-Wait, wait, wait… - a lot of things started suddenly rolling through my head. - That means…How long ago did you meet him?

-About twenty years ago? Give or take a year.

-Okay, so let me get this straight. Twenty years ago, your husband somehow managed to get trapped here, out of all the places possible… like me, went through those tunnels, and met you? That’s a lot of similarities…

-You don’t even imagine how many… - she looked back at me, definitely with mixed feelings. - I don’t think I told you already, but he was also the one who showed me that underground lake with infused water… and a few other things…

-Like what?

-He… he had similar abilities to yours. Actually, I am pretty sure that you used a bunch of exact same spells like him…

-Okay, that is not that weird, all I used were very basic, regular…

Then it finally struck me.

-I think you understand now. He was also able to use multiple elements - she nodded, confirming my suspicions.

I started walking around the cave, thinking intently.

-And you have no idea where he came from, right?

She nodded again.

-That’s just too many coincidences.

-Yeah, to be completely honest - she suddenly blushed - when I first saw you and your magic, I was sure that it was him, but you look nothing alike. I thought I might learn something about him if I manage to interrogate you, since it looks like you came from the same place…

-Well fuck, I think we both are in the same boat. And you might be right that we were, but, more importantly, what’s his name? - I asked, impatient.

-Ah, I never told you that. Noli. Did you know him?

-That’s the strange part. This is the first time I have ever heard that name - I stated, confused.

-Hmm…

-Where is he now? I have a lot of questions for him, but…

-I know what you are thinking - she shook her head. - I honestly have no idea though. He left the house, saying he wanted to “remiscience a little”. Back then, I thought he wanted to go and meet his old friends we adventured with.

She sighed.

-It’s been too long though. After about three months of his absence, I started looking for him, but to no avail. I reached out to a bunch of our friends, but none of them have heard from him since their adventuring days.

-Sounds like quite a mysterious fellow.

She didn’t answer, instead just kept looking at the horizon.

I stood up, slapping the ground and stretched out.

-Ahh, finally, a direction. I think I now know what I want to do for now!

-I thought you were going to help me with Il 's problems and all.

-Well, that’s that too, but I feel like you are overreacting. No one is going to bother you out here, and with this infused water you’ll have your source of money back, meaning you can just permanently move out here.

-Yeah, and leave the mansion along with the city? No thank you.

-I thought you liked it here, wasn’t this your family home.

-Yes. But I am not going to confine Il here like some weird forest witch. While I might be one, that does not mean I have the right to decide for someone.

-Pfff - I waved my hand. - Like that matters that much. She’s just a kid. If she doesn’t like it that much why don’t you just build up your shack a bit. You can control plants, make a new room, or even a floor, buy some furniture or better, make them yourself. If you ask me, this place is better than most of the cities.

-You sound like some hermit yourself.

I couldn’t help but laugh.

-You can’t be more wrong. I spent most of my life in a city, and while I don’t regret it, if I had a choice to live somewhere like here with that much of resources and freedom, I would’ve taken it in a heartbeat.

-Resources? Freedom?

-For one, since you said no one’s been here since your husband appeared out of thin air, I am pretty sure you don’t have to pay for land, or home. Thanks to your magic you are self-sufficient. On top of that, you have a source of income, and with that kids portals, an access to the outside world whenever you like. Perfect life. I still have no idea why you didn't ditch that other place of yours already.

-Maybe I should… - she sighed. - Anyway, let’s go back.

I groaned heavily and started walking back towards the tunnel at the end of the cave.

-Man, I never thought I would ever have to go through those tunnels again that soon, and now I am doing it twice in a span of one day.

-Come on, it’s not that bad… - she said while lowering her head, trying not to hit some stalactites formed on the ceiling.

-I am not an award winning gymnast like you, apparently. I’m just a lazy man with one arm.

-Right, I never asked. What happened? - she pointed at my missing arm. - From what I tell it’s not that of an old wound, you sometimes forget that it’s missing even, so it had to be pretty recent.

-Really? - I said surprised. - Damn, you’re observant. Let’s call it an accident at work.

-What, a bear mauled you while you were exploring or something?

