XIX

“I can’t believe this! Why do I have to go into that dark hole?”

“Because,” Dell said. “You were the one going on about how easy spiders are to kill. But don’t worry, I’ll be coming along with you—to hold your hand.”

“Uhuh…”

“All right,” Yoreno said. “Make sure you don’t venture in too far. You’re not scouting the dungeon, you’re just doing a quick reconnoiter.”

Dellwyn nodded. “All right. Once we’re done, we’ll meet you on the other side of the plateau.”

Yoreno put out his arm and Dell took it, shook, then turned to the dungeon opening. “Come on, Lev. Let’s see how brave you really are.”

Giving one glance toward Yoreno, Mai, Sorika and Dorrin, Lev muttered something like a curse, then followed Dell into the dungeon.

“All right,” Mai said. “Lead the way, trackers.” She swept her arm forward.

Sorika glanced at Dorrin, who looked back at her. Then they went about their task, leading Yoreno and Mai away from the dungeon entrance.

They strode toward the edge of the plateau, regarding their surroundings for signs. “Ah!” Dorrin finally said, and moved forward. He got down on his knees. “I found something.”

“Looks like a horse was involved,” Sorika said as she touched some markings on the ground that looked to Yoreno like nothing in particular.

It was a good thing they brought Dorrin along. If Sorika, who was not an expert tracker, had trouble, he was usually able to pick up the slack.

As useless as the red-haired adventurer was, he had quality skills that the Emblazoned Party required for this quest to find and help Dantra.

“What else do you see?” Mai asked. Her eyes went from the ground where Dorrin and Sorika were working and flicked up to Yoreno.

He shrugged.

They were both completely out of their depth for this, and it wasn’t as easy as downing an Owl Eye potion and following a trail of bright luminescent vapor. This wasn’t a fantastical story where all was easy and apparent.

These men, their horses, whatever they were up to, would not be visible by way of an easy potion anyway. The blood on the stones—even by Yoreno’s reckoning—was older than a day at least.

The congealing, along with the flaky dryness in areas meant that whatever happened here, was far too long past for a—though powerful—simple tracking potion.

Sorika and Dorrin muttered amongst themselves, agreeing on something.

“What is it?” Yoreno asked, echoing Mai’s earlier question.

“Okay,” Dorrin said. “So it looks like a man was dragged across the ground. There are horse prints, and… spider prints as well.” He shivered.

Then Mai shivered as well.

“It’s not that cold,” Sorika said, and Yoreno looked at her askance. “Trouble, clearly,” she suggested. Sorika didn’t shiver or flinch at the mention of the spider tracks.

“You think they had trouble with a few spiders?”

“What makes you think there were two of them?”

“The horse,” Yoreno said. “Someone rode away, while trying to help whoever got dragged, isn’t that right?” He glanced between Dorrin and the Emblazoned Party’s rogue member.

They both nodded. “I would agree with that assessment,” Sorika said.

“Me too,” Dorrin said. He glanced about and shivered again.

Yoreno put a hand on his shoulder. “Easy,” he said. “Whatever happened here has long passed. There’s no monsters or spiders around here.”

“Yeah—thanks, Yoreno,” Dorrin said as he shifted his weight. “Hard to shake those chills, though. I’m not much of a monster hunter, you know.”

“That’s okay,” Yoreno said. “You just keep tracking these markings with Sorika and we’ll figure this thing out.”

“Yeah,” Mai said. “We’ll be out of here before you know it.”

Sorika looked at Yoreno, her expression blank. Completely blank. Then why did Yoreno think Sorika didn’t agree with Mai’s statement?

They studied the ground some more. It was dry—even dusty and interspersed with dead grass and withering plants.

To their right, the crag that climbed into the air hung over them, like a claw. Glancing back at the dungeon opening, all was quiet.

Then thunder rumbled on the horizon.

They all looked up.

“Is this not supposed to be the desert?” Mai asked.

“I don’t know anything about this region,” Yoreno said. “For all we know, this desertification could be the cause of some malediction—some dark magic. Lack of water might have nothing to do with it.”

“Well that helps, Yoreno.”

“Sorry.”

“Hey,” Sorika said. “We need to get this done. If it rains, we could lose these tracks.” But she seemed to be speaking to Dorrin more than anyone else.

“All right,” Dorrin said.

They bent down, following the markings. They were all on foot as they left the horses tied to a tree at the mouth of the crag. They would have shelter there if the wind became harsh or if it started raining.

As they neared the edge of the plateau that climbed down a winding and rocky path, something cracked above them.

Yoreno jerked his head up, but he saw nothing.

Suddenly a small rock and some debris hit the ground. Mai yelped and jumped away. “What was that?”

The wind was picking up. “It’s probably nothing. Some bit of scree blown off the rocks there by this wind.”

“Really?”

“Yeah,” Yoreno said. “Now you better get brave, Mai, or Lev will probably say something about your scar right about now?”

She made a sad face, but it was only in mock.

He smiled.