The two took turns sleeping in the saddles, swapping the exhausted animals for fresh ones several times, and on the morning of the next day, they finally reached their destination.

  Dark clouds of smoke rose from the now-burning barn and house.

  Everything was on fire!

  Edana was about to cry out in despair from the sight of her destroyed home when a soft hand wrapped its grip firmly around her mouth.

  "Your parents are still alive!" A gentle voice whispered into her ear, "I sense twenty Qi-Gatherers from the small circle, five from the medium circle, and one from the large circle, as well as two ordinary humans who are injured but still alive. There are also several captured children at the farm! If you draw the orc mercenaries' attention to us, we and your family will soon be dead!"

  With gritted teeth, the young Qi-Gatherer nodded curtly, and the pressure sealing her lips slowly eased.

  “What can we do?” The beast tamer asked desperately.

  "How many battle-ready magical beasts do you have, and which ones? We need a really good strategy to survive this!" Amena replied, beginning to chew on her lower lip in concentration.

  "My companion, the wind wolf Ferga, two small clay golems, and three poisonous jade snakes. Otherwise, I only own a few mounts and messenger animals." Edana said, trying to organize her racing thoughts.

  “Okay…this is the plan!” The black-clad Qi-Master began to explain.

  The constant crackling of the flames was repeatedly interrupted by the faint whimpering of about ten bound and gagged young boys who otherwise lay motionless on the ground next to the barn.

  Several sparks jumped onto their small bodies, slowly burning through their clothing and into their flesh, but the children remained silent, having already learned that any sound would be rewarded with a firm kick from one of the guards around them.

  “Where is the beast?” Barked a gray-haired, bearded man, his face disfigured by countless scars, as he turned a huge wooden wheel on which the blood-stained Kegan was suspended, his limbs stretched out.

  Not a single sound escaped his tightly clenched teeth, and he stoically endured the torture while Una beside him pleaded, "How many times do you want to hear it? We don't know! Betsy keeps running away and needs to be caught all the time."

  "Then where is your son? We know you have one!" Another torturer screamed as a violent whip ripped through the rough working clothes and the outer layer of skin of the tear-stained mother.

  “We only have one daughter, our son died in his crib!” The father replied stubbornly, whereupon his right little finger fell to the ground with the flash of a reddish blade, accompanied by a fountain of blood.

  "Your foster son! Your neighboring village told us about the child with amazing physical abilities! Where is he?" Asked the wheeler, licking a splash of blood from his lip.

  “Hahaha!” The shepherd began to laugh loudly in defiance, “You can do whatever you want, our children are safe! I'd rather die than say a word!”

  “Bring me his wife!” Commanded the leader of the bandits, began to take off his robe, untied it, and spoke slowly, "Let's see if you become more talkative if I give you another foster child as a replacement! Hahaha!"

  With the sound of clothes flying, the completely naked mother flew to the floor and lay covered only in blood and dirt in front of the loudly laughing scarred face.

  Grinning, he slowly approached Una, who was pale and trembling with fear, and pulled her up roughly with a firm grip.

  But just as he was about to take action, full of anticipation, a loud clatter of hooves sounded behind him.

  “What the hell…” He started to curse, turned around, and saw a huge cloud of dust rising, as if a powerful cavalry unit was riding towards him.

  He quickly rebuttoned his clothes and shouted, “Men, to arms! We are under attack!”

  The lust of the flesh gave way to the anticipation of a fight, and he licked his lips, which were disfigured by an old cut, while two reddish, gleaming short swords appeared in his firm grip.

  “Something's not right here…” Pondered a younger bandit, who, thanks to his quick mind and high Qi sensitivity, was used as the scout of the small bandit party, “They are indeed magical beasts, but the amount of Qi is far too low… Is it just a diversion?”

  He quickly turned to the two prisoners and was just in time to see the naked Una disappear into a deep hole in the ground, while in the air in front of Kegan, a small girl brandished her rapier and cut through the prisoner's bonds.

  Before he could say anything, Edana grabbed her father and also disappeared into another hole underground.

  This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

  “We've been set up!” The scout and the scarred man cried in unison, while the young bandit stared at the holes in the ground and the old one watched as the huge cavalry unit turned away.

  Soon, the dust settled a little, and the enemy revealed itself to be nothing more than a few dozen deer.

  With a look of anger on his face, the leader of the gang stamped firmly on the ground, and a surge of earth-Qi began to search for its prey.

  “There you are! Two clay golems and two Qi-Gatherers…At least you're creative!” He muttered with a grin on his face.

  “Father! Mother!” Cried Edana while tears dropped down from her face as she held both her parents tightly in her arms.

  Una was already covered up, wearing a black hooded robe from Amena, and was holding her daughter tightly.

  "What are you doing here? We have to get out of here! You're in danger now!" Kegan warned, tying off the blood flow to his little finger with a ripped piece of his clothing and then patted his daughter's head with a smile, "You've become strong and brave! I'm proud of you!"

  “Enough of this!” The dark-clad Qi Master interrupted the brief, fragile, but also tragic family idyll and spoke quickly as she felt the earth shake around her, “They know where we are! We need to get out of here!”

  From the corridor behind them, the wild cries of their pursuers could already be heard, while in front of them, their escape route slowly narrowed.

