Chapter 14

In the late morning of the next day, Nireh woke up.

Nereea: “Good morning.”

Nireh: “Yes? Where am I?”

Nereea: “In your bedroom.”

Nireh: “How did I get here? I don't remember anything.”

Nireh: *My head hurts.*

Nereea: “It's better like that. Trust me.”

Nireh: “My head is spinning.”

She draws the curtains, letting the sun come in.

Nereea: “It will pass. Now, there are new clothes in the wardrobe. Especially brought for you. Going left, you'll find the buffet in the third room. All you can eat. And the relaxation room is the last one on the left. Have fun.”

Nireh: “You're leaving?”

Nereea: “Yeah... I'm sorry but I'm a bit busy these days.”

Nireh: “Okay.”

Nereea: “See you later, dear. And try not to cause any trouble.”

Nireh: “I'll do my best.”

And she disappeared.

Nireh: *Yesterday was quite some day. The last thing I remember is being at the party. I hope

I didn't do something stupid. Unfortunately, I didn't have time to check on Norkai... I hope he's okay. Well... let's see the clothes.
They are actually not bad. Who took my size?*

Knock, knock.

Arden: “Nireh, are you there?”

Nireh: “Yeah.”

He opens the door.

Arden: “Are you okay?”

Nireh: “Not really. You? What happened last night?”

Arden: “I have no idea. And I don't want to know. Let's get something to eat. Leya is waiting for us.”

Nireh: “What about Ziren?”

Arden: “I don't know. He left early. Probably went to take his pills.”

Nireh: “Is he that old?”

Arden: “I have no idea.”

In a few minutes.

Leya: “There he is. Do you remember last night?”

Nireh: “No. You?”

Leya: “Good. Let's keep it like that.”

Arden: “I hope I won't find any new photos this time.”

Leya: “Me too. So, what are we doing after lunch?”

Arden: “I was thinking some pool time.”

Leya: “That sounds good. You in, Nireh?”

Nireh: “Sure. I think I need that after last night.”

Leya: “Yeah... we all do.”

Arden: “Great. It's settled. Now dig in.”

Meanwhile at the training grounds.

Norkai: “You're late.”

Draviel: “Sorry. I got a mission.”

Norkai: “What kind of mission?”

Draviel: “I think you'll like it. We are going to a festival.”

Norkai: “What?”

Draviel: “And we're taking Elira and Xera with us. They should be here soon.”

Norkai: “Nice idea, Draviel. What are we supposed to do there?”

Draviel: “Just help with the crowd. And in the meantime... have some fun.”

Norkai: “Okay. When do we leave?”

Draviel: “Now. Go get your pack. Once the girls arrive, we're leaving.”

A few hours later, the four of them were still on the road.

Norkai: “How far is it?”

Draviel: “A few more hours.”

Elira: “Will there be many people?”

Draviel: “Probably.”

Xera: “I hope we'll have some time for ourselves as well.”

Draviel: “We will. Security is not our problem. We are there to help if things go too wrong.”

Elira: “I like this mission.”

Norkai: “Yeah... Draviel chose it so we won't think of Nireh.”

Draviel: “Haha. I guess it was pretty obvious.”

Xera: “I think we should focus on us.”

Elira: “Agreed. I wanna have some fun.”

Draviel: “That's the spirit.”

Norkai: “Is it in a village?”

Draviel: “Apparently not. It's on a huge field used for crops in the past.”

By the time they reached the destination, the festival was already packed.

Elira: “There are so many people here.”

Norkai: “Are you serious?”

In a huge open area, dozens of festival stands were set up. From games to food and art, you could find anything there. Lots of people gathered to spread joy and laughter. And in the middle, there was a big stage where various performers entertained the crowd.

Draviel: “Relax. That's how festivals are.”

Xera: “Where did all these people come from?”

Draviel: “Who knows. I bet a lot of them... are just festival workers.”

Norkai: “Well... let's have some fun.”

Draviel: “I'm going to the food stands.”

Elira: “I want something sweet.”

Xera: “I'm coming with you Elira.”

Norkai: “Okay. I guess I'll be winning all the prizes.”

In the next few hours, everyone was just soaking in the festival. Draviel ate more than he could chew and yet was still able to win some prizes. Norkai won most of the rest and shared the toys with the children. While Xera and Elira were just enjoying the pleasant atmosphere. Then they all gathered in a quieter, less crowded area.

Draviel: “I can't believe Xera beat you at the shooting targets.”

Norkai: “You know I let her win, right?”

Xera: “I don't know about that one.”

Xera: *He's being so cute when I beat him.*

Elira: “Is that a new strategy to make her like you even more?”

Norkai: “Yes. See? She gets it.”

Draviel: “Hahaha. If you say so.”

Two hurried people approach Draviel.

Guard: “Sir, we have a problem.”

Draviel: “What happened?”

Noble man: “Someone took my youngest girl. I looked away for a few moments, and she was gone. Please, sir... you have to bring her back. She is only ten years old.”

Draviel: “Alright. Let's relax. Where did you see her last?”

