His sickle tightly grasped in his hand, Midas made a run for it, barely able to avoid being grabbed by Khud as he dashed right behind him in his angered state. The youth wasn't able to beat him with mere hands; he somehowhad to find another way of inflicting enough damage onto his enemy while also avoiding himself or his foe being hit by another punch or kick. However his Null Ability functioned, with every blow exchanged, the mass of mana inside Khud seemed to grow.
Jikith and Fuegir stepped forward to meet the blow of Gunvar, taking turns to deflect the heavy blow of his longsword, making it even harder for their enemy to guess where the sudden explosions had originated. They somehow had to widen the space between themselves and the enemy, needing time to return to their ride without allowing for it to experience any damage. No idea where Midas is currently at, Jikith dashed forward—jumping over a low swing, he reflected the force of another as Gunvar used the momentum to spin around, leaving him wide open.
Able to direct a leftoverpiece of vine towards him with his plant stone, Midas bought himself some time by throwing the piece of plant towards Khud—only dimly slowing him down as he dodged it without any further problem. Already knowing so, the youth used one of the leaves that grew onto the same piece of vine—able to sprout another from the one leaf in his palm. Able to wrap it around Khuds wrist, the youth clenched his teeth together as he flung his enemy towards Gunvar, who already stood open towards Jikith.
"Use it now...!"
Jikith glanced at Midas behind him, his own hands raised without wasting any more time, making the exact spots that emitted a notable glow in the air around both of the enemies bloat up into three more explosions of mana. Stunned by not only Khud, who was flung against him, Gunvar watched himself fall by the blows of even more unexpected explosions around him. Even though they weren't big, the fact they weren't able to be seen—or predicted in any manner—made them much more of a threat to him if he didn't focus on finding out the exact reason how they detonated.
"Avernil, use that chance and get to the carriage...!"
Shouting through the empty street, with Uteli turning to the front and back of the ride at any moment with her axe tightly gripped, Guan made Jikith and the other two turn around from their foes, wasting no time to sprint towards the carriage. Midas looked back at the wide eyes of Khud as he sprinted directly at him, watching him trip as two arrows landed in his left thigh that made him groan in pain while falling.
Wasting no time to catch themselves on the ride, Midas lent out his left hand at Fuegir—the fact they wasted no time to retreat was much more important to him than any past event. Taking his offer, the fire stone-wielding pirate stepped into the carriage after Jikith, which already forced the Fahin in the front to move its hooves as fast as it possibly could. Out of breath, the youth kept his cloth wrapped around his face, having to forget about his bleeding nose as well as the worried glance of Uteli in front of him for now.
"Where do you think they keep Javelin...?"
"The water kingdom has a select few of towers and outposts that are also partly used to house contained criminals... Once you act against the knighthood, no matter if you steal or kill—pirate or not—you'll most likely be deported to the southeastpart of the plant kingdom's border... Which means, to prepare for the lengthy trip, they will have to temporarily bring him Bosq'fin."
"Fortunately for us, that same camp lies between Baumfall and the wide forest ahead of us in the direction of the mountain range you can see on the horizon—even though prisoners are mainly carried southwards, this outpost is built north of the capital... I don't know the full story, but many Trestempos ago, the water kingdom exploited the people that lived deep in the trees. Unable to make the whole distance from this forest to the settlements on the west coast, they eventually established this place as a rest stop... ultimately leading to the creation of Baumfall."
Midas's brows sunk at Jikith's explanation; the water kingdom had been exploiting their neighbor state for much longer than the youth imagined. If Baumfall was created after this outpost, then the people in the northern regions of this kingdom have every right to be wary of the people from the south, explaining why they live in isolation. Looking back as they left the scattered wagons, left behind bodies of fallen guards and knights and hopefully Gunvar and Khud, the youth leaned forward in his seat, covering his face with his hands, feeling tired.
"There shouldn't be too many knights there, but make sure to stay on your feet just in case... we have no time for a break if we want to get your friend before he gets deported to the water kingdom."
The youth took the somewhat quiet moment to look down onto his sickle, and once he thought of Javelin—a memory from their time in the Sufocar Marsh resurfaced, faintly able to remember their sharp glances. Midas was sure he heard Javelin say that he owns a sun shard of his own. The fact he bent rock before in the practical exams added to that, forming objects from what seemed to be dust and sand.
The sight of a clearly aged tower made from clay brick and crude stone that rose up from the grassy hills they hastily passed through lightened up Jikith's stern face. From the closing distance, he was able to make out a few stacked metal cages, just big enough to fit a human into—as one of them was shoved into the back of another halted ride. The blue banners that hung from the tiny windows of the tower, as well as the striped blue cloth spanned over the carriage in front of them, made it clear that the knighthood was positioned here, most likely thinking their ride belonged to them.
