Not Long Lost

Screams and yelps of agony can be heard from the remaining attacker as Amilia and Kyuala continue their "conversation" with the man.

Virra and John are currently attaching the remaining wheel from the destroyed cart to Virra's cart as the front right wheel wouldn't have lasted long due to some of the spokes being cracked as a result of the collision to avoid the boulder.

Lani is still somewhat riding the high of using that new spell to punch that attacker. John has quickly become quite interested in that spell, and so he asks, "How did you punch that guy, Lani? There's no way you could pack a punch like that in those hands of yours."

"Oh! It was in that spell book I read earlier. See, there are some spells that would be considered offensive rather than defensive like most fairies prefer. I just remembered seeing it before finding the spell to heal the crick in your neck, and I decided that it would be the perfect time to try it. I figured it would either work like it did, or work as a distraction for long enough to save you."

"Yes, you are quite lucky to have Lani with you, John. If she wasn't here, you were most certainly dead." Virra states with an almost nonchalant tone, like she didn't just state that he would've been killed.

John is a little stunned by the sudden blunt, yet correct statement. Lani then flies onto John's shoulder and says, "I certainly wasn't expecting that."

"You and me both," John replies.

Virra then hammers the steadying pin into the wheel and says, "Okay, time to test this wheel out." Virra then jumps up onto the drivers seat and grabs the lever, "Let's hope this works."

Virra then slowly pushes the lever forward, and the cart begins to move. The wheel itself looks to be pretty steady, and doesn't even look too out of place on the cart.

After moving a good thirty or so feet ahead, Virra comes back and says, "The wheel feels good! We should be alright to keep going. How much longer are the others going to be?"

Just then, the screams and yelps come to a stop. Soon after, Kyuala and Amilia come back to the cart as Amilia cleans her blade with some fabric that looks very familiar to those of the attackers robes.

As they walk up, Kyuala says, "We've got a location."

Virra, John and Lani's eyes all open wide in surprise as Kyuala begins explain whilst climbing up the back of the cart, "Our friend back there said that about thirty minutes to an hour due north of here, Terra's being held in a building that used to be main operating building for a mine that dried up around a century ago."

Amilia then boards the back of the cart, "Let's get going then! What the fuck are we waiting for?!"

Quickly, the other three board the cart, and soon take off, making haste toward Terra's supposed location.

AROUND FORTY MINUTES LATER:

The group have finally gotten out of the "creepy ass woods" as Amilia called them, and are finally on some open plains. Since they're now out of the rocky and mostly uneven terrain of the forest, Virra has the cart going much faster than before.

"Any sign of the building?" Amilia asks.

"Not yet. But the tracks are still leading this way, so we're still heading the right way." Virra responds.

Kyuala then adds, "The tracks are still pretty fresh as well. If I were to hazard a guess, they must be a couple hours old at most. Chances are that they were made by the cart back there."

"What's our plan for when we get there?" Lani asks.

"We get Terra back. What other plan do we fucking need?" Amilia responds with frustration back in her voice.

Lani is a little taken aback by Amilia's sudden snappy response, but John quickly saves her from any more shock as he says, "We can't plan for anything right now. We'll need to try and scout out the building and see how many guards they have."

"Doesn't matter how many they've got. I'll happily kill every single one until we get her back."

Virra chuckles at Amilia's words which prompt a response from Amilia, "What in the hell is so funny to you, huh?"

"I'm laughing at this serious tone of yours. No offense Amilia, but this attempt to be the knight in shining armour from some fantasy novel, saving the princess from the evil cult is certainly not your style. Personally, I just think that's more John's thing."

Amilia's face then turns into one of anger, her eyes practically flickering red, and John knows it. He then puts his hand on Amilia's shoulder, "Hey, save it for the assholes we're about to pay a visit to, alright?"

Amilia takes a few sharp breaths, but eventually, she calms herself down enough to not immediately lunge for Virra after John removes his hand.

Virra then briefly looks back before chuckling once again, "I see my attempt to rile you up has been successful. Good. We shall need the proverbial dynamite that is your anger to give us that edge up against Terra's kidnappers."

