I opened my eyes and realized that, though it was very dark, it was also unnaturally quiet. There were no soft sounds of breathing, no gentle shuffling of blankets, and no delicate coughs or throat clearings. I sat up, my heart pounding irrationally hard for having no immediate sign of danger, and swung my gaze to the bed.

Lena was gone.

Her form, usually burrowed beneath the covers and moving almost imperceptibly as she dreamed, was absent. The bed was empty, and it offered me no sympathetic explanation as to where she had gone. I leaped to my feet, immediately dropping my hand to the gaar’kon I kept strapped to my hip at all times. My heart was no longer pounding; in fact, it felt like it had stopped completely in my chest with my burst of fear.

I darted from the room. It was very possible she was somewhere in the house, the bathroom or perhaps the kitchen for a snack, but I had a bad feeling in my gut. I rounded the corner from her room to the restroom, but the door was wide open and revealed no one. Next, I raced to the common areas, blasting through the living room with a brief glance and speeding into the kitchen. Nobody. She was gone.

Immediately, I felt sick. My stomach rolled, and horrible rumblings of discomfort rose up within me. All doors and windows leading to the outside were still closed and locked as they had been prior to going to bed, but I knew it was still possible the Novai had gotten inside to retrieve her without destructively entering. Then, a memory flooded my brain that took me from nauseous to furious.

“She will soon be leaving Pentaba completely.”

Sevani’s words rang in my ears as I recalled the cryptic statement. I had opted not to question him then, but I now wished I had gone against my instincts and demanded an explanation. Had Lena been taken out from under my nose by him, by one of my warriors, or even by the Council in its entirety? What had Sevani meant by that at all?

Remembering Sevani reminded me of something else, and it was the most frightening thought of all. Lena had pressed him about Isabelle. She had pressed me about Isabelle. Was it possible she had left to rescue her friend from what she perceived to be danger? Could she have managed to sneak out from under me so easily? I had not intended to fall asleep, of course, and lack of proper rest likely rendered me nearly catatonic once I had drifted off, but I could still not fathom Lena possessing the stealth to escape the house without my knowing. Nonetheless, it was the best lead I had, and I took off.

I flung my front door open and practically flew down the walk. The steepness of the hill upon which my house sat provided enough momentum that my sprint was twice as fast as it would have been on level ground, but I nearly stumbled when I reached the bottom. As I looked from left to right in the desperate hope of catching a glimpse of her through the darkness, I realized I was not searching for her out of fear of repercussions for failing my duties to Sevani. I cared about her. I had to protect her, and it was no longer only out of obligation to the Council.

She was nowhere in sight, nor was anyone else, so I followed my instinct and bucked left. It was the direction from which we had come when I had first brought her to my house after our brief stop at the Elder palace, and it would be the only way Lena would know. The Capital was large, though, sprawling across many miles and extending into a number of small communities with narrow roads and countless crosswalks that could render an unfamiliar person lost easily. Scouring the entire city for her would take hours, and, if I was wrong about her location, it could mean her life. I decided to forego exploring the Capital for her and take my chances in the swamps. She would have no inkling how to get to the Polder Quarter from here, and it was probable she was wandering aimlessly.

The distance from my home to the Capital’s entrance gates was no quick jog, and, at the speed I was running, I was becoming winded. It was a rarity for me because agility and stamina were an important part of warrior training, but my adrenaline was pumping, and my panic had overtaken reason. Images of white Novai bursting from behind swamp trees and snagging Lena around the throat in a vengeful rage danced through my mind like an evil jig, fueling my fear and quickening my steps.

As I zoomed past the Elder palace, I could not refrain from glancing up at it. There was a warm golden glow much like the color of Lena’s hair from a single window near the top where I knew Sevani’s resting quarters to be, but I saw no movement or figure. My footsteps on the stone road echoed against the vast walls encircling the city, as well as the houses and shops on either side of the street, and I feared the noise would rouse Sevani’s attention. By the time the window darkened and dropped from sight, however, it seemed I was still the only conscious sentient in the city.

Except for Lena.

I hoped.

The gates were within sight, and I tried to hold my breath until I reached them. My side hurt so badly I wanted to keel over. The images of Lena getting snatched by angry Novai had not yet left me, and my panic was rapidly making way for desperation. It had seemed reasonable to get out of the city and search for her in the marshes when I had started, but now, looking out into the expanse of darkness that led to the rest of Pentaba, I realized it was very possible I would never find her. Even if the Novai failed to capture her, even if they had no interest in capturing her, there was wildlife and sinkholes and underwater eddies to worry about.

I turned my head in the direction of the Polder Quarter and began to run once more.