Maybe if I blink hard enough all of this paperwork will disappear.

Nay. As always, it does not work.

It’s days like these that make me wonder why I ever came back. Someone like me was not made for this sort a’ thing. I should be on the frontlines. Haven’t Hunted anything proper in months now. And that Traitor doesn’t count. He was hunted by someone else. I won’t be known as a kill thief.

If that White had stuck around just ten more minutes, there’s wouldn’ ‘ta been anythin’ for me to even do there. It shouldn’t even be able to walk the mortal plane. The thing’ only descended for a week or so and it cin already…

Sigh.

Never thought I’d be drawing me sword against a Snow Child. Morana is still torn up about it. Raised ‘im herself. To think he was planted without any of us the wiser. Just how many other Seeds are there? Our whole garden is infected.

This is a real problem. Not like these useless issues sittin’ ‘ere. I shove the papers in front of me to the side in irritation. How am I supposed to concentrate on anythin’ when Kara is still…

That boy’s funeral was yesterday. She’ll be disappointed she missed it, I’ll bet. But it’s better she wasn’t there. I need to keep her away from that gangster. They were far too chummy at the meeting. That man is up to no good. Kids don’ turn up dead because their parents are behavin’ themselves.

My unsettled peace is disturbed when one of the new recruits barges into my office unannounced.

“Sir! There’s trouble!”

In annoyance I throw the pencil still in my hand at the wall beside the door. It imbeds itself into it only an inch away from the cause of my irritation’s overly large head.

“Eep! M-my apologies Mister Owens, sir!”

To the lad’s credit he does not pass out immediately like the last one. Seems he’s made outta tougher stuff.

“You’d better have a good reason for this, Wilson.”

“My Lo-” A sharp glare from me has him correct his speech. “S-sir, an urgent report has arrived, and you need to turn to Channel 7.”

“What report? I’m only expecting one today. I don’t have time for this nonsense.”

Against protocol young Wilson steps forward and awkwardly dumps a large and heavily damaged brown envelope onto my desk. An envelope with that seal. What in the seven hells? Then he steals my remote off of my desk, with shaking hands, and turns on the T.V mounted to the west wall. Without permission.

“You have- you need to see it for yourself, sir. It’s awful. The North has fallen. All of it. At once. West Tavani and North Kiliniq, from Nunavut, New Rayrock from the Northwest Territories, and Old Snag from the Yukon, they’ve all been- they’ve been destroyed, sir.”

The T.V is muted, with the subtitles on, as I like it. That doesn’t soften the blow. What is quietly presented are scenes of complete devastation. Absolute destruction. It’s a breaking news report only a few minutes started. The snowstorm can’t hide the smoke. Then it cuts to another city, this one also gone. Wrecked. Dead bodies littered everywhere. Then another. And another.

“What is this? How could this happen? These are all Protected Mutant Cities.”

“It seems to have happened a few days ago-”

“Nonsense! All four? How are we only hearing of it now, then?”

“The Bubbles were sealed off without anyone noticing. The Royal Guards only noticed because these four cities missed the National Weekly Check in, which was this morning. From the evidence gathered so far, all four cities were attacked at the same time. Approximately three or four days ago. Boots on the ground have only recently arrived and the investigation has just started.”

I keep one eye on the screen while opening the envelope. “If they knew a few hours ago, that doesn’t answer why I’m only now being informed.”

“The Guards only arrived an hour ago. They had no idea the reason they lost contact was… because of this. Captain Julius is leading the investigation and he said-”

“Why is that bastard in charge? Who authorized that? I should be there!”

“I-It was- was Her Majesty, sir. Because she wants you to focus on the…” He gulps. “On the Undesirable situation-”

“Damnit!” I punch my desk, but the enchantment on it holds, and it does not break. “Has no group claimed responsibility?”

