The Megaden, named by the Urchski that inhabited it, was every part accurate to the name. While most of their original dwellings had been in the dirt, made with long tunnels that interconnected, here they borrowed into the massive Alzbled trees that blanketed the area. Not only the Urchski inhabited it now. With little in the way of guarding and management, the forest dwellings had become rife with criminal activity. It’s said you can’t walk two steps into the city before getting wrapped into trouble.

“Halt!” An Urchski shouted, pointing a spear at someone in line to enter the Megaden’s easter quarter.

While the human’s hair was messy from travel, his pale face was spotless. Saul stuck out even among the merchants nearby, mostly because he was travelling on foot. Aside from that he was dressed like a walking storefront. A sword hung at his hip, satchels and straps covered his stitched together tunic. Thankfully for the more fashion inclined, he covered the bulk of the utilitarian mess with a brown cloak.

“Is there a problem?” He asked in a calm, deep voice.

“You must show identification if you want to bring weapons in.” The guard replied, holding out one paw.

Like most Urchski, the guard barely stood above Saul’s waistline. At first they might’ve looked like rodents in nature, hence the demeaning name given to them by humans of the past, but they were more akin to mustilds. The guard’s tail dragged on the ground behind him twitching with impatience. Saul reached under his cloak and pulled out a journal, flipping to its front page.

All that was on the page was an impress of gold. On the next page was a rendition of Saul himself with the name written underneath it, aside from a section left blank where the surname should be. The guard examined it closely and nodded, gesturing for him to keep moving with his spear.

He turned the journal back to himself and flipped a few pages in. Various doodles and notes were scrawled over the cheap and yellowing pages, but they became more refined as they got recent. Eventually he settled on the latest page and pressed a finger down as he read, managing to keep up with the line as he did.

At first it seemed like charcoal. Saul noted an image he made of a merchandise crate with a symbol drawn onto the side. But unlike processed stuff that gets sold, it was more of a makeshift creation. There are only two places that grow trees in this city, the Megaden and the Upper ring, which is where they would have to have come from. After some investigation around the area, I made sure it was from the former. All I’ve got to do now is keep a low profile and figure out who is behind this.

The line of merchants, travellers and creatures passed by quickly. Most of the time the guards let humans and Erudine pass by without a second thought. The only ones that were detained or questioned for longer were other Urchski or people trading anything that could be used as a weapon. Saul’s passage took half an hour, and he found himself in the iconic first two steps of the Megaden.

Massive Alzbled trees bigger than buildings stretched up into the sky. It would have been pitch black had it not been for the foliage avoiding touching each other. The ground was blanketed in smoothed out stones, worn down by foot traffic passing through. Every tree that he could see had some kind of outcropping burrowed into them; doors, shacks, clothes lines, everything you might find in a normal city was strapped or stuck into the forest itself.

Despite the woodland appearance, it was as bustling as any other cityscape you might find throughout the country. Saul stood as crowds of Urchski moved past him towards various other trees and stalls set up around them. Most avoided him once they noticed the sword, but a number were brave enough to actually bump shoulders with the human. He waited a few seconds until he felt a familiar tug on his clothing and grabbed one of the pickpockets arms.

The Urchski struggled to escape from his grasp, a small pouch of coins still squeezed in his grip. Saul crouched down and yanked it free before pulling out a quarter piece of one of the coins, pressing it into the thief’s paw.

“Looking for a guide around these parts. Happen to know where I can find one?”

He nodded off towards one of the trees and Saul picked up his pouch before letting the thief go again. Now with his money safely secured, he headed towards the tree-building that was pointed out. There wasn’t much furnishing on the upper sections, but the entrance itself was very intricately decorated. A set of stairs rose into a double wide doorway, with a lone sign hung above it. The Welcome Inn.

