As Artair and Colla continued their journey, they found themselves enveloped in the serene beauty of a vast, deciduous forest. Tall, sturdy trees with broad leaves stretched skyward, their canopies forming a mosaic of green that filtered the sunlight; which was now at its peak, into dappled patches on the forest floor. The air was rich with the earthy scent of damp soil and fallen leaves, a mix of loam and the faint musk of decomposing plant matter.
"What are you going to do with the wyvern?" Colla asked, walking beside Artair, his eyes darting between the leaves scattered on the ground. "I don't think the seal will hold it for long."
"That's the least of our worries right now." Artair replied, leaning on his cane as they moved through the forest. "We have to figure out why it was so close to the city."
"Do you have any ideas?" Colla's gaze remained fixed on the ground, his ears twitching attentively.
"Not really." Artair admitted, his brow furrowing in concentration. "But there's no way it got here on its own." His eyes narrowed as he sifted through his thoughts.
"What about the hunters?" Colla lifted his gaze from the ground and glanced at Artair.
The professor stopped in the blink of an eye.
"Do you think they would be that foolish?" He leaned on his cane.
"Maybe they're not so foolish." Colla crossed his arms. "They wanted to make a fuss in the nearby towns and earn more money from the trades..."
Artair's eyes shifted in shock, widening as the reality of the situation sank in.
"To think they would be capable of doing that..." The man stuck his cane into the ground, pushing through the dried leaves, gravel and dirt. "We have to quickly check on Valentia and then get back here as soon as possible." Crimson flames began to emanate from Artair's cane, forming a magic circle on the ground, a few meters in front of him and Colla.
"You were able to do that from the beginning?" Colla looked at the man with an annoyed gaze.
"If that were the case, I would have done it long ago; I relied on the power of the wyvern from earlier. It will also save us the problem with keeping it sealed" Artair spoke with his head held high and a barely noticeable smile on his lips as he walks towards the magical circle.
The duo stands on the magical circle and in the blink of an eye, they are enveloped in crimson and emerald green flames.
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"It got completely destroyed..." Says Colla with his ears down, as he gazed at the ruins left from the village.
"So something got here before us." Artair walks closer to one of the buildings, crouches and picks up a copper dagger from the dust. "Definitely hunters."
"I'll go look around, maybe someone got away." Colla says, as he begins to shift into his animal form, his height matching Artair.
"Even if, they're not here for sure." Professor stands up, examining the village for any signs of life. "We should look for Sael's house first, but if you find something worth a look call for me."
For the next few minutes, Colla and Artair both searched the village, looking for the house where Saelwen was living before.
"Professor, I found something interesting!" Colla's shout spread across the village.
Artair approached Colla with slow steps.
"It looks like an ordinary hut to me." He said, kicking a piece of wood.
As he moved it aside, Artair's eyes fell upon a photograph showing Saelwen sitting next to another woman and two children. The professor lifted the image, which appeared to be partially bent.
"Hmm? And what might this be?" He said to himself with curiosity as he picked up the photo, upon unfolding which revealed another child. "Hm? Saelwen said her niece had only two children..."
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"Mr. Artair we should focus on the task Mrs. Saelwen gave us." He sighs, knowing that when Artair gets involved in something, there's no way to distract him from it. "There's probably a good reason she never said anything about them."
Artair folded the photo and then put it in his pocket.
"Alright alright, but don't think I'll completely forget about this matter." He moved ahead, deeper into the ruins of the house.
Colla followed the Professor. For the next moment, they searched together for any traces until finally Colla came across footprints in the form of trampled grass leading into the forest.
"So, we know that someone likely managed to escape." said Artair, leaning on his cane.
"Should we follow them? Perhaps it's someone Mrs. Saelwen knows?" asked Colla, ready to set off.
"No, I think a better idea would be to head to a town where slave hunters sell captives. That way, we can make sure they haven't caught anyone important to Sael." replied Artair, slowly going back to the main road.
"B-But how will we know we've found the right town?" asked concerned Colla, as he followed the man.
"Well... we won't." Artair said, smiling stupidly and leaning on his cane. "Come on, or we'll be late for dinner."
