General Ames knocked on a wooden door. “Edwards! We have an issue!”

“You too? First Jamie and wait, hold on!”

“I told you not to eat that curry. That stand did not look hygienic.”

“Whatever the issue is, unless you want to see vileness only the likes of bad curry could produce, leave me alone! I can barely breathe!”

General Ames chuckled and his eyes caught the eyes of a group of women passing by. The women giggled and slowly walked off.

“Are you flirting? I hear laughter!”

“For Gladmoria’s sake, not everything is about women!”

"I forgot! They're doing scribe interviews today!" Master Edwards shook his head. "Life is so cruel to me."

Moments later, Master Edwards strolled into General Ames’ study to find the General buttoning up his white blouse.

“So it takes only a few minutes for you,” Master Edwards teased.

General Ames gave him a cheeky smile and caught Master Edwards' mischievous eyes. His jaws dropped from what he saw. “Gladmora, look how pale you are!"

“If you had to push the amount I had to push, you’ll understand.” Master Edwards sat next to General Ames and then slapped his shoulder.

“What was that for?”

“To see if you’re human. You know we lived together for so long and I have never caught you in your slutty ways.”

“Ha. I am merely changing a shirt,” he handed Edwards two broken beads and Master Edwards' face turned serious. “What’s this?”

“I used these to create a protection spell for the boys. They wanted to visit Jamie. The deal was that they returned home before bedtime last night.”

“What happened? These beads are broken."

“Last night, Goldie contacted us. They have the boys.”

“Goldie caught them? Why would they?”

“Yes, well her son did.”

Master Edwards shut his eyes briefly. “Aww, they were after Jamie? Did you pay the ransom for the boys?”

“My mother already got them back.”

“Of course. How did she do it?”

“She kidnapped Goldie’s mom. The grandchildren kids. The great grandparents. The whole family on both sides.”

“How did she know where they live?”

“They all live in the same mansion, it made things a lot easier.”

"What else did your mother do?"

"She destroyed their home."

“Aww, that is light given what they tried to pull. Idiots always have to test boundaries. Well, where is Jamie now?”

"She's still in their possession."

"What?" Master Edwards stood up, “I must help her.”

General Ames sat back in his chair. “Blinka was spotted at Goldie’s mansion.”

"Why didn't you save her?"

"I only heard of this, this morning. Mother wanted to test Jamie."

“Test? They want her dead,” Master Edwards remarked.

“Yes, but you should know, you visited the Old King the other day. How was that?”

Master Edwards grinned. “It was an unfortunate meeting Ames.” He held out his palm and started a transport portal.

"I had one of the Scouters check, Jamie is alive but would require your assistance."

"Of course, she's barely trained."

----------------------------------------

"Ahaha!" Jamie shouted. "I'm hit"

"Behind there!" Alaric said and the two dodged the poison needles jetting from Blinka’s staff as they made their way behind an aged whiskey barrel. Jamie infused a protection shield on the barrel. "That should hold for a few minutes."

Jamie turned and extracted the needle from her arm.

Alaric passed Jamie his water stainless steel canteen and a small pill, “Here.”

"What's this?"

"A powerful poison detoxer. It should hold you off until we can get you medical help."

“Thanks.” Jamie took the pill and began to gulp down the water.

“Slow down or you’ll choke.”

The author's content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

Jamie stopped drinking and screwed the lid back on.

“We need to run.”

“Well obviously.”

Jamie gave him a stern look.

Alaric laughed. “Sorry, I can’t help it. The thing is you must know the needles were a diversion, when we dodged, she created a barrier and we’re trapped.”

Darn-it, I didn’t notice. My mana is so low, that my gift couldn't give me the usual insights. Alaric must be more experienced than me to have picked that up so quickly. Focus now, let’s see… what type of barrier she cast.

“Come out and play losers,” Blinda taunted. She tapped her staff once more and a ring of fire formed around Alaric and Jamie.

“Tell you what, I’ll let the man go if you surround pure earth.”

“Alaric,” Jamie said and looked at him in the eyes.

