“Solkos is a God known for his wickedness, especially for a non-monstrous divine being. His most devout followers don’t have a proper central church, but they rule the underworld by the means of confraternities known as ‘Syndicates’. Each one of them competes with the others to increase their power, control, and wealth by any means necessary.

Unfortunately, they also benefit from agents placed in almost every major city on Nortanis, allowing their influence to spread even further. Beware, for there’s little they wouldn’t do for their syndicate, and even less for their God.”

-From ‘Nortanis’ underworld: general tips to avoid getting assassinated, kidnapped, and many other unpleasant things’.

Nashariel pov

Staring at those pointy arrows made Nashariel regret not evolving right where she had fought.

She gulped, glancing at her resources.

*Hp: 8.893/15.000

Mana: 290/10.000

Stamina: 405/10.000 *

Duck. “Is swimming prohibited? If so, I’m terribly sorry.” Start absorbing mana from the lake.

/Acknowledged/

“Your group has assaulted a group of Rangers,” The one in the center declared. The massive scars on his face gave him a permanent frown. “You are all currently under arrest.”

Nashariel was taken aback. “I’m sure there’s a mistake, we wouldn’t…”

An archer let loose, letting the arrow graze the dragokin’s cheek. Her scales deflected it, but the point was made clear.

“Come out, slowly, or the next one will make you bleed. Quickly.”

The Templar’s anger flared, barely contained. “I’m coming, I’m coming, don’t worry.” Nashariel reached the shore without stopping to glare at the elves.

As soon as she came out of the water, some Rangers approached with a cord that pulsated with mana. They used the rope to bind her arms and wings together, making them unusable.

The position soon made her limbs sore, forcing them to bend in the wrong way. It didn’t bar her from identifying everyone, including the artifact. She noted that some Rangers had broken through the second Tier of their innate element, from Wood to Forest.

*Elven Rangers Lvl 211-278 (x20)

Wood/Flow/Dark-Bind of suppression

Quality: High

Value: Low+

Hoard Value: Low-

Other: This artifact is often used by Rangers to restrict the prey not to being killed immediately. Almost impossible to break at the low tiers, this cord also saps the entity of the bound’s resources to a set value, feeding the enchantment itself. *

A bit of Nashariel’s Presence must have been leaking, as more than a pair of arms shivered under her gaze. The rope itself hungrily sapped her mana and stamina, leaving her roughly at the 5% mark. Her vitality and Resilience vastly reduced any kind of damage she could endure, even if not to the point of stopping it completely.

“You remember that we’re here because I made a Deal with one of your creators, right?” She snarled through her teeth.

“Which is why you’ve only been captured, Templar.” The other replied, relaxing his arms, but not putting away his bow. “Walk.”

Entering the Oak, Nashariel saw that most elves glared at her, although some looked at her empathetically. She noticed that part of the inn her team lived in was demolished, the scene eerily reminding her of the one in the cursed village. The dragokin could smell faint traces of blood in the air, but the place had been thoroughly cleaned.

What happened here? She wondered.

Her captors led her to a small, robust-looking shack. Nashariel could smell fresh blood in there, Veliel’s especially. She tugged dangerously at her bindings, alerting the closest elves. “What have you done them?” She asked in a dangerous tone.

“Kept them under watch.” They approached the building’s entrance, guarded by a full team of Rangers. “Go in. You’ll be judged shortly.”

An elf opened the door, and Nashariel was thrown inside. Growling, the dragokin was helped to stand by Dan. Before she could ask him what had happened, she saw Veliel.

The priestess was lying on a bench, breathing raggedly. Strips of clothes kept her numerous wounds closed, and her left wings had been cleanly snapped in half.

Nashariel saw red.

She snarled, barely keeping [Fury] in check. The dragokin chucked her dexterous tail inside her mantle. Once she retrieved the potion from Althei's alchemist, she uncorked it with her teeth and then approached the priestess. "Help her drink." She commanded.

