The man who had rushed into the bar to deliver the news was pretty frantic, and his story was incoherent. This town, or at least this man, clearly hadn't seen much action.<br/><br/>"Calm down Joseph," said the bartender, an aging man with gray hair, who still retained the physical prowess of a younger man. "Just slow down and explain yourself," he said, passing the man a drink.<br/><br/>The man called Joseph accepted the drink. He drained the glass, took a breath and continued his story, slower this time.<br/><br/>"There was a girl, she was walking to the fountain. All of a sudden she collapsed, she was having seizures and stuff."<br/><br/>"seizures?" Kosuke asked.<br/><br/>The man gave him a funny look, like 'this isn't a conversation for a child', but nodded.<br/><br/>"Anyway," the man continued, "After she collapsed a bunch of bandits came out,"<span style="font-style: italic">Bandits?</span>Kosuke thought. "They messed with her for a while, then... her mouth started foaming and they took up a bunch of horses and scrammed with the girl."<br/><br/>"What did the girl look like?" Kosuke asked him.<br/><br/>The man gave a look to the bartender. "It's alright," the old man said, "The kid's a healer."<br/><br/>The man turned back to Kosuke, a slightly different look in his eyes now. "She was young, with black hair in a braid, wearing heavy clothes."<br/><br/><span style="font-style: italic">Brinn!</span>Kosuke thought, a look of realization on his face.<span style="font-style: italic">"I have reason to believe you're allied with those who want to kill me."</span>So the bandits were after her then?<br/><br/>"I have to go," Kosuke said, bowing to the room. "I'm afraid I know the woman who was kidnapped."<br/><br/>"But wait, no one's paid you for your treatment yet!" the bartender called.<br/><br/>"I didn't do it for money!" Kosuke called back, smiling slightly as he ran out the door.<br/><br/>***<br/><br/>The first place Kosuke went was obviously the well. There was no one there anymore, but there were a whole lot of fresh footprints. Following these however, only took him as far as the edge of town, then the grass got in the way.<br/><br/><span style="font-style: italic">I should calm down,</span>Kosuke thought to himself.<span style="font-style: italic">A sensory spell will help me find them, but I'll have to use a lower level one. I've used up a lot of manna already today and I'll probably have to use more.</span>He sighed,<span style="font-style: italic">Going after Brinn is going to get me into a lot of trouble... but something tells me I'm going to do it anyway.</span><br/><br/>His hair and robes swirled around him slightly as there was a rush of energy. The mage opened his eyes and looked off into the distance.<span style="font-style: italic">That way.</span>