Leala fidgeted nervously as she watched Caledon talking quietly with a burly looking wendigo, who didn’t appear to be getting any happier at being questioned. Earlier Caledon had put out word that he was looking for a pair of humans, a boy and a girl. The boy would be riding a white Pegasus and the girl would be riding a Pegasus of unknown color. He had put Ebony’s name on the streets and though a few people had returned to them with sightings, they were no closer to finding out where Caledon’s brother had gone than when they started.

“Cale!” she interrupted at last, as the fur along the wendigo’s shoulders hackled in anger. Caledone turned to her with a similarly angry expression and she gave him a sharp look. “Come on, Caledon. You’re not going to get anything more, obviously he hasn’t seem them since dusk. No one has.”

“Someone has to have seen them,” Caledon said nastily. He paused and took a deep, calming breath as he caught himself, closing his eyes as he cooled. Turning, he gave a brief dismissal to the wendigo, thanking him for the information and apologizing for getting upset.

Leala started walking as Caledon reached her side. “If no one’s seem them since dusk that means they’ve either left the city or they’ve settled into an inn. Either way, unless you want to search this whole city tonight…” She let it hang, silently suggesting that they leave it alone for the night.

Though he didn’t like the idea, he let it slide. “We should probably find lodging as well. If we leave early enough we can run the gates and wait for them. If we haven’t seen them by mid day we’ll head for the Plains.”

“If nothing else we can catch them at the Edge,” Leala said with a nod. “Where would you like to stay?”

Caledon spent a moment thinking before herding Leala down a side street. “Cabrini’s.”

Raising one eyebrow, she shot Caldeon a speculative glance. “You really think that’s a good idea? You know how Cabrini loves to talk…”

“Exactly,” Caledon said with a smile, walking backwards so that he could look at her. “The fastest way to catch someone isn’t by yourself. If we spread the word that the Destroyer is here in this city, traveling with my brother… don’t you think people would be more likely to be looking for her?”

“True,” Leala said thoughtfully with a slow nod. “But the more people that know the more likely Ebony is to know that we’re here as well, looking for him.”

Caledon’s shoulders fell at the remark and he nodded, conceding the point. “This is why I brought you along, I suppose. What’s your suggestion?”

She grinned and gave him a ‘hurry along’ gesture with her hands. “We’ll go to Cabrini’s but we don’t have to say anything about why we’re here.”

“He’ll ask,” he pointed out, turning to walk facing forward again. “You know he’ll ask.”

“Let him,” she said flippantly. “We’ve come to enjoy the market for a couple of days, nothing more. Your father wanted a few things fetched and Ebony is out at the moment.”

Though Caledon laughed, they both knew how thin that lie was and how unlikely it was to be believed. “I suppose so,” he agreed.

They traveled the rest of the way in silence, listening as the last of the traders closed their shops for the night. It would be up and running again long before the sun rose but even the shop-keepers needed sleep occasionally. It was good, Caledon thought, that the festival only lasted a few months- long enough for the cold in the North to pass so the traders could return to begin replenishing their devastated stocks. Then life in Kampa would return to normal, easy-going life and the regular trade with the reclusive inhabitants of the Lukatian forest would recommence. Inns like Elliot’s Pride and Cabrini’s Cove would fall into sleepy disrepair, frequented only by those passing through the city.

Cabrini’s, when they finally reached it, was a huge, four story establishment obviously built to handle the traffic brought by the seasonal trade. The wood was a rustic shade of red, tarnished with age and the personality those years brought. Even from the street they could hear the sounds of merrymaking and a boisterous group near the windows was shouting something in a deep throated, guttural language. The lighting was bright from the dual fire places and the wall sconces that burned even outside the first floor tavern. Dim candlelight flickered in a few of the rooms above, though the entire fourth floor was dark and silent.

“Caledon!” someone called the moment he pushed past the heavy, iron-bolted door.