Even Dorel and Dan had been manacled, but the Inquisitor managed to slip under the sleeping siren to raise her, and the Defender kept her head somewhat still and reclined with his. Nashariel slowly fed the potion to Veliel, only spilling a bit of the precious liquid, and the effects quickly showed.

Most of the siren’s wounds closed, even if the broken wings didn’t recover. At least, Veliel’s breathing improved considerably.

“What happened?” Nashariel questioned, shifting into Healing to softly blow her uncharged breath. A bit more health couldn’t hurt.

“As soon as we returned from a dangerous Quest, a group of hunters ambushed us,” started Dan, dropping with his head low on the floor. “and they heavily focused on Veliel. Boss… I thought that they wanted to kill her for… you know…”

“Parts.” Nashariel finished coldly.

The other flinched. “Y-yeah, but then they attacked us with the same bloodlust. We held our ground thanks to Veliel’s buffs. After they saw that we weren’t easy targets, they shouted for help, saying that they were under attack.” He sighed.

“It was a mess, Boss. Thank the Goddess someone reminded the others about the tokens that the Willow's Elder gave us.” Dorel said, blinking slowly.

Nashariel examined them.

/Exhaustion. Have they been kept awake?/

I hope not. “Why did no one heal her?” The humans looked roughed up, but the priestess’ state had been much worse a moment ago.

Both scowled. “They gave us the bare minimum to recover and ignored that Veliel needed much more than us both. Gods, she can’t even wake up…”

Is it because she’s my retainer? Or was it just that they focused on the buffer first? The omnidragon dangerously tugged at the rope binding her limbs. She thought about her team’s options. I can break it. Easily, if I transform. Thing is… “If we try to escape, we’ll have all of them chasing us to Astill’s Chorus. And if, by some kind of miracle, we manage to outrun them out of the forest…” She shuddered. “I can’t go out of Lyah’thien. I’ve seen what happens when you break a Deal.”

The others sagged, nodding knowingly.

“Rest, you’re barely holding it together.”

Dan let out a humorless chuckle. “Hard to sleep, when this damned thing permanently keeps you at a tenth of your damned stamina. Astill’s mercy, my headache is killing me…”

Nashariel didn’t comment about the difference with her device. At least, perhaps thanks to dragon physiology, she only felt a bit tired. For now. “Points?”

They shook their heads. “I can’t focus.”

“Me neither.”

The dragokin grunted. Do I have enough time to…

Interrupting her thoughts, a multitude of steps approached.

Secondary mind, I'll trust your judgment to spend the points if we ever need to.

/Acknowledged/

The door opened, letting in a trio of Rangers guarding an old frowning elf. The warriors pushed the Astillians back to the wall, keeping their hands on their weapons. “I did not foresee this kind of situation happening, Templars.” The Elder started, looking at each one of them with her gray eyes full of disappointment.

Not outright hostility, Nashariel noticed. “I’m sure that it’s all a simple, big misunderstanding on everyone’s part.” She replied, calling upon all the diplomacy that had been taught her by Karda.

The woman’s eyes narrowed dangerously. “You have killed three of our hunters, child. That’s hardly a ‘misunderstanding’.”

Nashariel was at a loss for words.

Her friends weren’t. “Bullshit! We haven’t killed anyone!” Dan roared, earning a shove from a Rangers. Even half-exhausted, he managed to stand upright.

“We didn’t even use our offensive skills.” Added Dorel, calmer but only on the surface.

“The bodies outside tell a different tale. They had extensive burns, and one died of poisoning. Accident or not, they lay beneath the Oak all the same.”

“We are all way below your level. How and why my friends would have attacked and killed rangers above 200?” Objected the dragokin.

The Elder sighed. “I also questioned the reasons behind such a foolish act, when I came here for answers. Children, tell me what happened.”

Dan and Dorel recounted all the events in great detail. Nashariel remained silent, thinking.

