Tiago:

Continuing…

Tiago could hear at least eight pairs of footsteps from the hallway's other end.

They were walking exactly where he had expected; after seeing the large number at the tables the night before, he knew it was inevitable that at least one of the men would follow the right side of the corridor.

There was a moment of silence, then a howl of pain as Tiago heard a snapping noise.

After using this moment to verify his success, Tiago stepped back from the door.

"Tiago, what are we going to do?" Tia whispered,

The tremble in her voice told of her anxiety. Tiago will have to finish this quickly.

He crouches around the corner, out of view of the door.

He had placed a tripwire at head height across the bedroom door; it was the key to his success. Another snapping noise and indiscernible voices. They had discovered the key to the traps; Tiago had weighted the doors to spring out from the bottom at specific intervals.

When weight is placed on the floorboards, a small cutout at the bottom of the door would swing open at bone-breaking speeds.

It was a tactic he had quite often used in his other life. It was effective against multiple targets as it allowed him to buy time.

He looked to Tia, who was flicking through pages of the training book he had given her. He snapped his fingers, and she brought herself to attention.

"We have no choice but to hunker down here." He points to the floor,

"We cannot confirm whether or not they have more people outside waiting for you to jump," He gestures to the window.

Fighting next to Tia was a high-risk mission for Tiago, but it was nothing that he hadn't wormed his way out of before. He was confident in his abilities.

The footsteps are now right outside the door, and they pause. The door slowly creaks open. Tiago can see Tia's eyes widen and can hear her breath quicken.

He hears a slight snicker; they have found the trip wire. One footstep inside; He couldn't see them, but he didn't need to. Two steps inside.

Tiago moved smoothly; the moment he had heard the second step, he rounded the corner, a mana blade summoned in hand.

It is one of the men who sat at the inn's table when they arrived. His sword was in its sheath, and his face was surprised as Tiago rushed forward.

The man had snickered, thinking he had avoided his trap, merely ducking under the wire. But it wasn't meant to be walked into.

Instead, Tiago had pulled it taut to act as a blade. He jumps to reach the man's head, grabbing his face in his palm and thrusting his head into the wire with as much force as he could muster.

The man lost his footing, and the tiny silver wire slid through his head. It cut cleanly in half from his nose to the back of his scalp. His corpse fell to its knees and then fell forward with a thud.

The blood spilled onto the floor further into the room.

Tia, witnessing this scene, scrambles into the corner. She pushes her head deeper into the wall, wanting to look anywhere else but failing to look away.

Tiago was undeterred; stepping out of the way to let the body fall, he jumped forward into action, and the other men immediately stepped back in surprise.

A more petite man with his blade drawn stepped backward to the opposing door, which snapped open due to the weight, knocking the man down as he grunted in pain.

Tiago dashed forward, sliding between two of the men, narrowly dodging their swinging arms, trying to grab him.

Now, before the fallen enemy, the man looked up, reaching for his blade to defend himself, but it was too late.

Tiago swung his mana blade down. Stabbing into the man's head, killing him instantly.

Tiago then attempted to turn and pull his blade out, but it shattered at its hilt, surprising him.

The blade dissipated in his hand, so he raised his fists instead. Six men were before him, three of whom took up their blades to defend themselves.

The other three had already begun entering the room. Tiago needed to think fast; they didn't seem like a problem, but anything could happen.

He ran forward again, one left and two right, stopping him from reentering the room. He narrowly dodges one blade, the other cutting him across his shoulder.

Tiago steps back and sees a man with an eye patch step around the corner in the room. Tia began shouting.

"Tiago, help me; they're here now, please!"

Tiagos eyes darted around the hallway. The three men started closing in. Tiago ducked under a blade and rolled left; he slammed his fist into the knee of the man in front of him.

His leg buckled, and he swung haphazardly, Tiago taking this opportunity to jump over the blade and vault over his shoulders, landing just behind them.

"You're quick, haha." One of the men says as Tiago attempts to bolt into the room.

"But not quick enough."

Tiago turns his head away from the room to defend himself but fails to notice the man with the eyepatch standing in the doorway. He grabs onto Tiago's shoulder.

