Nora kept hugging Ari. Belle ran upstairs and came back with a pillow and wooden box. She put the pillow on the ground, grabbed Ayala, and looked to Nora,

“Help me lay her down.” Nora pushed Ari over to Leo. They laid her down softly putting her head on the pillow. Belle grabbed some cloth out of the box and started tying it on her arm just below her elbow. It was a tourniquet. Nora trusted Belle knew what she was doing. “Leo, come here.” Nora traded places with him going back to Ari,

“What do you need?” He asked, she looked to the ice,

“I want you to melt that with some heat using your fire affinity.” Leo looked shocked, Nora felt the same. He hadn’t practiced or trained to do that but maybe it would save the arm from frostbite.

“But… I don’t know how.” He said,

“It’s easy, just focus your mana into your hand and create heat.” He put his hand to the ice and a few moments later the ice started slowly melting. He smiled and his tail started wagging. Belle stood up, “Good job, I’m leaving her to you, Leo.”

“Where are you going?” Leo asked, Nora already knew the answer. She planned on trying to chase down those guys. Belle started walking upstairs, Nora grabbed her arm,

“You can’t go.” Belle yanked her arm away,

“I’m going, it doesn’t matter what you say.” She continued walking upstairs,

“They’re long gone. You won’t be able to find them.” Belle turned around,

“I put one of my fireflies in Oli’s fur before she ran off. I can track them with that, but I have to hurry before it disappears.” She could do that? That wasn’t good,

“They’ll kill you if you go.” Belle’s face hardened at that,

“I have to go, I have to save her, she’s my dog and I let her get taken.” It was clear she wouldn’t change her mind but if she went on her own she would die for sure. Those guys were clearly skilled. Should she go with her? Would that even make a difference? If she could convince her to just follow them, then she could help.

“Fine, how about this.” Belle’s eyes looked hopeful, “You lead me to them and then you come back here. I’ll follow them to their base. After I find their base I’ll come back and we can tell my parents. They’ll know what to do.” Bell looked down,

“But… what if they hurt her before your parents can do anything or what if your parents won’t do anything?”

“That won’t happen. They hurt Ayala, my parents love Ayala. They’ll go.” She knew her parents would want revenge, Hell, she wanted revenge. Belle stood quiet for a moment, then nodded,

“Ok, but come up here. We need some weapons in case they spot us.” Nora nodded and followed her upstairs. She led her to a locked door. Belle took a few steps back and charged the door slamming through it. She grabbed her arm, “Ow.” considering she was a thirteen-year-old girl she must have used mana to do that.

Walking into the room, it was filled with weapons of all kinds. Greatswords, massive hammers, scythes, and more. Why did they have a room full of weapons? As far as she knew they weren’t fighters of any kind and they didn’t have any dealings with those who would use them. Whatever she’d deal with that later. Belle grabbed a short sword and strapped it onto her waist. She’d never seen Belle use a weapon but she seemed to know what she was doing. Nora grabbed a curved dagger with a black hilt and four throwing knives and strapped them to her waist.

“Ready?” Belle asked. Nora took a quick glance around the room,

“Yeah, I’ve got what I need.” On their way out Nora stopped by Ari and patted her on the head, “I’ll be back in a little, stay with Leo.”

“What? Where are you going?” She said worriedly, Nora smiled at her,

“We’re going to find Oli. We’ll be back in a bit, ok?” She looked scared but nodded,

“Ok, but make sure she’s safe, ok?”

