It was the same village. The seemingly endless forest was an illusion. Walk north from the village, and you’d find yourself at the south end. That was why Dachev headed back the way he’d come when he thought I’d kept running down the path earlier—so he could head me off when I unintentionally looped back around. The moment I thought this, I saw a shape moving through the trees ahead. I glanced over my shoulder. More shapes running that way.

I dove into the forest on the left. Even as I crashed through the bushes, hearing nothing behind me, I knew I wouldn’t get far. Not only had I lost the advantage of speed, but I was cutting their path for them. Any minute now, they’d be close enough to see.

I stopped running, dowsed my light-ball, slipped off to the left, and cast a cover spell. A moment later, the forest erupted in crashes and curses, as they stumbled through the dark looking for me. Should I stay here, covered, until the cavalry rode in? I was relatively safe, but would my rescue team know where to find me? I had to trust that they would…or that I’d hear them. So long as I was hidden here, with the killers fumbling in the dark—

A light flickered to my right. As I strained my eyes in that direction, I saw orange flame bouncing through the darkness, approaching from the west. A torch. Someone had gone back to the village for a torch. Within moments, all of them carried a lit tree branch, swinging it about and peering into the darkness.

“She’s using magic,” Dachev called. “She can make herself invisible, but she cannot move. If you bump into her, she will reappear.”

A few grunts of satisfaction.

“There are two ways we can do this,” Dachev continued, voice ringing over the shuffle of footsteps and the spit of the torches. “Competition or cooperation.”

“I help no one,” club-man’s voice rumbled. “I find it, it is mine.”

“Then you do that. Those who want to help me find her, come here and we’ll split up, do this systematically.”

“And then you will take her,” someone said.

A chorus of agreement.

“No, then I will let you have her. All who help me will get a turn. And when you are done, she is mine. If that sounds fair to you, come over here. The rest, search on your own.”