/An obvious ploy. How to dismantle it?/

The dragokin debated with herself for a bit. By verifying the testimonies. I don’t see any other alternative. We’ll need to talk to all those who could have seen anything at all, though.

She snapped back to attention when the Elder’s voice reached her ears. “Quite a contradictory version you present.”

Dan shrugged. “It’s the truth, and my friend’s unconsciousness proves it.” He replied, gesturing toward the sleeping siren.

“Mhmm. While that could be attributed to a grieving hunter’s… lack of judgment, it does confirm that someone wasn’t fully sincere with me.” The Elder conceded in an irritated tone. Nashariel had the feeling that the animosity wasn’t directed at them. “Although, you’ll need much more than that to prove your innocence.”

“Could I investigate myself, then?” Asked Nashariel. As all the eyes went on her, she expanded. “Regardless of what happened, I wasn’t there, but I was serving the same fae that brought us to this city.”

“You’re not a neutral part of this.”

“With all due respect, Elder, no one is, not here.”

The woman slowly nodded. “I’ll reflect on it for a while. In the meantime, think if you want to redact your version of things.”

The elves went their way, letting the guards outside.

“They attacked us, and now they blame us for it?” Murmured Dan.

"We'll come out of this," Dorel said, certain as a mountain. "Boss, what’s the plan?”

“I think this is something related to the guy that stranded us. I’ll get to the bottom of this. Now, tell me again everything you remember of that day, before and after the fact.”

They retold their story for the third time in a row, Nashariel shifting in her Mind Aspect to better memorize it all. She decided that, seeing her task, perhaps this affinity was the most suitable.

“Now that I think about it, I think I saw some of our attackers looking at us after we got back from some Quests. Never the same, but…” Dorel smacked himself. “Why didn’t I notice it sooner!”

“Someone always looks at someone else, my friend. Last time I checked, you hadn't become a seer.” Nashariel smiled. “Tell me more. Why this time instead of others?” Her brain and intellect spun a thousand miles per hour. She had already twenty different hypotheses, all somewhat valid.

The humans thought about it for a minute or so. “We were pretty roughed up. We expected a few Stone-monsters, not a whole nest of Petrifying snakes, so we went in unprepared. Nothing we couldn’t handle, especially thanks to Veliel’s new songs.”

"Yeah, safe work nearby my butt," Dan grunted. At Nashariel's interrogative gaze he kept going. "The owner of the Hut recommended it to us, saying that it was a nice and easy Quest, soon about to become a problem. We felt like we needed to help.”

“And you didn’t suspect anything, at least after you cleared the lair?” Nashariel scolded.

He shrugged. “It’s not the first time he did it, and the other Quests had always gone pretty well, all things considered. Mistakes happen.”

The dragokin reduced the number of her hypotheses to two. In one, the owner was helpful but misinformed, and the hunters had simply patiently waited for the right opportunity. In the other…

/We have a lead/

We do. The duo added nothing else. “I’ll try to contact Veliel now. Keep watch for me.”

“Say hello to her from us, Nashariel.”

“Seconded.”

Nashariel sat on the floor, falling inside her status. She also started her Body and Gas attunement evolutions.

Once there, she observed the Retainer’s slate, seeing that Veliel was doing fine, but she was kept at her same percentages, lacking the omnidragon’s innate augmented vitality. They sure don’t like monsters.

The dragokin summoned the door and entered.

Veliel was absent.

Nashariel sighed. I hoped to find her here. Can I do anything to help her? I should’ve asked her to pick [Dual mind] if she was still able to.

She approached her friend’s status slate, seeing that Veliel had quite a few points to spare. Can I…? “Status, which skills would help my friend to recover?”

Nothing replied her.

Defeated, Nashariel returned to her status. She meditated for a while on the elements, helping her evolution to accelerate.

*Body attunement acquired!

May your body adapt to your every challenge, young Omnidragon.

