"What was that?" She asked as she tied the last thug. They tied the men and the horses that hadn't run away around a tree on the far opposite of where they intended to run.
"My magic can be called electricity instead of lightning, and where I'm from it does not mix well with water."
"Is that common?"
"Yes, Its practically everywhere. You'll see it one day."John walked to the far side of the small beach and did the same on the other side as well. He stood at the road that they had come through and walked up for a hundred meter, "Dawn shouldn't be too far off now we should probably stay here unless you want to make us boats?'
"You're right." From his actions she had guessed what he was trying to do. There was only one road leading to the beach so they couldn't risk going back up. They had essentially sealed themselves in. The beach was small but wide enough such that if everyone hid they would have a good view if anything happened. They could repeat Johns strategy if need be but they had one more advantage: her. She knew John had said it only in passing and not thought any further about it but she could make some boats for a quick escape. She was tired however, she had never used her spirit(s) so much in such a short amount of time and in such a tense situation. She probably wouldn't be able to make the rafts right away.
They had gotten back to the group. From where they were hiding they had seen John sure the bandits into the water and he fell and they fell. They were so pleased when they saw the two of them come back after tying up the bandits and could breathe a sigh. The first person to speak was HLora who asked if they both used the same kinds of spirits. It was at this point that Minerva understood the layers of John's plan. Fireball was not just meant to draw the attention of the bandits towards him but to reduce the umber of questions asked by their group. The bird itself was sitting on Johns hair like a nest making it seem red like hers.
After watching the old man and John train she had come to learn that John was probably the only human besides his master who could use magic and thus many common folk were not used to it since it was an elven craft. Elves and humans had been enemies for as long as history existed so doing this would make it seem like he too was an elementalist and thus prevent enmity from within the group. She turned and looked at John with new found admiration. John was puzzled by this new look she gave him. He had not thought as far as she thought so he just smiled and bent over so that Hlora's son could touch Fireball who looked like she was sleeping.
"We will then use the rafts to cross the lake where we are less likely to be followed."Minerva went ahead and explained their plan to everyone.
"You want us to abandon our horses?" No one else could have asked this but Dugald
"Do you have any better plans, why don't you speak up, your lordship." she said trying not to hide the disdain in her voice. After hearing him speak many were now quiet waiting to see what happens.
"We can't just float around waiting for help to come." he replied
"Do you value, your horses more that your life, my concern is my family," Hlora surprised everyone by saying, "and the best way to save them is to stick with these two."
"Are you looking to die. do you want to end up like those thugs?" he retorted.
"Enough. I would refrain from speaking about matters about which you know nothing of. Your. Lordship." she said between gritted teeth. "Since we are near the lake, we will be going to my home, We live near here." From there we can go our separate ways.
"How will we get home without our horses? Do you have enough horses for all of us?"
"You can place your horse on your shoulders ans swim home, Your high and mighty lordship."
"Now rest everyone, we will do so in shifts, I will take the first one." Hlora said to try and end the tense situation. John was already sitting under one of the trees and his eyes were closed. Hloras son was resting on his shoulder. The rest of the group also saw the pointlessness of the conversation and found their spots to sleep. Even the smallest noise made some of them jerk awake. Minerva and Hlora were the only ones awake. They didn't speak but they didn't sleep either. Hlora shifted her gaze at her son sleeping peacefully next to John every so often.
Minerva had fallen asleep when John woke her. About an hour and a half had passed since the argument.
"Is there trouble?" she said but John simply shook his head. When Minerva slept Fireball disappeared and John had woken up then. He had indicated to Hlora who was nodding off where she sat that she could sleep.
"Its first light, lets go make the rafts I will help." He could tell that she was exhausted since she was not used to staying up all night. He was used to it being a youth from our world. They walked a bit into the forest to gather logs or rather so that Minerva could grow them. If they started cutting down trees people would wake up and bandits might come running. Their goal was to make about five six person rafts since they were about thirty. As they brought back the wood some of the people had woken up and were waiting for them.
