Heads up so you don't get confused, I changed the name of the country from Savant to Domiti because it was bugging me. The capital is still Savant though.

I watched helplessly as the three beat up their two pursuers. The only mercy they had was the decency to keep them alive. When they fell to the ground, unconscious, they dragged them out of the way and propped them up against a tree.

The three were a strange bunch. They dressed in messy clothes that would have been nice if they were washed. All of them were dirty but none seemed to care. They all carried themselves strangely. They had their shoulders hunched over, but the rest of their backs were stick straight.

The girl wore a purple dress that ended at her shins with uneven ruffles. The dress had a black corset across the stomach and long loose sleeves. She had black boots, and black leather straps wrapped around her palms and wrists. The girl had messy, almost matted, black hair. Her eyes were bright green, and they had dark circles around them. She looked muscular and fairly young.

One boy wore a black coat, a white slightly baggy shirt, black baggy pants, and tall black boots. His hair was pale blonde, and messy. It was all over his face, going in almost every direction. His eyes were almost black, and they made his pale skin seem close to white. He was also fairly muscular, but he seemed much younger than the girl.

The other boy had a head of dull ginger hair that was pushed back. His eyes were pale blue and glassy. He wore a black shirt and a red leather jacket. He had a black leather quiver slung over his shoulders and a bow in his hand. His pants and boots were black. He, like the others, was muscular and young looking.

The girl walked up to a seamlessly random tree and started climbing up it. She disappeared into the leaf's and came back down with a large bag slung over her shoulder. She opened it, dug through it for a moment, then pulled out a large coil of rope. She threw one to the boy in white and they started tying up their two captives.

The boy in red walked over to me and I couldn't help but flinch.

"Hey, you're okay," his voice was strained, but he still sounded nice. "Sorry about all this we just had to get our job done." He smiled with a bit of salt behind his eyes and held out his hand.

I tried to scramble away, but I imminently fell to the ground.

He took a step back and held his hands up to show he meant to harm. "Calm down." He slowly stretched out his hand again and I sheepishly took it. He quickly pulled me to my feet, almost flinging me in the other direction.

I waited in fear for him to push me down, or for one of the others to tell him to leave me alone because I was dirty, but nothing happened. The boy didn't seem to act like he knew I was a Tulava, but I couldn't understand why. I've never seen any of them before and I had no idea why they would take me away from The Tower. It was where a Tulava belonged wasn't it?

The boy lead me to a nearby rock and had me sit down. The other two finish tying up their prisoners and walked over to us.

"They don't look like Ardeses," said the boy in red.

The girl scoffed and rolled her eyes. "The girl's hand was burning, she's a Sari. And the boy's a Mercis." She turned to the boy in white. "Seeing as that log came from nowhere." Her voice was sarcastic, yet she seemed more angry than anything.

The boy in white gave her a dirty look. "I thought he was an Ardes."

The other boy raised an eyebrow. "Does he look like an Ardes?"

"He's not a Mercis," I blurted out, not thinking. I shut my eyes tight as I waited for one of them to lash out at me for speaking out of turn.

"What?" one of them asked.

I cracked an eye open, they were all looking at me with confusion painting their face. "He's a Laminar," I muttered

The girl didn't seem convinced. "How do yo-"

"She's a Tulava, trust her," said the boy in red, before he turned to me. "I'm Lael." He pointed to the girl. "That's Sirella," he pointed to the other boy, "and Isel."

Sirella looked at Lael like he just commented a murder. "Don't tell her that!"

Isel rubbed his temple slightly. "What does it matter? It's not like she's gonna turn us in."

"Shut up," Lael said. He turned back to me. "And who are you?"

"Ariadne." My voice came out squeaky, but they understood.

Sirella looked back over to the two they had tied to a tree. "You two get ready to leave, I'll take care of their Majesties."

The boys nodded, heading off to leave. Isel went to a different tree and climbed that, while Lael went over to the bag Sirella brought down and dug through it.

