Richard and Jehan spent some more time walking around the area where the attack happened, trying to find more eyewitnesses who might tell them something. Sometimes they walked together, and sometimes they separated to cover more ground. They knocked on doors, talked to people in shops, and to people on the streets. Several people had either seen the warped men attack, or claimed to have seen it, but they didn't find anyone who had anything new to say. Most of the witnesses they found had not been close and had run away as soon as they had seen something happening or didn't actually see anything and just ran away because everyone else was running.

  After several hours, Richard sighed. “I don't think we're going to find anyone else who can tell us more than Alana already did.”

  Jehan nodded. “I have to admit, it never seemed that likely that we would find much. I assume that whomever it was just cast that spell to slow us down or distract us and then either fled town or went and hid somewhere. It was worth trying to see if we could, though.”

  Richard nodded. “Yeah, I suppose you're right. There's probably nothing interesting to find around here.” Something about that phrase echoed in his head for a minute in a strange way, leaving him feeling slightly dizzy, and he closed his eyes and shook his head until the feeling went away. “Whew...I must be tired, probably got up too early.”

  “I can go ask if the guards learned anything new and get our equipment back.” Jehan said. “You should head back to the house. Perhaps do some more training? It seemed like you were making good progress last night.”

  Richard nodded. “All right.” He sighed. “I have the strangest feeling like I'm missing some clue, like there's something...I don't know. Maybe I'll think of it later. It's probably nothing important anyway.”

  Richard went jogging back up through the north gate of the city, his feet finding an easy rhythm on the dirt road. It was a sunny day, and the sun shining on the fields of the farms and trees he jogged past was a relaxing sight. He still had a nagging feeling at the back of his head like he was forgetting something, but every time he tried to pin it down the feeling went away. He sighed and tried not to let it bother him.

  When he got back to the house, both Harry and Bertrand were waiting for him, grinning.

  “We noticed how fast you learned skills earlier, and Bertrand had a good idea for how we can train a couple of your skills at once. We were setting it up while you were in town...”

  Richard ran through the forest. He'd been doing this over and over again for several hours now, so jumping over this branch and going a little bit to the left to avoid the low hanging leaves that would slow him down became almost automatic. Without breaking stride, he threw a knife at the first target tied to on an elm tree as he ran past it.

  Thunk! A solid hit, not directly in the middle of the target, but close. He did a sharp left turn around a massive oak tree, and ran on, easily avoiding a crumbling log that tripped him the first time he ran this course today, and threw a throwing knife into the second target without slowing down.

  After spending most of the afternoon running on this course, Richard had already gained a level in his Pathfinder skill, and he could already feel the difference in just how easy it was to move around in the forest. Between that and the practice he'd had running the same course Harry and Bertrand had designed over and over again, most of the movements became automatic, leaving him more time to think. Richard ducked under a tree branch and focused on keeping his breathing steady as he loped through the woods.

  What is it I'm missing...I know there's something. Was it something Alana said.

  He took a couple of long steps, avoiding twisting his ankles in holes in the forest ground that had probably been made by a gopher.

  She told me that the Warped Men moved as a group, and ignored random people, coming right to the Inn. That seems to prove that someone was controlling them and did send them after the person casting the spell.

  He threw a third throwing knife. This time he didn't quite hit the target solidly, and instead the knife glanced off the side of the tree and fell. He sighed, knowing it would be a pain to find when he came back after this run of the course, but didn't slow down.

  She told me that they came from that alley, but that probably just means that's where the summoner was hiding when he summoned them; he probably left the alley soon after they did. There wasn't anything important in that alley.

  He frowned; something wasn't adding up here. He turned to the right, and with one long stride leaped over a narrow creek, his right foot landing in a patch of soft moss on the other side of it, and his momentum carrying him across without needing to break stride.

  Something is wrong. There were...there were city guards investigating that warehouse back there. The attack happened yesterday, why were there still guards investigating that area today if there was nothing interesting back there?

  There was nothing interesting back there. The thought echoed back to him, and something felt strange about that thought; it seemed like something he was oddly confident, like a fact he had memorized, and didn't fit with the rest of his train of thought.

  Richard took a misstep and his left foot almost slipped on the flat leaf of a fern, but he quickly regained his balance and kept running.