She had found an vine tree with a bit of trouble and used it to essentially grown permanent vines that would be used to tie the wood together. They got to work immediately and by the time the sun had risen the fifth raft was almost done. Every seemed eager to get away from the tragedy. As they got on and drifted along some bandits were starting to arrive at the beach and started shooting arrows towards them. The women shrieked but the arrows didn't reach them since they were upwind of the morning breeze. The leader from whom John had gotten his sword was among them and stamped his feet in anger as they watched them drift off. John turned back and waved his hand at him making him even more so.
"Put a bounty up for those two!" the leader said as he got on his horse and rode back up the road.
Minerva directed those with the oars which direction to take. Needless to say it was quite cold and it was quite the task to row with their tired hands from making the rafts and staying up nearly all night not to mention their hunger. Luckily for them they didn't have to row for long since the cottage was in sight and the old man was standing on the small dock waiting. How did he know, she wondered. The current in the lake got stronger and they moved faster towards him. As they docked the old man beckoned them to follow him and they all looked at Minerva pensively and she nodded.
The followed behind him towards the smell of hot bread and bacon, lots of bacon. At this point no one could doubt his intentions any longer, He didn't ask questions or say many words and only indicated that they should help themselves. John and Minerva didn't follow them but walked into the house, their exhaustion had gotten better of them and had gone to sleep.
BACK home nearly a month had passed since John had disappeared. The police left it as an open investigation but there was not much else they could do since there were no clues as to what may have happened. The story had even gotten to the press since he had disappeared on the day the gallery had opened to showcase a famous mysterious collection. To the gallery though the disappearance was bad news it brought with it a lot of attention with some conspiracy theorists saying that they were cursed paintings which brought even more attention to them.
Takeshi-san had stated in the media that he denounced such thoughts since they didn't help the victims family. He didn't refute that the attention was good but still consoled his friend Malik. His daughter Ursula had gotten in contact with him asking if he knew any art critic that he would recommend for an art project. He knew quite a few people in with that kind of expertise and was happy to help.
Ursula had spent the last month trying to piece sort Johns canvases in the order which he had mentioned in his journal. She probably knew the journal more than John did at this point. She had also taken time to visit the places that he had mentioned would inspire creativity as well as looking for some of his class mates. Many of whom just describe him as an art nerd, quiet and reserve. Everyone used those specific words like they had been coached to say them, but there were none better to describe her brother.
When she received a phone call from an unknown number she assumed that it was Takeshi-san. It was a Monday and after spending the entire weekend running around the entire city, grasping at straws she was exhausted. Officer Marcus had told her that they received lots of calls on the tip lines but they were dead ends or prank calls. Her brothers disappearance now appeared at the end of the news broadcasts. Some reporters had showed up but they were kept out at the estate gates which was quite convenient since she didn't want to expose Carol to all the scrutiny.
Work was a pain. She could hardly wait for her lunch break since she was going to Porticus to meet with this art expert. The last of Johns painting was in the trunk of her car and she was going to show it to the expert to see what they thought. The news story had mostly faded by now but a few hungry journalists were still camped outside the gallery and pounced o to ask her questions the moment she strolled in the front. She was to eager to pay any attention to them. The gallery was quite busy that day their smaller showcases of the Talents in The City was being changed up. This was one of the things that had gotten some minor attention from the media and they had decided to create a platform.
The paintings in the inner rooms still remained were not being removed and they remained the same. There was a woman standing in front of the giant painting looking up at it. From a far her short stature made the already big painting look even bigger. It was just the two of them in there and the sound of her heels was too loud in the quiet room
"How long do you think this took to paint?" she asked without turning back.
"I don't know but i am guessing a long time. three months maybe?" Ursula replied.
"By my reckoning this painting took at least two years to finish. Look at all the details you can clearly see that the painters mindset changed as he painted." Ursula could not tell any of this since she had no experience at all. She kept quiet and let the woman speak more out of politeness than interest.
"Look at the top you can tell that this was meant to be a moon lit night sky, but somewhere along the way he painted over such brightness with these dark clouds, also you can tell that this was a battle of monsters and beasts but then he decided to add humans into the mix, why? What was the story he or she was trying to tell."
"I'm Ursula, we spoke on Takeshi's phone." she said awkwardly.
"You're the one whose brother went missing, how terrible." she said turning around and extending her hand.