“The situation is calm so far,” Arthur muttered as he took a look at the path ahead of them. They had been walking for almost 30 minutes and nothing had happened so far. They kept taking longer and longer routes, going from one street and emerging from another just to make sure nobody was following them.
“We’re almost there, Finlay.” He said to his dwarf friend with a smile on his face. “We made it.”
Hearing that, the dwarf felt all the tension leave his body as he nodded his head. He had been extremely worried the entire time that something would go wrong and they would end up in huge trouble.
But, surprisingly, things went as planned and nothing stopped them. It was truly a very rare instance of a plan working perfectly.
After making sure things were clear, Arthur moved with Finlay through the street toward the other side. Their current location was on the very outskirts of the city, far away from the populated areas and in a rather remote neighborhood so not many people were walking around them.
In fact, Arthur and Finlay hadn’t seen a single person for the past few minutes as they walked through the dark streets of the city. The atmosphere was cold and a little eerie but still better than the crowded areas as it wasn’t as risky.
“There… See that empty area. That’s where our headquarters will be.” Arthur said as he pointed at the spot.
Finlay looked up, seeing the open piece of land Arthur was talking about. It was quite massive, almost 500 square meters in size. It was completely flat and covered in dirt and some weeds.
“Wow… This place is nice!” Finlay muttered as he rushed toward the area, his eyes sparkling with excitement. After all, in his eyes, this barren piece of land was like a hidden treasure. His mind was already starting to imagine what kind of building they would create. “This is perfect for our plans! The nature of the dirt is also good for construction and it won’t collapse even with rain or floods!”
“Really?” Arthur asked curiously. He didn’t how Finlay figured that so quickly but he was still delighted to hear the news.
“Yeah! This is exactly what we’re looking for. We won’t have to waste time building precise foundations because of the dirt.”
“That’s really good news,” Arthur replied as he looked around him. “Look, the material is stacked over there.”
On the other side of the area, the boy saw huge stacks of construction material put in an orderly fashion. It almost filled half the place with wood, stones, and even material similar to cement. Large steel bars stacked up creating a small hill along with various construction equipment.
“Is that everything you need, Finlay?”
“Hmm, I need to first check everything before I can say for sure. But, there is a lot of material so it’s most likely going to be fine!”
“Now that I think about it, everyone should arrive at any moment now.”
Since the two had taken arguably the shortest route out of the group, he knew the rest would arrive in a few moments at most.
Then, as if to prove his assumptions, he heard a few footsteps approaching the piece of land. Looking behind him, he saw Herculia and Emmy arriving along with Serko.
“Hey there. Did anyone follow you?” Arthur asked as he watched Serko join his friend. They excitedly explored the place while he talked to Emmy and Herculia.
“No, we made sure to keep an eye on our surroundings,” Emmy replied.
“Good, I had a bad feeling that someone might be following us but I guess we are fine now.”
“Where are Isla and Danny?”
“Hm? They should be here at any moment.” Herculia replied. “They took the longest route so it might take some time.”
With that, a few minutes passed as the group waited patiently for Isla and Danny to come. The more time passed, the more they started to worry as it was nearing the limit of how long it should’ve taken for them to arrive.
“Did… something happen?” Emmy asked worriedly.
“… I hope not,” Herculia replied.
Meanwhile, Arthur simply looked at the path they had agreed on. ‘They will be fine. Unless there was some serious threat, they should arrive at any mo-‘
Then, as if he had predicted the future, the trio emerged from the street, all looking fine.
“Huh, that was a little too nerve-wracking.” Emmy exhaled a long sigh of relief.
“I know it…” Arthur smiled as he approached the trio. “Took you some time there, guys. Did something happen?”
That was when he noticed rather peculiar serious looks on their faces that made him immediately frown.
Isla stopped in front of him and said. “We were being followed by someone.” She said.
“What?” Arthur raised an eyebrow. “Is he here?”
“No… We changed our route and quickly lost him. He isn’t chasing us anymore.” Danny replied.
“Do you know who it is?”
“No, I couldn’t see him in the huge crowd around us. He knew how to hide from us.” Isla shook her head.
“Wait, then how did you figure that someone was chasing you?” Arthur asked in a confused tone. He knew that if someone was standing in the middle of a huge crowd, it was damn near impossible for them to detect that person unless they decided to reveal themselves.
They simply weren’t at that level yet and it was going to take a long time to reach that level.
“It wasn’t us who detected him,” Danny replied as he crossed his arms.
“Hm? Then wh-” Before he could even finish his sentence, his eyes fell on Sora who was completely silent the entire time, visibly shaking with fear. Slowly, Arthur’s eyes widened with realization.
“Did she…?” He asked.
To which Isla nodded her head faintly. “She started panicking and shaking. Then, she told us that someone was following us and she pointed at where he was.”
“… Interesting.” He muttered as he slowly crouched down to Sora’s level. “How are you feeling, Sora?”
The girl almost flinched when she noticed someone approaching her but when she realized that it was Arthur, she relaxed visibly.
“Mmm… I think… I’m fine.” She replied.
“So, what happened?” He asked.
“I… I know I hid this from you but… I can feel when one of my abductors is nearby…” She said.
“Oh? And how do you do that?” He asked. The fact that Sora specified that she could feel her abductors and not all people made it Arthur raises an eyebrow. He didn’t know if that was just a coincidence or if she truly could only feel them and no one else.
“Mmm… I don’t know how but that’s how it is… I always could feel their presence as they were approaching and that’s how I was able to constantly escape. That feeling… I had it again just a few minutes ago.” She said as she held her chest tightly.
Sora hated that feeling so badly. It was uncomfortable, cold, terrifying, and also a sign of a huge threat. She had felt it again and again for a long time to the point where whenever she felt it, her body froze and her mind stopped thinking.
She felt her throat tighten and she couldn’t breathe. Her mind told her that the threat was there, hiding in the thousands and thousands of people around her. But, she couldn’t see him. She could feel his presence approaching but couldn’t pinpoint it.
But, luckily, Isla noticed that and quickly spoke to her. The fear in Sora’s eyes was simply shocking. After a few questions, the girl was able to mouth out what she felt and Isla immediately took measures.
She didn’t even bother to ask why or how as it didn’t matter at that moment. Immediately, they moved into the second plan and changed their direction completely. She picked up Sora and started moving quickly.
After a few turns, the girl was able to regain her composure and she started telling them where he was and if they were getting farther and farther away or not.
With that, they ended up losing him after moving far away.
Sora told him everything that happened, from that point till they reached their current location. Arthur listened quietly as he nodded his head. He had many questions but he decided not to ask them yet as the girl was clearly still in shock.
When she finished, he looked at, examining the pale expression on her face. He could not imagine the trauma and the fear that came back to her at that moment. It was something only she understood.
“Hey…” He slowly put his hand on her head as he patted her gently. “Don’t worry, Sora. He will never find you. I promise you that. You’re in safe hands with us.”
He smiled gently at the girl, giving her a moment of peace she most definitely needed. Staring at his soft look, Sora was completely taken aback. Then… without realizing it, she started tearing up.
A//N: Don’t forget to give the book some golden tickets for good luck! :3