Gavner could still discern Mavrik’s footsteps from all of the others, and he could now hear that his friend was leading the followers around in circles. Zig-zagging left and right, looping the loop and twisting the turn. Suddenly Mavrik’s footsteps stopped, and he could hear that the outlaws’ were continuing.

“Split up!” Gavner heard an aggravated man’s voice say, “Find them. At the very least their weapons may be of some value.”

Gavner heard the soft crunch of leaves directly behind him and stood up, turning around to look at his friend.
“How did you know that I was here?” Gavner said softly.

“I heard you blink about a mile back, and fixed your position in my mind. Then I decided to lose the others and meet you,” Said Mavrik.

“How did they find us?” Gavner asked.

“I take it you’re no longer disoriented?” Mavrik asked.

“For the most part, I am in control of all of my senses.” Gavner replied, “It was rather rough at first but now I remember everything.” Just then Gavner and Mavrik heard three sets of footsteps approaching.

“Why did you not dispose of them?” Gavner whispered at Mavrik.

“Maybe you still don’t have all of your wits back,” Mavrik replied. “I didn’t want to leave a body count. These guys may be criminals but if one of them are killed they have a right to request a formal investigation. If Corone finds out that vampires are killing their citizens, they will start sticking their noses in places they don’t belong.”

“You have a point there,” Gavner whispered back, “but how do we know that they are criminals?”

“When I told you to flee, I went back and saw that one of them had the prisoner brand on his face. Others had shackles still on their wrists.” The steps were coming closer. Mavrik threw a look in the direction of the noise and turned back to Gavner. “We’d better get going, I hope you’re strong enough to jump!”

With that Mavrik stepped out into the moonlight and turned, beginning to run towards the opening between the trees. Gavner stepped out into the moonlight as well and started after Mavrik. Suddenly, Gavner’s friend leapt and dove headfirst out of sight. This confused Gavner, as he did not know why his friend would dive headfirst down a hill- until he reached the point that Mavrik jumped. Gavner looked down and found himself on the top of a cliff overlooking a huge dropoff with a large body of water below him.

“Over there!” Gavner heard a voice say from behind him.

Without thinking, Gavner jumped off the cliff headfirst with his hands out to break the water as he plummeted downward.