-Yeah, sure, whatever you say - I tried dodging the topic, but she definitely caught on.

-It’s not my business, really, but since we are going to work together…

-Hmm? What, you want to hook me up with some prosthetics or something? Not the worst idea in the world…

-Prosthetics? I guess I could, but no, that’s not what I had in mind. I was just going to share a story of one of my adventures.

-And how’s that going to help in…

-Let me finish and then you can start complaining.

I sighed and stopped talking, instead focusing on the tightening tunnel in front of me.

-So. As I was saying, this took place while I was adventuring along with Noli. We arrived in some sort of remote village near the coast. We stopped at some sort of a tavern which was actually an old ship. At the time it was quite deserted - apparently a lot of the people had left for the capital with some sort of a caravan. While that didn’t concern us, we wanted to stay there for a night before we would move on and go towards the capital ourselves. Sadly, we didn’t get much sleep that night. The caravan apparently got assaulted by something and most of the people involved died. We both got woken up by the innkeeper, along with one other person that was also staying there that night, to help tend the wounded. We tried helping, but for a lot of them it was already too late. From what was about 30 people that arrived, maybe less than five lived through the night, but events surrounding one of them were… mysterious. It was just some middle-aged man, nothing was strange about him. When he was brought to us three, we all instantly knew that his situation was serious. We managed to save him, but in the process we had to amputate both of his legs. He was left in the care of the other man who was with us that night. We stayed there for another day, to make sure we did all that we could. In the morning I went to check up on the survivors, and especially on the crippled man. To my absolute surprise, he was nowhere to be found, along with the other one who was helping us during the night. We asked about both of them, but everyone was sure that they definitely did not know each other - the crippled man was one of the people that was living in that village for a very long time and was a merchant. He apparently was not very successful and wanted to leave for the capital to hopefully change his luck. The other was just passing through, like us, and no one had seen him before.

-Wow, what an amazing story…- this time she didn’t even stop to berate me, just continued talking.

-Neither of us would really pay attention to that particular event, if not for one thing. One of the people we interrogated kept telling us that he saw both of the men in question that morning, walking out of the village. We obviously dismissed that as some misunderstanding, what, he suddenly grew legs or something? We just dropped the topic and left the village the next day, promptly forgetting that incident.

The corridor in front of us again made us crouch and progressively then crawl, as she continued her story.

-Not until the time we arrived at the capital. We stopped at some inn on the outskirts of the city, and, to our absolute surprise, we saw both of them there. They both recognized us instantly; before we even managed to speak to them they both sprinted out the door and disappeared in the night, not to be seen again.

-You sure you weren't drunk, or just too tired from traveling so you were seeing things? - I asked as we reached the end of the tunnel and I started climbing down using what was left of my stone steps.

-Yeah, no. What, both me and Noli coincidentally had the same hallucination in the same place or something? No. We later asked the innkeeper about them; he provided the description that fit perfectly. He apparently overheard their conversation, but never told us where they went, apparently that “was a bad business practice”.

-Well yeah, if you keep gossiping about your clients that’s not a good look for your establishment - I said already on the ground, waiting for her to also climb down.

I wanted to give her a hand or something but she just climbed down like some sort of monkey and was next to me in about five seconds.

-So what, you think that guy just regrew his legs. Do you even listen to yourself?

-I know, it sounds stupid, but you tell me. You apparently know more than me about magic. Is that thing even remotely possible?

-I have seen many things, including bringing to life inanimate objects, so nothing is impossible. But the price for that sort of spell is always too big for it to be worth it. While making a new arm is not exactly resurrecting the dead, I don’t think it would be remotely worth it.

-Okay, now you are speaking in fairy tales. Bringing back the dead? Let’s not get ahead of ourselves.

-I just answered the question. While indeed, that person of yours sounds interesting and I wouldn't mind having a good talk with them, I don’t think I’m just going to randomly find them.

-I was just getting to that.

-I feel like I heard that already more than once.

