Robin and Vance were still following the hobgoblins. Sweat, hot and salty, rolled down Robin’s face and pooled beneath his nose. The patrol set a truly brutal pace, the two groups of five each pushing to try and out do the other. It was all Robin could do to keep up.

Thankfully both groups had agreed to a brief pause to drink from their waterskins and tear at some field rations. Robin’s feet were grateful for the chance to rest.

Vance had it easier. The librarian was annoyingly fit. If Robin didn’t know better, he’d suspect the man had some way to channel the stamina of legendary figures, as well as their battle prowess, but that effect wouldn’t last nearly long enough to be a worthwhile expenditure of Vance’s magical energies.

That he knew of. There was still a lot he didn’t know about Vance’s particular talents. And divinely bestowed blessings.

‘What?’ Vance asked, without looking at him.

Robin started, realising he had been staring.

‘Sorry,’ he murmured. ‘Just thinking how much I hate that you seem less winded than I do.’

Vance grinned wickedly.

‘Don’t make me laugh,’ he said. ‘Now would not be a good time.’

No lie there.

Boss! What are you doing so far from home base?

Rerebos! Robin had to bite his tongue to keep from cheering. It was like a flood of balm to soothe his frazzled soul hearing that little voice in his mind once more. He was going to have to raid his stash of shiny things to give his familiar a present this evening. Seeing the avaricious dragon growling his tiny growl of pleasure at a new acquisition sounded like the exact sort of thing he needed tonight.

Since another hit of that psychedelic mead was at least a world away.

We’re trying to follow the hobgoblins in front of us all the way back to their base.

Oooh! Lots of food for friend Ruprecht?

The little dragon sounded pleased at the prospect. Robin knew it was a bad idea to let the dragon get too close to the dungeon. It could create almost unlimited shinies. What being of draconic heritage could resist something like that?

Vance was looking at him, head cocked to one side. Robin had the sneaking suspicion that he was raising suspicion. He held up a finger and tapped his temple, then jerked his head toward the hobs.

The librarian mouthed the word Anything? and Robin shook his head with a rueful look.

He was starting to slip up. He was going to need to start trusting these people a bit more. Too many secrets. It was distracting him and here, that could get him killed.

Well, he wasn’t that far off from levelling again, was he? Certainly not at the rate he was facing danger and discovery in this place. One more level and then he could get Rerebos more of his native powers. That would make it safe enough to bring him into the party as well, as Robin’s “new” familiar. Something a lot more innocuous looking than a miniature shadow dragon, though.

The hobgoblins began to shift in preparation for moving out again. Robin used the cover of the noise they were making to risk a few more words with Vance.

‘I’ll keep following. Stay as quiet as you can. If we get separated, meet back at the fountain three streets back and two over. We have to be getting close. They’re too relaxed.’

‘Just make sure you’re not so focused on them you miss any other patrols that might be in the area. The closer we get to their headquarters, the more patrols will be in the area. Not to mention traps.’

‘Good point.’

Rerebos, he asked the little dragon, be sure to watch for traps as you’re spying on them, as well as for any patrols that might intersect us as we follow.

Yes. Though I do not like these risks. Risks are decidedly not shiny.

Robin couldn’t argue with that.

He exchanged a few more words with the librarian, established a signal in case a patrol came up behind them and Vance noticed it before Robin had the chance. He wasn’t too worried, not with Rerebos having eyes in the shy, but it was nice to have redundancies when it came to something like, oh, basic survival in a hostile territory.

The hobgoblins began to move out. Robin rose and followed, glancing back over his shoulder once to check on Vance. The librarian flicked him a signal saying all was well.

Good. He’d follow in a few moments, staying just far enough behind to make sure he wasn’t spotted. Robin moved his focus to following the hob patrols and not getting spotted.

The pace they set didn’t make it easy. It was fast and uneven, with lots of pauses to scout ahead or to the sides. If Robin hadn’t had Rerebos flying quietly above and ahead, sending updates back along their bond, he might have been caught more than once by the unexpected pauses and detours.

He was so intent on following that he must have missed the first set of signals, whistles from Vance disguised as bird calls. It was only when the sound went deliberately off-key that it caught his attention and he glanced behind him.

Vance gestured frantically behind him.

Another patrol! This one coming up from behind. Fuck. They did not need this right now.

Then it got worse.

Boss! They heard something! They’re turning to look behind them. Get out of sight NOW!

Robin didn’t stop to think. he sprinted to the closest alley way leading away from the broad avenue they had been travelling down. He slipped around the corner and threw himself down behind a pile of rubble, chest heaving. Praying he wasn’t spotted.

Are they moving this way?

Not yet. I don’t think they saw you. But they definitely think something is behind them. They’re going to head that way soon, I think.

Vance! he had to get out of there or he’d be caught between two patrols in front and at least one behind! And with so many eyes illusions might be tricky. Especially with the hobs on as high alert as Rerebos seemed to think they were.

Robin frantically signalled to Vance, urging the librarian to hurry and catch up. They needed to get out of the way and now!

Vance sprinted for the alleyway where Robin crouched concealed. The bard’s heart beat a frantic tattoo against his ribcage as he could only wait and watch as the slim man dashed across the open, oh-so-vulnerable-area of the street. He couldn’t help reaching out a hand.

The librarian grabbed it and Robin pulled him into the alley and down under cover just as the patrol rounded the corner, blades drawn and sparks spitting from the mages’ fingertips.

Robin didn’t wait for them to find them. He sent an illusory figure fleeing down an alley at an angle away from them. not in the exact opposite direction, that would make it too easy to follow if the mages sniffed out the illusion. But angled away from the way the alley they were hiding in ran.

For good measure he used [Lesser Phantasm] to conjure the clattering sound of falling rubble and a voice spitting out a loud curse.

He didn’t pause to see how well his ruse worked. He pulled vance after him and began running down the alleyway. They ran as quickly and as quietly as they could, taking the first turning they could that angled them even further away from the direction Robin had sent his decoy illusion.

Then again. And again. They turned and ran, pausing every so often to check for sounds of pursuit or signs of other nearby patrols. When they were at the end of their endurance, Vance pulled them into one of the larger intact buildings in the area.

Robin and Vance stood pressed together, frozen in place, listening for any sounds of pursuit. After a few minutes with no sign, they relaxed. It looked like they’d gotten away.

‘Come on,’ Robin said when they’d regained their breath. ‘Let’s head up to the roof, see where we are. It’s going to be a nightmare navigating back after this.’

Fortunately he had a little dragon that would make things much easier. though he’d be happier when Rerebos was once again in mental hailing distance. The little dragon had slipped out of range during that last mad sprint, probably having to detour around a building so as not to be spotted by one of the patrol mages.

No one wanted to be on the business end of a fireball, not even an airbound dragonling.

They ascended the stairs, not quickly, but with more energy than they had a right to. Robin paused at the top, listening and looking before cautiously creeping out to get a better view of the surrounding city. No sooner had he done so than Rerebos’s presence exploded back into his mind.

Boss! Boss, look! You’re—

But Robin had seen it. How could he not, from this vantage? Across a wide swathe of destroyed city, all building reduced to rubble or fortifications, a veritable village—no a small town—of tents and cookfires spread out before him.

They’d found the hobgoblin’s main base of operations. There was no question about that. Robin ground his teeth.

It was so much bigger than he’d feared.