With a dubious glance to Leala, Caledon turned to face the owner of the inn. Cabrini was a heavy set man with plenty of bushy, black hair he constantly tried to tame by tying back; a trick at which he also constantly failed. His eyebrows were nearly as bushy as his hair, almost hiding his small, brown eyes from sight. His beard was close cropped and thick and Caledon could never help thinking how very much he resembled a gentle, hulking bear.

“Cabrini,” he greeted calmly, nodding in the direction of his long-time friend and contact. “You’re looking well.”

“Never better!” the man boomed, slipping through the thick crowd as people parted to give way to him. “What are you doing in town? Here for the festival or has that brother of yours been causing mischief again? I heard he was in town!”

“Is he?” Caledon asked innocently, trying his best to seem surprised. Even Leala gave him a second glance, forgetting for a second that they already knew Ebony was in the same town.

The man laughed then, startling several smaller, skittish creatures seated beneath the nearest table. As they bolted to the next table over, Cabrini clapped Caledon on the shoulder with one meaty hand, nearly knocking the wind out of him. “Don’t you play the fool, Cale. I heard you been lookin’ for your brother something fierce. What’s he done this time?”

Though Caledon opened his mouth to try and explain, Leala stepped in and rescued him. “They had a bit of a spat, you see,” she said smoothly. “We came for the festival and found out he was already here so Caledon’s been looking to talk to him.”

Caledon shot her a discreetly confused look but Cabrini seemed to accept her words for truth easily enough. “Family troubles, is it then? No worries, no worries,” the man said, placing his hands square in the middles of their backs. “Have a seat and a bit of ale and you can look for him in the morning. Jelbar just finished a beautiful roast, cooked to perfection, I tell you. Might you want to be trying a bit of it for dinner? You look half starved.”

“Aye, we are sir,” Leala said gratefully, slipping into a seat someone had just vacated. They’d eaten that morning at the festival while they talked to one of the shop keepers, but she’d had nothing since. “That all sounds quite lovely.”

“Two dinners and two ales it is, then!” He laughed again and disappeared through the crowd; but though he was gone from sight they could hear him shouting at people all the way back to the kitchens. Caledon wondered if the man had a volume quieter than very loud and quickly decided that he might not, considering how much time he spent in the noisy inn.

“What were you thinking,” Caledon hissed to Leala the second Cabrini was out of earshot. “A fight?”

“Well it’s true, isn’t it? You are sort of fighting with him,” she said reasonably. “Besides, now if Cabrini tells people we’re looking for your brother, they will say it is to apologize. And then perhaps,” she lowered her voice and looked him directly in the eyes, making sure she had his full attention as she continued. “Perhaps he will come to us.”

“He won’t,” Caledon said seriously, sitting back in the chair. “He knows what he’s done and what I think of it.”

“Perhaps,” Leala agreed with a slight nod. “But the possibility of him thinking twice about running is greater if he thinks we aren’t after his life.”

Caledon grumpily conceded the point to his officer, sinking down in the chair to await their food. A young lady stopped by and left them with mugs of thick, sweet ale before disappearing into the crowd. The smell of the roast meat and fresh bread overlaid the scent of travel dirt and dust from the market, drifting in a tantalizing way about the packed room and making more than one mouth water with the thought of such delicious food. A few more minutes passed at an agonizingly slow rate as they waited comfortably and almost lazily observing the large room and its various mixed occupants.

A while later Cabrini appeared with two heaping plates of food which he settled neatly before them. “You’ll be staying the night?” he asked thickly, giving them a smile.

Caledon nodded and picked up the blunt, heavy knife and fork that had been brought with the food, thinking longingly of the fine silverware of his home. “Yes, just one night, I think.”

A slow, sly smile spread across Cabrini’s features and he lowered his voice, although it wasn’t any quieter. “Aye and will you be wanting one bed or two?”

