“Yes ma’am. I understand, ma’am.” Siorraid said. “I assure you that we are doing everything in our power to find the culprit of this incident.”

“Incident!” the woman screeched. “This was no mere incident. My son was brutally attacked by an...an outlaw! Who burgled his way into the School specifically to harm my boy. I demand that you find this outlaw and apprehend him!”

Indeed Siorraid was standing at the door of Mr. and Mrs. Ferquant, the parents of Alex Ferquant, who Ril so mercilessly damaged all those months ago.

Speaking of Ril, Siorraid turned his head to the side to view Ril who watched the proceedings with a slightly green expression. He had brought him along partially because he thought it was funny for Ril to be searching for himself, but mostly to teach him a lesson.

With them on the couch was poor Police Chief Darrel who had been saddled with this case from the outset. He had made every effort to capture the perpetrator, but predictably he had failed.

“I assure you ma’am the police are working with the White Lily to the utmost of our ability to bring in the perpetrator to your son’s beating.” Police Chief Darrel attempted to reassure the woman. “However--”

“Well you are not working hard enough.” interjected Mr. Ferquant, riding over the police officer as if he wasn’t even there. “I don’t think you understand the gravity of the crime! Just take a look at my son.”

At this, Mr. Ferquant gestured to his son Alex who grimaced, but obediently opened his mouth, revealing his damaged maw. At this, Siorraid noticed that Ril grew noticeably less comfortable and refrained from inspecting the damage too closely. Siorraid let out an almost imperceptible sigh.

“This is the work of a terrorist I tell you!” Mr. Ferquant declared. “A danger to all. Including you dear sirs. I demand that you find this criminal or I daresay that everyone in this city will succumb to this terrorist’s schemes! Hell! His dastardly plan may already be in motion!”

“Excuse me, Mr. Ferquant, Mrs. Ferquant. But as I was saying, It has been seventy-three days--” Chief Darrel started, but was once again interrupted by the boisterous father.

“That is just further proof of your incompetence!” Mr. Ferquant shouted, his face reddening. “At this point I wonder if the generous donations that my company has provided for this city would be better spent elsewhere!”

Siorraid sighed internally. His patience was wearing thin with this entire situation. The Ferquants had been constantly nagging them about finding the man who had attacked the five children at the School for months now. In the beginning it had just been the police involved, but once it became clear that the police wouldn’t find the attacker, Mr. Ferquant had thrown around his significant economic bulk so to speak, and ever since then Siorraid had been forced to join in on these exhausting, not to mention pointless, conversations.

“Please sir, allow me to finish.” Chief Darrel begged, “There is no need to retract your generous donations, I was simply going to mention that since it has been over two months since the...” The police chief sent a nervous glance at Mrs. Ferquant, “brutal attack, and since that attacker hasn’t been spotted in Sela since the attack, then it is likely that they have moved on from--”

“Then send out hunting parties!” Mr. Ferquant shouted, his face completely red at this point. “Unleash the hounds, hire trackers, recall your contracts! Search the surrounding cities! I don’t care how. I want this outlaw to pay for his crimes! He will pay!”

Siorraid’s patience reached its limit, and he stood up from the couch.

“And, pray tell which trackers could we hire? The number of trackers who can find someone with the ability to teleport is vanishingly small. Not to mention that the last sighting of the perpetrator was months ago. The number of people who could accomplish such a feat can be counted on the fingers of one hand, and I believe all of them are in the King’s employ.” Siorraid said, his voice steely.

“Then--”

“No,” Siorraid spoke over him, “for now, the perpetrator is gone. As an executive member of the White Lily, I hereby declare that this case closed. Further inquiries on this subject will result in fines on both you and your company. The police force cannot continue devoting man hours to a case that is unlikely to bear fruit considering the myriad other crimes that occur in this city daily. The population is still growing after all.”

Mr. Ferquant sputtered. A vein bulging dangerously on his forehead. Without waiting for a verbal affirmation, Siorraid bulled onwards.

“The police will continue to look into this manner should manpower present itself, or further evidence becomes available that is sufficient to reopen the case. Until then you will refrain from monopolizing Chief Darrel’s time, and allow him to prevent other crimes from manifesting in this city. Am I making myself clear?”

Mrs. Ferquant opened her mouth, preparing to no doubt indulge in a tirade revolving around the inadequacies of the force, but luckily her husband stopped her. Siorraid’s patience had worn thin.

“I understand.” Mr. Ferquant growled. There was anger in his eyes, but unlike his wife and son, he seemed to know who Siorraid was, and was unwilling to push him too much farther.

Sometimes a reputation is worth its weight in gold, Siorraid smiled to himself, remembering a saying that an old friend used to say. Externally, he kept his expression stern.