“I will.” Nora and Belle headed out. It was sunset just about to turn night, she hoped the sun would set before they caught up with them, it would make the tailing much easier. Belle led them through the snow-covered ground and into the eastern part of the city. Nora had never been there before but it appeared to be an artisans district. Belle hadn’t spoken since they left the house, Nora wanted her to know she cared about this too,

“Belle,” She hmmed in reply, “I want you to know I will find their hideout and we will get Oli back,” Belle stopped and looked at her, “No matter what.” Belle nodded,

“Thank you.” Hopefully she was feeling a bit better. They continued for another few blocks when Belle stopped at a corner and pointed around it. Nora peeked around, the two men were there,

“Ok, you go back and I’ll follow them to their base.” Belle hesitated, “Go, I promise I’ve got this.” Belle looked worried but nodded and headed back the way they came. Good, now she wouldn’t have to worry about her randomly attacking them. Night had finally arrived. Nora enhanced her legs, left arm, and eyes. Then she covered her body with dark smoke only leaving her eyes exposed. Hopefully, that would help her blend in, and if not at the very least they wouldn’t recognize her.

She started following them through the alleys. Ok, she had trained over six years for a situation like this. All the training with her dad had really helped her gain control over her smoke and she’d learned that her smoke muffled sounds. That would come in handy now, allowing her to move however she wanted without them hearing her or the snow crunching under her feet. She still hadn’t been able to learn any illusion magic so she couldn’t rely on that and she couldn’t enhance her whole body yet but she’d learned to make do with just her legs, left arm, and eyes.

She ran from ally to ally, keeping a close eye on them, making sure they didn’t hurt Oli or make a run for it. They walked in silence. Were they not friends or was the lanky guy still upset he couldn’t hurt them? She’d been hoping they would talk about where they were going or what their goals were. I guess things aren’t like in the movies, huh.

She followed them for what felt like an hour when she saw the wall surrounding the city. Did they live outside? She’d only ever been outside with her dad and he said it was dangerous to go out of the city at night.

If they left through the gate the guards would never let a little girl through at this time of night. She doubted she could climb the wall only being able to enhance one arm. Well, she’d figure it out when the time came. They walked to the base of the wall away from any of the exit gates. The cloaked man put his hand to the wall and a path opened up.

Wow, they had secret ways in and out of the city? Who were these guys and why did they want a dog so bad they’d kill for it? They walked into the wall and it closed behind them. She walked up to the wall still covered in black smoke and examined it. It was made of smooth well-kept stone, probably reinforced with some kind of alteration magic.

How did he open it? She didn’t hear him say anything and all he did physically was touch the wall. She pushed on different parts of the same area but nothing. Maybe some mana? She funneled mana into the wall and a tunnel opened up leading to the other side. She ran through hoping she hadn’t lost them.

There was an open field on the other side, the tunnel closed behind her as she exited. The men were about a hundred feet away heading for the tree line. She crouched low to the ground hoping they hadn’t seen her. They made no obvious reaction. She started following, keeping about a hundred feet back, which changed to seventy-five once they entered the dark forest.

They walked for about ten minutes before getting onto a footpath leading deeper into the forest. The cloaked man spoke,

“So, are you going to sulk the entire way there?”

“I’m not sulking! I’m just thinking about those kids.” He replied,

“Why? Just forget them, we got what we came for and ahead of schedule.” Were they from a different city? If so then there was no way she could have followed them all the way there. Perhaps she should attack. She could blind them with her smoke and use her throwing knives to pick them off but would four knives be enough for that? Maybe, if she timed it right. There was always the option of letting them go but she’d promised Belle she would find their hideout. Fuck, what should I do?

“That little elf girl sent a wolf after me. She was trying to kill me!” The cloaked man stopped and turned to him,

“Of course she was, we were trying to take her dog and she probably assumed we killed that deer girl.” The lanky man’s head drooped,

“Yeah, that deer girl was no joke. She almost hit me in the face with those ice shards sent through the door.” The cloaked man nodded,

“If she were more experienced it would have been a problem. I hope she recovers from her wounds, it would be a waste for someone like that to die so young.” The lanky man simply nodded along,

“Yeah, she would have made an amazing recruit, but she froze her arm so that will probably cause some serio-” The lanky man tensed up and frantically looked around drawing his sword, “We’re being surrounded.” The cloaked man drew his as well,

“How many?”

