Airne stood at the prow as the ship cut through the water. She was finally returning to her home island of Trivent, in the Dragon’s Claw Archipelago.

“Nervous?” asked Evie.

“No.” A moment later she said, “yes. Maybe.”

“I would be,” said the young elf.

“There’s nothing for me there, you know. I don’t know how I let Daney talk me into returning.”

“Daney thought you should let your family know what happened. They might be worried.”

Airne snorted at that.

“They probably didn’t even know I was gone. After Father died, they were more cruel than ever. As far as some of my sibs were concerned, I caused Mother’s death. After that, Father too busy running the farm to pay much attention to how I was treated.”

The pair watched the shoreline as the ship sailed into Ardimon. This had been Airne’s intended destination when she’d left the farm. But slavers had waylaid and carried her off to Port Freehaven. Something had other plans for that slave ship when a powerful storm slammed the hapless galley into one of the many small, uninhabited islands.

Only the island wasn’t uninhabited.

Orcs and goblins had descended on the ruins, hoping to find the purported treasure left by the previous tenant, the Lord De’Velli. The opposing factions disturbed a long-forgotten goddess, Ashta’Qi. The goddess recognized that the small band of survivors had stepped into a conflict they wished to avoid. She allowed them an opportunity to escape before she scoured the island clean of those who had desecrated her temple.

That was five years ago. It had taken her that long to save enough gold for the passage back to the mainland, through Trivent. Airne didn’t think her sibs would care one way or the other, but she had promised Daney she’d let them know what had happened to her. So, here she was, her pack slung over her shoulder as she walked down the gangplank, trailed by Evie.

The farm was almost two leagues west of the port. This time, though, Airne didn’t think she’d fall prey to slavers. After all, she, Evie, and the others had spent the past few years finding the source of the slave trade and cutting it from Port Freehaven—stem and root. Now, she was on her way to Rithraunen to learn more about Ashta’Qi.

First, though, she had to face her family, not something she looked forward to.

The fields surrounding the farmhouse were empty. Airne had expected the flock would graze the upper pastures at this time of year, but the farm looked abandoned. No chickens or goats grazed in the yard near to the house. No dogs barked their warning.

(To be continued)