They were both silent, lost in their own thoughts, while they continued down the hallway. Ethan was the first to speak, his mind finally able to sort through the overwhelming amount of information and emotions, and his tone suggested that even though he was still upset he was now more confused, or perhaps curious, regarding Owens intentions.

"Mr. Owen?"

"Hmm?"

"You said earlier that you were trying to teach me a lesson..."

"That's correct."

"But why... why did you have to be so mean about it?"

"Mean?"

"You seemed so different, so... evil about it all. Like you didn't care."

Owen came to a stop and as Ethan did the same the guild master slowly turned to face the boy with a warm smile on his face. It wasn't so much the opposite of earlier, but rather a genuine expression where the previous one was fake. Ethan, despite feeling reassured by this seemingly genuine Owen was now even more confused than before.

"That, Ethan, was a test."

Ethan heard the answer, blinked several times, and then simply looked up at Owen with a blank deadpan expression and uttered one word, or more like a sound that represented meaning.

"Huh?"

Truth be told, the look was a bit effective in unnerving the guild master, however he held firm and simply repeated himself, though after a few seconds of silence continued the explanation.

"I was testing you nature when angry. I already mentioned you are unique regarding your Nel' Tahn levels yes?"

"...Yes?"

"Well I wanted to see what you did when you got angry, really angry. Would you attack, hold a grudge, destroy things around you in a tantrum."

Owen paused and considered the different levels of incredulous Ethan's face showed as he explained his intent.

"I was checking to see if you were a danger, to yourself or others, when you became angry or passionate."

Owen's tone was one that didn't scream seriousness, but rather could etch it into stone, and Ethan could understand the gravity of the situation. He stood there stock still considering the words just spoken to him and finally smiled up at the guild master.

Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

"So did I pass? How did I do?"

In truth Ethan could understand Owen's actions, even if he felt he would never do such horrible things. He had never really lost his temper before, though perhaps as a child he had a few tantrums. However, those were quickly snuffed out by the headmistress at the sanctuary so they never escalated or otherwise got out of hand. He couldn't fault the guild master, who had only known him for less than a week, for making sure he wasn't going to, as he put it, be a danger.

The guild master considered the situation, previous and present, before nodding with a warm smile of his own.

"Rather well actually."

"Why does it sound like you were expecting me not to?"

Young, childish, and a bit on the cute side could describe Ethan's accusatory reply and it solicited a small chuckle from Owen accordingly. He added a bit of fuel to the fire of accusation before turning to resume their walk.

"Why indeed?"

He changed topics before Ethan could reply and after glancing out the window to note the quickly arriving dusk. He considered the situation in silence the rest of the way to his office and didn't start speaking until they had both entered and he was seat at his desk, his fingers interlaced in front of his forehead that rested against them, and his elbows atop the solid piece of furniture before him.

"It's too late to send out the messenger pigeons, even the afflicted ones can't fly at night. We also can't utilize the emergency system unless the Lady Mayor activates it and the Council may oppose its use to avoid setting a precedence."

Ethan felt himself stiffen at the thought of people being opposed to help the orphans but tried to remember the last 10 minutes or so and took a breath to calm himself. Owen seemed to have noticed the sequence of behaviors and smiled behind his hands in approval.

"It will be hard to do at night but the best thing we can do now is get a team out to the area you saw those individuals and see if there is anything to be found."

Ethan was about to respond when there was a knock on the door behind him. He turned to face it as Owen responded.

"Come in."

Both Lorelle and Cecelia entered, the latter carefully closing the door behind her. They both carried sullen expressions on their face and Ethan's heart dropped a bit upon considering the causes of such looks. Cecelia was the first to speak, her words as soft as her face was sad.

"They are resting. I hope it is ok but I took the liberty of adding something to their drinks to help them relax. I felt it wouldn't do them any good to sit there upset and worrying."

Ethan's eyes went wide in surprise upon hearing that Cecelia effectively drugged the two ladies, though he quickly calmed when he heard her reasons and remained silent. Lorelle started her report after Owen nodded to Cecelia and thanked her.

"The Lady Mayor and the Council have stated they will assist where possible, however, given the amount of time that has already passed and the level of emergency required in order to be of any help regarding the messaging system their hands are unfortunately tied. If we need their assistance inside Cloudcrest, or within a reasonable distance, they will provide it. The Lady Mayor sends her heartfelt condolences and a personal apology that more couldn't be done."

Even though conversation between Ethan and Owen was less than 15 minutes old he still felt a coldness run over him upon hearing Lorelle relaying the reply from the town. He simply shook his head in frustration, though it was more out of a sense of hopelessness rather than the inaction of the Lady Mayor and Council. Though it was very hard for him to do so at the moment he could, through wet and red eyes, see where they were coming from.

"Then we'll have to do what we can ourselves. I was just speaking to Ethan about our next course of action. Let me bring you two up to speed."