The children looked at each other, hoping that at least one of them would have something akin to a plan. Wind swirled around the magical dome as if they were stuck outside during a storm. Light could barely pass through all that dense magic.
“This is nonsense!” Jin eventually called out. “We’re supposed to just let you take him? What kinds of friends would we be?” He reached for Rudy’s hilt when something hit him from all sides.
There was a tremendous force striking him in the stomach. As he involuntarily leaned forward, two other strikes hit the back of his knees. Before he could fall down, something else swept his legs, making him lie flat on the ground. His first instinct was to get back up, but something wrapped around his body like a constrictor snake. Magical currents of wind were binding him to the ground. He could not move a muscle.
“Your auras are ill-developed. They might protect you from harm, but only on the outer layer. My spells can easily pass through, disguised as mere air, and turn into whatever form I see fit once they are past your defences” Qualo stared them down with eyes drowning in pride. Now that he knew he was stronger than them, he felt that much more confident in his own skills.
Jin tried to speak, but couldn’t. The invisible ropes that held him were not just tight. The air rushing through them was sharp, cutting into him more and more each time he tried to struggle against it.
Kaili rushed to Jin’s side, but there was little she could do. Her hands passed right through the wind magic. Even when trying to surround them with her aura she found little success. The spell was simply too difficult to undo.
“I suggest you quit this nonsense. All I wish is to take Airo into custody. Nobody has to get hurt, but you lot are armed and potentially dangerous in the ways of magic. Until you surrender, I am forced to use whatever means necessary to subdue you.”
“Whatever means? Rubbish! You’re enjoying having power over someone!” Cia yelled at him.
“Indeed I do. Your friend was so sure that he could do something, yet I blew his pride away. It’s not a crime to enjoy something like that. What do you plan to do about it? Will you be smart, or the same as the boy over there?”
“He’s right, guys!” Airo spoke out. “We have no chance against him. This is pointless. He wants me, not you!”
“That is also true. If you fight back any longer, I will arrest you too for helping a criminal. If you simply give up, I will allow you to leave in peace. Truth be told, you three makeshift-wizards do not interest me.”
“Kaili, listen to him!” Rudy tried to persuade her to cease her pointless attempts at freeing Jin. “He created a magical Room around us in seconds. It’s probably his specialty, since even Manuel can’t do it much faster. There is no way we can win against someone like this!”
Kaili stepped away. Seeing Jin struggle against the binds forced her to act in a way she wasn’t proud of. Without looking Qualo in the face, she raised her hands.
“We surrender. Let Jin be,” she muttered.
Seeing what was happening, Cia did the same. Only then did the magic around Jin finally disappear.
“Jin, don’t,” Kaili warned him. “Rudy has a point.”
The boy gritted his teeth as he looked at the wizard’s smug smirk. He would do anything to wipe it off his face. He clenched his fist. Perhaps there was still a chance? There was still one more trick up his sleeve.
“Jin, don’t! Some battles are best fought at a different time and place,” Rudy reassured him. His words were finally enough to break through that stubborn will. Like everyone else, he too raised his arms.
“Splendid,” Qualo said and the dome around them disappeared, revealing two more nobles standing around, making sure the gathering curious crowd would not interfere.
Wind magic pushed Airo’s arms forward and held them together. The grip was tight, but visibly not as strong as the one used against Jin.
Cia looked above them. The Cordicon was still sealed away and was now slowly hovering over to Qualo’s side.
“I’ll take that with me. I know far too well that such an artefact would be troublesome for us. You may be free to move around the island, but until the matter is resolved, you must remain here in Windflow.”
The nobles turned on their heels and headed off, dragging Airo along. The young Cloudfolk gave his friends one more look before focusing his attention on the road ahead.
The vessel of the nobles was not far away. Down a couple of streets stood a transport station, where, in a reserved garage, Qualo and the other two had parked their airship.
Airo was taken aboard without a single word. During the way there, the locals could not tear their eyes off of him. An arrest of a noble was a rare occasion, let alone of one so young.
The inside of the vehicle was surprisingly comfortable. The two silent nobles sat Airo down into one of the blue couches. They surrounded him from both sides while Qualo sat on the other side of the table.
“Palsiv, take us home,” he called out to someone that Airo presumed to be the pilot.
“I’ll inform them that we’re leaving. One moment, sir,” Palsiv, replied from behind an ornate wooden door leading into the front of the vehicle.
Airo could leave his eyes on the thing. The low, curved ceiling gave the airship a rather cosy feel. It was like sitting inside a wooden droplet filled with tables, chairs, and even a small, well-stocked bar.
Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
“May I assume you will not willingly tell us where your parents currently reside?” Qualo asked.
“Screw you!” Airo muttered back.
“Don’t play a tough guy. I can see how afraid you are.”
“Afraid, maybe, but not dumb. You better hope you have some good torture methods, because I’m not just gonna let you go after my family.”
His words prompted a thunderous wave of laughter from the nobles.
