The full moon was high up in the sky when I finally saw the light of a campfire in the distance. The kidnappers didn't even let me go to the bathroom without supervision. We encountered a few spirit beats that were promptly taken care of.

I found out during the journey that their names were Delta and Kelt, however, I told them nothing about myself. I thought back to all the political intrigue movies I had watched in my tiny apartment and wondered what would happen if they found out I was related to the “Great General of Tama”.

The thought of being a political prisoner made the small hairs on my arms stand up. We approached a place with several tents, although the fire was burning, there seemed to be no one around. There was an eerie silence in the air.

“ Oi! Taro?! Eggy! Where are you lazy dregs at?!” called Delta irritation flashing on his face.

“ I wouldn’t worry about it, probably went out hunting. Look our mounts are still here!” Kelt said nonchalantly.

I was shoved in the direction of the camp forcefully before being knocked to the ground.

[ Damn it stop hitting me, I know how to sit! ]

“ Meowster, I think something is wrong here! Best to keep your guard up!” Kibbles said as it dropped to the ground next to me.

I clutched my aching ribs and sat crossed legged on the ground next to the fire.

“ You sure don’t talk a lot rich kid, cat got your tongue? Well, you better start giving me details of your house so I know what price to sell you for! ” guffawed Kelt as he sat next to me.

He laughed as he kept hitting my back. I wondered how many bruises I would get and wondered if I would even get to the slave market alive.

“ Oi, show a little bit of restraint on the merchandise, we will lose some cash if he doesn’t have all his teeth when we deliver him.” Delta glanced over and said.

“ This fire is pretty good on my cold bones, I could use some fine wine and some meat right about now,” Kelt said as he grabbed some ration from a pouch.

Kelt then shoved some jerky in my direction.

“ You may hate me to your very bones kid, but I gotta make a living. Don’t worry it won’t kill you. See?” Kelt said as he grabbed another ration from his pouch and pushed it into his mouth.

I looked at the ration he held in his hand and grabbed it. My stomach growled before I took a small bite and then dug in ravenously to sate my hunger.

“ mm good lad,” Said the man named Kelt, he reached toward my head and I unintentionally flinched. He paused for a moment before he ruffled my hair.

His touch made me feel like puking but I kept my rage to myself.

“ Kelt has a brother around your age, just think of yourself as being sold so that another kid can live. Don’t worry, your new work won't be so bad. Probably just end up as some butler for a bunch of rich women.” Delta said as he joined us near the fire.

Kelt and Delta sat drinking from a pouch for a little, they offered me some of the content but it seemed like a very strong alcohol. I turned them down as I was never much of a drinker. They also handed me some more rations as they talked about their plans and the country of Vance.

“ Vance is getting pretty tough to live in, ever since that damn general took out our trade routes, living has been hard. Why is it that us common folk have to live and die by the words of a few rich men? You think we wanna kidnap wee rich lads?” Delta said as he took another sip of what seemed like strong liquor in a beast skin pouch.

“ Women and men alike, watching as their houses burn, their lives ruined and no one does a damn thing, what's the point of having all the power in the world if you do nothing to help the people who gave it to you,” Delta said as he slammed his hand on the ground.

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“ Why don’t you just let me go then? Aren't you adding to the problem?” I said in a tiny voice.

Since I hadn’t said anything for a while my voice was chalky.

Delta and Kelt at this point had a red blush on their ragged cheeks, they looked at each other and started laughing, slapping their knees like they had heard the funniest joke ever.

“ Oh kid, our kindness only applies for those in Vance! You Tama rats caused the problem in the first place! You can apologise by serving those who your country's king has caused problems for!” Kelt said in a mocking tone.

Suddenly the air seemed to freeze as the shadows born from the light of the campfire abruptly lengthened, the campfire flickered like a dying candle in the wind.

“ Who?!” Said Delta and Kelt in unison. They unsheathed their weapons and leapt up. They stood in front of me, between them and the fire, I had nowhere to go.

A black mist wafted over to our direction covering us like squid ink would in water.