Gas attunement acquired!

May you suffocate all those who oppose you, Young Omnidragon. *

Once Nashariel woke, nothing had changed. “Nothing.” She announced, fidgeting within her bindings. Her stomach growled. Gods, I need to eat something. “Couldn’t talk to her at all. She’s not regenerating health, but her body is slowly healing.”

“Thank Astill for that.” They echoed.

Minutes later, the same number of steps hit the ground, announcing the Elder’s return. “I have interrogated the Ranger that handled your companion,” she nodded towards Veliel, “she admitted that she mixed a sleeping tonic with her potion, one usually reserved for… larger preys.” She gripped her staff slightly harder, turning to look at Nashariel. "I have the feeling that something is amiss, but I refuse to believe that my children simply lied. This is why I decided that an investigation is a must. You and a group of Rangers who were not involved in all this will handle it, starting now." She declared.

The dragokin nodded, a gigantic weight lifted from her shoulders. “Thank you, Elder. I already have a lead.”

“Before starting? Impressive.”

“Nothing solid, just a hunch, but I’m confident. Also, about these bindings and my friends’…”

“They will stay. I’m willing to give you a chance, but not to endanger my people.”

Whelp, I tried. “Then I would also like to examine the bodies.”

The Elder shook her head. “We already did the funeral rites. They completely returned to nature.”

Nashariel took in a deep breath. Okay, not a good start. "Was there anything amiss, Elder?"

“Oh? Am I under interrogation now?” She chuckled briefly. “Very well, I’ll do my part.” She described in detail the state of the corpses.

Nashariel caught on to a few things. "So, they had burns, but not hardened rock on them. And neither did the floor, as far as I understood.”

“No, but created matter returns to mana, after some time. I wasn’t surprised when I didn’t find too many signs of battle.”

“And the mana signatures?”

“We remove mana to prevent spawns, not analyze it.”

Astill’s mercy be upon me, for I’m about to scream. Nashariel frowned. “You didn’t let much for me to verify.”

“Murder is punished with execution, usually. I trust another Elder’s judgment, as the token in your possession is not granted lightly, but I’m only giving you a single chance.”

Nashariel held the other’s gaze without flinching. “Let’s hope that I find something, then. For all of us.”

The Rangers stiffened, their weapons slightly approaching their weapons. She didn’t glance at them.

“Let’s hope. Come, you’ll meet your guides.”

The dragokin looked at her friends, finding them asleep. You can count on me.

Outside the prison/shack, an elven trio was nervously glancing at their surroundings.

/They don’t like being here/

I can’t blame them. Nashariel and her other mind examined and identified them, finding nothing that caught the eye.

“Can you show me where my friends fought?" The dragokin asked after all the presentation ended.

“You already saw it.” Replied Salah. “It’s near the inn you slept in.”

Nashariel nodded, walking in that direction.

After arriving, she fully trusted her Mind Skills to help her perceive any irregularity in the surrounding environment.

Astill’s mercy, Veliel’s essence is truly overpowering now. Mana or not, it was easy to discern Veliel’s signature among all the others present, as she was a pure caster. The fact that she was in her second Tier also diversified her personal mana. I feel little to nothing from Dorel and Dan…Nashariel tried to identify the kinds of spells and skills unleashed by her Voice, but she had no such capabilities. Would Flow help here?

/Probably. That attunement is all about magical things/

“How was the inn destroyed?” Nashariel asked, pointing at the half-demolished building.

Aroth took the word. “The others said that the monster screamed so loudly that the stone itself collapsed.”

“Were there any wounded?” At a nod, she pressed on. “What kinds of wounds?”

Aroth and Salah looked at the last elf, a minute woman dressed in robes. She squirmed under the attention. "I helped with healing them. I mostly cured light concussions, minor burns, and some people were confused. I detected Mind magic's signature on the last group."

“Anything else?”

