Crim got back on board the Scarlet Skye carrying a letter and a lavender envelope. The others stopped what they were doing when they noticed he was wrapped up in its contents.
"Word from Amy?" Jace watched the distracted captain return.
Crim didn't answer, but he nodded. He was still reading.
"Well, what's she say?" Kyle asked.
"She says we have to go to a town called Starllam," the red-clad leader concluded with a frown.
"Starllam?" Kyle made a face.
"I've never heard of that one," Twest said, shaking his head.
"It's a tiny coastal town," Mara explained. She had spent most of her life on this side of the continent as a physician and knew more about it than the others did. "It's northward."
"Why in the world would a heavy-hitter mage live in some little no-name place?" Angelis asked.
Crim shrugged. "Hey, Amy is the psychic one, not me. If she says we go here," he flicked the letter with one hand, "we go here."
Everyone let out a collective groan. He'd made up his mind and they would all have to go along for the ride.
"Did she bother to tell us what we're looking for, at least?" Tiara asked. "Or just 'go here, hire a mage'?"
"Er…" Crim squirmed.
"She didn't, did she?" Ti put one hand on her hip.
"Psychic!" Crim swatted the paper again as though that explained everything. "I'm sure Aims knows exactly what she's talking about when she sends us blindly into a town we didn't know existed, with no idea of what we're looking for!"
"Alright, guys," Twest said, "let's get back to casting off so we can go waste more of our lives chasing a wild goose in a haystack so our fearless leader's status as 'alive and well' remains intact."
"Hey!" Crim said, shaking the paper. "For all we know, that mage will come find us! I mean, if it's a small town and all, there can't be too many mages floating around looking for jobs. One way or another," he waved Amy's letter at the others, "come hell or high water, we're not leaving that town 'til we find that archmage!"
He had no idea…