Eryn deflected the fire with one brush of her arm, and it instead hit the ground next to her.
"Wha-?"
"I dare you to try that again," she hissed.
The hooded man grumbled and flung another blast of gold fire at her, this time stronger.
'Extraction.'
Eryn stepped forward and absorbed the blast with both her arms, feeling the foreign power mix in her veins.
The man froze, taking one step back.
Eryn looked up from her arms, flowing with foreign power. "Now, how about a gift?"
She held up her arms and returned fire, draining her arms of the power she absorbed from her enemy.
He held a defensive stance as he watched his own power fly back at him and hit him directly in his chest, sending him tumbling back.
He hit the ground and rolled back onto his feet, clutching his chest. Blood came dribbling down his chin onto the ground.
Eryn stepped forward, and he stepped back. "Hit me, I dare you!"
He staggered back and turned to run.
Eryn scowled and motioned with her fingers, and white cords came snaking up from the ground. "Didn't you say I will regret it? Why are you running away now?"
It caught onto his feet and twisted up his legs, holding him in place so tightly that he couldn't budge his feet at all.
She whirled around to see Whitney handling the two weaker ones, who had to result to using daggers.
Whitney knocked them out of their hands with a kick and summoned her full Pegasus, which trampled on them mercilessly.
Eryn brought her hand to a fist, and the cords came lashing out from the ground once again to cling on the two other victims.
The maid clapped her hands together in delight. "Ah, my two young misses are indeed not to be messed with!" she cried.
Whitney grinned. "Of course...but who are these people?"
Eryn turned back to the main one, who was still struggling with the cords that continued to crawl up his legs with each pull.
"Let's start with him."
_______________
Elias felt something tugging at his belt and stopped, glancing down to see his black crystal activated, pulling in the direction of northeast.
Wayne stopped and turned around as he realized Elias was no longer walking next to him. "Hey, where'd you- what's that?" he asked as Elias yanked the strings off his belt.
The black crystal danced in his grip, pointing northeast as if it were telling to go that way.
Elias darted his eyes from the crystal to the direction it was pointing.
Is that...the direction his sister and Whitney went?
His blood stopped cold.
He remembered what Drachnai informed him.
'These stones are meant to help you when you're in trouble.'
Elias turned to face Wayne, who held a perplexed expression on his face. "What is that?" he repeated.
Master Xia, who was already far along the street called out to them. "Hey, boys! Whatcha doing standing there! Come on!"
"...They're in trouble," Elias fretted. "Whitney and Eryn, something's wrong!"
He started to go in the direction the pendant was leading him, and Wayne hurried to catch up with his quick, long strides.
He was getting worried. "What do you mean? Really? What's happened?" he questioned, his brows furrowing.
Elias shook his head, and picked up his pace, ignoring Master Xia when he shouted, "Hey! Wait up, boys! Where are you going?"
Elias and Wayne ran for it, their black and gold robes flying, suspense building up in their chests as the crystal struggled frantically in Elias' hand.
Elias skidded to a stop once they reached the intersection, causing Wayne to crash into him.
"Ow!" he shouted. "Hey, is that thing of yours reliable? Are they really in trouble?"
Elias gave him a look. "If it weren't, we'd be dead."
Then he turned right and took off, noticing how the streets started to thin out.
Wayne bolted after him, realizing how he was struggling to match his speed. He had once thought he was fast, and now he realized Elias was even faster.
They came to a stop abruptly once the crystal suddenly changed direction, pointing to their right at a thin street beside them.
The two boys turned their heads to see the backs of three ladies and quickly jogged over to them.
"'Ryn!" Elias shouted.
Eryn and Whitney turned around in surprise, and the maid lightened up at the sight of them.
"Oh, hey boys!" Whitney said cheerfully. "You missed the action!"
She gestured at the two men tied down to the ground with white coils while another stood, his feet stuck to the floor.
Wayne let out a sigh of relief, and he gave Elias a look of regard. "So that thing of yours really doesn't tell lies, eh?"