The boy spins around and swings his legs around his arm. He attempts to put the man in an armbar, but he's too small.

Tiago is thrown into the bedroom, slamming against his bed frame. He stumbles for a moment, reeling from the impact.

Whoever that man is, he is dangerous. He threw him like nothing with at least superhuman strength, he surmised.

The man stepped past his dead comrade and knelt before Tiago,

"You've had your fun, pipsqueak, and I'll admit you've got some guts." He smiled,

His voice was that of a gangster, and Tiago had seen the like.

"You truly are the son of Tore; you managed to read the situation perfectly; however, you, alone. Is not enough."

The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

He picks Tiago up by the shirt, tossing him into the wall again next to his sister. Tia cried out in fear, panicking in a corner.

Tiago pushed himself to his feet. Blood dripped from his nose and mouth from the mere impact of the throws.

Tia grips his arm to pull him back down, but Tiago shakes her off. Instead, he opens his palm, and a brilliant white dagger appears.

The man then announces himself,

"My name is Dargor. It's a pleasure to meet you." He steps towards Tiago, who readies his blade.

"Still willing to fight, how brave of you." Dargor draws his blade from a long leather sheath.

"We were given orders to capture you alive but not unharmed." His smile is wicked.

Tiago glares at him; as Dargor swings his blade at Tiago, he blocks the attack. Tiago's mana dagger cracked under the pressure. Tiago grits his teeth.

At that moment, Tiago can feel a slight warmth from his back and a whisper

"Fireball," Tia spoke meekly,

He can't afford to divert his attention as Dargor readies himself for another strike.

The man flexes as his blade swiftly arcs towards Tiago, who barely blocks his attack again.

"I was unaware the sister could do offensive magic. I thought she was merely a political puppet."

Dargor's voice rang in his ear, but he didn't break focus on anything other than blocking his blade, fixated on his movements.

"Never mind then." He groans as he strikes again. This time, he kept the pressure on his dagger as a chip of the blade broke off.

Then suddenly, another one of the men rushed forward, Dargor laughing as the man swung not at Tiago but behind him.

Tiago then let go of his dagger with one hand and summoned another, blocking both strikes simultaneously. Holding down the blades as the warmth from behind turned into a burning sensation.

Both men drew their blades back as their shadows now backed the walls behind them; a bright light emanated from behind Tiago. He looked back, and a massive ball of fire was growing in Tias's hands.

Tia's eyes were closed, and the fireball grew bigger and bigger,

"Tia, what the hell is that?" He asked her,

Taking a step back as the ball of fire began pushing him away.

It was scorching; the captors began panicking, and one charged forward before immediately backing off, his arms raised due to the heat.

Tia's eyes opened, and she stared at Dargor with pure rage; she raised her palms with the growing inferno and motioned to throw it.

However, the ball stayed, stuck to her hand, and continued growing; Tia began panicking again.

Tiago could hardly breathe, but he couldn't go any further without getting taken by the kidnappers.

"Tia, you gotta get rid of that thing." He yelled, exasperated.

"If I could, I would!" She yelled back.

It was just like with the spell' earth wall'. She couldn't control the output.

He pushed himself to his feet, his face inches from the fireball.

The heat felt like it was melting through his skin. He screams out and stabs both of his mana daggers into the inferno.

As Tiago drove his blades deep inside the ball of fire, the energy burst. The ground rumbles as a loud BOOM shakes the whole building.

Exploding into brilliant red and yellows and erupting upwards in a pillar of fire, blasting Tia and Tiago out of the side of the building as the building's second floor disintegrated into a fiery inferno.

Tiago was flung with chunks of wood and glass shattering around him, tearing his clothes and cutting his skin.

He slammed into the footpath outside the building, the pavement making a loud cracking noise, his side pushing hard into it.

Rolling along the pavement for a second, he finally stops. He tries to open his eyes, but his head is dizzy, his vision blurred, and a gash above his right eye drips blood into his eye, forcing him to keep it closed.

He made a fist, pushing off it to leverage his front torso off the ground; he scanned the scene around him.

Bits of the inn were lying everywhere; the fire still spun into a giant tornado of fire, destroying the rest of the building.

