Most people would probably be asking questions like: How did Reeve go from being a zombie dreaming about martial arts to being a kickass martial arts master? First, he wasn't a kickass martial arts master. If such a person witnessed the fight, they'd shake their heads in disappointment. Why? Because Reeve's moves were sloppy, a characteristic of amateurs!
Second, they weren't the only ones wondering such questions. Reeve looked at his hands, then he looked at the red-haired girl lying on the ground unconscious. Did the dream have something to do with what he had done? If so, how? Without answering those questions, he lifted the girl and went back to the tribe.
When he arrived at his house, Eskaria was not there. Since the sun was up, he figured she had gone to buy some bread at the bakery. Despite the tribe being small, they had their own bakery. It was owned by a man called Caius. Besides the fact that he provided their daily bread, Reeve didn't know anything else about this guy.
After tying up the girl and gagging her, he left. He was headed towards the chief's house. Moments after he left, Eskaria returned. Imagine her surprise when she went into the house and saw a red-haired girl lying tied up on the bed. As she was wondering what had happened, the girl woke up. Eskaria removed the cloth used to gag the girl's mouth.
"Eskaria? Where am I?" asked the girl.
"Erica! What are you doing here? And why were you tied up?"
"Your husband kidnapped me! I didn't know he was into such kinds of things!" replied the girl, with indignation.
When Eskaria heard the words "Your husband", she blushed. They had been living together for some days now, but she didn't consider him her husband at all. So why was she living with him? Well, it's not like she had another choice. Placing the basket with bread on the table, she untied the girl she called "Erica".
"Where did he go?" asked "Erica".
"I don't know. He left early in the morning to go for a jog. I didn't expect him to come back having kidnapped you."
"I need to leave before he comes back!"
"Wait, why don't we go and report this to my father?"
"I don't think he'll let me off easily. I need to run away from here. Why don't you go and report this to your father, while I run and hide? I'll come when it's safe."
"That sounds like a great idea. I'm sorry he put you through something like this. I hope he didn't do something worse!"
"Why are you apologizing for him? It's not your fault after all!"
"You're right. You better leave before he comes back and finds you here! As for me, I'll go to my father and report this!"
"Okay. Wish you the best of luck."
"I wish you luck as well."
The two left, with Eskaria going towards her father's house, and the red-haired girl going in the opposite direction, or so Eskaria thought. A few moments later, Riza stealthily followed Eskaria, who walked slowly. It appeared as if she was thinking about something. When she arrived at the chief's house, however, she was barred entry! As for Riza, she somehow managed to go around the house, and through the windows which were open, she started eavesdropping.
Karim was pacing about inside the house. If what the messenger of the gods had said was true, then they had a very big problem. He was certain that the Southern Water tribe was somehow behind this!
"Where's the girl now?" asked Mrak, impatiently.
"I left her in my house, tied up", replied Reeve, with a stern face.
Mrak called some warriors, which he sent to Reeve's house. However, some minutes later, they returned empty handed!
"Where is the she?" asked Karim.
"Umm we couldn't find her anywhere, grand priest", replied one of the men who had been sent. He was sweating profusely. "We found the rope used to tie her up, but she wasn't there."
"Oh no!" said Reeve, getting up.
"You're dismissed!" spoke Mrak, towards the warriors.
"Yes chief!" and with that, they left the house.
"Is there anyone else who knows about the foundation stone?" asked Reeve, looking at Karim.
"Umm … only the three of us know about it", replied Karim, hesitantly.
What they didn't know, of course, was that there was a fourth person who now knew about it. This person was Riza, and as she heard this information, she smiled. She could consider her mission finished now. All she had to do was leave this stupid place and then all will be well. As quietly as she could, she left the place she was eavesdropping from, and ran towards the road that led to the Southern Water tribe.
Back in the house, Eskaria managed to barge into the room where the meeting was being held. When she saw everyone in the same room, she hesitated to tell her father about what she had seen.
"Eskaria, why are you here?" asked Mrak.
"Father, I want to report something. He kidnapped one of our guests and tied her up!" she responded, pointing at Reeve.
Reeve face-palmed himself. He spoke, "Let me guess, it was you who let her go!"
"Of course, I had to let her go! No one deserves to be treated like that! You had already been given me! What else did you want?" as she realized what she had said, she turned quite pink.
Mrak and Karim looked at each other, while Reeve shook his head.
"Esk, honey, that girl was a spy!" Mrak said, with a soft voice.
Riza kept running, until she was quite far away. After changing her direction twice to make sure she wasn't being followed, she headed towards the Southern Water tribe. There were some unanswered questions in her head. Her investigations had revealed that the funny zombie thingy was real, but it had curse magic. However, when she fought it, she was defeated in combat!
The problem was that, she had never seen that type of combat before. Even at the academy, she had never seen anyone else using it.