Book 4, chapter 25

Zee walked around the perimeter of the recent attack, using her spatial ripple skill to scan the rubble methodically. The explosion had made several buildings collapse, the shockwave fanning out in a circle, trapping people inside their homes.

She worked in unison with her team, digging through the rubble for several hours to find survivors. With Malden's sand, they were able to dig holes into the rubble and eventually pull six people to safety. Some were not so lucky, at least four had died in the sudden collapse of their homes.

Well, four, and the five cultivators that had been crewing the anti-air gun. Having scanned the area thoroughly, she was kneeling next to Bastion, who was doing his best to comfort a man who lost his youngest child.

The poor kid had been crushed by a giant beam and died before they could come to the rescue. Watching his grief made her heart clench. Uncertain what to say, she let Bastion do all the talking.

He was a lot better at her when it came to consoling people, his warm, friendly smile giving people comfort. Bastion placed a reassuring hand on the man's shoulder, his tone somber. "Don't worry, we will make sure your son does not become an undead. Zee here has already cleansed the miasma from his body," Bastion said.

The man Bastion was talking to simply stared down at the corpse of a five-year-old boy numbly, tears tracing down his cheeks.

"Thank you. I don't know if I could take it if my boy became one of those abominations," Urvat replied, his hands trembling.

"What was his name?" Bastion asked, his tone soft, and comforting.

"Elvat... Named him after my Da. He was a good kid, strong-willed just like his mother," Urvat sniffed, wiping tears from his eyes.

"Elvat, that's a good name," Bastion said. Urvat nodded, the tears flowing freely.

Zee's heart went out to the man. She usually hardened her heart against all the death going on around her, but this was something else. To this man, a baker by trade, his life was crashing down around him, his family ruined. 

She had seen a lot of death over the last few years, but it somehow never got any less awful. Her dower thoughts were broken, as someone entered the range of her spatial ripple skill from above.

A familiar Allevark drifted down from the air, settling on the street, and scanning the wreckage around them. Zee stood, leaving Bastion to comfort the poor man. She walked over to Delta, whose charcoal-colored fur was matted with dust, and ash. The woman frankly looked like she had only gotten an hour of rest over the last two days.

The womans long, two-handed battle axe was fastened securely on her back, its spiked haft protruding over one shoulder.  Her usually pristine battle robes were rumpled, and burned in several places. Delta's tails swished happily behind her as she noticed Zee.

"I was wondering who dealt with this mess, I should have guessed it was you," Delta said, seeming happy to see her.

"Whose your friend?" Zee asked, gesturing to the dark-scaled lizard kin that still hovered above them.

Delta actually blanched an expression that looked bizarre on her catlike face. "That's Gorgen, and I would not call him a friend. He is more like an acquaintance," Delta said, with a scowl up at the short lizard kin. 

Gorgen let out a disdainful sniff, causing the air to ripple with intense cold, as giant wings made of crystalline ice flapped lazily behind him.

"Delta… why are you bothering with these... fodder?  We have better things to do," Gorgen said in a nasal voice. 

Gorgen was about half her height, yet he turned up his snout, looking down on them in every way imaginable. She immediately didn't like him.

Delta scowled even harder," Just ignore him, he is a stuck-up asshole," Delta said, visibly calming herself.

"You best watch your tongue Delta," Gorgon spat, his tone threatening. 

"Or what? You going to complain to Daddy?" Delta snapped back, her patients thin. 

Gorgen's eyes narrowed, his nostrils flaring. He looked like he wanted to attack Delta, but visibly restrained himself.

"Fine, waste your time, I don't care," Gorgen said, before flapping his wings, flying off so fast it created a boom in the air.

Zee shivered, as waves of cold air buffeted them, a thick layer of frost clinging to her cloak. 

"Is he always that, uh, fun to be around?" Zee asked. 

Delta let out an exasperated sigh," Yes. Just because his father is close friends with the patriarch, he has a stick up his ass," Delta replied.

"Well, I'm glad he is gone now. How are things going?" Zee asked. 

Delta gestured at the street around them," Not well. We keep losing people, and the battle hasn't even really started yet. When Julian leaves, it's going to get a lot worse," Delta said pointedly.

Zee pursed her lips, "Maybe they will come to some sort of agreement with the envoy," Zee said. 

Delta's tail swished softly behind her," That would be convenient. Though, I doubt the discussions will go anywhere." Delta replied.

"Why do you say that?" Zee asked.

