Hutson ran for a good distance before slowing his pace. Once he could no longer sense any disturbances behind him, he began circling toward the forest's exit, moving swiftly but cautiously.
Forty minutes later, the towering stone pillars of the Thousand-Needle Stone Forest finally thinned out, revealing the open plains beyond.
At the exit, four horses still stood waiting, exactly where they had been left. But now, a carriage had joined them—a sign that the three enemy wizard apprentices had not traveled on foot.
Hutson quickly mounted his own horse, spurring it into a gallop toward Moonlight Woodland.
"From what those three said, it seems Malcolm discovered Luhn's death in the Moonlight Forest… and now he's blaming the entire region, even putting out a bounty…"
With a calculated motion, Hutson shed his long robe, replacing it with plain traveler's clothes to avoid drawing attention.
He dug his heels into the horse's flank, urging it forward at breakneck speed.
