The Achievement Junkie

"Dong, Dong!"

A loud bell sound throughout Ponlinne early in the morning. Most people already knew what it meant and hurried back toward the catacomb's entrance.

Outside the catacomb's entrance which had just opened and become an exit, all the noble families were patiently waiting. None of them had left and were anxious to see what their people had found in the tomb.

To their surprise, a lot of people quickly exited the moment the bell sounded. It was as if they had been waiting for the opening for some time. The most shocking thing was that only a select few of those who had entered still hadn't arrived. Also, the spectators were wondering why they all had such long faces.

Passing the crowd and meeting in the center, each of those people that had entered was furious.

The family heads were all astounded. Each of their people was there except for their own children. As they took a headcount, they realized that only five people were missing; each of the young family heirs and the middle-aged man who had asked all the questions.

"Explain yourselves!" The Treall Family head shouted. He was disappointed to see Gret missing when he had given specific orders to watch over him, especially because of the mysterious middle-aged man that already had a grudge with his family.

"Sir…" They didn't know what they could say in order to avoid their master's wrath. They knew they may lose their lives if anything had happened to their master's son.

Seeing them unwilling to answer only enraged the Treall Family head further.

"What happened to Tarnel?" asked the Lyre Family head. He was much calmer and believed that his son would be alright.

"And Flint? Did he cause trouble again?" Flint's father sighed and rubbed his forehead like he was used to strange things happening to Flint.

When the Pon Family noticed that Keela was also missing, they didn't say anything. The guards they had assigned appeared disappointed, but they weren't sad or furious. Seeing the guards' calmness, the Pon Family head decided to wait and see what would happen once the last few people exit.

Almost thirty minutes passed without any activity from the catacomb.

The Treall Family head couldn't take it any longer. "What happened inside? Spit it out!"

Both of the assigned guards shivered, struggling to say anything. To the Treall Family's surprise, it was Tarnel's brother who spoke first.

"Your excellencies, someone has taken my brother and the other heirs as hostages!"

That announcement stunned the crowd and angered the family heads immediately.

Tarnel's brother continued, "The middle-aged man, Jack, shattered both of my brother's arms and one of his legs to keep him as a hostage. Then, he forced us to hand over our personal storages. Whenever we tried to speak up, he only caused Tarnel more harm and told us to wait by the entrance for the remainder of the time. If not, he said it would only cause the hostages more harm."

"The same happened with Gret, except all of his limbs were shattered," one of Treall's young talents added, not bothering to mention how they were the first to anger Jack.

Then, everyone was surprised to hear the Maronn Family members start laughing. The same guard who supported Flint's decision in the catacomb spoke up. "Don't worry about Flint too much. He offered himself to Jack without Jack even asking a thing. We still have all our rings if you don't believe us."

When the Maronn Family head saw the rings still with his people, he chuckled and found the situation very amusing. If someone was so daring to try such a thing as take the family heirs hostage, leave it to his son to try and befriend such a person.

"Flint will be fine," joked the Maronn Family head. Glancing at the other family heads with mocking eyes, he continued, "If not, it's his own fault for being stupid and angering someone stronger than himself."

"Shut up!" yelled the Treall Family head. He was furious! Based on what the others had said, his son was treated the harshest of them all.

"And what of Keela?" The Pon Family finally asked the others.

"She too was kidnapped, but we were promised that she would be returned without a single scratch," answered one Pon Family guard.

"Very good." Recognizing that his daughter was only a victim of circumstance yet handled better than the others, he was content. Also, he and the other family heads knew that they wouldn't let the culprit off, so he decided not to get angry too quickly.

Another half-hour passed as the crowd chatted about the news. Everyone wanted to know what had happened and why someone was willing to anger so many noble families publically. Would that person be able to avoid punishment?

Not much later, some faint footsteps were heard from inside the cavern. As the footsteps grew louder, the crowd grew quieter.

Five silhouettes eventually came into view, but everyone was shocked by what they were seeing.

Treall was wrapped up like before and had his crutches. Though he was fully healed, they wanted to keep the illusion that he wasn't until Jack had disappeared with Keela.

Flint was his usual self, strolling in the back of the group without a worry in the world.

Gret was by more the most miserable. His four broken limbs were dragging behind him as Jack had him tied to a rope at his side.

In front of Jack was Keela. Though she was smiling like always, there was a blade being held close to her neck.

Of course, the center of attention was Jack. He was the one who had caused all this. Gret was being dragged behind him, Tarnel was struggling to walk with crutches because of him, and Keela was being threatened by his sword.

All the family heads had completely different reactions to the scene.

The Maronn Family all laughed as Flint hurried to his father's side as if nothing strange was going on.

The Lyre family looked at Jack coldly. They could see all the harm Jack had caused Tarnel but were also surprised that Tarnel was bandaged and already healing. It wasn't like your typical hostage situation.

The Treall Family was livid. Every moment the watched Gret be dragged across the ground in his crippled and gagged state, they wanted to tear Jack apart even more.

The Pon Family was unusually calm. Keela's father and the other family elders seemed unaffected by the whole scene. They were wondering what came next and how the middle-aged man planned to escape their wrath.

In the chaos of the situation, most people forgot that those who enter were supposed to present their findings to the Pon Family. It seemed that this definitely took precedence.

Tarnel hobbled off to his family. When his father was about to say something, Tarnel shook his head and whispered something into his father's ear.

For a moment, the Lyre Family head's eyes sparkled but he quickly regained his composure and said nothing else, only calling for the other members of his family to return to his side.

Flint's father did the same after Flint told him a few things. The man's grin grew even bigger and couldn't contain his laughter. It appeared that he was making fun of the other nobles who had suffered, but only he and Flint knew the real reason.

Angered beyond belief, the Treall Family head yelled, "Release my son immediately! I'll have your head for all the disgrace you've brought my family!"

"You suck at handling negotiations, don't you?" Just then, Jack let go of the rope and let Gret fall on his face. "There, I let him go. Good luck getting him to walk back without me!"

"Why you--"

"Hold it." Those two words and a drop of blood on Keela's neck got everyone to freeze. "If a single person steps forward without my okay, I'll make sure one of these will face the consequences."

Placing his foot on top of Gret's head, Jack looked at the family heads. "I'm guessing none of you want me leaving without an explanation, right? And you're all probably wondering if I found anything. Sadly, I don't think we can come to an agreement."

"Pestro! If you lay a finger on my son you'll--"

"Grrrrhhhhh!"

Pained groans started to leave Gret's mouth as Jack put more pressure on his head. "Again, you really suck at negotiations. What's the point in threatening me while I still hold all the leverage? You've got it backward."

Jack looked to the Pon Family and bowed his head slightly. "Thanks for the oppotunity to explore your cavern. After my exit, you'll be able to check out the cavern yourself to see what we found. I'm sure you'll be more than happy."

Unsure what Jack meant, the Pon Family head squinted at Jack and asked, "And my daughter? What about her?"

Suddenly, Jack started laughing loudly and arrogantly. All other sounds in the crowd were drowned out by his laughter. A few more seconds passed and Jack quieted down. "You don't need to worry about her."

Out of nowhere, each of the family heads felt a sense of unease. But no matter how fast they could react, they were unable to do anything as a giant bird swooped down and snatched Jack and Keela out the crowd. Fast as lightning, the bird's silhouette vanished into the distance.

"Contact Commander Pire!" yelled the Pon Family head. Outside of all his calculations of possibility, he and the other family heads would've never anticipated a giant roc to appear and aid Jack's escape. Who could have?!