-Hmph. In any case, about a month later, I visited the same village once more, to get some supplies for my potions. I don’t know if I should call it luck or fate, but once more, during the night, I saw that same man. Again, he ran away as soon as he saw me, and even though I chased after him, he managed to lose me in the woods. His trail ended somewhere near the sea. I promptly asked about him around town, and this time I had more luck. Probably thanks to some locals that remembered me from the last time. He apparently regularly visited that same inn every month or so, and supposedly was from the capital, even worked in royal military. No one had seen the other guy since he disappeared from the town though.

-You done with your story? - I asked, squinting my eyes; the light coming from the exit of the tunnel was unbearable after spending so long underground.

-Yes, yes - she sighed as we entered the forest and started to walk back towards her home.

-Well then, let me ask something. Do you actually believe he managed to heal him? Regrow his legs?

-At first I didn’t. But Noli was very adamant about it and kept saying that he should look for that man. Knowing him, he probably found out something more about that and never shared it with me.

-Your husband seems to have a talent for finding weird people, so I guess you might be right.

-Was that an insult or a compliment? - she grinned at me.

-Maybe neither, maybe both - I looked up at the canopy stretching above us. - Nevertheless, there definitely had to be something interesting about that guy since he wanted to go out of his way and track him…

-Yeah… too bad he disappeared.

-Hmm… I actually might have some leads… And before you ask, no, not about your husband. The other guy.

-How the hell… nevermind, you won’t tell me anyway.

-Actually, I will. First thing, do you remember the name of that village? Any particular distinctive features?

-Not really, besides that it’s not that far from the capital and has a tavern that is an old ship.

-Funny. When your protage sent me “to the capital”...

-Village close to the capital.

-Whatever. When she sent me, I arrived on some small island. Was pretty deserted, so I managed to procure a transport to the mainland, and I arrived at a village that is quite similar to the one you just described. Massive boat-inn. Hell, I think I even met some people you saved.

-What the…

-Yeah, I heard a story about an attack, wiped caravan and all that.

-How the hell did you end up all the way there? - she sounded genuinely surprised.

-Right? But that’s just the start. I joined the caravan; apparently led by the same guy as the last time.

-That’s…

-Convenient? Well, that’s not the end of the story. On the way to the capital, we were attacked and most of the caravan was wiped. Like on the day you were there. Long story short, I, along with the caravan leader and two other people managed to get to the capital safely. I even managed to meet a head officer of their army or something. Didn’t help me much though, I got arrested soon after but still, that is a lead.

-I can’t even process this - she said, visibly deflating. - I was looking for that man for so long, and found not even the faintest trace, but you - she pointed at me aggressively - not only met the guy that probably is connected to him, bah, I think you even landed directly at the island he escaped to.

-Actually… you might be right… hell, I think… I think I met the guy himself…

-You WHAT?

-I told you the island was almost deserted; I also met some people there. One sort of fits the description. Middle aged. Merchant. It also could be a coincidence.

-Okay, you’ll have to tell me more.

She went silent for a minute. It looked like she was debating with herself and was on the verge of revealing something. Before she was able to make her mind up though, we reached her house.

-So, how long is it going to take for you to make those potions, do I have to wai…

-Shh!

She ducked down and pulled me with her into a nearby bush.

-What? - I hissed at her, but she didn’t reply, instead pointed towards the house.

The door was opened. Inside, I could see the lights were turned on and a chair lying turned over right at the entrance.

-You said no one can get here without your knowledge.

-Yet you are here. And apparently someone else.

-Well then, let’s move - I said, standing up, but before I even was able to, she pulled me back to the ground.

-Wait! You want to just waltz in like that? They are clearly powerful since they made it past the barrier!

-And?

-And we need a plan, oh my lord! And I thought you were smart!

I sighed, disappointed.

-So what do you want? Sit here and wait? Use your magic then! Make the plants barricade the exit! Grab them with vines! I don’t know, I don’t use a hedge as a weapon. They are most likely gone anyway.

-How would you know?

-I don’t. That’s why I want to go in and check. Sitting here won’t help anyone. Maybe your protagee just tripped on some furniture, who the hell knows.

