“Sissies,” Quain said as if he hadn’t flinched, as well. He entered first.

We filed in around him.

Loren moved the lantern’s slide, letting the light out. “Bingo.”

Prone forms lay on the bales and were piled on the floor. They appeared to have been tossed without care. They all wore yellow POW jumpsuits. We spread out, searching the bodies for Estrid. Except Flea. He stood near the door, almost pressing against it. His arms were wrapped around his stomach and he had a panicked look on his pale face.

“Found her,” Loren said.

Estrid had been placed on a stack of bales near the back.

Loren waved Flea over. “Come on, Flea, we’re running out of time.”

“I...” Flea swallowed. “Can you bring her over here?”

“Why?” Loren asked.

“He’s going to be sick if he gets too close,” I said, moving to join Loren. “Quain, we need your muscles.”

Stepping on a few of the others, the three of us managed to carry Estrid to Flea. With a queasy grimace, Flea crouched next to her. He touched her forehead then spun to heave, spilling the contents of his stomach in a wet plop. I placed my hand on the back of his sweaty neck, sending him energy. After a few moments, he stopped.

“What—” Estrid started.

“We’ll explain everything later,” Loren said. He helped her to stand.

“Who—”

I turned so she could see my face.

“Oh, Avry.” She glanced around. “My staff?”

“No time,” Loren said. “Let’s go.”

With Estrid in the middle, we retraced our steps back to the stables and out the back door. Estrid tsked over the hidden exit, but otherwise remained quiet. Impressive. My anxiety increased as we entered the forest. Would Kerrick still be here?

We returned to the location we’d left Kerrick and Eva. Sounds of moving soldiers filled the forest around us, but that wasn’t why I panicked. Kerrick had disappeared again.

“Now what?” Quain asked.

Loren scanned the forest. “North?”

“You asking or telling,” Quain said to Loren.

“Kerrick said north,” I said before they could launch into an argument. “We go north.” And hope we’d find Kerrick and Eva on the way.

This time, I took point, moving slowly to compensate for Estrid’s noisy inexperience. Dawn’s rays helped with our progress, but the sunlight reflected off of Estrid’s bright yellow jumpsuit. I worried the garish color would make her visible for miles. Digging into my pack, I removed my cloak and gave it to Estrid. The gray color didn’t clash as much against the browns, reds and yellows of the forest. That thought led right to Kerrick as all my thoughts had since we rescued Estrid. Had his eyes changed color with the season? Where was he?

After a few hours of dodging patrols, Loren asked, “Where are we going?”