The next day, the thieves woke up early to head to Grimsby. As always, they armed themselves with as many weapons as they could carry without weighing themselves down too much, before beginning the trek down the ridge that led to the village. They hoped to make it without any trouble, but it wasn’t long before they were stopped.

Just as they reached the bottom of the ridge, Crow heard a voice call out from behind them. He turned and was surprised to see the woman from the night before climbing down the ridge with a panicked look on her face. She hurried down the hill as fast as she could in her dress, seeming intent to catch up with the thieves before they got too far ahead.

When she reached them, she stopped to catch her breath before going on to say, “My son, Landon… He’s missing. I couldn’t find him this morning. I think he went back to the village last night.” She reached out and clasped Crow’s hand in both of hers, going on in a pleading tone, “I did as you said: I tried to warn him that it was too dangerous, but he didn’t listen. Please, you have to find him before he gets hurt!”

Crow exchanged a look with the other thieves before turning back to the woman and nodding, “We’ll do what we can.”

The woman returned a wordless nod, obviously still worried about her missing child, before she headed back up the ridge to rejoin the other evacuees in their camp.

Once she was gone, Crow turned back to Simon and Alistair, “Make sure the villagers in Grimsby are aware that there might be a child in the area. If anyone finds him, take him back to the camp right away.”

“Of course,” Alistair said in agreement.

“I only hope we find him before he gets run through by a sword,” Simon muttered with his usual pessimistic attitude.

“If all eyes are on the lookout, we’ll have a better chance to make sure he gets out alive,” Crow said, stepping forward to lead the group onward to the village. “Come on, we’ve spent enough time here.”

--

When they arrived in Grimsby, Crow and the other thieves checked in with the villagers to make sure they knew about the missing boy. Once word had spread, they moved on to take up their positions near the border, where they waited for the sounds of battle in the distance. They didn’t have to wait long. Shortly after Crow had found a good spot to stand on the Brerratic side of the border, he heard the distant clashing of swords through the trees.

The battle had begun.

He drew his daggers and watched the horizon carefully in search of movement. However, it seemed that the fighting was being contained to the Younisian side for now, so he was able to relax slightly. As he waited, he found that his thoughts frequently wandered to Penelope. He wondered where she was, and if she was already fighting with the other knights. He wondered if he would cross paths with her this time, and if they would be working together to protect the villagers again. Above all, he found that he was hoping she would be safe in the battle. His concern for her safety surprised him in its intensity. It seemed like he cared for her even more now that they had gotten closer again.

[i]So much for moving on,[/i] he sighed. [i]This is going to be harder than I thought.[/i]