“I don’t know but I think they’re animals.” Animals? It must be belle. Fuck me! Now the only option was to fight. She stepped up to the edge of the road and sent as much black smoke as she could to surround and blind them. They looked over but the smoke quickly enveloped them. She moved location and made sure the smoke followed them wherever they went. She hoped the animals could find them by smell.

Three wolves charged into the smoke from each side of the road. She could feel them charge at the lanky man. He managed to take out two of them before the others tore into him. His screams were muffled by the smoke. She winced at the sound. She never liked killing people but sometimes it was necessary. Now that Belle attacked there was no way they could let them go.

Once the lanky man stopped moving the wolves charged the robed man. She felt him raise his hand and heard a muffled explosion. The wolves were sent flying in pieces. Was that some kind of explosion magic? Maybe fire? Shit, what were they supposed to do now? She could keep him blind easily enough but if he could create explosions going in there would be too dangerous.

“Nora,” She jumped, yanking her dagger free, she looked back to the source of the sound. Seeing the blond hair and elf ears of Belle she relaxed.

“Don’t do that, I could have stabbed you.”

“What do we do?” She asked, Nora sighed,

“Well, now that he’s seen that it’s us we can’t let him go.” She focused on him in the black smoke, he wasn’t moving but was tense and seemed ready to fire off another explosion at a moment's notice. Oli was in his left arm.

“I could just send more wolves at him or maybe some birds.” She examined Belle, she looked pale and exhausted. She probably couldn’t create many more animals without hurting herself. Nora was feeling a bit of exhaustion but creating her smoke didn’t really take all that much mana.

“How many wolves do you think you can summon?” Belle thought for a second,

“Probably two or three.” That was more than she expected. Maybe Belle could send the wolves in from one side while Nora attacked from his blind spot. Would that work? She could probably muffle her sound enough to get close without him noticing but she would have to kill him in one blow or he’d explode her. Was there any other choice? None that she could think of. Fuck it.

“Alright, you’re going to send your wolves in from that side of my smoke and I’ll go in from this. When your wolves attack I’ll go in for the killing blow.” Belle nodded,

“Ok, sounds good. Just make sure Oli doesn’t get hurt.”

“Right.” She was more worried about stopping him from reporting this back to whoever they worked for than she was about saving Oli. He knew where Belle lived. “Once I enter the smoke, send your wolves in. I’ll attack when there’s an opening.” Belle nodded.

Nora covered herself in smoke to muffle her sounds even more than they'd already have been in the smoke cloud. She took a deep breath, here goes nothing. She enhanced her left arm, legs, and eyes. She held the dagger firmly and entered the smoke. She could feel him looking around hyper-aware of his surroundings. She got within ten feet of him, he didn’t react to her presence in any way.

She felt the wolves enter the smoke from the other side of him. He instantly turned their way and raised his hand readying an explosion. The moment the wolves leaped he set off a massive explosion, in that instant Nora charged and jumped. She aimed her blade for the center of his back, he jerked to the left, the blade sunk hilt deep into his right shoulder blade. Shit! As her hand touched his back an image flashed into her head. It was a man wearing a red hoodie holding a book with a blazing dragon on the cover. It was Danial! The man she’d been sitting beside on the plane. Was this man Danial?

She snapped back into reality. She felt his hand coming toward her right side through the smoke. She was still in the air, no way to dodge. Her right arm and leg instinctively rose to defend. She streamed as much mana as she could into that leg and knowing it would hurt did the same in that arm. Excruciating pain surged as the mana entered her right arm. Please keep me in one piece! The moment his hand touched her she was blinded by a flash of orange and red and an explosive force sent her flying outside of the smoke. She slammed into the ground rolling for a few feet before stopping.

