It was clear that they were in a carriage, but this one had been modified to contain creatures and, in this case, humans.
Looking around, he noticed a slit, through which he could see in the driver's cabin. That and the cell itself were the only things he could make out with the almost non-existent light and the mana strings. The cage was covered in a white veil, preventing unwanted attention from being drawn to it.
Felix tried to move, but the shakles on his hands and feet limited his movement, chains attached to each limb, converging into one whole and going to Aysha. She was yet to wake up abs even though he wanted to know what happened to her, he kept his mouth shut, not wanting to disturb her.
In the corner of the cage he found a plate with a strange soup in it, most likely their meal, two leather pouches with water and a bucket for their physiological needs.
Adjusting himself as much as he could in his chains without bothering Aysha, he got just under the slit in the veil and tried to listen for a conversation from outside.
Soon enough, one started between two people in the front of the carriage. Felix wasn't sure if they were the only ones, but judging by the noise they made while talking, it was pretty possible they were alone. The sound was enough for him to hear them pretty clear even if he wasn't near them.
He also realized something else. Turning around, he saw Aysha move a bit, as if disturbed by the talk. But that he could blame her.
"Ughh, everything hurts..."
Trying to stand up, Aysha inevitably pulled in Felix's chains, causing him to fall down on the enforced wood beneath their feet.
After getting up, again, Felix gestured for Aysha to sit back down, which she happily did, seemingly falling as if all her strength left her.
"Soo...What happened to you"
Felix decided to open up with the question he felt he needed an answer for the most.
"I can't quite remember. I think some mysterious gas was released into my room, and a coue of shadows came from the wall to take me away. I tried to fight them off, yet as you can see, that endeavor was fruitless."
She pointed to her body, that was painted red and blue by her abductors. It was clearly healing itself, maybe because of her affonity to healing magic, yet the process remained painfully slow.
'Wait a minute, how do we even know if what that priest said was true.'
That thought didn't sit right with him, however. He didn't know what else this group was capable of except for fighting, apparently.
He sighed, nodded at Aysha and got comfortable in his corner. At least as comfortable as one could be, given his situation.
***
Felix had been traveling in the cage for a couple of days now. Every night, their captors filled up their plates and pouches again, even clearing the bucket full of urine and excrements of both prisoners.
Really, he was starting to get accustomed to this lifestyle. He didn't do anything productive during the day, just sitting and listening to the mindless banter the two bandits had. He know knew they were the only ones tasked with bringing them wherever they were meant to be brought. At some point however, Felix heard something that couldn't help but pique his interest just enough to listen more attentively than before.
"Really, why do we even have to bother with this crap? What's so important about these two that even the boss Himself got involved?"
This voice belonged to the companion of the driver, a younger man, probably in his twenties.
Another, sharper voice answered.
"Because of the client for one, when have you done a job for the upper echelon of clients? Moreover, as far as I know, these two bear the mark of Genesis, that's why we're using this cart instead of the normal one."
This one was the driver's voice, who managed the Perpetual horses. They were a peculiar creature, even if Felix had just read about them in Lassing when skimming the library about adventurers. Apparently, they were found on one of highest peaks on the Beast Continent, and we're then domesticated to transport cargo over large distances thanks to their almost endless energy.
'Maybe this has something to do with the white gemstone in the church...'
He felt his intuition to be correct.
This new information proved extremely valuable for both Felix and Aysha. First, it wasn't heard for them to figure out where they could have gotten this mark, and it was the place from where everything had gone wrong - the river. Secondly, they came to the conclusion that while in the cage, they would be safe from external threats. That was only inside the cage, though. They weren't foolish enough to believe that their safety could be guaranteed or even maintained at all once they got to their destination.
So they began thinking of a plan to try and escape. Every day, while the two bandits were busy driving the carriage, they would get as close as they could to each other, and shared idea after idea. Every night, while their captors were outside, they would train their magic to the best of their ability without being noticed.
After two weeks of intense training, they finally felt themselves ready for their plan to come to fruition. All they needed was a good opportunity, and fast.
Luckily, they didn't have to wait long for that opportunity to present itself.