A blob of light in the nearby trees appeared. Arnos turned towards the figure just in time when a flash of light rushed at him. He dodged just in time and grabbed the intruder by the arm and threw him.
The figure did a somersault in the air and landed on its feet perfectly.
Clap, clap, clap.
"Not bad for a new member." The boy turned around, he looked about in his twenties or younger.
"Who are you?" Arnos spoke, while making sure no one else was near.
"Oh, I'm Pete. I'm an elder, here."
"The youngest elder." He added after a short pause.
"What do you want from me?"
"Oh I don't need anything, I was just testing on how fast your reflexes are. Anyways I was going to ask you to a friendly match-"
"I'm not interested." Arnos said and vanished without a trace, into the wilderness.
'What a peculiar kid, disrespecting an elder. Hmmmmm interesting, I'll ask Hunter about him later.' Pete mused in silence.
Arnos was walking by himself, wondering to what had just happened. He thought about it for a moment and then shook his head. It was none of his concern. He found a quiet place to do some training. He slipped his tralent out silently. Moving his arm and swaying his hips, he thought of new moves that he could use. He looked peaceful with eyes closed and his body moving as it wanted.
So snchronised and calm, but there was a battle occurring in his head. A pretend opponent that he was battling. His arms were quick, a flurry of movements. He leapt in the air, doing a double flip before landing on the ground. Before sprinting up a tree trunk to the top of the tree.
He opened his eyes, it swept across the scenery. Arnos sighed to himself and wondered to how Master Romeus was doing that very moment. Of course Master Romeus has his own problems.
Master Romeus POV
'Finally, I can get some rest. It's been too long since they started chasing me. I can't trust any of these Inn owners, they'd probably sell me out. I hope Arnos alright, I wouldn't forgive myself if something happened to him.'
My head drifted and I soon fell asleep but even while I was unconscious, I never let my guard down. For they could be anywhere.
Arnos was going to continue training when he heard a shriek. It was near the Guild HeadQuarters. He swiftly ran towards the sound and using Presence Seeker along the way, he arrived within seconds. His eyes darted and he saw a young girl crying.
Approaching cautiously, he asked the girl,
"Hey, what happened." Arnos tried to have the most friendliest tone but his hood scared the girl.
The girl was frightened, traumatized, she stuttered,
"I-I-I-I sa-saw..."
"What did you see?"
"My daddy! My daddy got taken away!!!" She blurted out and started crying.
Arnos wasn't quite sure how to comfort people and just said,
"Um, so who's your daddy and who took him?"
The girl looked up at him and this time spoke with a more certain matter.
"My daddy is an Elder here. He got taken by these people in black masks. I couldn't do anything!" She started crying again. She pointed towards a patch of grass.
There was red paint splattered on the grass, no it was blood. It easily tainted the ground and just by looking at it, you could tell it was fresh.
"Alright, I see. What's your name and your daddy's name?"
"I'm-I'm Mariel and my daddy is Helem."
"Oh alright, do you know Hunter?"
Her eyes lit up and he said that name.
"You know Hunter? I know him!"
"Yes, I'll take you to Hunter, and you can explain to him, to what had happened okay?"
"Okay, mister.. What is your name mister?" She asked as Arnos picked her up in a princess carry.
"Silent." He said after awhile. Arnos sprinted while holding Mariel and entered the Guild. Nitro saw the kid and his eyes widened. He immediately followed the two and it took him to Hunter.
Mariel spoke with more confidence near Hunter and Hunter's face expression shifted from one to another.
His once smiley, genuine face turned into a frown and frustration of anger. Hunter immediately after hearing the whole story in detail, shouted out orders. Nitro's face was not at all like his usual joker face, he had a stern look and gritted his teeth.
Colin, Spyro and more guild mates rushed towards Hunter. They were all speaking so rapidly that Arnos didn't understand it at all before Colin explained everything to him.
To summarize it.
It was the Gothan Guild, they were an old ally before they backstabbed them. They somehow had a deep hatred for their guild even though they were the ones who betrayed them. They kidnapped Helem because he was one of the strongest elders there. They caught him off guard while he was playing with his daughter.
They all knew that Helem would not fight in front of his daughter's eyes so he was an easy target.
The more Arnos thought about it, the more his blood boiled. He rushed to his room to pack up some things. The whole guild was in total lockdown waiting for their next move or Hunter's next call. Some how despite all the chaos of being attacked, they all remained calm. Well at least they seemed calm.
Hunter spoke,
"Everyone good work on staying calm. As you might know Helem was caught off guard and taken by our old nemesis, The Gothan Guild."
Murmurs broke out from among the group.
"They're back?"
"How?"
"This is bad."
"Those cowards!"
"Those backstabbing bastards!"
"Everyone. Silence please.. I know this is hard for everyone but we need to stay alert and get Helem back. I've made some quick groups based on instinct. Mark....." Hunter called out the groups until he called out Arnos's name.
"Silent, Lucy, Scarlett, Colin, Nitro and Alexander...."
Immediately after all the rest of the names were called out, everyone split into their groups.
Scarlett was obvious leader of their group and spoke with authority.
"Alright everyone. This is what we will do-"
Before she could say any more, Arnos slipped away. He worked better on his own and didn't need someone to be shouting over him with orders. Although he was kinda going against Hunter's orders. Well he never specified if you had to stay with your team.
Somehow Colin had followed him from behind. Arnos knew this and sighed,
"Why'd you follow me?"
"Why'd you leave?"
"Ha, guess we're even. You following or not?"
"Yeah, I'm following."
They went out through the back and Arnos checked his surroundings. Colin was alert and his movements were slow and steady. They started searching the whole perimeter. The sun had already gone down and darkness clouded the place. There was no light.