Red walked back into the house and threw up.
"It's gonna be okay…It's gonna be okay…" Red chanted aloud, trying to convince himself.
"I just did what I had to do. Like always. There was no other way…" Red looked at the hollow wall he was siphoning arcana from earlier. The symbols were almost completely faded.
He walked up to the wall and punched straight through it. Tough wood lacerated his hand, causing him to bleed profusely.
Inside the dark room, he could see several sets of tiny eyes staring at him. As the sunlight poured in from the front door and illuminated the room, he was able to get a better look at them.
The were eight children, huddled on the floor, surrounded by giant sacks. The children were emaciated and sat motionless, only watching Red as he approached them.
Red glanced at each of the children, before turning his attention to the sacks. He cut a small opening in one, and several shiny silver coins hit the ground.
"That luster…these are platinum coins. If this sack is filled with only platinum coins…if all of them are…we stumbled on an operation worth several million gira."
Before Red could analyze the situation further, he noticed something in the corner of the room. One of the children, wearing fancier clothes than the others, stared at him with his arms crossed.
Red put his hands up and exclaimed, "You scared me there, kid. Don't worry, I'm here to save you all. The soldiers and the slavemasters are gone."
The boy jumped up from his position and walked slowly towards Red with his hands balled into fists at his side.
He was young teen, with long disheveled hair that covered his eyes and a disinterested expression on his face.
The boy closed the distance between them in an instant and raised his fist to hit Red. The punch started extremely slow, and Red easily dodged it with time to spare. It began to speed up, and the boy shifted his body to change the course of it. Gradually it got much faster, until after another second Red had trouble keeping up with it. The punch barely grazed Red's cheek and did no damage to him, but he still fell to the ground.
Red thought to himself, "This kid's power is no joke, if a punch like that lands it might be bad news. And his speed is in a completely different tier."
He yelled aloud, "Hey kid, you know it's not nice to attack strangers who risked their lives to save you, right?"
The boy did not respond, and didn't even react to the comment as he went in for another attack. He delivered another attack similar to the first one. The punch began slow, almost stopped in the air. It accelerated and after a second he placed a punch that Red narrowly avoided. The punch completely shattered the wood where Red lay a few moments ago, and Red scrambled to his feet to ready an attack of his own.
"I'm not into fighting kids! I'm here to rescue you not battle with you."
The boy threw another punch. This one began at his top speed and grazed Red's cheek. Red was able to divert its course and send the punch into the wall, which shattered to pieces like shattered glass.
Red summoned a blood pole and got into a battle position.
He thought to himself, "I weakened that wall a lot, but with the remaining protection on it he shouldn't have been able to shatter it so completely."
Red poked at him with the pole, but the boy nimbly dodged past it and punched Red square in the face, knocking him through the front wall of the house and out into the sand.\
Red laid on his back and looked into the sky for a few seconds. After taking a deep breath, Red sat up and faced the boy.
The boy marched toward him, with his hand guarding his face.
"A hand-to-hand fighter, huh? Let's see something."
Runic circles ran up Red's arm as he snapped his finger, and summoned a dome of cold air that trapped the both of them.
The wind raged inside the dome, howling and whipping the boy as he got closer.
The boy attempted to push through, but fell to his knees as he tried to stop himself from shivering violently.
"Look kid, I don't want you to freeze to death. So I'll let this up if you agree to stop attacking. Okay?"
The boy nodded his head vigorously.
Red looked at him, puzzled, as he snapped his fingers and released the spell, "What are you not able to speak?"
The boy shook his head as he opened his mouth and pointed into it.
Red snickered, "Maybe that was my fault then. I know I don't exactly look like a savior. Tell me kid, what's your name."
The boy dragged his finger in the sand and spelled out a five letter word: Moody.
"Moody? Your name is Moody? Is that a nickname or…" Red's voice trailed off.
Red nodded his head and placed his hand on his chin, "Everything is starting to add up. That note Semaj was telling me about, the kid isn't Moody—well maybe he is but the note was saying his name is Moody."
Moody used both of his hands to write out a message in the sand, "Have you seen dad?"
