The lands of Heritage, though mountainous at certain areas, were relatively flat, with only a few boulders here and there to dot the landscape. Everyone, from Gaius to the people bustling around at the makeshift fortress, all had a clear view of the sky.

Which was why the little boy had decided to treat everyone to a light show. It was a perfect distraction, since six giant flowers of fire blooming in mid-air was just too eye-catching. Wind whistled in Gaius’ ears as he flew towards the three scouts, his eyes fixated on the ill Knight.

Fire bloomed, high above the lands of Heritage as the boy approached at an incredible velocity, and in the instant that everyone turned their heads to appreciate the fireworks, Gaius had snatched up a retching Knight in his arms and bounded away. Shouts filled the air as the hostile forces raised their guard at the fireworks, but no one had noticed the little boy grabbing one of their scouts and absconding with her.

The boy didn’t expect it to go that well either, but the ill, teenage girl in his arms hadn’t even put up any fight. He’d chosen a good timing to strike — the two scouts accompanying this person had turned away right before Gaius was in range, which earned him more than enough time to carry her away before they turned back to spot her.

Wow, she’s burning up. The girl in his arms, who was taller than his little body by a head or so, was hot to the touch. Upon closer inspection, her face was flushed, and her forehead in particular was dotted by beads of sweat. Her golden hair looked a bit matted, reminding him of a flower that hadn’t been watered for days on end.

If not for the fact that his camouflage ability didn’t extend to anyone he was carrying, Gaius would have slowed down to treat her and his arms immediately. As it was, the little boy had spent a couple of seconds to maintain his current trajectory to ensure that by the time her absence was noticed, the two would be out of sight. Grabbing a person who was standing still at a high speed, even if his or her feet weren’t planted on the ground firmly, was not much different from ramming into a pillar…and in this case, the rammer had to take care not to harm the pillar too.

After another five seconds of high-speed flight, Gaius finally slowed down to a stop. His arms were aching, and the moment he touched down on solid ground, he released the Knight he’d captured to shake his arms. As for his captive, who was clearly in a doozy, she took a few unsteady steps and fell flat on her face.

The girl murmured a few words, all of which was muffled by the snow, before her head lolled over and snores escaped her lips. The little boy, who’d worked hard to abduct her, couldn’t help but feel a tinge of displeasure. For a moment, he was tempted to wake her and interrogate her with the help of stabs, but the sight of her feverish face was enough to dampen his mood.

Gaius stared at the unconscious, ill Knight and sighed. Never mind, let’s bring this fella back to the fortress first, and keep her under lock and key. One less Knight from the enemy team, either way.

Grunting lightly, Gaius carried the ill teenager over his shoulder, and leaped into the air. It didn’t take him long to return back to the fortress, although he had to take a long, winding path. The disappearance of his captive had clearly not gone unnoticed or dismissed — the closely-knit contingent that the little boy had spotted from afar had scattered, and some of them were staring at boulders and random cracks on the ground.

He didn’t know what was up with the last one, but there were undeniably people staring at the ground for some odd reason.

“I’m quite sure I told you to bring back some information on the enemy troops, and you’ve done so magnificently,” said Nalus, after Gaius reported back the numbers that Nexus had given him. “But what’s with this person? She doesn’t even look well to boot, either.”

“Oh, I kidnapped a scout. She looked particularly important, so I figured that she might have some important information we could use.” Gaius shrugged, as his captive slid onto the ground. “But as you can tell, she doesn’t look like she’s in any state to talk whatsoever.”

Nalus rolled his eyes. The Warmaster’s son had ran back into the tent the moment Gaius had reported the numbers, leaving the wannabe Campmaster to deal with Gaius. “What made you think that she was important anyway?”

Gaius restrained the urge to narrow his eyes, and replied with a prepared answer. “She had a guard beside her when scouting. If that doesn’t say anything about her importance, then nothing will.”

“A guard?”

“Yeah. There were two dudes by her side when I spotted her. I had a hunch that she could be useful, so I distracted them by detonating a couple of sigils in the sky, and then grabbed her while they weren’t looking.” Gaius nudged the unconscious body on the ground. “But she clearly won’t be of use to us now. What a pity.”

“Well, at least that clears up some matters,” said Nalus. “Me and Winston were wondering about the explosions earlier.”

“I hope you enjoyed the sights, at least,” Gaius replied. “So, now that you’ve gotten the numbers, you lot should go back and start planning your next move. But before you lot disappear into whatever hidey holes that serve as your planning rooms, how should I deal with this sick captive?”

“Uh.” Nalus rubbed his head. “Oi, Winston!”

“What? I’m busy over here!” An annoyed voice yelled back. “You’re the Campmaster, so do your job!”

“But this girl is a prisoner of war!”

“That treaty can go burn in a fire! I didn’t see the humans live up to their own rules during the Second Extermination either!” Winston hollered from a tent, his head popping out. “Lecturer Gaius, that girl is yours. Go deal with her as you see fit.”

The little boy stared back at the head, his expression a sight to behold. Gaius could think of a couple of ways to interpret his words, but the point was that he was just eleven years old. Gaius really wanted to slice open Winston Chamberlain’s brain and see just what he was thinking when he said those words.

I’m an eleven-year-old boy. What did you want me to do with this captive? I really want to beat you up, even for the sake of common decency…