They split up immediately after, leaving old Falcher at the booth. He sighed heavily and stuffed the coin purse into his inventory where it was then transported into the infinite pocket coffer. He clasped his hands together and shrugged his shoulders.
   
The Dwarves' tavern was empty during the day, the usual crowd of patrons rarely showed up before dusk. It was very easy for Kathanac to see the group of elves walk out. Even she was surprised to see him left behind. She resumed her prep work for the upcoming night shift, cleaning mugs and silverware.
   
A couple of minutes passed and Falcher still hadn't moved. He'd barely even wiggled in his seat. Kathanac was actively watching him but trying to be subtle about it. He couldn't see her from he was sitting but she could see him. Then there a hand on her shoulder. Kathanac yelped and spun around.
   
Behind her was Jodi who was laughing loudly. "Jumpy this morning? What's got you all worked up?"
   
Kathanac quietly pointed to the Gnoll who was idle in a booth. "Him, he's been sitting there for several minutes," she whispered.
   
"So?"
   
"His elven friends just up and walked out the door without him."
   
"Kath, you're growing paranoid and I'm supposed to be the overly cautious one here. If it's bugging you that much, I'll go talk to him." Jodi hopped over the counter and made her way over to the distracted gnoll.
   
Her heavy footsteps brought him back into reality. He shook his head as if shaking off the recently experienced drowsiness. He looked around him quickly and saw Jodi approaching him. "I'm not-" He paused, the recollection of Storm's orders to him entered his mind.
   
"It's more about my wife's concern than taking an order," Jodi explained.
   
"Concern?" Falcher stretched his arms out and cracked his elbows.
   
"Why are you still here?"
   
"I'm not planning to stay all day-"
   
"I mean, why didn't you leave with your friends. Kath told me about your ties to them, so why'd they leave you here?"
   
"I was given a job to do."
   
"More adventuring and monster hunting?"
   
"Not this time around, not for me at least. My job is rather easy."
   
Jodi was starting to show concern, throwing quick glances around for nearby objects.
   
"You don't need to panic, I'm only here to talk as is my job."
   
"Job? Talk? To me?" Jodi's fear was whitewashed by sudden confusion.
   
"In a nutshell, lessen you and your wife's fear of me through active conversation. So, you interested?"
   
I asked for their identities but instead, mine was stolen. I see through their disguises but they can't see through mine...
   
The last place she knew Michy was lurking in was the old barn they'd spent the night in. She walked on over to the barn and pulled one of the heavy doors open. The barn was empty except for the hay piles. Mirvelle stepped back and closed the heavy barn door. They'd originally found him outside of town in the fields so perhaps he was still there. Mirvelle looked up at the sky, the sun was starting to set, dusk was coming soon. She left the town's outskirts quickly.
   
Through the endless field of tall grass, she travelled from tree to tree calling his name. It was soon becoming a race against time as the sun began to idle at the horizon's edge. Mirvelle grew tired amidst all the running between trees of which there were many. She collapsed beneath one of them, attempting to catch her breath.
   
The leaves rustled above her and down came a familiar head. A Tasaki was hanging from a tree branch by one of his hind legs. "Lone elf?" He commented.
   
Mirvelle looked up at him, "Oh, Michy!"
   
"Mir! It's good to see you again." Michy released the branch and fell to the ground. "What brings you out to these parts?"
   
"Looking for you actually."
   
"You are?" Michy's face lit up brightly, more so in excitement. "What for?"
   
"I... We need your help."
   
"Me? What can I do to assist the great Khunait?"
   
Mirvelle chuckled, "The Thane gave us a job."
   
"Oooooh. Sounds important then, he never hires outsiders, what is it?"
   
"Stopping more colossi from being created. Unfortunately that's gonna be a lot harder than it sounds."
   
"So you need a tracker? Sweet! Michy the Fox tracker is here!"
   