Amilia is just confused now, but she decides to remain quiet as she wants to keep as much anger saved as she can for the kidnappers.

ANOTHER TEN MINUTES LATER:

The group have been following the tracks without fail for close to an hour now, and everyone is becoming more and more nervous about the upcoming battle ahead.

Kyuala is on edge, simply because she can't tell what may happen to the group. These kidnappers are too well-organised to just allow four people to just waltz in and take Terra back. She knows for certain that something is going to go wrong.

John and Lani are both on the edge for the same reasons. They're both scared for Terra and her safety, but also for the safety of their other friends.

Virra is nervous, not only because Terra is in danger, but because if she fails to save Terra, she will have failed at her quest to be at peace with herself. She won't be able to look her own Father, Mother or her sisters in the eye if she fails, and she simply won't allow that to happen.

Amilia is terrified for one simply reason, because she really cares for Terra. She doesn't care for the amount of traps she'll most likely have to duck and dodge past to get Terra back, and she certainly doesn't care for the amount of lives she'll have to take. Amilia does also care for the lives of the others on the cart, maybe a bit less for Virra, but she still cares a fair amount. The fact that everything could go wrong, it's building up within Amilia, and she's just scared about that uncertainty. It's not just the uncertainty of the situation however, it's also the uncertainty of her feelings, or more specifically...

How Terra would react to them.

Not long after their internal struggles take over their thoughts, Virra looks up and sees something not too far on the distance, "Guys! I think that's it! That's the building!"

Everyone immediately rushes to the front of the cart, and they all see a building just a few more minutes ahead.

The building itself is somewhat decent condition for being abandoned over a century ago as the grey stone is still mostly there with a few parts covered in some moss. It's not a tall building either being around fifteen or so feet tall, but for what it lacks in height, it makes up for in width (or girth in Amilia's mind) as it's close to eighty feet long.

The cart continues forward, but Kyuala gets an idea, so she puts her hand on Virra's shoulder, "Slow down. We've still got the element of surprise, plus, it gives me a chance to scout out the outside."

Kyuala then pulls out the telescope given to her by Sydna earlier and puts her eye to the back before peering through. As she looks through the lens, she immediately five guards mulling around outside, all armed with swords and axes.

"Seems they've prepared for us. I'm seeing five guards, all armed. There's a few carts outside as well, so there may be more scouts that we need to keep an eye out for. I can't get a look inside, so we won't know what we're getting into until we're already in it. There isn't much in terms of cover leading to the building either, so we'll have to go full speed to try and limit reinforcements."

The group listen to Kyuala's rundown, and begin to mentally and physically prepare themselves for the battle that's just ahead. As they are, Virra gets an idea, "We could try and pretend to be scouts. We could just say that we received word from the others about a group heading this way."

"No way that'll work. They'd have to be the dumbest fucking guards in the world to believe that." Amilia comments.

"Well, there's no harm in trying, right?" Lani asks. "After all, if we're spotted on the way there, we can just go full speed. If we're not, we can try to convince them that we're scouts. We should have Amilia and Kyuala hidden in the back as well, so even if that goes wrong, they can just jump out and surprise them."

The group take a moment to dwell on the plan before John says, "It's a solid idea. I'm willing to try it."

"Lani, how quickly can you put up the ward?" Kyuala asks.

"Pretty quickly. I can hide with you two, and get it ready, just in case it goes south."

"Good. Well, I'm ready to do this. What about you two?" Kyuala asks both Virra and Amilia.

"Let's just get going." Amilia says, laying down in the cart and gets ready to go. Virra then chuffs at the cat before responding, "What Amilia said."

Just then, John and Kyuala switch places before Kyuala lies down beside Amilia with Lani joining them. The cart then begins to move forward as the nerves of the group are at an all time high.

A FEW MINUTES LATER:

The guards are doing their rounds on the outside as per instructed. Their orders were to keep an eye out for a group of people that may show up looking for the woman that's inside.