"The Terlashar have us outnumbered, outclassed and surrounded. I see no reason why they would accept anything less than unconditional surrender," Delta said.

Zee glanced back at the others, some of which were still offering aide to the injured civilians they dug from the rubble.

"If it's so futile, why are you fighting so hard?" Zee asked. 

Delta gave Zee a warning glance. "I didn't say it was futile. I think we can hold them off long enough for the blood gorgers to send aide," Delta said, her voice loud enough for the civilians around them to hear.

Zee pursed her lips. Judging by Delta's expression she did not believe her own words. Everyone knew that the blood gorgers were unlikely to come to save the Kelvish dominion anytime soon. Right now, her grandpa and Sendredie were the only ones holding the undead back.

Zee gave Delta a sidelong glance. From their few conversations, Zee knew that the woman wasn't an altruist. Delta was as down to earth as a D-grade cultivator could be.  That statement must have been for the benefit of the crowd.

Her arrival was actually beneficial. Well, might as well leave these people to someone who actually knew what they were doing. 

"Delta, would you mind taking over? These people need professional help," Zee said.

Delta swished her tail inquisitively, "Do you have somewhere else to be?" Delta asked.

"Yes, one of our team members is missing, and we want to go find them," Zee replied.

"Missing?" Delta asked.

Zee nodded. "She was supposed to come back sometime last night but still hasn't shown up. Probably nothing to worry about, she probably just lost track of time," Zee said.

Delta glanced around at the disgruntled people who just lost their homes or loved ones. "Alright, I will see what I can do for them. Once you find your friend, what then?" Delta asked.

"We will probably go back to helping cleanse the miasma in the city," Zee replied with a half-shrug.

Delta waved a paw through the air. " Go then, I will see you later," Delta said.

With Delta taking care of things, they left, boarding a gondola. The sleek boat navigated the increasingly congested canals at a sedate pace. Some routes of the waterway were blocked off, which made the ones in use much more trafficked. 

It made for a slow trip through the city. Granted, stopping to help in the aftermath of that attack was the reason it was already late afternoon. It's not like they were really in much of a hurry. All they were doing was going to the stacks, to talk to Rin.

They stepped onto the street adjacent to the blind spider, weaving through a throng of late afternoon traffic. The streets were busy, but the blind spider was not.  Without knocking, she pushed open the weather-worn door. The rusted hinges screeched as they entered the pub, her nose assaulted with the scent of booze and sweat.

For a man who was one of the most influential people in the underworld of Verdant, Rin sure didn't live in the nicest of places. Several people lounged at the bar, glancing over their shoulders as she entered. Zee focused on the man washing a glass behind the bar with a dirty towel.

He was a rail-thin man, with beady eyes, and a weather-beaten face that one got from decades out in the sun. The man cracked a rotten-toothed smile meeting her eyes as she weaved between the tables.

Zee reached into her tunic and placed a token on the counter, which the bartender quickly made disappear. "We are looking for Nanut," Zee said.

The bartender nodded. "I think he will be back shortly, take a seat," The man replied, in a raspy voice.

She took a seat at a table in the corner, the wooden chair creaking loudly as she sat. They didn't have to wait long, before Nanut arrived, coming in through the back door of the bar.

He slid into the only unoccupied seat at the table with his back to the room. "If you are looking for Rin you are out of luck, he is away for a few days," Nanut said.

"We are not here for Rin. Do you know where Yukna is?" Allison asked, speaking first.

Nanut glanced over at Allison, and back to Zee confused. "Yukna? I thought she was back at that mansion you have all been staying at?" Nanut replied.

Zee gave the man a questioning look. "What do you mean? Yukna left with some of Rin's people last night, I saw her go with them," Zee said.

Nanut shook his head. "No, last I saw of Yukna, Rin was sending her home because she looked about ready to pass out," Nanut said.

"So, she didn't go with any of your people last night? I could swear I recognized the two people who came to get her," Zee insisted.

Nanut leaned back in his chair, the wood creaking softly under his weight as he reached into his tunic. "One minute, let me send a message to Rin," Nanut said, pulling out a thumb-sized crystal.

It was a communications crystal and an expensive one judging by the rows of delicate etchings across its smooth surface. The crystal let off a soft glow, and Nanut's eyes went distant.

He was like that for nearly a minute, before he blinked, and sat up straighter in his chair. 

"Well?" Zee asked, impatiently.