Red thought back on the events of the day, "This has to be the strong mute boy the guards and the slavemasters were talking about. If that's the case then—"
Red put a hand on the boy's shoulder and said aloud, "I'm sorry kid. You're dad is the one who led me here, but the mercenaries guarding this place killed him before I got here."
Moody sat back on the sand and put a hand on his chin. He slammed his other hand in the sand and his body began to shake.
Red examined him, "I sense that rage…you're angry, not sad. You're a fighter," Red continued to examine him and began to see a younger version of himself. He saw a young child wearing nothing more than an oversized shirt, heavily worn and rarely cleaned. The young Red stared back with cold, blank eyes.
Red shook his head and muttered, "I know all about being a fighter."
Red stood up and sat next to Moody, "Tell me, Moody, what do you want most in the world at this moment?"
Moody wrote into the ground, "Revenge."
Red shook his head, "I shouldn't be encouraging those feelings in a young man like yourself. I want to say grieve, then move on. Try to live a happy peaceful life, far away from any battlefield. Create a family, cherish them and use your strength to protect them."
Red stood up and looked up to the sun, "When I was a little younger than you, someone presented this choice to me, and it changed my life, so I'll do the same for you. I see how strong you are, and I sense your conviction. Would you be interested in becoming a knight?"
Moody hesitated and looked away from him.
Red looked Moody directly into his eyes, "I can promise you, as a knight, you can stop every kid in the world from feeling the sadness, the anger and the indignation you are feeling," Red reached his hand out, "What do you say to that?"
Moody looked at Red for a few moments, then nodded. He grabbed Red's hand and used it to pull himself up.
Red clapped his hands, "Great decision! First step, help me carry some of these sacks to La Des. Once we get there, I'll have a chat with my friends so he can take care of the other kids and we'll purchase an airship with the rest of the coins. We'll be traveling to the country I'm currently serving, it'sa long distance away so I hope that's okay with you."
Moody nodded his head and they walked back into the house.
___________________________________________________________
Red and Moody stumbled up to the guild stall and dropped their huge burlap sacks onto the table.
"You just love dropping heavy stuff onto my stall, do you know hard it is to keep this wood pristine…wait who is this kid? And what's with the sacks?"
Red rolled his eyes, "Did you always ask this many questions? Your quest has been completed. The sack with the cut in it is your posting fee, plus a small donation."
Semaj grumbled to himself a little more before ripping the bag open further. Platinum exploded out onto the counter and floor.
Semaj scrambled around and picked them up, examining each coin closely
He stared at Red speechless for a few moments, "Red, what is all this?"
Red laughed, "What, you can't hear now? The quest is finished. The slave masters are dead and these are the spoils from the quest. There are more sacks in the house but this is all we were able to carry. I'm not sure how fast you can put a team together, but you need to send some people out to grab the remaining Gira and take care of the kids that are left. They look pretty sickly."
Semaj drew runes in the air, and they began to light up, "I had some people on standby. They're not very talented at fighting but they have their uses. Honestly, though, I was hoping you would be the leader of that team."
Red shook his head, "I would love to, but I need to start heading back to where I belong."
"And the kid?"
Red hit himself on the head, "How could I forget? This is the child of our friend with the illegible letter, Semaj meet Moody. Moody, this is Semaj."
Moody waved at him and Semaj nodded back.
Semaj scratched his chin, "So you're taking him with you? His father-"
Red made a motion with his hand, stopping Semaj immediately, "His father is gone. But I can protect him."
Semaj nodded, "Well then, if you've both made your minds up I won't stop you," Semaj looked directly at Moody, "This is a treacherous path kid. Get stronger, and never regret your decisions."
Red and Moody picked up the other four sacks and began to walk back into the marketplace. Before getting far, Red turned back and set one of the sacks on the counter.
"One last thing. The kid is a mute, I need some scrolls and some ink. This should cover it."
Semaj chuckled before disappearing into the back and coming out with scrolls, a feather quill and ink.
Red tore down the poster advertising the slaves, "Never hang anything up like this again. I hope you can use those funds to buy this place so you won't be forced to again."