Looking back, the grin that almost formed dimmed down quickly on Jikith's lips—his eyes set on another knighthood ride catching up to them from behind. Frowning slightly, the rider's eyes blitzed at the parked ride—only three guards were situated around it to look over the process of getting one of the cages into the back of the carriage. Abruptly halting beside it, Jikith and Fuegir rose up, while Midas already jumped out from the ride—his tensed-up arm muscles filling with mana to charge up a swing with his sickle, able to slice the throat of an unsuspecting knight that turned to him.
The youth's heart pounded; the stress he felt after his already passed fight while also having to take care of another few knights—letting Uteli stay inside their ride with Guan to defend the Nor'Luft powder at all costs—he eventually got to step inside the ride after overwhelming another troop. Dreading the fact Javelin might be held in one of the cages that remained outside, the youth hastily inspected every cage. In between starving men, he found Javelin, wearing the same bland look every contained person had.
While the clashes from outside still went on in the distance, Midas bit his lip, slicing the lock with the last bit of mana he could use without losing footing to charge up his muscles. Once able to look at Javelin more directly, the youth's eyes widened. His friend in front of him wore the same hopeless expression every one of the men, women, and children had imprinted on their faces in the northern fort, his dated clothing making it clear that he was most likely stripped of any of his possessions.
"Midas... I don't want to fight the knights anymore. Forget about the powder—I will work for it and buy it properly... If I must, I will pluck it myself. But... I never want to fight ever again..."
Once Jikith's head sunk, Midas watched his arms and hands wrap around his head, able to see bruises on his forearms as his fingers dug into his scalp. Only able to open his mouth dimly for a second at the sight, the youth looked back at the fight—Jikith and Fuegir equally drained as him from what he could see. Clutching his teeth, the youth forced himself to regain his composure, having no other choice but to stay focused on retrieving Javelin. Taking his hand to pull him out of his cage, Midas's face lit up in confusion as he watched Javelin pulling back.
"What are you saying...? We have the powder already; what about your sister...? Are you able to tell how long she will survive for? Why are you so sure she will live through another Trestempo until the next festival or season in which a Nor'Luft flower blooms will begin...?"
Smashing his hand against the floor of the cage, Midas looked at his trembling body as Javelin's head slowly sunk with clutched teeth—eventually grasping his collar with widely flashed teeth, a sight that didn't make him flinch, unlike with Fuegir. The youth had spent most of his time at the university with Javelin—he was used to his temper, yet simply giving up on a problem was something unusual, especially when it came to his sister.
"You don't know... After I was taken away—I'm tired, Midas...! I want to go home..."
Through his flashed teeth, Javelin spoke in a sorry tone—equally scared and enraged at the people that forced a child into a bare iron cage, his mental state was visibly scarred from something or someone he had to deal with while Midas and Uteli relaxed in the underground settlement of a plant kingdom elite—a fact that made the youth's stomach turn.
"Javelin."
Only able to say his name in a summoning command, Midas sternly watched as his partner raised his head at him, simply having no time to calm him down due to the situation right in front of them. Having to rely on Javelin for his potential stone-bending skills, the youth eventually decided to slap his cheek. Widening his eyes at the smack, Javelin seemed to have woken up from the fog of dread surrounding him.
"Listen, I don't know what happened to you... but I for sure am not going to return to your sister without you... I haven't spent the past few days going out of my way to help you just for you to not be present once she finds a cure for her illness. To be frank, I will force you to come with me if you won't get onto your feet right now..."
Stressed by the sounds of clashing metal, Midas held onto both of Javelin's cheeks, making him directly meet his gaze to make sure his next few words would tone through his friend. Internally regretting having used such a sharp tone at the sight of his flashed teeth, Midas eventually mirrored his facial expression, needing to go as fast as possible.
"Give me the Javelin that was determined to travel to a new state without the language or navigation skills I have met before we parted ways for just a moment longer..."
"I don't think I'm able to..."
"Don't think, simply follow me... believe in what I and the others that help us freeing you from here are capable of—that's the only thing I ask of you right now."
Widening his eyes at Midas, Javelin slowly sunk his head in front of him—his teeth clutched together as he simply nodded at the youth in silence, his brows sharpening up as he forced himself to block out any thought from his mind. Focused solely on getting out of the tiny outpost, Midas snatched Javelin's wrist, forcing him to follow as Jikith already urged the youth to pick up his pace verbally. Jumping from the back of the carriage, Midas's eyes only focused on getting into the ride—able to pass through as an already weakened Gunvar was unable to make his way through the swiftly moving duo of Jikith and Fuegir.
Glancing over the heads of his foes with a perplexed expression, Gunvar's expression lit up as a youth was escorted on a sharp path towards the ride—unable to trust his own eyes at the fact pirates had even taken children under their wing. Looking back down at his sword, Fuegir pressed a ball of fire against his water-casted blade, flinching back at the cloud of steam emerging from the impact of the two, as the last two of them made a run for it.