Chapter 15

Tinny stood on the roof and Listened to the world around her. No one breathed or moved while she worked. Her green and silver grimoire undulated at her shoulder, her Echo Point spell activated. A cone of magic simmered near her ear, drawing in all the sounds of the Capital.

It was hard to shift through all the ambient noise of afternoon traffic. The calls of merchants selling their wares, people laughing over lunch and children's high pitched screams took over everything else.

Her magic worked better when eavesdropping on conversations inside closed spaces, out in the open it required more mana and concentration then she was capable of. She would keep trying no matter what, she would find Cyan.

Salamander sniffed the air beside her trying to pick up on her missing friend's trail with no luck. The fire spirit wasn't supposed to be used as a blood hound but that didn't stop him from trying.

Fuegoleon shifted trying his best to remain patient while Mereoleona chewed on her nails, rage rolling off her in palpable waves. He spun the bracelet around his wrist absently hopeful since it still felt cool against his skin. If she was dead then the anchor she had spelled on it would disappear.

A comforting idea.

The sun began to sink over the buildings when Tinny's magic finally gave out and the cone vanished with an audible pop. She sagged from the strain, Mereoleona grabbed her roughly by the arm and pushed her back to her feet.

"Thanks."

"Anything?"

Tinny shook her head sadly. "Nothing. No one was talking about her and I couldn't find her voice anywhere."

A portal opened next them, Finral stepping out before it snapped shut. "No one in Clearwater has seen her or a maid matching Sarabell's description."

Mereoleona let off a frustrated sigh. "Maybe it's time we announce her disappearance to the other squads. We're looking at a kingdom wide manhunt if we have any hopes of finding her and we've lost too much time as it is."

"The other Bulls have joined the search with the Lion Kings already." Finral started with a lackluster shrug. "If you'd like, I can go talk to Golden Dawn and Silver Eagles."

They all looked over at the Captain, expecting him to weigh in.

Fuegoleon was only half listening, still turning the bracelet around his wrist. The flickering of an idea swirling around in his mind just as the jewelry spun.

"Fuego." His sister poked him in her side to get his attention.

He set his jaw and looked at the blond mage. "Your a spacial mage."

"Y-yes."

"Do you use anchor points for moving from one place to another?"

"I need to have been somewhere before or see where I'm going but yeah, it's like an anchor point I guess."

Fuegoleon looked back down at the bracelet then over at Tinny still clutching to Mereoleona. Excitement took over her tired face as if she'd read his mind.

"Could that work? They are remarkably similar." She asked lightly.

"Could what work?" The taller women demanded.

The captain turned back to Finral. Dare he hoped it was possible? "Could you open a portal using someone else's anchor point, connect the anchor and the person who set the point?"

Finral shrugged again. "All this time with Asta has taught me one concrete thing; just because I haven't tried something before doesn't mean it can't be done."

More wood was added to the lit fireplace to ward off the encroaching winter night air. Christopher, Jacob and Sarabell stood across the room, heads bowed in conversation. Cyan couldn't be bothered to care about what horrible things they had in store for her at the moment. Forcing herself to stay awake despite the Pry leaf and a possible concussion made it hard for her to follow along. Luckily the herb seemed to finally be wearing off though she pretended to still be drowsy to keep them from dosing her again.

Sarabell hated her because of her fathers death and because Fuegoleon had been paying special attention to Cyan. In fact she seemed more worried about the Fuegoleon thing than the dad thing. Kind of obsessive and psychotic.

Jacob supposedly hated her because of his fathers death but honestly he just seemed to be playing along.

Christopher apparently hated her because he truly was part of the Devil Banishers and thought her too dangerous to live.

They grew quiet and cast wary glances in her direction.

"Here?" Sarabell asked. "I won't feel better until we're farther away from the Capital."

Christopher shook his head. "We can't risk moving her. Crimson Lion Kings and Black Bulls are both already scouring the city for any hint of her. We need to get this done then get over the border quickly."

"The border? What are you talking about?"

"You didn't really think we'd be able to go back to life like nothing happened after murdering her, did you?" This was from Jacob.

Sarabell glared at her brother. "I don't want to leave. No one knew it was us right?"

"I told you not to leave until after they realized she was gone. Of course they know you're involved. If you and your brother hadn't botched such a simple thing we might have been able to go back like nothing happened." Christopher snapped.

She stomped her foot like a toddler throwing a tantrum. "But Master Fuegoleon-"

Jacob slapped her and grabbed her hair, pulling her face up to his. "Fuegoleon will roast you alive where you stand as soon as he lays eyes on you. No questions asked."

Cyan snorted at the exchange. How any of these idiots had made it this far was beyond her.

"You find something amusing?" Christopher approached her and stopped where she knelt.

She narrowed her eyes to focus against her hazy vision. "Yeah actually I do."

"Would you like to share with the class?"

"It's not Fuegoleon you need to worry about. Mereoleona will burn this place to ash in a matter of seconds because you made me late for training. If I'm already dead then she won't bother restraining herself."