Inside was almost an alien kind of architecture. Rather than strictly planned out floor plan, there was an organic sense of flow to how the ground floor was arranged. A staircase spiraled around the trunk from the other end of the tree, but the many tables and such in the way made it difficult to reach right away. Most of the patrons were crowded around the tables. As he passed by one, he noticed that they were made of the same cut of wood that the floor was, meaning they were more than likely just carved out along with the space. Rather than join in on any of the revelry going on, Saul found a bar were the innkeep was cleaning mugs and sat down on a stool there.

The smell of alcohol and food was heavy at the bar, overpowering any of the lingering woodland scent from outside. He rested his arms on the counter and noted how smoother the wood was, spotting a strange red tint over the whole area. Before he could examine more, the barkeep approached him from behind the counter. He was a short Urchski with mangy grey fur the spiked out in a number of spots along his head. Saul pulled out his coins again and broke off another quarter piece before gesturing to one of the bottles on the shelf. A small grunt was his answer before a mug got placed in front of him. The ale was hardly high quality, but it was surprisingly cheap.

He smelled it first and winced before taking a drink and setting his cup down. The flavor seemed glued to his mouth for a while, and so he looked around for something to distract him. There was only one other patron at the bar with him, an Urchski. Unlike the keep, this one was clearly younger, with much better groomed fur and a soft brown coloration. More importantly, he was staring at Saul directly from just a seat away. His wide mouth split open in a grin when the human finally noticed him.

“You are new to the Megaden, yes?” He asked.

“Just walked in, yes. Are you looking to sell me something?” Saul turned in his seat and leaned on the bar.

“Not something, someone! Me, I mean. You are alone and do not have any big merchandise with you. That means you must be looking for some help moving about.”

“That’s a bold assumption to make.” Saul said with a laugh.

“But a correct one! If I am wrong, then I will leave, of course. But who does not need a guide through this place? Humans are often the target of thieves you know.”

“No kidding, I actually caught one try to steal from me as I was walking into the main square. When I asked him where I might find a guide, I got pointed here. Hopefully you’re not running some kind of racket here?”

The Urchski opened his mouth to respond, but hesitated. Saul pulled out his badge for the merchant’s guild and held it up for him to inspect. Rather than speaking immediately, he put one paw to his chin and scratched it in thought.

“Hm... no, my siblings are too busy being drunks and bumbling around near the border and starting fights. I could not get them to help me with my business.”

“Well hopefully you’re as honest as you seem then. My name is Saul, yours?” He replied, extending a hand to shake.

“Plafluf Curva.” He replied, placing his right paw into Saul’s hand and shaking it as much as his smaller stature would allow him.

“Ah, and I see you’re enhanced as well? That must come in handy with your line of work. Depending on the ability, of course.”

“Yes, it does!” Plafluf replied before narrowing his eyes. “Wait... how did you figure that out?”

Saul held up the hand he shook with. “It’s strange though, I was under the impression that getting the procedure done was something very expensive. Least it was to me, I couldn’t afford getting it done on my salary, had to actually sign up with a job for life working for the guild. How could you even get it done?”

“Procedure?” Plafluf asked, cocking his head.

“Well, in order to get an ability you need to get submerged in a tank in one of the facilities run by the Bouli from the Upper ring. Heard only the very richest Urchski can afford something like that, but why would you be doing something like acting as a guide if you were rich?”

“I am not rich! Believe me, if I was, I would move out of this place quickly. This job is a good way of making money though, a healthy way. Best of all it lets me put my blessing to good use.” Plafluf said, losing his joyful facade and staring up in thought.

A loud crash came from behind the both of them, drawing their attention. Several Urchski were scrambling over a large tray of food. Paws gripped onto necks and tails were swung like make-shift maces. The brawl lasted for only a few minutes before three of the Urchski were chased out. Once they were gone, a jarring quiet settled over the bar before things seemed to carry on where they left off without notice. Only the broken table and bleeding Urchski hinted at the fight.

“Yeah... I can see why you’d want to get out of here.” Saul said before turning back to Plafluf. “Well, consider yourself hired. I’m going to need you to show me where the access tunnel is to the center ring’s sewer system is.”

