"Did you arrange her kidnapping?" said the guide.

  "NO. THESE EVENTS WERE BROUGHT ON BY ANOTHER PLAYER. I AM TAKING NO OVERT ACTIONS AT THIS TIME."

  "Do you think he stands any chance of saving her?"

  "DESPITE HIS INITIAL ACTIONS, I BELIEVE HE IS MUCH MORE CAPABLE THAN HIS FIRST IMPRESSIONS."

  "According to some memories I hold, he actually has quite of bit of woodcraft and hunting experience. Should I release it?"

  "GIVEN HIS CURRENT CIRCUMSTANCES I BELIEVE THAT WOULD BE IN ORDER. I DO NOT BELIEVE HIS ALIENATION OF ANOTHER PLAYER WAS AN EVENT HE COULD HAVE FORESEEN IN HIS INITIAL PLANS. HIS CONFUSION AT THE ENCOUNTER REINFORCES THIS. I DO NOT BELIEVE THIS WOULD DISTURB GAME BALANCE. I APPROVE IT. AWARD IT AT AN APPROPRIATE TIME."

  "Now maybe he won't be quite so... inept," she reasoned. "It certainly couldn't hurt."

  * * *

  “It was too good a death for him,” said the tanner.

  I nodded. “I agree, but I needed to know where they took her, and I keep my promises.”

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  I was surprised at my conviction about that. It was the first part of myself I was really sure about. If I make a promise, I keep it.

  "Perhaps my memories are returning," I thought. I expected an answer from my guide, but heard nothing.

  “What do you want to do with the body?” Said the tanner.

  “Leave it for the vermin. He belongs with them.”

  I caught the tanner in a quick smile.

  “What will you do now?” I said.

  He looked over at his tannery. It was a smoking filled ruin.

  I helped throw sand and water on the logs to put out the fire. They were sturdy and tempered and a recent rain had helped them resist the flames. There had been no time to put out the fire until the battle was truly finished. So, although the heavy logs had resisted the fire, the interior was gutted. We used buckets of water taken from the river to to soak the inside. Most of the leather in the tannery was ruined. The leather shop was scorched by the nearness of the other fire, but the flames had not leaped to the other building.

  I raised an eyebrow.

  “I’ll rebuild," he said. "But, first I need to get to Fishhook and warn them about the bandits planning to attack. I won’t be able to start work until that is dealt with.”

  He nodded towards Cassana’s shop.

  “You could use some better gear for the forest. She has some pieces…”

  “I know. I plan on taking a few. Hopefully, she will let me pay for them.”

  He shook his head and gave a short bark of laughter.

  “I’m pretty sure if you’re planning on going after them that would be the least she would do.”

  His eyes looked at me with a strange expectation.

  “Exactly what are you going to do?”

  “I’m going to go get her back.”

  YOU HAVE A NEW QUEST! RESCUE THE HALF-ELF FROM HER CAPTORS!

  The tanner nodded.

  “Thought you might say that.” He looked thoughtful. “There’s a lot of them. Think you can do it?”

  “If she’s alive, I’ll get her back,” I said. “If she’s not, I won’t leave one of them alive.”

  I shouldered my bow.

  “That’s a promise.”