“It’s just rumors nothing more,” Lissa stated after having finally finished telling everyone what Euriphas had told her on the road. Mera and Mela nodded while noisily slurping the porridge they ordered. Garza rolled his eyes with Almios, “Someone probably got drunk and mistook some beast as being Gloomed, we haven’t seen any OWLs so we shouldn’t worry.” Darvick, during and after Lissa finished, hadn’t taken his eyes off of Saida, whose full attention hadn’t wavered in the slightest. “Of course, but I still feel bad I didn’t share this yesterday,” Lissa sighed forlornly looking around at all of them, and noticed Saida had a white knuckle grip on her spoon and the table.

“We had a busy day, it's okay!” Mera cheerily replied while snatching a biscuit from the middle of the table. “Besides, it isn’t our assignment. If the Emissaries assigned to it find out they are not rumors, well...” Mera trailed off, they all knew what the Inquisition would do. Lissa turned back to look at Saida, whose death grip on the table and spoon was starting to go slack. Lissa noticed that Darvick appeared to be relieved upon seeing her calm down. “Need anything else?” Lissa jumped slightly startled at the voice behind her. “Oh, I am sorry, miss I didn’t mean to scare you.” Lissa turned to see one of Rian’s sons behind her. ‘Probably the youngest, Norin, maybe?’ the thought trailed through her mind quickly. “It’s okay Norin, I know you didn’t mean it.” Lissa turned in her seat to look at the young man behind her. She still found it hard to believe that even though he looked like a human teenager, he was nearly thirty years old.

He brushed his long bangs from his face and smiled in relief. “I think we are good, can you tell your sister and brother the food has been wonderful?” Norin nodded happily and looked over Lissa’s head towards the twins, “Yes, umm, Mera?” The smile on his face told Lissa he had guessed correctly, “I actually have a question, when do you stop cooking and usually close up at night?” Mera’s muffled voice clearly indicated she was talking with her mouth full again. “We stop serving food at around three hours after nightfall during the summer and close our doors to those not staying with us about an hour after that.”

“So that would put it roughly around eleven-thirty, right?” Lissa turned back to look at the table and saw Almios fiddling with his watch. “That is right, sir, and I presume my father indicated how you can get in after we close.” The silence from them all gave him the answer he was looking for. Norin sighed heavily, “Before you leave, let me know, and I will walk you through getting in. Meanwhile, I do have other tables to attend to as well.”

With Lissa having her back to him, she could only assume he bowed before walking off. “So, back to today and away from rumors, do you think we should all go see the survivor or not?” Lissa asked while getting back to her food and taking a large bite from her bread. After a moment of silence, as most of their mouths were full, Saida cleared her throat before proposing a plan, “I personally don’t think we should all go, it might scare them to have seven Emissaries and an Adjutant in the room asking questions. We could split up, half of us scope out the town and find out the veracity of the claims the guards said last night. While the other half questions that survivor.”

Lissa lifted her mug of morning brew in agreement and took a deep sip from it to clear her throat. They all agreed, except Garza, who had remained stoically silent until now, “That sounds like a great idea. Although, I don’t think we really need more than two of us plus Micah in the room.” As the table turned to look at him, he let out a sigh. He continued, “I mean, really only Micah and one of us need to be in there, but if that happens, an important detail or question may be missed. On the other hand, this town is enormous, and without splitting into pairs or going off on our own, we probably will need the entire day to gather information.”

“Wow, Garza, you actually had a good plan, and here I thought you were all muscle,” Mela said with a barely muffled giggle, “Though I do think you are right, so don’t let it go to your head.” Almios snorted, “Oh, he will let it go to his head, alright, though it will only serve to make it more hollow.” He lightly punched Garza’s shoulder. Meanwhile, Garza could be burning holes into Almios with the intensity of his gaze. “I will remember that next time I have to haul your drunk ass back to the barracks.” Almios looked at him with a smile, “And I will remember that the next time you ask for money.”