“No, we can’t sacrifice you,” he replied.

“I wasn’t going to sacrifice myself,” Jamie said and chuckled.“Here’s the plan, I think you can hold her off for a few minutes. I should have enough time to create an escape route.”

“How? This barrier is impressive. This would've taken at least two Level 1 Mages to cast this mana density.”

“There’s no time, the ring of fire around us to lowering my ability to use mana. But she can’t keep it up if she’s occupied while holding the bigger barrier. She can’t be that good. You need to trust me.”

“Fine. But you owe me a kiss after this.”

“What?”

“Hey, it isn't every day a man meets a cutie from an extinct race. And quite frankly, I don’t know if we’ll make it out of here alive. I heard she’s a beast, but this is crazy.”

Jamie blushed and looked away. “Sure,” she muttered. She raised her hand to give him a high-five.

"What are you doing?"

"It's a high-five."

"What?"

"Oh, a pep movement."

"Just hit my hand." The two high-fived.

Then Alaric reached out and softly held onto her chin.“I’ll be back.” He quickly turned and somersaulted over the whiskey barrel leaving a very flustered Jamie.

Oh my god! Do all Mander men have this much game? Or I'm just shallow since they're attractive. Master Edwards and General Ames came to mind. Stop it! Focus!

Alaric looked at Blinda who sensed his presence. The fire ring disappeared.

“To be honest with you, I never fought a blind girl before. Not sure if- ”

Alaric used his sword to block a mana arrow aimed at his head. More arrows started to come his way as he continued to block them with his sword.

Meanwhile, Jamie was trying to quiet her mind. I don’t have that much mana, but I should have enough for this.

“Hey! Are you almost done!” Alaric shouted. Sweat started to wet his broad, muscular shoulder and he breathed heavily.

“Enough!” Blinda said and started a spell.

“That does not look good,” Alaric said under his breath. “I can’t let her finish the spell.” He proceeded to charge at Blinda.

“Come back!” Jamie shouted.

"Coming!" Alaric turned and ran back to the whiskey barrel as a white lion emerged from Blinda’s staff. The lion roared and pounced toward the sprinting Alaric.

"Oh gladmora!" He mustered all his strength and returned to find Jamie had dug a hole.

“You dug a hole…”

“Quick! Inside. Go right, that leads us to the sewage. I’ll go after you.” He nodded out of desperation and jumped into the hole.

Jamie turned to see the lion had already penetrated her barrel. When it moved, its feet had a small electric charge to it.

So that’s what you are. As the lion targeted her head, Jamie opened Alaric’s water canteen and poured water over her hand. She grabbed its mane using her dry hand to prevent it from biting down on her head. With her wet hand, she created a finger gun gesture and shot a wet mana bullet into the lion’s head. The lion roared in agony as its brain was electrocuted and it disappeared in a puff of white smoke.

Jamie jumped into the hole and once she landed, she closed the hole above her and created a barrier over it. That should hold her off for a minute.

Alaric motioned for Jamie to meet him. “Come on!”

They ran for a few minutes until they were confident she wasn't following. As they walked through the sewage to safety, Jamie held on to Alaric.

Alaric smiled. “There’s nothing in the water. Nothing can live in such filth.”

A family of rats ran in front of them.

“Eww,” he said.

Jamie laughed. Don’t breathe through your nose. Don’t breathe through your nose.

He tapped her shoulder. “That was very clever.”

“Oh well, once you pointed out the barrier I analyzed it. That’s where my elven gift gives me an advantage. I can dissect mana and spells, but I still need enough mana to analyze how the spell works. I can do complex stuff pretty easily, but my ability is weakened right now because of my mana levels, so at the moment, I have to focus. Like normal mages I guess.” She paused. Should I be revealing my ability to Alaric?"

“Go on.”

“Well, I was able to detect that her barrier was only strong on the surface level, there were a few minute holes in her barrier to save on mana.”

“So you chipped at those.”

“Yes, and I drained mana at her barrier, sucking more mana from her than needed.”

