(Daniel)
Ten days. That's how long I've been searching. Ten days of failures, near misses, and empty promises.
The first five days were the worst. I tried three different rogue camps and got rejected by all of them. One group laughed in my face. Another threatened to kill me if I came back. The third just walked away without even hearing my offer.
'We should give up,' Varek kept saying. 'Magnus is going to throw us out anyway.'
'Not yet. I still have time.'
'Two days, Daniel. You have two days left.'
He was right. I was running out of time and options. My ribs had healed from Magnus's beating but the bruises remained. A constant reminder of what failure looked like.
On the eighth day, I found a lead. A trader in neutral territory told me about a large rogue group further west. Thirt
