Cornelius arrived at the scene half a bell later, having commandeered the nearest guard post's troops to accompany him en force toward the reported location of a “Blue comet” and “Blue Demon” coming through the town watch's network.

  There, he found David embracing his daughter, standing by a torn-open transport-car, with four individuals wrapped in metal sheets, probably ripped from the wrecked vehicle, lying on the ground. The scene was surrounded by curious bystanders, all standing quite a few paces away from the man, and seemingly unwilling to approach.

  The four guard vehicles stopped and disgorged dozens of town guards, who went and formed a perimeter, pushing back the crowd. Cornelius disembarked from the lead vehicles and jogged over to his daughter, David noticing him and pointing at him with his chin. Niala turned her head, spotting her father, and left David's arms to meet Cornelius at a run, father and daughter wrapping in each other's arms, both catkins' tails wagging.

  “You're ok?” Cornelius asked.

  She nodded, “Hmm-hmm, David gave me one of my potions, I'm fine. I have a bit of a headache, I guess.”

  Cornelius squeezed his daughter, words failing him for the moment.

  He had feared for Niala's well-being before, especially when she had run away from home, but it had always been... indirect. Never before had he felt this way, being on the receiving end of an act of violence aimed at his blood, his family. The volatile mix of rage and fear refused to stop bubbling below the surface.

  “I'm glad you're ok, Niala.” The man said. “I swear, I will find the people responsible and exact revenge.”

  “Dad... I'm fine, and David caught the people who did this. I'm just glad you two aren't hurt either.”

  She pulled back her head, looking her father in the eyes. “Can we just go home?”

  The hard fire in his eyes waned, and his features softened as he smiled. “Of course, Niala. I'll have the guards drive us back.”

  He planted a kiss on his daughter's cheek and unlaced his arms from her, turning toward the guard captain and barking orders at him.

  Soon, the four perpetrators were loaded up in one of the guard transport cars, and the three of them were brought back to the All Brew compound.

  Far above, a singular unmarked airship flew over the commotion. On its deck, holding a pair of binoculars, a figure grimaced, turned, and marched toward the bridge.

  The airship held position for a while longer, eventually departing for the north-east. As it did so, a small metallic bird flew away from its deck, heading down into the city of Majestic, toward the nobles' district.

  Karn wasn't sure how long he'd been in this windowless cell. Three? Maybe four days?

  He'd been fed, but that was it. Nobody had come to talk to him. Pits, he hadn't seen anyone since they'd unrolled him from the metal sheet and thrown him in here.

  Which was why, when he heard the metal door's lock disengage, he found himself relieved. He hadn't been locked up to be left forgotten, after all...

  In walked a pair of guards, hands on their clubs at their belts, telegraphing him a clear message with their eyes: don't move unless you want a beating.

  Behind them was the All Brew himself, followed by an older man with a face that told a story of danger and conflict, holding a large suitcase.

  The All Brew nodded at the guards, who turned and left the room, closing the door behind them.

  Karn watched them go, wide-eyed.

  No, please, don't go. I need witnesses...

  He swallowed and looked up at the small catkin man, wishing he hadn't.

  The barely controlled inferno he saw in the man's gaze made him shiver.

  Cornelius took a step forward. His voice was low, almost a growl. “Mr. Karn. I am Cornelius All Brew. You and your colleagues have attempted to kidnap my daughter. You will tell me why.”

  Karn blinked, his mind juggling with the terrible choices before him.

  Which one keeps me alive?

  “You will start talking. Now. You do not want me to make you talk.” The catkin informed him.

  Karn closed his eyes. Face far-away monsters later, or face the monster in front of him now?

  He scoffed. As if there was a choice.

  Before Cornelius could do anything else, Karn nodded. “I'll talk. It's simple, we were hired to kidnap her and bring her to the airport.”

  “We know, we asked the others,” Cornelius informed him. “I want you to tell me what they didn't.”

  Ah...

  “And... what did they tell you? So I know what they didn't...” He asked

  Cornelius narrowed his eyes. “Your band was approached by three masked individuals and was offered a large sum of money to kidnap my daughter and bring her to a specific airship at the airport. You were to bring her alive.” He said.

  Karn nodded. “That's it. That's all I know.”

  The catkin took another step forward. “The woman, Mileve, said you knew something else.”

  “Ah... huh... oh!” Karn exclaimed, remembering. “Yeah, I spotted a crest on one of them. A noble's crest.”

  “Which one, Karn?” Cornelius asked.

  He scratched his head. “It was dark, and hard to see, but it looked like the Wardenfel crest, without the skull.”

