"What do you mean you lost it?"

"I mean what I said, I lost my ID. Is it not here?" asked Elene to a slightly tired Eric.

"If it was, I would've contacted you already. Fact is, it isn’t,” the blacksmith replied in disappointment, it had only been an hour or two since Elene left after all.

“The thing is, I cannot craft another ID in months, I don't have the materials anymore so you need to find it."

In months, that meant all her planning would go to waste. Where was her ID card? What did she do earlier? Earlier, earlier…

"THAT WOMAN!" shouted Elene as she let a burst of energy hit the mine’s wall making the galleries tremble.

"Princess, please refrain from using magic here. You are putting the workers in serious danger."

Eric was firm when it came to his folks, he would rather fight a thousand monsters alone than seeing them die. The old man would sacrifice himself if it meant that this could lead them to a better life. All of this meant that Elene needed to calm down right away and ask about her only trail.

"I'm sorry. I lost control of my emotions for a second.” The mage muttered

“Do you perhaps know a woman with scarlet hair? She had bright eyes." continued the Elene shyly.

"Aye aye, just do not do that again… a red haired lady with bright eyes? As a matter of fact I know three." 

Eric took a piece of paper out of his pocket and sketched the faces of whom he had in mind. His skills were not the best but you could easily make out the major differences out of his drawings. One woman was around her forties and had a defined jawline, this was not her. The second and third sketches looked almost alike, although one of them seemed younger. 

"This is Rayana, Vella and Himir. The last two are sisters and probably who you are looking for, they often get into troubles… but again please try not to hurt them. They are sweet girls." said the old man with a sigh.

"I'll call someone to help you out. You'll need a guide, they're not from town." insisted Eric.

A nod from Elene sealed the deal, soon after– a shy young boy probably four years younger than her came to her aid. He had brown hair and brown eyes like sixty percent of the people in this country– apparently even Eric had brown hair when he was younger, a young Eric, what a sight it would have been. The young lad’s name was Kristophe and would be Elene’s aide to help her find that red haired thief. 

A short walk was all it took for the duo to enter the deep forest with tall dark trees and an uncomfortable atmosphere. It smelled like a mixture of soil and corpses, the place was crowded with many plants which made light barely able to penetrate the trees' leaves. To counter this problem the mage made a portable light source from a tiny bright flame levitating, she had to be careful not to burn the whole place. It would have been hard to control for any other magician but to someone with years of expertise it was but a piece of cake. After several hours of walking Elene understood why Eric forced her to take Kristophe under her wing, she would probably have lost her way otherwise.

After hesitating for what felt like an eternity, the young brown-haired lad finally mustered the courage to break the silence. The encroaching night had filled him with unease that could only be cleared by a conversation..

"Lady… I"

A hand covered his mouth before he could say anything else and the floating flame disappeared. The boy looked to his right only to see Elene signing not to talk at all. It seemed like she had sensed that they were no longer alone in these woods, but what she felt was nothing like two young women; it was a whole group of people. Soon after there were yells resonating in the trees confirming the mage’s theory the sounds were getting closer and closer until it finally was possible to understand what was happening.

"There, there Himir. We had a deal, remember? You bring the money, you get your sister back! That's as easy as it gets. But you didn't…" said a deep voice far ahead.

"I have the money! I even have a noble's ID card. But I hid those away, I want my sister first." interrupted a soft yet firm voice which apparently belonged to Himir.

Kristophe was shivering besides Elene, it did not stay unnoticed to the mage as she decided to whisper in the boy's ear to head back to his village quietly. After all she had found what she was looking for and there was no need for him to get into trouble, he would only be a thorn to her side if things were going to heat up. The brown haired boy started to head back when he stepped on a branch, soon after an arrow was shot at them followed by a massive rock.

“Ya didn’t need to do that, by all gods. Felix.” said a woman sighing.

“Sorry boss, I was sure I sensed something scary.” replied Felix.

It seemed like they were not spotted yet. Which was the only good news in this scenario, bad news was that she counted at least seven people: two men very close, one woman being the “boss” and Himir, the other members of the group were not close to them. Fortunately it seemed they were not strong and a simple barrier blocked the projectile that was thrown towards Kristopher, however there was a strong smell of pee lingering around her, Elene turned to see that the poor boy had peed himself. She tried to communicate to him that everything was going to be alright but she didn’t have the time to move or say anything that loud barks resonated with the sound of a large hound running their way. Shit they were now one hundred percent found.

“Keld! Right on time! I was sure someone was there!” yelled Felix

A grunt was Keld’s only answer as the group started to run after their dog in order to catch who was listening to their deeds, and eliminate them.

“Run!” 

Elene urged Kristophe as she pushed him away, she had to make sure to bring the boy back home in one piece and while she could take care of them with ease, she might not be able to protect him at the same time. They ran clumsily trying to avoid all the branches and plants in their way but the forest only seemed deeper in the dark of the night. It was even harder for Elene to concentrate with the sound of their pursuers bringing terrible memories back in her mind.

‘Kill them, they are only bugs why do you even care? That is not the Elene I know.’

Terrible headaches followed this mysterious voice which was akin to a monster. But Elene not only fought the thoughts, she fought to protect, she no longer wanted to shed innocent blood. The mage grabbed Kristophe’s hand to help him run and give him comfort, or rather to relax herself.

‘Elene, kill them. Do it.’

The voice chuckled and disappeared as if it never existed in the first place. The howls of the hunting dog reminded the duo that they were still being hunted; however it seemed that Elene could make out the end of the tree line ahead, which meant they would be able to join Eric’s town soon enough.

As they finally caught sight of the end of the tree line ahead, Elene couldn’t help but let a triumphant smile cross her face. “Kristophe, we made it! Just a little bit longer, hold on!” she exclaimed with relief in her voice.

No answer, that was alarming– Elene froze as her grin slowly disappeared. Wait, the boy wasn’t yelling or breathing out loud anymore. If he was not here then… whose hand had she been holding this whole time?