Secrets Hidden in Clay

“I, Lukur, am now your direct officer, and you are now part of work team Endreth.” The man standing before them spoke with a composure that made it clear how long he’d been leading men. His wrinkled face and grey stricken hair not at all detracting from the strength in his voice.

“Your work assignment will be focused on the development of new building materials. Obviously, none of you are capable of the complicated side of this assignment, but we need labourers to do some of the lifting and assist in whatever ways you are found to be of value.

“This is a position of great importance and secrecy, as such any of you wishing to be promoted to a soldier, or guard will be permitted such an elevation at the end of this project.

“And if any of you leak anything about what happens here, you will be subjected to an immediate execution. Is that understood?” The small man finished his lecture, his expression and voice stern.

The man sounded as if he was prepared to do the executions himself, and his firm eyes only confirmed that suspicion as he glared over the men collected before him. His quiet gaze quickly silenced the few whispers that had interrupted his speech.

Matt looked over the group of men standing in attendance. They all seemed subtly different to the others that had been gathered in the city. They were quieter, and a much higher portion of them seemed to be different in shape and skin colour to the natives of this area.

Unanimously, they all called out, replying with a firm “Yes, sir” in a dozen different languages. Yet as firm as they were in their reply they were not so boisterous as the larger group of labourers that they’d left back in the city.

Earlier team Endreth, as they’d been called, had been led out of the city through the back gates, their path taking them through various forestry’s and animal tracks to a place that was entirely alien. A few buildings had been hastily constructed at the side of the river, filled with the sounds of human life.

“Why would they tell us all this after we already got here. I mean what if someone wasn’t prepared to work under this secrecy. They’re not really giving us a chance to opt out.” Arcide asked curiously as he gazed around camp.

Matt replied to him in a whisper, “I suppose that’s what the executions are for.”

Arcide shuddered but didn’t ask anything further.

“You’ll be assigned tasks daily and will sleep here,” he waved his hand towards a small shack that looked ready to fall over, “You cannot leave this area until our task here is complete, else you will be executed.

“You’re pay will be made double that of the other labourers for this trouble, but we will not withstand any slack. Work hard, as the lives of everyone in the city depend on our work here.”

Lukur, their officer, having finally finished his speech, began waving forwards individuals, offering them their assignments for the day. Strangely the man was able to switch between languages fluently as needed, only once calling for another man that stood close by for help with translation.

Eventually the groups whittled down, and he called Matt forwards, “You are known as Matt, yes?” The man asked reading from his long parchment.

“Ah, yes… sir.” Matt replied, hesitant as to how to treat this man, who was obviously taking the place of a superior officer.

“Well, you have been given a special position. Directly assisting the professionals in their work. It was written here that you made favourable contact with a demon during your last assignment. Is that correct?”

“I…” Matt hesitated with shock infusing his body, “Yes, sir.” He replied firmly.

“I expect you to act with a little more tact while you are here. We don’t need unnecessary rumours to be building up. Go talk to Dvell, he’s our lead engineer in this project and you’ll be working as his assistant. Do everything that he asks of you and treat him with the utmost respect. Is that understood?”

“Yes, sir.” He replied in his own tongue on instinct, the man didn’t seem to mind.

“Be off then, you’ll find him in the little building below.” Matt obediently followed orders walking down the path towards the indicated building. His step falling into the routine fast pace that he’d learned back in training.

Sitting at the side of a river, the building looked as if it had been built from the same clay as most of the shacks in town, yet seemed to be considerably… less. Marks and holes clearly stained the walls, and in places it was so thin that he wondered how it was even strong enough to hold the roof in place.

The door was built from the same clay like substance, and barely stood apart from the wall. When he tried to open it, the door fell right off from the hinges collapsing inwards. Matt expected it to shatter as it hit the solid ground within, yet surprisingly it landed with a solid thud, rising the dust from the floor. Firmly it remained in one piece, as if in spite of the laws of the universe.

“Ah, again?” A man within, called out at the sound of the falling door. “Can make clay as hard as I want, but still can’t make a hinge for the life of me.”

The lithe man stood a little shorter than Matt, with matte black hair and a face accented with sharp features. He eagerly turned to Matt a small smile on his face as he introduced himself. “Well, hello there. I’m Dvell.”

The man offered his hand towards Matt, who hesitated in the face of the man’s pace.

“I’m sure you’ve already met Lukur, his job is to be grumpy. I like to make up for it, I just wouldn’t be able to handle the sombre mood of this place otherwise.”