  The All Brew nodded and motioned for the second person to come closer, retrieving a... hat from the suitcase.

  “This is Mr. Lyrel. He will affix a device to your head. The device will allow us to print an image of those three individuals, as you remember them.” Cornelius' stare levelled on Karn. “You will cooperate, but worry not, I will not torture you. I have my own, much more efficient ways.” The All Brew said, before mumbling.“And my daughter wouldn't forgive me if I did.”

  He pulled out three small phials from one of his pockets and looked at them against the light.

  “Just like the old times,” He said to himself, his eyes looking at the past, before returning to the present and approaching the prisoner.

  Karn looked at the three potions, turning his eyes back to Cornelius, who quirked an eyebrow. He looked at the prisoner like one would a dumb kid. “Do I really need to spell it out? Drink them.”

  Karn swallowed, looking between the All Brew and Mr. Lyrel. The second man's eyes were telling him that he was going to drink the phials one way or another. He took the potions one after the other.

  Both parties looked at each other, nothing happening right away.

  And then, the room started wobbling as his body relaxed and began floating. All his aches faded away, the anxiety of the past few days subsuming under a warm layer of bliss.

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  A nice man put a funky hat on his head. It felt strange, in a good way.

  Karn tried to keep staring at the All Brew, his face alternating between a frown and a smile.

  A fuzzy man asked Karn a bunch of questions and told him to think about the answer. He concentrated, and thought really hard. It was kind of fun! The hat was buzzing and tickling his head with little sparks as he thought, and the harder he thought, the better it felt.

  But Karn grew tired after a while and, yawning, asked if he could go to bed.

  He was told it was fine.

  So he went to bed.

  Karn woke up, yawning and stretching.

  His breakfast had been slid under the cell's door.

  He got up, joints creaking as he bent to retrieve the food, and padded back to the cot, putting the tray over his legs and eating in silence.

  He sighed.

  How long had he been down here? Three? Four days?

  He was being fed, but that was it. Nobody had come to talk to him. Pits, he hadn't seen anyone since they'd unrolled him from the metal sheet and thrown him in here.

  He wondered how long that would last...

  The All Brews, Mahala and David sat in Cornelius' private study, the windows closed, curtains pulled, and doors locked. In the middle, on the low table, were the memory-graphs extracted from the four criminals.

  Cornelius looked up from the blurry pictures and up to David. “You said these remind you of someone?”

  The courier shook his head. “No one specific, but the outfit is consistent with the Wardenfel's Wardens, or very similar. One of them having the crest on display is pretty big evidence.”

  Niala held her chin, deep in thought. “It feels strange. Why would super-secret agents wear an identifiable crest?”

  David shrugged. “Because they forgot? They don't care? From what I know of the Wardens, it might even have been deliberate. The Wardenfel crest is very well known. Flashing it at the thugs would make sure they knew not to mess with them.”

  Niala puckered her lips. “But then, it also means they get exposed once the thugs get caught.”

  Angeline looked at her father and David in turn, both of them exchanging looks.

  Niala's ears wiggled as she noticed. “What? What am I missing?”

  Cornelius cleared his throat. “Forgetting that the only reason they were caught was that David was there, those four would probably have disappeared.”

  Niala tilted her head, “You mean...”

  Angeline leaned back, resting her arms on her chair's armrests. “Dead. Clean up loose ends. Maybe a bit of involuntary sky diving.”

  “Oh...”

  David nodded. “They might still do it. Like you said, they like to clean up loose ends.”

  Niala looked at David. “But... all four of them are in the central jail's VIP cells.”

  “I don't think that will stop them,” David said, before noticing Mahala, who had been silently staring at him thus far. He turned his head in her direction, arcing an eyebrow.

  The others noticed the interaction, and waited.

  The older woman narrowed her eyes. “You seem to know a lot about the Wardens, the secret Wardenfel agents.”

  Niala's ears flinched as she looked at David, who glanced back.

  He sighed. “Might as well tell you, given who's involved. Wayman is my adopted family's name. I was born David Wardenfel.”

  The room went silent, all eyes glued to him.

  Cornelius's ears twitched. “A... Wardenfel? From a branch family?”

  David shook his head. “Main family. I was the heir up until eight years ago. My younger brother Isaac holds that title now.”

  The catkin's eyes went round. “O-oh... a main branch Wardenfel scion...”

  Angeline blinked, noticing her father's posture; slightly leaning forward, straight-backed, ears pointed forward, tip of his tail twitching...

  She smirked. “Dear father?”

  “Hmmm?” Cornelius said, taking his eyes off David a second later.

  “What do you think of David as Niala's husband now?” She asked, fluttering her eyelashes, smiling.