“Two,” Caledon growled in the same instant that Leala quite innocently contradicted him and said one. “Two,” he said again, giving Leala an irritated look, to which she only returned a smile before she began to dig into the well made food.

“Aye, sir.”

Not even waiting for Cabrini to get out of earshot again, Caledone shot Leala a heated look. “You are completely insane, you know?”

She just shrugged, chewing her food with a small smile. It really didn’t matter if they bought one bed or two for the night, she could move if she wanted. Caledon seemed to follow her line of thought and scowled, shoving a rounded forkful of food into his mouth. They finished the rest of their dinner quickly and silently, enjoying the tasty food as much as their unease would allow.

The same sense of unease followed them all the way to their room on the third floor of the inn, nagging none-too-gently at the backs of their minds. It was Leala who first voiced her concern, closing the door to the small furnished room with an air of finality. Caledon sat on the edge of the bed to the right and looked at her, waiting.

“We’re being followed,” she said finally, leveling a very serious stare at him. He opened his mouth to speak and she made a sharp gesture with her hand, cutting him off. “No, Caledon. You know we are.”

“I haven’t seen anyone,” he said reasonably. “I feel it, same as you, but no matter when or where I look, I never see any sign. You’re paranoid.”

“I’m not.” She moved into the room and sat down hard on the edge of the second bed. “I haven’t seen anyone either but I know they are there as surely as I know you’re here. Ask the phrinx- they’ll tell you there is something.”

“Okay, okay,” Caledon conceded, knowing that he couldn’t really ask the phrinx like she might be able to do. “What do you want me to do? I can’t stop what I can’t find.”

“I know…” she said quietly, leaning back on her hands and staring up to the ceiling. They sat in silence for a while, both trying to think of what they might possibly be able to do that would solve the problem but both coming up horribly blank. At a loss, Leala reluctantly changed the subject. “I don’t want the gryphons following us.”

“I can’t stop them following us,” Caledon said, irritation creeping back into his voice. “No one’s ever told a gryphon what to do; anyone foolish enough to try will find they only do what they want to do. We’re lucky they even agreed to obey the rules of the city enough to come into it or we might have had to loose the phrinx for the evening.”

She made as though to contradict this but there was nothing she could say to it. The gryphons were still wild and they hated being told what to do. Not even the dragons had bothered trying to get the gryphons to listen to them because they knew it would do no good. To date the only creatures they had ever considered equals, or at least worthy of attention, were the phrinx. “Perhaps if I asked the phrinx?” she suggested hopefully.

“They’re fine,” Caledon said dismissively. “I don’t mind them following us. It makes the phrinx happy and if we get into trouble, they might choose to provide help.”

“And if they don’t?”

“If they don’t then we’re no worse off than if they weren’t with us at all. They won’t attack us.” At her continued hard look, he surrendered. “I’ll ask them, but I doubt they’ll just fly off on a human’s request. Besides, they probably won’t stay once we head into the Lukatian Forest. You know they don’t like it in there; too closed.”

She conceded the point with a tired nod and twisted to lie back on the bed. It was dusty and a little hard from age but it was still comfortable. She quickly stripped off her light riding gear and dropped it rather unceremoniously off the side of the bed. On the other bed she could hear Caledon doing to same. Only when she allowed her eyes to close did the ache of a full day of riding and walking catch up with her. A night of rest and respite from the chase would do worlds for both of them. She relaxed and allowed herself to enjoy the night.

It wasn’t until morning at breakfast that Cabrini caught them to tell them there was news of a pair of rare, white dragons roosting outside the north gates of the city. Caledon and Leala both knew what that could mean; if Alda had followed Ebony through the mountians to the city, he was likely still in town. They stood a chance at catching him. After leaving half their breakfasts and a handful of etched, colored stones on the table, they took off for the North Gate. At the very least the trip would give them a chance to speak to Alda in person.

At the most, it would yield them their prey.