“All the usual participants in such things are silent. The Prometheus Faction has worked with the Mutant and Sapiens Relations Department and have determined that it was neither the Advent Exodus believers nor was it the True Sapiens Sanctuary. They’ve both heavily denied involvement, and their main players have been proven to be engaged elsewhere. We are still working on sorting out the Mutant groups. As usual, they’re stubborn. But this was… according to the latest information, there’s no way this wasn’t… an inside job. At least partially.”

“Inside? That’s right…” The Bubbles couldn’t have been sealed so perfectly, nor could the cities have been destroyed so quickly and quietly, if there weren’t people inside facilitating.

More Seeds. They’re everywhere. They brought down the North.

Since the wars we’ve been too lax. How could we let this happen?

“Sir, what are you orders?”

Orders. Fucking orders… “Get out.”

“S-sir?”

“Get the fuck outta here!”

“Ah! Y-yes sir I’ll be right outside, sir!”

Sidelined. That’s what this is. Oh, but she’ll be callin’ me in to consult within the next few hours when that daft nugget fails to produce results. I don’t understand her anymore. If they ain’t going to take my opinion into account for anythin’, then why do they even ask? Why am I even here?

I don’t want to be here. This isn’t where I belong. There’s too many people. And doorways. Too many gods be damned doorways.

I want to be alone, but even that is denied me when I hear an annoying pounding on my door that had only just closed. Don’ need ta see them to know who it is.

And the lil’ bastard doesn’t even wait for me to respond. Just opens the door and saunters in as he likes. As per usual.

Never feed a coyote. Not even once. Never open a door to a coyote. Not even once. They’ll never fucking leave.

“Hey, cousin! My brother just finished his report for yesterday. The surveillance on our little fairy. It’s good.”

“She’s not a fairy. Fairies aren’t real.”

“Mmm, debateable.”

“Apisi-”

Right, right. But ya know, East Pangea Tally-Marker Fae Halfling just doesn’t have the same ring to it.”

I roll my eyes. “Give it. Anything interesting?”

“So much. Did you know that little thing can Stride the Worlds? She can just Walk the Barrier like it’s nuthin. And she can already fly and shrink at her age. And here I thought that David kid was talented.”

I take the report and start sifting through it. Since I’ve been sidelined on the North case, I won’t be bustin’ my ass over it. That dusty letter can wait. Seal be damned. If Julius wants that assignment, he can have it. And he can do it all himself. And fail, all by himself.

“Considerin’ her unique species and how early she awakened it ain’t so surprisin’. Not to mention who her teacher is.”

“She calls him Master.”

“I’m aware.”

“So cold.” Apisi clicks his tongue at me, but I ignore him. “You’re just pissed cause you can’t legally Hunt that guy.”

I ignore his quip because this report had better be falsified. I already had a bad feeling when it stated she had attended the funeral. And planted unknown spyware. Though no evidence of it survived. She managed to stay inside all the legal loopholes. Her father is not teaching her properly. But what comes after… that is completely unacceptable.

“She infiltrated the Romano’s compound?”

“Impressive, right? And she even made it back out in one-”

CRASH!

“-piece.”

I throw my mug into the wall. It hits not far from the pencil still embedded there. And shatters. That’s the fifth one this week. Maybe I should look into gettin’ a thermos. Or get my next mug enchanted. None of my desks have lasted as long as this one ‘ere. But that ain’t important right now.

“You fucking eejits just let her walk in there!? Why didn’t you stop her!?”

Very quickly his jovial grin disappears, and his face turns calm. Too calm. Argh… I forgot who I’m talking to. He has a way of making that happen, even after all these years.

“You told us to watch her. You didn’t say nuthin else.”

“You-!”

“Relax. We knew she’d be fine.”

“Fine? You know exactly who Frank is and what he can do, and you let a fifteen-year-old child walk in there? Alone?”

“Like I said. It was no biggie.”

“Yeah? And how did you know that?” No… wait a gosh darn minute. “What do you know?”

