Normally going higher up where the wind was faster and the air was colder wasn't too great, but using the same power she used to send warm pulses into Abigail before, would come in handy again. Instead of using it herself, she activated her power through her phantom hand, sending a stream of warmth into both of them to defend against the cold air in the sky.
Feeling the warmth, Abigail relaxed by leaning back into Jane’s arms with the view of the redwood forest directly in front of them in all its beauty. There were sprawling giant trees with dark trunks and crimson red leaves that blanketed the entire forest in a vibrant color. If you could spot gaps in the trees you would see the famed purple-red grass of the purple plains covering the forest floor making it feel more lively.
The grass in all of the purple plains was a purplish-red, which means almost everyday of their life they would have seen it, but it was different seeing it from the sky. It was like seeing clouds from up above instead of down below, it would look totally different.
From up high you wouldn't be able to see the abundant creatures that lived in the forest, but as one of the protected areas under the kingdom, it was sprawling with life. A few purple feathered birds only a foot big, and not as majestic as the golden bird, flew past them before diving into the forest searching for its nest.
“Wow!” Abigail couldn't contain her excitement after seeing anything new and continuously spouted Interjection of amazement.
Jane wanted to do a little more exploring so she made her hand head along the edge of the forest, not intending to go too much deeper than they already were, but neither did she want to stay too close. Considering Jane’s own capabilities, heading deep wouldn't be a problem, especially since they were in the air and the purple plain wasn't known for having any powerful flying beasts.
As they moved, Abigail leaned forward wanting to see more, and Jane had to make sure her own arms stayed tightly wrapped around Abigail's waist so there would be no accidents. They were just a few dozen feet higher than the tree tops and soared through the air at a nice easy pace, slowly taking in the sights around them.
Jane wanted Abigail to enjoy herself today while they spent time bonding together as sisters.
This was a great day for Jane, she was glad her mother dropped Abigail off to her since it gave her an excuse to spend all day with her sister. She hadn’t had too much time to spend with Abigail yet, only a few hours here and there since she's been busy working on her house.
That's why she was thankful she could enjoy a fun day with Abigail and bond together as sisters.
They spent the next thirty minutes flying through the air while Abigail's joy seemed to be endless during the entire time. Jane pulled out a couple of snacks she brought along and the two delightfully munched on them during their flight.
After blissfully finishing the snacks together, Jane thought they should start heading back since they were a little ways away from her house.
“Papa!” Jane heard Abigail yell and turned to look where she was pointing to and saw a group of people trekking through the redwood forest together. There, walking in the middle of the group, she could spot the shiny bald head of her father just like her sister had pointed out.
‘What are they doing out here?’ Jane wondered and couldn't help but slowly swoop down next to them.
The others aside from her father freaked out seeing the giant hand come at them soaring from above, a few of them held weapons that they pointed at her in shock. Seeing that there was a young woman and little girl sitting on the hand, they lowered their weapons slightly but still looked at them suspiciously.
“Jane!” Jeff yelled out and waved off the guards. “She's my daughter so please put away your weapons!” Hearing Jeff say that, a look of understanding came to the guards minds and they followed his instructions.
Jeff jogged over to Jane and hugged her. “What are you doing here?” He asked Jane, wondering why she was in the middle of the forest.
“I could ask you the same.” She hugged him back, then answered, “Ma passed Abigail over to me for the day since she said you were off somewhere. After a while I thought I might as well take her for a little fly around, didn't think I'd run into you here.”
Jane looked at the dozens of armed guards wearing leather armor, “So what's this all about?”
“We’re investigating a potential dangerous threat that might have made its way nearby Redwood.” Jeff sighed. “This morning, old man Gordo found a dozen of his sheep missing and a whole lot of blood and wool laying on the grass.”
‘That’s not good.’ Was the first thought that came to Jane’s mind. “Why are you out here though? You're not a guard.”
“Good questions.” Jeff cleared his throat and stepped over to a brawny dark skinned man with a bushy black beard taking up most of his face. “This is Jax Jones, captain of Redwood’s guardsmen.”
The man had a stern face with a scar running across the center and a body that looked like he worked out heavily. Jane was muscular but there was only so big she could get, Jax on the other hand didn't look like he had a limit— that's how hulking he was.
Once Jeff introduced Jax he thumped over to Jane with heavy steps in his thick black boots. He stopped in front of her and stared her dead in the eyes for a few seconds before he reached a hand out.
“Jax Jones.” He spoke in a deep voice. “You must be Jane? I've heard quite a bit of stories from your father over the last few years.”
Jane shook his hand with a firm grip and smiled. “Yep, Jane Bluegold, nice to meet ya! I gotta ask, when did you and Pa— Jeff become friends, this must be recent?”
“Nice to meet you as well.” He stepped back and felt Jeff pat him on the shoulder.
“I met Jax a few days after you left for the academy at the pub. I don't know why but we hit it off and have become friends ever since.” Jeff explained. “Ain't that right Jax.”
The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.
Jax nodded but continued to stare at Jane.
She crossed her arms and raised an eyebrow, “What's up? Something on me.”
Jax shook his head. “Just seeing what the classholder of the town looks like. Jeff has told me you're quite a wild one, you're not gonna cause too much trouble anymore I presume?”
Jane snorted in laughter and patted him on the other shoulder from her dad, “No promises but I'll try my best!”
His expression didn’t change much but Jane could see his eyes narrow before he took a few steps back and joined back with the rest of the guards.
Jeff on the other hand ran up to Abigail and scooped her up in a big hug before giving her a big kiss on the cheek.
“So why are you here Pa?” Jane asked again.
