Did not want to leave you guys hanging for long.

------

Areisha looked down at the chains suppressing her sentiral power. As far as she knew, it was made of the same crystal as their sentiral stone, except that it was designed to hold on to Sentire criminals throughout the years. She also knew that they were difficult to acquire, so it led her to conclude that the people who took her and her draeling had some powerful connections in higher places.

After Alec Arden had left the bookstore, Emera decided she wanted to follow him. She was helpless in front of her draeling's eagerness and went along with her whims. Unfortunately, as they were passing by an alley, some son of bitch sprayed a green chemical on their faces.

Emera fell quickly, but Areisha tried to hold on and leave behind a clue. She failed and succumbed to the darkness.

When she woke up, she was inside a cage floating over a warehouse. Emera floated in a smaller cage next to hers. Seeing that her draeling was unconscious but otherwise fine, she took a closer note of her surroundings to find a way out.

Next, she looked for a window and found that it was nighttime. Judging from the sounds in the distance, she was somewhere in the first region of the academy skyland, not too far from the docks.

She looked down at the warehouse and found her captors moving about cargo in and out of the place. Judging by their hurried pace, it did not take a genius to guess that they were trying to escape. As she continued to observe them, her fists slowly clenched. Looking closely, she found that the covered cargo was shaking and moving about. She could also hear growls, roars, and all sorts of animal sounds from there.

Animal traffickers...again.

It had only been two months ago when Emera was abducted by traffickers back in her home city, and it happened once more. The only difference this time around was that Areisha was taken too.

Raising her chained hands, she pinched the spot between her brows. She took a deep breath and calmly took note of her options.

Option one was to hold on. Knowing Gael, he probably already knew what happened and was probably scouring the place. She winced at the fate awaiting these bastards at his hands. The warehouse was going to be filled with ash.

Option two was to escape.

She paused.

Who was she kidding? She always chose the option to escape. She had been kidnapped so many times before that she could get out of her situation with her eyes closed.

The bastards were dumb enough to not chain her feet and even chained her hands in front of her. She stretched her arms and found that the chain length was more than a foot long. They should've kept it short. But sentire suppressing chains were rare so they probably couldn't afford to be picky about its length.

The gaps between the bars of her cage were small, but she would be able to squeeze through just fine...although it would be a bit tight around her chest and bottom.

She looked up and found that the cage hung from a large beam. If she could get up there, she would be able to stand and walk on it towards Emera's cage. Emera's cage had just enough space for her to put her weight on, so she would need—

Areisha paused as she caught sight of two other cages next to Emera's. There she saw familiar white and ruby-scaled draelings. She palmed her forehead and proceeded to look for signs of the twins. If Uby and Dia were here, then Solana and Knox would be around as well.

She inched over to the edge of her cage and looked down at the cage just below her to the side. There, she found the twins sprawled on the floor of their cage, both unconscious.

Without hesitation, she gave up on her escape plan. She could not leave the twins here, and she was not skilled enough to safely escape with two more people. Doing otherwise would probably harm them.

Areisha would have to wait for Gael. But, their captors were in a rush to leave. If she did not find a way to delay them, they might manage to escape with them in tow.

Her mind whirred once more as she tried to come up with a new plan. If only she had a knife, then she could—

A loud crash came from the other side of the warehouse. Her gaze whipped toward the sound and caught sight of the commotion that ensued. There were shouts of "cargos have escaped" and "catch them."

She managed to catch a glimpse of a small gray blur before three more followed it to cause chaos among the traffickers. Draelings?

But what really caught her eyes was the dark distinctly male figure walking calmly amidst the chaos.

As the figure passed by people, he swung his arm, dagger glinting and flashing under the light. Then, he'd melt into the nearest shadow before anyone noticed his presence. A moment later, screams of pain echoed from five people as they clutched at their chests, arms, legs, and necks. From her spot, she could see the blood dripping and slowly pooling on the warehouse floor.

A silence fell around the screaming people, before a loud shout cut through the noise. "Intruder!"

The criminals reached for their weapons and moved in groups of three as they scoured the area for the dark figure. From her spot, Areisha watched as even in groups of three, the man still managed to pick them off one by one. Every time a group passed a shadowy area, one person would be dragged in and their scream would frighten the other two. With the two people's backs wide open, the figure took it as an opportunity to attack. Just like that, four groups disappeared into the shadows of the warehouse.

Areisha shivered in fear. But her heart was pounding in excitement at the sight before her. It reminded her so much of the wild beasts in the forests of her home.

It reminded her of a predator toying with its prey.

"Damn it!" the man who took the lead from earlier shouted. "Come out, you coward!"

She wanted to roll her eyes. A provocation like that would not work on their attacker.

The whines and whimpers of prey were nothing in front of a great predator.

At the leader's words, knives flew through the air. One passed by the leader's head and embedded itself in the person behind him. The other two knives landed in someone's chest, and another on their abdomen.