"Good, I was hoping for that." Mirvelle took a look around but they were far enough out that the town couldn't be rendered. "Which way back to town?"
   
Michy shrugged. "I have no idea, but I'll take a look." He jumped up and grabbed a branch of the acacia tree and pulled himself up. He navigated the branches and sat on top of its flat canopy. "From up here, I see nothing as well. If I had to guess though, northwest."
   
"Michy," Mirvelle groaned. "You guess?"
   
"I'm a tracker, not a navigator."
   
"What difference does that make?"
   
"Yuge," He jumped down and landed on all fours. "I'm not so good with using the sun as a directional tool."
   
"The sun sets in the west and follows the southern path. I know that much."
   
"Still doesn't change my guess, northeast."
   
"You said northwest before."
   
"Uh... no? I didn't. I said southeast."
   
"Michy!"
   
"I'm not lost, I swear!"
   
I was abandoned, left alone with only my thoughts... and the eyes of a hundred vindictive corpses... Their hunger for revenge was insatiable, their speed, their ferocity...   
  
It wasn't uncommon for a pair of elves to go walking down the streets of the town but the pair in question was not a standard pair. Heading towards the Thane's manor once again with Gelmen in tow, Tilamo was whipping up questions for the Thane himself. He mumbled and muttered various phrases, babbling and having conversations with himself. Most of what he said was indecipherable from the next batch of words and grunts. It was a rather "quiet" walk.
   
They reached the walled garden and entered the property, approached the door and knocked. It had only been an hour so when the Thane opened the door, he was undoubtedly, confused. "Tilamo, Gelmen? What uh... brings you two back?"
   
"Couple of questions, mostly. We're a bit in the dark in terms of what is in this region," Tilamo explained. "We're hoping to get some extra information."
   
Naturally, that sounded off to the Thane but he agreed nonetheless. "Sure, anything for my hirees."
   
They sat down at the table and Tilamo started up his long list of inquiries. "To start, we want to know more about this region, what dangers lie in it, other notable locales, landmarks, things of that sort."
   
"You're in the northern portion of the Sunkai region. The whole area is mostly just an endless expanse of grass with a few trees to break it up. There is another town to the south, a few hours by foot. It's bigger than this town since it houses most of the Fummau and Tasaki population." Oswald paused and thought for a minute. "There is an old Norse burial crypt in the northwest from I believe the second or third eon. It caved in a while back but I'd avoid it. At the bottom of this region is a lake, primary fishing spot for us. There's also an old Emporian fort to the south east."
   
Tilamo was actively taking mental notes of what Oswald said. "This norse burial crypt, has it ever been a problem?"
   
"Nothing we usually can't handle. Couple of draugr come out every few years but the recent cave in has seemed to stop that."
   
"What caused this cave in?"
   
"I asked the same question myself, and the handful of architects we had between our two towns here said it was due to bad construction techniques."
   
"When?"
   
"Why are you so interested in this burial ground?"
   
"Collecting knowledge, anything we can learn will help us finish sooner. So when did it happen?"
   
"Two years ago."
   
"Anything peculiar about the lake?"
   
"Not really, at least nothing major enough that I needed to be notified of."
   
"What would constitute worthy of notification?"
   
"Plagues, infected water supply, loss of fish, that sort of thing."
   
"What do you do for record keeping? I'm assuming between the two towns here you have some sort of central location for births, deaths, and the likes?"
   
"Yes and no. We have a central library for state records but it's not open to the public."
   
"And why's that?"
   
"Tampering, arson, the typical problems that arise with legal information. Even if I gave you access to said records vault, what are you even hoping to find in there?"
   
"Anything that'll prove useful."
   
"You sound like a lawyer..." Oswald grumbled, "Damn elf."
   
"Pardon?"
   
"Take this," Oswald pulled out a signet ring with an engraving of an envelope in its center. "This is a ring of mine that'll grant you access on my behalf. When you get down there, look for Taka, he's a Tuxedo Fummau who runs the vault."
   
