9 Minutes Later

Looks like the coast is clear...

I take a deep breath and the color inside the carriage begins to restore. My younger brothers stare in admiration at the change in scenery.

“Hey big bro, how many times can you do that?” Monspeed inquires.

“I can do it seven more times today! Which reminds me, we need to get stronger...”

“How are we supposed to do that?” Meliodas chimes in while Monspeed shrugs his shoulders.

“MyrMyr's ability stops the flow of time, so it should give us enough time to get stronger,” Minerva states, clearing her throat.

“How do you know all that,” asks Monspeed.

“Because I pay attention!” Minerva teases her twin brother.

“But she's not wrong, however, we can't be in there forever. I can only hold it for about twelve minutes at a time, and I can only use it eight times a day.”

Monspeed tries to make sense of the numbers by counting his fingers. Boudica yawns and finally wakes up from her nap.

“Don't think too hard about the skill, for now, we need to be strong enough to take down at least one full-grown Lizardman a piece.”

Minerva nods her head in agreement while Meliodas and Monspeed give each other a nervous grin and both gulp in fear; Boudica gives me a semi-toothy smile.

Elsewhere in the LeFey Forest

Belinda and Naga scope the woods to see if there is any trail of the children.

“At this point, we might as well just give up...” Naga exclaims.

“This is just a waste of time... I don't even think there were kids in that carriage to begin with...” Belinda suggests.

“You think Rango's informant was wrong?” He asked her in a concerned tone.

Belinda shrugs her shoulders, “It's getting late... We need to make it back to the base before it gets too dark*...”

(*Belinda and Naga are classified under the Dibamidae sub-species of Lizardmen. Although there aren't many physical differences between a common Lizardman, Dibamidae Lizardmen have low visibility at night. This is compensated by their extreme sense of smell and physical prowess.)

The two Lizardmen shake their heads and begin their way back to the hideout. Naga looks up and squints his eyes; Belinda draws her attention to an invisible presence. The two begin to flick* their tongues and hiss at each other

(*A form of Lizardmen communication.)

“Let's make this quick...” Belinda hisses.

“Right!” The two Lizardmen sprint into the dense forest.

Back at the Carriage

We stand outside the carriage in circle, relatively close to one another, I close my eyes and start to breathe deeply.

“What are you doing?” Monspeed raises his hand to ask.

“Regulating my breathing, there are some abilities you must prep yourself for. This is one of them.”

The loose dirt around us begins to shake, as I continue to breathe slowly. Everyone looks around with puzzled faces.

“Can't even do it again,” Meliodas states, and the twins start to snicker.

“Oh, ha-ha, I'm not seeing you practicing your magic, or maybe you don't have any.”

Meliodas starts to blush and pout; Monspeed and Minerva start laughing.

“I'm just teasing you, now all of you, that means you too, Bo. Take a deep breath in and out, slowly. The more you breathe, the easier it will be for mana to travel through your body...”

The kids all start to breathe slowly; each of them starts to fidget but after a few seconds of breathing, they eventually calm down. The ambient mana in the forest begins to materialize and form around the children as they continue their breathing. When I open my eyes, I realized they listened to me and were following my lead.

“Very good! Now, I'm no expert, but I can tell you breathing is the first step of figuring out how to manipulate mana!”

They all ignored be as they were focusing solely on their breathing.

“Now Mini, I want you to listen to the mana around you and I want you to slowly open your eyes and extend your hand. Think about how you want to use the mana, manipulate it, and make it submit to your will.”

Minerva's aura begins to stabilize and turns a faint purple color. Minerva raises her right hand and begins to write her name in the air..

Shadow Latching... Minerva thinks to herself.

Did she just think her spell, and could I hear it?

Yes... She responded.

The purple mana surrounding her hand grows more solid and forms hook-like tendrils. I was completely amazed, aside from myself, Father and Uncle Aether, I’d never seen anyone perform spell without speaking; she opens her eyes with the tenacity to burn the sun and throws her hand forward. The purple tendrils shoot from her hands and latch onto a tree. Minerva smirks and clenches her right hand into a fist.

*Shadow's Chokehold... Her thoughts this time were much louder than the initial spell. The mana tendrils quickly begin to swell, squeezing the tree until it snaps in half. Minerva jumps around praising herself for her accomplishment. I thought I was strong at my age, but, she just might have me beat. It was evident to me that Minerva's raw power was on the same level as mine.

“W-well, let's see what you babies got!”

Monspeed nervously chuckles, while Meliodas takes a deep breath and resumes his breathing. The youngest brother clears his mind and slowly lifts both his arms forward. The wind surrounding him begins to pick up as he continues to breathe.

When he opens his eyes and sees a twig on the ground next to him. Maintaining his breathing, he reaches down picks up the twig to cast.

What is he thinking?

I’m not sure, and who are we talking? Minerva asks me. I press my finger to my lips and point to our brother as he begins gracefully stroke his wrist.

“*Wind Signature: Gale Blades!” He yells out.

So, I guess he can’t silent cast...

The wind surrounding Meliodas picks up even more and large blades of wind project forward, clearing a section of the trees and bushes.

Minerva and Monspeed stand dumbfounded at our brother's strength. I turn to Monspeed and gives him a smirk.

“Fine!” He yells out.

Monspeed resumes breathing, and his aura begins to heat up.

Well, this is new.

MyrMyr it’s getting hot...

The air around us starts to heat up, causing us to sweat. Monspeed reaches for his pocketknife in his back pocket.

When did he get that?! Minerva screams internally as Monspeed starts etching his name in the air.

