Laud and Sabrus were over 8,000 feet in the air but Laud held on. After consistent practice, the high altitude had no effects on Laud.
"Are you ready for your next training?" Sabrus asked and Laud tapped on his back twice. Laud grabbed onto a thick rope around Sabrus' neck.
He dove into the clouds with his wind tucked behind him. As they descended, Laud felt tightness in his chest. His head felt light and found it difficult to breathe.
Laud took small breaths wheezing each time he did. Sabrus spread out his wings and soared. Laud gasped as he took a deep breath.
Sabrus felt his heartbeat and it was erratic. He took Laud back down. Laud got down and Sabrus immediately asked,
"Are you okay? The G-force can be tough."
"I am fine," Laud said as he breathed heavily.
"We should take a break, go into town clear your head," Sabrus said and Laud did not disagree. He picked a small side bag and Sabrus flew him a little closer to town.
Pisco was in town playing his guitar as he usually did. He kept looking in the direction of the woods.
After hours of constant checking, he finished a set of songs and was about to take a break. He turned and saw Laud headed his way.
"You are late, I have already finished singing," Pisco said when Laud got closer. They sat down on a stoop as Pisco had a snack. He offered Laud some but he turned it down.
"Have you gone to the farm?" Laud asked.
"No yet. I am going to give him all the money soon. I have told you how I end in debt?" Pisco asked and Laud shook his head.
"That is only a gift my Papa left me. The payment and this guitar. He is a singing man, just like me," Pisco said and Laud sighed.
"What of your mother? Where is she?" Laud asked.
"Mama, never know my Mama," Pisco said then wondered if he should ask about what he saw the other evening.
At that exact moment, Laud thought of telling Pisco about Sabrus. Sabrus had advised him about how much he shared and who he shared it with.
"Let me finish this set then we go to the farm," Pisco said and got up then picked up his guitar.
Meanwhile, in Main, Loric watched as two drunk men made a fool of themselves.
"Why are we still following him? We got off Pyre, then it was he being sick. I do not want to be taking care of someone else's kid,"
Shaban said to Markeen as they watched Loric watch the drunks.
"First we are not following him, he is with us. I promise as soon as he gets better we leave," Markeen said before she took a sip of her drink.
"We can sell him and use the money to buy a boat. We can start over, no fighting someone else war," Shaban stated then took gulps of his beer.
A woman sat on a bar stool next to Loric.
"What's good here?" the woman asked and Loric turned to look at her. A woman with silver hair and blue eyes. Loric opened his mouth but no words came out.
"That bad?" the woman said as she tried to ease the tension.
Loric spat into a bowl he carried with him.
"Sorry, I....it just. I swear I am not always like this. I am normally very sociable. It's not a drink," Loric said then spat into the bowl again.
"Oh, you could have fooled me," the woman said, then took her drink and walked away. Loric watched her go and followed her.
"Excuse me, I am Loric," he introduced himself.
"Norma," she reached out to greet him. Loric grabbed her hand and bowed, touching her hand with his forehead.
Loric lifted his head to see her smiling.
"I was not myself back there, I just had to have another chance. Where did you say you were from again?"
Loric said as he accompanied Norma to a table. He pulled back her chair and offered her a seat.
Norma chuckled and sat down.
"I am from Emeo," Norma said and was surprised by his response.
"Sorry, but I don't know where that is. Maybe you can take me some time," Loric said and Norma leaned in.
"Say again, I did not hear you," Norma said but Loric just smiled.
She smelled nice, and for some reason, this made him happy. She kept leaning in during their conversation.
"This place is a little noisy, is there somewhere quieter we can talk?"
Norma said and Loric nodded. He led her to his room.
"I was saying…" Loric said as he closed the door. Immediately he turned around, Norma kissed him.
He kissed her back, he suddenly started to feel numb. Norma held him and slowly placed him on the bed. She opened the door and let two men in.
Loric was conscious but he could not move or speak. The two men started to restrain Loric. They cuffed both his hands together. They cuffed his legs then retrained his arms to his body.
"We wait, when the place is less lively then we move him," Norma said to the men who nodded in agreement.
One of the men got on the bed and started jumping. The men switched between each other.
Markeen walked up to see Shaban's ear against Loric's door.
"What are you doing?" Markeen asked and dragged him away from the door.
"It is okay, no more jumping on the bed. No one can be at it for that long," Norma explained her reasoning. The man got down from the bed and stood by the door.
"There was a real connection between us. You enjoyed talking to me," Loric said as he lay on the bed.
"The drug is wearing off, give him another dose," Norma said and the guards looked at each other.
"The drug is supposed to last six hours," one of the guards said.
"I know, just do it," Norma said and hissed.
"It is just, we have only three of the drug. He recovering faster than expected would make him difficult to transport," the other guard explained.
"Fine just shut him up," Norma said and got up.
A guard ripped a piece of the bed cover.
"Say Aaaaarh," the guard said as he held the piece of cloth over Loric's mouth.
"Aaaaarh," Loric said and flames spewed out of his mouth. The guard screamed as he stepped back. He fell to the ground and stopped moving.
The other guard ran and stabbed him with a syringe. He searched his colleague's pocket looking for his syringe.
He turned him over to see a broken syringe with the drug-soaked into the carpet.
Norma and the guard looked at each other.
"It's fine, he has been restrained," the guard said, then dragged the body to the corner of the room.
It was almost evening and Loric wiggled his toes and fingers. The effect of the drug was fading. The guard went out for food, and when he got back it was almost dark.
At this time Loric could move most part of his body. He turned his skin black, he took a deep breath. He focused then his skin started to glow red hot.
The bed caught on fire, the guard noticed and ran to quench it.
With enough force, Loric broke through his restraint. He grabbed the guard, who grabbed him right back. He immediately let Loric go when he touched his red-hot skin.
Norma saw this and pulled out a flintlock gun from her bag. She fired at Loric who cooked the guard by just holding him.
The pallet from the gun hit Loric in the chest and fell to the ground. Norma turned around and ran to the door.
Loric picked up the pallet and flung it at her with his fingers. As Norma tried to unlock the door, the pallet hit her in the leg.
She opened the door just for Loric to slam it shut.
"Tell me who sent you, and I might just let you live," Loric said the moment Norma turned around.