Ignite the Sun
Chapter 85: Kidnapping
CHAPTER 85: KIDNAPPING
The next day Calen managed to finish his task in less than thre hours, giving him ample time to prepare for the plan they were going to execute.
Since Elira managed to pull off the distant connection after many hours of trying, Sylara decided to give her a day off - both on account of how much power it took, and the fact they they had a different job to do.
Around noon the four of themet with Sylara near the main city gate - she was accompanied by Alison and Maya, as well as Alfred.
"What’s up with the entourage?" Isara asked. "I thought only we were going outside."
"Only you will go on a mission." Sylara corrected. "These three will stand outside the gate and guard the mobile cell, speaking of which..."
Two people approached them - they were dragging a steel box on four wheels behind them, the miniature prison large enough to hold a single person.
"This is it Last Sylara." One of the men nodded at her in greeting.
"Thank you, you can leave it - we’ll take it from here."
They let go of the mobile cell and turned to leave, but one of them stopped and slapped his forehead.
"Right, I almost forgot - miss Martha had a message for you my lady."
"Yes?"
"Um, it was something like: ’If the subject kicks the bucket let us dissect them’, or something like that."
"She wishes." Sylara snorted. "Thank you again for your work, I’ll talk to Martha, you don’t have to go back."
Once the workers were gone, Isara spoke up:
"It seems like Martha isn’t particularly hopeful about your plan."
"It has nothing to do with the plan." The Guardian shook her head. "She’s writing this because we’ve had a few Serakhiin corpses on our hands before, but she never got to experiment on one."
"How come? I thought she and Joel were your best mages?"
"They are best researchers in general, but we have a couple of much more specialised people, who are simply better in their own niches."
"She works with magic implements, what would she even do with a corpse?" Calen frowned. "...on second thought, maybe I don’t want to know."
"Enough chit-chat." Sylara stated. "I’m going to give you two items that will be crucial if you want to succeed. This is the first one."
She took out a band made of metal with a heavy clasp and a bunch of runes of it’s surface.
"It’s... a collar?" Calen raised an eyebrow.
"Yes." She confirmed. "You will put this on the Blightborn once he’s unconscious - it will keep him from using the Blight, and it’s built in a way that it can’t be taken off without a correct keystone."
"And the other thing?"
Sylara handed him a tiny pouch filled with toxic green dust.
"With the right amount this could knock out any corrupted creature - it’s very difficult to make, but this amount should be enough for a Blightborn."
"Great..." He stated at the strange substance. "how do you use it?"
"It has to enter the creature’s body, consumption brings the best results, but since we don’t have that option, you’ll have to go a different route: scatter it in the air around your target, they’ll be unconscious as soon as they breathe it in - and don’t worry, it has no effect on humans."
"How did you develop this?"
"I had to drug quire a few things in my five centuries of operating a city - this specific substance is a result of experimenting with animals and my powers."
"Alright." He looked between the two items she gave him. "So we sneak up on their base, you’ll lure out one of them, and once they’re alone we jump them and do the kidnapping."
"Pretty much." Sylara nodded. "Do try to attack him once he’s some distance from the base, we don’t want the others helping him - It would be the best if they didn’t even know about the kidnapping until it was already done."
"Noted." Calen said. "Let’s go do this then."
***
Kaerith was bored.
They have been here for way longer than they should have been, under normal circumstances the team overseeing the search operation would be changed every three days, but because it was a direct order from a Dreadmarshal they were stuck here on their own.
Tharosk insisted it was an honor to be assigned for such a mission, but he could see that his commander’s eyes were tired and rather vacant.
Their accomodations weren’t helping - as a one night stay for a single scout they were alright, but there was two of them, and they have been here for many days.
The one room outpost was cramped, dirty, barren and very unfit for prolonged stay in general. There was barely enough space for two bedrolls - not that they slept at the same time, Tharosk was very adamant about keeping watch.
Kaerith found it redundant, considering they were pretty much surrounded by the most effective security they could have, but he wasn’t going to argue with his commander.
Besides, the night shifts were the only time when he could do something else than watch the Garbors slowly advance forward or stare at a wall inside of their accomodations.
"Sir, what if we’ve sent them in the wron direction?" Kaerith asked as he observed the seemingly empty mountain range.
"They were sent here by our fortress back when the dustling settlement was still visible - it’s still here, unless they can somehow move their entire cities." Tharosk snorted at the ridiculous notion.
"Of course, sir." Kaerith paused. "Did you know that were very close to a migration path of a large pack of Mycotross, sir?
Tharosk stared at the herd of Garbors in the distance.
"It would be bad for them to get eaten." He admitted. "How long do we have until the pack arrives here?"
"A few days at most, sir."
"We have to either speed up the search, or back off for a bit and continue after they pass."
"I suggest you speed up the operation, sir." Kaerith suggested a little to quickly.
"Not too fond of this place, ey?" Tharosk chuckled. "Don’t worry, I’m getting sick of it too - I’m not willing to spend any more time here than necessary, especially with the prize waiting back home."
"I’ll prepare the acceleration ritual then, sir."
"Good - how many will you need for a sacrifice?"
"The herd is around two hundred strong..." Kaerith started mumbling as he did the math in his head. "Seven should be sufficient, sir."
"I always forget, do you require the whole carcass or just the core?"
"The core is enough, but you can bring the bodies as well sir." He said. "I can butcher them for food.
"You want to eat Garbor meat?" Tharosk made a disgusted face.
"They’re nowhere near as disgusting as most believe them to be." Kaerith argued. "They’re a bit chewy, yes, but they’re perfectly palpable."
"If you want to eat them you can go kill them yourself." Tharosk scoffed. "Besides, it seems like there’s some kind of commotion over there - solve it, and I’m going to meditate."
As the commander disappeared into the outpost, Kaerith looked in the direction he mentioned - it did seem like something spooked the Garbors, so it would be prudent to investigate.
They were located quite a bit away from the herd currently, so he has to walk for a few minutes before reaching it.
In the middle of his walk, out of nowhere everything around him turned green and then... darkness.
***
"I can’t believe it worked." Calen whispered. "Quick, put a collar on him Isa."
When the metal band was in place they tied his arms and legs with a piece of rope provided by Alison - it would be changed to a magic handcuffs once they had the Blightborn in custody.
"What now?" Cassian asked. "How do we transport him?"
"Umm, you tak the head I take the legs?" Calen proposed. "If we go around the Garbors we should be fine."
The Blightborn turned out to be rather light for his stature, he weighed less than an average person would, and it sped up their journey significantly. With some help from the girls the two of them managed to return in almost the same time it took them to get to the Serakhiin outpost.
"Is this it?" Alison asked, quickly opening the cell for them. "I didn’t expect to you to return this quickly."
"The Blightborn are even uglier from up close." Maya commented while staring at the prisoner. "But I think the creatures they were originally were quite pretty."
"Really?" The capitan raised an eyebrow. "Why do you think that?"
"Look at his face, it’s wild and beastial, yes, but its features are also perfectly symmetrical and somewhat refined - if the purification succeeds and reverses the transformation, he’ll become really handsome."
"If you say so..." Alison didn’t look particularly convinced as she locked the door to the steel box. "Anyway, according to Lady Sylara the guy will be out for a day or two - you can go back home, we’ll take the care of everything."
In Calen’s opinion everything went a bit too smoothly - it was a matter of time before something would go seriously wrong.