“Not to a shop? You are crazy, but okay, follow me. I will need a full piece now, and then you can pay me the rest later.” He answered in a stilted voice, a hint of the language barrier shining through.

They both stood up. “The rest?”

“I don’t know how much we will be doing, I will tell you how much it will cost at the end. Doesn’t this make sense to you?”

Saul pulled out a full coin and pressed it into the Urchski’s paw before secreting away his pouch once again. He looked around and noticed the start of another fight popping up from another table. The bartender muttered about westerners as they exited the inn out into the hustle of outside.

To his surprise, Plafluf seemed to match the chaos of the outside paths naturally, even nudging him into the proper lanes as he was pushed about. They eventually broke out of the main area into a side street. More of the massive trees flanked either side of them, but these ones were more overgrown and wild than the others. Through the dim lighting through the canopy, he could even make out the wall of the center ring on one side.

Before he could get his bearings further, Saul was brought to a sudden stop by Plafluf. He looked down, only to notice his guide staring at a passing group of Urchski. They were rough looking, tufts of fur sticking out from their clothing. Each of them was carrying a spear similar to the guard at the front, but with a more expensive look to them.

“Who are they?” Saul asked.

“Nobleworkers. Children of big families or husbands. They like to swing their weight around and pick fights.” He answered, not breaking his watch of them.

“Ah, and since they’re nobility, can’t touch them back?”

“No, Urchski families are different. These are more like... idiots with money. You should stay away.”

They loitered and bickered for a while before a noise in the treeline drew their attention. All of them quickly ran into the treeline after whatever stray animal caused the noise. Saul checked with Plafluf to confirm when he should start moving again, and noticed him holding something. A dagger. More specifically, it was one made of a strange looking metal he wasn’t familiar with. Before he could ask, the Urchski started off down the road again.

“You sure this is the right place to go?” He asked, catching up.

“Of course, this place always has a little danger to it. If you can’t handle that, what are you even doing here?”

“I didn’t expect a guide to try and dissuade me from staying and paying him.”

“I do not like idiots. That does not mean I would not demand money, but I wouldn’t want to work for someone that was going to complain the whole time. I would take his money and then tell him to get out of here. He can go to a church for that kind of guidance.”

“How fortunate that I’m not an idiot then.”

“This is true.” Plafluf answered, nodding his head.

Without the cacophony of traffic from the more populated areas, the subtle sounds of nature started to become more apparent. The first to be noticed would be the breeze shaking the leaves far above their heads. Only occasionally could you hear animal noises poking out from the shadows of the thicker foliage. Saul would occasionally watch a bird soar over head, or small critter scampering across the road for food.

Some time later they managed to get close enough to the border wall to see it between the trees. The wall served as a direct barrier to the center ring, a section of the country that was more populated and civilized than the untamed Megaden and farmlands below. Eventually they left the trees behind entirely and found a metal door leading into the ground right in front of the wall. Plafluf stepped forward and began lifting open the old entrance.

“You sure this is the only entrance? It doesn’t look very... legal.” Saul answered, crouching down to place a hand on the door.

“If it were illegal, they would put a sign or yell at us to stay away. Since no such thing or guards are here, it is very legal. I’ve explored this place a lot of times, trust me! In fact, this is actually connected to the place where I got my blessing from. That is for another time and another charge though.”

Seems like this was made by the Urchski. This is just basic iron, low quality stuff at that. Can’t begin to imagine why they would want to seal it up if there wasn’t a door here to begin with though. Saul thought, analyzing the material.

Plafluf opened it with a small amount of effort and hopped on the ladder leading down. Saul checked around to make sure no one was watching and followed after. To his surprise, the descent was fairly long, taking a couple minutes before he finally touched the ground.