I sat on the rock alone, not sure what I should do. I knew they kidnapped me in a way, but I didn't know why. They didn't seem like they would care if I left, considering they had two others tied to a tree and they didn't even try to get them. I was only a Tulava. Why would they care about me? What would they have to gain?

I thought on the rock until Lael came back up to me with his hands shoved in his pockets. "How are you?" His voice still had the twinge of a façade.

"Alright," I muttered. I bit my tongue as I tried to work up the courage to ask about them, but I knew he could lash out at me.

"Are you coming with us?" he asked casually.

I opened my mouth to speak, but nothing came out. All I knew about these people, was that they were dangerous. They took me out of The Tower and beat up a Sari without a second thought, I couldn't imagine where they might be going or why they wanted me there. My mind was racing, but I eventually settled on, "What?"

"Well we don't really want to leave you alone in the skib, so I thought you could come with us." He spoke too casually for the time.

"Where are you going?" My voice cracked with almost every word.

He bit his lip. "We don't know yet. We've got a few plans, but nothing's set in stone."

I looked at the ground, not sure of what to do. I could always go back to The Tower, but what would happen then? A Tulava's power works best when they're away from the world. I could be cast aside after if I went back after being out of the tower. I could try to live outside of The Tower. Live in Savant, like any other Libre. No, a Tulava could never make it in Savant or Domiti in general. I couldn't survive on my own in the skib, but I hardly knew Lael in the others.

I weighed my options and settled on the only thing I thought could make sense. "I'll go."

Lael gave me a smirk then held out his hand. "Glad to have you."

I took it and he hoisted me to my feet and turned to Sirella, and Isel, who had climbed down from the tree holding a small bag. "Let's get going."

"Finally," Sirella muttered grabbing the other bag.

Isel strolled up to me. "Are you coming with?"

"Yes?" My voice was hardly audible.

He nodded then walked in front of Lael, whispered a few things to him, then walked into the skib. Sirella waltzed past, raised her brow at me, then followed Isel into the unknown. Lael pulled me along, walking through the trees like it was nothing.

I followed the best I could without slowing Lael down, but my best was probably his worst. My heart was beating out of my chest. Each snap of a branch, each song of a bird made me jump. I have never left The Tower before, everything was much... louder than I thought it would be.

When my mind grazed over The Tower, it couldn't help but stick there. I thought about my time there, how I wasn't allowed to leave. That got me thinking about why those three would have thought to break me out. No Tulava was supposed to leave The Tower, what made them think I should?

I ran over these thoughts over and over again in my mind. The curiosity was getting to me. I let a few more minutes pass by before I couldn't take it any longer.

"Wait." I regretted speaking up the second the word left my mouth.

Lael stopped and let go if my hand. "What's wrong?"

"I... Why..." As I stumbled over every word Sirella and Isel walked over to us and watched me make a fool of myself.

"Spit it out!" Sirella ordered.

I closed my eyes, took a deep breath, and spoke as quickly as I could. "Why did you take me out of The Tower?"

When I opened my eyes, they were all giving me a strange look.

"What?" Isel asked with a raised brow.

"Why did you take me out of The Tower?" I repeated looking down.

"Would you rather have stayed there?" Lael questioned his face shifting from confusion to sympathy.

I didn't quite know the answer, so I ignored it. "Why would you take me out? There were plenty of Tulavas in The Tower. Why not one of them? I've never met any of you before. So why me?"

Sirella let out a still giggle then walked closer to me. "Look. We had no idea who you were until today. We didn't know who would be in that cell. We weren't trying to break you out, we were trying to prove a point."

"What point?" I squeaked.

"That there are people out there who would gladly take the throne from that devil we call a king. That the people of Domiti are well aware of how the lower Libres are treated, and that they're willing to do something about it. Starting with freeing a heavily guarded Tulava." She gestured to me then turned around and stomped into the skib. "Let's go!" she called. "We don't have time to waste."

Isel glanced at me then followed her. Lael grabbed my hand and forced me along.

A part of me feared Sirella and the others. The way they acted was so... unnatural. I knew I should weary of them, but if anything they said rained true the same could be said for Domiti.

Thanks for reading!