A Twist of Tales (On Hold)

17. Rowan

ROWAN

"We are here."

I turned around to see both of them staring at the large tree in front of us. James had a frown on his forehead, Quentin on the other hand, looked around as if he expected that someone would jump out of the undergrowth and attack us.

At first I had to hold back a laugh, because to me the thought seemed just ridiculous. But then I remembered that he wasn't just James' friend, but also his personal guard, which meant that it was his job to keep him safe.

"So this is it?" James asked, breaking the silence. I nodded and descended from Rekio. I didn't wait for them to do the same and walked around to the other side of the tree. Everything was the same as I remembered it. I frowned to myself, a thought crossing my mind.

"What is it?" James asked. I looked up to see him and Quentin staring at me with a confused look on their faces.

"When did your sister disappear?"

"About a week and a half ago, why?"

I had a strange feeling about all of this. I didn't know what it was, but I kept thinking that there was something in front of me, but I just couldn't figure out what. I shook my head and kept staring at the tree, hoping that the answer would pop up in my head.

"I don't think that we are going to find something here," Quentin eventually broke the silence. "We should move on, otherwise we will lose a lot of valuable time."

"No, wait!" I said. "There's something we are missing." I walked further away from the tree and started to look around. There was something that was missing, but I just couldn't figure out why. I stayed still for a while, trying to figure it out.

"Where does this lead to?" James' voice reached me. I turned back and looked around to see what he was talking about. I spotted him as he stood near the undergrowth, pointing towards something. I took one last glance around before walking back to him.

"What?" I asked once I finally stood in front of him.

"This path, where does it lead to?" he asked again.

I looked in the direction he was pointing at, my eyes widening. I knew exactly where this path lead.

"What?" James asked once he saw my reaction.

"Remember the first time we met?"

"Of course, I remember. But what does this have to do with it?"

"This path leads right to the ogre territory."

I watched as James' eyes widened in realization. "Do you think that..." he trailed off.

"No, I don't think that her abductors took this way. This path looks abandoned. I don't think that-" I stopped talking when I spotted the footprint on the ground. "What....?"

"What is it?" James asked me confused.

I didn't answer him and kneeled down. My hand brushed over the trail. I could tell that it was fresh. Someone must have entered that path recently. Leila appeared by my side and snuffled at the ground. I expected her to start growling, but instead she looked at me with a crocked head.

Confused that she didn't growl like she usually did when she scented a stranger, I frowned. I took me a moment to realize what was going on.

"Where is Quentin?" I asked while standing up.

At the mention of his guard, James looked around with a frown. "I don't know. He's not here."

"He wouldn't be that stupid and just follow a path he didn't know, right?" I asked him hopefully, although I already knew the answer.