I wiggled out of her grasp and started unceremoniously walking towards the building. I still could hear her hissing something to me from the bush, but I didn’t bother with that. As I was getting closer to the house, I started realizing that that was definitely not just some home accident. Through the door, I could see the cooking utensils and random herbs littering the ground, along with some papers. Melle gave up on trying to stop me and actually followed up on what I mentioned - the plants around the house started moving, slowly but surely trying to block windows and were creeping around the entrance, ready to trip and tie down any unsuspecting foe. Carefully, I stepped closer to the door, ready at moments notice to defend myself if needed.

Inside looked absolutely ravaged. The whole room was pretty much flipped upside down - every item that was not permanently nailed to something was now on the ground - and that included all the furniture. The door leading to the other room was also missing.

Stepping over the mess I took a peek inside. Similarly, the bedroom was also wrecked. The door was torn from the hinges and was lying on the bed, snapped in half. But there was no sign of the intruders. Nor the girl.

Scratching my chin, I quickly stepped out of the house and waved towards Melle, urging her to come. In a matter of seconds she was next to me, speechless, looking at the mess.

-So… I guess the bodyguard job is off then… - I said as she started digging through the mess, looking for something.

-No. No… How did they get here! This should not be possible!

-So, you have a suspect.

-Of course! It had to be the people from the capital! Who else would it be!

-Right, right, rich family and all that.

-How did they get here without me knowing!? How did they know about my home in the first place!

-Before you accuse me, no, I never mentioned this location to anyone - I raised my hand defensively. - To be honest, I couldn’t even if I wanted to, I still have no fucking clue where I am.

-Those motherfuckers will pay! - with surprising spite with her voice she sprang up and dashed towards the ruined bedroom.

A bit startled, I followed suit. She was digging through one of the wardrobes, which was lying flipped over and tossing out some random clothes on the floor.

-What are you up to? - I asked, dodging a coat that almost slapped me in the face. - I know this place can’t be much more of a mess, but if you keep up, you might actually prove me wrong…

-Got it! - she pulled out a sack, a familiar one at that. It was the one with her “mementos after her husband” if I remembered correctly. She pulled up her sleeve and shoved her arm inside up to her elbow, and then, surprisingly, up to her shoulder. Let me say, the bag was definitely NOT large enough for her whole arm to fit, hence my surprise.

-Ooh, fancy.

From the depths of the sack pulled out a scroll.

-Are you going with me or not?

-Mind telling me first where? Calm down, it’s not like you know where they went.

-To the capital, where else? It’s quite obvious.

-Okay. And then what?

-Then I am going to rescue my daughter. You dense or something?

-I mean ok, but there is still the matter of HOW and WHERE? Sit down, calm down, and let’s talk. I know, this all happened a bit suddenly, but what’s rushing the matter going to help?

-You don’t understand! You don’t know what those fuckers might do to her if they know!

I sighed heavily.

-Then tell me! Know what?

She stopped, clearly conflicted and hesitant to tell me something.

-Look, I am pretty sure I can use this - I raised my hand and pointed to the mark of the contract - but I prefer to be on good terms.

She still did not look convinced, but at least calmed down for now. She flipped over one of the upside down chairs and sat down.

-Yh, fine. She can use life magic - she finally replied quietly.

-Sooo…?

-What do you mean “so?”?! That’s why she was kidnapped! To use her as some sort of tool in the research! Why else? I thought we were already over this! - she said angrily. - You are an abomination. Not everyone is like you! We can’t use every element like you and life magic is especially rare!

-Sure, yeah, but that’s not what I meant by that. There are only two reasons why someone would get snagged if it is about life magic. It’s either she already used it on something, shit went wrong and she was being hunted by the law or someone that got caught up in the aftermath. Or someone wants to use it and not be the one casting the magic himself in fear of the side effects. Which one is it?

-Of course the other one! Why else!

-So why are you so in a rush! It takes months, sometimes even years to prepare that kind of spell, and to even start the preparations you need the caster on hand! It’s not like they just can toss a scroll in her face and tell her to read it aloud!

-I… I actually didn’t know that… - she looked surprised. - WHY do you know that?

-Take a wild guess - I puffed at her. - Instead of worrying about that you’d better start digging through all this mess and cleaning shit up. We might find a clue or something if we are lucky.

-And if we won’t?

-Physical exercise is a great way to destress and clear your mind. And you need that right now. Come on, move it.