Rania blinked against the sunlight once they exited the darkened shop. Deon had merely nodded at her when she passed through to go outside. She was sure that both Kethren and Haemon had noticed how much the information about the mineral forces had upset her. As Kethren talked, her memory had slowly returned to her. She had never learned about the mineral forces formally. As she recalled, it had been a forbidden topic, one that only the council was allowed to speak on. She had overheard a conversation between her parents about the mineral forces and that her father had been concerned that they were awakening. She had still been young at the time and so it was no surprise that she had known so little of them. The topic had received no interest from her and she had dismissed it, yet it had been in the back of her mind, not completely gone, so that she might recollect it when necessary. “I know what you intend to say,” she told him, “but our history and that of the crystals was never common knowledge.” She turned her eyes to him as she folded her arms over her chest. “You know that very well.”

“We know so little of each other’s reasons for leaving our people,” he said quietly, “so I simply assumed you would have heard of something.”

“And you? You must have been rather high up in the hierarchy, having that type of knowledge.”

“Since it seems you are involved in this, I will not keep this from you. I was part of the Council of Elders, but I stepped down, wandered the mountains for some time before I decided to leave our people entirely. My reasons are my own, but I gained much information about our ancestors while being on the Council. Our Calling Jewels are interesting...” He raised a hand and pushed back his sleeve to reveal the gauntlet beneath them. “The way they are connected to Nature and elven magic alike allows us to sense the mineral forces. Those that were older, more attuned to the mineral forces, could feel them stirring beneath the soil.” He pulled his sleeve back down and turned his gaze back to Rania. “I would have preferred you safe, rather than in the middle of this.”

“I am not interested in your pity,” she bluntly informed him.

“It is not pity,” he said simply. “I admire your ability to leave our people and come here.”

“Except that you hate humans.”

“Is there anything to love about them?” he countered, frowning.

“Their freedom of expression,” was her immediate response, “their honesty, their carefree, adventurous spirit – what is there not to love about them?”

“They are foolish, greedy, stupid creatures. Your bandits are a good example with their quick tempers and slow wit. If they had any sense at all, they would not have brought that crystal back and gotten their people killed.”

“Everyone makes mistakes, as is evident by these mineral forces. We made the biggest mistake by creating them – not humans.”

“They are trying to make another mistake. Fynn will try to enter the very depths of the elven realm if he thinks he can obtain what he wants.”

“Would the Council be able to hold him off?”

“It is hard to say. They are strong, but these sorcerers and this black magic they use...” He trailed off, clearly unsure of how to answer. After a moment’s silence, he stepped towards her and put a hand on her shoulder. She stiffened, but he gently turned her to face him. “I am sincere when I say this, Rania – you need to be on your guard. I will help you learn if I can, but you cannot let your guard down while in this city, so close to Fynn. There are too many dangers.”

“I know.”

His light eyes swept over her face and then his hand reached up, brushing over her cheek. He leaned down and pressed his lips to her forehead briefly. “Let me know when you have all made your decision.”

Rania watched him leave, unexplainably moody. She knew that she should have been thankful that Kethren had decided to share information rather than remain angry at him for their brawl at the inn, yet she could not shake the feel of betrayal. As expected, Kethren had had his own alliances that she had suspected and it should not have irked her as much as it had. She had been relying on his help and had been unsure of where else to turn for her companions after realizing that she had nothing new when returning to the shop. She certainly had not expected the information that Kethren had delivered and part of her wished that she could have remained in ignorance.

It feels even more important for me to find my parents now, she thought bleakly, but now I am beginning to doubt whether they ever really left the mountains. Even though she was uncertain as to where her parents might be, her conviction that they were alive remained. Nonetheless, Rania knew that she would have to deal with the current situation here before she could ever return to the elven realm. Part of her was unsure if she would even be allowed back with her people.

“That was a sweet parting,” she heard Haemon drawl behind her. Blinking, she turned back to look at him. He was leaning against one of the wooden pillars of the shop’s frame, his arms folded over his chest.

“You were eavesdropping?”

