Adventurers

Atheria would jump awake, he panted heavily and looked around in a rush, he could see he was in a different room.

His chest tightened as he started to bawl out loudly in the room making a woman rush inside it.

The woman would try to calm him down to no avail, Soon he would stop his face a wet mess from the streak of hot tears.

The woman would clean up his face before walking outside. "Guild master, the child is awake."

A tall, burly yet well built man entered the room, He woule grab a stool and sat beside Atheria.

"We found you passed out by the roadside, We brought you back here so you can recover." The man was wellspoken and tried not to frighten Atheria.

"M....my M..my" He tried to get the words out but everytime it did his heart started to thump and tighten.

"Don't force yourself Child, You need to recover. We found you holding onto this." The man set the pouch down beside him and Atheria grabbed it immediately and hugged it.

He didn't know what was inside the pouch, He only held onto it as it was the only memory of his mother left with him the rest burned in the house.

"F... forest, H..house burning. T..taken away." The man had a sullen look on his face as he heard Atheria speak. He'd place his hand on Atheria's shoulder calming him down and left.

The Man walked over to the Woman that entered the room. "Alice, take care of the child, I'll get a few adventrurers to investigate that child's words."

"Yes, guild master everything will be provided for that child's care." Alice had spoken as The Man left.

Atheria would gaze out the window, he would see the streets full of people and children running around. Seeing them made him fill up with jealousy.

He would open the small pouch and see it half full with gold coins, an engraved ring, and a letter. He took the letter and inspected it but saw nothing, no name or anyone it's adressed to.

-------------------------------------------------------

"Captain, did the kid we find really came out from the forest?" A paladin spoke as he glanved over towards a magician.

"It's possible but the tracking magic I casted had his trail come from the forest." The magician casted a spell and the rest of the party could see the footprints on the ground.

"Now the bigger question Captain, Why was a child inside the Mist Forest." The Magician looked at the paladin and shrugged.

The magician yelled to be on their guard as they followed the child's steps. The sun was slowly lowering down as they reached the burnt house.

"Looks like the child didn't lie, there was a burning house, be careful and look for clues." The magician spoke as the party investigated the area. The Paladin and Swordsman went to the fields, the archer took up a spot in a nearby tall tree.

The magician and a second paladin walked into the house, He would pick up a trace of magic and called out a wisp to use magic memory.

The whole area transformed back into it's previous state with a mother and child inside the house, the father and elder brother outside by the field.

The whole party yelled out in panic but they couldn't touch them, they could only view the scene without interference.

Soon the older brother would go deeper into the field to harvest some berries. He would let out a scream as the father hurriedly looked over as the son was now captured by the winged men.

The Paladin and the Swordsman looked in horror as they rushed back to the house where they met up with the Magician and the other paladin.

The two tried to tell the magician but he yelled at them to quiet down as they saw the father rush into the house.

The Swordsman and the paladin followed the mother and child as they left the house while the magician and the other paladin watched at how the father was dragged outside.

The magic memory fades away and the present state of the area returned. The magician coughed out blood as the paladin held him up and gave him a potion.

"Captain! Captain!" The Paladin yelled as he slowly set him on the ground. The archer had rushed over before calling back the others then using a warp scroll to return to the guild building.

They fell ontop of a table and broke it before the paladin yelled out for a healer. The magician went unconscious and the guild master rushed towards them.

He helped them off the table leaving the magician the only one on it, "How was the investigation?"

"The kid didn't lie, but there were other beings involved, It wasn't orcs, goblins, and bandits. No it was much worse, It were winged beings, their body closely matching humans."

The guild master looked at them in disbelief, but he was sure they wouldn't lie to him, more so because they were the best party in the guild.

"Guild Master, What of the child?" The Paladin asked as the guild master remained deep in thought.

"I'll adopt him, after all, he is a child who has nowhere to go, I don't want him to end up in an orphanage like me. The guild master spoke lowly before sighing deeply.

"Winged men huh, that wasn't anything I ever expected."

The guild master looked at them in confusion, "Winged Beings? Humans with wings? Could it be related to the castle in the sky?"

"Yes sir, We were only at most half way to the magic memory before it faded and our magician started to cough up blood. Nothing bad happened to the child's family as we saw but, we fear it might not be the full thing." The Paladin spoke as he started to describe the encounter with the winged men.

"At least all of you returned safe, Jiro is resting, he's only suffered a backlash so It's not too threatening. The child will be going under my care so don't feel too worried about him."

The party nodded before leaving the guild hall leaving their captain in the care of the healers.

The guild master sighed as he looked up to the second floor. 'Tha child has brought more questions than what he had answered.'