The End of the Search

Weeks had come and gone with the three adventurers making their way down the road carved from flames. They’d walked speedily, jogging often and staying alert in times of combat. Kaito led the charge, his acclimated legs far more used to the long treks of sustenance than the other two, a surprising fact. They continued on hurriedly, defending themselves from stronger monsters than those they were used to, the demons most likely having stirred up their camps and hideouts. They walked and walked and walked until they dropped, taking turns through the night they continued on. A village burned right through, a field now nothing but a wasteland, a desert trail shining under the sun. The party spent a total of five months traveling, their resolve being tested constantly and hopes fighting to remain in their consciousness.

They entered a small forest just off the desert and the border of the city, the walls and castle all lying just past the leaves of the trees. Kaito ran through the greenery, leaving the other two in the dust in order to see what’d become of the capital city of the nation of humans, the only other place where Talos could be. The tree leaves swallowed the light as small sunrays peeked through the rare amount of holes in the coverage. The other side of the forest glowed in a bright white, his body rushing to the final tree and pressing against it at full speed, his legs giving out and shaking just struggling to hold on.

Kaito’s eyes adapted to the light, slowly unblurring the sight before him. There the wind picked up and the leaves rustled as the beaming sun blazed above the city they’d rushed towards, their last sliver of hope.

He saw a walled city, or rather, the remains of one. He could tell that the main gate was in his direction because of the giant gap between one side of the wall and the next with piles of distant rubble visible within the walls, multiple scaffolds making it evident that the city was being rebuilt. Eira suddenly pressed her hand on his shoulder, both her and Ansel having caught up to him; they gave each other a strained smile, and began making their way to the once fortified city.

As they approached bells they saw an increase in movement, a sign of potential danger soon appearing in their heads. They looked back to see nothing out of the ordinary from the forest they’d just come from, but saw that they were readying a small military force at the destroyed entrance. They stopped in their tracks, seeing the men and women begin to charge. Their anger was evident and armor visibly worn, yet they pressed on down the path they were walking up, and in moments surrounded the three adventurers, who were now confused and distressed at the situation.

“STOP NOW!” a raspy voice sounded with clear hostility behind the soldiers.

The three adventurers were stronger now, but even they couldn’t deal with a whole two squads of trained soldiers. However, as Kaito looked closer he realized that these “trained soldiers” were unnaturally young, and although some did look like they’d fought a battle before, others seemed just as distressed as them, an innocent and nervous face shining through on them as if trying their hardest to seem intimidating.

“YOU!” an arm yelled, pulling the soldiers to the side and making way for the rest of the body.

“WHERE ARE YOU FROM!!”

Ansel took a step forward, tensing his muscles in case of an emergency.

“Where travelers from afar. We’re searching for a lost brother, he was kid…napped”

Ansel’s words sizzled out as mumbles grew around them. The hostility seemingly deflating by his words.

“Wait, so they’re not from Jandra?”

“But they came from that direction, no?”

“Maybe they’re lying maybe they really did-”

“Is a village down that way?”

“No they have to be from Jandra.”

“So Jandra didn’t-”

“QUIET!!!”

Standing firm, a man near his 50s looked at them coldly. His pointy mustache demonstrated a high rank in nobility, his armor fairly shiny when compared to the others and lack of helmet suggesting he was a commander, not a warrior. His combed black hair stood up at a sudden gust of wind, intensifying the figure's authority.

The stark contrast between the man's puffed out chest, authoritative demeanor, and overall stance of power with the seaweed hair strands not dancing on his head made for a situation nothing short of awkward and comedic for both Kaito and Eira.

They attempted to remain serious but the hair kept on moving; shifting their gaze at the man, his eyes screamed command and anger almost as if etched into his pupils, making the scene all the more entertaining.

In their stressful situation, Kaito and Eira couldn’t help their sense of humor and slowly began to giggle, their upper bodies shaking up and down as they tried to contain themselves. The man reached his hand back ever so calmly, his anger seeming to calm down. His palm was open and then signaled for something. A moment later two soldiers seemed to approach the captain from behind, the two adventurers not noticing and the third largest slightly faltering as his companions gave in to an untimely attack of the giggles.

The man's hand felt a heaving rod land on his palm and soon it was up in the air and then cemented deep in the ground. The ground shook as a divot the size of a tree trunk suddenly appeared as dust lifted up from the trail.

The man had just brought down a long hilted hammer with lightning fast speed, instantly bringing the two back to reality. They all stood still, moments passing in silence before the man spoke once more.

“Is thou not from Jandra?”

“No sir. We come from Kamar.”

“Then tell me…” the man leaned closer, his comically pointy mustache closing in on Ansel's chin.

“How did you get past the Battle City of Jandra?”

“What do you mean?”

“Our Order. How did you get past those blasphemous traitors!”

“Traitors!?”

“The city... it fell a few months ago. One of our men delivered an important cargo and updated us on the sudden invasion."

The old man looked distant, empty with regret.

"The man lingered for a while waiting for an award from the king.”

He paused, painfully remembering the day.

“That bastard killed our princess and gave glory to the Demon King! The moment the body fell, the wall collapsed and the demons were on us! That King’s Order scum faced one strong enemy and buckled in fear! Those cowards gave in--- Those DAMN BASTARDS!”

Ansel couldn’t believe his ears. The whole capital thought the Order had sided with the demons, that their own military that had done nothing but pressure and fight had betrayed them just like that. Ansel hated the order, he hated their methods and he hated the fact that he was beginning to lose hope. The order had taken his brother “in the name of the country” and now that very country was accusing them of treason. His emotions were all over the place, suddenly finding himself hyperventilating his eyes darted to Kaito and Eira, who now had sweat coming down their foreheads and looked like they could pass out at any second.