Lissa tuned them out as their argument continued, “While they argue, I think Saida, and I should accompany Micah to the Silver Shields.” Saida turned her head to Lissa and nodded while her eyes flicked to Darvick for a moment, who nodded slightly. “I don’t see why not, though I feel like I am being babysat.” Micah finally chimed in, he was the only one finished with his food at this point. Mera and Mela looked at him and touched his arm and mocked good naturedly, “That is because you are.” Lissa rolled her eyes at them while Saida chuckled quietly. “Don’t listen to them, Micah, they just like teasing you,” Lissa glared at Mera and Mela while they laughed between themselves.

“I think he knows Lissa. Either way, I am full at the moment and ready to head out.” Saida slowly stood and stretched with audible pops from her spine. Lissa returned to her food, finishing her bread, porridge, and fish as quickly she could without choking. She stacked her bowl and plates neatly in front of her before standing. While she walked towards Norin and Saida, who appeared to be having a very animated conversation, she used her tail to tuck in her chair. “…So my mother and father are indeed that paranoid.” Lissa noticed Norin with his focus out, and an ethereal construct shimmered above it.

“Is that a Focus Lock?” Lissa asked as she got closer. Norin nodded while the construct seemed to move in reverse to its original position. “Yeah, mother and father made it themselves. They change it nightly out of paranoia, the paranoia of what though I have no idea,” Norin shrugged nonchalantly as he finished, “Alright, so that you are aware. You are going to need to press…” The explanation for how to unlock the main door took roughly five minutes, and by the end of it, Lissa’s head hurt. “This seems like a safe city, I don’t understand why it needs to be like this.”

“My father said this city didn’t always choose to be so ‘welcoming’ to us.” Norin looked at Lissa, “I am sure you can understand.” Lissa bit her lip and nodded, “When I was younger, maybe but now, not so much. But I think we should head out.” Norin smiled at them both, “Apologies for keeping you then,” with a small bow, he went back to his duties for the moment. Lissa bent her arm and held it out for Saida, “Shall we?” Saida shoved her away gently, “In your dreams.” As they both walked to the door, Micah was waiting for them, his eyes glowing.

“I have to say it is a fascinating lock they have, and the way to unlock the door is equally incredible,” Lissa could hear how envious he was as he spoke. “You caught all of that from by the door?” Saida’s skepticism was readily apparent as she spoke. “Of course, it’s part of the perks of being an adjutant,” Micah smirked while Lissa strode past and out the door. Saida followed close behind, and Lissa swore she heard a soft smack. She rolled her eyes and turned down the street, making her way to the river. With the early morning sunlight on their backs, the walk along the road was peaceful.

With it being early morning, very few people were out. By the time they reached the river, Lissa had counted two dozen people. That count quickly was made void, hundreds of people crawled along the docks, fishermen were docking and undocking constantly. With fishermen came the smell of fish, as they began walking over the docks the stench wafting from below hit them all at once. The unexpected strength of it made Lissa gag for a moment and forced her to breathe through her mouth. Which allowed her a momentary reprieve until she tasted the air, making her gag once again. At least she could tell Saida and Micah were experiencing similar reactions as they walked. By the time they reached the middle of the bridge over the open water of the river, the smell had become bearable.

Upon sides at the middle sat people in groups of ones and twos. Some were eating, chatting, and one enterprising young woman was attempting to fish, it seemed. As they approached her, Lissa decided to ask her a question, “Isn’t that a little dangerous to do with the boats below us?” This had the effect of startling her causing her to almost drop her fishing rod. After composing herself for a moment, she replied, “Oh, I am not actually fishing. I am trying to snag my brother’s shirt. He is at the helm of that boat there.” She pointed to a larger boat coming upstream that just passed the outermost docks. “He only comes back once a month, and I always make sure I snag his shirt as he docks. Since that berth is his.” Her finger switched to the dock that was right in the middle on the north side.

“I see, well, then I hope he enjoys his little welcome home gift,” Lissa smiled and gave the young lady a small fist bump in acknowledgement before continuing past. “That is an adorable thing for her to do, but I just hope she is careful as she could easily hurt him,” Saida looked back at the woman while she said that. “I think her brother would have told her to stop if he didn’t enjoy the little surprise. He probably looks forward to it. I know I look forward to Adrienne’s little pranks when I visit, even though they hurt sometimes.” Micah rubbed his head as he finished. “She had put a bucket on the door to my bedroom, it didn’t hold water though, but a few books. So when I slammed the door open to have it all fall on the floor, the books fell on me instead. She had a real good laugh as they fell on me.”

