Rye was hurt, but she had to go on. Her friend and comrade, Grad was waiting for her, and he was probably worried because she was late.
They had been in that group for as long as they could remember. They had been trained to work on those missions for many years already. Rye was only twelve years old, but she had already been in more than twenty missions. Grad was a bit older, he was 14, but he wasn't so skilled, so they usually preferred to take Rye with them. That time, though, everyone else was busy, and they were in a hurry to get that object, so they had to send both of them, alone.
The mission had been a failure, they were supposed to steal something, but she had to escape empty-handed. They didn't know what was it, only it was in a locked box. They decided she would go in alone, because she was better at sneaking, but they didn't think it would be so heavily guarded.
In her way in, she had to go through at least five energy barriers, and who knows how many soul-triggered traps. But if that wasn't hard enough, when she managed to reach the room, she found it completely locked. The magic was so strong she couldn't break it, not even a small hole. And his attempts at opening didn't go unnoticed: In a few minutes, she had many guards chasing her.
Seeing it was useless, she had to force her way out, but unlike before, she didn't have enough time to detect and disable all the magic traps, so she had to break loose from them, and continue avoiding the guards, who also had a hard time following through. In a way, the barriers and traps gave her an advantage, as she was more used to them than the guards, and that was probably the reason why the wounds she had were only minor.
In the end, she reached the outer walls of the house, and could move freely, so she was able to lose the guards.
Rye was hurt, but safe, so she continued to walk, getting closer to the place Grad was waiting in.
- Rye! I was worried... oh shit, you are hurt! Let me help you.
- It's fine, don't worry.
Grad used the best he knew of healing magic on her, but he could only stop the blood, the wounds still needed to be healed.
- What happened in there?
- It was guarded... too well... I couldn't even get near it.
- They will not be happy about this.
- Don't worry... we had never failed in a mission before, and they will understand, we didn't have a chance. We are not good enough for this mission, yet.
- Let's go then... I hope you are right.
Grad then used his blue spirit to teleport them to the building where their group has its base of operations. It is also the place were they usually live... their home.
Grad helped Rye go to the infirmary and left here there, sleeping. Then he went to the boss' room. When he was right outside of the room, he heard voices coming from inside, and knowing the boss hated to be disturbed in a meeting, he didn't go in. While waiting outside, unconsciously, he started to overhear the conversation.
- If what you tell me is true, it means the Yaeth has finally appeared. This is indeed bad news... this world is still not ready for it.
The Yaeth... Grad had heard stories about it. The child of a goddess, a flame that burned everything on its way, cleaning the worlds from what that goddess thought as 'impurities'... from all 'life'.
If the Yaeth was there, and its opposite, the Blaeth, the protector, didn't appear soon, they would all be doomed.
Absorted in his thoughts, Grad didn't notice the meeting had ended until the door opened.
- See you soon, Alex, be careful... Grad! Are you back so soon? Come in... how did the mission go?
- Not good, sir. The box was too well protected, Rye got hurt trying to reach it. She is resting in the infirmary now.
- That's bad news... they were really explicit about wanting it fast. I wish I could have sent someone else instead. Now I lost time, and the Rye wont be able to go in a mission for some days.
- Anything I could do sir?
- Not really. I can't send you back there alone, and all the other missions need more skill and power than you have. So just go rest, eat, play, or whatever you want to do. Once Rye is well, come talk to me, I will have a mission for you both.
- Okay sir, can I leave now?
- Sure.
Rye recovered fast, and when she was back in shape, she and Grad went to the boss' his room.
- Hello Grad. It's nice to see you well already, Rye, are you ready for a mission?
- Yes sir, I think so.
- Good, because I will send you to one. but unlike the others, this one will be a big mission. Have you heard the tales about the eternal fight between Blaeth the protector, and Yaeth the destructor?
- Yes, sir - said both of them at the same time-.
- The Yaeth has appeared in this world. That means the Blaeth has also appeared somewhere in this world. Your mission will be to find him before the Yaeth awakens. This will be your guide in this mission - the man handed a book to Grad -, it's a copy of the original tale, and it should have all the clues you need to find him. Now go, you have until tomorrow morning to get everything ready. It will be a long mission, and it could have many dangers, but you were the only ones who could do this.
This way, Rye and Grad started to travel around the world, searching for Bleath, the protector. But that is another story that, while related, it's not the one I'm telling you about.