“Sorry, pal. Can’t tell ya that.”

“I am your superior!”

“We both know that’s just on paper. Don’t forget who your superior is. And I don’t answer to you. But I like you, so I’ll usually go along with it. But I can’t bend the rules on this one. Sorry.”

He does not look one inch sorry.

“I don’t care what they say, I draw the line at using children as pawns. What if you’d been wrong? It’s happened before.”

“We both know whose fault that was. Something like that won’t happen again. My current sources are even more reliable than yours now, it seems.”

“Watch it, Apisi-”

“Look, Mike. In this game of life, as in chess, there are only six kinda pieces on the board. And most of us are pawns. You’ve lived long enough, so don’t act like you don’t understand what I’m saying. Or what’s happening. The sooner you accept it, the better. Something’s coming. Something even bigger than you.”

Of course, I ken. Only a fool wouldn’t be aware after everything that’s happened so far. But that Ancient Diviner never told us what was coming. Only that an Era would end. And what the signs would be for the Arrival. And with the fall of the North… everything’s lining up. Far too neatly.

“From your tone I’m assuming you’ve finished your private investigation into Kara’s so-called Wall of Conspiracy? Did it bear any fruit?”

I would have overlooked the whole weird thing as the obsession of a troubled teenager if Apisi hadn’t insisted on recording it all. Their kind don’t lock onto unnecessary things. And once they’ve locked onto something, their jaws don’t drop it.

“We’ve already made four arrests. Another Traitor, two Illegal Infiltrations, and uh, well we aren’t certain about the last one. He appears to be connected to the Forged Test Initiation that Flanagan kid received, but we haven’t begun the interrogation yet. We need the a-okay of the boss here.” He nods to me.

“You found another Traitor and two Illegals?”

“So far. Some other investigations are still ongoing. There’s a lot more, though. At least ten I can vouch for right now. And yes, all the clues were in her notes and all those useful photos lead-”

“When were these discoveries made?”

“Couple days ago.”

“And you didn’t inform me before now because…?”

“Well, I wanted to be sure, is all. You were so sure I wouldn’t find anything, so I wanted to be able to really rub it in-”

“Enough. You’re clear on all Rites. Trash is trash. Do whatever you need to do to get information out of this presumed Traitor.”

“Got it, boss. Limbs are a luxury, not a right.”

Maybe I should have left a few Rites on…

Sigh.

“Please remember, they need either their tongues or their hands intact. I don’t want a repeat of the Cornell case.”

“Oh, come on, that was one time. I didn’t know Kitchi already cut the bastard’s tongue off when I went for the hands!”

“I don’t care. It was careless. I don’t wan’ ta’ have’ ta invite Lord Spencer over ever again to do our interrogatin’, got it?”

“Yessir. And… there’s another more thing.”

“What now?”

“I’m not fully certain yet but among the other ten unverified discoveries… Well, I believe there’s an Unbanded shapeshifter in our city with malicious intent.”

“Come again? This is an incredibly serious accusation. What makes you think that?”

“Kara has a lot of photos on one part of her wall, each photo has a different person in it. A completely different person. Not the same at all. And the only sticky note in that section of the wall reads ‘why are their eyes the same?’”

“I’m not following.”

“Come on now. Think. You might be out of practice, but you’re still a Hunter. The best there ever was-”

“Cut the crap and get on with it.”

“A person can change how they look, but their presence is almost impossible to mask. Not to be confused with Aura. Even Normies have a presence unique to each individual. Kara somehow has spotted someone with the same presence but multiple different… coats, so to speak. Looking more closely at those photos, I can see similarities in posture and expression between them, but it’s so subtle that I would have never been able to notice them without Kara having made it obvious first. The same is the case for the four people who’ve been apprehended. There were signs that we missed, but she caught the strange behaviour. The connected behaviours. It’s amazing.”

