The several days passed without any issues, but I could tell that Dino was starting to get nervous over the fact that Mongo and Skeet hadn’t arrived yet. All Jared could tell us was that they hadn’t arrived back at the school yet, and that no messages had been delivered regarding the status of their team. It was on the third day before classes started when Dino came storming into the room, angry and complaining.

“They still don’t know any damn thing, and nobody is going to do anything about it!” Dino yelled as he threw his staff across the room. “Mongo and Skeet are good guys, and they should send a rescue team out to see why they aren’t here yet, but they won’t do it! Jackass counselor of mine says that they can’t be considered missing until the break is officially over. They aren’t even trying to round up a team to go after them or anything!

“Just because they’re not rich, or influential, doesn’t mean they don’t matter!” Dino was stomping around in circles and waving his fist at nothing. “Dammit! I’m of half a mind to go out myself with some people and see what’s happened to them!”

Hopping off the bed, I stretched a few times to pop my back. “Then let’s go, if it’s bothering you that much. How far out is wherever they’re supposed to be whatever it is they’re supposed to be doing?”

Dino stopped, turned, and then stared at me. “Wha.. What?” He sounded confused and shocked. Had no one ever called him out on one of his bluffs of action before?

“Where are they? We can’t go look for them, if we don’t have a clue where they went to begin with. Where were they supposed to be?” Without a few answers, it’d be almost impossible to hunt them down. “And how many went with them? I think the limit is six on a team, but how many did they actually take? Do you know?”

“Uhh…” Dino still looked confounded. “Four I think, and they were supposed to go to an old graveyard northwest of town. From what I remember Mongo and Skeet talking about, it was in the forest about three or four days outside of the city and completely overgrown. They were going out to round up some herbs and samples from the area, to see how old it might be and whatnot. It wasn’t supposed to be dangerous at all.”

“So, Northwest. Three or Four days. Look for an overgrown graveyard in a forest. Sounds like a snap!” Really, it honestly didn’t sound like it’d be too difficult to find them to me. I’d spent a lot of time in forests, and earth magic was a specialty of mine. I honestly don’t think I’ve have any issues finding bodies or crypts buried in the ground in a remote place like that.

I’ll need to come up with some excuse to tell Dino about how we found them, but that shouldn’t be too hard. I did sign up for hunting and tracking classes. I can use those as an excuse. Dino won’t know any different; as he’s stuck up on his own magic and considers all those other talents beneath him.

“We’ll miss about the first week of class or so, but that shouldn’t be a big deal. Right?” For some reason, Dino didn’t seem certain about going, so I wanted to find out what the problem might be.

“Are you serious about going?” He asked.

“Absolutely. They’re missing. You’re worried. And nobody else is going out to look for them. Why shouldn’t we?”

“It’ll make it harder on you with the rest of the semester,” Dino warned me. “With only twelve classes total in a semester, you’re only allowed to miss two days total in any class, before you automatically fail it. That’s a lot of time and coin down the drain, if something comes up and you miss another day.”

“That’s true, but they’re missing and somebody needs to go look for them.” I reminded him.

Dino half bit his lip and then hung his head. “I can’t. I’d love to, but I can’t.” He sounded almost like he wanted to cry as he went over and plopped down on his bed. “I’ve got a wizard’s scholarship, and if I miss classes, I could lose that and have to pay it all back. I couldn’t afford something like that. I can’t go. I simply can’t.” He looked miserable, half curled up on his cot.

“Then I’ll go without you,” I told him, feeling sorry for him. “A quick dash through the forest to check on them and see how they’re doing, and a quick dash back. Who knows, I might even meet them on the road or something and not even be late at all.”

“You just got here!” Dino exclaimed. “Do you really want to start out getting in trouble right, first thing here? You got to think about yourself too!”

“I am,” I told him honestly. “I’m thinking I’d never forgive myself if something happened to them and I just sat here and ignored the chance to go help them when I had it. I’ll be fine.” I reminded him, “I did travel all the way here from home after all. I’m used to be on the road.”

“Yeah, but the road and the forest are two different things,” Dino said, unconvinced. “And you’re not even certain where they’re at, or where you’d be going.”

“Northwest. Into the forest, a little over three days’ travel. To a deserted and overgrown graveyard.” Picking up my hobo stick, I went over to my dresser drawer and pulled everything out and wrapped them up into a tight bundle for traveling again. “Besides,” I told him to ease his worries, “I know a fighter who would probably join me. I won’t be out there alone. I’ll have someone to watch my back.”

“I dunno. It still sounds like you might end up putting yourself and them in harm’s way.” Dino slowly stood up, frowning. “Maybe I should go with you anyway. They’d probably forgive me for being a few days late. We wouldn’t miss more than a single day out of each class, if we get back here by next FirstDay. That’d give us twelve days total. With only seven days out and back, we might could find them and be back before a single ninan had passed.”

Time in this new world, wasn’t tracked quite the same as it was back on Earth. They didn’t use seven day weeks, but instead nine day periods of time, called a “ninan”. A month had four ninans in it, or thirty-six days, and a year was ten months. At the end of the year was a festival that held the proper number of days to keep the calendar correctly aligned with the rotation of the planet around its sun. Some years, the “Festival of the Phoenix” was five days long, some years it was six. They used the celebration here to keep their calendar aligned, much as Leap year was used back on Earth.

“A ninan should give us plenty of time, I’d think,” I told Dino, reassuringly, “but, I think me and Crystal would be fine on our own. We’re just going to go see what’s holding them up.”

“I’ll come with you,” Dino said, shaking his head from side to side. “My magic can help, and if I go along, I can talk Jess into joining us. If they are hurt out there somehow, either from disease or accident, she can help. She’s a healer. Remember?”

“The big boobed blond?” I asked. “The one we ate with, a while back. Or was that the summoner?”

“Sera’s the summoner,” Dino reminded me. “And yes, Jess has large breasts and blond hair. She’s a nice girl, so I’m certain she’ll come with us to help out.”

Honestly, I thought we’d be better off if it was just me and Crystal – I don’t need to hide my talents from her – but there was no way I could explain such a thing to Dino. Sighing slightly, I simply nodded at him. “Then let’s split up and head on out. You get Jess and whatever supplies you two might need, and I’ll go get Crystal. We’ll meet up at the North gate in an hour or so.”

“West gate might be better,” Dino said. “That’s the one Mongo and Skeet were going to go out of. I remember part of the map they were looking at, before they left.”

“Then we’ll meet at the West gate,” I told him amiably.

“You want to go now?” Dino asked.

“Yes.” Sighing, I confirmed it for him. “Now.”

Turning, I walked on out the door to hunt down Lady Crystal, before Dino could try and come up with some excuse to put off leaving until tomorrow. Tomorrow never arrives, when it comes to doing something you don’t actually want to do, and it doesn’t seem like this is something he really wants to do. Dino’s just tagging along because he’s afraid he’ll end up looking bad if he doesn’t.

At least, that’s how it seemed to me at the time.