“No, I got down here just in time to see him give you a farewell kiss.” Rania raised her eyebrows in surprise at his attitude. “So, how exactly did you two meet, anyway? Come from the same village or something?”

“Village?” she repeated, frowning in confusion. “I met Kethren in the south where he was selling potions and the like. It was simply by chance.”

An exasperated expression flashed through his eyes briefly before he pushed away from the pillar and straightened. “Fine, but I think you owe me an explanation. You said that you would tell me what was going on after you saw him, yeah? So, spill it.”

“I know,” she cautiously said. She hesitated a moment, unsure of what exactly to tell him. She knew, based on his paranoia of sorcerers, that she could never tell him that she was an elf. She could only imagine how violently he would react to something like that and she was fearful of the reaction of the other bandits – and Deon – as well. “The truth is that I am looking for my parents.”

He frowned. “That’s rather anticlimactic, Rania. You could have told me that without the drama.”

“It is not that simple, though. You may think I am mad, but our village was attacked by trolls and it was assumed that nobody had lived. I just have this feeling that they are still alive somewhere. Whether they are prisoners or just missing, I am not sure. I just – I cannot give up until I find at least some clue that they are dead or alive.”

“And...Kethren...is helping you with this?” he asked a bit gruffly.

“No, he does not know my reasons for becoming a mercenary. He has only worked with me on getting information for my contracts. We have only ever had a business relationship in the past few years.”

Haemon seemed to relax at that, though he continued to have a thoughtful expression. “But that doesn’t explain why you decided to stay with us. We won’t help you find anything.”

“No, but I needed to know why those trolls had attacked our village after hundreds of years of being dormant in their own territory. It had seemed so strange and unexplainable and nobody could give me an answer – and nobody has known except for Kethren and these sorcerers. I do not want to pursue the crystals, but I thought that if I could get information on them, it might help me learn something about that attack, and it did, but...” She trailed off, unable to complete her thought to him.

He sighed. “What now, then? You got what you wanted, but Kethren seems to think that you’ll work with them as we do. Ryker wants to pursue Ezra no matter what, which leaves us in a bind. We could get resources from your friend, as much as I’d hate that. We’d be indebted to him and I’m sure that damn Alastair will use that to his own advantage.”

“There is nothing we can do now,” she said softly, lowering her eyes to the ground. “All of us are already entangled in this. I could not get out of this to pursue my own line even if I wanted to. For now, we are stuck together unless we choose to part ways and choose not to take his offer.”

“No...I think we’ll have to for this. But did you notice? He left out a few key details. He keeps saying that Fynn is a threat, but he didn’t even give us any details about him.”

“This is true, but we can press him about that later. As long as Fynn continues to direct his attention to us – and since he has isolated mercenaries, that does include me – he is a threat.”

“Alright, alright,” he grumbled, raising a hand, palm outward, to halt any other words she might have added. “Either way, we have to wait for Cayden to get back to make a definite decision. While I know that Ryker will follow me regardless, Cayden might have a different opinion on the matter.” Rania nodded and then rubbed her forehead, dropping her hand with a grim expression. She could feel Haemon’s eyes on her, watching her. “You should get some sleep. Stay here for the night.”

“Deon is uncomfortable with that.”

“You haven’t slept in days, even I can tell that. Sleep in the stables – he can pretend that he didn’t know you were there.”

Rania looked doubtfully at him, but felt a smile starting on her lips at his nonchalant behavior. Her other option would have been to ask to sleep at Kethren’s inn and she was in no mood for him and his sympathetic, accommodating behavior. She was sure that, for this night, Deon might turn a blind eye, so she nodded and started towards the stables. Behind her, she heard Haemon return inside the shop. She climbed to the top of the stables where the hay was stored. She went to the back and wedged herself against a hay bale, pulling her cloak around her and slumping down. Her mind, while distraught and whirling with the day’s information, was too exhausted to process it rationally and her body was ready for sleep. She almost instantly fell into a light, comfortable slumber.