“It might make some semblance of sense if she’d done this now but before? Just how was she able to notice all of this and make all these connections without knowing anything? And why didn’t we realize any of this? Why did you have to rely on a child to catch such serious security risks?”

Apisi shrugs despite knowing I hate that. “It’s not that odd. She has the Sight. Pretty sure that was made obvious to anyone in the know during the meeting when she caught out the trees. Man, that shocked me.”

“Nay. Even with the Sight this makes no sense.”

“It does if you understand what that ability really does and how it actually works. Instead of just assuming that because you’ve lived a long time that you know more than people with average lifespans.”

“I know what Sight is-”

“With all due respect, no, you don’t. Most people don’t.”

“You gonna elaborate on that then or were you just showin’ off?”

“Hm, how to put this. Well first off lets use Normies for an example because I know you hate that. You know how some of them can see just fine but some of them need glasses or surgery to see just fine, and others just can’t see well no matter what or are totally blind?”

“If you’re using this as a chance to mock-”

“I’m not, it’s a metaphor. I’m saying not everyone with the Sight have the same quality of vision.”

“So Kara’s vision is good.”

“Geez. That’s not the half of it. She’s a damn Puzzler.”

“Puzzler?”

“It’s what we call- she can fill in the blanks.”

“Be clear. What do you mean?”

“If you go to buy a puzzle there’s always a picture on the box of what the puzzle will look like when it’s completed, right?” I nod. “That picture is ‘the truth.’ Seers at Kara’s level can take a bunch of random pieces of information and put them together properly ninety percent of the time. That’s because subconsciously they know what the finished picture looks like. They can even make judgements based on the parts they’ve completed and have a vision of what sort of ‘truth’ should be in the empty blanks. That’s the important thing. Even if they’re only right ninety percent of the time, they’re still doing something no one else can do even one percent of the time. The only other Mutant power that comes close to that would a Psychic at the Diviner level. But they’re not even doing the same thing, they can just reach the same answer.”

“So her Wall of Conspiracy is her trying to piece together a puzzle?”

“For a dumbed down version, yeah. There’s a lot of information on there that an outsider without her level of Sight just wouldn’t be able to interpret, not even me. It’s important. She’s on to something big. You know what I’m saying? That’s why it’d be great if she woke up soon.”

It would be great if she’d wake up. Three days have already passed. But they’re saying she might not-

“Oh, by the way, Victor received an anonymous package this morning. Or rather, the dolt found it this morning. There was no name. It wasn’t easy but I managed to trace it back to that person. Turns out, on top of everything else, Kara has Soul Rot. Victor completely missed it.”

No… Soul Rot? Does the universe itself not want this child to live? With everything else she has yet to face, why add that? I place my head in my hands. Fucking hell. I need a moment.

I take a deep breath. “I hate it when it’s children. Why is it always children?”

“She isn’t dead yet.”

“In the end they always die. That’s why they aren’t supposed to be born. That’s why they’re erased after creation. It’s a mercy. Why are they forcing her to live through this? What do they want from her?”

“Maybe she’ll surprise you.”

“I should have killed her before she came back the first time.”

“Those weren’t your orders.”

“It should’a been.”

“Well, if she keeps running her mouth off like that you won’t need to kill her yourself. When are those Order Officers coming, anyway?”

“They weren’t clear. A few weeks. Sometime after All Hallows Eve.”

“Will she stay in a coma until then?”

“Stop it.” This bastard really has no empathy at all. “Where’s Wendell? Why did he send a message anonymously? He should be helping with this not running around.”

“First off, you can’t fire someone and then expect them to still answer your calls. That’s not how that works.”

“He wasn’t fired he’s on a sabbatical-”

“We all know what that means.” I shoot him a look and he coughs and continues. “I apologize, but he disappeared after the meeting. We haven’t been able to locate him. Nor the nephew. The message had already been delivered at that time; Victor only found it yesterday. At first, we thought he had discovered her abnormality during the meeting, but it seems he was already aware of it before then.”

