Austin sprinted into town, followed by several warriors. Gavin and the majority of the other warriors stayed at the border of the town. Austin could not be sure if they were going to come for another attack, and he wanted to make sure they were protected. So, he made do with the few people who could assist him.

  Austin grew near the source of the flames when he noticed Sean in the corner of his eye. Sean quickly joined Austin’s group and placed a hand on Austin. “We need to talk!”

  “I’m kind of busy right now,” Austin said as he kept running.

  “The gnolls have already left. I scouted out the area with my birds,” Sean said as his face turned grave. “I need you to stop running and talk to me.”

  Austin let out an audible groan as he slid to a stop. Then he looked at Sean with an irritated expression. “What?”

  “You aren’t going to like this,” Sean’s voice grew quiet and nervous. “I sent my birds out the moment I saw the flames pop up.”

  “And?” Austin asked as he tapped his foot in irritation.

  “They targeted the daycare buildings. Everyone has been abducted, including the adults looking after the children,” Sean paused for a moment as he tried to force the words out. “Elliot was taken.”

  Austin’s armor broke apart into a rage of Essence. It shattered into pieces before turning into silver flames that rose off his body. The flames glowed intensely and danced wildly as they surrounded Austin. Now that Austin no longer wore a helmet, his face could be seen. His eyes were filled with cold fury as he clenched his jaw. From the side of his eyes, tiny trickles of tears came down. They were not tears of sadness, though. They were the tears of a man overcome with emotion and rage. Tears of a man who could not control the sudden influx of it all.

  “I’ll kill them all,” Austin said under his breath as he spun around towards the exit of the town.

  “Slow down,” Sean placed his hands on Austin’s chest. “We can’t just go running in there.”

  “Do you know what they do to the people they capture?!” Austin barked back in anger. “They use a ritual to turn them into one of their own! If I’m not quick, then my son is lost! I will go there and kill them all!”

  “We have to think of some sort of plan!” Sean protested. “They are counting on you charging in there.”

  “Here is the plan. I’m going there, and no one is stopping me. Follow me if you like, but I’m going there,” Austin said as he continued forward and pushed Sean’s hands to the side.

  “Make sure any parent in the town knows what happens,” Sean turned towards one of the people who followed Austin. Then he let out a sigh and followed Austin. “If I can’t stop you, then I’m not going to let you go alone.”

  “That’s fine. Be ready to run,” Austin said before he kicked off into a sprint.

  Sean quickly followed Austin. The remaining people who ran with Austin all went different directions. They knew they had to notify as many people as possible about what happened. Everyone deserved to know and help in Austin’s assault.

  Austin did not want to run too far past Sean and did not summon his armor around his legs to give himself a boost. Everything in his mind told him to just boost as fast as possible, but he knew that Sean wanted to help. So, Austin instead cycled Essence through his legs at an incredible rate. He could feel his legs strain at the intense amount of power cycling through them.

  Because of Austin’s increased speed, it did not take him long to return to the edge of town. Once he arrived, he immediately walked towards Brian and Gavin. The pair was talking, but grew silent as Austin grew closer. They immediately switched their attention to Austin.

  “What’s going on?” Gavin asked. “Weren’t you just going to check on the town situation?”

  “They are already gone. Sean scouted the area with his birds,” Austin motioned to Sean, standing next to him. “They attacked the daycare facilities and abducted the children. I’m going to their camp now.”

  “Are you sure that’s a good idea to just charge in?” Brian asked with a concerned expression.

  “I know it’s not a good idea,” Austin said with a serious expression. “But they took all of our children, the people watching over them, and…my son. It was made clear to me that they use a ritual on people to create more gnolls. I’m not going to let that happen.”

  “We could devise a quick plan or something,” Gavin suggested. “Charging in would be suicide.”

  “I know the risks. You can make a plan, and send troops in following me,” Austin said as he clenched his fists tightly. “But nothing will stop me from going now.”

  “Fine, I won’t try to stop you. Just be careful,” Gavin relented. “Maya should be around here somewhere. Do you want to get her before you go?”

  The author's narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

  “Yes, thank you for informing me,” Austin nodded.

  ***

  As Austin informed Maya of the situation, Joe and Josh found and joined their group. Sean had sent birds for them to follow before he found Austin. Apparently, Sean expected Austin’s reaction, and at least wanted to gather some people if he chose to attack.

  With the group gathered together, they moved in the direction of the gnoll camp. Each member of the group pushed their Essence as much as they could. Maya and Austin were completely driven by the desire to rescue Elliot. The others in the group could barely keep up with the two. Even though Maya and Austin pushed their bodies to the limit, they did not feel the stress on their bodies like the rest of the group. Their minds had surpassed the state their bodies were in. They did not care about how much stress accumulated; all that mattered was that they rescued Elliot.

