"No! Dammit all!" Whisperclaw drops to her knees and pounds away at the ground, frustratingly. "Glimmer…he…he's gone!"
I say nothing. My mind is racing, trying to piece together what happened. That bounty hunter, Vanhiel, knew Glimmer. He said he was hired by Hawk, Glimmer's father, to bring Glimmer home. I scratch my head in contemplation. Vanhiel also seems to know about my past as a White Knight. That makes him dangerous, even more dangerous than we first thought. We heavily underestimated his skills, even though Glimmer tried to warn us.
"How could I let this happen?" I say.
"There was nothing any of us could have done." Ironvine looks at me from underneath the tusks of the wild boar he healed.
We are all sitting amid the herd of wild boars, with Ironvine laying his head on the stomach of the now relaxing king boar. The boar that Ironvine had healed is smelling his fur.
"Bounty hunters are notoriously ruthless," Goldenclaw says in between smoke puffs from his pipe. "It's no telling if Glimmer would have survived if we had tried to save him in that moment. At least for now, we know he's safe and we know where he's at."
"This is all my fault," Liaz mutters. "If I had just hit him instead of firing a warning shot, we would have never been in that situation to begin with."
"Does it matter whose fault it is?" Whisperclaw snaps. "We should be focusing on getting him back! There has to be a way! Right?"
"It depends," Goldenclaw answers before I get the chance. "By the way everyone reacted, I assume nobody knew about Glimmer's family."
"We try to make it a point to not bring up anybody's past." I point out. "That's why we all agreed to climb this cursed tower: to escape from our pasts, not relive them. I'm sure Glimmer has his reasons for not telling us about his father. No matter why, I'm sure he wants us to come save him."
"Then we'll need a quick way to get into Denzen. We are wanted fugitives." Liaz reminds everyone.
"Denzen?" I look at Ironvine and Whisperclaw, who look back with the same confused look as I have on my face. "I meant to ask, what is it?"
"It's this floor's second city." Goldenclaw spits in disgust. "Denzen, the House of Wind. It's a massive, multi-level city seperated by different rings, but it's just a big whore house. It's a den of bounty hunters and a hub for any illegal activity you can think of. It's currently controlled by the Wind family, the most powerful Family in all of Ardent."
"Wind? That's Glimmer's last name!" Ironvine jumps up from where he was lying.
"If Glimmer is related to the Wind family, it may not be worth it to try and save him." Liaz sighs. "The Wind family is known for their savagery. Saving Glimmer would mean infiltrating Denzen and making it to the Fourth Ring, all while being hunted by every bounty hunter in the city."
"Thanks for summing all that up for me." I stand and look at everyone. "Anybody got a problem with that?"
Nobody moves.
"Good." I grin. "Now, how are we going to get into the city?"
"More importantly, how are we getting there?" Goldenclaw flips out a map and makes a few marks on it with his claws, "Denzen is a three-day journey from here on foot. Glimmer will probably be gone by then."
"King says he can get us there in an hour, and he says he can help get us a ride back," Irovine says abruptly.
"Whose King?" Whisperclaw asks, prompting us all to look at Ironvine.
"Oh, right. He's the king boar." As Ironvine finishes speaking, the massive King Boar stands up behind him and licks him on the back. "I thought I should give him a name."
"Anyway." I roll my eyes. "How can he get us there that fast? That shouldn't even be possible."
"King says that he can cast a spell to make the others faster. He says you can each take one, but you have to let them return once you reach the gates of the city."
"That's fine… Wait." I look at Ironvine, just now realizing his choice of words, "What do you mean, 'you'? Aren't you coming with us?"
"I'm afraid not." He looks up at the King Boar, "I have to go with King to secure your escape. He says I'll be there when I'm needed."
"What does that even mean? We can't do this without our doctor!" I can feel my face heating up along with my anger. "Screw it! How are we getting into the city?"
"If we can get somewhere where I can see a shadow inside the city, I can teleport us in." Whisperclaw eagerly jumps into the conversation.
"Perfect." Liaz grins sarcastically. "So now we're going away from the dungeon."
"Actually, no." I correct him. "I want you and Goldenclaw to go with Ironvine. Whisper and I will go to Denzen."
"What? Alone? But why?" Liaz looks genuinely hurt, "You guys are going to need a guide right? I've been there before. I can…"
"Ironvine is a pacifist," I say more strictly intended. "I need you and Goldenclaw to protect him if anything happens. Plus, I feel like Vanhiel wants all of us to show up. Why else would he tell us where he was taking Glimmer?"
"I hate to say it, Liaz, but he's right." Goldenclaw agrees. "There's no telling what Vanhiel has planned. All of us going would be playing right into his hands."
"Fine…" Liaz slips his Arcane Rifle off his shoulder and places it in my hands, "...but I want you to take this with you."
"I can't. What if you need it?" I push the rifle back towards him. "Besides, I'm not even fully trained yet."
"Don't worry, I got these." Liaz steps away from me and pats the pistols on either side of his hips.
"King said we should leave now." Irovine interrupts. "He said Knights are closing in on the fields."
I sigh and place the rifle strap over my shoulder.
"Let's go, Whisper," I hop onto the back of the nearest boar.
"Right." She hops on her own. "How does this work exactly?"
"Leave everything to King." Ironvine grins. "Just remember to let the boars go when you arrive."
"What does that even mean?" Before anyone can answer my question, the boar beneath me takes off running.
The world flashes past me. All I can do is keep myself from vomiting as my body gets flung back. I feel my body being pulled backwards by the wind, forcing me to hold on for dear life. This goes on for what feels like an eternity. Then the boar skids to a stop, dirt and rocks flinging into the air. I am thrown forward from the momentum, tumbling through the dirt and stopping inside a bush made of thorny vines. I free myself from the bush and see that my boar has already run off. I am now standing in an area full of trees, but ahead of me, I can see where the treeline ends.
"Woah! Watch out!" I leap out of the way, barely dodging Whisperclaw getting flung off of her boar and into the same bush I was just thrown into.
The boar looks at me and snorts before disappearing in a blur.