” Mia is missing? ”
Lin yelled without hearing anything else.
Not the part where his son was already born and that he was at risk.
” Lin calm down! ”
Xie had to physically hold him down.
” You are saying Mia already gave birth to a son? ”
Ruby nodded. ” And then she vanished? Just like that! ”
” I mean she might have had her reason. I am unable to understand that. But the life of her son is at risk here. ”
Ruby was still having problem to stand.
Roe came in , held her from the back and lowered her to a comfortable seat.
” Lin, stop! Where are you leaving! ”
Lin was about to use his vanishing light technique. The Wolf King stopped him at the nick of time.
” I need to find Mia… ” Lin looked like he was in a state of daze.
” Yes. We do. But it seems like your son might be in more danger. Lin get a hold on yourself. This is time for action. You can’t let your emotions run wild. ”
” My son? ” He said as if it was the first time he was learning about his existence.
Just then the gate keepers announced the Fox King’s arrival.
” What is happening here? ”
He asked the moment he entered.
” Father, I have become a father myself! ”
It was evident that he was all over the place.
” This is Ruby, Mia’s mother’s sister. She has risked her life in informing us about Lin’s son’s birth. But we have no time to celebrate. Mia is missing. We do not know any details about it yet. But the situation that immediately needs our attention is the threat lurking over Lin’s son’s life. The mer-witches might be planning to exploit his unique blood line for their occult practices.”
” Father, I think we must head straight towards the mer-kingdom, “Xie proposed.
” That is not possible at the moment. I am guess the mer- queen had been planning this before hand. The fake Water Breather that the human king had has died out already. It was done from the mer-world. ”
” I don’t care. I will dive in anyway! ”
“Don’t be stupid Lin. We don’t need you to go in a suicide mission. That will serve no purpose whatsoever. ” The Fox King turned towards Ruby, ” Is there any technique that will help us to keep breathing longer under the waters? ”
Ruby sighed, ” Apart from the water breather, there is just one technique that can help a non mer person from drowing. It’s the Air Bubble pocket but… ”
” But what? ”
Almost everybody present there asked in unison.
” But I am not an expert in that field. I can try but I don’t have that much cultivation to strengthen or lengthen the process. It’s was Crystal’s expertise and Mia too seems to have inherited it. ”
Ruby summarised.
” How many can you support and for how long? ”
The Wolf King asked.
” I think I can hold around three for a couple of hours! ”
” Fantastic. I am going. ”
Lin jumped up again and was on his feet.
” I will go in too, ” Xie said.
” I can be the third, ” Roe volunteered.
” But what will the three of them and myself be able to achieve against the entire mer- army. We will be butchered even before we will be able to reach the mer- palace! ”
Ruby turned towards the Wolf king.
” I might have a solution for that! ”
Nanako walked in from behind with something in her hand.
” I can cloak your scents with of Fox art. You can sneak in and get the boy out first. The rest can be settled after we trace Mia and find her! ”
Everybody knew it was a risky bargain. Anything could go wrong any moment. But it was a risk they had to take.
” Let’s go! ”
They moved a small portion of the settlement towards the beach.
” Stand back a foot away from each other! ”
Nanko instructed as they helped them mask their scents with their Fox technique.
Next was Ruby’s turn.
Lin, Xie and Row entered the water along with her. They dived at her instruction.
She pulled all her strength and wrapped them with a thin film of air. Enough to keep them going.
They swam under the layers of water. Ruby lead the way. They successfully sneaked in unnoticed.
” This way, ” Ruby further showed them the way to the palace.
But something was not right. Ruby did notice it but she did not alarm the others.
The mer- kingdom looked oddly deserted. Though she had used the secret passage, she had not noticed any body doing the patrols or playing and fooling around.
She stopped when the way towards the palace too looked the same.
” What happened? ”
Roe asked stopped when she noticed Ruby was not coming for a few seconds.
” Something is not right! ” Ruby said.
” What is the matter? ”
Lin was getting to impatient. He did not want to waste even a second.
” It’s oddly deserted. I can see no one! ”
” Is it? I had thought so too. But I had no knowledge of the more population so thought that it might be just usual. ” Roe added.
Before they could further their conversation, an bunch of light arrows cane at them from all direction.
” Brave yourselves! ”
” Protect Ruby! ”
The three of them were finest warriors. They immediately formed a triangular body shield around Ruby and blocked all the attack attempts.
” This was a trap. They knew we would be coming. ”
” This means they got inside Jade’s head. It was the only way for them to know where I was going. ” Ruby was on the verge of breaking down.
” I wonder what they did with my sister! ”
” Don’t worry Ruby! We will get you all out safely with us! ”
Xie moved in closer over her structure.