************Ron POV************

The young boy looked up at Ron in curiosity. The image of the woman was plastered into Ron’s mind, a woman who seemed to have more intelligence and strength than what most people would think at first glance.

“Jeremy, come back here!” The boy’s mother whispered, holding her hand out. A frantic look on her face made Jeremy quickly walk back to her.

From the looks of things, groups among the people had formed based on culture. Ron himself had none, for he had grown up in isolation so seeing the different kinds of creatures was almost shocking to him. What caught his eye the most was what looked like a tattoo of a shield on one man. It took up the space of his left forearm, and it seemed he was newly captured.

Ron wanted to ask him a question about the tattoo but it was the familiarity of it that caught his attention. It took him a few seconds to realize that he saw the same one on the girl that had been in his vision. His memory of her was starting to slip, and even with his level of intelligence he couldn’t hold on to how she looked. It was like water slipping between his fingers, there was nothing he could do but hold a few clips of her for a short time.

Still in slight shock, Ron had to force himself back to reality as yelling came from upstairs. Terror ran through the large group of people as they realized more soldiers had come for them. There was almost six hundred slaves based off the long line of cages and how many people could sit in each one.

“If you all wish to live peacefully, in a place where no harm shall come to you, then follow me and I will give you all the kind of life you would wish for your children in the future!” Ron cried, holding his hand out to the crowd.

The yelling was getting louder with each second, footsteps echoing off the stone stairs. The man who had run into Ron in the first place stepped to him with a look of determination.

“I will follow you,” he said. The moment the man said that, others stepped forward as well. The woman with her sword wasn't sure how to react, so she followed suit. Any feelings he might have had for her was gone in the confusion of things.

A group of soldiers ran down the last steps and immediately attacked. Ron grabbed the first man and threw him against a wall to stun him. No more blood was to be spilled that day.

He took a deep breath and created a wall of vines and thorns between the slaves and the soldiers. Cries of surprise came from the other side, but where Ron stood there was no sound. He turned to face the people and found all were in shock at what he had just done.

“I-if you truly wish to protect these people, then you have my sword,” Fliour said and knelt to the ground. There was no more fear in the air as the rest of the crowd followed and bowed before him.

He wasn't expecting this kind of reaction. It almost made him uncomfortable, but in the heat of the moment he did the last thing he could think of. He nodded to the group and started to bark out orders as quick as he could.

“You there, with the tattoo! I want you to follow me and help me with a small project. The rest of you, I will send you to your new home. There is plenty of food and water where you are going, so eat and gain your strength, I will return as quickly as I can,” he cried as he waved his hand over the crowd. All but the man was covered in a deep blue light, and in an instant they disappeared from sight.

“Why did you choose me, sir?” The man asked as Ron cast a spell that created a flower on the other side that would let out a gas to cause the soldiers to lose consciousness.

“You seem to be one of the strongest among the group, and I hope to use your strength to retrieve something with me,” he explained as the vines shrunk down. He walked forward with the man trailing behind him.

“My name is Arturo. I was captured during a mission to take a flower from a special rose bush that lies hidden somewhere in this castle about a month ago. It was the mission that would have proven my worth in my guild, but…” the young man trailed off. He seemed to be around the age of eighteen, give or take a year.

“Well then, Arturo. I suppose it’s time you prove your ‘worth’ now isn’t it?” Ron said with a smile as they stepped out into the kitchen area where there seemed to be thirty or forty soldiers waiting.

Arturo’s eyes widened slightly. He looked around for some kind of weapon before his eyes laid upon the hammer that was used to hit the large furnace bellow to heat up certain parts of the castle. It was a hefty object, one that no mere servant could pick up. Luckily for him, he wasn’t a normal servant in the first place.

Heaving the huge weapon onto his shoulder, he ran forward and started to swing. To his surprise, it was lighter than it looked, but it still created an impact. He easily took out five soldiers without help from Ron, but it was obvious that he would need his assistance.

The two men fought side by side until all the men were either knocked out or had fled. Both were breathing heavily, but felt more relaxed than they had beforehand. Arturo smiled at Ron and stood up straight, then looked at the weapon in his hand.

“I think I like this kind of weapon,” he said with a hearty laugh. Ron laughed with him, then the two walked out and followed the hallways to where the throne room was.

When they reached the area where the bush was held, it took both men to hold it together while avoiding the thorns. Ron didn’t want to use any more magic than he had to, so he used the rest of what he decided to use for the day to teleport the two men to the island.

He had a specific place chosen for it. While Arturo gazed at the landscape they were in, Ron started to work on planting the bush. To his amazement, he didn’t have any control to what it would do to the island itself. As the roots took a hold to the dirt, the scent of the roses spread in all directions. The area itself, a circle of trees that surrounded a large area of dirt that once had held an old patch of clovers, had suddenly became a different color completely.

The ground became a peachy color, and even though the trees didn’t change the grass that surrounded them did. It was like it had suddenly taken on a mind of its own, and nothing Ron could do would change the coloring back to what it once was, nor could he block the strong scent of rose.

As the finishing touches were put in place to make sure the bush was stable, Ron turned to Arturo. He was staring at the rose bush, and it was obvious that it was incredibly important to him to receive a flower as he had mentioned before.

“What abilities does it have that makes it so valuable?” Ron asked him. It snapped Arturo out of his thoughts, and instead his eyes lite up at the question.

“It heals all ailments one might have or gain. My mentor has fallen ill himself with a certain kind of poison that only this flower can heal. There is only one plant that contains these, and you not hold it in your possession,” he explained with a hint of worry. “If you harvest it wrong, it will turn black and die automatically. The only way to harvest a flower off it is by a special-”

Arturo gasped in shock as Ron simply plucked a flower from its stem and held it out to the man as if there was nothing wrong. In fact, nothing bad happened to the flower at all.

“If it’s that important to you, take it with you. You may return home or stay with us, my friend.” Ron brushed his hands off on his shirt and turned to head towards where the village was starting to be built.

“W-wait! How do I get home? And how can I repay you for what you’ve done for me?” Arturo asked anxiously. Ron started laughing and walked back to the man and shook his hand.

“You don’t repay me, I don’t wish for anything more than what I have. I will return you to your homeland, all I ask is that you grow strong and don’t forget what kindness is.” Arturo nodded, then closed his eyes and followed the directions given to him by Ron. In an instant, he was gone in a flash of light.

As the tree-man turned to walk along the path to where the newly freed slaves were beginning to build their own village, he began to wonder about the woman he had seen in the vision that boy had shown him. He couldn’t remember how she looked, but he could still hear the screams that had escaped from her lips. The image of the shield was burned into his mind, and he vowed to protect that girl if he ever found her.

Of course, neither Ron nor Emily would be prepared for the day they met, especially when Ron would be the one who would create the first real battle she had experienced outside of her guild.