Search n' Rescue

They had to circle around the outskirts of the southern side of the village to avoid the harpy detection. They couldn't use the same route they took. They have a child with them. who can act randomly and unthinkably during their sneaking act. They couldn't afford the risk of getting spotted. They had to find another way back to the courthouse.

"Uncle, I'm tired," said the little girl. Jogging around and sneaking away through narrow alleyways from the harpies was not an easy task even for adults such as Aden and Maeda. They already got halfway to the courthouse.

Aden looked around scanning the sky and the surrounding area —no harpies. He found a secured furniture parlor with intact windows and a door shut tight.

"Let's take a break for a while." Aden brought Jasmine to the parlor. He reached for the handle door and opened it. He looked up, the rooftop was also intact. The harpies wouldn't be able to find them here.

Jasmine sat on the couch, a bit dusty but still comfortable. Maeda sat on the wooden floor under the shut-in window beside the doorway. The window had gaps. Enough to peek out.

They took a break for a while and Aden wanted to ask a few questions to Jasmine.

He was amazed, he still couldn't believe they were able to find the girl unharmed in the mansion where the harpies were looming in the neighborhood.

how Jasmine got there undetected and how she stayed there until Aden and Maeda found her raised quite some questions. As if there was an invisible hand guiding and protecting her.

"I was in Madame Ruffle's mansion where I found Fluffy— dead," Jasmine sobbed as she revealed her story. "The mean flying women spotted me and chased me so I went back home. There, I met Batsy and winged lady."

"The winged lady told me to stay in the wardrobe with Batsy while she pulled away her friends from the house," said Jasmine. She was still in grief holding tight Fluffy's collar.

"Whose Batsy?" Aden raised his eyebrow.

"He is a winged lady's friend. He is a bat. a bat with black wings. A size of Fluffy. With little horns and blue eyes."

A winged lady?

a harpy helping a human child?

A bat? with horns and blue eyes?

A bat with a harpy? what is she talking about?

Aden thought about what Jasmine just said. She was full of riddles.

Maybe she is talking about a harpy. but a harpy who helped a human child away from the harms of other harpies—and A bat doesn't have horns and blue eyes.

"This is confusing," Aden murmured. Maeda noticed.

"Never mind," Aden waved his hand. Jasmine sat by his side. She held Aden's hand tight.

Maeda stood up. walk toward a broken mirror by the corner. Took a piece of mirror glass and slipped it out from the window gap. He was looking at the surrounding area to make sure they were safe and no harpy followed them.

"How is it, Maeda?" Aden asked.

"Safe, it is," he replied with his broken common tongue.

"Great, we can push on then," Aden suggested.

"Hai, our chance it is," Maeda replied.

"Still tired?" Aden asked Jasmine

Jasmine nodded. "Uh-huh."

Aden turned around and crouched, "Okay, now hop onto my back. Let me carry you."

Jasmine obeyed. She hopped onto Aden's back. She wrapped her arms around Aden's shoulder. Aden piggyback-ed Jasmine, ready to go.

"Are you ready?" Aden asked Maeda.

"Hai'" Maeda nodded.

"Hang tight," Aden told Jasmine. He opened up the door and exited the place.

Maeda led the way and made sure the path they took was safe and clean from harpies. the canopies of the buildings and trees made them invisible to the harpies looming in the Turnburn neighborhood.

"This way, Aden-san," said Maeda pointing out an alley leading back to the courthouse. they didn't take the main street. they were slipping through alleys and corridors between houses and buildings keeping away the harpies from them.

The dark streets of Turnburn loomed ahead as Aden and Maeda raced towards the courthouse, little Jasmine clinging to Aden's back.

"Khreeeaahh!"

The piercing shriek sliced through the air, making their blood run cold. Two harpies swooped down from a nearby rooftop, their wicked talons extended menacingly.

"Damn it, they've spotted us!" Aden cursed, tightening his grip on Jasmine. "Quick, Maeda-san! The courthouse is just ahead."

They pushed their legs harder, boots pounding the cobblestones, but Aden's pace was hindered by his precious cargo. The harpies closed in fast, screeching angrily.

Maeda whirled, bow raised, and let fly a brace of arrows in one fluid motion. One harpy went down with a strangled cry, feathers fluttering as it plummeted from the sky, two obsidian shafts protruding from its chest.

The ronin dropped his bow and drew his curved Median katana with a ringing rasp of steel. The remaining harpy shrieked a challenge, batting its wings and raking the air with its wicked forelimbs.