Tilamo reached out and took it from Oswald's reluctant hold. "Dankeschoen"
   
Oswald raised an eyebrow in confusion, "That doesn't sound elvish."
   
"It's not. It means 'Thank you' from where I come from."
   
Oswald nodded, "If that is all, I must be off."
   
Tilamo stood up with him and motioned for Gelmen to follow. "Truly, the information you provided will help us out a lot in this manhunt."
   
"I sure hope so..."
   
They told lies, blinded me to their true objective... I know what they want, I know what HE wants. I know how HE can get what HE wants...
   
Tilamo and Gelmen conveniently crossed paths with Mirvelle and her companion, Michy. "Ah good, you found your friend."
   
Michy smiled widely, way too giddy to be taking up the role of tracker. "Always here to help my friend, Mirry-" The comment was abruptly interrupted with a quick yelp in pain as he held his foot. "Ow..." he groaned.
   
"Did you happen to see where Storm went?"
   
"Nope, Michy got us lost for a little bit. How did your meeting with Oswald go?" Mirvelle asked
   
"I'd say rather well if not for his reluctance on a few matters."
   
"Reluctance on what?"
   
"I managed to pry the legal vault key from him but he was very hesitant on relinquishing it."
   
"Is he afraid of something we may find?"
   
"That would be my assumption but as to what? I don't know. I do know that we need to go north first."
   
"Why north?"
   
"Remember how that giant was powered by a soul infused corpse?"
   
"Yeah, so?"
   
"There so happens to be an old viking crypt way north, just directly west of where we came in from. Oswald said it caved in a few years ago, I'm calling bullshit and the corpse we saw in that giant is coming from there."
   
"I like the sound of this. It's been ages since I've gone delving!" Mirvelle's eyes widened in excitement, the thought of exploration and tomb plundering made her little heart pound its way out of her chest.
   
Michy was less excited. He swallowed a lump in his throat, "Delving? Crypts? I don't like the sound of this."
   
"I have a separate task for you actually." Tilamo said. "Instead I want you to go find Storm and take her north. She hasn't gone too far, I'm sure. Should be easy for a tracker such as yourself."
   
Michy gave a fake salute and bounced off to begin his search for Storm. Mirvelle stretched her arms behind her head and popped her elbow, "Well, what're we waiting for?"
   
Tilamo motioned for her to follow.
   
Off to the side, around the corner of a house, a fourth member heard the commotion. A Tasaki with cobalt dotted black fur. He watched them from around the corner, memorizing facial features and select phrases. When they split and walked away, he took off running.
   
To the east, buried in an small clump of trees was a large rectangular rock that stood up on its side. It was engraved in weird symbols that matched no known language. Thorny vines wrapped around it, holding deer skulls by their eye sockets. Thistle grew at the stone's base and a wooden bowl sat amongst the shrubbery. The cobalt dotted Tasaki approached the stone and slashed its hand open with a blade, dripping his blood into the wooden bowl. "Sura, Mother of the hunters, Queen of the werewolves, heed my beckoning."
   
The thorny vines began to glow a bright lime green and the strange lettering lit up in red one by one until it reached the bottom. Behind him echoed a feminine voice. The Tasaki turned about and saw Sura. He fell to his knees and kowtowed to her.
   
Sura took on the appearance of a human with a fummau's tail and a Tasaki's ears. She was slightly tanned and her hair and fur were as orange as autumn leaves. She stood above him, just barely taller with her unfortunate five foot structure. Sura wore padded leather armor to cover her vitals and nethers leaving her arms and legs unusually bare. She gave him a soft smile as if greeting an old friend or an ex-lover. "Stand faithful servant. Your mistress stands before you."
   
When the Tasaki stood up, he towered over her by another foot which naturally upset her. However she didn't raise an argument over it. "There are travellers from the other regions here. Four to be exact. Three elves and a gnoll."
   