"Of course not!" Elias answered, kicking at one of the hooded men. "Who are these people?"
Eryn shook her head. "I was just about to find out," she responded, pointing at the struggling perpetrator.
Clearly, they hadn't expected their plan to backfire like this.
Wayne picked up one of the daggers Whitney kicked aside from the edge of the street and examined the material while Elias crouched down on the floor and yanked off the hood of one of the men's heads.
"Who are you?" he asked.
The tanned-skinned young man bared his teeth at him and wriggled under the bounds. "Let me go," he hissed.
Elias snorted and rolled his eyes, throwing the mask to the side. "That's funny. You attacked my sister. Why should I let you go? Why shouldn't I rip apart your throat instead?"
The guy blanched and swallowed at his cold glare. "L- l- look, childe, we were just following orders," he admitted.
Elias narrowed his eyes. "Orders? From whom?"
"T- that guy," he said, jerking his chin towards the one stuck standing up, the one Eryn was walking towards to.
"H- have mercy," he stammered as Elias ignored him and stood back up.
Whitney pulled off the disguise of the other attacker while Wayne followed Elias to where Eryn stood with her hand reached up to reveal the man's face.
She did, and immediately, Wayne recognized him.
"I know him!" he exclaimed. "I've seen him before! He's- he's..."
His mind blanked for a moment.
The man avoided their eyes nervously and plucked some courage, saying rashly, "Know who? I don't know any kid like you!"
"He's who?" Eryn asked, ignoring him.
Wayne scratched his head, perplexed.
This person, he had seen in the Bai residence before, he was sure.
The kids referred to this gray-haired man with black eyes and a neatly-trimmed beard their 'uncle'; his ears tell no lie.
But the more he thought of it, however...Uncle Bai only has one brother and sister, and it was not this man. Ailee Bai...doesn't have any siblings, either.
Also, this man, he doesn't live in the Bai residence...
Wayne's eyes widened.
"You godd*mn b*stard!" he suddenly shouted, raising his fist, anger boiling in his blood as he realized what was going on.
He was just about to throw hands at the terrified, middle-aged man when the twins grabbed him and held him back.
"What? Who is he?" Elias asked. He held Wayne back by the shoulder as he struggled within their iron grip, swinging his fists in a fury.
"He's that witch's lover!" he shrieked, grunting as he flailed in their arms.
He pointed a raging finger at the man and glared with all his might. "How dare you do that to my Uncle Bai! I will kill you and tear you to-"
Eryn frowned. "Lover?"
Her grip on Wayne loosened noticeably.
Wayne whirled his head to her. "Don't you think it's strange?" he asked.
He turned to meet Elias' eyes, and shrugged them off of him. "Don't you think it's weird that Ethaniel, the newborn and the youngest, would suddenly have a spirit as great as a tiger? Whilst his elder siblings, Edison and Evelyn, have a deer and falcon, which are evidently weaker?"
Elias raised an eyebrow.
He'd never thought about that...
His eyes slowly made their way over to the man, who was looking down at the floor, trying to hide his face, slightly trembling.
Wayne spun back around and pointed his finger at this 'Uncle'. "The only way it could be is that Ethaniel is the firstborn of that man and Ailee Bai! There can be no other way he could be born with a tiger spirit."
Whitney stared at them with the maid as things suddenly took a turn.
Wayne rolled up his sleeves. "Now if you would excuse me, I would like to-"
But Elias already beat him to it.
Eryn released the bounds and Elias took him by the throat, slamming him into the wall with frightening speed and force.
The wall cracked and lines started to run through it.
"Is what he said true?" he snarled, leaning into his paled face.
He held his shivering hands up in surrender, but no words came from his open mouth.
Elias glared, growing impatient. He released his throat and grabbed him by the shoulders before throwing him back against the wall again, letting him slide to the floor.
"Confess everything and I might let you live," he fumed. "If not, each of us will take a limb and we'll make sure you die a slow and painful death."
Wayne grinned excitedly behind him, awaiting this treacherous man's fate.