Matt carefully returned the man’s hand shake, as he’d learnt to do. “I’m Matt,” He replied to the man, “You’re the… lead engineer?”

“Haha,” He smirked at Matt’s words, “He’s still using that term, is he? Anyway, come inside, close the door if you can. Once you’re done with that, I’ve got some more work, there’s no time to waste on anything that isn’t productive or joyful.” The man quickly handed the door to Matt before returning to his work.

Matt hesitated for a moment, looking at the clay slab in his hands. On close inspection, the hinges had been built from the same clay that the door was built from, but they were far too misshapen to be able to do their job properly. It seems that when he tried opening it earlier, the door jumped from its hinges because of the imperfections in the clay.

Taking up a nearby hand tool Matt worked on the material, attempting to shape it properly into something that might hold and smooth out the lumps that should never have been allowed in the first place. Dvell, the supposed engineer, was working on his own projects nearby, mixing various materials together and crushing them with a mortar and pestle. Nothing that would explain the secrecy that Lukur was imposing on the camp.

In as little time as possible Matt returned the door to the doorframe, opening and closing it a few times to test its resilience. It still resisted movement more than it should and jumped a little at the motion, but it seemed to hold to the doorframe well enough for now.

“Good work on that.” Dvell called out enthusiastically, running over to check out the door himself. His youth apparent in his eager motions as he swung the door in and out excitedly, “Ahhh, you won’t believe just how satisfying this is.”

“You’d be best to get proper hinges.” Matt remarked recalling the old metal hinges on the doors at the inn he stayed at.

“I told Lukur that I could make an entire house from clay.” He straightened his back rather sharply before continuing, “I’m not going to ask for his help now unless it’s urgent.” Even Matt could hear the pride in his voice.

“I’ve been asking for a proper assistant for days, the only thing I did ask of him, and it took him long enough as it was. Anyway, we don’t get the luxury of rest, so we’re jumping right onto the next task, I hope you can keep up.” Without so much as a pause he quickly poured the mixture he’d been working with into a small vial continuing to hum some catchy tune as he worked.

“This is a kind of solidifying agent,” he said, carefully mixing it by hand, refusing to let it settle, “Though this is only the first step.”

He gave Matt the mixture to keep stirring while he gathered together some other equipment. “Usually referred to as alchemy, it’s actually a carefully calculated science. Tell me, what do you know, or think you know about alchemy?”

His question caught Matt off guard as he focused on stirring the mixture in his hands, “I don’t really know anything about it.”

Dvell looked up at him with a smile, “Good answer, even I don’t always know what I think I know about it. So it’s always important to keep an open mind. Alchemy is mostly just about mixtures, measurements, and timing. Little different from cooking, actually.”

Matt nodded along, as the man pulled out a large metal pot from under a pile of others much like it. “Pour it in here,” he ordered while continuing his speech.

“I can already make a craftsman’s clay; anyone can, with the right recipe.” Dvell quickly poured in a vials worth of clear liquid into the mix, “Keep mixing this.”

As he worked, Matt noticed the clay gaining volume as it mixed with the vials contents. “The problem I was hired to solve involved the qualities of the clay and that’s what we’re working on now. You see ordinary clay is a soft material, even when fired, it can be cut through with a blade or shattered with only a little force.

“Stone and steel don’t have these issues but nonetheless have issues of their own. Components of each can’t be easily joined together without weakness, and in the case of steel, it cannot be produced in sufficient quantity. So we’re stuck with clay.

“That doesn’t mean we have to accept its qualities. By mixing it with silver under the appropriate conditions, it can become harder than hardened steel. Which is what I’m currently recreating. Yesterday and today, I’ve been working on keeping this hardened clay malleable for long enough that it can be transported to the wall and used by the craftsmen working there.

“There is no point to an unshaped clump of hardened clay, but a wall of it is perhaps one of the strongest defences a city could have.”

“Since this is only a testing phase, we are only producing small amounts but, we’ll soon be producing this at construction quantities so watch what you’re doing carefully.”

While Matt mixed the pot, Dvell quickly dipped a blade into the mixture before painting a small section of scroll with it. “Keep mixing,” He ordered Matt, as he touched a gem at the side of the pot, focusing wholly upon the glowing gem.

Matt did as ordered, keeping the mixture from setting as Dvell focused on his side of the work. Obviously, the process relied on some kind of chemical reaction, changing the properties of the clay so that it hardened into something with more resilient qualities.

