Chapter 1 - Searching

"Ellie, I'm so tired." A strained voice moaned.

"I know Trix, but we can't rest." Eleanor Bear answered. She had to find him. Had to.

"Not even for an hour or two?" Trixday Arkan asked.

"No. Every second is precious." Ellie replied.

"But I can't-ah!" A small thud was heard and the bear turned around to see the goblin on the ground."Ellie... My legs... I'm exhausted. We've been on the move constantly for days."
Eleanor crossed her arms "Trix, I've walked nonstop for a solid week before now."

Trix sat up "We're not all as good at storing energy as you. Besides, I'm nearly becoming a goblin-cicle."

"Trix, we know he's somewhere up here." Ellie told her. Wakeeda had traced Kyran's location to somewhere near Asmana's northern region, but she couldn't narrow down the exact place. "We have to find him, or..." But she couldn't finish the sentence.

"We'll find him. I just-" Trix sighed "I can barely feel my legs."

Without another word, Ellie picked the goblin up from the ground and carried her in her arms. They walked on for a little more until they came across a mage. Thinking he may be able to narrow down a location, the bear approached.

Upon seeing them, he pointed at Trix and shrieked "Stay away from me, goblin! I don't know what blackmail or coercion you're using to get this woman to help you, but it won't work on me!"

"Oh, it's just the blackmail of my best friend having been kidnapped by a psychotic wolf and we're running really damn short on time to save him." Trix answered sarcastically. "The coercion comes in with my friend also being her lover."

"Lies! I know your kind, goblin! Lying is all you're good at!"

Ellie could feel the goblin's lightning tickling her fur. She stepped in "Leave it, Trix. We don't have time to listen to an incompetent mage's close-minded ranting."

"Incompetent?! I'll show you incompetent!" The mage ignited his magic "I'll wipe both of you from the face of this realm!"

Ellie put Trixday behind her and glared at the mage. "You'll regret this." she warned, ice already forming on her hands.

The mage fired a blast of purple from his hand, but Ellie blocked it easily. She wasn't a pushover, physically or magically. She threw a spike of ice at him and he dodged it with a sidestep, but she was one step ahead of him-she'd cast a second ice spike at where he dodged. He managed to block it with a wave of his hand but looked taken aback by her power. 

Too bad for him. Ellie was in no mood for mercy, and he should have known better anyway. There was a very good reason hunters very rarely went after wild bears alone.

Ellie fired another icicle at him but he blocked it and charged up a beam of arcane energy. In answer, she blasted the ground with frost magic and projected a wall of ice in front of herself. The beam hit the wall with enough force to leave a sizeable crack, but not shatter it. Once the beam started to fizzle out, Ellie crashed through the wall and fired a beam of her own. The mage countered it with a magical ward but he was clearly weakened. The bear's beam broke through his defense after just a few seconds of casting.

The bear ran at her opponent, conjuring a sword of ice. Her sidewards slash lightly nicked the mage's cheek but her second blow was blocked by a blast of force that shattered it into pieces. He shot a jet of flame that forced Ellie to step backwards and created space between the two. He knew that he no advantage at close range. And that gave Ellie an idea.

Ellie fired a blast of ice at the floor and the mage slipped. His attempted spell flew directly into the air as he struggled to recover. Thinking quickly, the bear charged at him and knocked him down as he regained his balance. His wand was knocked from his grasp and Ellie straddled his chest. She pinned his wrist with her left hand while her other lay a powerful blow into his face. The impact from his head bouncing off of the ground dazed him, and he seemed to realize this wasn't a situation he could escape.

"Like I said: incompetent. Have we calmed down now?" Ellie asked, pulling back her fist again.

"Y-Yes! Please get off-you're crushing me!"

The bear answered on instinct "Only if you make up for wasting our time by helping us."

"Okay, I'll help you!" He cried. Ellie got off of him and he stood up. "Wha-What do you need?"

"My lover has been kidnapped, and we know he's somewhere in this northern region. We don't know exactly where, though."

The mage had already twirled his right hand around his left wrist and muttered "Ostende Terra." A square appeared in his outstretched left hand, lines forming into a map. "What exactly am I looking for? I'm not picking up any magical traces except the two of us."

"He doesn't use magic-he uses Ki." Ellie answered.

"Oh, it's spiritual energy?" The mage raised his eyebrows, then began to mutter to himself "So if I just... Let's see..." He tapped the map and whispered words the bear couldn't make out. A small red dot appeared on the map. "If I did that right, your lover is in a castle just north of Asmana's border."

The bear turned around with a thank you. "C'mon Trix, let's go."

"Right behind you." the goblin answered, getting up effortlessly.

"Not tired anymore?" 

"Not a bit."