The chamber he ended up in was a small dome connected with multiple tunnels. A canal of dirty water ran through the center of each tunnel, moving rapidly beneath a sheet of clear glass. Every wall was made of the same smooth stone that the wall to the center ring was composed of. Despite the depth, the lighting was more visible than one would expect, aided by some chandeliers hanging from the center of every terminal area. Aside from the sewage itself, it was almost like an abandoned street.

“To be honest, I was expecting a lot more of a filthy smell from a place like this. Not that I’m disappointed.”

“Whoever made this place was clever, covered it all up. This also means it was made to be explored, right? This is obvious to the Urchski, but not so much for the other denizens I suppose.”

Both of them moved down the tunnel opposite the ladder they climbed down, until they reached a second terminal. There were more signs of activity at this one, with scraps of wood being strewn about against one of the walls. Saul crouched down and picked up a spare piece.

“Seems like it was broken recently. It’s a waste to just tear the crates apart like this. Wonder if they were caught by someone. Maybe they were just getting rid of the evidence.” He said, more to himself.

“Why not burn it? It’s wood.” Plafluf asked, moving beside him and sitting down.

“Smoke inside a tunnel is not exactly a smart move. Besides, even if they did vent it out somewhere, that would likely draw just as much attention.” He stood back up and tossed the scrap back into its pile. “That being said... where could they be hiding out down here? Looks like it’s just tunnels and terminals for miles.”

“Hm, maybe, maybe.” Plafluf replied.

The Urchski crouched down on the ground and closed his eyes tight. Saul watch in silence while his guide moved around the entire area of the tunnel. He eventually got to one of the walls of a tunnel. There was a small hesitation before Plafluf stood up again and pointed to Saul.

“This must be it. First though, you must tell me what your blessing is. I am about to show you mine, so it is only fair.”

I suppose there’s not really any harm if he knows the gist of it. Saul thought.

“Not quite sure how that’s important, but fine. My ability allows me to analyze the things that I touch. Gives me physical information about whatever I’m touching specifically. Now, yours?”

Plafluf nodded and suddenly vanished.

Saul rushed towards the spot he was at and felt around for him. The sound of small skittering drew his attention to the same wall Plafluf disappeared by. There was a soft click from the tunnel and a seam split in the metal surface. It stretched into an opening as a hidden door moved out of the way.

Plafluf stood by the entrance, one paw holding a button in place. The inside of the secret entrance was dimly lit, strange purple bars glowing at the part where the wall met the ceiling. Once he stepped inside, Plafluf let go of the lever and dusted himself off.

“I suppose I don’t need to ask what your ability is now, do I?” Saul responded, placing a hand on a wall and squinting his eyes down the path ahead.

“You could, but it would just get you a better understanding of it. I close my eyes, I can see where empty space is, then I can move there. Very easy to get. Air is the best to do that in though, water feels heavy and weird, and solid stuff does not work.”

“Sounds like you’ve had a lot of practice explaining it.”

“I have. Nosy siblings and guards. Not common for someone like me to have one, after all. They never believe me about the soup though!” Plafluf answered with a more solemn tone before moving further ahead.

Saul opted to avoid asking for more.

The walls of the corridor were slightly damp, but had a metallic tinge. Saul’s analysis poked him with more info, but with something as vague as the wall he had trouble discerning anything relevant.

It’s definitely made out of the same stuff that’s part of the older sections of the city. That stuff is usually just part of the infrastructure of Alzholme though, why would they build a secret path like this? Saul thought to himself. I suppose the obvious answer is that it’s just a maintenance tunnel of some kind. If that’s the case, who could have known about it?

A sharp yelp of pain echoed from ahead of them, and the pair froze in place. It was more human than Urchski, but the way that it was cut off suddenly was their main concern. Plafluf drew his dagger and lowered down, nodding to Saul at the same time. He drew his own larger blade and changed his step.

There was a sharp turn after a few yards, and more natural looking light was bleeding in from around the corner. Another sound washed over them, this one almost strong enough for them to feel it. With Saul’s height, he was able to peer over the head of his guide as they reached the end.