“*Heat Signature: Fahrenheit,” Monspeed screams out as a massive wave of heat emits from him; the rest of us brace themselves. “Now we're cooking! Feels like the sauna!”

Monspeed closes his eyes and clenches his fists to generate more heat.

(*Signatures are semi-unique skills that are inherent and aren't typically taught in a traditional way. Young mages that wish to further advance their magical prowess, they first must enroll in one of Shangri-La's many magical institutions.)

The heat from his aura is extremely intense and hard to move through. I must cover my face and squint me eyes to avoid them drying out from the heat. “TURN DOWN THE HEAT, SPEED!“

Monspeed opens his eyes and sees his siblings drenched in sweat, “My bad!” He chuckles.

We all burst into laughter; I wasn’t too sure if they could pull it off, but it looks like they catch on just a fast as I did. Suddenly some bushes start to rustle, and it catches our attention.

Mini, we’re not alone...

Okay MyrMyr... She replied.

I motion my siblings to get down and to stay quiet. “We have visitors...”

Monspeed and Meliodas hide behind me, as Minerva and I ready ourselves for the battle. I direct my attention to the rustling bushes. He glances at Minerva; she nods.

Night Begins to Fall

Minerva and I close our eyes as our brown skin begins to *shimmer as the night starts to fall.

(*Intrinsic skills are skills that are granted at birth. Asuras have the intrinsic skill to camouflage with the night sky. Their skin is made of tiny dark scales that reflect light, when night falls, the scales start to darken and the Asura will appear to be invisible.)

We slowly approach the rustling bushes.

“Where did they go?!” Naga hisses in anger.

“They couldn't have gone far...” Belinda responds.

Quickly and quietly, Minerva and I sneak past the two lizardmen and loom over them with our malicious aura.

Naga and Belinda both gulp and tremble in front of the malevolent presence* creeping behind them. They turn and face each other, and if I didn’t know any better, I’d swear I saw them sweat up a storm.

(Presence is excess mana that cannot be used directly by a mage, however, if skilled enough, the mage can use their presence offensively.)

Elsewhere in The Base Camp

Rango escorts Twyla and Jade to the Lizardmen's underground bunker, where he leaves the two chained against a wall.

“As Lizardmen, we tend to take pride in our primal urges...” Rango hisses, “For example, we usually look for any means to get ahead. Whether that means politically, or monetarily, we're always looking to get ahead in life.”

“It sounds like a pathetic life to me...” Twyla spits.

Rango calmly approaches Twyla and violently backhands her across the face. Twyla looks up with a bloody smile and spits blood in Rango's general direction.

Rango scoffs, “That resilience will be the death you...”

“Bite me!”

“It'll take more than a little torture to break Lady Twi...” Jade chuckles.

Rango scoffs once more as he secures the restraints and proceeds to head out of the bunker. Before leaving, Rango looks over his shoulder and stares at Twyla. The two lock eyes, as if a hawk just spotted its prey. Twyla grows more worried as time passes and Rango's attention has not wavered.

Jade turns and starts to look for a means of escape as Twyla sits with a defeated look on her face.

“By the look of these chains, I'd say they date back to the First Rotation's Roman Empire Era,” Jade remarks. “The material is dense but with the right amount of pressure in the right spot...”

Jade contorts her thumb in order to press down on the small crack on the shackle. After a few seconds, a crack expands and breaks the cuff in half; Jade smiles while lifting the cuff. She notices the expression on Twyla's face.

“M'Lady, what weighs on your mind?” She asked.

“Have you ever had the feeling that your death is approaching faster than you'd anticipated-?” Twyla inquires.

Jade takes a massive inhale and gently slaps Twyla on the cheek; Twyla starts to silently cry.

“M'Lady... I cannot bare to hear you speak like that...” Tears begin to pour from Jade’s eyes. “To speak like, you've already given up...”

Twyla looks up with an unhinged smile, “At this point in my life, I already have...”

Jade stares at Twyla.

“Jade, that last fight took a lot out of me...” Twyla states.

“What are you saying?”

She looks down at her torn dress and fan.

“I'm unable to pull from The Inferno*...” Twyla states with a somber expression. “Just about all my magic is gone...”

(*The Inferno is a source of one of four Primordial magics. This magic is extremely potent, and each user of this magic can only pull a certain amount in their lifetime. For some, the potency is near infinite, whereas some will have a limit to how much they can use.)

Jade drops the cuffs and quickly embraces Twyla.

“I promised Lord Chronos, I'd keep you safe...” Jade cries. “You losing your magic falls on me... I was careless and let the absolute worse happen-...”

Twyla gently slaps Jade's face and giggles.

“Consider that your punishment for slapping me,” Twyla giggles. “A part of being All-knowing is knowing when your time has come...”

Jade's eyes grow puffier from her tears as Twyla wipes them from her eyes and musters a brave smile. “I'm not going anywhere anytime soon... But I do know, my time is coming...”

Jade wipes her tears and stands to her feet; she dusts herself off and extends her hand to help Twyla. “You won't be going anywhere if I'm getting involved... Come, M'Lady, I'm getting us out of here...”

Jade takes Twyla's cuffs and presses down on a similar fault on the restraint, the cuff snaps open, freeing Twyla. The two check their surroundings to find some sort of exit. The room the two are in is filled with boxes and crates. Jade reshuffles the boxes and Twyla look over her shoulder.

“There's nothing here, no kind of exit...” Jade huffs. “Like they expected us to try to escape...”

“It's a tactic, he wants to wear us out, spiritually...” There's a sudden knock on the door.

“What's that, who's there?” Jade whispers.