“Oh yes, well we were all at Gordo’s place and I thought that maybe the insight of someone who works with animals might help in this case— that was my excuse, I really just wanted to tag along and see what happens.”
“Curiosity killed the demon cat.” Jane warned him.
“I know I know, but I can't help it.” Jeff placed Abigail down. “You know me, I'm a curious guy by heart— and who doesn't wanna take a lovely stroll through the redwood forest with some friends.”
“Lovely is going a little far, there is work to be done.” Jax's voice came behind them. “Miss Bluegold may I ask you for a favor?”
“Just call me Jane, but sure what's up?”
“Since this is unofficial, I'll call you Jane.” Jax nodded. “I was wondering if you would be able to use those… hands you flew with to enable us to scout faster.”
“Ya I'd love to help you guys out.” Jane replied and summoned her two phantom hands next to her, a little larger than when she rode with Abigail.
Jax gave her an odd face seeing the hands floating in the air beside her, but she didn't know what that face meant. Maybe he just was a little wary of her as a classholder since he was the captain of the town's guard— but who knows.
“So it's quite easy, all you gotta do is hop on and direct the hands like you're talking to me.” Jane explained. “It's kinda hard to explain fully, but think of my hands as part of me— but also separate at the same time.”
“Hmm?” Jax raised an eyebrow and asked her wanting more details. “What does this mean, your floating hands can hear us?”
Jane sighed and rubbed her hands together trying to think of the best way to put it and eventually decided on her default explanation. “My hands can see, hear, feel, and even think like I do. You can think of my hands as clones of myself but… their hands instead.”
“So you're saying we can take them without you and they'd function just fine?” Jax wanted to make sure he was getting this correct. It helped to know what the future classholders powers were in case… she went rogue. While that was an unlikely event, it was still something Jax as captain had to be prepared for— he also wanted to make sure this scouting trip went smoothly.
“Yep, they have their own separate consciousness that I can access at any time alongside my own, it's impossible to understand if you're not the one with the hands. It's like controlling three different bodies at the same time, they hear and see three different views, but I don’t have trouble taking in that information.” Jane tried her best to explain but it's hard for others to wrap their heads around.
“So yes, two or three people can take a hand and then all you gotta do is direct them where to go and what to do.” Jane took a deep breath after all that talking. “Sounds good?”
Jax nodded and began to organize who would take the hands and who would stay on ground level. Eventually the four were picked, two for each hand, while the rest would stay here on the ground with them.
“You guys should head out.” He directed that to Jeff and Abigail. “We're gonna head deeper into the forest where stronger beasts live. I'd rather not have a civilian casualty, especially one I call a friend.”
“Hehe, what a softy.” Jeff chuckled but only got a deadly stare in return. “”Alright alright, we’ll head back.”
“Mm, I'll send two guards to escort you back home.” Jax said but was interrupted by Jane.
“It would probably be faster if I fly them back since I could just re-summom my hands here— we save time and manpower this way.”
Finally a smile dawned on Jax’s face. “That works.” He watched Jeff and Abigail wave as they flew away from the forest before he turned to ask Jane. “And what will you be doing?”
“Joining you of course!” Jane beamed a smile. “I'm a classholder, I can handle myself in case things get dicey so that should be fine right?”
Jax thought about it for a moment before nodding. He turned to his fellow guards and sternly ordered, “Alright let's begin!”
Everyone nodded, readied their weapons, and began their march further into the redwood forest to see if they could find the reason for the sheep's disappearance. Two people got on Jane’s free phantom hand and took off into the sky above. Then shortly afterwards, once Jane had dropped Jeff and Abigail off at their place, another two took her other hand into the air.
The rest continued on the ground following one man who took the lead and would occasionally squat down and check for something on the ground. After almost twenty minutes of walking, the group stopped walking.
Jane couldn't see the finer details that this tracker was probably seeing, but she was at least able to see a lot of footprints along the dirt where they were standing. She casually jogged ahead and caught up to Jax who was talking with the tracker at the front.
“Are these wolf footprints?” She barged into the conversation by asking Jax.
Jax and the rest of guards had their heads swiveling as they checked their every angle in case of a beast attack, while Jane stood there like she was taking in the sights of a park— she even took a sniff of the lovely scent of flowers.
Seeing her nonchalant attitude slightly irritated Jax but he didn't reveal that and instead answered Jane in a neutral tone, “Yes, a pack of midnight wolves.”
“Midnight wolves, aren't those only found in the north of the Purple Plains?” Jane furrowed her brows.
The Purple Plains was located in central Trinium, while Redwood itself was the most southern town in the Purple Plains. For midnight wolves that had only ever been found in northern parts of the purple plains— and some other locations across the continent— it was odd for them to be this far south.
Midnight wolves were not very dangerous compared to some other beasts on the continent, but for an average person, they were quite, quite deadly. On average midnight wolves hunted in packs of fifty, and if you ever ran into them by yourself, you would get swarmed right away.
That was the reason the guards were so tense, normally the southern part of purple plains was very safe since there were no natural predators dangerous enough to harm humans, but If midnight wolves were nearby, then they had all the rights to be on edge.
“Is that why we stopped?” It would make sense, there were only a dozen measly town guards. If they went against a full healthy pack of midnight wolves it would be a slaughter. The more northern towns had larger populations and better equipment which is why they were able to effectively deal with threats, but Redwood didn't even have town walls.
“Mm, since we know there are midnight wolves in the forest, it's no longer safe to be out here. We need to head back to town and warn the people of the potential danger.” Jax addressed the problem. “We might even need to call for support from the capital.”
The group left where they were and started journeying back to town when Jane suddenly stopped in her tracks and announced to the group. ”We found the wolves!”