Nathan clenched his teeth, then ran.
The village was in chaos. Noah stood alone, fighting desperately. Relief crossed his face when Nathan joined him, and together they brought the criminals down.
"Traffic?" Noah asked between breaths.
"Very funny."
Nathan moved on, finding a girl with fiery hair and eyes. Ariel was there amidst smoke and embers, flames still lingering in the air. Their words clashed as sharply as blades, irritation flaring. "Flames and houses mode of wood don't go hand in hand you know?" he said. Ariel responded to him with anger in her breath, " Not all of us can go napping across the fucking map." then unresolved, he asked where Daniel could be. "Last I saw him was west from where I am. But its been quiet ever since I was fighting these lot. But more importantly (she closes in on him let a predator walking down its prey) what the hell gave you the idea that it was fine to abandon your group just to go take a nap. Nathan tries to calm her down, "Sorry about this but Noah owed me a favor after the last time I did a commission with him."
She laughed hysterically at his response. Ariel looked back at him, dead in the eyes and exclaimed, "He owes YOU a favor, WE don't!" Silence between them took over the situation as Ariel walks over to her defeated opponents and tying them up with a flame spell. She broke the silence and told him, "Try taking a nap and let your snores guide you to Daniel since that's what your good for now."
Nathan quietly responds hoping she doesn't hear him, so as to not anger her even more. "I don't snore…"
He then paces around asking the villagers if they have seen a brown haired boy with black eyes around the area fighting.
After moments of searching, Daniel was found lying unconsciously on the ground. Nathan rushes over to the corpse-looking Daniel, hoping that the worst hasn't happened. He shakes and calls out his name hoping for a reaction but the lack of response starts to worry him. His heart beating faster with every shove he gives until finally Daniel groans to see a troubled Nathan. Alive and breathing, Nathan gives out a relieved smile.
"You scared the hell out of me idiot." Nathan's relief hit harder than he expected as he lifts him and heads towards Noah's location.
By the time officials showed up and healers tended wounds, exhaustion weighed on all of them. Daniel noticed Ariel's anger and asks Noah what had happened. "We have our own ladies man to thank for that. You should've seen her, she looked like she was about to blow up the remains of the village just to let off some steam."
Nathan asked Noah to go with him to the tree he trapped the man at.
The cloaked man was gone.
"I knew it," Nathan muttered.
He told Noah everything.
"No wonder I can sense mana around here."
"The reason why I came late and wet was because of that bastard."
"Never say that sort of sentence with a straight face again."
"Get your mind out of the gutter, you know what I meant."
"Yes and that's what scares me. I'm guessing he's a water mage."
"A strong one at that."
"Stronger than Captain Regina?"
"What I can say is that it'll be a close one."
"But you managed to beat him."
"Barely, he was just trying with me like a pet. We have to keep this between us."
"Why? There's clearly amused mage out there as strong as a Captain out to get you and maybe even us."
Nathan responds with a worried look, "He knew my name and where I was heading. Don't you think that's weird?
Noah tried to process as much as he could.
"Most of our information is archived with the school and the officials so it looks like someone must've gave him. A rat perhaps?"
"It's a possibility we shouldn't rule out. He even said his 'lord' knew who I was."
"His 'lord'?"
"Even I couldn't believe it at first."
"With everything you just told me, it seems like this is an entire organization or a cult after us."
"There's something else."
"What?"
"He had this strange tattoo on his right hand."
"What did it look like?"
"It looked like 2 horns facing opposite directions from each other."
"What type of horns?"
"Why does that matter?"
"It could tell us if there's a structure built on strength or authority in this horn cult."
"Is that what we're calling them?"
"Do you have a better name?"
"Nevermind… they looked like deer horns or something like that."
"I see. Let's head back before Ariel starts firing the place down."