  Cornelius fidgeted, “Oh, well, he has shown himself to be quite capable, and he clearly loves my Niala very much. He has a good head, a sharp mind, and a valiant heart. I think he would be a very good husband for my precious daughter...”

  Niala turned her head toward her father, eyes wide and full of disbelief. “Seriously? After you learn he's a noble, suddenly he's good enough for me?!”

  Cornelius recoiled. “What?! That's not the only reason!”

  “It shouldn't be a reason at all!”

  “But, my daughter! Think of all the doors this could open!”

  “Dad! I don't care! And after we get married, I'm not letting you within fifty metres of him!”

  Cornelius went pale, ears drooping. “Wh... now, just wait a second, daughter of mine, surely you-”

  “A hundred meters!” Niala countered.

  David shot Angeline a glare, but the woman, trying to hide her smile behind one of her hands, simply winked.

  To her side, Mahala had her face deep inside her hands.

  David sent one last reproachful glance at the younger sister before turning his attention to the bickering All Brews.

  “AHEM!” He cleared his throat, both catkins snapping their mouths shut and turning their heads to him.

  “Right. As I was saying, from what I know of the Wardens, they're not likely to give up this easily. I don't know why they want Niala; maybe they heard about her potions and figured out something strange was going on, maybe they're doing it to get to you, Cornelius.” David said, opening a palm in the catkin's direction.

  Cornelius frowned. “To get at me? Why?”

  “Because...” David threw a look at Niala, who nodded. “My father, Jacob Wardenfel, is deathly ill. We're actually heading to my family's estate, to try and see if Niala's potions can help.”

  Cornelius' ears shot up, his eyes lighting up. “To... help save the Wardenfel patriarch's life?” His eyes widened even more. “To acquire a high noble's life debt?! Oh! Niala! My Daughter! Let your dear old dad accompany y-”

  “No.” Niala declared.

  Her father's ears flattened at the same time he slumped. “But, why not!?” He pleaded.

  She ignored him, turning her attention to David. “How would they have known we were heading there? We told everyone we were visiting my parents.”

  David leaned back, nestling his chin in his hand. “Might just be preemptive, making sure the best alchemists in the kingdoms won't try and interfere.”

  Angeline quirked an eyebrow. “Alchemists are most reputed for antidotes. Do you think your lord father was poisoned?”

  “Maybe. It's all just speculation. My point was that, if they tried to kidnap Niala once, they're probably going to try again.”

  Mahala threw a concerned look at Niala. “What will you do then? Stay here in the compound?”

  David shook his head. “I'd still like to get to my father. If Niala can cure him, it will either make the kidnapping pointless, or I'll be able to extract a promise to protect her from the man. Until then, I'll be on my guard.”

  He looked at Niala, returning his attention to Mahala. “And, besides, we just need to get to the train. We'll stay in a private cabin; I don't think the Wardens will try something there.”

  “I have a better idea,” Cornelius announced. “A much better idea!” He repeated with enthusiasm.

  Angeline quirked an eyebrow. “Do you mean...”

  “I do!” Her father confirmed.

  “I thought she hadn't been certified yet?”

  Cornelius shook his head, his ears bobbing. “I received the news yesterday. She's ready!”

  Niala looked at David and then at her father. “What idea, Dad? Who's ready?”

  With a little kid's smile, Cornelius jumped out of his seat and went to rummage in a cupboard, coming back with an airship miniature model.

  “This!” The catkin said, presenting it to all assembled.

  Niala tilted her head. “You want us to go by... airship? Isn't that even more dangerous than by train? Bigger, with more people roaming?”

  Cornelius shook his head. “No, no! Not by an airship! By THE airship! MY airship!”

  “You... you bought an airship?!” Niala exclaimed, her tone a mix of surprise and interest.

  “Not bought, built! I had it built! A one-of-a-kind airship, an evolutive design, a glimpse into the future of air travel, commissioned by the Cornelius Concoctions Company for its private use.” Cornelius said, bringing the model closer.

  “I present to you, the Alchemical Star!” He said, holding the replica at arm's length, for both of them to peer at.

  From this close, they could spot the details; it had the same mana-gathering sails and wings of an airship, but instead of being built out of wood with metal reinforcement, this one seemed to be made mostly out of metal, with sleeker lines, and... oh, those were some pretty big turbines...

  They both looked up at the catkin, who returned their questioning stares with jubilation, like a student showing their full-A report card to their parents.

  David looked at Niala, whose attention had been completely captured by the model replica.

  David sighed.

  Guess we're going flying.

  Protect Niala at all costs club.