That night, they all prepared their things to depart early the next morning.
Their rooms in the mansion were modest but comfortable—simple furniture, soft linen, the faint scent of old wood and dried flowers. They packed their belongings in quiet contemplation.
Then, there was a commotion outside.
The sound of shouted orders. The heavy clanking of the signal bell that warned of danger.
"An intruder! There is an intruder approaching the gate!"
Ayumu and the others rushed to their windows, peering out into the moonlit streets. Soldiers were moving in formation toward the main gate, their torches of glowing stones were flickering like fireflies in the darkness.
They all hurried to the gate.
Kaiser arrived first, his red eyes scanning the darkness beyond the walls. He grabbed one of the soldiers by the shoulder.
"How many of them?"
The soldier saluted, his face pale. "Just… one, Lord Kaiser. And he is wounded. A non-magis."
Kaiser's brow furrowed. "A non-magis?"
A non-magis who knew the route to Graitan could only be one of a few—knights, generals, judges of the Epsos Empire. His mind raced through the possibilities.
It had to be Drobar, Kaiser thought.
Kaiser's voice was sharp. "Open the gates."
The soldiers hesitated, exchanging wary glances. But the strongest soldier among them gave the order, and the massive steel gates groaned as they swung open.
A horse galloped through, its rider slumped over its neck, barely clinging to consciousness.
Levain was the first to recognize him. "Sir Osmond!"
It was Osmond. He was slumped on his horse, his body limp, his head lolling with each step. The horse came to a halt, and the soldiers rushed forward to pull him down.
Osmond collapsed onto the cobblestones.
His body was limp, his limbs heavy. The left side of his mouth hung open, as if paralyzed.
Rhea dropped to her knees beside him, her hands already moving to check for wounds. "What on earth happened to you? And why are you here?"
Osmond mustered his strength, but his words came out slurred and broken. His words reduced to gibberish, "Dobhah… dangehh… ame ame, I psshttt annn Grobhah…"
They all stared at him, trying to decipher his meaning. Osmond gritted his teeth in frustration, his eyes desperate.
"Drwobahh! Dangeeehhh!"
Ayumu stepped forward, her voice soft but certain. "Sir Drobar is in danger?"
Osmond blinked twice and grunted in affirmation.
The others looked at Ayumu, amazed that she had understood.
Rhea examined Osmond more closely, her fingers pressing gently against his jaw, his neck. "It seems he has no wounds. But he is paralyzed—perhaps it was from a sap or a poison." She looked at Ayumu. "What do you think, Ayumu?"
Ayumu knelt beside Osmond, her golden eyes studying his face, his pupils. "It is not life-threatening. It seems to be a temporary paralysis." She looked at him directly. "Sir Osmond, did you feel a needle prick before?"
Osmond blinked twice—yes.
Levain's brow furrowed. "What could have caused this?"
Then one of the ministers approached, his expression uneasy. "There have been a few cases like this, Lady Ayumu. Magis men disappeared and reappeared days later in a daze—or paralyzed. Situations similar like this and they refuse to tell us the cause as if they were brainwashed."
Kaiser's head snapped toward the minister, his voice like a whip. "What? Why was this not reported to me?"
The minister stepped back, his hands raised. "Lord Kaiser, such things are trivial matters. We did not wish to burden someone as esteemed as you. And they all came back without injuries or problems."
Kaiser's anger flared. "The security of magis people is not trivial! How could you let this happen?"
Ayumu turned back to Osmond. "Were you attacked, Sir Osmond?"
Osmond grunted loudly—yes.
Ayumu's face grew troubled. She rose slowly, her expression dark.
Kaiser's irritation mounted. "What? What is it, Ayumu? Tell us."
Ayumu turned to face the group, her voice urgent. "We need to find Sir Drobar. Before he becomes a slave."
Rhea's eyes widened. "What? Slave? Why so sudden?"
Ayumu wasted no time. She turned to the guards nearby. "Please bring our horses. And please look after my friend here—he is a non-magis, but he is a good man."
Her voice was gentle, her instructions clear. The guards were momentarily awed by her grace, but they quickly saluted and scrambled to follow her orders.
As they mounted their horses, Fifi called out. "I think you need to give us a bit more explanation, Ayumu. What is going on here?"
But Ayumu had already spurred her horse forward, darting through the gates and into the darkness beyond.
The others exchanged exasperated glances and followed her in haste.
Kaiser urged his horse forward. "Wait, Ayumu!"
They rode toward the forested area next to Graitan, the moonlight casting pale silver light across the landscape. The trees loomed tall and dark, their branches reaching out like skeletal fingers. The horses galloped at full speed, their hooves pounding against the earth.
Kaiser pulled his horse alongside Ayumu's. "Ayumu, tell us what is going on!"
Ayumu's voice was steady, but there was an edge of urgency to it. "I know that there is a tribe of women. They prey on men. What I did not know is that they settled nearby Graitan." She paused, her golden eyes fixed on the road ahead. "I am afraid that Sir Drobar, when coming here alone with Sir Osmond, was kidnapped by them."
Levain's voice came from behind them. "Kidnapped?! Why?"
They rode harder, the wind whipping past them, the darkness closing in around them.
