Urekin started seeing light sources from the direction he was headed in as a large building slowly came into view. Everything in its vicinity was lit up by large lights on stands, so it took a few moments for his eyes to readjust to the brightness. Eventually, he could make out quite a few figures stationed on makeshift garrisons with mounted heavy artillery guarding what looked to be a construction site. The large building in the middle looked much newer than anything he had seen in this decrepit neighbourhood, and it seemed to be on the verge of completion.

As he was taking in the sight, he heard a voice behind him say, “Hands on the back of your head, face forward. Don’t give me a reason, yeah?”

Without much hesitation Urekin did as he was told. He did not wish to be shot for a misunderstanding that could be prevented by being careful. He had heard that people in the Cleft were a jumpy lot.

He soon heard other footsteps approaching, and found himself encircled by a group of well armed thugs. There were six of them, a motley crew consisting of a dwarf, an orc and three humans, with another person whose features were obscured by the shadows they were standing in. All of them were alert in case Urekin tried to pull something, but still carried things through with discipline and practiced teamwork. The orc was aiming a rifle at him while the dwarf patted him down in search of any weapons. A human stepped up and forcefully bound Urekin’s hands behind his back while the rest kept their attentions on the empty street behind him. When the dwarf was done and shook his head, an orc stepped out from behind Urekin and held a scanner to his neck. While he waited for whatever it was scanning for to complete, he appraised Urekin with a thoughtful frown.

As soon as the scanner let out a beep, the orc glanced at it and said, “He’s not one of them,” then proceeded to pack the device away. “Not on the register.”

“That’s a relief at least,” said one of the humans. “We have well enough on our plates already, as is.” His opinion on the matter was well emphasized with a spit to the side.

“Let’s call it in and then get back to the perimeter. He’s an anomaly, so he’s not our problem,” said the orc as he moved away while talking in a hushed tone.

After a short while, the orc came back and gave Urekin a cursory glance, before turning back to the others.

“The boss wants to see his mug. Gret, you take point, the rest of you get back to your stations.”

The human to the left of Urekin started walking forward while the rest melted back into the shadows. “Now move,” said the orc and nudged Urekin forward.

Both his escorts and Urekin stayed silent as they made their way over to the building under construction. A few workers and soldiers guarding the area stared at them curiously, but nobody slowed their procession.

Soon, they reached the building where two huge ogres were standing guard at the entrance. So far, Urekin had been the largest one around, but ogres were of a different breed. They towered over him, his head aligned with their shoulders, and their physiques were bulging with raw power that made them almost as wide as they were tall. They looked identical in their features but wore different styles of clothing, with one wearing an extravagant lavender coat on a stylish outfit, while the other just wore simple garb with a black leather jacket.

Their heads were adorned by a pair of thick black horns which curled all the way back behind their ears. The one in the coat looked at Urekin with eyes that weren’t completely focused, as if he wasn’t looking at him at all, and then observed his escorts in much the same fashion before moving out of their way. The one in the leather jacket didn’t even bother looking up from whatever he was fiddling with in his large hands.

Once they made their way through the large, heavy-set doors, Urekin found himself in a small corridor just wide enough for one of the ogre twins to fit through, and only barely long enough to accomodate the three of them in their passing. There was another door in the same fashion as the one outside, but it appeared to be made of an even sturdier kind of material. The walls were clean and unadorned, and all of this made Urekin think of it more as a funnel than a corridor.

As they opened the door, a sight greeted him which showed a large hall that stretched all the way to the far end of the wall, making it a room of gigantic magnitude. Tall, pillar-like platforms were scattered around the room, with a particularly large platform in the middle of the room. At the other end of the hall, he could make out a bar stretching along the wall, with a multitude of shelves decorating the background.

Around the middle of the bar, a group of people were hunched over looking down at something and occasionally looking at a woman who was gesturing vehemently while talking. Urekin could just about make out her elven features before Gret turned to the right and forced him into an elevator that had been obscured from his vision by a pillar.

The orc brushed a hand alongside a scanner when they entered, and the elevator started ascending at a rapid pace. They arrived at their destination in a flash, and Urekin was escorted onto the roof. As they walked toward the roof’s northern edge, a tall orcish woman made her way over to meet them. Gret stopped and moved out of the way so she could come face to face with Urekin.

She was tall, easily tall enough to meet his gaze, but the tusks that were attributed to the orcish kind were nowhere to be seen. Her greyish skin and orcish facial features still remained though, although her underbite was less prominent with the missing protruding teeth. She looked at the three of them giving Urekin a look of unmasked hostility before she turned to his escorts.

“Report,” she said while tucking her arms behind her back. “What have you brought me?”

The orcish man straightened his back as he said, “Our unit was overlooking the streets when Torgal saw this man approach the perimeter. He showed no signs of being afflicted so we didn’t shoot him on sight. Six of us broke off from our positions to make sure everything would go smoothly and that’s when we intercepted him. I scanned him for REDs after Gret bound his hands, then decided to notify you about the situation after the scan came up negative.”

Gret kept a hand on Urekin’s shoulder the entire time, not entirely restraining him, but letting him know not to try anything.

The woman looked Urekin over appraisingly before peering into his eyes. The golden halos around her irises confirmed the presence of visual implants.

“Speak.” Her command was simple, but clear. Urekin decided that the best course of action would be to be as forthcoming as he could be to convince her that he was no threat.

“I fell from the Eyrie and crash-landed nearby on one of the buildings. Trying to -” he was cut off as the woman held up a hand.

“You fell?”

“Well... It was more of a jump really, now that I think about it.”

“So you will not speak.”

“Look, I know how it sounds, but I assure you, if you’ll just let me finish with the-”

“Who are you?”

“... I was living on the Eyrie, working as an event organizer for Xcit.”

“Not what I asked.”

“It’s all rather complicated.”

Her silence was deafening, and her lack of emotion unnerving.

“I am Urekin of Xcit. I don’t know what happened, but I know I don’t look the part just about now. As I’ve said, it’s all rather complicated.”

A few moments passed in silence, and time seemed to have stopped turning. After what seemed like an eternity, she gave a nod. “You’ll stay as our guest for now. We’ll talk, again.”

She turned her back and walked back to the edge of the building while Urekin’s escorts guided him back to the elevator. It arrived at their destination in a flash yet it wasn’t the spacious ground hall this time, but a different floor entirely. He was lead to a smaller room at the far end of the building which had a single bed that just about fit inside. After the orc took off the cuffs which bound Urekin’s hands, he shoved him into the room, and shut the door.