The first clue they had on where to find their wandering merchant was the group of villagers they had met on the road to Evadia. Unfortunately, nobody from D’Argen’s small party could agree on what the name of that village was. D’Argen was convinced it started with a ‘B’ and Lilian was only sometimes in agreement with him. Abbot had not listened at all and Yaling was arguing that the name was much shorter than any of their guesses.

Fortunately, they all knew that the village was somewhere in the Oltrian region.

“Yes, I know it’s a huge area to cover,” D’Argen had said at first to exasperated sighs and an unbelievable amount of rolling eyes.

It only took them four months to re-learn the name of the village and which forest it was supposedly hidden in.

D’Argen was running their party towards the forest when he felt lungs cramp with a lack of oxygen. He closed off his mahee, coming to a slow stop and jogging a few steps to kill his momentum, then finally stood still. Abbot rasped beside him for two breaths then the man cleared his throat and straightened.

“How far are we?” Abbot asked, looking around them.

They were on the edge of a forest with trees almost as tall as the walls of the castle in Evadia. D’Argen knew that the forest was the start of the mountain chain that served as a border to mark the end of Oltrian territory. Beyond that that were unclaimed lands and then the southern ocean.

“From the coast? We can make it before nightfall,” D’Argen said.

“There is no need to go that far. Give me a moment.” Lilian went up to the closest tree and touched it. Although Lilian’s mahee allowed them to control the winds, thousands of years ago they were worshipped as the God of Spring due to their affinity with all plants and trees. It was the wind, after all, that helped pollinate so much of the world.

“There is a village not too far from here. Far enough from the foothills and close enough to the main trading route to garner at least some trading.”

“I hear it,” Yaling confirmed and the citrus scent of her mahee surrounded them. “We can probably reach it before nightfall even without you running.”

“Or, I could, you know, run us there.”

“No need. We all know you hate running in the forest and this one is between the trees. Keep your mahee.” Lilian waved his offer away with a hand in the air.

The village Lilian felt between the trees and Yaling heard was much closer than they expected. Abbot’s luck was the last component of their journey and they all hoped it was the village they were looking for.

The first thing they came across was a small clearing with a lumber camp. There was a young boy playing between the stacks of cut-down trees. The moment the boy saw them, he rushed past the cut trees and right at the group. He looked completely unafraid of strangers and D’Argen had to wonder how many visitors this village truly had.

“Hey there, kiddo,” Abbot said with a smile and crouched to be at eye level with the boy. “I wonder if you could help us. We heard this story about a merchant that passed through here—”

“There’re lot of merchants pass through here. One is staying at Ma’s place tonight. Are you merchants too? Where is your cart? Is it colourful?”

“This merchant is special,” Abbot continued in a patient tone. “He told stories to the kids. Scary stories. About a monster in the mountains that ate merchants like him. About how he—”

“Mittas! Yes! He passed by here not that long ago.”

“How long ago is not that long?”

“Umm…” the boy hesitated, lifting a finger to his lips and his eyes to the sky. “Before it snowed? No, wait. Before it snowed the time before it snowed last. Maybe? I don’t know.”

“One or two years,” Lilian said with a frustrated tone. “That is too long a period to find him.”

“His name is Mittas?” Abbot asked the boy again and he nodded. “Do you know where Mittas usually goes?”

The boy shrugged and then reached out. He grabbed one of the braids that were loose from Abbot’s tie and tugged on it playfully. Abbot winced but did not reprimand the boy, instead only turning his head to make it easier for the boy to reach and pull without hurting him.

“Maybe the village head would know?” Yaling offered to the group and looked around. There was nobody else within sight.

D’Argen also noticed that the boy was completely alone in the forest. “We should take him home,” he said.

Abbot nodded slowly, careful to keep the boy from pulling on his hair too painfully. He reached for the back of his head and released the leather cord that kept his braids tied together. Once they were all loose, the little boy giggled and reached with both fists to grab handfuls.

“Where is your Ma’s house?” Abbot asked and circled his arms around the boy.

“That way,” he said without indicating any direction at all. Abbot grinned and picked up the boy, letting him play with his braids and use them like reins to tug Abbot around until he was facing the right direction.