"Hang on, let me contact a couple more people," Nanut said, adopting a frown. The communications crystal glowed softly again. Nanut stared intently at the crystal, not speaking for at least five minutes.

When he was done, his expression had turned from a frown to full-on annoyance. "Something is wrong, I can't contact the team we have watching over Yukna," Nanut said. He stood, pulling out a small medallion.

"Wait, you had people spying on Yukna?" Allison asked.

"Yes, now come with me, we are going to see why my people are not responding," Nanut said.

They boarded a gondola, which was a little overloaded with so many people on board. The rower paddled them to the inner districts, where they disembarked, arriving at the street in front of Yukna's shop.

With the medallion in hand, Nanut led them to a single-story building that was across the street from Yukna's warehouse. The man pulled an iron key from his pocket and opened the front door. 

Zee took one step inside before she was assaulted by the stench thick stench of blood, and death. Wary of some sort of attack, she drew her weapon.

It was unnecessary. The building was empty, aside from the corpses of a human, and an arachnid. One was splayed out in the kitchen while the other was adjacent, dead on the plush couch in the living room. The human had his throat slit, whilst the arachnid had a single puncture wound in the back of its head. 

"Whoever did this was a professional," Nanut said, his expression hard as he eyed the two corpses.

Zee cocked her head, eying the dead man with his throat cut from ear to ear. 

"This is him, this is the man who came to get Yukna," Zee said, recognizing the man's bulbous nose and greasy hair. 

Nanut leaned over the corpse, tugging down his collar, exposing a tattoo on the man's collarbone. He looked into the dead man's eyes, nodding to himself.

"It appears they were ambushed while they were eating," Nanut said, gesturing to the cold food still sitting on the table. 

"Who would kill your people, and why would they want to capture Yukna?" Zee asked.

"I don't know. We have been really picky about who we smuggle out of the dominion. Someone might be attacking us out of some sort of revenge," Nanut said, thoughtfully.

"What about Yukna, where is she?" Allison asked, butting in.

Nanut ran a hand through his grimy hair. "I don't know, but I need to check in on this. If people are invading our territory, Rin will want to know," Nanut replied.

Zee raised a hand hesitantly. "I'm not sure if it's relevant, but I was attacked by two assassins a few hours after she left. They snuck in to Yukna's warehouse and tried to kill me in my sleep. I killed them both, who knows, they might be connected," Zee said.

"Assassins'? Did you find any marks on their bodies," Nanut asked, extremely interested.

Zee shook her head. "I didn't think of that at the time. When I tried to interrogate him, the second assassin swallowed this pill, and his mouth started foaming.  He blew up, can you believe it? It was really gross," Zee said.

Nanut paused, cocking his head. "He blew himself up?" Nanut asked.

"Yup, let me tell you, it was a real pain to clean up," Zee said, patting the book in its satchel at her side.

"None of the organizations I know of use that form of suicide to avoid interrogation. Exploding seems a bit extreme," Nanut said, his tone thoughtful. 

"You are saying someone took Yukna, and we don't even know who did it?" Zee asked. 

Nanut inhaled sharply, glancing over at Allison who looked ready to set someone on fire. "It appears so... I will contact Rin, maybe we can find out what kind of assassins explode themselves," Nanut replied.

"How long until you find out?" Allison asked, her tone much more anxious than usual.

Nanut shrugged," Give me a few hours, I will find out what I can," Nanut said.

"Hours? Can't you go any faster?" Allison asked.

"No, I cant.  It will take a while, might even take most of the day," Nanut said.

"Most of the day? That's too long, do it faster," Allison said, her aura swelling outward, the air radiating sweltering heat.

Nanut took a wary step back, his cloths smoking.

Resting a paw on Allison's shoulder, Malden gave her a warning glance. "Calm down Allie, you are going to set the building on fire," Malden said, 

The princess scowled but retracted her aura after a moment's hesitation. Nanut grunted at the exchange, patting at his still smoking shirt.

"Threats won't speed up anything. Just give me some time, and I will find out who took her. Now, if you will excuse me, I have some people I need to talk to," Nanut said. He left through the front door in a hurry, disappearing out onto the street.

Zee glanced over at the princess. "Any ideas on what to do now?" Zee asked

"I say we go find whoever took Yukna, and burn them to ash," Allison said.

"I agree, but where do we even start?" Zee asked.

"I don't know. Let's go to all the houses on the street and start asking around, maybe someone has seen where they went," Alison said.