James stepped away from the tree. He felt refreshed, even the scratches he'd suffered earlier were gone. Something was throbbing in his chest. The power was begging him to use it. It almost seemed desperate in its pleas. James wanted to indulge it so much it hurt.
But he had two kids to see to first. Then he'd fly out of here, like he'd planned to, and get back to his tea shop with no one being the wiser. The older fox was still lying on its side, its breaths ragged and its wide eyes trained on him. The younger one was starting to back away from him now, looking wary.
"How did you kids end up in such a place anyway?"
The injured fox bristled at being called a child, but it was too injured to sound menacing. The little one started to speak haltingly.
"We were...kidnapped...from our clan home. A couple of bad people were hoping to sell us when this swordsman swooped in and saved us."
James's mind worked. "A swordsman you say? Could you describe him to me?"
And so he did. It was all confusing. James did remember a red haired swordsman who'd attracted Jason's interest in the books. Jason had claimed he could sense the man's power, and that he'd wanted him to join his party. Unfortunately the swordsman wasn't interested in picking up what he'd described as the curse of his young life. He was one of a few rare people who'd gone to the academy to learn a trade, not one involved in either magic or combat at all.
But selling a bunch of children. Slavery. The darkness of the world. It could be tracked down to the same things, the hunt for wealth, power, influence. Ambition. Greed.
"Then he told us to wait for him here. That we'd attract too much attention in the city he was headed to. What with our three tails and all," the fox continued.
James stared at them both ponderously. He'd not read about characters like the two of them in the book, but that had been because they'd somehow made it back to their home before they ran into the hero. He did remember Hansworth, the swordsman he thought they'd described, saying the last thing he'd done with his blade was save a couple of kids and return them home.
"So, do you guys know how to get back home? I do know lots of beast settlements on this continent, but I've never heard of one with people like yours."
"You cannot find our village, human. Unless one of our elders welcomes you to it."
James frowned, a couple of things falling into place. No wonder he'd never read of any such village in the books. 'But, how did humans manage to infiltrate their village and capture them? Their story is more holey than the tenets of the sun god.'
He didn't feel like questioning them on that matter however. They were still kids, and he wouldn't like them to start harbouring unhealthy suspicions. He wracked his brain for something more to say.
"So, your parents are in the village, waiting for you?"
The young fox looked away, while the older one looked at him sharply, her eyes evaluating. 'Why did that question get them so on...? Ohhh!' There were tears glistening in the older fox's eyes. Something about that reasonated with him.
"We don't have to tell you anything! Leave us be, won't you? Mr Hans will return to get us shortly."
He'd been an orphan too. He'd fought, tooth and nail, to join his agency. And then —
"I'd hate to leave a couple of kids in this kind of place by themselves..." he hesitated.
"Mr Hans will come back for us," the girl said with conviction.
James couldn't argue the point. He knew the man would definitely return, but he noticed the boy shifting uncomfortably in the background.
"How long have you two been here?"
"About two—" she hesitated, staring back at her squirming brother.
"You've been here two whole days?!" James said in shock.
The siblings just stared at him. James felt trepidation start to steal into his heart. "Two weeks...?"
Still no answer. James cursed. How the hell had they even been feeding out here? He could not let this go on.
"How do you guys even feed?! I can't leave you here," he seethed.
"We've been feeding just fine. The ghost tree attracts small game for some odd reason. Though, I feel like that might be over now."
"Hmm?" James turned to stare at the tree.
Which hadn't changed much, except that its white trunk now seemed succulent. There were little red buds developing on all its branches. And the land around it was starting to be tinged with a green carpet. Small changes, but he was sure they'd start to become major in a month or so.
"I'm taking you to the city. I won't let two kids starve on my watch. Especially after I tried to kill one of them."
"They won't let a couple of foxes into the city. Hans told us."
James smirked. "But it is my city. Besides, how will they know you're in there if they don't see you enter the gate?"
"But what happens when we get in? There is a reason the location of our village is a secret even to us."
James remembered the things the books had said about the fox tribe and their abilities. Jason had wanted to get a warrior from that tribe to be in his party. He'd ended up having to settle for a wolf, and raven shifter.
"Did you guys consider using your human forms? You could even get past the guards at the gates, I'm sure. You're just kids after all, so I doubt they'd check you so meticulously."
The girl was struggling to come up with a counter argument. "But Mr Hans—?"
"Could be in trouble. I mean, why else would he leave you here alone all this time?"
The children exchanged a look, but James could already see the decision in their eyes, their drooping body language. And with a series of painful looking shifts in bone and general body structure, two human children stood in front of him. James cursed, pulling his cloak off as first as his finicky fingers could.
"Why the hell do you two not have any clothes?!"
The children only looked at him in confusion. He sighed, reaching for that incessant song in his veins. And the sky opened up to him.
The divine treasures were weird things. They were strong in some ways. For example they all gave access to three or more fourth-tier spell like abilities, although they didn't use mana. The problem with high level spells, fourth level and higher was the difficulty to wield them with precision.
They were more commonly used in large scale conflicts, which made them almost useless in a one on one duel. Or in a battle where one was surrounded by their friends and enemies. The large scale destructive power could not be controlled to only kill a select few.
But that is why they were perfect for strong archmage types. The ones who had to fight armies single handedly at times.
James's new power gave him three wind attribute abilities. He could create vortexes, very destructive ones, and create storms whose magnitude depended on the strength of his witch factor, and he could fly. A rather handy ability, and one the like of which only this particular power gave.
He landed in an alley after making sure it was abandoned. He didn't want to be setting off any alarms in the city. He wanted as little attention to his new abilities as could be afforded him.
"Wait here, the two of you. I'll go grab you some clothes. Walking into the city like this will defeat the whole purpose of our sneaking in."
He'd had to use his own shirt to cover the boy up. The girl was still wrapped tightly in his cloak. He only had a light vest on. It didn't flutter his body one bit. 'Why the heck was this guy so thin? Was it the booze?'
His mouth watered at the mention. 'Ahhh, this guy's natural impulses? I guess if I thought of working out... Yeah, every fiber of my being rebels against the very idea.'
He dressed the kids up, gave them a gold coin to spend, reconsidered and had it turned into hundreds of coppers so they wouldn't be cheated. One gold coin contained about a thousand coppers, and about ten silvers. The coppers would be enough for meals for weeks. He told them to try and use their strong senses to find their friend.
"Where shall we find you if we need you, mister?" the boy asked.
James only hesitated for a second. "If its within the next two hours, then you can track me in the city. A place called the dining swan. Here, have this."
And he handed the boy a button that showed the Halden family crest.
"If you need me beyond today, show that button to one of the gate guards at that great mansion over there. Tell them James Halden is your friend."
And with that he turned and left them there. He had other things to deal with at the moment. But his thoughts kept returning to them for hours after that.