Chapter Seventeen #2
My voice echoed around the muddy fields and bounced back as soon as it hit the vine wall. Silence followed once the sound died off, but there was no response from the shard.
“Where the hell is it?” I hissed under my breath. “It should answer me. Ever since it chose me over Drakar, it’s never done this.”
“We’ll find it, Noah,” my wife said as she walked over to me and looped her arm through mine.
“Maybe it went to town?” I asked as I tried to calm my breathing. “M-Maybe it went to the Mist Woods?”
“It would be risky going into town, even with the soldiers being here on the farm,” Brom said.
“If it had nowhere else to go, it’s better to go somewhere familiar and somewhat safe,” I reasoned. “Ellyn, we need to go into town.”
“I agree,” my wife said with a firm nod. “If it’s there, we need to find it before the Hands do.”
“I’ll give you guys a ride, too,” I said as I looked at the farmhands. “Brom, can you prepare Ethel and the wagon?”
“On it.” The orc nodded before he jogged back into the barn.
“Pick up a crate of goat milk each,” I managed to say to my farmhands, despite my brain feeling like it had been scrambled. “Take it home. Keep yourselves warm.”
“Thanks, boss,” Andriin said before he disappeared into the barn with the others.
That left Ellyn and I alone in the heavy silence. My chest felt hollow, like someone had carved out my lungs, leaving nothing but the bones. My breathing was shallow and ragged, and I couldn’t stop the pit in my stomach from weighing me down anymore.
“Noah, we’ll find the shard,” Ellyn reassured me as she pressed her hand to my chest. “It had no choice but to flee. The Hands would have found it, otherwise.”
I knew what she was saying. This wasn’t my fault, either. But it didn’t change anything.
I pulled her back inside so we could both put our armor on in case things got hairy. Then I grabbed my sword and my Glock and made sure the latter was fully loaded with a few extra mags stuffed into my armor.
As soon as the farmhands came out of the barn on the back of Ethel, with Brom guiding her forward by her reins, I pulled Ellyn over and climbed onto the bench to steer.
Brom clambered in with the rest of my workers, and with only Fang left to guard the farm, I set off for Gladewood.
The entire ride down felt like an eternity, and every snap or crunch in the Mist Woods had me on high alert. It felt like a futile hope to think it was the shard, but I was so desperate to get it back where it belonged that I’d believe in miracles right now.
I had Ethel practically race down the hill toward town, and I sent my farmhands an apologetic look as they jostled in the back and clung to their crates of goat milk.
When we finally arrived at Gladewood and the gate peeled back to allow us entry, I scoured every single building for the familiar purple crystal.
The soldiers had already made their way back to the Frostfyre, and I could see some of their horses stationed outside, but a few were still missing.
That meant they had to be on patrol, and if they’d spotted the shard before I had, I was in big trouble.
I whipped Ethel’s reins and sent the Shire horse into a fast canter toward the center of town. My eyes hurried across the shingled roofs, the closed windows, the sealed doors.
But there was no shard.
My heart thudded harder against my chest and matched the beat of Ethel’s hooves. Because just like my farm, the shard wasn’t here.
I pulled the wagon to a harsh stop in the very center of town so my farmhands could disembark and make their own way home safely.
“Thanks for the ride, boss,” Brom grunted as he shuffled from the back with a crate pressed against his chest.
“Yeah, thanks, Noah,” Andriin said as he scooted on his ass behind Brom. “And uhh… good luck with… you know what.”
“Take care, guys,” I said in a quiet voice. “Get home safe.”
“Thanks for the milk, too, Noah,” Briony said as she and Fergus jumped down together. “This will definitely keep us warm.”
Three of the King’s men had exited from the inn to no doubt survey my arrival, but after seeing me drop off my farmhands, they’d slowly slinked back inside.
Of course I’d be under their watchful gaze. That meant I couldn’t openly freak out, despite how much I wanted to.
“Plenty to go around,” I said distractedly as I kept glancing at the surrounding buildings. “See you guys tomorrow.”
My farmhands waved goodbye to me, and that left me and Ellyn alone without the shard of the Emberstone.
“Where do we go from here?” Ellyn asked as she rubbed my arm up and down. “We could maybe go to Midhallow?”
“Midhallow doesn’t seem likely,” I said as my gaze traveled toward the faintest hints of purple leaves visible over the vine wall.
“You think it’s in the Mist Woods?” my wife whispered with wide eyes. “That’s even more dangerous than the King’s Road.”
“It’s hidden in there plenty of times before we bonded,” I said. “It would make sense for it to go somewhere familiar.”
“But why isn’t it responding to you?” Ellyn asked. “Why isn’t it coming back home?”
“I think something might have happened to it,” I said as I ran a shaking hand through my hair. “It’s the only explanation I can think of. And I have this feeling in my stomach that is making me want to spew up breakfast.”
“Then we’ll go into the Mist Woods,” the blonde said with a firm nod. “Together.”
Suddenly, the door to the townhouse opposite our wagon creaked open, which snapped our attention away from each other and the daunting task at hand.
Alden waltzed out with his chin raised high and a bouquet of wildflowers pressed to his chest. He was wearing a black silk shirt and matching black pants, and his dark hair had been slicked back with some kind of gel.
The Overseer did a double take as he spotted us parked right outside of his abode, but the shock was nothing compared to the way mine and my wife’s jaws dropped.
“Noah.” The half-orc cleared his throat and adjusted the collar of his shirt with a lopsided smile. “What brings you to town today?”
“Important business, I’m afraid,” I said. “You look like you’re going on a date.”
“Well, I-I suppose I might be on my way to see Miss Josee, b-but that’s really not any concern right now,” the Overseer stuttered before he shook his head like a wet dog. “Important business, you say?”