It was a large rotunda built similar to the terminals outside. Unlike them, there was more detail in the walls. There was a different smell in the room as well, like someone lived in it. That scent was mostly overshadowed by the powerful smell of blood. Three Urchski were laying on the ground dead. A human was just barely visible to Saul, but he was very badly injured.

“Your conspirators are dead, now tell me what I want to know!” A soft voice demanded of him.

The survivor collapsed to the floor and a padded foot of another figure pressed down onto him. Saul peered a little further over the edge to get a better view of the assailant.

Their frame itself was human at first, but it became more apparent that there was something off. All of the legs and arms were very slender, and the whole body was androgynous in appearance. The black clothing they were wearing was vaguely familiar to Saul, but his attention was more focused on the mask they were wearing. Strange symbols and foreign words were carved into a clay covering that obscured every feature. The only sign someone living was behind them would have been the eyes one could just barely make out from their appropriate holes. They were an Erudine.

“Not getting anything from me...” The man replied, struggling to breathe through his pain.

Saul felt movement around his leg, and noticed Plafluf slinking away back down the hall. He grabbed his guide by the shoulder and pulled him back, crouching down to get at eye level.

“What are you doing?” He whispered at him. “That man could die if we don’t help.”

“He was here doing illegal things, probably! If he dies doing something stupid, then he deserves to die.”

“I’m not going to let someone get murdered when I’m supposed to be investigating illegal activity.”

Saul stood back up and rushed around the corner, pointing his weapon at the stranger. Plafluf hesitated for a second, briefly cursing under his breath in his native tongue. When he followed him out, he saw that the man was still pinned to the ground, but the masked figure was now staring at them.

“Who are you? Are you working for them as well?” He demanded, his voice now masculine enough to discern his gender. He held up his hands in a martial pose.

“I’m an investigator, working for the merchants’ guild of the center ring. Want to explain all the corpses in this room?” Saul replied without breaking his own stance.

“First the Erudine, and pox upon us now the Merchants’ guild...” The wounded man muttered. “This job was supposed to be a cake walk. Bastard lied to me...”

Saul took a look around the room, only now noticing the chamber’s lay out. There were only two other tunnels exiting the area, but both of them were sealed just like the one they had come down. To their right was a few crates stacked up on the side. Saul lowered his weapon and pointed to them.

“Wait a minute, those look like the same crates I’m looking for.” Saul said, pulling out his journal, displaying the seal of the Merchants’ guild on it. “What happened here?”

“Oh, I suppose that’s what you humans would have as an equivalent to a law enforcement. While in pursuit of my target, I tracked this human down to this meeting. The Urchski did not hesitate to attack me, and I was forced to dispatch of them. As the human was able to be incapacitated, I am currently extracting information. Do not interfere with my duties, if you’d mind.” He responded before stomping on the man.

Saul winced at the sound, but focused on moving over to the crates. He grabbed one side and tilted the crate around, revealing a symbol just like the ones from his notes. He placed a hand on the wood.

Undamaged. Guess they hadn’t gotten to these ones yet. Saul thought to himself as he analyzed the wood. Need to find a way to contact the guild, let them know there’s some merchandise to reclaim from here. Now all that’s left it to track down who did this.

There was one crate partially opened, and Saul lifted the lid further to peek inside. Inside was a dozen or so spears with shining steel tips to them. He started to reach inside to touch one, but a yelp of pain drew his attention back to the wounded man. His eyes were closed now, and the masked man was rifling through his pockets.

“I certainly hope he’s still breathing down there. I’ll need to ask him about who was taking these crates, and eventually put him in a cell in the center ring.” Saul told him.

“I have gotten all the information possible out of him already. This was nothing but a meeting of pawns it seems. Whatever information you want about where these trades are being orchestrated is better hidden than that. Personally, I believe I’m done with this part already.”

“Mind explaining what you’re doing dealing with Urchski and human criminals then? I thought you people only dealt with other Erudine.”