The gentle glow of the gemstone shifted as Dvell finally released it, seeming not so much to reflect the flames beneath, but rather release a glimpse of a flame caged inside. Other than the use of the strange gem, this process seemed to be nothing more than an ancient method of concrete production, involving slightly different materials.

Matt kept stirring the mixture for another few minutes while Dvell focused on the glowing red gem. Gradually the clay thickened until Matt had trouble even removing the large spoon he’d been mixing with.

“Good, good. Four minutes, 10 seconds.” For a moment Matt’s mind reeled as it attempted to convert the time systems to his own. “Rigidity test.” He placed the small painted piece of clay into a strange device.

The length of clay was attached to clamps at both ends, staged so that weights could be added to weigh down one side. “Testing starting at 10kg,” He murmured, scrawling down notes in his pad as he talked.

“The clay… iiis holding” Dvell mumbled watching it carefully, “Matt, add another 5kg.” Matt followed Dvell’s orders, adding weight to the small piece of clay while suppressing his headache from the conversions. In that process, they kept adding more and more weight to the test, until finally at 55kg it split.

Dvell inspected the clay without any appearance of frustration, “Clean split, no signs of crumbling.” The man smiled, “Success so far, let’s try this now.” He pulled out a small pot of clear mixture, painting it onto the broken ends of the clay.

“Hold that together for a moment.” He ordered Matt, as he readjusted his tools. As Matt held the broken length of clay, the ends seemed to soften, only for moment as they merged into one another. A slight bump was moulded into the clay where it had broken, as it hardened back into its original state.

“Testing for repairability.” Dvell murmured, as he repeated the process. This time lasting until the weight hit 50kg.

“Strength seemed to be maintained,” he mumbled, “Residual damage from the previous test seems to have caused the break.” He said pointing out that the new break was formed at the edges of where the repair had taken place.

After this test was finished he threw the broken piece back into the pot before mixing it with the clear liquid he’d used earlier for repairs. “It’ll only stay liquid for so long, quickly paint it onto the wall while you can. There are still far too many leaks in this… cosy abode.” He cringed at his own phrasing.

Matt followed orders, quickly applying the paste to the wall. “Is this place made of this stuff?”

“Old experiments? yeah.” Dvell mumbled as he began work on a new mixture. “We’re getting close to a perfect mixture, just have to figure out how to use less silver for the mass production version.”

As the clay was getting thicker Matt rushed to rid himself of all that remained, he was barely able to scrape out the majority of it before it hardened. This clay was far different from what he’d grown used to, even the clay he’d cleaned up on the door was far softer than this.

“Clean out the pot. You’re going to have to use this.” He told Matt, passing another container of clear liquid. “I need it as clean as you can get it, I can’t afford to taint the results with tainted data… Oh and don’t touch that gem I can’t afford for you to mess with the settings.” He quickly put on a glove and removed the gem from the pots side making sure not to touch it with his skin.

Again, Matt followed orders. Although following orders was nothing new for him, it was strange to be participating in such a strange activity. Making the materials for construction was something for machines to do. Not the kind of task that was wasted with manpower.

Still adjusting to the strangeness of it all, he busily worked away on the pot, careful of where the gem that had been encased. With the assistance of the clear material, Matt was able to clean out the pot with ease. Leaving it shining in no time at all.

After finishing with the task Matt focused his attentions on the small red gem that had been encrusted into the metal of the pot, where it now sat on the bench. It glowed with a dull light, there was something strangely familiar about it, but he couldn’t quite identify what it was. Lines were scratched into the gem, closed patterns forming various mazed forms around the central point where the glow originated from.

As strange as it seemed to be, decorating such a beaten-up pot with gems, Matt had to remind himself that this was an alien world. Already he was surrounded by strange customs and habits, this was no stranger than the others. Still the man seemed to infer that the gem was actually important to the experiment itself, rather than just ornamentation.

“Is it clean yet? We have more experiments, yet to be completed.” The man called out in a clear and loud voice, the song he’d been humming still evident in his voice.

“Coming.” Matt replied, wiping the inside of the pot clean with a nearby cloth.

For the next few hours they continued with the experiments, one after another, following the same pattern as before. As they continued Matt noticed that the man didn’t have anything to keep time with, no form of clock or counter yet he seemed to consistently know how much time had passed.

