Old Gary was woken up early the next morning because the guests wanted to check out. Aldina was sad that they had to leave so soon but still wished them luck in rescuing Misana while she thanked them for the autographed dagger from Mitchnew.
"Someone from Half Moon Village will contact you," Zero assured the new Guild Master of the Humanitarian Guild. "Also, don't panic if King Brice visits you in person. I told him that he has to support the guild and rebuild this country if we took on his request. He's still very young and helpless so I hope that you can assist him to create a better future with Half Moon Village backing you up."
Bob transformed into his full dragon form, making the grandfather and granddaughter's jaws drop as Truen and Zero climbed onto his back.
"Yip yip! Onward to Route 553!" Zero grinned and Bob rolled his eyes.
"Master, I don't know what route 553 is."
Truen shook his head at the two excited companions. "I do. Let's head northeast for now. Also, hold on to this," he told Zero and passed him a chain. "See if you can use a tracking spell later. We need to cover ground now. Goodbye, it was a lovely stay."
Aldina waved goodbye and Old Gary was still rooted to the ground. With a short chant, they vanished and with a whoosh of air, they were gone. The retired general felt as if the remaining of his lifespan had been shortened by half. That dragon had certainly been going easy on him when they arm-wrestled. Knowing was one thing and seeing was another. He didn't think that he would ever see a real dragon in his lifetime and now, it was time to get to work.
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They flew for fifteen minutes and finally, the city of Smargdas was far behind them. Zero rested his back against Truen chest while he tried to complete the array for a tracing spell on a talisman. It was rather difficult to draw accurately on the dragon's back and Bob apologised for the wind disrupting the spell preparations.
"Here, let me move a little to block some of that wind. Don't drop the chain, we won't be able to retrieve anything that falls from this height," the archer warned and Zero nodded.
Ten minutes later, the tracking spell was finally activated.
"Which direction?" Truen asked and Bob slowed down to prepare for a change in direction.
Zero concentrated and looked at the faint mana thread. "Go west. For now, the thread is very faint, I assume that they are still very far for us to find. Are you sure this is a chain used by the group that had Misana?"
Truen nodded. "Confirmed it myself with several sources. It's at least better than the flimsy map of route 553 that I received."
Zero looked at the thread again as Bob changed his direction to where Misana supposedly was. Different threads have different colours. In a tracing spell, Zero expected to see either a blue or a green thread but the thread here was dark brown. He wondered if something was different but kept it to himself for now. He didn't want to alarm anyone and cancelled the tracing spell to conserve mana.
Truen and Bob navigated actively while Zero consulted his books on the reading device and even texted Merlin about it. Brown wasn't a very common magic colour unless it was related to the earth element.
Merlin: It's not surprising to see dark brown or black on a thread. You're currently following the trace of death. This is a thread that shows you the connection between an object and a former owner. It's normally used in summoning rituals for the souls of the dead. If the owner isn't dead yet, it could mean that they're currently on death's doors.
Zero's blood stopped running when he read his magic teacher's reply. He re-read it a few times to make sure that it wasn't an illusion.
Numbly, he thanked Merlin and kept the i-communicator away. He was no longer in a reading mood either.
"Which way?" Bob asked and Truen nudged Zero who he thought had dozed off a while ago.
The doctor took out the chain and repeated the spell, pointing towards the west. The thread was thicker now and Zero could clearly see the dark colour. There was no mistaking it, the thread was copper coloured. If Misana wasn't dead yet, she was in serious danger and they didn't have much time to waste or they would be taking a body back.
"Make haste," Zero told Bob. There was no time to be idling or crying when there was a patient waiting to be saved! Why was he wasting precious time feeling saddened and hopeless? As long as the thread wasn't black, Zero could still make it.
"Misana is in life-threatening danger, we need to hurry. Full speed ahead!" Zero finally picked himself up and used the harness to tie both Truen and himself onto Bob's back.
The Eternal Dragon didn't waste time and picked up speed, flying higher to catch a favourable wind to propel them while Zero navigated. The thread became thicker and Zero watched the mini-map very closely when they neared. Although the city wasn't in sight yet, Truen noted that the scenery on the ground had changed tremendously. What was lush forest grounds and barren fields was now a rocky land of dying trees and drying creeks.
"It smells of death here," Bob commented and slowed down.
Zero didn't comment on it, the tracking spell was making strange movements, wavering in all directions like a lost compass. It took them all day to finally reach the closest point to where Misana could be without further leads. The moon was already rising and Bob who hadn't taken any breaks in between was starving.
"Let's set up camp here and search for Misana on foot tomorrow. The tracking spell isn't working very well now that we are close."
Truen and Bob agreed and they quickly made their descent. There was a broken chapel building past the swampy fields. It looked like the best place to take refuge for the night.