“Good, then we will be going. Once more I apologize for the damage that has been done to your family, and I pray that your son makes a complete recovery.” Siorraid nodded, and gestured to Ril and Chief Darrel. The Ferquants gave half hearted goodbyes as the three got up and left their home.

They emerged into the freezing cold air of late winter. They stood upon the third and tallest balcony of Sela’s cliffs. Nearly a kilometer below them the tiny road leading to Sela was barely visible. As far as the eye could see there were the rolling hills that surrounded Sela, but instead of being covered by verdant grasslands, as was their wont, a thick layer of snow shrouded the countryside.

A powerful gust of wind blasted against the cliffside, carrying the frigid senselessness that only the dead of winter can convey. The pressure nearly bowled over Ril who had already begun shivering.

Surreptitiously Siorraid sacrificed a small dagger, its essence evaporated and provided them with a small cocoon of still air.

“Thank you Siorraid, I don’t know how much more of that I could take.” Chief Darrel said abashedly.

“It was no trouble Chief,” Siorraid nodded to the younger man. “I was just as tired as you regarding the Ferquants. It was high time for this case to close.”

“I couldn’t agree more,” Darrel said, but then looked into the distance thoughtfully. “I just wish we caught that bastard who hurt those kids. It's not right for something like that to happen in a school. And without Ferquant’s support the force will get even smaller.”

“Although that kid is a right piece of work. This investigation has been one of the ugliest of my life.” Darrel sighed, popping his shoulder. “You sure that you don’t know who did it? You’ve always known any powerful people who enter this city, ever since...ever really. As long as I’ve known you.”

Siorraid glanced at Ril, who huddled into his cloak. It had not taken much deduction to figure out that Ril was the Ice Knight, although he doubted that anyone else would have been able to suss it out.

Knowing Ril, Siorraid immediately found it suspicious that he allowed such brutality to happen before him without intervening. Even if his mission was at stake. And furthermore, the Ice Knight’s powers could theoretically be replicated by Ril’s current arsenal. That and the fact that Ril showed entirely too little interest in the subject allowed Siorraid to deduce that Ril himself was the one who perpetrated the incident.

A little further digging had revealed Ril’s intentions and the situation in further details. It was troublesome to have a righteous agent, but it was workable. Especially if they were able.

Siorraid had drilled Ril in lying after that. It wouldn’t do for him to be caught on a mission due to failed dishonesty.

Siorraid glanced at Chief Darrel, “If the perpetrator can really teleport as the reports say, then there is little stopping them from entering and exiting Sela at will. Even I have little to counter a power like that.” Siorraid replied.

“Man...” Chief Darrel chuckled, “crazy init? A real teleporter. Too bad the power went to a psychopath.”

“Indeed,” Siorraid said, amiably.

“Anyway, I got to go. Thanks for saving me from more of those meetings!”

Darrel walked off. Once he got a dozen paces away the wind suddenly picked up for him and he was forced to hunch as he forced his way to the nearest entrance to the city's tunnels.

Siorraid walked over to the guardrail, and leaned on it. The massive vista spread below him was both awe inspiring and somehow calming in its majesty.

Ril stepped up beside him. Two tiny flames burned in his nostrils, no doubt to help him breath the freezing air more easily. It must have taken a lot of practice to get the fire stable enough so that it didn’t burn him. Siorraid silently applauded the man’s dedication. Ril’s complete lack of nose hair evidence of the task’s difficulty.

Siorraid refrained from using an ability to help him cope with the weather. It seemed more right to feel the burn in his lungs. Although, his knees didn't appreciate the treatment.

“They say that on a clear day you can see Anduin from here.” Siorraid mused quietly, staring off into the distance.

“It’s really amazing,” Ril said, taking in the view.

“It is indeed.” Siorraid replied quietly, “One of these days I’ll show you the top of the cliff. The view is even more amazing from there.”

Ril nodded, tightening his grip on his cloak while trying ever increasingly elaborate methods of using Flame to keep him warm without burning either him or his cloak.

After watching that for a couple of amused seconds, Siorraid frowned. “I trust you understand why I’ve brought you to these meetings?”

Ril froze, a pallor falling over his face. “Uhm, yes, yes sir.”

“Restrain yourself next time, even better, try to find a non-violent solution next time. With your head I’m sure you can come up with something.” Siorraid said, then grudgingly admitted, “although it was a good idea to hide your identity.”

“I’ll try. Sorry for all this.” Ril supplicated. Then hesitantly, “If I may ask, how did you know?”

“You are a poor liar.” Siorraid shrugged, “and I find it unlikely that a true Teleporter would spend his time harming the child of a minor merchant in a backwater like Sela.”

