon as Vera turned back to Flamethrower, Isaac scooped up the keystone with his hawkform and flew it much further away.   

 “Whoa!” Ace exclaimed from the roof. “Vera, I’m liking the new you.”

Vera stood, dusting off her singed travel clothes. “Yeah, well, you can’t let a little pain stop you from getting what you want.” 

“Yeah, but still…” Ace drifted off as a blackened clump of hair fell off Vera’s head, new hair growing out in its place.

Okay. She wasn’t scared anymore. So, Isaac had no idea why she was sticking close. Whatever the reason, he didn’t like seeing her in danger like this, even when she could heal from it.

She grabbed some cords from the pack she carried, and Isaac forced Flamethrower around and onto his stomach. She quickly bound his hands and feet. 

Isaac stepped into the doorway, a new arrow nocked. As Flamethrower had said, several wide-eyed men sat at a card table, hovering over their little piles of coin. 

“We’re not going to have any problems, are we?” Isaac asked loudly. 

The men shook their heads vigorously. 

Good. 

He turned back to the Cragmason he’d shot. He hadn’t noticed before, but Flamethrower’s attack on Vera had caught his companion as well. The singed flesh on the Cragmason’s right face and arm looked pretty bad. His bleeding gut wound didn’t help either. 

Isaac rushed over to the man. “Vera.” 

She was right there. 

Before she did anything, Isaac undid the man’s belt and tossed it up, catching it with his manifestation. He flew the belt a distance away before flinging it to the barren earth. 

“Are you sure we couldn’t have kept that one?” Ace complained. 

Isaac looked up at him and shook his head. “You don’t need an emerald.” 

Ace put a hand to chest like he was offended. “That was a garnet, Isaac. Come on.” 

“As fond as I am of healing our enemies and discussing jewelry,” Rafe said, chest deep in the ground, “could we help a fellow out here?”

He pushed down against the earth, trying and failing to lift himself out. 

“I hear the soil in the Eastern Wilds is good for the pores,” Ethnar said, also trying to pull himself out. “People travel hundreds of miles to visit the mud pots here.” 

Rafe gave him a quizzical look. “Really? Where’d you hear that?”

Ethnar grinned. “Nowhere. I made it up.”

From the roof, Ace cackled. 

“Yeah, hilarious,” Rafe called up to him. “Now get down here and use some of that water of yours to soften up this soil around me.” 

 Ace gave him a salute and disappeared to head back down the way he’d come. 

Isaac bent over and helped Vera roll over the Cragmason he’d shot. He’d better get the man tied up before Vera healed him too much. 

The man had given them a scare. Taking out Ethnar and Rafe was no small feat, even if they were purposefully acting as bait. 

Despite the scare, things had worked out more or less as they’d planned. Hopefully, the rest of the mission to the Eastern Wilds would go just as smoothly.