The two rushed to a secluded area near the periphery of the town. When Myx and Darshel came into his view, Poltas concluded that something must have gone wrong.
"What happened?"
"Brandial was abducted."
"What?!"
The emotionless reply from Myx irked him. Darshel took the chance to explain the situation.
"We are not sure when she disappeared but it must have happened during the performances."
"How can a person just poof amidst so many people?"
"I agree with Miss Poltas, no one can just vanish."
"There might have been an oversight in the security arrangement. Only Astoff was present in the central area."
"ONE PERSON?!"
"What was he doing then?"
"He seemed to be looking for the parents of a lost child."
Myx was speaking objectively but it seemed insensitive to the emotionally involved Poltas and Winzton.
It was understandable for Winzton to be at a loss, but Poltas was surprised by the rage inside of him. Overtime he had grown fond of Brandial and thought of her as his sister.
His own sister failed to have a happy life but he wouldn't put Brandial through such an ending.
"Some oracle you are. What's the use when you can't even identify who's at threat and force us to protect random groups of people."
"I believe you are already aware that I do not have the power of foresight, Miss Poltas."
"You may not have that, but who was the one saying our biggest threats are imps."
"Actually Poltas, Brandial has been abducted by imps."
"?!"
Darshel wasn't keeping this intentionally from him. He had assumed Poltas would be unfamiliar with the creatures and didn't consider to mention it.
"How did imps get in here with the magical shield?"
Winzton was not privy to the details about the barrier. This served as a reminder to Poltas that he had withheld information from Brandial. Maybe if he had told her, she would have been on guard. At this time he could only place blame and feel guilt.
"Hahaha. Imps aren't strong enough to take adults. Only take kids. Who said this… If I didn't know any better I would assume this was an inside job."
"Are you accusing me?"
"What will you do if I am, huh"
"Both of you calm down, fighting right now won't resolve anything."
Poltas begged to disagree, arguing was the best way to resolve this, but with Darshel intervening, he had to step back and give face to the healer.
Winzton tugged on his sleeve and repeated his question.
"The barrier is not as safe as everyone thought. Any creature with enough magical potential can walk in and out of it."
"Then … then Brandial was…"
A choked scream made its way out his throat and he finally broke into sobbing. Myx was visibly displeased by this display.
"We should send teams out to look for the imp's hideout."
"I don't think we can afford to lessen our security measures right now."
"I doubt the imps would come back."
"What if they never left? It is possible that Brandial has been taken hostage by them to divert our attention."
"Imps are suppose to be the stupid ones, are you sure you're not an imp in disguise."
Myx ignored Poltas' quip and stayed silent.
"Poltas is right, imp's can't be smart enough to plan this. Unless someone is controlling them, they couldn't have taken any hostages."
"So what do you propose, we send everyone out there to look for one person and jeopardise the lives of all these civilians."
"If you cared about the lives of civilians, you would have closed this event up before it began. All you care about is maintaining your position, an oracle of war who can't even protect his people, hmph."
"Listen here Miss Poltas-"
Winzton cut Myx off.
"If you aren't sending anyone then I'm going by myself. Who knows what condition Brandial is in right now."
"I'll come with you Winzton."
The duo ignored Myx and any possible follow ups from the man, running straight towards the town entrance.
"Do you think she's okay?"
Winzton's voice lacked all its energy from a moment ago.
"I really hope so."
"What if-"
"No what ifs. If she isn't okay I will cut that damn oracle."
He stopped talking. Poltas didn't know where the imps could possibly be hiding. At the town entrance the two stood still eyeing the wide field.
"Winzton! Poltas!"
Darshel jogged up to them with an unhappy looking Myx behind him. Just looking at the elf annoyed Poltas
"What?"
"You guys ran off so fast."
"You want us to stay there and wait for Brandial to die?"
"Noooo. But we had sent out scouts to monitor the barrier. They identified that the northern barrier had experienced some manipulation."
"So the imps came from the north."
"There should be no disturbance when they come in, but to escape with a person, they'd need to interrupt the barrier."
"I see."
"It's not possible to send everyone to look for her, but just us four can be spared for this task."
"Are you sure the elf amongst us wants to be here? I am not sure I even want to go with him."
"There's no time to argue right now. You guys can fight later, let's go."
Darshel took the lead in entering the forest. Unwillingly, Poltas followed with Winzton.