“Woah, so you used her mana to dig this tunnel.”

“Yeah.”

“That’s pretty advanced magic.”

“I’m lucky. That was a technique Master Edwards taught me. He foresaw I might be low on mana when dealing with mages or warriors. I'm told that’s how soldiers deal with mages.”

“Yeah, we have tools that can drain a mage’s mana. But there are unique conditions that must be met. Thank Gladmora! We’re out”

The two emerged from the sewage at the edge of town, the shady but fun part of town. It was evening and the marketplace was filled with partygoers and people on dates.

“I don’t know if bathing could even clean us,” Jamie said.

“This is definitely a task for a mage.”

“I don’t know of such a spell.”

He pointed to a man sipping a fruity clear drink with raspberries. “Sir Edwards would.”

Master Edwards grinned from ear to ear as he watched the two approached. “I thought I was having a bad day."

From a distance, on top of a hotel’s roof, Eve watched the group. “My lady, Sir Edwards is here.”

Blinka pouted. “I should’ve just killed her while she was captured.”

Eve nodded regretfully. “What should we do now?”

“We wait for the next opportunity.”

“But my lady, there's only three of them and the pure earth is still low on mana.”

“We’re both no match for the bastard son of the Veinhams. Even I have to admit that, so don’t make me say it again.”

Eve fell to her knees. “Please forgive me, my lady.”

“It is okay. You cannot help it at your level. You just simply cannot comprehend what a monster that man is.” Blinka turned. “Come, I’m hungry.”

Master Edwards turned in the direction of Eve and Blinka. At this moment, Blinka sensed danger. “Quickly Eve, we need to get out of here.”

Eve created a transport portal and the two disappeared.

“Master Edwards!” Jamie moved to touch him but he blocked her hand with a mana string that pulled her hand away.

“Please do not touch me,” he said with a smirk.

“I was just asking what kind of spell can clean us.”

“There is a spa nearby. Come, my treat,” Master Edwards said and then looked at Alaric. “You too.”

A waitress approached them, “Excuse me, miss, but folks be complaining about the stench coming from you two.”

“How do you know it’s us?” Jamie joked.

The waitress squeezed her nose and gave Jamie a death stare.

“Sorry, we’re just leaving ma’am.”

“Thank you,” she said and ran away.

Jamie could feel the many eyes on her and Alaric as they walked the streets.

Alaric laughed and then remarked, “This is great, we don’t have to bump into anyone despite how crowded it is.”

They approached the spa. A guard stood at the entrance and his face expressed changed to what one would expect from someone who suddenly smelled something incredibly foul.

He stood up. “No homeless people.” He held his nose, “I didn’t know living in the sewage is possible.”

“No sir, we’re were in the sewage because we were trying to escape from… umm, someone…evil.” Darn it, what am I saying? Whatever, smile, smile at him! Jamie flashed the guard a smile.

The guard’s face immediately twisted with revulsion.

“They’re not homeless, they’re with me,” Master Edwards said.

“I don’t care. I cannot let these two in.”

Master Edwards raised his eyebrows.

Jamie’s jaw dropped in shock. “Master Edwards, we have to get clean. I’m dying here.”

A hand gently patted the guard’s left shoulder, “A concealment spell can cover the smell. The guest won’t know.”

The guard looked behind him, General Ames smiled at him.

“Sir, my lord, I’m so sorry. Whatever you say,” he said and bowed his head.

“That’s Sir Edwards, my brother,” General Ames said.

“Brother?!” Jamie’s eyes almost fell out of her head.

“Hahaha,” Master Edwards laughed and then he caught Jamie’s eyes and her cheeks heated up.

Alaric and General Ames exchanged salutes.

“You must be General Alaric. I’ve heard a lot about you,” General Ames said.

Alaric bowed. “Yes, and honestly, I don’t deserve the promotion."

“Nonsense, now Edwards. It is cruel that you’re making them walk around like this.”

“Jamie should know the spell. She clearly did not study her grimoire.”

“Whaat? You never taught me a cleaning spell!”