(very old) the Seals of Elements (discontinued for now)

[Chapter 15]

---Hunter---

After I had read Ayra's massage, I grabbed Jade's hand and started to run towards the guest dorms.
When we got there I knocked on the door of Ayra's room.
I heard some movement inside, but then it got quiet again.
I knocked again, but there was no answer.
I looked at Jade. "Did you also hear something inside?"
She nodded looking a little confused.
"Stand back." I rammed the door with my shoulder, forcing it open.
I summoned Shadow Cleaver and ran in with Jade right behind me.
The entire room was a mess. The beds were turned upside down, the window was open and everything indicated that there had been a fight.

I ran to the window and saw two figures running away, one of them having something slung over his shoulder.
I narrowed my eyes and saw that it wasn't something, but someone.

They have Ayra. I thought.
Being on the first floor, I leapt out of the window, turning Shadow Cleaver back in ring form and chased the two.

I had caught up with them when the one carrying Ayra turned around.
When we two locked eyes something changed in his face. It went from confidence to anger.
"You! You are that boy that struck me with lightning! I should have known that you would be here."
The other man looked at his companion with confusion.
"You know this kid?" The man's voice sounded like a piece of steel scraping on stone. "We don't have time for this anyway. Let's get out of here."

The man holding Ayra nodded and grabbed his companion's shoulder, both turning into smoke, floating away in the wind.
I turned back around and saw Jade running towards me.
"Jade, can you chase them?"
She nodded and closed her eyes. Her skin started to glow and she started to shrink.
Within a second or two, a small bird was sitting in the place where Jade had been standing.
Despite the circumstances, I managed a little smile.
"You make a cute bird, you know."
If bird Jade could have scowled, she would have.
Instead, she took off and chased the now fast disappearing cloud of smoke.

Since I couldn't do anything now, I went back inside and placed the beds back where they had been standing.
When I had done that, a wave of fatigue hit me.
I collapsed on one of the beds and fell asleep.

================================

When I opened my eyes I was standing on the same cliff where I had first met Magnus.
I looked around me and saw a little boy sitting on a stone, looking out over the ocean.
The boy turned around and looked at me.
He had golden eyes, golden hair, olive skin and was dressed in the kind of clothes Romans were depicted in.
I estimated him around ten years old.
Then the boy spoke. Unlike his appearance, his voice was low and melodic. "Hello, Hunter."

It was a voice I had heard before.
"Hello, Magnus. Why am I here? My friends are in danger, so I don't really have time for this."
Boy-Magnus tilted his head a little to the left. "That is exactly why you're here. I brought you here to warn you."
That got my attention. "Warn me for what?"
"I want to warn you for the fact that not everything is what it seems. You are surrounded by dangerous people Hunter."
"That's it? That's all you're going to tell me?" I threw my hands in the air. "That is not very helpful you know."
"No. I am also going to give you a gift. It will help you to overcome the dangers that lay on your path." With these words, he stood up and walked towards me. "Kneel."
I did as he said, kneeling before him and he pressed his right hand against my forehead.
"I hereby give you the knowledge of the Hero of Five-Hundred Years ago. Now rise My Champion."
I stood up, new memories flooding my mind. Things I couldn't possibly know.
"How is this going to help me?"
"that is all up to you to figure out." Magnus replied.
He pressed his hand against my chest like he had done the first time we met.
"Wake" He whispered.

================================

I shot upright from my lying position and found Jade holding my arm with a worried look. 

"You're awake! I tried to wake you, but you just wouldn't. Are you okay?"
"I'm fine." I said, while in fact I actually still dazed from all the new memories.
"Did you find out where they went?"
She nodded. "Yes. They took her to a little house on the edge of the city.
"And do you know if they have Kenji as well?" I asked, still not knowing what happened to him.
That was the thing that really bugged me. I knew that he was in trouble, but I didn't know in what kind of trouble.
"I honestly don't know. There were no windows, so I didn't get a chance to look inside."
"Well, it doesn't really matter. Ayra will probably be able to tell us what happened to him. Can you take me there? 
"Yes. Just give me some to change out of my uniform." 

We hurried to her room and I waited outside. after two or three minutes her door opened and Jade stepped out. She was wearing a black, cotton dress and she had tied her hair in a ponytail. Around her neck hang a little chain with a fang made of jade.
"Come on. Let's go save your friends."
I pointed at the necklace. "Is that because of your name?"
She took it in her hand and smiled. "Yes, but we have more important things to do right now. I will tell you the story of this thing later. "
We left the Academy. The sun was already going down. As we ran through the streets I could see the architecture change. The buildings were getting smaller and were starting to look like they were built in a hurry. 

After running for half an hour, going left and right, I started to get really worried.
What if they harmed her? What if they... I didn't want to finish that thought.
"Are we almost there?" I asked Jade while we ran onto a small square.
She nodded and pointed at a small wooden house on the other side of the square. "That's the one."
"Good." We crossed the square and stopped in front of the building.
Trying the door I found out that it was locked.

Of course, it is locked. I thought. Why wouldn't it be locked?
I summoned Shadow Cleaver and kicked in the already unstable door.
Holding Shadow Cleaver in my left hand I created a fireball in my right, creating some light.
The door had opened into a small, empty hallway with stairs on the right and another door on the end. It was completely silent inside, which didn't give me a good feeling."
"Where do we go first? Up or this floor?" I turned to Jade, but she just shrugged.
"I don't know. We could split up."
I shook my head at this since it wouldn't be a very good idea.
"No. We must stick together."
"Then let's check there first." She said, pointing at the door at the end of the hallway.

I opened the second door which led into what looked like a kitchen which then led to what looked like the living room.
The room was empty apart from a couple of chairs. But no Kenji or Ayra.
Then Jade grabbed my shoulder. "Did you hear that?"
I turned around and looked at her. "I heard nothing."
"I think I heard something upstairs."
We made our way back to the hall and looked up the stairs.
"Stay behind me." I said. "We don't know what we will find."
Upstairs we found three rooms. We checked all three of them, but again no Ayra or Kenji.
"Where can they be?" I was standing in one of the doorways, with my back facing the room I just checked, looking down the stairs at Jade. "Are you sure that this is the right building?" 
Then, all of a sudden I was hit in the back with something that sent me tumbling down the stairs.
Jade helped me up and I looked up and saw who had hit me.
"YOU!"
It was the smoke man.