As they both worked hard, Dvell began conversing, “You’re a rather focused worker aren’t you, no back talk or questions… What is that you want to get out of this?” He asked as he mixed another variation. “Are you seeking to join the army? The guard unit?”

“I…” Thinking about his time here, Matt tried to come up with a believable answer. Searching for an answer he was reminded of his earlier conversation with Lilith, “I need money… to survive.”

The concept still seemed strange to him, but Dvell gave a little laugh in reply, “Don’t we all. Are you satisfied? You know, with just surviving?”

A pause continued as he thought about his reply, “Not really.” Every day his objective seemed to be getting further and further away from him, no matter how much he did what he thought was right.

“If you became a soldier after this, would that be enough for you?”

“No.” Matt replied, after all, he’d already given up on being a soldier for this path that he was following.

“If you have the ambition, there are other ways to live. Things you could do to make life better for yourself, and the people around you.” Dvell told him, “Though, it will take… sacrifices… but having the power to save people. It can be worth it.” For a moment his eyes grew distant, as if haunted by some old memory. A feeling he could empathise with.

Matt hesitated unsure about how to reply to the man’s sudden seriousness.

“I would be willing to teach you, if you are willing to learn.” Dvell murmured, handing him another pot of clay. “This one is weak, use it carefully.”

Matt hesitated yet again in his reply. The man’s voice was weak, lonely even, Matt could tell that he wanted someone to share his burdens with.

“I have no reason to turn you down, but why me?” Matt asked.

“Don’t really know. You’re quiet, you’re hardworking, and there’s… an atmosphere about you. I already knew Lukur wouldn’t send anyone unless they were special, but you remind me a little of myself, of how I was…” He smiled but for once it lacked the joy that he’d been dripping with until now.

“I’m not sure how long I can stay here for.” He replied, he’d already made so many commitments and he found himself unable to lie to the man. “There are things that I have to work towards, and I don’t know how much time I have before it becomes too late.” Thinking over the man’s strange offer he couldn’t sense any ill intention, yet his suspicions about mages left him uncertain.

For a moment he tried to imagine how it would be accepting this man’s offer. It was hard to imagine a life in construction, yet still it seemed endearing to him. Building things, rather than destroying them. Living a life where he could be proud of something that he’s done.

It was all too farfetched, a fairy-tale even. He was a soldier, and even now that he’d left, he could do nothing but fight. Staying here for too long would be abandoning his duty to his people, something that he could not do. Not to mention, he still had to find evidence of mages for the Knights.

“From what I’ve heard, you’re already mixed into things. Even if only a little, it couldn’t hurt to learn something while you’re here.” He smiled knowingly at Matt, which only confused him and filled him with further suspicions.

“I guess so.” It felt wrong to ask the man what he meant, afraid that he might just be edging into something dangerous. Afraid that the man might know his secrets. With his mixed connections between the demons, Knights, and his own people he couldn’t afford for anyone to discover just how badly he was intertwined between them all.

“Anyway, I have some more work to do, things that you can’t help with. The others that you came with are likely done already as well, feel free to make some friends. We’ll continue this work, and this conversation, tomorrow.” He waved Matt outside with a smile.

Matt left the room behind, looking around the rest of their camp properly for the first time. They were positioned along the length of a small river, ten metres wide but no more deep than the height of a man’s knee. The waters bubbled as they ran downstream, small fish like creatures occasionally swimming to the surface unafraid of his presence standing above them.

Dangerous thoughts threatened him in those waters as his eyes and ears drifted away to a distant place.

Matt focused his mind on the plants around him, a welcome distraction from the flowing rivers. His eyes forcedly redirected to the alien sight.

Most of the plants had red tinged leaves, though the cores were always of a bright green, yet there were many that strayed from this. Leaves of dark purple he could see high up in the canopy, with thin and delicate leaves of yellow in stray bunches. The difference of the colouration something that caught the eye, but the difference in species that was visible in just this one area caught his heart. It was so much different from what he was used to back in his little habitat on Earth, where there were so few species of trees that he could count them on a single hand.

It was impossible for him to tell the poisonous from the nutritious, something that might cause him some issues if life ended up getting rough. There seemed to be no fruits, berries or flowers in the nearby trees, but that didn’t mean that it was lacking in colour. Many of the leaves were as bright as the flowers he’d seen in records from the old world.