Noble man: “It was at a game stand. Come... hurry. I'll show you.”

Draviel: “Very well. Let's go, guys.”

In a few minutes they arrived at the stand.

Draviel: “There is nobody here. Where are the workers?”

Guard: “They were gone when I got here.”

Norkai: “You think they took her?”

Draviel: “It's our best lead so far. Xera and Elira search the stand. Me and Norkai will look around.”

Noble man: “My daughter had a turtle plush toy with her.”

Draviel: “What kind of clothes?”

Noble man: “She was wearing a custom pink dress. You can't miss her. Please, hurry.”

Draviel: “Don't worry. We'll find her.”

After a few minutes of searching the area, Norkai found the toy. It was not too far from the back of the stand.

Norkai: “Guys, I found the toy.”

Draviel: “They probably ran northwest. Let's hurry.”

Draviel: *We don't have much time. If we don't find her now, we are in big trouble.*

Within fifteen minutes they arrived at a forest.

Elira: “Look. There is a piece of pink clothing on that branch.”

Draviel: “Good. Continue searching.”

Shortly, Draviel heard someone scream.

Draviel: “Did you hear that? It came from east.”

In a few moments they saw them.

Draviel: “Stop. Let the girl go.”

Two masked thugs were holding the girl.

Thug: “What? How did you find us so fast?”

Draviel: “Fighters are way faster than normal humans. Now let her go. And this won't end bloody for you.”

Thug: “Don't come closer. Or I'll kill her.”

Draviel: “No you won't. Killing a noble's daughter is a death sentence for those like you.”

Seeing the thugs panic, Draviel uses his wind to push them away from the girl. Elira seizes the opportunity and quickly grabs her, while Norkai, Draviel and Xera immobilize the thugs.

Elira: “Are you hurt, sweetheart? Don't worry. We'll get you back to your father.”

Little girl: “I'm fine... thank you. Please take me home.”

She said while wiping away her tears.

Draviel: “Well done, guys. Let's go back.”

In half an hour they were back to the festival.

Noble man: “Ohh... you brought her back. You have my deepest thanks.”

Draviel: “No problem, sir. We were just doing our job.”

Little girl: “There were more of them.”

Noble man: “What do you mean, my dear?”

Little girl: “When they took me... some of them left elsewhere. I think they want to take other kids as well.”

Draviel: “Hmm... now this is a problem. You did well to tell us.”

Norkai: “How are we going to find them?”

Little girl: “The masks. The others took the masks.”

Xera: “She's right. There were no masks in that stand.”

Draviel: “We need a plan.”

Elira: “There are many masked people... are we going to question them all?”

Draviel: “No. I've got an idea. Norkai, go find me some uninflated balloons.”

Norkai: “Balloons?”

Guard: “I know where they are. Come with me.”

Draviel: “Perfect. Meet me at the stage.”

After a couple of minutes they all met at the stage.

Draviel: “Be ready to detain the suspicious people.”

Norkai: “What are you going to do? And what's with the balloons?”

Draviel: “You'll see. I'm going on stage.”

Elira: “What?”

Elira: *He's braver than I thought.*

He got on stage and took a microphone.

Draviel: “Hello, everyone. Today we have a special prize for you. One of you will go home with a brand new Scarecrow Costume, especially created by our finest tailors. In this little contest, all you have to do is this: take a balloon from my lovely assistants, inflate it and hold it above your head. Whoever manages to stay the longest... is the winner. Simple, no? Are you ready?”
The crowd immediately became intrigued and started cheering. Norkai, Xera and Elira were handing the balloons, while Draviel was carefully watching any masked man who refused to participate.

Xera: *Not bad, Draviel. If someone wants to win... they need to inflate that balloon. And take off his mask.*

Norkai: *Dammit. I need to learn tricks like these as well. Draviel is doing all the hard work.*

After selecting a few suspicious people from the crowd and pointing the guards towards them, Draviel got off the stage.

Elira: “That was a nice idea, Draviel.”

Draviel: “Thanks. I hope we get at least one of them.”

Guard: “We will. At least two of those acted very nervously.”

Draviel: “Perfect. And even if they are not our guys... they will not get any ideas now.”

Xera: “You probably scared them pretty hard when you targeted masked people from the stage.”

Norkai: “How do you come up with ideas like that so fast?”

Draviel: “Hahaha. With time... you will get them too. Most of these thugs... are not that bright.”

Noble man: “Excuse me, sir.”

Draviel: “Yes? Did something happen?”

Noble man: “Nothing this time. I just wanted to thank you all for saving us from those thieves. And give you these custom-made rings. You won't find rings like these very often.”

Draviel: “That's very generous of you. Thank you, sir.”

Elira: “Really? Thank you, sir. I'm taking the orange one.”

Norkai: “Thank you, sir. I'm gonna take the blue one.”

Xera: “Thank you, sir. It was our pleasure. I'm taking the red one.”

Draviel: “Then I'll get the green one.”

The rest of the day was spent enjoying the festivities.