Cayden had been sitting on the ruins for some time before one of the thieves came scrambling back to him. He had been wandering in and around the city for some time, hoping to find the leader of the city thieves around, but it seemed that the increased security had caused him to go underground. Zeke had no problem taking risks, but he had always taken care of the younger children that were thieving and had likely decided to stay in their headquarters for their sake. Cayden had no trouble getting to the underground ruins beneath the city in spite of the new traps that had been set. He had been sitting on the head of a statue that had fallen at some point, waiting for the thief he had found lurking around to return. He had given his name and said that he needed to talk to Zeke and unlike most of the city thieves, Cayden was patient. It had taken several hours before the thief had come back. “Well?” Cayden asked when the young boy, only about twelve, stopped in front of him.

“He’ll be meetin’ ya.” The boy bobbed his head as a parting farewell and went running away again, towards the entrance to the ruins. Cayden sat by himself for awhile until he heard the tell-tale signs of light footsteps.

“Were you going to try to kill me?” he asked, turning, finding Zeke in the gloom. Zeke was gangly and tall, giving him the image of someone who was malnourished. Beneath the oversized clothing, however, was a lean-muscled man that was able to kill and defend himself even better than a well-fed city guard. Even at being half past thirty, Zeke had the same grace that Cayden remembered.

“Not at all,” Zeke told him in a mild tone, smiling through the veil of greasy black hair that hung around his face. “I knew that you’d hear me.” Without a pause, he settled next to Cayden on the statue head, hunching his shoulders as he clasped his hands between his knees. “I thought you said you were never coming back?”

“I’m not.”

“But your own group of thieves were slaughtered, I heard,” Zeke said with a shrewd stare.

“They were, but that doesn’t mean I’m here to try to join your team again.” Zeke nodded serenely, unbothered by this. “I couldn’t find you up on the streets – too scared of the guards?”

“Y’know, pickpocketing never used to be such a big offense as they’ve made it,” Zeke remarked rather than answering his question. “You steal an apple these days, the merchant can stab you to protect his property. Most of them are too scared to kill a man...especially a little boy. For as rough as some of the city men are, they still don’t have it in them to kill.”

“But they could,” Cayden carelessly observed, rubbing his chin where stubble was poking out unevenly. Zeke glanced at him through the corner of his eye.

“You’ve come at a strange time,” he said at last. “Since you’re not here to join back up, you’re here for something else. Anything I can tell you is what you could find on the streets.”

“Well, we both know that can’t be true, Zeke. You’ve already revealed your hand. Who told you about the bandits being killed?”

Zeke had gone quiet, recognizing that he had been caught in his own web and seemed to be thinking of some manner of getting out. After some time, he straightened his bowed back and shoulders, frowning at Cayden seriously. “Like I said, you’ve come at a strange time. Things are...unsettled. It’s why I’ve decided to stay down here. They can’t afford to have me die and we’ve already had a lot of losses already – from dark magic, no less.”

“The same as what nearly took me out, then.”

“I’m not sure. It’s strange, actually...” Zeke looked around the ruins thoughtfully. Above their head, the walls ascended into black emptiness, so high were the stone arches. The ruins were far beneath the city, but quick enough to access. “When I first found these ruins, I thought they had a strange feel to them, but it was never unfriendly and I’ve gotten used to it now. Nothing like the way the magic feels after they’ve killed. When I go back to try and recover bodies, it just has this bad feeling around it that has me running.”

Cayden did not tell him about how saturated his old home had become after Ezra had gone through it with her magic. He had seen Rania go down there and step back out of it, knowing by the look in her eyes that she was disturbed by the darkness within the magic there. Cayden imagined that it was the same thing that prevented Zeke from going any further to bury his thieves’ bodies. “And that’s who you’re worried about.”

“I can handle knives and swords, Cayden,” Zeke told him in a quiet voice, “but I can’t protect even myself from that dark magic...” To that, Cayden remained silent, waiting for Zeke to either leave or waver in his determined stubbornness. After some time while Zeke seemed to be lost in thought, he spoke up again, “There’s a merchant that is good for getting information when he’s in the city. He’s been in Keystun for awhile – usually he goes from city to city and doesn’t stay in one place long – and I’ve had to pay him for bits and pieces of stuff.”