Both Lissa and Saida couldn’t help but laugh as he recounted the tale to them. “Were your parents mad at her for doing it?” Saida asked when the laughing became just small chuckles. Micah threw his hands out in exasperation, “No, they weren’t! Because they had helped her do it!” Saida looked Lissa in the eye for a moment before the laughing continued. By the time they reached the opposite end of the bridge, Lissa’s sides had begun to hurt from the laughter. Wiping away tears from her eyes, she looked at the buildings along this side of the city and spotted the Silver Shields’ building. True to the words of night Captain Galfas a sizable silver shield was mounted to the front of the building. Even with it still being a bit of a walk away, it was quickly visible because of it.

“She wasn’t kidding, that is certainly an obvious sign of ‘here is something important notice me.’ Saida had mimed a burly man’s voice at the end, causing Micah and Lissa to laugh once more. “I mean the name says it all, Silver Shields. As if it wasn’t ostentatious enough to plate their shields and breastplates in silver. That monstrosity is just gaudy, I can’t even see any decoration on it.” Saida’s continued to rant about the Silver Shields for the next few minutes as they went into the streets towards the building. By the time she finished, they had drawn quite a few glares, from those that obviously supported the Silver Shields.

Lissa barely noticed this, but Micah clearly couldn’t brush the stares off. “Saida, you might want to keep it down. I know you are… very opinionated about them. But I don’t think these people share that opinion.” Saida turned to him with her mouth open about to say before noticing the stares as well. She quickly shut her mouth and nodded and bit her lip. Micah put a comforting hand on her shoulder, “Now let's get going we are wasting time.” Micah put down his hand and continued to walk on.

As they walked, Lissa noticed that along with staring, most people went out of their way to avoid them. Initially, she thought it was because of what Saida had gone on a tirade about. That was quickly dismissed as she caught a half-eaten apple tossed her way by a group of children who shouted, “Go away!” Lissa realized they were afraid of her, she hadn’t even done anything to them, and they were afraid of her. Tossing the apple aside, she continued on, “At least we know Galfas wasn’t lying about the attacks, though it would have been nice to specify it was in this area.” Micah said in an attempt at consolation to get her mind off the situation, it didn’t work. Lissa thought back at the teasings she received as a child, and teenager along with the stares her mother received while they were out.

Becoming an Emissary was supposed to solve that, at least in her mind it went to prove ‘I am not dangerous. I am just here to help’. Lissa felt her anger start to bubble up but quickly squashed it, there was no need to take it out on these townsfolk. “They are only scared because blooded like me have been left alone by whatever is attacking,” Lissa added after a moment and raised her head in confidence. Ignoring the stares, occasional insults, and those moving away from them. As the Silver Shields building came closer, Lissa stopped in front of a side street that she heard some cry out from. She turned her head to look down it but didn’t see anything that could have made the sound, and she felt Saida come up next to her. “Why did you stop?” She asked while scanning the side street as well. “I thought I heard someone crying down here,” Lissa replied, the hairs on her neck standing on edge.

“Why don’t both of you go on ahead, I will just be a moment.” Lissa had just started walking down the street before her arm was grabbed. “You aren’t going alone, that is for sure, Micah we will meet you there,” Lissa turned to see Saida had caught her and was gesturing with her free hand for Micah to continue as she spoke. Micah shrugged and continued walking through Lissa could see he was muttering under his breath. Lissa turned her gaze to Saida, who was smiling, “Don’t get me wrong I know you can handle yourself, but hey, I like being the hero as much as you do.”

Lissa gently pulled her arm from Saida’s grasp, “I know you do, but you don’t have to make it so obvious.” Saida winked while walking ahead of Lissa, “That is part of the fun, but it is really only obvious to a few people.” Sighing, Lissa followed while keeping her eyes glancing around the street, “You call being read like that by six people a few?” Saida shrugged and looked back, “Yeah, I would say that is only a few people.” Lissa shook her head and tail in defeat, accidentally hitting a nearby empty barrel in the process. The resounding hollow thunk rang down the narrowing side street, and the cry was heard again before being muffled.

