Author's Note: I know that it's been a while. so I am thankful for all of your patience and words of encouragement. I can't tell you how much it means to me. Hopefully updates will come more often but who knows what life will throw at you. MERRY CHRISTMAS, and a Happy New Year. I hope that 2018 will be kind to you all.

Disclaimer: While I would love to claim ownership of these beautifully crafted characters, I cannot. *sigh*

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Following the trail that was leading them to their missing friend, Athos couldn't help but admire the fact that Aramis was giving his captors a hard time. As much as Athos disliked it when he himself was on the receiving end. He loved it when others were being forced to live through the pain that is a sarcastic Aramis. The trail of blood was worrisome however, and it became even more so when D'Artagnan had read the prints on ground and stated that Aramis had willingly gotten off his horse and headed off.
"He must have realized that there was no way that he was getting away. But the horse could, on it's own" Porthos said to Athos who nodded in agreement.
"At least he was coherent enough to think that through."
D'Artagnan caught their attention, "It looks like he headed into the forest here," he pointed to the left, "we should dismount, the underbrush is to thick for the horses to get through at any real speed. Besides it will be more difficult to track in here. The forest floor is very dense so I'll need to be closer to the ground anyway."

Heeding his advice the four of them dismounted and headed into the forest on foot. "It looks like his leg was wounded, you can see that one of the footprints drags a bit."
D'Artagnan continued on occasionally commenting on the odd significance of each broken twig. Athos assumed it was because of worry, D'Artagnan had always been a talkative person, but when he's worried he just talks until he realizes that he forgets to breathe. He had grown a lot over the past four years, Athos had watched him transform from the last of his boyish ways into the strong and confident man before him. It had not come without a price however, what they had had to live through was what Aramis had once described as what Hell would be like. No one had come through the bloody mess unchanged. But D'Artagnan had the most, and he was a stronger man for it.
"He stumbled here." he pointed to a branch on the ground where a small pool of blood had formed on the fallen leaves. "It's also where his pursuers caught up with him." D'Artagnan crouched down to get a better look at the ground, "There are two new more sets of footprints all around here. And these ones here," he said pointing to the larger of the two, " are deeper. So either he was extraordinarily large or..."
"Or" Porthos interrupted, "they had to carry him."

The worry behind those words made Porthos visibly shudder. The larger man had been clutching onto Aramis's pauldron so tightly, his knuckles had turned white. Porthos' mind was racing, trying to come up with a reasonable explanation for what could have happened here. Aramis could have just passed out and been carried off by the men who hunted him. Or maybe some travelers found him and he was perfectly alright. Or he could be dead and buried in some shallow grave where the wild animals could dig up and devour his best friend. All the things that I should have said to him while I had the chance. Now he's gone and I'll never be able to take back those stupid hurtful words I said when we were reunited after 4 years! The concern must have shown on his face because a hand suddenly appeared on his shoulder.
"He's not DEAD Porthos" Seemingly reading his mind Athos looked into his eyes, conveying more confidence than Athos felt right now.
"How could you know that?"
"Because they wouldn't bother with a dead man's body. If he's not here that means he's alive...and it means that they need something from him." Raul answered.
"And they won't be able to find anything out from a dead man."
Athos nodded, surprised at the young mans intuition, and turned to D'Artagnan who was still crouched on the ground, "Can you tell which way they went from here?"
"Yes, just give me a moment," Athos's question seemed to have drawn him from deep thought. D'Artagnan was studying the ground where Aramis once lie, "look at this."
The three men stepped closer to the former Gascon, trying to see what he was pointing at.
"I don't see anything." Raul said.
"Right here, carved into the ground...it's ... a name... Cesar."
Porthos face turned into a sad smile, Only Aramis, he huffed in amusement.
"Does it say anything else?!" This information had to reach Treville. If this was the name of the traitor Athos needed to know.
"All it says is Cesar... Who has access to that kind of information with that name?"
"I'm not sure... but I intend to find out." Athos turned to Porthos 'This needs to get to Treville. You three continue on. I'll return as soon as I am able."
Porthos nodded as Athos remounted his horse. He looked back down at the three men "Find him, and bring him home."
"We will." Feeling the determination in Porthos's voice, Athos turned his horse back toward the road and headed back to Paris. Armed with the knowledge of the traitors name he was determined that, should things with Aramis go poorly, Aramis's sacrifice would not be in vain

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Sorry for the filler chapter...REALLY short! I know. But I plan on posting more within the next week. Just thought I'd give you a little something before Christmas. Any way I hope you all are enjoying the story. Any questions feel free to ask. I'm on here at least once or twice a day so should respond within 24-48 hours. Merry Christmas all!