The following morning, the doctor Vhlad brought in, examined Elizabeth. Once they finished, he gave the child some candies, and Annie picked her up so they could put on Elizabeth’s new clothes and armor. The doctor then called Luna into the room.

"So doctor? How is she?" Luna said as they shook hands.

"Wonderful, wonderful, she is the picture of health. The injuries are minor, but she should be fine. She remains resilient, which is good. And I will give you some medicine for any wounds or infections you might encounter."

"Thank you doctor, but uhmm, what about her-" The doctor did not let her finish.

"I have this for you." He reached into his bag and pulled out a heavy neck shackle. He drew out heavy iron handcuffs as well.

"The shackle might seem crude, but it is necessary." The doctor said as Luna looked at him, clearly confused. "Make sure she wears these all the time; it will block her mana completely. As long as she wears these, you will be completely undetectable by any magic tracker. Now she might experience headaches or migraines when wearing these-"

"Migraines?" Luna asked with concern.

"Well yes, that’s the downside of hiding and suppressing mana. I will give you some heavy pain killers and tons of sedatives so the child won’t vomit as much when she is wearing it."

It was meant to comfort her, but Luna’s concern only grew.

"Is that safe for a child her age? That much medication?"

“Well, as a medical professional, No. As a silencer, I would say take the risk."

Luna remembered when she rescued Elizabeth and the child wore an iron shackle around her neck. She knew the child would never agree to wear something like that again.

"Does she have to wear it? Can it just be close to her so she won’t feel the side effects?"

"Even if it’s close to her, it will still affect her. It was never intended to be comfortable, but rather to make mages submissive and easy to control. The only way to avoid it is to distance her from the shackles, but that would make her easily traceable to magic detection and the huntsmen. And I can assure you that it is far worse than a migraine."

Luna picked up the collar and gripped it tightly. The doctor then took out some more medicine from his bag. "I will give you some medicine for the fevers as well. Prolonged exposure to the suppressor can cause fevers and chills, which is rare, but it can still happen."

"Thank you, doctor." Luna said as she was handed the bottles of medicine.

"You’re an intelligent woman, so I don’t need to tell you that smuggling unregulated mages is a death sentence."

"I’ll take that risk, doctor."

=0o0=

Luna arrived at the vehicle garage with a bag over her shoulder filled with the doctor’s medicine. Several of Vhlad’s men loaded crates of items and equipment into the landraider. Meanwhile, Vhlad, Ferris' platform, and Baldric double-checked her grocery list.

"So is everyone ready?" Luna came up from behind them.

“Yarr, we finished loading everything and you are good to go. It’s stocked to the brim and then some. And those are for the little fish." Vhlad showed the three of them a crate which was filled with snacks, sweets, toys, books, stuffed animals, and even clothes for Elizabeth. "That will make sure she does not feel bored and will help keep her mind occupied along the way. Also, I got you two a bonus gift."

Some of his men brought in something that was covered in a tarp. They stopped in front of them, and Vhlad removed the cover to reveal a ballista mixed with a gattling cannon. It had a long open barrel that was large enough for a large projectile or even a person.

"This is an arbalest launcher we got from a warehouse raid a while back. I think this will serve you better than it just rusting in storage somewhere."

Luna observed the sleek design of the cannon. It was like the launchers they used in the mine raid days ago, but this one seemed well-built and sturdier compared to the ones enforcers used. "This is impressive, Vhlad."

"It comes with a glider pack, but that is only the beginning. This cannon has two features: Watch." Vlhad’s men removed the launcher barrel, and it turned into a gattling cannon. "What do you think?"

"We can’t really say we will ever need the underside, but we’ll take it anyway."

As soon as everything was loaded up, Baldric headed to the driver's compartment. When Elizabeth and Annie arrived at the garage, Vhlad clapped his hands. "That reminds me: I have a surprise for the newest minnow in your crew."

Vhlad reached into a crate and got a child-sized light blue poncho with a white fur trim. It looked incredibly soft and snuggly.

"We got this from a raid awhile back, and I did not know why I held on to this." Vhlad handed it to Luna, and she put it on Elizabeth. The child snuggled the soft fur on her cheeks. She had to admit that it fit the child perfectly.

"Thank you very much, Captain Vhlad." Elizabeth did a proper curtsy towards him. Vhlad laughed, took off his hat and bowed back towards her.

"Take care, minnow." Luna and Vhlad watched as Annie and Elizabeth boarded the landraider.

"She is a good kid."

"Yeah, she is." Luna said with a smile.

The Landraider drove out of the garage and stopped outside while Luna, Ferris, and Vhlad walked behind it.

"So are you sure you can look after the estate while we are gone?"

"Don’t worry, minnow; we will take good care of your house, right boys?" Vhlad’s crew cheered as they loaded barrels of alcohol up to the estate above.

