Mia, blinked as she finally could open her eyes. The blindfold was gone and so were the cuffs. She felt her way up but the place was too small even to stand up. She lowered her voice and slowly called out, “Lin, are you there? ”
At first there was no reply. She tried again raising her voice a bit higher, “Lin are you there? ”
“Mia? Mia. Where are you Mia. ” came a distant , hurried reply. ” Are you alright. Ahhhh! ”
“Lin calm down. I’m alright . You will only exhaust yourself. You won’t be able to use you powers here. Let’s wait till we get out. ” Mia whispered, ” Where are the others? Where Boshu? ”
“I’m here” came a groaning sound.
“What exactly happened back there? ” Mia asked.
“Like I told you, they had a honey trap ready for us. I only had my two men on the lookout. They were no match against their soldiers unfortunately. I should have been more careful. ” Lin hit the floor so hard it vibrated all along.
“Lin, calm down. It’s my fault that we are in this mess. I became greedy. I wanted to just catch a glimpse of my father before… ” She immediately stopped herself before reveling anything more about her deal with the Tree of knowledge.
Just at that time they heard something in the background. It was like shaking of metals.
They strained their necks to see what was causing it and found it was Roe.
Lin immediately clenched his fists at her sight.
“Save that for later. I know how things are between the tribes and I know exactly how it’s no ones fault but acute misunderstandings that leading to these silky conflicts. ” She turned towards Lin and said, ” I had seen you with those two ” pointing at the two other foxes in the cells. “I know it was your precautionary measure since I had not seen any more back up. My brother too was acting out of suspicion. He was looking out for his own territory. What happened after that was beyond me. ” She looked around everybody, then stopped at Boshu.
“Hey you. You are doing good? ” She asked.
“Never felt better. It feels like I’m back in my egg-shell, ” Boshu joked.
Roe rolled her eyes and continued, ” Though I am dismissing the accusations that my brother was levying on you, I still have my doubts about you, ” She pointed at Mia. “Hence, in this case, I am going to by pass my brother’s brutal torture routines and take you all directly to my father. That’s the most I could do for you guys at the moment. ” She paused for a bit, then continued, ” If you guys agree to that, we will have to sneak out right now. ” Then she quickly added, “but dont you dard think about double crossing me. Then even the gods won’t be able to save you all. ”
“How does it benefit us being presented to your father, instead of being handled by your brother? ” Boshu asked reluctantly looking up from his couching position.
“We will go, ” Lin disrupted before Roe could answer Boshu.
“Ok, then. Let’s go. ” Roe opened their cages and handcuffed them one by one. They formed a line as she checked for guards. Ducking and dodging, took them to a side walk. The bright sun out side immediately dazzled them. It seemed they had been in the dark for too long.
“Come on. This way. ” Roe pulled them inside the side walks of a castle. From there, they went on a few steps unnoticed. But as soon as they entered the Royal garden, Xie’s soldiers were standing guard.
“Where do you think you are taking the captives Miss, Roe, ” asked one.
“To my father. ” She yelled.
The soldiers immediately crossed her path.
“You wouldn’t dare, ” Roe fumed.
“We have orders. We can’t let you take them inside. ” The soldier warned Roe.
Immediately commotion ushered and the soldiers started attacking, trying to take the captives back. Roe blocked them left and right.
But they were out numbered. Lin bulged in a few times but his hands were cuffed and his powers limited.
“I could help if you would let me, ” He called Roe out.
She looked this way and that. Thinking it over, she had no other choice, hence she threw the key in his direction. Lin quickly grabbed the opportunity and freed himself. He kicked some of the wolves’ ass. But his main objective was to grab his mates and teleport. However he was severely drained so he had to do it one by one. But that would immediately endanger the ones left behind. He pretended to help Roe for some time, till she could ask to free one more of his mates. That way, they would be able to divide and vanish.
A few more minutes into the fight. The soldiers got some more reinforcements. Lin grabbed the opportunity.
“Quick. Pass the keys to one more of my foxes. ” He urged Roe. She didn’t even think this time before throwing it over to him.
Lin whispered in his subordinate’s ear as he unshackled him.
He nodded understandingly and immediately grabbed Boshu and the other fox and escaped in thin air. Roe looked back in horror. And just when Lin was about to grab Mia too and run away, a bolt fell where they were fighting , making everybody scattered.
From the debris and smoke that emitted, everybody coughed and struggled to keep their eye sight straight.
“Who cares cause commotion in my palace, ” roared a voice to heavy, everyone went looking for cover.
Lin desperately searched for Mia in a final attempt to escape. But she was nowhere in his sight.
Roe stood up from the rumble and yelled, “Father catch them before they escape. I will explain the rest. “