"What an interesting combination? Any word about an Emporian or a scavenger?"
   
"None, I don't think he is with them."
   
"Hm..." That made Sura very nervous. He was being unpredictable again and she had no idea where he was or could be. "Judas' mad ramblings have me on edge. The prick may be gone but he still haunts my mind. What are those four up to?"
   
"They're headed northwest to the Draugr."
   
"Interesting choice. Looks like Oswald is being a good dog."
   
"He is observing your wishes, as he's always been. He is a good Thane."
   
Sura reached out and patted the Tasaki on the head, giving a quick stroke to his ears. "You've done well, my pet. Head back to town and be normal, I'll call for you again when you are needed."
   
"As you command, mistress."
   
"And stop with the mistress thing, it's weirding me out since you're taller."
   
The Tasaki nodded and tried to stifle a laughing smile. "Then I shall wait for your call." He then gave a quick bow and bounded off towards the town, vanishing into the field of grass.
   
Sura scratched her chin in questioning. She mumbled to herself, trying to decide what was next up on the list. "If he's not with them, then he may have gone back? Doubt it, that's not his play style."
   
Another female voice echoed from behind the rocks. "His play style? You having doubts about him again?"
   
Sura turned around to see who just so happened to rudely interrupt her concentration. "Enderia, good to see the queen of fear alive and well."
   
"Alive yes, hardly well..." She grumbled. Unlike Sura, Enderia didn't have the aura of power around her. A heavily drained mana pool showed her to be weak and vulnerable. Enderia was clothed in her fancy garments which left little to the imagination but even less now due to their tattered and damaged state.
   
"Odis did quite a number on you."
   
Enderia nodded, "He's angry and with that Catholic's help, he's going to bestow upon us all his wrath."
   
"Speaking of him, where is he? You didn't happen to have something to do with that?"
   
"Me? Taking him hostage would be the death of me. No, I'd rather keep what little strength I have left. However, I do know where he has been."
   
Sura smiled and clasped her hands together, rubbing them. "And where might that be?"
   
"He travelled back to Ashua to bury two people. One he deemed his wife. Judas killed her. The other was a very close friend, possibly an ex lover of his." Enderia pulled out a loot bag and tossed it on the ground. She also pulled the heavy steel maul off her back. "These were the items he used in place of their corpses."
   
"You stole their graves? Have you no respect for the dead?" Sura protested.
   
"These are items, possessions, not actual corpses."
   
"I would be fine with that if there an actual corpse left behind! Here I thought Magarath was the only mental one."
   
"Do not compare me to that insane bastard! I'm not stealing these to use them as sex toys or for some sick stage performance."
   
"I'd be less disturbed by that."
   
"Look, I didn't come here to start debating morality of plundering."
   
"Then why did you come here?" Sura was beginning to sound very angry as her once cheery tone roughened into a low growl.
   
"To give warning. Judas wasn't wrong about him being powerful. He's not the strongest among the otherworlders but he's the most resourceful and resilient."
   
"I have no intent of entangling myself in his irreparable advancement across the continent. That's Boudal's concern, not mine."
   
"You're going to get pulled in one way or another. Castias was, Judas was, I was. He may not be outright targeting us but being who and what we are, we are in his warpath."
   
"Then maybe it is best if I stood at his side."
   
"Turn on Boudal?" The thought seemed wrong at first; betraying the one who gave her enough willpower to fight against Odis' tyranny. However, having lost nearly everything, the offer Sura gave seemed all the more beneficial. "I lost my people... I have nothing... This is Boudal's fault, he put us on the front lines..."
   
"Then why not reconcile with him and his group," Sura suggested. "Afterall, who wouldn't want to be alongside the winning team?"
   
"I'll... think about it." Enderia said hesitantly
   
I knew not their allegiance, I knew not their identities, I knew not their intentions. I knew only that the war was just beginning...