The moment the sound registered in her mind, Lissa took off down the street heedless of the obstacles in her way. “Lissa, wait!” Saida attempted to grab Lissa’s arm as she passed but missed by a hairsbreadth. Lissa picked up speed and saw a group of three people holding a child head into a back alley. A blooded child she realized before using the side of a nearby home to change her trajectory to that alley. Lissa took in the scene, a human male was on her left while a half-elf woman was on her right. To her front was the small violet skinned child whose mouth was covered by the hand of the halfling woman holding him. The quashed anger boiled to the surface once more when Lissa saw the child had cuts along their legs and face.

“Let them go now!” She yelled, slowly advancing to them intent on rescuing the child. The man on her left looked to the woman on the right whose arm moved behind her, “We are just having fun with our cousin.” The woman smirked and replied, “Yeah, our cousin nothin to get worried about.” Lissa snorted at their bald-faced lie, “Then why are they cut up? And why is their mouth being covered?” Lissa focused on the child now and saw it was a little boy, probably no older than ten. Tears were running down his cheeks, and the eyes pleaded for rescue. “Lissa, what are you doing!” Saida cried out behind her. Lissa turned her head to look at Saida momentarily, who immediately blanched and stepped back.

“Now, are you going to release the child or not?” Lissa growled as she turned back to look at the group. “We ain’t done nothing wrong, ya freak back off!” The shout from the halfling immediately caused the anger to boil over. Lissa rushed the woman on her right and brought her leg around at her shin to bring her down. The bone snapped, and the sound echoed around her, the woman screamed and dropped something, a knife. Realizing the others may be armed as well, she turned on the man, who had a knife in his right hand. He lunged at her, and Lissa sidestepped the blow while grabbing his wrist. She quickly twisted it and felt the bones and tendons snap in her grip, a few shards of bone splintered through spraying blood.

He immediately dropped and clutched his arm close to him, his howls of pain joining the half-elven woman’s. Lissa could see the pure terror in the halfling’s face as she drew closer, and she threw the boy at her. Lissa caught the boy to prevent him from falling before leaping at the halfling. She tackled her off a nearby stoop just as her hand brushed the doorknob. Tears were streaming down her eyes, “Please, we were just having fun, we would have put him back when we were done.” The woman’s pleas fell on deaf ears as Lissa stood her arms in a vice-like grip. “You will leave this child and all those like them alone, or you will deal with me!” Lissa whispered menacingly before switching her grip to her throat. “Please, don’t kill me.” The woman croaked out as Lissa tightened her grip. “Lissa?” someone called out behind her, and Lissa decided to grant the halfling’s plea by throwing her down the alley. The halfling hit several boxes before coming to a complete stop, the moaning indicating she wasn’t dead. ‘Pity that she isn't dead.’ Lissa thought bitterly.

Lissa turned back towards the alley opening and looked to where she had left the boy. Saida was cradling him at the alley mouth, confusion, and shock across her face. Lissa cocked her head and proceeded towards Saida. As she walked closer, Lissa started to calm down, and the confusion and shock slowly started fading. “It’s okay you’re safe now,” Saida cooed to the boy while stroking his hair. Lissa at least sighed in relief, noticing his hair was not soaked with blood but just a deep crimson. The boy’s murmured voice finally reached her ears, “Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.” Saida looked at Lissa, “His name is Triam, he said they grabbed him while coming back from the docks. He thought they were going to kill him.”

Lissa’s righteous anger came to a head once again. Still, before she could turn, Saida continued, “I don’t think we have to worry about them anymore, we should let the guards handle this from here.” Lissa clenched her fists tightly and beat the anger back down, and once it was controlled, let out her held breath. All of them turned as they heard the sound of armored footfalls rushing towards them. Saida looked down at Triam, “They will help you, I promise.” The thunderous steps grew louder, and a trio of guards rounded the corner weapons drawn. Lissa could tell at least one of them was a dwarf, just by the stature but couldn’t make anything out for the other two.