Next, they headed together back to the trading city of Naso, where their plan was to locate the hunters and rescue Sylleth, Nieven, and Vestele. However, along the way through a small path, leading through the forest...
"Professor, we'll need help if we're going to rescue them, especially if the hunters have already escaped beyond the kingdom's borders." Said Colla, his voice tired yet concerned.
"Don't worry about that, my furry companion... we're actually approaching the home of Rosmerta... she will help us." Artair replied with sleepy voice.
"Rosmerta...? Th-The goddess Rosmerta?!" Colla shouts, his eyes widen in astonishment.
"Right, that's her." Artair keeps on walking, completely ignoring Colla's surprised reaction.
"H-how do you know her!?" Asked Colla, completely flabbergasted.
Artair remained silent for a brief moment, clearly deep in thought, then responded, slight smile formed on his lips.
"I was bored."
Upon hearing his words, Colla was dumbfounded.
"_He was bored... why does that not surprise me..._" He thought to himself.
A few moments later, as the sun slowly begins to set they arrived at a place that looked like a small house hollowed in a tree. Artair approached the door, lifted his cane, and then knocked on the door with its top metal part, almost punching a hole through it.
"What are you doing?" asked Colla, worried.
"Knocking on the door." Artair responded calmly, still knocking.
In an instant, vines emerged from under the door, seized Artair's cane, and flung it towards the thorny bushes.
"W-What is this?!" exclaimed a bewildered Colla, as he had never seen anything like it before. - _Magic? Magical creatures? A curse? What is this...?_ - He pondered for a moment.
Colla's contemplation was interrupted by a visibly annoyed Artair.
"Those darn vines again..." He took a few deep breaths, then shouted in what seemed like an aggressive but calm voice, as if he were addressing an old acquaintance. "Open the door you old hag!"
Next, the vines emerging from under the door dissolved into the air, and at that moment, the doors opened, revealing a vast library.
"This... is much larger than it seems from the outside..." Colla sniffs his surroundings. "No, it's an entirely different place." He remarked, looking at the Professor. "Teleportation magic?" he asked.
Artair stepped through the door and after a moment replied. "Almost... it's spatial magic."
"Spatial? What does that mean?" Colla asked, clearly intrigued.
"It means I can manipulate this space however I please." Came a soft, feminine voice from the other part of the library.
In the distance, a woman with gray hair could be seen sitting at a desk. She set aside the book she had been reading and then appeared before Colla's face in a single stride.
"You've brought an interesting companion with you, Artair." She said with a excited yet it also seemed like a calm tone.
Artair turned towards her.
"This is Colla, and we've come to ask for a favor." He said.
"Well... alright, but first." Woman looked at him and handed him his cane. "Here you go, old man." she smiled.
"Should I remind you that you're over two thousand years older than me, oh great goddes Rosmerta?" Artair said, with a slight chuckle.
Rosmerta giggled and then then snapped her fingers. In an instant, they appeared in another room.
"Alright, enough of these jokes... What have you come to ask of me?" She asked, sitting down at her desk.
"We're looking for anyone who got away from the attack on Valentia." Artair sat in front of Rosmerta.
"A boy, woman and a girl." Rosmerta says, as some paper appears on the bench in front of her.
"What are their names?" Artair picks up the paper and checks it, but the page is blank.
"In order; Sylleth, Raina and Shalyn." She says, glancing at Colla.
"Sylleth... that's Mrs. Saelwen's nephew." Colla says, his voice full of hope.
Rosmerta stands up as the room changes once again, now with shelves full of flowers and plants.
"He and the girl went west, you can look for them there, now begone, because I want to read a book." She says, and then looks straight into Colla's eyes, the space around them seems to stop. "Beware of his flames."
"Strange title." Artair says as he stands up. "We'll be going then."
"Sure, goodbye for now." She smiles, then both Artair and Colla appear outside of her house.
"So we know where to look for... now them." Colla says, looking at the starry sky.
"Let's go, there's no time to lose." Artair says with enthusiasm in his voice as both of them head west to save Sylleth and his companion.