“We’re allowed to follow into other sections of the city, should our targets of interest be attempting to hide out in them. These men are connected to my target, but when I tried to get information out of them, they resisted.” He answered before pulling out a piece of paper from the man’s inner coat pocket. “Looks like he had a set of instructions on him as well. Nothing about my target, so you might as well take it.”

Saul took the paper and started reading. It appeared to be a list of directions, but written in incredibly vague and general means.

Guess it was written so only the person with it would understand. That or whoever was handling this deal is an idiot. Saul thought to himself. My ability says this kind of charcoal pencil was the same type used to make the markings though. Whoever wrote this is clearly wrapped up in all of this.

“You mentioned that your mark was down in the Megaden, right? Well if they’re connected to this deal, maybe we could pool our information and find out where they’re hiding. If whoever is behind this is connected to them, we can get two birds with one stone. Sound like a deal?”

Saul extended his hand out for a shake. There was a slight pause as the masked figure stared at it before ultimately clasping it with his own. His grip was a lot stronger than the lithe arms would imply.

“My name is Xen. What are yours?”

“I’m Saul, and the Urchski with me is called Plafluf.”

Plafluf finally entered the room properly and extended his own small hand towards Xen. Unlike Saul, he still had his dagger is his hand. They both glared at each other for a while before ultimately stepping away, when Plafluf let out a sigh.

“This is quickly getting out of hand. I do not like having to deal with conspiracies and such in my life.” Plafluf lamented, sheathing his dagger.

“I wouldn’t want to force a citizen into helping with matters of the law. You can leave my service if you want.” Saul responded.

“What, and not demand to get paid more? Don’t be silly. I will help for payment so long as it does not endanger my life. Do not expect me to care about all of this mystery you are talking about.”

“That would be preferable in my case.” Xen replied with a shrug. “You might as well make arrangements for this man to be arrested. I would say the surviving Urchski should share a similar fate, but I’m somewhat doubtful about the legal system of the Megaden.”

Saul moved over to the man and place a hand on his neck. Though he could feel a faint pulse, his analyze told him the blood loss was just a symptom. A few bones were broken, but he couldn’t spot the exact ones. He turned to the Urchski and noted that they weren’t as beaten up as the human. They had large gashes cut across their bodies, as well as some having pieces missing from their paws or tails.

“He’s too injured to move much without possibly turning his injuries into fatal ones. Guess the best I can do it send for someone that can pick him up and bring him safely to a trial.” Saul answered, getting back on his feet.

“It would be easier to just execute him now, you know.” Xen answered.

“Yes, well, that’s not how humans do it. Least not anymore.”

He made some strips of cloth from one of the Urchski’s clothes and bound the man’s hands behind his back. Xen moved towards where Saul had come from and looked down the long path ahead. Once Saul was finished, he moved to follow him, breaking the Erudine’s focused stare.

“I’ll have to guide them back to this place. Shouldn’t take too long though, I’m sure the merchant’s have some cart nearby that could be paid into carrying him back. We’ll need someplace to meet up again though. Maybe the inn we met at, Plafluf?”

“The public is not exactly somewhere I would trust the spread of information. Especially not with how the Urchski tend to crowd around you.”

“Well then why not just come back to my house? It is quieter there.”

Both of them stared at him in silence for several seconds.

“I thought you said you didn’t want to be involved with this more than you had to be?” Saul asked him.

“Yes, but, having you two around is likely to make my place seem more important. Plus it is good to show my family what honest work is like. You must set a good example for siblings, right?”

“I will hope that you are not seeking to deceive me for any reason. My reaction will be swift and inevitable.” Xen replied, pointing a finger at him.

“Of course not! I am very blatant when I intend to trick people. Don’t be dumb and you will not be tricked. That makes it your fault if you do, right? Here, follow me and I will take you there.”

Before Xen could properly process or respond to what he said, Plafluf grabbed his hand and led him away. Saul took a look around the room. All the carnage and stolen merchandise left a bad taste in his mouth. Pushing away the feeling, he followed after them.