Resurrection Arc 3

North…

To the hole of murder

Where maiden fall

And the tide perilous

Kaizo thinks hard, trying to make sense of the message.

"What does it mean? The hole of murder? Where is this place?" Fang wondered.

"The wind spirit is a poet. They like to tell a story in a concentrated, lyrical arrangement of words. We need to figure out what this passage means," said Kaizo.

"So it's like a riddle," said Fang.

"The first line is 'north'. So we can assume it's north from here. The second line could mean the Umbran Society's base. If what we think is true, then many must've died in their base. Hence 'the hole of murder'," said Kaizo. He looked at Suhani. "You said many of Umbran's victims are women. The third line might refer to the women who died. As for the fourth, 'the tide perilous' is probably about the sea waves. So we might need to look around the beach."

"Or the sea," Lahap interrupted. "No one said their base can't be underwater."

"That's possible," said Kaizo.

"But this isn't enough to find the exact location," said Fang.

Kaizo crosses his arm and thinks. He looked at Fang. "You said you found possible locations on where the Umbrans might be."

"Y-yes," said Fang. He showed several pictures of places on the holographic screen.

"Get rid of the ones that are not near the sea," said Kaizo.

The pictures on the screen were reduced to only 3 pictures. Kaizo looked closely at the three pictures and read each description. One place took his interest.

"Here," said Kaizo as he pointed to a picture of a cave. "Murder hole beach, on the Melmore head peninsula."

"Huh. Who would've thought 'To the hole of murder' would literally refer to a place named 'murder hole'," said Fang.

"What kind of beach name is that?" Suhani wondered.

"It is said that a woman fell and died from a cliff there. Other reports suggest that the dangerous currents make swimming perilous. Hence the name 'Murder hole beach'," said Lahap.

"I suppose that makes sense."

"Let's take the ship there. We'll check the caves around Melmore," said Kaizo.

"Yes, Captain!"

They all walk out of the room and begin to make preparations.

They spent the evening getting prepared. When the night falls, the team board the spaceship and fly to Melmore. The spaceship in stealth mode blends in with the black sky.

Waves roar violently as the cold wind chills down the spine. The spaceship landed quietly in a land not far from their destination.

"Are you going too?" Lahap asked.

"Yeah," Kaizo replied as he packed his necessities.

"A case like this, Fang alone should be able to handle it."

"Maybe," said Kaizo, short.

Lahap stares at Kaizo's back. "Do you think the Umbran's magic is real?"

Kaizo stopped for a moment. "I don't know," he replied. "But I'm going to find out."

"How unusual for you to go out to the field yourself," said Lahap.

"Let's just say… I have a hunch." He turned to see Lahap. "Take care of the ship while we're gone."

"Yes, Captain!"

Kaizo, along with Fang and Suhani, gets off the ship. They walk through the sandy beach and start exploring the caves. Suhani scanned the area, looking for any sign of life. It doesn't take long until Suhani detects heat from her thermal scanner.

"There! I found something," said Suhani.

The three of them nodded and slowly sneaked closer to the mouth of the caves. They peered into the caves.

It is similar to the picture on the report. Few people in black cloaks circled a carved stone table. Their faces are hidden under the hood. Surrounding them are several dimly lit candles. On the stone table, a woman dressed in white lay silently. She appears to be unconscious.

"That's her! The woman I saw," said Suhani.

"They're about to begin the ritual," said Fang.

"We need to move!" said Suhani.

Before Kaizo could stop her, she lunged into the caves. But she suddenly hit something.

Surprisingly, the Umbran mages do know magic. They prepared a spell at the entrance beforehand. A black transparent wall stands between Suhani and the Umbran mages.

The Umbran mages begin to giggle.

"This is the gift from our Lord, our Master," said one of them. "You will never be able to stop him."

Suddenly, Kaizo lunged with his sword in hand. He breaks the wall with his energy blade. The Umbran mages were startled. Some of them begin to panic.

"How'd you-"

A mage begins to chant a spell. A dark smoke emerges from under his cloak. Like a snake, it attacks Kaizo.

Kaizo slashed the smoke away before it could bind him. The smoke pulled back to its summoner. He looked around. There are at least 3 mages capable of using the same smoke-snake magic.

"Suhani, put them down. Fang, binds them all. Make sure no one escapes!" Kaizo ordered.

"Yes, Captain!"

Suhani lunged at the mages. Knocking them down one by one. Fang summoned his shadow hand and bound them with shadow rope. Kaizo defeats three mages who are capable of using magic. He looked around.

"Looks like these three mages are the only ones who can actually use magic. The rest of them are just charlatans," said Kaizo. "Suhani, check on the victim. I'll call Lahap to get the ship here."

"Captain, it seems there's a secret passageway here," said Fang.

Kaizo walked to the wall at the end of the caves. There are marks around the sand under the stone wall.

"Should we chase them?" Fang asked.

Kaizo was silent for a moment. "No. We're not sure where this passage leads. We also don't know what's waiting at the end of this passage. From what I see, these are not the main group of the Umbran mages. The people we captured are just a small group of the organization. There could be more mages or traps on the other side," said Kaizo. "I want you both to investigate this cave. Find out what kind of ritual they're doing and find out where the passage leads. I will interrogate these criminals and find out where the rest of them are hiding."

"Yes, Captain!"