“He met her outside the hospital once. Gave her a weird rock. And took her chicken nuggets.”

“Sounds like him.”

“Don’t try and distract me. You lost him!? You? He's an important asset!”

“Lay off me. The madman’s a fucking badger, alright? You try tracking him if you think you’re so-”

“Don’t call him that. He’s not crazy he’s just… eccentric and not so fond of bureaucracy ever since that incident.”

“He’s unstable and unpredictable is what he is.”

“You’re one to talk.”

“Oi, that hurts my feelers, cuz.”

“Shut up. I’m not your cousin. Do you at least know if those two are moving together or separately?”

“Separately. Or they want us to think that, and they met up at some point later on.”

Sigh. Why can nothing be simple? Just for one day?

“If you don’t know then just say you don’t know.”

“I don’t know.” He deadpans.

“Remind me why I hired you?”

“You didn’t.”

“That’s because quality is a requirement.”

Instead of a further trading of barbs, Apisi smiles. Not a simple grin like when he’s goofing off, or pretending to in order to lower your guard, but a full smile.

My hair immediately stands on end and I’m on edge.

Never trust a smiling coyote.

Whatever’s coming next can’t be good. A coyote grins before disaster, or so they say.

“What is it? Spit it out.”

Apisi looks pointedly towards the T.V screen where scenes of the devastation are still ongoing.

“The Last Ferryman’s ship was spotted off the coast of Baffin Island. In the Foxe Basin.”

“Don’t use nicknames. It makes criminals think they’re important. What you’re telling me is that Thomas Kelsey was seen up North. Around the time that the North fell.”

“That’s right. Isn’t it interesting?”

Now his true darkness is showing in the smile. There’s no longer an attempt to hide the malice and ambiguity. But it’s brief before he reins it back in.

“Why are you bringing this up? Julius is investigating all that. What does that man’s actions have to do with what’s going on here, in Ashvale?”

“Who knows?”

Another damn grin. But I’m not falling for this guy’s tricks.

“I know your feelings on this. But the Council has already determined that Kara and her mother will be judged individually. And while they are both guilty until proven innocent, they cannot be harmed until the Final Judgement. I hope you remember that.”

“Don’t twist up your knickers or however you people say that.” A short but boisterous laughter briefly fills the room. But the laughter doesn’t reach his eyes. It never does. “You don’t have to get so jumpy, friend. I have no ill intent.” Bullshit. “And you shouldn’t judge me so easily. I’m not the only person who lost something that day.”

“No. You’re not. But you are the one who lost the most.”

He’s calm again. As if the smiles and laughter from before were nothing but an illusion he cast. Sometimes I wonder if maybe they all are, and that he hasn’t really laughed or smiled, even in pretense, ever since that day.

“I have nothing against the girl.”

“And her mother?”

“Like you said, they’ll be judged, separately.”

This life is tiring. I lean back in my chair and squeeze the bridge of my nose. Everyone around me has their own plots and goals and thoughts they keep to themselves. It’s draining managing it all.

“If you don’t have anything else to report then get out.”

“Yessir.” He gives a mock salute before leaving quietly. His feet never make a sound unless he wants them to.

That guy… he can never just come out with it. Everythin’ has to be a game of bait and switch. What an exhausting fellow.

Unfortunately, I can’t just leave this alone. Not when one of his kind has spotted a link. He might just be fucking around but this matter needs to be taken seriously. The last time that man was spotted was almost three years ago. Even if it turns out to be a red herring, or worse, a trap, I can’t ignore the fact that Kara’s father was last seen nearby such a massive slaughter.

I ignored his actions once before, and the effects of the attack ten years ago are still felt now.

Everyone lost something that day. Even me. And for most, it was someone that was lost.

And the only clue we have to that tragedy is The Last Ferryman. Thomas Kelsey. Kara’s father.

Why? Why does everything tie back to that child?

Why can’t fate just leave her be?