Dear Reader:

I hope you can read through the entire chapter.

Love Author.

Theun POV

Thunk

Hiding in the barn besides the main house, I hear a sound on the home door. I signal at Sandra to come towards the barn door as we both peak out to see an arrow lodged in the door to Desi's home. I spot a small note tied to the arrow and can only assume that it came from the kidnappers. Melissa opens the door and retrieves the arrow, soon after we see it and takes it into her home. Looking at the way the arrow was lodged into the door, I can tell that it came from the forest opposite the road. Stretching my senses as far as I could, I scan the area around us, just to catch a presence leaving my range. Knowing that he was probably going back to base, I leave the barn with Sandra and walk towards the farmhouse. Inside the house, Melissa and Desi are sitting at the kitchen table as Melissa reads the note on the arrow. She sees us enter and hands us the note.

"Meet us at the docks near the cargo houses outside Sanctium. If you aren't alone or with your other granddaughter, don't expect us to coop work with you. My brother and me will bring her to you."

There wasn't much we could do instead of going with their demands so it was decided that we would go to the warehouses as stated. The only difference was we went at an earlier time than what the kidnappers wanted.

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We arrive early at the rendezvous point that was assigned by the kidnappers. I kept my sense up and made sure that they weren't nearby spying us throughout the trip here. To be extra safe, I told Desi and her grandmother to arrive a bit earlier to the site so that I could signal them our hiding spot. Seeing a gap between two warehouses, I take Sandra there and hide in the dark alley. It was about an hour since we received the arrow so it may take some time before anything really happens, but I still keep sending my environment just in case. Thirty minutes before the designated time, Desi and Melissa arrives. I still didn't sense the kidnappers so I decided to let Desi and her grandmother know where we were by throwing a rock to get their attention, then waving at them. Around the time of the meeting, I sense the presence of 3 people heading to the area.

As stated on the arrow, two kidnappers show up, one a large bulky man while the other is a small skinny man. Between them is Emma, held by her arms. Looking at her, she is the splitting image of Desilla, she has a small slim figure and purple hair while Desi had a deeper blue tinge to hers. Her facial features are similar as well, as both sisters have kind soft eyes with slim eyebrows. Observing her carefully, I see that her breath is exasperated and she has trouble standing on her own. I can tell that something must have happened and can only hope she wasn't harmed too badly. Sandra doesn't take long to pick up on this and I can see her reach for her sword. I grab her wrist and look firmly into her eyes, telling her to calm down. The kidnappers stand 10 metres away from Desi and are 20 metres away from where we are hiding.

"Hand over my granddaughter!" I hear Melissa exclaim.

"Why don't you hand over the money!" -Muscle-napper

"How do we know you'll let her go!?" -Melissa

"How do WE know you'll give us the money!?" -Muscle-napper

"How do we solve this problem!?" -Melissa

"How do I know!?" -Muscle-napper

"All this shouting is hurting my throat!" -Melissa

"Same as me, old lady!" -Muscle-napper

"Anyways, just let go of my sister and let her walk halfway over! I'll throw you the money when she reaches halfway!" -Desi

"Fair enough! If you trick us, I won't hesitate to shoot!" -Skinny-napper

"Okay! -Desi

"Alright!" -Skinny-napper

After agreeing to the terms, the kidnappers let go of Emma but she immediately falls to her knees. It's quite obvious that she has no strength in her legs.

"What'd you do to my sister!?!?" -Desi

"We didn't do much! She's just clumsy!" -Skinny-napper

"If you so much as touched her, I'll hunt you down! What now!?" -Desi

"I don't know! How about throwing the money towards that warehouse over there and we'll go get it while you get your sister!?" The small man exclaims as he raises his hand and points towards us. No way....

"Uhhhh... Sure!" -Desi

"Okay! In three, two, one! Go!" -Muscle-napper

Desi throws the pouch of gold as close as she could to us and starts running to Emma with her grandmother. The kidnappers, oblivious to the trap, start running towards us. I tell Sandra to take care of the skinnier man while I take charge of the bigger one. The two brothers are so dead set on getting their hands on the gold that they don't even imagine a scenario with an ambush waiting for them. As they near us, I jump out towards the burly man and punch him right on the chin, infusing mana into my fist to deliver a heavier blow. He takes the full brunt of the attack, his head thrown back in an almost unnatural manner. I could almost hear his brain rattling inside his skull. It was obvious he wouldn't come to in a while. Sandra is less elegant with the skinny man and throws a punch right into his gut. The kidnapper hunches down, as a bit of blood is spat out of his mouth but Sandra wasn't done just yet. As he bends to hold his stomach, Sandra uses both her hands to grab onto the man’s head before she uses her knee to break his nose. Unable to take any more beatings, the man simply falls flat on his face.

Sandra and I run over to the rest and see Desi kneeling next to her sister and shaking her out of her dazed state. Melissa is standing next to her granddaughters and I can see she is on the verge of tears.

"Emma! Emma! Snap out of it. How are you feeling? What did they do to you!?" -Desi

"I... They... Haah-... Hahh-... So much... Tickling... Haah... Can't... Breathe..." -Emma

"..." -Everyone

Anyways, I put that thingy at the top because the last thing I want is for people to drop this novel with a bad taste in their mouth. I can understand dropping it because its boring (lets be honest, I'm on the Lower tier of writers on this site.) but dropping it over a deliberate misunderstanding doesn't sit well with me.