“I’m sure you’ve all seen the recent surge in contracts; monsters are now systemically attacking our settlements, razing villages and sometimes even towns. From all the information that’s been gathered, I am now without doubt there is a figure organising this, and that it is the beast known as Yhaoli. We’ve lost tens of our brothers and sisters to this monster’s games, each more precious than the last, and I will not allow the last bastion of humanity to crumble like this,” Jowler bellowed.

Magic had been used to create a sound bubble around the clearing, restricting the words to the Seekers. These words echoed, the cold fury within Jowler’s speech resounding through the Seekers’ minds.

“But this is old news to me, and to you too, I hope. When we had our suspicions last year, Kasib was sent to the Arctic wastelands to slay it before it did any damage. Though it must have heard of his mission somehow as while he chased it north, it came south into the Empire.”

Orion frowned at this. While he had known Kasib had been staying at the Zakari House to chase a monster in the north, he hadn’t known it to be the infamous one shaking the Empire.

“But we don’t know where exactly,” Jowler continued, “Nor do we know many details about it. The only detail I’m certain about is that it’s dangerously strong; we all know the races of monsters can’t be charmed to work together – it’s impossible. But all of them respect strength, and since they now work united, their figurehead must be beyond any measure of strength.”

As the fat Seeker continued listing other details Yhaoli was rumoured to have, Orion felt a loose clasp across his shoulder. Turning around, he saw a bald man his size with piercing brown eyes, the sort that could see right through his soul. He stared at the man slack-jawed.

The man gestured him to follow, and so Orion did without so much as a question. But, just as he was about to leave the circle, Kora caught his hand, her expression perplexed. In response, he shook her hand off and walked away. She looked to Jowler, then to Orion, before hastily following the Zakari as he followed the bald man.

They walked out of the clearing and a distance away, the bald man picking up a glubber’s lamp along the way, shielding them from the darkness. When they stopped, the bald man placed the lamp on the ground and rubbed his deeply calloused hands together. He observed the two younger Seekers in front of him, the male obviously with his heart in his mouth and the female catching his eye and glaring back.

“When Jowler told me he had trained an exceptional Zakari, never did I think to be you, Orion,” the bald man joked, visibly releasing tension between them.

“Kasib, I…,”

Kasib calmly watched Orion stumble over his words. He wore a plain shirt, trousers, and boots. An orange robe fluttered over his shirt. His visible skin was riddled with scars, but still it was his eyes that demanded the most attention. They were bright and intelligent, but simultaneously sharp and wild.

“I only heard about what happened to Reion and the rest of your family last month,” Kasib said, his aura taking a dejected turn. “I’m sorry I couldn’t be of help,”

At this Orion broke into tears, falling to his knees as he released the grief locked up in his heart. Even as he tried to regain his composure, tears kept gushing out until he gave into his grief, softly sobbing.

Kasib kneeled down and hugged the young Zakari, his hold soft and warm. Kora watched from the sidelines, unable to put any of her thoughts into words or action. This was the man Orion had been chasing; this was the man who hunted Yhaoli; this was one of the strongest Seekers ever to have existed.

When the sobs eventually dried up, the bald Seeker helped Orion to his feet.

“You’ve been through a lot, and I know Reion would be proud if he could see how far you’ve come. Still, even if I had been in the Empire at the time, I wouldn’t have been able to stop the massacre,”

“B-but you’re…” Orion struggled to say, shocked at what Kasib had just admitted.

“I feared as much. How much do you know about the massacre?” Kasib asked.

“I don’t know. It just happened, and I escaped. I don’t know anything else. I was looking for you to figure out what had happened,”

Kasib sighed, taking a step to the side, gazing into the skies. “Have you heard of your cousin Eira? The one that entered the Imperial Army?”

Orion nodded.

“Since Reion doesn’t care for the Imperial Army at all, I guess he didn’t tell you her rank. She’s a general, one of the 3 across the Empire. But I’m sure Reion has told you of her strength, I’m sure your whole family has, after all, you Zakari’s respect strength too much.”

Orion nodded again, suddenly realising he didn’t want to hear whatever Kasib wanted to say next. Yet he needed to: his soul burned with anticipation.

