The Mayor won't help

Travelling by wagon was fast, although not as fast as if Aron had just ridden horseback himself. But in just two hours the party returned to the town of Coh. The sight of the Mayor and the towns people all gathered outside his farm house was frightening. He remembered once, a few years back when he and Ana just arrived in Coh, a large fiery star had swept across the sky. A bad omen some said, and when they noticed it, everyone came out to watch, some praying and weeping for the end of the world, and others just watching. They all came together to witness the terrible event, just like they congregated around his home.

It was already dark by the time he arrived, thanks in much part to Aron's insistence on checking the valley road. Several of the people outside the house had lit torches, and as the wagon stopped outside, the Mayor's personal torchbearer moved to light the way for the town official. He waddled over, for he was a girthy man, well fed and accustomed to his higher standing in the community. He was nearly balding, but kept a bushy mustache to make up for it. On either side he was flanked by two more of the town militia, these one's carrying short swords and shields.

"Where is my wife?" Aron demanded as soon as he jumped down from the wagon. "Which way has the Demon Lord taken her?"

"Well, that's the thing. We don't know that the demon lord has taken her at all."

"What are you talking about? Who else could have taken her?"

The mayor frowned, and clicked his fingers. Another guardsman brought forth a full figured blonde woman who Aron recognized as one of his wife's friends from the market where she sold medicine she made from herbs in the garden.

"This woman, Heather, was the one that noticed that your wife was missing, but says...well, tell him yourself, girl."

"N-nothing was out of place, sir. The kitchen was full of herbs and medicine, as if she'd been working, and all her clothes, and her coat were still in the closet. It don't look like she was taken. More like she just vanished."

"The Demon Lord is very fast, and very strong. He could have been in and out before anyone noticed." Aron informed the Mayor hastily, not wanting to waste time debating whether or not his wife was in danger. "Samuel told me you did a search already."

"I don't want you to think me careless. When Heather came to me after you'd already left with two of my men, I was suspicious. So I had another two of my men search the market place and the town boundaries for any sign of her. But they found nothing. Then I had them come to the house, to look for clues that the girl might have missed. And that's when it turned out that she hadn't told us the whole truth.

The Mayor looked pointedly at Heather to make her speak.

"I didn't want to say nothing, but I like your wife," Another look from the Mayor made her skip to the important part. "The bedroom, the windows were covered, and it smelled like incense."

"Is your wife involved in magic and witchcraft?" The Mayor accused.

Aron shook his head with exasperation. They didn't have time for this. Ana was out in the world somewhere at the mercy of the Demon Lord and these ignorant townfolk were wringing their hands over magic and sorcery. Admittedly it didn't make much sense to him either, since he'd thought that her powers had long since faded. But now wasn't the time. He could ask those questions of Ana herself when they found her.

"She used to be a priestess of the Temple of Liru in Cubano, but that's not really important right now. We need to find her."

"I like you Aron, you've done good work for the town, as an adventurer and a blacksmith, and your wife's medicine was a great asset to this town." The Mayor avoided Aron's eye. "But magic, even the temple magicks, can be dangerous things. Maybe we have to entertain the idea that she wasn't taken at all. That she did something to herself."

"What did you say?"

Aron took a step towards the Mayor as anger rose up in his veins. Before he could make another move though the shielded guardsmen on either side stepped in, blocking his advance.

"If you want to think that, then you can think it all you want after we've found her. If you checked the town, then we need to widen the search. No one seen her inside the boundaries, and if the Demon Lord went south he'd have crossed paths with us. So that means he likely took her either east or west. We need to assemble the militia into two teams and-"

"I'm afraid that won't be happening," the mayor announced from behind his men. "I can't afford to leave the town undermanned to chase what might be a fool's errand. Worse, it might be a trap. He did it once before when he lured you out, didn't he?"

Aron's face reddened.

"If a Demon Lord really is out there, the last thing I'm doing is leaving this town unprotected."

Leaving yourself unprotected more like, Aron thought with gritted teeth and his hands balled into fists. The Mayor turned to leave, and the guardsmen began to follow, but before he went, the mayor did have one last thing to say.

"I'm sorry."

Aron immediately felt alone, even before everyone packed up and left. He began to gather up his things too. Even if no one was going to help him, he still had to look for her. But he was only one man, and there were two paths.

"Where are you going?"

He looked over his shoulder, surprised to find that Heather, his wife's friend was still with him. She had a fuller body than his wife, and larger breasts, though he wouldn't have considered her overweight, just more filled out. Despite being friends, she was actually a couple of years older than Ana, and still unmarried. But Aron had rarely ever spoken to her.

"I'm going to find my wife."

"Shouldn't you wait until morning? I want you to find Ana more than anyone else in this town, but if you go out in the night, you could hurt yourself and be no good to nobody. Wouldn't it be better to wait until morning?"

She made a good point. Travelling back and forth, along with the stress of the situation itself, had left Aron fatigued. It might be better to get a good night's rest, and head out in the morning, refreshed, and when he might be able to see their trail. But the longer that he didn't follow them, the further away they could get.

"If you want...if you'd rather not be alone tonight...I have a spare bed in my house."