“Sounds useful.”

“Right now all I am concerned about is laying low and staying safe, something I never thought I would hear myself say. There have been bits and pieces of information that I collected that you might find interesting, but I’ll need to see some coin for that.”

“Fine.” Cayden dug around in his pocket and dropped some coins between them. Zeke glanced at them and then nodded.

“The group that’s been slaughtering my thieves keeps going around searching for ruins. I’m not sure why. They just arrived in the city a short while ago and apparently are under Fynn’s orders.”

“Ruins?” Cayden repeated blankly. “What ruins?”

“Well, as you know, these ruins run all along the underground of the city,” Zeke said, patting the head they were sitting upon. “They haven’t come near here and it doesn’t seem like they know that there are any ruins here. If they had ever bothered to take my thieves hostage, I’m sure they’d tell them in an instant out of fear.”

“So, they haven’t found any ruins yet?”

“I don’t know. I assumed that it was something that was fairly recent in happening because that group hadn’t been around for very long. But you and I know that these can’t be the only ruins in Sorra.”

“No, not likely,” Cayden agreed slowly, turning his eyes out towards the expanse of space. There were thick pillars standing in sets, as if it were a giant hall. He was certain, based on how well built these ruins were that there had to be more of them somewhere else.

He had explored the ruins plenty of times while he was here in the city and he wasn’t even sure how far they went or for how long. While they called them “ruins,” it was more like an empty, underground city. There were partially collapsed areas, usually in places where there was a structural weakness, but for the most part it was intact. There were eerie, tall structures built into the walls at some places and most of what Cayden had assumed were homes or other structures were collapsed into rubble. Digging around, he had been able to find some things, but rarely anything of value. There were transcripts sometimes, but not in any language that he recognized. Nonetheless, he knew that this city had been built underground initially simply from the stone arches that made up the entire city. In one place that he had explored, the ceiling was lower so that he could see the ceiling and above him had been tiles with strange designs upon them. From looking at it, he had been unsure whether it was the same language he had seen before or if it truly had just been designs. Nonetheless, Cayden had never strayed far and when he got older, he stopped exploring the ruins altogether, too busy with keeping the younger thieves under order. Now, he wondered if it wouldn’t be in his interest to return to his adventuring in the underground city again.

“What else do you have for me?” he asked Zeke after a moment’s thought.

“Honestly? Not much. Like I said, I don’t get much from that merchant and usually he limits it to stuff that he thinks that I’ll find useful.”

“And he told you about my bandit clan being killed?”

“He mentioned it in passing, I didn’t have to pay for it. He meant it as a warning, that we might be next.” He shook his head. “The court sorcerer is trying to purge the land, but I don’t know why. He never cared before.”

“Paranoia?”

“Maybe. I’d bet more on him losing his mind. I don’t know, but it’s making me paranoid.”

Cayden left shortly after that, sparing a few light-hearted words with Zeke before assuring him he would come by again for more information later. Cayden took his time in returning to Deon, blending in with the workers and merchants bustling around in the city. When he was last in Keystun, it had been normal to see men in their lord’s livery and their bright carriages rolling through the streets. While there had always been a class distinction, it was even more obvious in the lack of aristocracy and wealthy inhabitants in this part of the city. Yet, as Cayden strolled past a sweet-smelling bakery, he couldn’t help but observe that while they were not allowed in the wealthy district, the wealthy were also limited in their movements. He was certain that more than a few people resented that fact, as there were several merchants in the lower ends of the city that gave better services for lower prices, Deon being one such individual. While some were given passes up unto the other district, Cayden knew that people like his uncle would refuse to service them out of stubbornness. For Deon, he could afford to make such refusals, but not all merchants held such high morals.

The longer this continues, the more likely the wealthy will cause chaos in their area, Cayden mused, and the sooner that anarchy breaks out over Keystun. They won’t be the only ones displeased with this set up. It could work in our favor.