Ril nodded, and they descended into silence, just enjoying the view.

“Why did you break their teeth?” Siorraid asked, honestly curious at his disciples thought process.

Ril hesitated, a conflicted expression crossing his face. “Well...they were, I mean, Alex is...was very heroic. The flaming sword. The bearing. The confidence. I guess it didn’t sit right with me that he was using the power to put others down. I don’t know. Instead of helping people he was bullying Hauke, which just seemed so small. I don’t know how to stop someone from bullying, so I figured that the best way was to take his...heroism away.”

“So the teeth?” Siorraid encouraged,

“Yeah, well, you can’t really be a hero with broken up teeth.” Ril winced, “and I mean, I don’t know of a way to take his abilities so I did the next best thing. Also I found that much of people’s confidence comes from the quality of their smile. Also people don’t really look up to people with broken teeth.”

Siorraid nodded, Bahlinar was a great example of that. Despite his heroics, the moment he opens his mouth people cringe away. It took years for Siorraid to be comfortable around the man. “Did Hauke ask you to do it?”

“No, but ahh...” Ril started, hesitating. He shot a glance over his shoulder at Sin. The cat was lounging inside of Ril’s hood, his glowing eyes peeking out from the darkness.

A silent conversation seemed to occur, before Ril continued. “Sin and I decided to do it together. Sort of...” he trailed off, dejected.

Siorraid nodded, filing away that tidbit of information for later. “Interesting. So you decide things with...Sin often?”

Ril frowned, “not really, Sin doesn’t really care for the world. Only sometimes does he interject and then we argue about what to do.”

Siorraid nodded again. While perhaps Ril thought that what he just said was a small matter, Siorraid thought differently. Friendly negotiation with powder beasts was unheard of. It almost always required a show of force, and Siorraid was eager to contemplate what this meant.

“Alright, you go on ahead. I’m sure Zed is dying of boredom without you there to spar against. I will join you soon. Perhaps we could eat dinner together tonight? My treat. I have something I wish to discuss with you.”

Ril gave him a thoughtful look before nodding. Then he rushed towards the nearest tunnel entrance, and disappeared moments later.

Making progress after all these years..., Siorraid thought to himself, finally letting a small smile break through the rigid mask he had maintained for much of the day.

He turned around, away from the railing, but not towards the tunnel that led into Sela. Instead he looked up the sheer rock face that made up the cliff face. The stone was bare, too steep to support any snow. Luckily no snow had fallen on the balcony this year. The repairs were prohibitively expensive.

Siorraid reinforced his skeleton with shadows. Four inky black limbs erupted from his back, their sharp ends grabbing onto the rock face. The darkness melded into the pores inherent to the rock. Then, with steady strength, he began to climb the cliff.

The shadowy limbs made the process easier. Not easy, but easier.

By the time he reached the top his limbs were exhausted. The black limbs collapsed, disintegrating and merging with his meager shadow; the winter sun not the best source of sharp shadows.

Behind him an even greater vista spread out. If it wasn’t overcast he may actually be able to see Anduin from here, but Siorraid did not spare the view a second glance.

Instead his entire focus was directed to an inconspicuous mound of snow that sat demurely several meters from the edge. He stepped up to it and after sacrificing a rusty shiv that he had gotten from somewhere he revealed what lay underneath.

A grave.

The marble tombstone stood proudly at the top of the cliff, overlooking the snowy grasslands. The pure white marble was ringed by pure onyx. Stygian letters seemed to suck out the light that reflected off of the purity that surrounded them. A pair of white lilies encircled the epitaph.

Here Lies Julia Reyes,

Beloved wife, daughter & friend

Who dreamed of peace.

Siorraid laid a single gnarled hand on the cool stone, a sad smile appearing on his face.

“Almost there honey. I think we’re finally making progress.”

* * *

Several minutes of silent contemplation later, Siorraid began to suffer from the cold. Unwillingly he retreated from the grave, and began his descent back to Sela. He made his way through the city, and entered Bahlinar’s office.

“Ahh! Siorraid, how are you doing?” Bahlinar said, a bowl of his soup lay before him as he pursued several documents that lay scattered over his table.

Siorraid made his way to a chair and sat down, steepling his fingers. “Finally put the Ice Knight case to rest.”

“Ha, ha!” Bahlinar laughed, “You mean that one that the Ferquant’s have been hounding us about for months? About time and good riddance!”

Siorraid frowned, “Their support will be missed.”

“Of course! Of course, but it is a price we are willing to pay for our golden goose. How is Ril doing by the way? Well, I hope?” Bahlinar replied cheerfully.

