Smell

The sound of hooves hitting the sandy ground made him turn back to see who was approaching. "Nakia. I asked for Kendi," he said.

"Kendi is still dealing with the rebels in the east, so am all you get," said the dark-skinned woman.

He sighs as he mounts his horse. "You take so many risks ... Aren't you afraid of dying?"

"As long as you're by my side, there's no one in this world capable of achieving the feat of killing me."

A smile flickers on his face but it disappears as quickly as it appears. "Do you know where we are going?" He asked.

"To the Potters' village ... Yves told me a bit about what happened," said Nakia.

"Jade believes the potters are the ones responsible. Tried using black magic and bit more than they could chew. What do you think?"

"The potters aren't really known for their magic affinity. I doubt they are stupid enough to use black magic on their first try. I don't believe the potters are responsible," she paused for a beat. "What did you say to her?"

"I told her to leave it for now. It's why I'm going there myself."

"You don't believe the potters are responsible, do you?"

He remained silent. "Ra ..." He pulled back the reins and the horse came to a stop. "Do you smell that?" He asked.

Nakia stopped and concentrated. At first, she thought he was just trying to distract her but the pungent smell soon flooded her nostrils. "Death."

They both dismounted their horses almost at the same time and rushed towards the village, not even tying their horses to the many trees around.

They emerge from the bushes to see what was left of the potters' village.

.

.

.

Hunter opened his eyes to see several trees moving past him. The sprite was confused but soon realized he was in a moving vehicle. He turned to the driver's seat to see Alice. "Ugh," he ran his hand through his hair. "Did I doze off?"

"Oh? Yes. You looked so cute while sleeping I couldn't bring myself to wake you," said Alice. "We're about to make it back to the villa though."

"We delivered the cake already? I don't remember that happening."

[It did. Pepi was very grateful. Maybe you should see someone about your memories.]

'My memory is fine. This is the first time something like this has happened and I'm pretty sure I'll remember once all the fogginess from the sleep is gone.'

"Are you okay? You're spacing out," said Alice as she drove into the villa.

"I'm fine. I -- is it just me or is this place empty?"

"Huh." Alice parked the car. "I didn't notice it before but you're right. Maybe the others aren't back yet?"

"I don't know ... We were there for some time."

They got out of the car and made their way into the main building. Once they were inside, they were greeted by broken pieces of furniture and footsteps from further inside.

[Hunter, this place reeks of black magic]

"Stay close to me," Hunter whispered to the blonde. They moved warily through the rooms until they got to the kitchen where Hunter was certain the sound came from here.

Hunter gestures for Alice to stop while he quickly leaps forward and grabs the person behind the fridge and smashes them into the wall on the other side.

"Ouch!" She screamed.

Hunter's eyes widen as he sees that it was Petra. "Crap! I'm so sorry," he apologized, letting her go.

"Dude!" She groaned.

"I'm sorry," Hunter apologized once more.

"What happened here?" asked Alice.

"I'm not sure either. Oliver said something about some guys storming the villa ... I was getting some ice for him," she said.

"Sorry," said Hunter while Petra rolled her eyes in response.

"You're not making any sense," Alice said. "Where's Oliver?" She asked.

Petra grabs a pack of ice from the fridge. "Let's go."

Hunter and Alice followed Petra who led them to the room Oliver was in. The year two sprite was sitting on the bed with Yui standing next to him. The scarlet-haired girl turned to the door as it swung open and there was a visible sign of relief on her face as she saw the dark-haired boy and the blonde woman. "Hunter! Alice! You guys are okay!"

"Yui, what happened here?" Alice asked.

"We don't know either after we took the truck drivers to the hospital we came back here and found Oliver knocked out in the living room," Yui explained.

"Oliver?"

"I can't remember much of what happened," said the year two student. "One minute Richard was discussing the new plan with us, the next the villa was crowded by people carrying huge sticks. We tried fighting them but the more we struck them, the more they got even stronger. The last thing I remember seeing was them tying up the other sprites."

"Did --" Before the blonde woman could finish her thought, they heard the sound of police siren getting closer and closer until it was coming from inside the villa.

"Who called the police?" Hunter asked.

"Doesn't matter. I'll handle it," said Alice as she made her way out of the room and towards the front door with Hunter and the other sprites following closely behind.

As they got outside, two men in police uniform stepped out of the car and it was none other than Thomas and Joe. "Sergeant Maximilian and Sergeant Locke, at your service -- wait, where's everyone else?"

"They've been taken," Alice replied. "By whom? We don't know," the blonde woman added.

"What?! Even Sir Richard?"

Alice sighs. "Yes."

"But who would do something like this ... And why?"

"It's a pure demon. I'm guessing the same one that has been kidnapping people all over town," said Hunter.

"How many times must you be told Pepi is the one responsible for the disappearing?" said Joe.

"Yeah, no," said Petra. "Turns out Pepi did nothing wrong. Dude was just trying to get married in style."

"That can't be right," said Joe looking at Alice to confirm the Metropolitan School of Mysticism student was lying but the blonde nodded and the brown-eyed man knew it was true.

"W -- Wh -- What do we do now?" He asked.

Alice turned to the teal green-eyed boy. "Hunter?"

"Now why --"

[Don't even dare finish that sentence]

Hunter sighs. "I have a plan; I'm going to need plenty of fish and some really, really, fresh milk."

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