When he arrived at the shop, he noticed that the front door was closed to customers and when he went round back to enter, his uncle was noticeably absent and it was rather quiet. Frowning, he quietly shut the door behind him before creeping upstairs. Haemon was just proceeding downstairs when the two men met each other. “Why’s it so quiet in here?” Cayden asked.

“Your uncle went out to deliver a finished commission to some man at the docks and Ryker went with him. I was just about to check on the hearth fire.” Cayden nodded and followed him downstairs, where Haemon added some wood to the fire and then stood back, sighing and pushing a hand through his hair wearily. “So, did you learn anything?”

“Not much, but enough to give us an idea of what Ezra is up to, at least. Did Rania ever come back?”

“Actually, she did. Let’s go sit down.”

They returned upstairs and Haemon relayed all of the information that he had learned from Kethren, Rania’s assistant, that day. Cayden absorbed it thoughtfully, rarely interrupting. Zeke’s information coincided with what Kethren had told them. It did make him wonder if there was a crystal in the ruins that they had never noticed before, but Cayden certainly did not want to go on a crystal hunt if it meant leading a track on himself like Haemon had done. If they ever found the ruins, it would end up being Zeke’s problem rather than theirs. Even so, they weren’t sure what type of power one of the crystals might give Fynn. “What do you want to do?” Cayden asked Haemon after he had finished.

“Well,” Haemon said slowly, “I obviously want to get rid of Ezra to avenge Azael and the others and Kethren seemed to think you would be able to get us manpower. If not, he said that he could manage something. I don’t like him, but I can tell that he’s loyal to Rania.” His mouth twisted slightly in an ugly scowl. Cayden raised a questioning eyebrow at him. Haemon shook his head, continuing, “Anyway, we have to decide whether we want to work with him or not. There’s no way for us to get out of this now unless we plan on running.”

“No,” Cayden said, sitting back and folding his arms over his chest, “but I can’t do anything in terms of getting people together for this. Zeke and his thieves are scared to death of the dark magic that she’s been using.” He paused. “What about Rania? Would she be able to combat their magic?”

“I don’t know. She doesn’t seem to be very confident of her skills right now. But if you can’t get help, then we need to contact Kethren again.” Haemon had a brooding, dark expression on his face. “You know, I think he’s more than just an information contact for her.”

“Oh?” Cayden glanced at him curiously.

“He kissed her goodbye.”

“Well, if they’re lovers that will make it easier for her to use him, right?”

“I didn’t think they were lovers. I suppose it’s possible, though.”

“What did you think, then?”

“Family, maybe. They look very similar...”

Cayden had no opinion of this, having been absent during Kethren’s visit and instead stood up in order to eat. He froze suddenly, hearing a faint sound in the empty shop. Haemon abruptly swung around to the other side of the divan, gesturing for Cayden to follow. Cayden knelt and padded to him silently, jerking out his dagger, peering over the top of the divan. There was another soft sound and he knew that it could not be any of the others coming to the shop. It was the sound of someone trying to muffle their footsteps. They were doing rather well, but a thief’s hearing had to be trained to be better than the average person.

They waited patiently and they saw the shadow of someone on the stairs and lowered their faces so they were entirely concealed behind the divan. Cayden turned his eyes to Haemon and they both could feel a chill in their chests, a subtle realization that whoever was here could not be just a random intruder. Haemon nodded to the side and Cayden peered around the divan to see a dark figure standing in the center of the living area, bending over the upstairs hearth. The only options were to run or try to take them by surprise.

Cayden drew in a slow, deep breath and partially cupped his mouth, saying in a soft voice, “Hello,” throwing his voice so that the figure whipped around to the other side of the room and blasted it with dark magic. The two instantly acted, bolting to the stairs. The figure was briefly disoriented, confused by the voice and their movements. They made to burst through the door, but slammed into Rania, knocking her to the ground. Haemon went rolling off to the side, pushing off of her while Cayden got tangled up from her cloak.

She sputtered something incoherent before seeing the dark figure. Her eyes widened and she grabbed Cayden before he could get up, locking her legs around him, and went rolling to the side. There was a crack and sizzle of stone where they had been laying. After stilling, she flung her hands out and it sent the figure flying back into the shop, where they heard it crash into wood and shop instruments.