Siorraid nodded, “Yes, he has upgraded all his basic abilities, and has become a fearsome warrior with at least five different forms of weaponry but shows clear preference for the sword and its derivatives. His control of shadows is improving almost as fast as mine did, but his mana pool is holding him back. His stamina is growing slowly, but right now he is unsuitable for longer missions. Overall he is learning remarkably fast. A consequence of his high intelligence no doubt.”

“Remind me again why we didn’t train him to be an elementalist?” Bahlinar asked, taking in a slurp of soup.

“The risk of him gaining warp was too high.” Siorraid shook his head, “but you are right, with his intelligence, his spells would be devastating. It is far safer to stick with his already acquired powers for now. It isn’t like they are holding him back.”

Bahlinar nodded amiably, “Regardless, it is good progress, but what about the cat, Sin was it? Has their relationship progressed?” Bahlinar asked eagerly, leaning forward, and narrowly missing his soup with his lapel.

Siorraid nodded, a smile appearing on his lips. He completely agreed with his friend's excitement. “It would appear that Ril and Sin have formed a mutual friendship of equals. Just today Ril mentioned that, and I quote, they ‘argue about what to do’.”

Bahlinar grinned, “They are equals? And Sin hasn’t displayed aggression or other violent tendencies while he was with Ril?”

“No. Perhaps Ril has been curbing his instincts.” Siorraid shrugged. “Or perhaps Sin is making Ril more violent, considering the school incident. Either way it shows that with the Blood it is possible to coexist with even the intelligent powder beasts.”

“Ha, ha, ha!” Bahlinar laughed, “Julia’s dream might actually come to pass. I was starting to lose hope to tell you the truth.”

Siorraid smiled, “Indeed, but we still need to figure out how to get the unawakened form of the Blood before we could even begin thinking about implementation.”

“True, we will need to hurry though.” Bahlinar said, a frown crossing his features for the first time in the conversation. He lifted up a particular report from the table and stared at it in frustration. “The powder beasts are getting rowdy. Oyes was completely overtaken by the hordes. Saddie has requested reinforcements.”

Siorraid winced. Saddie didn’t request reinforcements, as a rule. “That bad. Maybe send in Markus, or Anthony.”

“Then what about Beema?”

“We could move Alexa out of Anduin.”

“And leave Anduin unprotected during the tournament? No that won’t work.”

“Then maybe we can ask one of the Seers to help.”

Bahlinar chuckled, “Alfie doesn’t listen to me even on the best of days. And Betty won’t leave Earthbreaker’s side.”

“Is it time for me to return then?” Siorraid asked, a deep frown wrinkling his features.

“Perhaps, old friend. We will see if we can shuffle some people around, before we send you back in. You are better served here. Have you found other wielder’s of the Blood in the city?”

Siorraid sighed, “No, the handful who actually have the ability are either already connected to some other organization, or are not suitable to join us.”

“What about creating new wielders. Any progress on that front?”

“No, although both Ril and Zed have shown me their ability to invoke the Blood to control powder beasts of lesser will. It may have something to do with acquiring the blood. Saddie said she captured a sentient powder beast in Oyes. She told me she will bring it back once she finds the time. We can test all the permutations then.”

Bahlinar nodded, “Perhaps even we can see if it fixes this.” he gestured to the bowl of soup in front of him, his cheerfulness returning. “But enough fretting about hypotheticals. I am sure that both Zed and Ril will payout in spades when the time comes.”

Siorraid nodded, leaning back in his chair. “Indeed. On other news I think it is time we send them on a mission. Zed is fine, but Ril is getting impatient.”

“If you think that is best.” Bahlinar agreed, “What did you have in mind?”

“The Glotz family are sponsoring a mission to Menteridge. They need Outriders to scout the city. Say they are searching for some old artifact that was lost in the city many years ago. I was thinking of sending both of them together.”

Bahlinar hesitated, a spoon of soup lost in transit to his mouth. “Glotz? Are you sure Siorraid? We know they are against the king.”

Siorraid nodded, “It's risky, but it is a great opportunity for both Zed and Ril to prove themselves. Also, they are both extremely observant and if anyone can figure out if there is a plot going on then it would be them.”

Bahlinar hummed, “A man on the inside is better than none at all?”

“Indeed, there is no one else we could send.”

“Alright, I will allow it. But I don’t like this. It is too close to the tournament for my comfort. They are planning something.” Bahlinar frowned.

After a moment of comfortable silence, Bahlinar spoke up. “What artifact do you plan on giving Ril?”

At that Siorraid grinned. “I was thinking of giving him the shield.”

“Not the dagger?” Bahlinar frowned, perplexed, but then his eyes cleared, a jovial laugh bursting out of him. “Oh it makes so much sense. He is going to become unstoppable.”

“Indeed,” Siorraid said, a predatory grin on his face.