The leader's wrathful roar echoed throughout the warehouse. He ran in the direction where the knives came from, pushing anyone in the way of his vengeance.

While that was going on, Areisha noticed another smaller robed figure making its way towards their direction, or the draelings to be more precise. It was her first time seeing the figure, leading her to guess that it must have been hiding somewhere in the warehouse.

Areisha was not going to let whoever it was near the little babies. Without hesitation, she squeezed herself through the gaps of her cage, quickly grabbing the bars with two hands. Using her weight, she swung the cage far enough to allow her to jump on top of a crate. When she did, she leaped from one crate to another, using it like very big stairs.

Like a cat, she landed on a crate just above the robed figure.

"Fuck!" a deep voice cursed. "I told them it was a wrong decision to mess with the academy!"

She stilled as the man released his frustration, seemingly not noticing her presence in his rage.

"The Guardian of Ash is probably just moments from arriving here! Not to mention Slayer! Why the fuck is he here?"

Her mind went back to the piece of paper Gael gave them on the first day of combat class.

Alec Arden: ...The Slayer (current)

Notable: Prefers stalking and trapping methods. But highly capable of hand-to-hand combat and use of various weapons.

CAUTION: EXTREMELY DANGEROUS. DO NOT APPROACH ALONE.

The things written down on the paper were real.

She shook her head and focused. As the figure passed by her, she jumped and aimed for the head.

The figure dodged, causing her to miss and land on the floor, pain shooting up her ankle. Ignoring it, she twirled, leg outstretched. The kick landed, sending the figure a few feet back.

She clicked her tongue when they did not fall like she intended. The pain in her leg throbbed, but she did not allow him to counterattack. She jumped once more, foot hitting his face. With a loud thud, the man fell to the ground.

When the man tried to get up, she slipped behind him. Chains wrapped around the man's neck, rendering him immobile.

"Who do you work for?"

Hands reached for the chains, trying to pull it off to no avail. He was about to answer when a familiar voice came from the shadows next to them. "Found you, rat."

Areisha looked up and found Alec Arden walking towards them with a relaxed gait. To Areisha, he would have looked the same as when she saw him in the bookstore. Except...for the blood splattered on his form.

The man who was looking for cheap romance novels and blushed at the mention of smut. And the man who did not hesitate to get blood on his hands.

For a moment, she wondered which side was the real him. Or was he both?

"Slayer! What...the others?" The man tried to ask. Areisha could feel his intense shaking the moment Alec Arden arrived.

What did he specifically do to earn Slayer as a title? Why was the guy so scared of him?

"They're either dead or dying, while most lay down their weapons and tied themselves up," Alec Arden said.

"You shouldn't be here! You were in Arktis a few weeks ago!"

A small cold smile formed on Alec's lips.

"I would still be in Arktis if your associate had not taken someone very important to me."

Areisha raised a brow in curiosity but kept quiet.

"Associate?"

Instead of answering, Alec Arden reached out for the man's robe and ripped his shirt open. When he did, Areisha caught sight of a tattoo composed of the twin moons and a feather.

"A few months ago, a little thief came to you, succeeded in his mission, then proceeded to Arktis where he overturned my peaceful life all in one night."

The man in her hold stilled. Before a loud shout and strong force caused her to let go, dislodging the chain with it. "Damn you, Herce!" he said. "I am Whisp—"

The torn piece of his shirt was shoved into his mouth. "You are not dying on my watch, Whisper."

Through the gag, a scream of fear and frustration could be heard. With a swift hit to the neck, the man fell unconscious.

Familiar icy blue eyes looked down at her from above. "Need help?" a quiet voice reached her.

Areisha blinked, before shaking her surprise away. Now was not the time to be surprised by something...like this.

Alec Arden just snuck into a warehouse filled with criminals and single-handedly took them down. He's so at ease about too, like it's just another day to him.

She ignored the voice and answered. "I can handle myself," she began. "Prioritize the twins and the draelings."

Alec Arden reached for something in his pants. "Catch," he said. He threw something at her before pivoting towards the twin's direction.

When she opened her palms, she found it was the key for the sentire suppression chains in her hands. He must have taken it from the leader of the traffickers.

She released her bindings and tied the man's hands behind his back using it. Using another rope lying nearby, she tied up his legs as well.

Just when she was about to follow Alec Arden, she paused when she caught sight of greyish-white pieces falling like snow from above. When it landed on her hand, she immediately realized it was ash.

"He's late," she said.

Looking up, she found that a large circle of black flames had formed on the warehouse roof. As the black flames devoured the area, they did not burn a thing. Everything the flame touched immediately disintegrated into ashes.

Soon enough, the flames and ashes disappeared leaving behind a large gaping hole on top of the warehouse. A large majestic black drae stood on the edge, his Draeyer seated on his back. The look on Gael's face was the complete opposite of his sunny demeanor. Nevertheless, it made her at ease.

She felt herself relax.

Draeyer Academy's Guardian of Ash had arrived.