Rania scrambled to her feet, tearing her cloak off and throwing it aside. “Where did he come from?” she demanded, throwing up a shield that the figure slammed into as they tried to leave the shop again. There was a brief shriek of rage from the figure at being halted before the shield shattered. The blasts of magic meeting made a strong wind gust across the clearing, knocking the three back a few steps. The figure focused on Rania and whip of dark magic slithered out from its hands, grabbing a hold of Rania’s forearm.

Both Haemon and Cayden felt a shiver of horror when they saw the whip burn into her skin, as if it were melting her skin off. She gritted her teeth and balled her hand into a fist and then struck out and spears of light went piercing into the figure. The figure screamed and swung around wildly, releasing Rania as the light burned its black robes. Haemon and Cayden immediately took advantage of its distraction and ran forward. Cayden knocked it to the ground where it writhed and screamed and Haemon took his long, wicked dagger and dug it into the flesh and sinew where its neck was located. Only after he had taken the head off did the screaming stop and everything was still in the clearing.

“This does not look human,” Haemon said quietly after pulling off the cloth that had been the cloak’s hood. The skin was pickled and a greenish-gray. The eyes were milky white with no pupils and it was unclear whether it had been male or female, yet it was losing its hair. After a moment’s consideration, they noticed that the hands looked just as monstrous, the fingers thin and pointed, as if the nails were growing all around into the skin at the tips. Disgusted, Haemon tossed the head from him.

“The effects of too much dark magic,” Rania said weakly from behind them. They turned to see her sitting on the ground. Her arm was looking even worse, as if the magic was eating away at her flesh. Noticing where their eyes went, she cast a brittle smile. “This is not something I can cure.” She swayed and Haemon stepped forward, grasping her shoulders before she fell over, although Cayden saw him avert his gaze from her arm. “Will you...go get Kethren, please? He is at his stall right now. He might be able to help.”

“I’ll do it,” Cayden spoke up before Haemon said anything. “I think I know where his stall is and I’ll be faster, knowing the city.” As he made to leave, he called back, “Get that out of here, too!” He made a gesture towards the body and went dashing away from the shop.

It didn’t take Cayden long to find Kethren. He had a suspicion that the same merchant that Zeke was getting information from was the same man that was Rania’s informant. It wasn’t hard to determine which part of the merchant district Zeke might have encountered Kethren. He recognized him immediately from the features that were so like Rania’s. As Haemon had said, their features made them look similar enough that they might have been related.

Kethren was helping a young woman when Cayden came rushing up to him. The man glanced up at him from the liquid he was measuring with a polite smile. “Sorry, you’ll have to wait until I’ve finished with this girl’s potion.”

“I think you’re mistaken. We had arrangements beforehand,” Cayden swiftly told him in a tone that gave no room for argument.

He paused in returning to the liquid, surveying Cayden carefully. He inclined his head and straightened. “It would appear so. It seems I’ve forgotten. I’m sorry, my dear, would you mind picking this up later?” He reached out to take the girl’s hand, flashing a suave smile. “Love, after all, cannot be rushed. Is it not better to urge him to fall in love with you at the cusp of moonlight?” The girl blushed, her eyes turning bright with the image he had painted in her mind.

“Yes, of course, no worries. I will be back before sundown!” She gave him a bright smile and dashed away. Kethren dusted his hands off and then looked to Cayden, his flattering expression vanishing.

“Rania’s been hurt,” Cayden said without preamble. “She’s asked for you. She was hit with some dark magic on her arm and it looks...well, very bad.”

Kethren caught his hesitation. “By very bad, you mean...?”

“You can almost see her bone.”

A spark of alarm rose in Kethren’s otherwise impassive expression. “I see. Give me a moment.” He dug around in something behind the stall and Cayden could hear the clink of glasses before he stepped around and pulled a curtain around his stall. He had a strange, leather bag in his hand and as he moved, Cayden could hear the glass clinking inside it. “We will need to be quick before it gets worse.”