By the time Rilcar got up from the ground, the boy had passed out from exhaustion, adrenaline and the pain in his leg. The wizard went to the boy, he had no affinity for life magic, he could only apply some basic remedies, Leena would have to heal that leg, it didn't look good, and it had to be soon if the boy didn't want to be crippled forever.
Rilcar killed the remaining terrified Kobolds without much trouble, he was really surprised, when he saw the hole with the corpses of three kobolds piled at the bottom and checked the ingenious ladder on the wall he got an idea of the boy's level of ingenuity. He dug up one of the ends of the string and found the tag. That boy really had resources, he had killed six creatures alone, had freed himself from captivity and had wounded and made another three or four creatures flee, he was truly a prodigy of resilience.
He couldn't take long, he tore the soul stones from the monsters, and collected the miserable loot they had, some daggers, a few silver and copper coins, and the skins of several rabbits. That small tribe must not have carried much in that area.
He carried the little boy on his shoulder like a bundle and left the cave, finding him had cost him much less than he had thought. When he entered the city he asked the locals what was on the south road, the key was what they told him, there were only good pastures for the horned rabbits, but for a few weeks the hunting had been bad, something had hunted or scared the rabbits.
When he reached the other side of the massif, to the valley, he looked for some place sheltered from the wind, there he found the tracks of a child, now he only had to find the rabbits to find the child or the predator, he only hoped to arrive in time and that it was not some really dangerous beast.
Near the rabbit holes he found the remains of a bonfire, from there he just had to follow the footprints, it was clear that a child had been dragged by a bunch of small bipedal creatures, kobolds, goblins, or something similar, there weren't many more possibilities.
Shortly after finding the kobolds' lair he heard the echo of an underground explosion, after that he ran to the cave, killed two monsters that were guarding and found the child... the truth is that the slip on the ice had made him make a ridiculous entrance, that boy had guts.
Halfway to the city the boy woke up, tried to kick him, bite him and uttered all kinds of insults, but Rilcar was not in the mood for nonsense, the sun would soon set, and he was not willing to sleep in the open if he could avoid it. Although bringing the child down would make things easier in terms of the relationship with the boy, with his limp it would take four times longer, it was better to continue playing his role as kidnapper.
Along the way, when kicks and bites proved ineffective, the boy switched to using magic, trying to freeze him, roast him, blind him, and even put him to sleep. Luckily, Rilcar could handle a child's magic well enough to dilute it without much effort.
It was actually fun, he was learning a lot from the boy as they walked, all his tricks, and even his ability or lack thereof for some energies.
When he reached the city gate, there was Leena along with a couple of guards, she hadn't left there all day.
"Here is your boy, I had to put him to sleep so he wouldn't electrocute me..."
"Thank you..."
"There will be time for thanks later, heal that leg, it doesn't look good..."
Leena had tears in her eyes
The boy was put into his mother's arms, and immediately a cart took them to the castle, they had to treat that leg as soon as possible, or they wanted the boy to have an ugly limp from the badly fused bones. Leena was already applying her magic as they climbed up to the castle.
Little Lizi was happy when she heard about the new prank of her useless little brother in the morning, however when he didn't appear after a few hours she began to worry. They couldn't find him in the city, they couldn't find him in the surroundings. At that moment, she really worried about her little brother.
She hated that brat with crazy and evil ideas, but he was her brother, and she couldn't help loving him, she realized how much she loved him the moment she realized she could lose him forever.
Two carts rattled along the castle road, the first was one of the carts used to bring food and straw up to the castle, the other was the bizarre wagon of a traveling magician.
Lizi ran out when she recognized her mother in the first of the carts.
"Mom!!! How is Gael?"
"Not now Lizi, run inside and tell them to prepare hot water in the kitchen..."
The boy's condition was actually worse than they thought, he had bruises, cuts, and a very ugly fracture that was getting infected. He had a fever, and he was really dirty, before they could do anything they had to wash him completely.
The girl ran back to the castle while the carts stopped in the courtyard.
"Do you have Alora resin and sleepwort in there?"
"What kind of traveling wizard would I be if I didn't have all kinds of things? Go in and help yourself, I'll take the boy inside while I do."
Rilcar entered the castle. It had been a long time since he had returned to the Nolkar castle. The castle had really seen better times. He had no affinity for life mana, but he was a traveling wizard. If anyone knew about ointments and potions, it was him.
While the mother was in charge of healing and re-setting the bones, Rilcar didn't stay still. He prepared all kinds of poultices and some potions that would help the boy heal.
When they finished, some servants took the boy to sleep. The tension was beginning to take its toll on Leena. Rilcar was reminded of the old days when they arrived exhausted at an inn after having risked their lives in some monster den.
"I need a drink..."
"Make it two, do you have beer in such a nice castle?"
"Don't be silly, the Nolkar are just barons from the north, they drink beer and fart in private like everyone else, where did you find Gael?"
"In a Kobold den, your son was captured in the middle of the meadow, but he freed himself and by the time I came to rescue him he had killed six of those creatures by himself… He's only five years old and has barely any mana, either he's a genius or he's the luckiest kid in the world..."