Her right arm and leg felt broken at the very least and her entire body felt sore. Her arm was screaming to her for release. HOLY SHIT! It really hurt. She laid on her back trying not to move,

“Daniel!” She yelled, allowing the smoke to dissipate. The man stood staring at her with Oli in his left and her blade in his back. The bodies of wolves were strewn all over the road, some whole, some in pieces. The lanky man was torn apart, the sight was gruesome but she’d expected that. “Is that you?” She asked in English. He stepped closer,

“You're the woman from the plane right? The one with her daughter.” He replied in English. Nora nodded, if he’d gotten reincarnated, did that mean everyone on the plane was reincarnated? If so, her daughter was in this world as well. “Why the hell did you come after us? We let you go.” Nora’s eyes started tearing up thinking of her daughter. How had she not been worried about her this whole time? Why hadn’t she been looking for her? It didn’t make sense. “You should have let this go.” Nora took a deep breath trying to control her emotion then looked to Daniel,

“Have you met anyone else from the plane?” He stepped a little closer breathing heavy,

“No... You're the first.” He said, she sighed, so he didn’t know his daughter,

“Well, I’m not sorry we attacked you. You and your friend hurt Ayala and took my friend's dog. You were asking for it.” Her breathing was labored and every move hurt.

“I guess we were.” Nora wondered what Belle was doing, why hadn’t she come out.

“Belle! Come out! And don’t attack him!” She yelled out no longer speaking English. Daniel sat on his feet looking around. A moment later Belle emerged from the woods. “Good, can you check me out.” Belle walked over glaring at Daniel the whole way. She kneeled next to her and started looking over her wounds. Every touch to her arm sent fire throughout her body. Belle pulled back.

“This isn’t good, your right arm and leg are broken and badly burned. The damage is especially bad on your arm.” Fuck, She’d thought as much but hoped it wasn’t so bad. She wanted to ask if they’d fully heal but the potential answer stayed her tongue. Belle glared toward Daniel. “This is your fault! You did this!”

“I’m sorry, if I’d known who she was I wouldn’t have.”

“What does that even mean?! How could you possibly know who she is?!” Nora gave him a look warning him to not talk about it. He seemed to understand and didn’t reply. “What language were you two speaking?” Nora spoke up,

“English.” Belle looked even more confused,

“What’s that?”

“It’s a language very few people know, you have to be born knowing it.” Belle grabbed her head squinting,

“Whatever? It doesn’t matter right now.” Belle turned to Daniel, “Are you really sorry for hurting her?” Daniel met Nora’s eyes,

“Yes.”

“Then give us Oli back and never return here!” Oli had been sitting in his arms this whole time looking between people as they talked. She hadn’t tried to escape and hadn’t made any noise. Oli looked up to Daniel. He sighed.

“Fine,” He let her go and she ran into Belle’s arms, Belle hugged her tight, tears started pouring down her face, “Do you need help carrying her back to the city?” He asked, pointing to Nora. Nora wanted his help but had to know something before she could agree,

“Was it you or your friend who hurt Ayala?”

“He hurt her, though I’ll admit I didn’t try to stop him.” At least he was dead, she’d gotten revenge for the damage done to Ayala. Besides, she always made it a point to not hold a grudge or hate.

“Fine, you can carry me,” Nora said. Belle looked at her mouth agape,

“Are you sure that’s a good idea? We just killed his friend.”

“It’s fine,” Daniel said, “that guy wasn’t really my friend, just someone I was assigned to work with. He got what he deserved.” Belle still looked skeptical but didn’t say anything. Daniel stood up and yanked Nora’s dagger from his back winching. He walked over and put it back in its sheath on her side. “Ok, I’m gonna pick you up now,” Nora tensed in anticipation, “Ready?” He said in English.

“Yeah.” She replied in English. As his arms went under her and started lifting pain shot through her body. She winced. “Careful!” He held he in his arms,

“Ok let’s go.” He said.

Every step he took sent pain through her body. She tried to ignore it. She had to find her daughter, but how. She couldn’t just go around grabbing every girl she saw hoping for a vision. Maybe someone with divination magic could find her. That seemed like the only plan that made sense. Nora felt herself falling asleep. Would that be ok? She didn’t care. She closed her eyes and let it take hold. She was asleep in seconds.