  As they ran through the forest, Austin could not help but feel foolish. He was worried about getting stronger, so he ignored the gnolls as an immediate threat. Now his decision had come back to haunt him. He had no idea how long the ritual would take. For all he knew, Elliot could already be lost.

  As the group arrived at the outskirts of the gnoll camp, they hid in nearby bushes and watched the camp. They saw that the attackers were just returning. They carried tied-up abductees on their shoulders as they marched into camp. Austin carefully watched each one until he saw that Elliot was tied up and squirming around. He moved to charge, but Maya placed a hand on his chest and stopped him.

  “He’s right there,” Austin whispered forcefully.

  “Which means everyone is in the most danger,” Maya whispered back as she clenched her fist in frustration. “I want him back as much as you do, but they could easily hurt or kill everyone if we just run in there.”

  “Then what do we do?” Austin asked as he continued to look forward towards the gnolls.

  “We watch carefully and use Sean’s birds to scout out the situation,” Maya suggested. “With that many people, there has to be some preparation. So, they are going to keep them somewhere. Once we figure that out, we strike.”

  “That sounds like a good idea to me,” Sean nodded.

  “Fine, we’ll do that. But I don’t want to delay too much,” Austin said.

  “We won’t. I know you want to rush in there, but that will be pointless if we don’t make sure everyone is safe,” Maya said as she unclenched her fist. She rubbed Austin’s back to comfort him. “This is the best thing we can do.”

  “I know,” Austin sighed frustratingly. He tried to allow Maya to comfort him, but he was still on edge. He was not sure how she was able to keep such a level head.

  While Austin watched the camp, Sean started the creation of his birds. Since they were in hiding, he had to be careful with their creation. He knelt out of view and formed water from the palm of his hands. The water trickled out until it was enough for a bird and then transformed into one. He did this four times and sent the birds away from the camp into the forest. The birds circled the area in the forest for a moment before they moved back towards the camp. Sean knew that if he sent them directly to the camp, they would have been detected more easily.

  Sean closed his eyes as the birds scouted. While they could come back and direct him to a spot, if he closed his eyes, he could see through their senses. This made it easier because he did not have to follow them back to a location.

  Austin tried his best to wait for Sean, but he could not help but think of the worst-case scenarios. He had to save Elliot. He had to save everyone. They were the future of the town. Everything up until now would be pointless if he did not save them. He was supposed to secure a safe future for them.

  The taste of copper started to enter Austin’s mouth. Unknowingly to him, he was biting his bottom lip so hard that it started to bleed. It was not until the taste entered his mouth that he realized what he was doing. He quickly wiped his mouth with his sleeve to try to clean it up some.

  Maya took notice of Austin’s tension and wrapped her arm around him. Maya pulled him closer to herself. “I know how you feel. Please, just try to stay calm.”

  “It’s just so hard,” Austin almost choked on the words as he replied.

  “I know. I feel the exact same way,” Maya nodded. Austin noticed that the sides of her eyes had grown glossy. “I want to go in there and rip them all to shreds. I’m just trying my best to stay calm.”

  “I’m sorry. Here you are just as upset as I, and you have to try to calm me down,” Austin said as he looked downward in shame.

  “We are here to support each other. When your emotions get out of hand, I’m here to calm you. You’ve done the same for me a million times,” Maya assured Austin.

  “Thank you,” Austin said quietly.

  “Of course, we are a team,” Maya said before she kissed Austin.

  Behind Maya and Austin’s backs, Josh was pointing his finger down his throat in a gagging motion. Joe cracked a smile and made a kissing face towards Josh in response. Then Josh tried his best to stifle a laugh.

  “What’s so funny?” Austin and Maya turned around and asked Josh and Joe.

  “Nothing at all,” Josh and Joe said in unison.

  Before anyone could say anything else, Sean’s eyes opened. “I found where they are keeping everyone.”

  “Where is that? Do you know how we can get there?” Austin quickly asked.

  “They have a sort of hut made from twisted wood. It’s on the other side of camp. Lucky for us, it’s on the edge of the camp, though. So, if we go around, we can get in and save them,” Sean explained to the group. “There is one other thing, though. It looks like they have captured children from the orc tribe, too. So, I think the orcs will show up soon.”

  “They don’t exactly like to use a stealthy approach in battle,” Austin said. “That might cause problems.”

  “Or it might be what we need,” Sean said. “They can distract while we rescue.”

  “I don’t really want to wait for them,” Austin replied.

  Almost in response to Austin, he could hear heavy stomping through the forest. He turned to look and saw a large group of orcs marching through the forest. Drugos led the group, and Austin could feel his Essence kick up into a rage even from afar.

  “I guess we won’t have to,” Sean said as he turned to look at the orc group.