“What is going on here?” The one to the right of the dwarf asked their voice rising in pitch upon seeing the abductors. “And lay down your arms!” The dwarf interrupted their compatriot upon seeing the weapon on Saida’s hip. “I don’t think that is a good idea, guardsman,” Lissa said casually while stepping out fully into their view the markings of their office coming under the scrutinizing gaze. Lissa swore that she heard them all inhale sharply before the one that hadn’t spoken to this point stepped forward. Taking off their helmet, Lissa saw it was another blooded woman who was humanlike except for her horns running across her scalp. “My ladies, my apologies for our brusqueness. We didn’t know you had the situation handled.”

“Handled! That bitch attacked us!” The man with the mangled wrist stood still clutching it to his chest. Lissa turned to glare at him, “Only because they abducted this child for obviously nefarious reasons." Lissa pointed to Triam, who looked at her and nodded in agreement. “Oh fuck, all you blooded. Your kind is……” Before the mangled man could finish an ethereal rope wrapped around his throat. “That is enough out of you!” Lissa followed the line and voice to the guardswoman without her helmet. Her angry expression possibly rivaled Lissa’s, “We have this handled my ladies you can continue along with your business.”

Saida looked down at Triam, “You going to be alright from here?” Triam bit his lip for a moment before replying, “Yeah, I should be. Thank you again.” Saida patted him on the head and coaxed him to the guards before gesturing to Lissa to leave the alley. “Get a healer, they are going to need it,” Lissa heard the guardswoman say after presumably getting a better look at the injuries.

After entirely exiting the alley, Saida handed Lissa a clothe, “Clean yourself up, we don’t want to send the wrong impression to those pompous jerks with the Silver Shields.” Lissa took it gladly and quickly wiped the blood from her face, arms, and legs. “Thank you,” as Lissa handed back the cloth, she noticed Saida eyeing her. “What?” Saida looked around, quickly pulling her into an open doorway and pinned her to the wall. “What do you mean, what?” Saida hissed in Lissa’s face, “What the hell was that?! You could have killed them!” Lissa's face became stony as her anger pulsed within her, and pushed her away, “I didn’t do it did I!? Even if they deserved it regardless for harming a child!”

“You lost control! I don’t think you fully understood what you did! This was exactly like when you sparred with me!” Saida’s sentences were punctuated by a finger poking her in the chest and harsh breaths. “You wanted to kill me back then, I am sure of that. Had I not said your name, you would have crushed the neck of that halfling!” Lissa looked Saida in the eye and noticed she had tears in her eyes as Saida whimpered out. “What is going on, Lissa? This isn’t like you at all.” Lissa had to look away from Saida as she spoke, she could handle seeing someone so close to her looking at her this way. It hurt too deeply. “This started once we left on this assignment. Is it because you are worried about this or is it something else?” Lissa flinched slightly as Saida's hand touched her chin to turn her gaze back to her. “I know you don’t usually like talking about this, but whatever is going on you can confide in me at least.”

Lissa looked up, thinking, “I don’t know, Saida, but I just don’t realize it is happening okay. I don’t get it either, all I know is I had a dream before we left.” Lissa bit her lip, “I know it seems silly, but all I remember of the dream is red eyes staring at me. And then again that next night, but it was different. All I know is someone with golden eyes saved me from people with red eyes.” Lissa looked back at Saida, who didn’t look confused but slightly relieved and was smiling. “Well, at least I know I am not the only one with crazy dreams. Though mine wasn’t until that night as well. So how about this the next time we have a dream like that we tell each other okay? I think if we told Mera or Mela, they would want to watch us while we slept, Almios and Garza would laugh while Darvick would just think we need to drink more before bed.”

Lissa returned the smile hesitantly and was shocked when Saida came closer to her and whispered in her ear, “Although Lis, I have to say if you lose control again, I won’t hesitate to take you down.” Lissa stood there for a moment while Saida backed away, “Just know if that does happen, I still care about you.” Lissa nodded and continued to stand there as Saida stepped back into the sidestreet. “Well, we probably kept Micah waiting long enough. We should hurry before he bores that survivor to death with questions.”