Kieran POV
The trail had gone cold three times already, and my patience was wearing thinner with each failed lead.
I stood at the edge of a small trading village nestled along the border between Silver Crest's northern territory and the unclaimed wilderness beyond, studying the muddy crossroads where our most recent lead had ultimately dissolved into nothing but conflicting merchant testimonies and vague, unreliable memories.
"You're certain no one matching her description passed through here recently?" I asked the village elder for the third time, my frustration evident despite my efforts to maintain professional composure.
"As I've told your warriors twice already," the elder said, his weathered face carrying the particular exhaustion of someone repeatedly questioned about matters he