  "Damn it!" Amena cursed, standing in front of the small family to protect them, "Their leader specializes in earth-Qi! That doesn't exactly make our escape any easier... Order your golems to keep digging and get out of here as fast as possible!"

  The two magical beings fought with all their might through the hard rock, but from second to second their progress slowed, as if the walls of the corridor had suddenly solidified into metal.

  The first bandit following them came into sight and was immediately pierced by a flying knife, accompanied by a thunderous flash of lightning, before he could say a word.

  His comrade behind him fell cursingly over his corpse, crashed on the steel-hard ground, and spat out a few bleeding teeth.

  “Watch outf! Itf if Amena!” Lisped the man lying on the ground and slowly got up, only to be pierced by another clap of thunder.

  The approaching warriors stopped as if rooted on the spot and took a defensive position.

  “Dig up! We have to get out of here before everything collapses!” Shouted the knife-throwing beauty and launched another attack, which was blocked by the combined forces of several bandits.

  After a brief command from Edana, her golems dug diagonally upwards, breaking through a buttery soft layer of earth in the blink of an eye, and the two magical beasts, followed by four humans, stood again under the gentle morning sun.

  “Greetings, Lady Amena! Your constant persecution will end today, for the blood of the Arian royal house will soon water the surviving crops on this burnt-down farmland!” The scarred face laughed darkly at her and made a farcical bow, while his troops surrounded the escapees to trap them.

  "Dorran! What did the orcs give you to serve them? How low have you fallen? A former member of the royal guard now leads a squad of sleazy mercenaries?" Amena replied, spitting on the ground in disgust, while Edana, Ferga, now released from the beast pouch, and the two clay golems bravely stood before the two injured adults.

  "Who knows, who knows..." The bandit leader replied mysteriously, leaping toward the royal with raised blades, "Men, you take care of the brat and the beasts! Amena is mine!"

  Dozens of flying knives crashed against the blood red edges of the short swords, sparks flew through the air, but no attack could penetrate the cover of the scarred face.

  Qi discharges shot across the yard, forcing those standing around to take cover.

  “Watch out! They're both high-level Qi-Gatherers, and even the shockwaves from their battle could cost you your life!” Shouted the young scout as he ducked under a flash of energy and slowly advanced toward Edana.

  “This is the revenge of the House of Arian!” Shouted the black clad fighting Qi-Master frantically, picking up a small glass bead and crushing it.

  In no time at all, dark storm clouds gathered around them, and with a deafening thunderbolt, a bright flash of lightning shot towards Dorran.

  The noise drowned out the curse on his lips, and with all his strength, he created a meter-thick wall of earth in front of him, which, after only two seconds, was pierced by the lightning strike.

  A massive explosion sent all living creatures to the ground, and several orc mercenaries, still nearby, were torn to shreds.

  Blood and body parts fell to the ground like white snow in winter and colored everything red.

  As the dust cloud from the explosion settled, a woman, scantily clad in tattered rags, her skin flushed with exertion, was seen taking deep breaths with a pale face.

  “AMENA!” Roared her opponent’s icy voice, as a now one-armed silhouette rose from the dust, swaying heavily, “I’m going to fillet you!”

  “Y-You’re still alive?” The beautiful figure asked, collapsed, and finally fainted.

  “Pure madness!” Cursed the scar-faced man as he dragged himself, step by step, toward the woman lying on the ground, a now broken amulet crumbling from his neck, “Using the power of a high Qi-Condensator with the body of a Qi-Gatherer? Crazy! If you survive this, you will be bedridden for months! If the shamans hadn't given me this protective talisman, I would be a goner!"

  “Boss!” a voice suddenly yelled from a distance, “We got the beast! The spell worked!”

  "Good, with this success, I'll at least get my arm back, and maybe even more!" The leader thought, but before he could give the order to attack again, the scout's voice interrupted his thoughts, "We have to get out of here! A troop of soldiers is coming from the east, and a patrol of the Kong Clan from the west!"

  “We got what we wanted! Stand back!” Dorran reluctantly shouted, raising his remaining arm.

  The earth began to shake in front of Edana, and a sharp spike rose and pierced her shoulder.

  “If you are Kegan’s daughter, then you must be his sister!” He laughed and repeated the movement.

  Three stone arrows began to hover in front of the young Qi-Gatherer and shot towards her.

  Seconds before her heart and brain were pierced, a screaming shadow fell from the sky and pushed Edana aside.

  “I made it! Just in time!” Said a grinning, blood-spitting Connor, with an arrow stuck in his shoulder, hip, and leg.

  "Thanks, Keros...I know I'm actually too heavy for you! I owe you!" He mumbled again and toppled over.

  “CONNOR!” Edana cried with tears in her eyes, rushed to her savior, and desperately began to stop the bleeding with pieces of her clothing.

  Dorran faltered briefly, reluctantly spat a stream of red into the dirt, and disappeared with his troops to the south, to reach the steppe of the orcs.

  In the midst of a swamp shrouded in mist, a leather-covered pile of bones sprang to life once again, and the breathtaking beauty spoke in a sinister voice, "He's in the Kong Clan... That makes things a little more complicated... The time of flames has come again! Prepare the hordes and send a messenger... It's time we collect the outstanding debts of the old days!"