Nila jumped from the city walls, creating platforms of energy in the air that allowed her to reach the nearest building.
She had seen something suspicious while on the wall and had to see if her hunch was correct.
She ignored the fighting at the city gate below her and continued to travel from rooftop to rooftop, making use of her ability when the building were too far apart.
'If I saw what I think I saw then I could end the war right now, without endangering anyone else, especially my father...' Nila thought as she reached the rooftop she was aiming for.
Some of the tiles cracked as Nila landed, sending some of the shattered pieces sliding off the roof. She didn't care about making noise, Stealth wasn't exactly a method of fighting she enjoyed to begin with.
'I'm sure this was where I saw...' Nila thought while looking around. She scanned the surrounding building and the streets below her but there was nothing noteworthy.
'Was it just my imagination?' Nila gave her surroundings one last look before deciding to bead back and join the fight at the main gate.
Nila jumped into the air, creating a platform as she did. The moment her feet touched the platform, she heard a voice.
~ Going so soon? ~
Nila instantly turned around, facing the direction she believed the voice had come from but there was nothing there.
Being an ability user, her sense were much better than a regular persons. Even so, there was nothing to be seen and nothing to be heard. The silence was deafening.
~ Over here ~
When the voice spoke it sounded like the words were being whispered directly into Nilas ears, but at the same time it felt as though it was incredibly far away.
Nila followed the direction the voice was coming from and ended up having to descend to the streets below.
~ You're almost there ~
Nila heard the voice once again, coming from an alleyway just ahead of her. She cautiously approached while gathering energy in her hands, causing her hands to glow a dull red.
It was something she had never considered before but upon entering the alley she noticed her gathered energy generated a fair amount of light, making it easier to see in darkened areas such as this.
~ Just a bit more ~
The more Nila followed the voice, the less like a whisper is sounded. She knew she was going in the right direction because the voice was starting to sound like it was getting closer aswell.
She walked through the alleyway with slow and cautious steps, prepared for anything that might come her way.
The alleyway was only around 10 meters long but it took her far longer to cross that distance than it should.
At the end of the alleyway Nila rounded the corner into another street, still following the voices occasional words.
After walking through several alleyways and down several different streets, Nila felt as though she was walking through a maze with all the twists an turns she was taking.
She exited what felt like the hundredth alleyway and turned to the left where she could see a man standing at a cul-de-sac with his back towards her.
~ You found me ~
The man said with the same voice Nila had been hearing. He turned around to face her, showing a wooden mask made of tree bark.
"I see you're trying to be mysterious but all you've done is annoy me. Was it really necessary to lead me around the city like this? Unless you were just trying to waste my time..." Nila said while frowning.
"Guilty." The man said, his voice no longer sounding like a distant whisper.
Nila was in a bad mood now that she knew he really just wanted to distract her. "You're the leader of the cult right? Why are you out here wasting my time instead of commanding your people? It seems to me we both have far more important things to be doing instead of playing these games." Nila said.
"I'll get straight to the point since it seems your patience is running out." The man said." I want you to join us."
"What? Why would I ever consider joining you?" Nila asked with an irritated tone of voice.
"Because I'll kill your family if you decline." The man replied without hesitation and without a change in his tone, as though it was a natural thing to say.
Nilas eyes flared with anger, something almost never happened. One of the only things capable of causing her to feel such anger is when her family is threatened or belittled.
She raised her hands and released the energy she had been gathering at the man in the form of a spiraling spear of energy.
The attack made of red energy flew through the air with speed, heading directly for the man's head.
When the attack was about to hit the man it suddenly shattered into thousands of pieces and the energy dissapated.
There was no sign of anything having touched Nilas attack. Nothing had blocked it and no projectiles had intercepted it.
Nilas eyes widened in surprise. 'How... Nothing touched or blocked my attack so how did it get destroyed?'
"It seems your don't even know what happened. If that's truly the case then perhaps I've overestimated you. I'm retracting my invite." The man said.
"Though now that I have no reason to keep your family alive I suppose they'll have to die along with the rest of them." The man continued as though he was talking to himself more than Nila.
"Don't touch my family!" Nila shouted as she prepared to attack again. ' Whatever he did to my last attack must have been a flook, I doubt he can do it again.'
Before the energy could reach Nilas hands, the man had disappeared from the place he was standing and reappeared right next to her.
"You need several decades of training before you're ready to face me, Child." The man said.
He grabbed onto Nilas left arm and lifted her into the air. The bones in her wrist were crushed by his grip while the rest of the bones in her arm were snapped and cracked from the force.
Nila felt an incredible amount of pain shoot through her body from the damage her arm was receiving.
The man looked as though lifting Nila into the air was the easiest thing in the world. His body was upright and the only part of his body that lived was the arm he used to lift her.
"Goodbye." the man said. With just as little effort he flung Nila forward and sent her flying through dozens of buildings.
She tried to protect herself with her energy but any barrier she created was instantly destroyed as she slammed into the following wall.
The last thing she remembered before losing consciousness was slamming into another person.