“Eira led her army from the south of the Empire towards the west, towards your House. She then massacred your family,”

This dazed Orion as he fell, stumbling backwards with his arms. “What?! WHY?!”

“I don’t know,” Kasib admitted. “I guess the only one who truly knows is her. Considering the fact the Piros didn’t, and still haven’t, punished her for the turmoil she brought to the Empire means they must have been desperate,”

Thinking back, Orion finally realised how his family had been ambushed in the tunnel while escaping. Of course they had been, Eira had probably ordered soldiers into the secret passages around the House. And it made sense how they had been so taken off guard if it was Eira, after all, while he had never met her, he had heard enough about her to have a coherent picture. Exceptionally talented, frighteningly strong, and cunning.

But if she had planned everything so well, how had he escaped? Why hadn’t the person who had rescued him ever come back? How had they escaped from Eira’s army in the first place? He briefly considered her rescuing him and placing him in Visgamar, before dropping the thought. If she was bloodthirsty enough to murder her own blood, her own father and mother, then she would have zero problems with decapitating a cousin she had never met.

But then why had she attacked in the first place? Orion had wanted to take revenge, and he still did, but this was alike a strike to his head, muddling his thoughts and emotions. He had to know why she had massacred her own family!

“Even if I had wanted to help,” Kasib continued, “I’m only enough to match her, not her and the legions at her beck and call. And that was in the past. If Reion and Regnar fell to her, then she has exceeded me. Either way, I’m sorry for being useless, Orion,”

“I need to know, where the fuck is she?” Orion roared.

This shocked Kora backwards but Kasib didn’t flinch. “She’s in your family’s lands; she’s the general stationed at the western front, against the tribes,”

“I need to go, I need to go now!”

“No!” Kasib said, his words pushing Orion to the ground. “You need to take into account the monster she is; she used to be stationed in the south against the Horsemen, so she’s on good terms with the Metole and as proof, they’ve gone to support her at the frontlines. The Piros allow her to run wild and topple their own Empire without punishing her, and the Cruorems fear her, and the Zakari fell to her blade. If you’re going to charge at her mindlessly, I might as well cut you down now. At least then you’ll see the rest of your family faster,”

Orion smashed his fists against the ground but Kasib paid no heed, calmly pacing around. “Right now, Jowler is telling the others that Yhaoli is likely in the south, urging the Horsemen to invade. That means I won’t be able to help you as I still have a monster to cut down. Still, there’s a chance this is another diversion and it’s actually in the west, helping the tribes. That means you’ve got a chance of running into it, and I don’t know who’s stronger, Eira or Yhaoli, and I definitely wouldn’t want to see the aftermath of a battle like that. Either way, there’s a chance you’ll be against both if you go west. And while Jowler is sending half the Seekers south and half west, none of them can help you against the foes you’ve chosen, so you’re on your own. Now, do you still want to go?”

“Yes, yes fucking yes,” Orion roared.

“Just like Reion,” Kasib murmured. “Then go and pack up, you’ve got no more reason staying here,”

Orion took this as gospel, leaving for the clearing. Just as Kora was about to follow, Kasib stopped her.

“Bian, I’ve heard of you as well,”

This froze her.

“Caleb wants you back, and he is also against Yhaoli. In a different situation, I can see him allying with Orion but not in this one. While Yhaoli is likely south, I selfishly ask you follow Orion to the west. Neither of you will survive in the west but at least you have a fighting chance together,”

She nodded wordlessly.

“Also, you should be careful. Since we know about you now, so will your family. They will have sent someone to fetch you back now, so keep an eye on your back. If you two group up, you’ll be able to fight back anyone but Caleb, but it’s up to you if you want to fight your family in the first place. It can lead to some… disastrous results,” Kasib said, pausing in thought. “Either way, you should chase him down before he leaves without you. I hope you two the best,”

Kora sprinted off immediately. The bald Seeker deeply unsettled her, especially the insight he held, almost as if he had read her thoughts.

Kasib, on the other hand, watched her fleeing figure, sighing. He had once been in that youthful position, surrounded by strong friends and enemies who now occupied the uppermost tier of the world. But now they were all dropping like flies, and he feared his time wasn’t for much longer now.