"Right, just so you know, I put a lock on our rooms and the Armory." Vhlad laughed.

“Also, Luna, Be careful. You still have some wanted posters with your face on them."

"That was years ago, Vhlad. But we will pass by the back roads just to be on the safe side."

"I got you something too." Vhlad got out of his pocket an eyeglass case. Inside were stylish yet very dark-tinted pair of sunglasses. "To hide your eyes."

She pocketed it, and both of them shook hands.

"Take care, minnow."

"Yes, captain."

"Luna, be sure to tell me when you are close to Braenarim." Ferris said to her. "We need to have a house party when you get here."

"Will do."

Also, please, please bring back all the new equipment in one piece. I want to submit a patent."

"Sure thing. See you when we get there."

Luna climbed aboard the landraider as well. Vhlad waved them goodbye as they exited the compound.

"I guarantee you, ten minutes after we are gone, Vhlad will start a gambling den and a brothel in the mansion." Baldric said as he watched the line of people who waited outside the manor, no doubt invited by Vhlad and his crew.

"Give him some credit." Luna said. "He can do that in less than five."

=0o0=

The next five days in the Silvus countryside were pretty uneventful. They stopped in towns and villages, where Luna and Baldric used the collar to find their target. They also took the time to tour around and sightsee as well. The only attention they got was from gawkers who eyed the landraider as they had never seen such a massive vehicle before. They had just passed a mountain town in the morning, where they stopped for breakfast, then travelled the whole day without stopping. Come late afternoon on the fifth day, they approached a camping ground where Luna and Baldric planned to stay for the night.

All of them sat in the driver’s compartment so that they could see the view. Luna was on the couch next to the window as she drank wine straight out of a bottle. Annie and Elizabeth painted each other’s nails beside her, while Baldric ate as he manned the controls.

"Alright, letter S." Baldric said as he took a bite from his sandwich.

"Sky?" Luna answered.

"Snails?" Elizabeth said as she saw a tiny snail was attached to the glass of the window.

{Sun?} Annie gestured at him.

"Nope. Give up?"

"Snow? Sand?" Elizabeth said as she observed the mountain in the distance.

"That’s three answers from you, Sunny. So I win again." Baldric said. "So I guess that’s six pieces of chocolate you all owe me."

"What is the answer then?" Luna said as she looked outside. She noticed it was getting pretty late as the sky turned from a cool blue into a magnificent orange.

"A sandwich." Baldric took another bite. Luna straightened up and looked at him.

“Baldric, That can’t count; we agreed things we can see."

"So you can’t see this sandwich?"

"I mean outside."

“Suddenly, when I’m winning, the rules change. Well, that is just sad. Also, we’re here." Baldric said as they passed by a sign that said: Sconis Campgrounds. "This is the park where we will be camping tonight. Ever gone camping before sunny?"

"No. Not really." Elizabeth said. She looked outside and found they were heading into a forest.

"Well, you will now." Luna finished her bottle. "I think we all earned a chance to stretch our legs. And I feel my legs have gone numb from all the sitting down we’ve been doing."

They found a good spot near a large river. Annie performed some maintenance on the landraider, and Baldric dug a pit for the campfire. Luna got some traps from the storage and some fishing poles as well.

“Right, you guys deal with the camp. Me and Elizabeth will try to catch something.”

"Have fun catching something this late in the day." Baldric laughed as he continued to dig.

"If we do catch something, you will cook it alone." Luna said as she let Elizabeth hold the fishing poles.

"Deal."

=0o0=

Luna and Elizabeth found a good spot near the banks that wasn’t too muddy or soft. She then showed her how to put on bait and how to properly cast a fishing line. While the child concentrated on catching some fish, Luna took the time to place some traps underneath some shrubs and piles of leaves. She then placed a chemical on the sides of the traps to act as a lure.

Luna then heard Elizabeth scream, which made her go back.

"I got something! I got something!"

Elizabeth struggled to pull in whatever she caught. Luna saw the line was about to break, so she helped her reel it in, and what they brought in was a healthy catfish.

"Way to go!"

Both of them held the catfish down. Elizabeth grinned after her first catch. Soon she became more confident with the pole and even managed to catch two more catfish, which she proudly showed off. Once they ran out of bait, the two of them placed their catch in a bucket.

"I can’t believe we caught four of them! Luna did you see? At first they were really strong, but I followed what you told me and then I pulled firmly and then-"

Elizabeth was so excited and continued on and on about how she managed to catch the fish, which made Luna just smile as she listened.

"Are we going back now?"

"No, not yet. The meat we have isn’t enough, so we still need to check the traps I placed to see if we caught anything."

They approached the spot where Luna had laid some traps. The first one had nothing, so she dismantled it, but as they approached the second trap, they could hear the sounds of little grunts and huffs. The trap was underneath a pile of leaves, and once Luna removed the cover, inside of her steel cage trap was a Willowbear cub.

