Garrow Harpfollower slowly opened his eyes. His vision was blurred, and all he could see were two figures looming over him. He was lying on something soft, a bed perhaps. A cold object was placed on his head; one of the figures did that.
"Do you think he's okay?" One of them asked, the voice belonged to a nervous young girl.
"I can't say... Harth hit him pretty hard with his shield." Garrow recognized this voice; it was Dr Axal Loum, the town doctor.
"Grrrr... I can't believe Harth would do that!"
"I don't think he wanted to do that. None of them did. If they hadn't stopped him, Conduit Ami would have left us with nothing to bury..."
The girl paused. He was right. She had seen Ami incinerate an entire house in seconds a few years ago. They were lucky that Garrow was alive.
Garrow slowly sat up, groaning. An ice pack fell from his head into his lap.
"Ahh! Garrow, you're awake!" Axal explained.
"Hughhhhh... Did they take him?"
Axel frowned, and the girl, whom he recognized as Amarah Saltleaf, the first girl Troth had a crush on, covered her mouth and turned away.
"They took him. Skyla, too."
"Skyla? Mrs Zioam's daughter? What element did she have?"
"Ather. First one that came from an outskirt town. You should have seen Conduit Ami's face; she was looking at her like a crook looking at an unguarded mansion. Mrs Zioam is in denial."
"Didn't they take her son, Draco, a few years back?"
Axel nodded.
Garrow cursed and quickly rose to his feet. Amarah quickly tried to stop him, but he pushed her aside. He stumbled to the door and exited the building. He winced at the bright light of the rising sun and nearly fell. Several hands quickly reached out to catch him. It was Harth and two other guards.
"Garrow... Im so sorry... If I hadn't knocked you out, Ami would have incinerated you."
"It's okay," Garrow coughed, "You can prove your sorrow by helping me go after him."
"Go... After them? Garrow, you were unconscious for nearly a day! We can't go after them, not in this state. And they have a massive head start!"
"Horses are faster than carriages, and they don't know that Linty Bridge collapsed last week. They will have to find a new route, and we know the area much better than they do. Gather any volunteers, I want them armed and here in half an hour."
Garrow arose and quickly ran to the horse stables to get as many horses as he could.
***
Nearly half an hour later...
Garrow looked at the eight townsfolk who volunteered, gathered with horses and whatever lethal weapons they could gather.
First, there was Garrow himself, with his pitchfork and his hunting shotgun.
Then there was Harth and Sparrow, another guard. Both had spears and shields, as well as light armor and helmets. They were the only ones of the guard force to volunteer. Harth as an apology, and Sparrow because he was bored.
Then there was Cruse Anderson, the baker. Since Margaret and his wife could easily handle the bakery by themselves, he volunteered. He packed plenty of food and another pitchfork.
The Wallow twins, Breker, and Brooks, as well as Lem Saltleaf, were present, Breker with a hammer, Brooks with a sword. Lem had his axe and firewood.
The two most surprising volunteers were Lisa Armenda and Old Man Denten. Lisa was a close-time friend with Mrs Zioam; she had a spear and great sense of smell, but she was on the smaller side and often got sidetracked. And Denten made a deal with a Demon that allowed him to bring stone pillars or spikes out of the ground, but at the age of 74, he's way past his prime.
"I am glad that you all decided to help me. The plan is to catch up to the BDFA members and force them to give us Troth and Skyla back. Any questions or concerns?"
"What if they refuse to give us the kids back?" Breker and Brooks asked at the same time, before scowling at each other.
Garrow raised his hand to silence them before they started to fight.
"Unfortunately, they outpower us. We may have to leave if it comes to that."
Denten scoffed, "I bet I could take a few of them in a fight."
"Let us cross that bridge when we come to it. We need to leave now if we want to catch them. Since the Linty Bridge collapsed, they will most likely take Azier Pass. I know a shortcut that also allows us to get to the other side of the pass in a day. Hopefully, we will be able to catch them there."
All the volunteers nodded in agreement.
"Alright then. Let's head out. We should be back in two days."
They mounted their horses and rode off towards Azier Pass. The townsfolk had doubts about this plan. This is the first time they are trying to get their children back. Many were worried that something might go wrong. But they agreed that it was time that they stopped letting their children be taken just because they were unlucky enough to be born with a power. Why should their children be taken to fight the wars of the capital? The capital wasn't helping them. After all, they were just a useless farming town at the far edge of the region... For now.
***
Skyla slowly came to. She was unconftbly seated in a carriage, sitting next to Troth, who was looking out a small pane window. Across from her was the knight and the man in black. In between them was a table. The only light source in the carriage was a lantern hanging by the door. But natural light was still flooding in from the windows. Skyla's hands were bound and locked to the table, and so were Troth's.
The knight appeared to be dozing off, while the man in black was fiddling with a knife. Conduit Ami was nowhere to be seen.
"Hey! Why are my hands tied up?" Skyla demanded.
The man in black looked up in surprise, "Oh! You're awake, sorry I hit you. It was easier that way. I'm Prime Vax. But Prime is my official rank, so please call me Vax for now."
He pointed to the Knight.
"That's Ascendant Topher. Call him Sir Tropher, he thinks his title does not match his name."
Tropher raised his hand and waved.
"Where's Ami?" Skyla asked.
"That's Conduit Ami to you. Unlike us, she loves her title. The bridge we normally take was destroyed, so she is out steering the horses to a new route."
Skyla looked at her bonds again.
"Oh yeah. That's so you can't kill us. Your powers shouldn't fully awaken for a few more days, but Ami didn't want you to vaporize the canyon."
Skyla raised an eyebrow.
"Well, there is no way you will be able to do that. Not for a few years at least, maybe a decade. It's just that the last person with Ather we found blew up an entire field with a snap of his fingers. Luckily, we managed to deal with him before he got more powerful, but we don't want a round two."
He seemed rather friendly for someone who travels with someone as scary as Conduit Ami. Troth took an apple from a basket located under the table and leaned forward.
"So... Are you all going to tell us where you're taking us and what will happen to us?"
Tropher pulled out a scroll from his pocket.
"This is a class scroll. It allows you to change your class. But this particular one is used for giving someone a class. A class is what you can do with your powers. They are similar to the professions of adventurers from old age. I'm a Paladin, which is a defensive class. Vax is a Rogue, which is an offensive class. Conduit Ami is a Mage, which is a magic class."
He pointed to Skyla.
"Your brother, Draco, is a Cleric, which is a support class."
"Draco? My brother? You know him?! Is he okay?"
Tropher laughed.
"Yes, yes. He's doing fine. He cares deeply about you. He's been writing letters to you ever since he left. But I assume based on your reaction, they never made it."
'If he had been sending letters, and I had not been receiving them or writing back... Does that mean he thinks I consider him not family? Or does he think I'm dead?'
Skyla started to panic, but Vax put a hand on her shoulder.
"Don't think he hates you. He suspected somthing was happening to the letters once you never replied. When he heard that Tropher and I were going to Appleby, he asked us to check on you. Can't wait to see his surprise when we bring you back."
He chuckled at the last part.
Troth bit into his apple, making a loud crunching sound.
"So... back on topic?"
"Ahh, yes. Buckle your seat belts, it's going to be a long explanation."
"What's a seat belt?" Troth asked.
Vax shrugged, then he started to explain what would become of them.