  If there was nothing interesting back there, then why would there be guards?

  There was nothing interesting back there.

  How many guards were there? Five? Or...six? He vaguely remembered five guards, or six, but something seemed wrong. Their uniforms seemed...fuzzy in his memory, like he couldn't quite remember what they looked like. And...was there a commander there with them, someone in charge?

  There was nothing interesting back there.

  The repeated refrain came back to him, and it felt like one of those songs that gets stuck in your head and just keeps repeating. It was becoming annoying, and he managed to ignore it and continue his train of thought as he ran through the forest.

  The guards wouldn't just be standing around. If they were there, there should have been someone there in charge of them. Maybe...some kind of sergeant, or some kind of investigator? Do they have those in this world?

  Why can't I remember what I saw? Is something wrong with me?

  ...nothing important....

  I really feel like there was someone else there, but I can't...

  ...nothing interesting...

  Richard threw his fourth throwing knife, directly into a tree stump they had put the fourth target in. This one he hit dead on in the center, and for a moment imagined he was throwing it at an enemy, maybe a monster like the one he had fought at the river.

  ...nothing important...

  Something does not make sense here. Something is wrong. Something is wrong.

  There must have been something about that warehouse worth investigating. Did I see anything when I walked into it? A memory of a memory brushed past Richard's brain, but he couldn't quite remember it.

  Oddly, though, it felt like a happy memory, like something he should have remembered. Almost like there was someone he knew there, but that can't be true.

  ...nothing interesting...

  That refrain is getting stranger and stranger. How could this not be interesting? There were 5 or 6 guards there, investigating something. I know they were being led by someone, but I just can't remember what she looked like.

  Wait...she? Was there a woman there? Richard couldn't remember, but felt a faint tingle on his lips.

  Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.

  With increasing frustration, Richard went into a full sprint towards the last target, in a way he hadn't earlier today; he had been pacing himself, so he could train for longer, but something in him burst free and made him put everything into a sprint, and he ran directly for the last target, a thick tree. As he got close he cried out a battle cry and put everything he had into the throw of his last knife. THUNK! The knife struck exactly in the center of the target, and with all of his momentum behind it, it sank deeply into the tree. As soon as he did, several blue boxes popped up in front of his eyes, breaking his train of thought.

  A combat class! Great, that's what I've been waiting for. Not sure what a skirmisher is exactly, but hopefully it will let me defend myself a little better. Richard reached out and touched the “Y” on the box floating in front of him.

  Smiling, Richard went back to get his throwing knives. He'd been doing this all afternoon, and could almost pick them up without thinking about it although it took him a little while to find where the third knife had gone off the tree and into the leaves. He felt refreshed and energized.

  It feels good to earn a class, like I accomplished something. This is the best I've felt since...since...

  A shard of memory was linked to that thought, like a thread attached to something larger but hidden, and he pulled on that thread...

  lips touching his

  whisper in his ear

  “All you are going to remember

  city guards...investigating...warehouse

  there is nothing interesting here.”

  nothing interesting

  nothing interesting

  nothing interesting

  The memory started to fade again, as quick as it appeared, but this time Richard refused to let that happen.

  NO. I NEED TO KNOW.

  The memory was still broken, he could only touch parts of it, but it was incredibly vivid, like trying to remember a dream after you wake up in the morning. He could almost hear her voice, soft and sensual.

  next time I see you

  back into my thrall

  do what I say

  Won't you, pet

  “Yes...” he started to whisper out loud, then he shook his head.

  “No. No, I will not.” he said, quietly. Then louder. “No.” He yelled across the forest. “NO! NO!”

  Something shifted in his head, and it was as if a fog lifted. He could suddenly think more clearly, which was odd because he hadn't really noticed he wasn't thinking as clearly as usual until it ended.

  A rustling in the bush quickly came from behind him; he turned to see Harry and Bertrand come running up to him through the woods.

  “We heard you yelling, kid. Is everything all right?” Bertrand asked.

  Richard shook his head grimly. He still had only bits and pieces of memory and his brain was franticly trying to put together the puzzle out of the pieces he'd acquired, but there were some things that were immediately obvious to him. “No. I think Jehan might be in danger right now. For that matter, we all might be.”

  Spoiler: Character Sheet