A Kriker settled down on a nearby branch eyeing him with its dark little eyes as it pecked at a juicy purple leaf. The flesh of the greenery something more than a normal leaf but not so much as that of a fruit. Matt hesitantly pulled a leaf from the lower branches of the same plant.

It was soft to the touch, and filled with liquid. A slow drip formed at the edges of the where he’d plucked it. It didn’t take long for the liquid to thicken and form a seal at the base of the leaf.

The Kriker eyed the leaf enviously as Matt stood silently examining the strange flora. The creature crawled down to him, hanging off the side of a tree, sinking it’s claws deep into the bark. He carefully offered the leaf to the creature, watching with a little concern how the creature might react.

With a swift motion, it snapped the leaf from his hand and took flight, leaving him behind as soon as it won its prize. Matt wondered about the creature, from its appearance, he’d already assumed that it was carnivorous but it had been chewing on that leaf for long enough that he was second guessing his assumptions.

“Interesting creatures, aren’t they?” Arcide said as he wandered towards Matt, “There aren’t any around where I grew up, though I do remember coming across one once that a traveller had tamed for a pet.”

“Are they dangerous?” Matt turned to see that Arcide’s clothes were stained in filth.

“Not enough to be concerned about.” Arcide looked pensively up at the canopy, “I have heard of them attacking children, and the elderly on occasion but even then not often.”

“You’re finished work?” Matt asked, looking around the camp. Countless labourers were settling down by campfires, clothes stained by the mud that they worked in.

“Yeah a while ago actually, I’m acting as Lukur’s assistant at the moment. He’s got me doing a lot of odd jobs around the place, but it’s not so bad. What about you? I overheard that you were helping the ‘lead engineer’.”

Matt nodded, “Dvell, he seems like a nice person. I’m not sure how much I should say but I was mostly just mixing clay and cleaning all day long.”

Arcide smiled, “Let’s hope that it stays so boring and mindless here. Maybe it’s time we should settle down with the rest of the men.” He was clearly hesitant in his step as he gradually made his way to the nearest firepit.

They were wordlessly welcomed into the group, a man offering them each a dented bowl of broth as they entered the fires light. What few conversations could be heard were of such varied language that Matt had difficulty making any sense of it.

Arcide quickly held his bowl up and chugged down his food as if he’d been recently starved, his motions grand as he threw down his bowl. “It’s too quiet.” He loudly cried out, walking up to the fire.

Already having gathered attention from the group of men, who’d been quietly attending their meals, he turned his back to the fire and kicked a small seat into position near the fire. With practiced flourish a long pipe suddenly appeared in his hands, the pipe around the length of his arm was fashioned with a series of holes along it’s body.

Before anyone could question him, he began to play. Music springing suddenly to the air as he stirred the fire with his foot. The tune was quick and lively, drawing the crowd in as someone nearby began to sing in an unfamiliar language.

The men who’d been spread out before, were now gathering closer to one another. Speaking a dozen different languages but most fitting to the tune set by Arcide’s instrument. Quite suddenly, Matt found himself a distance from the rest of the group, sipping at his meal and watching them in wonder.

“I had hoped one of you would bring some much needed life to this camp.” The man’s grey hair shining in the flickering light. The man Matt soon recognised as Lukur, their officer, sat down beside him eyes watching Arcide as he played.

“You aren’t joining the rest of them?” The man spoke slowly, his voice low and gentle.

“I’m… I’m not familiar with the song.” He replied, listening to the tune enchanted by Arcide’s movements as his fingers danced along the length of his instrument.

“Hmmm.” Lukur mumbled thoughtfully. “There are people here from almost every known land. I can’t even count on my fingers the number of languages they all speak and yet…” He looked to the crowd singing along to the familiar tune.

“Matt,” Lukur spoke gently as he sat by his side. He stroked his beard thoughtfully as his words forged slowly, carefully. “Is something bothering you.”

The fire crackled and the birds called out somewhere up high in the canopy above.

“No.” He finally after much too long a pause, bringing the older man to laughter.

“You’re not very talented at lying.” He slapped Matt on the shoulder gently, “If you’re worried about anything, just talk to me about it.”

“It’s nothing.” Matt reiterated, “I’m a little tired from the work, there’s no reason to be concerned about me.”

“Hmmm, you talk like someone high born.” He looked over to Matt the coals reflecting in his eyes. “It’s nothing to worry about though, just do as your told and don’t get yourself mixed in with the wrong people.”

“Who are the right people?”

“Those that can tell good from bad, and right from wrong.” He replied turning to focus on Arcide’s performance.