His senses started returning slowly; his ears rang, but he could hear the faint sound of shouting. Tiago grimaced from the pain in his side. He had broken something.

The only reason he wasn't dead was the armor-plating.

He pulls out the steel plate in his chest with a "hmph"; the plate is unrecoverable from the destructive blast.

Removing the plate made it easier to breathe.

He dragged himself forward, wincing with every pull; Tia couldn't have landed far.

Then suddenly, he noticed shadowy figures emerge from the flames, and his eyes glared with an indignant fury,

Dargor emerged unscathed. Swatting the flames off his shoulders like they were nothing, behind him, two of the other men were carrying a badly burnt person between their arms.

The injured man was still holding the blade he had attempted to strike Tia with.

Tiago froze in place so as not to be spotted among the debris. He lay flat on his stomach, watching the one-eyed man poke his sword among the wreckage of the burning inn.

Dargor turns to the other men and shouts something to them. They drop their burnt comrade on the ground and help Dargor lift a large piece of wall.

Laughing could be heard, and Tiago immediately started dragging himself forward again; his eyes widened with panic as he saw Dargor lift Tia's unconscious body from the rubble.

"St-" He tries to cry out,

But his throat feels dry, and the words won't come out. He clenches his teeth, pushing himself up off his palms to his knees.

Dargor throws her over his shoulder and signals for his men, and they start walking away toward the Shallows, leaving their injured teammate behind.

Members of the public begin spewing out around him.

Those from the central part of the city look concerned, and some run to fetch knights.

Others from the shallows stare at the destruction watchfully as if waiting for an opportunity to strike.

Tiago pulls himself to his feet and limps forward in the direction the men left.

The tornado of fire finally billows itself out. Tiago looks over his shoulder.

He sees the man draped in red again walking past the wreckage, following closely behind him the barkeep.

He stares at them with vitriol burning in his heart; it all makes sense; these bastards separated them from their father to kidnap them. But for what reason? Money? Influence?

He doesn't care. They would answer all his damn questions anyway.

He turned, almost losing his footing.

Trudging towards them, Ayther stops walking, peering at Tiago with a curious look.

"Seems you're more resilient than anticipated."

Tarvis, the barkeep, attempts to step past Ayther, but he stops him.

"You want your sister back, right?" he asks.

Tiago didn't respond; instead, taking a deep breath, he raised his arms, and two small knives of mana manifested in his hands.

He rushes forward, faltering, the blades disappearing as he trips, falling to his knees before Ayther.

Tiago can feel his red eyes glaring through the back of his head. This man was strong.

Even he could feel the aura he produced; he had only felt this kind of raw power from his father,

"I have no intention of beating a defenceless child; if you want your sister, you'll find her here." His voice is emotionless as if he was talking down to an animal.

"You are no use to me dead."

Ayther strides past him towards the shallows. Tarvis glares at Tiago as he walks past.

Tiago raises his head slightly, seeing a note on the floor before him—a location.

He punches the ground in frustration. The knuckles on his fist bleed. He grabs onto the note and turns it around.

'Come alone. Or she dies.' Tiago curses as he gets back to his feet. He hasn't done enough; he knew that, but still, he held on. He knows they at least want his sister alive.

They want to capture him when he arrives, but that's a risk he's willing to take; if they underestimate Tia, he may be able to use her to help them escape.

He hears coughing from behind him; the burnt kidnapper is still just barely alive, a few feet from where he stood.

Tiago limps towards the man, who stares back at him, one eye squinting the burns and preventing him from opening them altogether.

"H-help me," he croaked,

Tiago stares at him with no remorse in his eyes as he turns around. He is walking away towards the Shallows.

The man would die in his state painfully, and that's precisely what he deserves.

He rips a piece of cloth from his undergarment and wraps it around the wound on his leg. A piece of wood had lodged itself between the metal and padding.

He tests his leg, stepping with it. It'll manage, and he begins walking towards the Shallows.

He didn't know how he didn't get burnt; he was much closer than the man was to the epicenter of the explosion, and he considered himself lucky.

"You're bros on his way, Tia; just hold on."

To be continued…