Arnell Manor
Rick stood at attention, giving his report to the Arnells.
“I’m terribly sorry, sir. I wasn’t able to get them all, but I know who did it and have a general idea of where the children are.”
Nathan shook his head. “It’s not your fault. I should’ve anticipated that the Faradays might try something like this.” He turned grim. “Mobilize our mercenaries. Inform the city protectors, and hire some people from the Adventurer’s Guild.”
“It will be done,” Rick replied, then rushed out of the room.
Nathan looked toward Iris, who wore a worried expression. He gently placed a hand on her shoulder.
“It’ll be alright,” he said softly. “They aren’t stupid enough to actually harm the kids. We’ll get them back, we just have to be careful.”
“I know,” Iris replied, but her eyes burned with fury. “But if anything happens to them... I’ll burn the Faraday estate to the ground.”
Heat radiated from her body as a swirl of mana-laced air shimmered around her. Without another word, she stormed off, leaving Nathan alone in thought.
With a sigh, Nathan crossed the room to a tall cabinet and opened it. Inside, he retrieved a polished staff. With a determined look, he joined the mercenaries as they marched for the Faraday estate.
*****
Faraday Estate
Bartholomew stood on his balcony, barking orders.
“Double the guards! Be ready for the Arnells to show up any minute!”
His advisor wrung his hands nervously. “They shouldn’t be here yet, sir. Aren’t they waiting for a ransom note?”
“They should be!” Bartholomew snapped. “They’re supposed to grovel, not come charging at us!”
The advisor hesitated. “Sir, perhaps we should bring the children out and use them during negotiations to intimidate them.”
Bartholomew calmed slightly. “Good. Intimidation might buy us time. Go fetch the kids.”
A mercenary returned moments later, pale-faced. “Sir... they’re gone.”
“What?!”
The advisor blanched. “Quiet. Form a search party. Find them. If this gets out, we’re finished.”
A team rushed down to the cell. One guard pointed at the bent bars and footprints leading out.
“Did the kids bend these bars?”
“Maybe they had a tool,” one said.
“Or maybe... they used magic,” another suggested.
The others laughed.
“You’re saying a kid under nine has a second mark? Yeah, right.”
“Enough. Start searching. They couldn’t have gone far.”
*****
One Hour Earlier
Nicholas held Selas’s hand as they exited the cell. Facing the door, he raised his palm and channeled mana through his mark.
“Push.”
The door blasted off its hinges, slamming the henchman behind it into the wall.
Two doors greeted them, one in front, one to the right. Nicholas listened carefully at both.
“Nothing...” he muttered, then peeked through the right door and spotted an empty kitchen.
“Should we wait here or try to find a way back home?” he asked aloud.
Selas pointed toward the cavern door.
“Home.”
Nicholas nodded. “Got it.”
They slipped through the cave door. The air was dry and quiet, save for a faint light in the distance.
“Almost there,” he whispered to Selas.
He focused mana into his eyes, improving his vision in the dark. Every step echoed.
“Can I cancel the sound with mana?” he wondered.
He adjusted the mana flow through his feet. With each step, the echoes softened until there was no sound at all.
By the time they reached the exit, he saw two guards stationed at the mouth of the cave. He whispered to Selas, “Don’t make a sound.”
He closed his eyes, visualizing his next move, earth shifting and encasing the guards.
“Encase!”
The ground surged, trapping the guards from neck to toe. Nicholas grabbed Selas’s hand and bolted for the road.
After a half mile, Nicholas staggered.
“Is this what running out of mana feels like...?” he panted.
He collapsed for a moment, taking deep breaths. Gradually, ambient mana flowed back into his mark, refreshing him.
“We can’t stop like this,” he told Selas. “They’ll catch up.”
He scanned the area. Trees to the left, prairie to the right.
“That forest should hide us better,” he said.
He shaped a hollow hole behind a tree and covered it with dirt, leaving a small air hole.
“If we hear anyone, stay quiet. If it gets dark, we’ll follow the road.”
Selas nodded, then drifted to sleep. Nicholas sat in silence, recovering his mana. Once full, exhaustion overtook him.
*****
Present
The guards followed the trail through the cave. They found the two trapped men and freed their mouths.
“What happened?”
“We heard a sound, then got buried in earth. The kids ran out.”
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“No one else was with them?”
“No.”
The lead guard narrowed his eyes. “You think that kid already has a mark?”
“Is that even possible?” another asked.
“Possible or not, stay alert.”
They found fresh footprints and pursued them.
*****
Back at the Faraday Estate
Bartholomew spotted the Arnells and their mercenaries approaching.
“What is the meaning of this?” he shouted. “Bringing an armed party to my estate?”
Nathan stepped forward. “We know what you did. Return our children, or this place burns.”
Bartholomew sneered. “You have no proof. And clearly, you don’t know who you’re messing with. My uncle is a seven-mark Arcane Knight. Your butler? A mere four.”
Some mercenaries hesitated.
Nathan’s voice boomed. “Your uncle’s across the sea. And do you think we came unprepared?”
He turned to Iris. “Your turn.”
Iris stepped forward and raised her hand. A column of flame shot upward, surrounding Bartholomew. Her sleeve lifted, revealing a glowing mana mark, seven marks lit, and an eighth forming.
Gasps rippled through the crowd.
“You have fifteen minutes,” Iris said, her eyes cold. “Bring me my children, or I’ll reduce this place to ash.”
Bartholomew paled and snapped at his advisor. “Go! Get them!”
The advisor ran to the hideout as fast as he could.