He squatted down. "Begging for your life? Trying to get us to spare you?"

"No. But it's nice to know what's in store for all you pieces of shit."

Jacob shoved Sarabell on the ground and walked next to Christopher. "I'm not just planning on killing you. I'll make you suffer for what the Witch of Nightmares did to my father. I will break you."

Her lips twitched with amusement. "There isn't anything you could possibly do to break me. Someone else already tried that and failed."

He exchanged looks with the older man, taken back by her revelation.

"But take your time," she continued conversationally. "The longer you take the closer Mel and Fuego get."

Christopher's brows drew together as he studied her face. She met his eyes, refusing to look away. She'd be damned before she gave them the satisfaction of scaring her.

Then, out of nowhere, something tugged at the edge of her mind. Her eyes snapped to the door, the familiar feeling of her grimoire caressing her mind.

Did it finally drop out of the shadow dive somewhere nearby? She pulled gently at the tread of magic, urging the grimoire closer to her. If she could get it close enough to activate a spell then maybe, just maybe…

Christopher stood up and pulled a wicked looking knife from under his cloak. The serrated edge caught in the fire light while he turned in his hand. "No more wasting time. We do this now and get out before we are blocked in."

"I want to do it." Sarabell finally spoke from her place on the floor. She stood up slowly and approached him arm outstretched. "I want to do it."

The men looked at each other questioningly. Jacob shrugged.

"If you think you can kill an unarmed woman then be my guest." Christopher replied, handing over the knife.

Cyan pulled harder harder on her grimoire, willing it to move faster, to get there in time. She had a new spell she promised never to use. A new nightmare spell she'd gained after her fight with Mereoleona. If there was ever a time to use it, it was now. Before she had been too drugged to focus enough for anything larger than the shadow dive she performed on her grimoire. But now there was enough clarity to try.

And if she was going to get out of here it would require a spell that was so horrific she paled when reading it. She didn't know what kind of magic these three had and wasn't going to chance anything but true horror.

"Go ahead Sarabell," she cooed lightly. "Do you wonder what Fuegoleon tastes like? How he smells? Oh! how he looks in the morning, that sexy morning voice he has."

"You're disgusting!" The maid screamed, banishing the knife in Cyan's face.

Cyan licked her lips. "He tastes like honey by the way."

Cyan tugged so hard on her grimoire it made her head spin. It was close, just a few yards outside the shack.

Sarabell's face twisted with disgust. "I'm going to enjoy this, you fucking whore."

"Not as much as I am." Cyan shot back with a smile.

Sarabell drew the knife back and brought it down, right to Cyan's chest.

"Did you feel that?" Tinny asked, looking down at her wrist.

Fuegoleon nodded looking at his own wrist. Something twitched in his coat pocket along with the bracelet. Her grimoire was moving, straining against the fabric of his coat.

"We're close."

Mereoleona reached into her brother's pocket and threw the book in the air. It didn't fall, instead red light and dark fog rolled off its open pages where it hung in the air.

"Real close," Finral murmured looking around the dense forest. "I don't see anything out here where a person could be held."

Tinny nodded, eyes scanning the trees looking for any irregularity in the foliage to suggest a struggle. Salamander flew overhead scanning the area from the sky's looking for any buildings or caves. Finral's spacial portal only put them in the vicinity of where Cyan was being held. More Black Bulls and Lion Kings would be arriving to the area soon but if they didn't find her fast then they'd find her dead.

And they all knew it.

Her grimoire jerked in the air, pages rustling, flipping on their own accord all the way to the back of her book where her nightmare spells were contained. The red light and fog intensified, flooding the ground and moving north.

"I guess we follow the creepy fog," Finral whispered.

The group moved north as quietly as possible, hoping not to spook the kidnappers. The fog led to an empty clearing in the trees and stopped. They waited.

"Now what?" Tinny hissed.

Mereoleonas eyes darted back and forth, taking in the clearing. "What kind of magic did Sarabell have?"

"Simple telekinesis, nothing strong. That's why she worked as a maid." Tinny replied quickly. "Why?"

Mereoleona pointed in front of her up near the treetops. "Twenty feet off the ground, look."

Fuegoleon narrowed his eyes until the air seemed to shimmer. "Barrier or illusion magic."

"Well we knew she wasn't working alone. But how many people have her?"

Finral snapped his fingers and opened a portal. "I'll get the others over here quickly. Chances are she's still alive if they left the barrier up."

Fuegoleon nodded, motioning for Tinny and his sister to disappear in the trees to wait. Before they could take up their positions, Cyan's book snapped shut and shot through the clearing. It disappeared, through the barrier followed by the sound of breaking glass. A few moments later a scream blasted through the barrier.

"Finral, get them here now. We're out of time!" Mereoleona shouted and booked it across the ground, fists glowing with fire. She smashed her hands against the flickering magic, Fuegoleon wasn't far behind, his own magical arm beating against it.

Salamander appeared over head, dive bombed where the two fire mages struggled and smashed through the barrier in flash of red light.