Left with a such a strange riddle Matt stared into the fire for a while longer thinking, as he grew deaf to the music. Right, wrong, good, bad. They all depend upon perspective. That’s what he’d thought for a long while now, that’s what he’d learned with Ren and the others by his side.

According to the system, humanities survival is the ultimate good. Anything that puts human survival at risk is bad, even if that includes individuality, emotion, and the lives of a few thousand people.

He’d learnt to think differently, that there were other things to value in the world.

His thoughts inevitably traced back to Ren, the one who taught him this and so much more.

Save them. Save them. Save them.

His mind slowly filled with her words, a painful echo from an unreachable past. Right and wrong. Good and bad. He’d already chosen what that meant to him, and right now, all he could do was move forwards. Find out where they were with the help of the Knights and save them from this world.

“Matt, where are you?” He blindly searched the dark forest around him, looking for the source of the voice, only to realize it had originated from within his own skull.

“Lilith.” He thought while keeping his mouth stitched shut.

“Who else would it be?” her thoughts revealed her avid frustration, “Meet me at the edge of the camp.” Her words tethered in the direction she wanted him to go.

Matt didn’t bother with a reply, following that tether towards the edge of camp. By now most of the other labourers were busy singing, the few who strayed from the pack avoided eye contact as they stared into horizons only visible to them.

Matt carefully looked around for Lukur, uncertain as to where the man might have wondered after their conversation ended. If there was any threat to him being found, it came from Lukur. After all, Matt was a spy, and he, the military officer of this camp.

Matt stood carefully at the edge of the tree line, making certain that no one had taken undue notice of him. Above the insects and lizard like creatures shuffled branches and cried out in a million different voices, drowning out the music and song that carried only so far as the fires light.

After waiting for a few more minutes he slowly moved, slipping out of the camp. He strode with confidence rather than masking his presence. If he were seen, it would be better explained as a stroll through the night if he wasn’t to act suspiciously.

The hair on the back of his neck stood at attention as night surrounded him; in one short moment cutting away all the fires light and music. Darkness forging invisible fangs and claws from the shadows of leaves and branches. The motions of small critters, running through the bushes could easily be mistaken for the motions of predators.

Thinking back to his first day in this world he was reminded of the monstrous creature that had clung to the tree trunks and flung itself through the air at tremendous speed. Warily his eyes searched for unfamiliar shadows that might describe such a creature.

Thankfully his paranoia was not long lived, as a motion well explained filled the bush ahead of him, leading him closer by mental leash. There was no mistaking her from the creatures that ran rampant through the night.

And with careful eye he could even see the hellfire that smouldered in her armour as she strode through the darkness.

“You’re rather close to the camp, aren’t you?” He asked her with lowered voice, careful of their surroundings.

“Hardly,” She replied, her silhouette emerging from the nearby shadows, “What have you found?”

“Nothing you’d be interested in.” He replied, thinking back on his mundane day spend mixing clay, as he continued to scan their surroundings.

“Don’t bother with the trees, there’s no one around.” She told him forcefully, “You found nothing?”

“I spent the day making clay, it was… enlightening.”

Lilith sighed, a hand to her face as she thought things through, “Keep looking!”

“What… what is it that I’m looking for?”

Lilith groaned at his question, “Krilm, you really are an imbecile. Magic. You are looking for magic and those that practice it.”

“I know that much. But what is magic? If someone throws a fireball I can guess that it’s probably magic, but what else does magic do? Does it make a person fly? Does it come out from the end of a staff of stick? What is magic?”

Lilith looked at him, he could feel his thoughts filling her mind, the mystical tales from his world swirling around under her careful scrutiny. He waited patiently, trying to understand what it was that she actually wanted.

Their conversation was ended short by the sound of approaching footsteps coming from the direction of the camp. Lilith had disappeared in a heartbeat, quickly disguising herself behind the veil of leaves offered by the dense forest.

“There you are. Came out here for some fresh air?” Arcide asked, grabbing Matt’s shoulder in a light grip.

“Ah… yeah.”

“Well, be careful,” He thoughtfully scanned the forest around them, “They’re some dangerous people you seem to be acquainted with.”

“Not as dangerous as your friends.” Matt replied, earning him a strange glance from the man.

“What do you mean? I don’t ever remember introducing…”

“Sashella is back in town.” Matt cut him short. Arcide fell over his own feet upon hearing that one name.