As one of the guards is walking around, muttering to himself about their location being so damn far from any town, he sees something out of the corner of his eye. Quickly, he turns and sees a cart with two people coming towards the building. The man then turns to the other and shouts, "Hey! There's a cart coming! Get ready!"

The guards all converge on the one who alerted them, and they draw their weapons.

"Is it them?" A female elf asks.

"I don't know. I only see two of them." A male wolf-folk answers.

"Let's just keep our guard up. If we slack for even a second, we might end up like the guy that the boss killed." A half-orc adds, reminding everyone of the potential grim fate ahead.

The cart soon pulls up around twenty or so feet away from the guards. Virra then pulls the lever back and begins the act, "Oh good! You guys are already out here!"
The guards are all confused so the wolf-folk asks, "Uhh, who are you two?"

"We're the extra scouts the boss sent for! Anyway, that doesn't matter right now because we bring dire news!" Virra starts.

John then takes over, "The girl's friends are coming this way! We just passed the bodies of the scouts on the way here! We managed to get ahead by cutting through the trees! They're on their way right now! You should see them! They're armed to the teeth!" Virra is a little surprised at that last bit, but appreciates John's dedication to selling this act.

The guards all look amongst themselves, unsure of what to do or even if the boss had even sent for extra scouts. On one hand, they can't just trust the word of the random strangers who've literally just shown up who they have never seen before. On the other hand, if what these strangers are saying is true, they have a chance to not only keep their lives, but impress the boss.

Eventually, the half-orc says, "Alright. We'll take you for your word, but we have to check your cart first. Just to be safe."

Virra then steps down from her seat, "Go right ahead." John then steps down a moment later, getting beside Virra as two of the guards make their way to the back of the cart.

The wolf-folk and elf then stand at the back of the cart as they try to decide who should open it up. There's a few shrugs and rejections, but eventually, the wolf-folk goes for it. He puts his foot on the stand and brings himself up.

As the wolf peers into the back of the cart, his eyes open wide for a second before getting a dagger right in the eye.
The wolf falls backward, landing hard on the dirt below, dead before even impacting. The elf's eyes open wide in shock as she looks down at her fallen comrade, unable to get any words out.

Just then, as the other guards realize what has happened, both Virra and John draw their weapons. Virra immediately plunges her recently acquired dagger into the throat of the half-orc while John slices down on the Fuckion to his right.

Back to the elf, and she finally has her sword up after snapping out of her stunned state. However, she wouldn't last for much longer as Amilia drops from the cart, plunging her remaining dagger into the elf's heart.

The last guard left is another Fuckion, his hand shaking as it grips the hilt of his axe. He realizes that's he's outnumbered, and so, instead of fighting, he elects to shout... or at least attempt to. Just as the man opens his mouth to try and warn those inside, Kyuala leaps from the cart and falls onto the man, sinking her axe into his chest cavity.

As Kyuala removes her axe from the man's chest and Amilia retrieved her daggers, the group all reconvene at the front of the cart.

"Well, I'm surprised to say that actually worked." Virra says as she cleans her new dagger.

"Yeah, but now we need to hide these bodies and get inside. Ami, Virra, Lani you three head inside and make sure we've clear to enter. John and I will quickly hide the guards." Kyuala states, giving the group their orders.

Amilia, Lani and Virra then does as asked, and head to the door before carefully entering the building as John and Kyuala quickly drag the bodies to some nearby brush and hide them before heading to the door themselves.

However, just before they walk in, Kyuala stops and asks, "Hey, how are you doing?"

"I'm fine. I still can't get used to the whole killing thing, but it's gotten a little easier since we're trying to get Terra back."

Kyuala takes his hand, "Killing will always be difficult, no matter the circumstance. Just know that if you didn't kill them, they would've killed you."

John replies, "Yeah, I know." He then takes a deep breath before saying, "I know we've said this a lot already, but let's go get Terra."

"If Amilia hasn't gotten to her already." Kyuala jokes, making herself and John laugh as they head inside.