When the advisor arrived, he found the broken cell and the injured guards. After hearing the report, he cursed aloud.
“Damn it! Where the hell are they?!”
Iris flipped a five-minute hourglass.
“Ten minutes left,” she said, not breaking eye contact with Bartholomew.
“They’re on their way!” he insisted.
“Nine minutes, thirty seconds.”
As the sand trickled down, Bartholomew began to sweat.
Finally, the last grain fell.
“Time’s up,” Iris said calmly.
She fired a blazing orb past his ear. It ignited the room behind him. Then she unleashed wave after wave of destruction, setting the estate ablaze.
“Stop!” Bartholomew screamed. “What are you doing?!”
“You clearly don’t know who you’re messing with,” Iris mocked.
His guards cowered.
“What can we do against a seven-mark? We’ll die!”
Bartholomew dropped to his knees, watching his home burn. Gripping his scorched ear, he muttered:
“Just you wait... I’ll repay this a hundredfold.”
*****
Nicholas awoke to hushed voices.
“The tracks lead to that tree.”
He looked to Selas, still asleep, then pressed his ear to the dirt.
Six guards approached. Three moved ahead. Nicholas listened, then triggered his mark.
A sudden explosion of dirt launched rocks outward. Two guards were knocked out; one screamed in pain, his leg broken.
As the dust cleared, Nicholas and Selas ran.
“Kid, stop!” one guard shouted. “We don’t want to hurt you, but keep this up, and we will.”
Nicholas gritted his teeth and shouted, “Crush!”
A chunk of earth slammed into one guard’s chest, breaking his armor and knocking him out.
But Nicholas swayed and his vision blurred. He couldn’t channel more mana.
The head guard charged and kicked him in the stomach. Nicholas collapsed. A fist struck his temple, and darkness followed.
Selas screamed until another guard covered her mouth with a cloth.
“Two marks at seven years old…” one guard said, awestruck.
“Not many kids manage that, even with mana-enhanced food,” another added.
The guard with the broken leg groaned. “You sure that’s only two marks?”
“Positive,” the leader replied. “At one, you can only absorb mana. Two’s when you start using it.”
“Glad we weren’t the ones fighting the butler.”
“Agreed. Let’s get moving.”
They tied the children and tended to their wounded, then returned to the hideout.
*****
Back at the hideout
The advisor stood near the broken cell, eyeing the collapsed doorway with thinly veiled frustration.
Footsteps echoed from deeper in the hideout as the six Faraday guards returned, three bruised and breathless, one limping, two dragging a limp boy and carrying a girl.
“We found them,” said the lead guard. “The boy was definitely tougher than we thought.”
The guards filled the advisor in.
The advisor, feeling relieved, nodded. “Bring them to the estate,” he ordered, voice clipped. “And hurry.”
From behind the shadows of the ruined cell, something shifted. A figure stepped forward, cloaked in dark mana, his presence like a whisper of something ominous and ethereal.
“You were sloppy. Why is there so much commotion? All you had to do was avoid attention and guide the Faradays,” the figure said, voice distant and low.
“Because Bartholomew is an idiot! At least his uncle was level-headed. Should we inform Malkis that there might be a delay?”
“No. Let Malkis remain unbothered. If Bartholomew does his job, we won’t have to worry.”
The advisor shifted uncomfortably.
“Just keep playing the fool and incite Bartholomew. The bigger our influence, the easier it is to get information. If you finish this task, you will officially be one of us.”
The cloaked figure dissipated.
“Let’s hope Bartholomew doesn’t do anything more idiotic,” the advisor muttered.
*****
Iris stood in the scorched courtyard, a silent storm behind her eyes. Nathan stood at her side, arms folded, jaw clenched tight.
The front gate creaked open. Six guards returned carrying Nicholas and Selas, barely conscious. They placed the children down and quickly left after noticing the ruined estate.
Iris moved in a blur, her arms around both of them.
Selas stirred faintly, murmuring her mother’s name. Nicholas didn’t speak, but his eyes opened just long enough to meet Iris’s gaze—ashamed, but relieved.
“You’re lucky the kids were brought back, if they were still missing, that would’ve been the end of you. Be happy that me and my husband are merciful. There won’t be a second chance.”
The Arnell group left the faraday estate, along with everyone else that came with them.
The advisor arrived a moment later, cloak tattered, face blank.
“I apologize for the delay. There were… unforeseen circumstances. Ah—what happened to your ear?”
At those words, Bartholomew struck the advisor with his fists.
“Why did it take you so long?!” He kept punching. “You had one job!”
Bartholomew wore himself out quickly. The advisor acted hurt and pretended to faint.
*****
Later that night
Nicholas lay staring at the ceiling. His body ached. His mana felt hollow. But it was the image of Selas frightened, and relying on him that burned brightest.
I couldn’t protect her. Not well enough.
His fists clenched beneath the blanket. He remembered the fear. The weight of Selas in his arms as he ran.
I won’t be weak.
Not for his sister’s sake. Not for his parents’. Not if danger like that could happen again.
Something settled deep within him.
I’ll grow stronger. I’ll train harder.
*****
Bartholomew and his advisor left the estate in a carriage.
“Find me a temporary place to stay. We’ll return to Wintersong after I ask my uncle for help.”
“Such a good idea, sir. He will know exactly what to do.”
“My uncle will help me tear down the Arnells. Once the plan is set, hire more mercenaries, also, we’ll need the rest of our money to hire two Arcane Knights of at least six marks to keep that bitch busy.”