The harpy extended her claws. Maeda engaged it. They both have a fierce duel. A deadly dance between the curve blade and the curve talons. It seemed that Maeda got the upper hand, he played the harpy like a fiddle right into his rhythm.

At one chance, Maeda feigned, the harpy flinched, before she could fix her position Maeda already struck her down right on her shoulder, almost cutting her in half.

"Aden-san!" Maeda's warning cry made Aden spin just as another harpy dropped from the shadows, talons outstretched. He clutched Jasmine to his chest, shielding her with his body as those razor-sharp claws raked across his back. The harpy managed to tear the leather armor but thanks to the metal padding, he only got shallow cuts from it.

"Kwah!" A piercing shriek split the sky- the harpy recoiling, one of Maeda's arrows protruding from between its shoulder blades. It crumpled in a twitching heap.

But more were coming. Five more harpies answered the cries of their fallen kin, their wingbeats thunderous as they converged on the rescue party.

Aden's breath caught in his throat - until a hail of arrows and crossbow bolts lanced out from the direction of the courthouse. The defenders had answered the call, a veritable storm of shafts scything through the air.

they dispersed at low altitudes, some even dropped to the ground, hopped, and leaped to the nearby structures. Even in that condition, they were still aware that the imperial rescue party hadn't used the hwachas. They knew better not to fly above the rooftop near the courthouse.

At last, The heavy courthouse gates groaned open. Aden and Maeda reached the courthouse gates. They stumbled through, chests heaving from their desperate flight. Bolts of wood barring the way until friendly hands pulled them inside to safety.

Immediately, they were engulfed by a crowd of relieved townspeople, hands reaching out to steady them, voices murmuring gratitude.

They'd braved the harpies' gauntlet and delivered their precious cargo - the little Jasmine.

Little Jasmine slipped from Aden's back and rushed into the waiting embrace of her mother, Indry. "Mommy!" The little girl buried her face in Indry's skirts as the young woman scooped her up, tears of joy streaking her cheeks.

"Sweetie, you're safe!" Indry clutched Jasmine fiercely, rocking her gently as she rained kisses on the child's brow. Over Jasmine's head, Indry's eyes found Aden's, shining with profound gratitude. "Thank you," she mouthed, too overwhelmed for words.

Aden could only manage a weary nod, doubling over to catch his breath. A small hand clapped his shoulder - Martin, the mute, offering a skin of fresh water. "Uh wah uwahh."

Straightening, Aden accepted the proffered waterskin gratefully and took a long, grateful pull. Rivulets of moisture ran down his chin as he handed it off to Maeda.

The ronin drained what remained in two gulps, then swiped a forearm across his brow, leaving a streak of grime on his sweat-slicked skin. Even his legendary stamina had been taxed to its limit.

From the crowd emerged Father Edgar and Captain Willem.

"Well done, both of you," the captain boomed, clapping them each on the shoulder with his calloused hands. "A valorous rescue, to be sure."

"Indeed," Father Edgar intoned, his voice solemn yet warm. "Aione himself must have guided your path against those winged women."

Aden waved away their praise with Herculean effort. "Just...doing our duty, Father. Captain."

Around them, the rest of the defenders had hastily assembled, crossbows and spears at the ready in case any harpies had been brazen enough to pursue them to the very gates. Their grim, determined expressions spoke volumes of their conviction to protect this place - and its people.

The celebration hall was alive with energy, raucous cheers filling the air as the successful rescue team was feted by the crowd. Indry's eyes sparkled with pride as she turned to face Aden and Maeda.

"Thank you both," she said warmly, her voice nearly drowned out by the roar of the revelers. "Your courage and skill were invaluable."

Aden flashed a roguish vague grin. As the throngs of well-wishers pressed in around them, he accidentally allowed his forearms to graze against the soft swell of Indry's breasts - not once, but several times.

Indry didn't react and said nothing. Instead, she subtly pressed herself back against his wandering arms for a few heated seconds. It was a clear, unspoken signal between them - one they had exchanged just the day before over the breakfast table.

She is definitely one of them, Aden thought.

Their heated exchange went largely unnoticed amid the jubilant chaos. But in the shadowy corner of the hall, a solitary figure watched through narrowed eyes. The bowlcut-haired man's face was an inscrutable mask as he observed the heroes being lauded, his gaze sinister.

What secrets lay behind that intense stare? The bowlcut-haired man alone knew the truth. For now, his motives remained an unsettled mystery lurking in the shadows, even as the celebration raged on around him.

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