Fifi's voice cut through the darkness as they rode. "Who on earth would want to kidnap a dufus giant like Sir Drobar?!"
Ayumu sweated slightly, her grip on the reins tightening. "Sir Drobar, to them, is a fine specimen…"
Levain's eyes widened. "Specimen? Like to eat?!"
Fifi eeked at the thought, his face paling in the moonlight.
Rhea snorted. "They could have chosen a less muscular man. He would not taste nice."
Levain turned to her, aghast. "Rhea, how could you say such a thing?!"
Before anyone could respond, Levain felt a sharp sting in his leg.
"Arghhh!" He crouched, his hand flying to the wound, and then—he fell from his horse, his body hitting the ground with a heavy thud.
They stopped immediately, dismounting in haste.
Kaiser was the first to reach Levain. "What happened, Levain?" But then—he felt it too. A sting in his shoulder. He grunted, reaching back to pull out a small dart with red feathers on the end. It was dainty, almost decorative.
He threw it to the ground, but his vision had already begun to swim. His knees buckled.
Ayumu acted fast. She grabbed Rhea by the arm and pulled her into the forest, casting a barrier around them with a flicker of white light. The trees closed in around them, shielding them from view.
Soon the clouds covered the moon.
Darkness descended—thick, suffocating. They could hear Kaiser and Levain grunting, resisting, fighting against whatever was taking them. There was rustling, chattering, the sound of many feet moving through the underbrush. Rhea and Ayumu kept silent.
It was all sudden and fast.
When the moonlight returned, the ground was empty.
The men were gone.
The horses stood where they had been left, undisturbed. Nothing had been taken. Only the men had vanished.
Rhea's voice trembled. "Ayumu… what on earth is happening? Why didn't we help them? Are they savages?! Will the men be turned into skewers?!"
A rustle sounded nearby.
Ayumu held up her hand. "Shh, Rhea."
She pulled out her collapsible pole, extending it with a sharp click, her golden eyes scanning the darkness.
But from the bushes emerged Fifi—screaming, flailing, his hands slapping at his back.
"There is a spider on me! Get it off! GET IT OFF!"
Rhea and Ayumu stared at him, perplexed.
Rhea blinked. "Fifi? Oh my, you are okay!"
"I am NOT okay!" Fifi shrieked. "Get the spider off me!"
Rhea sighed, reached over, and gently plucked the poor tarantula from his back. She placed it on a nearby tree, where it scurried away into the bark.
Fifi collapsed against the tree, panting. "I hate spiders! Urghhh…" He looked around, finally realizing something was wrong. "By the way, where are Kaiser and Levain?"
Rhea was annoyed, "Shouldn't we be asking you that?"
Ayumu straightened, her expression grim. "They were most probably taken." She turned to face them. "Let us make haste. We must follow them."
As they followed Ayumu deeper into the forest, Fifi's irritation grew.
"Ayumu, explain more so we know what we are dealing with," he demanded, pushing aside a low-hanging branch. "Are these women you speak of human?"
"Yes," Ayumu said, her voice steady. "They are human. To be precise, they are a tribe of women that are known to be strong and powerful. They have built their own community of only women. They come from different walks of life… but all with a history, they were once hurt by men before."
Rhea's eyebrows rose. "Wow. Sounds like my kind of place."
They pushed deeper into the jungle, the trees growing denser, the underbrush thicker. They walked for hours, the moonlight filtering through the canopy in silver patches. The sounds of the forest surrounded them—crickets, rustling leaves, the distant hoot of an owl.
Finally, they saw light.
The forest opened into a clearing that faced the sea. A village lay before them—houses made of white clay with wooden roofs, their walls smooth and clean. The village was barricaded, half forest and half beach, with the sea stretching out beyond. It was a proper functioning settlement—over forty houses, a great hall, amenities, gardens. It looked peaceful. Idyllic.
From the trees they climbed that is slightly further from the settlement, Ayumu, Rhea, and Fifi looked down at the village. They do not want to be detected.
Near the entrance, there was a group of women on horses. They looked like strong women warriors, some with muscular build and some with dainty bodies. They were beautiful women and dressed in beautiful clothes. A mixture of togas, linnen clothes, skirts and pants in dark colours. And they soon spotted another horse in the center of the group of women. On its back were two bodies, slumped and unconscious.
Levain and Kaiser.
Rhea whispered, "There they are… Ayumu, what will these people do to them? Eat them?"
Ayumu shook her head. "Oh no, no. They are not cannibals. They are educated women from all over the continent. Most are runaway slaves." She paused and looked down below. "They need men because they want to reproduce."
Fifi's jaw dropped. "What?"
"Reproduce," Ayumu repeated with such a straight face. "Because they are an all-women tribe."
Rhea and Fifi stared at her, their faces a mixture of shock and disbelief.
Rhea's voice was flat. "So… they kidnap men… to be sperm donors?"
Ayumu looked at her, as if stating the obvious. "Yes."
Fifi sputtered. "Oh, that is ridiculous! If that is the case, why did they not take me too? I am the best specimen!"
Rhea and Ayumu turned to stare at him.
Fifi blinked. "What?"
Rhea's lips twitched. "Oh, nothing."
The ladies now have a rough idea why Fifi was left behind by the all women-tribe.