A willowbear is an enormous, terrifying creature that is twice the size of a human, with very dense fur, and massive arms and legs armed with sharp claws. It had a powerful mouth armed with sharp fangs that could rip through iron plates with ease.

The one in Luna’s trap, however, was no bigger than a cat. The willowbear cub was chubby, round and had thick yet soft snow white fur. It had large black eyes, long whiskers, stubby arms and legs, round ears on its broad head, and an incredibly bushy tail. Luna had seen willowbear cubs sold as pets because of their cute and cuddly appeal in Llomeryn. Most buyers assumed they would make good pets for children, completely unaware of how large they would grow to be.

"A Willowbear!" Elizabeth crept up beside her and approached the cage. The willowbear’s large black eyes looked directly at Elizabeth and seemed to beg for help. "Luna, look it's crying. Can we get it out of the cage?"

"Tell you what, You wait here with the willowbear while I just check around for a bit."

Elizabeth was happy to stay as she played with the willowbear through the grates of the cage. Luna drew out her retractable staff from her side pocket. She saw the cub’s tracks on the ground and followed them further into the woods. After a good distance away, she smelled rotting flesh.

It was the cub’s mother that was ripped apart by wolves and ortas, large leeches with legs. Its guts were strewn across the forest floor, but its mouth and claws were bloodied, which means it put up a fight. Luna leaned in and inspected the corpses. The willowbear was healthy, but the others... The creatures were exactly like the ones she found back on the other side of the mountain ranges. They all had pus and boils, infected and blighted skin, and their eyes were sickly yellow.

This is an outbreak.

With her knife, she cut off a part of the creatures' rotting skins and put them in a vial.

I have to send this to Ferris or Merlin. This cannot be natural.

Luna made her way back and found Elizabeth playing with the willowbear as it licked her fingers through the grates.

"Did you find his mommy?"

"No. I was hoping to find its mother, but it looks like it was abandoned. It was probably the runt of the litter."

"Can we take care of it then?" Elizabeth looked at Luna with eyes full of pure hope and expectation.

Luna could instantly tell that she was one of those children who read picture books about willowbears and expected them to stay the same size forever. "I don’t know. It takes a lot of work to take care of a willowbear cub."

"I’ll give it baths, feed it, and take it for walks." Elizabeth said as she carried the cage.

So she thinks it’s like a dog?

"Elizabeth, do you even know what willowbears eat?"

"Meat, grubs, and bugs." She said proudly. "Please Luna, I won’t ask for anything else. I’ll make sure to clean up after it and watch over it, I swear." The willow bear huffed and looked at Luna with its large black eyes. She had to admit it was a bit cute.

Hell, we broke the first rule. Might as well break the second.

"Fine, sure."

With her approval, Elizabeth squealed with joy.

=0o0=

When they returned, Annie and Baldric sat around the fire pit, and a pot of soup awaited them.

"Oh boy, you got a willowbear! And it’s nice and plump too." Baldric approached and got out his knife. "That will roast great."

"No!" Elizabeth held the willowbear tightly.

He looked at Luna, clearly confused.

“Actually, Baldric, it's her... well... pet."

"A pet?! When is a dangerous wild animal considered a pet?"

Elizabeth showed Annie the willowbear. It grunted as if approving of Annie, and she began to rub its chin.

"And you allowed this?!" Baldric prodded his finger at her.

"Look, I found its mother dead and we can’t leave it on its own." Luna said softly as she crossed her arms.

"Yes you can! It’s easy. Just chuck it back to where it came from and we are done! "

“Baldric, can we keep him? Please?"

Elizabeth, Annie, and the Willowbear stared at him with pleading eyes.

"How about... No! And no amount of begging will change my mind. We are not keeping a wild animal in my landraider."

"Excuse you? Your landraider?" Luna snapped at him.

"You know what I meant!"

"Fine." Luna approached Elizabeth and picked up the willowbear. She placed it on Baldric’s arms. "Then you can take it back."

Elizabeth looked at him, completely hurt.

The willowbear tried to wiggle free as it cried to be returned to the child. Luna and Annie stared at Baldric and silently gave him the look that it would be his job to console the child later.

"Fine. I will!"

The cub turned to face him and stared at him with its big black eyes. It softly grunted and licked his arms.

"Don’t look at me like that."

It continued to stare at him as it pleaded to stay.

"Errrrrr... Fine! It can stay! But I swear if that thing messes inside, all of you will clean it up!"

Annie and Luna bumped fists in success as Baldric gave the willowbear back to Elizabeth. He prepared their dinner while the girls drank some soup and played with the cub. They then enjoyed their meal as they watched the sun finally begin to set.

As they cleaned up, Baldric and Luna picked up on lights that came closer in the distance. It came from trucks that made their way down to the campgrounds. They looked at each other, and both of them knew that something was bound to happen.