Alden flew above the forest, trying in vain to see or sense Jonny and the urn. He missed Imogen, especially at times like this. She had a much stronger talent for detecting others at a distance. Unfortunately for him she still wasn’t fully recovered from her encounter with the urn. Her protests to the contrary aside, anyone could see she was still weak.

Not that Alden was brave enough to tell her that. The archmage, on the other hand, was made of sterner stuff. She informed Imogen in no uncertain terms that she was staying at the castle until she returned to one hundred percent. Such was the power of Lidia Thorn’s personality that Imogen didn’t utter so much as a peep of complaint.

Below him twenty young men and women wearing crimson vests and trousers tied with yellow silk scarves beat the brush for any sign of Jonny. When the grandmaster woke up he put the entire dojo at Alden’s disposal in gratitude for his saving his life. He’d asked for twenty volunteers from the hundred plus students that gathered in the training room.

When they learned they were hunting for the man that stabbed their master every hand in the room went up. Alden chose from the older students in hopes that they’d capture Jonny the way he wanted rather than seek revenge. He was probably being ungenerous to the students. They had all shown great discipline and determination so far and he had no doubt the ones he didn’t choose would have done as well.

Alden’s head snapped southeast. For a moment he had sensed the urn’s corruption. He couldn’t imagine why Jonny would take it out now, but it was the first sign that he hadn’t fled the area. Maybe he’d decided to abandon the artifact, use it as a distraction like Alden had done when he escaped Mikhail Santen. Even if that was the case Alden would gladly trade Jonny’s escape for the safe return of the urn.

He flew down to where the leader of the searchers, an experienced teacher who Alden guessed was in his early forties, stood watching his pupils search. The bald man bowed to Alden. “Sir?”

“Swing your people southeast. For a few seconds I sensed the urn. We have to check it out.”

“As you say.” He whistled once, a high, sharp squeal. Quicker than Alden would have thought possible the searchers gathered around him. “Shift southeast. Be on your guard, we may be getting close.”

Several of the students smiled. Alden sighed. Must be nice to be young and foolish. Alden sometimes missed it, not often, but sometimes. “Signal me if you find him. I don’t dare get too close until the urn is secured.”

“As you say.”

Alden flew back up to what he hoped was a safe distance. The students gradually approached the spot where he’d sensed the corruption. Time passed and no one shouted their success. Fifteen minutes later the bald master waved him down. Alden landed beside him in a small clearing.

“Someone fell here, recently.” He pointed to some scuffed-up dirt that meant absolutely nothing to Alden.

“Can you tell which way he went?”

The master pointed south and a little east. Alden had seen a village that way, a little flyspeck of a place with more sheep than people. Was Jonny headed there for some reason or was it a coincidence? Alden didn’t have much use for coincidences and until he knew otherwise he’d assume the decision was deliberate.

“Stay on his trail. I suspect he’s headed for a village perhaps a mile ahead. I’ll keep watch from a distance and signal you if he tries to flee.”

“As you say.” The master bowed and strode over to his waiting students.

Alden smiled and flew skyward again. Why couldn’t everyone be as easy to work with as the Iron Path students? It wasn’t just that Alden saved their grandmaster either. The students and teacher carried themselves with an exceptional level of discipline he’d found in no other group he’d ever worked with. Warlords came close, but sorcerers…their eccentricities didn’t bear mentioning. Trying to convince a large group of sorcerers to work together was like herding cats, big ones that could smash villages flat.

Alden hung in the air over the sleepy village, the only movement a pair of shepherds guiding their respective flocks. Neither of them had a big enough build to be Jonny. From the edge of the woods the students emerged and walked toward a farm on the outskirts. They formed a semicircle around the place so no one could sneak out without someone noticing.

Alden wasn’t keen on landing before they captured Jonny, but they’d need his authority to search the farmer’s house and barn. He said a silent prayer and landed a short distance from the stone hut.

“We followed the tracks right up to the front door,” the master said.

Alden nodded and knocked on the door. A few seconds later it opened partway and a grizzled face appeared in the gap.

“What?”

“Excuse me, sir. We’re tracking a dangerous fugitive and have reason to believe he came this way. Have you seen anyone?”

“No.”

“We’re going to have to search your property just to make sure.”

The door opened the rest of the way revealing the simple, one-room interior. Not a lot of hiding places, that was for certain. “Go ahead. Shouldn’t take you more than half a minute.”

The old farmer was a real charmer. Alden couldn’t understand why there wasn’t a line of women standing at his front door. Alden motioned the master and one of his students inside. Like the farmer said, the search didn’t take long. But Jonny had to be hiding here somewhere.

Alden’s fist clenched and relaxed. Should he risk using sorcery to make sure? A well-disguised hidden chamber might be impossible to detect otherwise. They could just wait. Jonny couldn’t hide forever.

Damn it!

Alden couldn’t keep the Iron Path students out here for days. He had to risk it. Even if Jonny took him out with the urn the students should have no trouble capturing him afterward. Alden drew power from his core and sent streams of soul force snaking over the floorboards.

A second later the world exploded in black lightning.