“ Hmph! Seems like Death Dealer and White Fang have found us.” Kelt said as the blush on his cheeks faded away. The atmosphere turned frosty.

“ Stay there kid or we will kill you!” Said Delta as he took a defensive stance and glared at me.

Blobs of water seemed to come out of nowhere and shot towards my two kidnappers. Kelt had summoned his fire element magic on his sword and pierced the bubble. The water dissolved into a fine steam.

“ Nice try you little witch! “ yelled Delta as he smirked.

Under the cover of the darkness, I felt myself being grabbed I stiffened before remembering Ren's powers. I let myself be carried away a little.

“ Bastards!” Yelled Kelt as he saw me vanish into the darkness and chased after Ren and I.

“ Sorry we’re late! “ whispered Ren in my ear.

“ You came just in time!” I whispered back gratefully.

I watched as Delta and Ki had begun to fight each other, both being veterans in combat they were equally tied. They exchanged swing for swing. Delta had somehow made a shield made out of hard rocks while Ki had used her water abilities like bullets.

Kelt at that moment caught up and grabbed my leg then refused to let go. It felt like it was going to be yanked out of its socket. Using one hand, Ren managed to slice at Kelt before he let go.

Ren then quickly placed himself between Kelt and I and they too started to fight.

The light and the shadows intermingled, each blow aiming for a vital point. They looked more like wolves fighting to the death than humans at that point.

[ I feel so useless! ]

I knew this was a battle I would do more harm than good in so I started backing away and hid behind a tree. Crouching down before watching the scenes of fierce combat ahead. I could feel the sword that Ren had given me and felt like it may as well have been a stick for how useless I was with it.

[ Delta and Kelt didn't even bother taking it off me…]

Suddenly a women's grunt was heard. I snapped out of my depression and turned to see that Ki had been stabbed in the side by a pike shaped stone.

My stomach fell.

“ Ki!” I heard Ren shout as he was swiped at by Kelt.

“Where are you looking boy, your battle is here with me!” Kelt said as he laughed.

My blood boiled as I thought about how well Ki had treated me since I got here. She may have not told me some things but she probably had my best interest in mind. It felt like my body was on fire.

[ Can I really sit here and do nothing? ]

I gritted my teeth till they bled.

I let loose a cry into the air as I picked myself up, my body shaking. I drew my sword and ran towards Delta arms flailing as I struggled to keep my sword aloft.

“ Young Master, No, step back!” I heard a tired woman's voice say as she blocked another killing blow.

Delta was at least twice my size, so he laughed as he saw me coming.

“ haha look the kid came back to me, looks like it's my lucky day!” Delta said snarling.

The heat in my body didn’t seem to dissipate. It burnt brighter and brighter before I could see a faint green glow surround me. I couldn’t stop it. My head seemed to throb and my body ached.

All I could think about was saving Ki.

[ Even if I die it is worth it! ]

Suddenly a vine on a tree seemed to wrap itself around Ki and flung her into the tree a few meters away with a thunk.

“ Not good, the kids going to go berserk!” spat Delta.

My mind went blank.

The trees around seemed to feel my emotions, they wrapped up Delta and began to choke him. He used the rocks he could summon to slice at them but there was too many.

I ran up to him while he was distracted and my sword somehow ended up in his belly.

Delta looked at me.

I felt a warm liquid slide down my sword and onto my hands.

I was shaking.

[ Did I just? ]

I felt like vomiting.

The vines wouldn’t stop covering him even though his eyes had glazed over.

The pain was overwhelming.

I screamed as every inch of me felt like it was about to explode.

[ Someone help me! Anyone Please!! Make it stop! ]

Green glowing tears slid down my eyes.

Blood had started to drip down my nose and my mouth.

My heart raced and threatened to escape through my ribs.

A man's warm arms had grabbed me and wrapped themselves around me.

“ Breathe Yuki! You have to breathe!” Ren's' voice seemed to echo from a distant place.

I collapsed in his warm embrace.