“So…the King’s Order here, what happened to them.”

They didn’t know the city had fallen, that the Order was now just a pile of ash in Jandra.

“We dealt with them. Those filthy traitors got what they deserved for betraying their kingdom.”

Ansel’s reason was slipping away. There was nowhere else to look for him.

“YOU KILLED THEM!?” Kaito yelled looking at the man in complete and utter disarray.

A soldier raised their spear at him, warning him to stay back.

“Would you keep roaches alive? They were nothing but pests in the end, all the money given to them, all the resources, all the LIBERTY to do as they please and not an ounce of loyalty was returned. Truly the definition of a good riddance."

Something inside Ansel snapped. Maybe it was the fact that the King’s Order had taken his brother because of said LIBERTY or it was because of the year-long trip that they’d taken all in hopes of tracking him down. Maybe it was because over the long months he had begun to feel hopeful about him being in the Order, the benefits that he must’ve been reaping as they continued on. Or maybe it was seeing all those hopes shatter as they set foot in the city, the glass snapping into smaller and smaller pieces. Maybe it was because of how the sudden realization of what the fall of Jandra had meant now pressed onto him, the Capital City Ydiria now having killed maybe their most skilled and powerful force literally created to protect them and fight the war. Or just maybe, it was the fact that the one place that could have taken Talos in and treated him with the utmost care after possibly having escaped that tragedy, had just claimed to have gotten rid of every last one of them.

Ansel’s eyes became blurry and a distant mumble came to be heard. Eira yelled [Ice Restraint], freezing the soldiers around them from the neck down, her emotions synchronizing with Ansel's as he lunged at the man. Attempting to swing the large hammer, Ansel caught it with one arm and held his collar tight with the other.

“THEN WHERE IS HE!!!!’ He yelled.

No spells or enhancement magic at play—just pure muscle and emotion.

“WHERE DID THE ORDER TAKE MY BROTHER!!!!”

“Those bastards probably have him in that damned city!” The man struggled to say, dangling by Ansel’s grip.

“THE CITY FELL!!!! IT’S A PILE OF ASH YOU BASTARD!!!”

The words fell flat on the faces of the soldiers. Slapping them with a reality that they had never considered, a truth to the lie that they had believed—a sudden pressure of blood now pressing down.

“WHERE IS MY BROTHER!!!” Ansel cried out in agony, tears flowing down his cheeks.

Kaito and Eira fell to their knees with tears filling the crater in the ground, their legs were exhausted and their hopes now slipping away at the door to the city. All the struggle and will they’d cultivated, the strength they’d gained as they pressed on, unwilling to give into the thought of such a possibility—shattered. They’d resolved themselves to find him, saving their sibling, their future “Court Mage” they’d once joked. Talos laughing at the thought, laughing at them for having such high expectations of him.

That laughter echoed in their hearts.

Moments passed as the three cried, and a sudden gust of wind made Ansel lose his balance. The man used that opportunity to free himself from his grasp and pointed his weapon at him reflexively.

Ansel fell to his knees in tears, joining Kaito and Eira in their wails. Small footsteps approached the scene and suddenly pushed down on them. A beam of light shot from above, a flying body in the air, almost floating, melting the frozen soldiers.

The older man looked back at the sudden assistance, a small brown haired girl and a taller almost teenage boy approaching them. He saw a flashing light behind them, up on the wall; the third Shield charging up their attack.

“Hold Fire!” he yelled, stopping the distant girl from releasing her attack.

Looking back at the other two, now just a few steps away from him took a deep breath, still processing what he’d just heard.

“These three…are not enemies. They have no will to fight. Return to your posts.”

The nameless children, all four of them, had oversized black headbands with jewels sprinkled around the perimeter of the accessories. The jewels flashed in sync, and the children began taking their leave.

The flying body in the air began to descend, the ice finally becoming weak enough for the squadron of soldiers to break out by themselves. The three adventurers continued their cries, having no idea what to do next, they cried and cried some more than others as the rest began to take their leave.

Kaito began to compose himself, seeing the pitiful sight around him, not just his family, but the weak city ahead, he steeled himself and wiped his tears away.

The time he’d spent with Talos was nothing compared to Eira and Ansel, but even so, he cared for him as if it was his own flesh and blood, his third sibling.

Ken…Yui……………Talos.

He sniffed and wiped away his boogers, his eyes now red from the river flowing down.

A thump sounded behind them, the “4th Shield” also known as the “Sun Shield" by the people of Ydiria, the body that’d flown high above and melted Eira’s ice. The steps approached and faded, walking around and away from them, back to the city.

Kaito looked up at them, wondering where the sound had come from. He saw a boy, with golden hair, and a large headband covering his eyes, walking away from them. Their presence felt familiar, a gut feeling turning his stomach. He watched as the boy walked away, the wind moving his sleeves and pressing them against his right arm.

Kaito’s eyes widened and more tears began to flow but the words were stuck in his throat. Emotion just holding his throat and making him gasp for air at the sight of the boy’s long sleeved shirt swaying in the wind. The left sleeve flapped violently in the air as the boy approached the city walls.

Kaito gave a strained grin and looked down at the ground. He managed to put together two words, words that raise Ansel and Eira’s heads instantly and have them find Kaito, laughing in tears whilst grinning in pain. The words he could now speak with utmost certainty and would finally let him have a good sleep after years of nightmarish dreams, retellings of that day.

The words that Kaito spoke were mumbles that did not travel far in the air, only Ansel and Eira being able to hear his voice. The words that ended their year-long search with a shaking mouth and clattering teeth.

“He’s… Alive.”