“Torture? Oh dear, you’ve been reading too many books,” Qualo replied. “I’m not cruel enough to torture anyone. Let alone a teenager. There are much simpler methods. Either you tell us now, or we’ll call someone who can search your memories. One way or another, we’ll get what we want. Though you can rest easy that we’re not planning on hurting you. Too many people saw us take you in. If you were treated poorly, it would show house Quesco in quite the negative light.”
“What do you want with my parents anyway?”
“They need to answer for their crimes. A long time ago, they abandoned their own people, so we’ll bring them back and force them to work. They’ll be stripped of their royal status and will have to make up for all those years they neglected their duties. It is not a life one would envy, but it is still a life.”
“I don’t buy it. My parents care about everyone back home. They wouldn’t abandon their own. There must be something else. Some bigger plot at play.”
“There isn’t. They simply didn’t like how we did things. House Armini was tiny. Only one heir, your mother, and the common man she married. They held little political power, so we were forced to reduce their possessions. That’s the law. Why have a massive mansion and heaps of money when you’re just two people? Why rule over such a large island when you don’t have the necessary manpower? It wasn’t just. So we took what they didn’t need and gave them a much smaller island and a more fitting house. One they could handle taking care of. But as soon as that happened, they began shouting of injustice. Next thing we knew, they left. And all that could’ve been avoided if your grandparents would simply have more children. It’s quite a sad tale, really. It took us months to find a suitable replacement. Imagine all those poor people living in a place without a leader. Without a political head. The chaos was alarming and all sorts of parties tried to claw their way up to the throne. Even ones without a royal background. The power nearly fell to commoners.”
Airo frowned at the noble. “With so many nobles around, it took you months to handle the situation? Sounds like incompetence to me.”
“You do not understand. And how could you? You are a spoiled child of a false nobility. There are rules in play. Not anyone can just take over an island. We have to prevent a situation in which one house accumulates too much power. Politics are not a concept you can understand the complexity of.”
Qualo slumped in his seat as the vessel finally began moving.
“No matter. We will make things right. You do not need to worry. As far as your crimes go, you are not guilty of anything specific. It is not your fault what family you were born into or what secrets they kept from you. Granted, you will be stripped of your possessions too, but no forced work awaits you. While you will be free to join your parents and help ease their burden, it might also be possible to place you under the care of a group home. After all, parents with criminal history would hardly be able to provide you with proper care. There, you would get all you need, including education. You’d be allowed to join the common folk and pursue a new future. Any future you could desire.”
“What about Manuel?” Airo asked.
“What about him?”
“He will not agree to any of this.”
“Yes he will. You have not been studying any recent Cloudfolk school books, am I right?”
Airo shook his head, prompting Qualo to lean forward.
“Manuel Luzardi is someone we talk about in biology classes. He is described as a force of nature. One that is akin to a natural disaster, but far more predictable and avoidable under certain conditions.”
“Can you just speak normally for once?”
“If you can’t keep up, sure. We know how to stay on his good side, simply said. Manuel hates conflict. There will be no conflict. We will simply punish criminals in accordance with our laws. He might have some personal attachment to you, but since you will be unharmed, there shouldn’t be an issue. You might even be free to stay with him and pursue the career of a wizard, if you’d want. The choice of your future will ultimately be yours.”
“And you think Manuel won’t help me save my parents if I ask?”
“Of course not. It would create conflict. He does not create them, he resolves them. His intervention would break our laws and invite us to defend ourselves with strength. That is not something he will do.”
Airo clenched his fists. Now he understood precisely what Manuel was talking about. Nobility and their politics were indeed beyond difficult.
Kaili sat down on the hotel bed beside Jin and carefully helped him take off his tunic. The red cuts left behind by Qualo’s magic looked rather troublesome.
“Does it hurt?” she asked.
“No, Kaili, it’s an open wound, it barely tickles,” Jin snapped at her.
“Hey, cut that sarcasm, or I won’t help you.”
“Sorry. It’s… It’s been a lot.”
“I know. Now try staying still.”
She carefully let her vines fully wrap around her hands, which she then gently placed over one of the boy’s injuries.
“Oh, now it does tickle!”
“Shut up, I’m focusing.
Kaili closed her eyes. Magic flew into the wound, slowly dulling the pain. The vines came undone and began wrapping around Jin’s chest, covering the cut on his back.
“Fascinating,” Rudy said before the young dryad could move onto the next injury. “Your magic is based on empathy, isn’t it? You feel bad since your friend got hurt, and those bad feelings make helping him feel better in turn, so the magic is easier to use. But there’s more to it. The vines, using both hands, the closed eyes, it’s not necessary. It’s ritualistic. You created a healing ritual of sorts.”
“You sound like Manuel. All analytical,” Kaili grunted.
“I suppose some part of him has been rubbing off on me.”
The door to the room opened and Cia walked in.
“Okay, I paid for tonight so far. Given all the money we have with us, and how expensive local food is, plus the ridiculous exchange rate, we can survive here for about four days. Anything longer than that would mean getting more money somewhere.”
She joined her friends on the bed. None of them said a word, but they all wondered how they would manage to get a good night’s sleep in such a tiny room, where the only pieces of furniture that could be found in there were a single bed, a cupboard, and a carpet.
Eventually, Jin was the first one whose voice spoke out of the despair they all felt.
“So, what now?”