“There was someone who ate the wrong mushroom and kept farting. You… probably didn’t care about that, now that I think about it…” She looked abashed.

Nashariel snorted. “No, but I needed that. Just to be clear: no ruptured ears?”

The other shook her head. “None that I took care of.”

“Could you explain how your people were this lightly wounded, but a building was demolished?” Nashariel asked, looking at everyone.

They got a few dubious looks. “Physically throwing people could do that, but…”

“The others said that it was the monster’s voice.”

“Perhaps someone smashed the Templar there?”

Nashariel ignored the last comment, letting the elves brood between themselves. “My friends were the only seriously wounded people, dead aside.”

“That’s strange, I agree. Perhaps the others at the Clinic might help us some more.”

“Clinic.” She repeated with a flat tone.

The healer avoided her eyes. “Yeah, the Siren helped us to build it.”

/The irony/

Nashariel agreed deeply. “Is it closer or further than the Hut?”

“Much closer. Follow me.”

The building was clearly an Astillian Clinic, instead of merely resembling one like the inn. Relatively modest in size, on its top stood a white wooden nest upon which the words 'Siren's Soothe’ had been carved.

Nashariel could see few people inside the building, with almost no patients. Elven arrogance once again, or skill? She wondered while her group entered.

For a moment, the silence was deafening. Then the younger healers charged her.

"You're her boss, right?"

“How’s the teacher?”

“She can’t be guilty!”

“What happened?”

And many more similar questions were shot in rapid succession.

Nashariel… definitely didn’t expect that.

Her guides quickly pressed the dozen young elves back, forcing them to calm down a tad.

The dragokin held in a few tears of pride. “She’s not doing well, but I’m working to fix that, and you can help me.” They nodded as one, focused, letting Nashariel ask pointed questions.

A half-hour later, she confirmed her guide’s words and found out that the dead elves had been alive for a time, before dying here. "Did anyone see them before or after?"

Three students raised their hands. “They were almost unconscious already, beyond what we could do.”

“Yeah, too little blood left.”

Blood?“But they died of poison and burns, didn’t they?”

One looked hesitant. “Y-yes, but they had deep cuts on their throats, so that’s why their vitality failed them.”

Dan would have gone for their joints, not their vital points.

/And no one else has been poisoned, not even a little/

Good point. “Thank you all. You have no idea how much you have helped me and my friends.”

They beamed.

"Throat cuts?" Salah muttered once they walked away from the Clinic.

Turning to look at her, Nashariel spotted a figure running from the back of the building. She narrowed her gaze, her mental skills working overtime to rebuild and improve what had been a single moment in time.

As in a blurred painting, the image stopped on one of the young elves that had bothered Veliel during her evolution. He had been running fairly quicker than Nashariel expected.

What's the running for? And where? The dragokin wondered, having lost too many precious seconds for her skills to work. Moreover, she suspected that her guides wouldn’t have taken too well her chasing of a young elf for no apparent reason. Still, Nashariel committed the image to memory.

“So it seems. The Hut is next. Can you lead me to it?”

Aroth almost snorted. “Templar, that place is our lifeblood. Even children could point you to it.”

Nashariel rolled her eyes.

Nashariel’s bindings were starting to itch. Her health still mostly overpowered the artifact, but her other resources were blocked at 5%. She thanked that her Armor required little less than that, thanks to [Mana efficiency], or she would have had to run around naked.

The looks she was getting were much less friendly than what she had hoped for. Better than an outright beating, but not by much.

After her guides chattered a bit about her permissions, they were allowed in.

Nashariel walked toward the raven-haired clerk, recognizing him as the owner thanks to her friends’ description. Some of those who had attacked them were here too, but she pretended to not notice them.

After a few brief pleasantries, Nashariel started. “How did you mistake a permanent lair for a temporary one?”

He glared. “That’s not your business, Astillian.”

"It is since you gave my friends most of their Quests. Petrifying snakes are dangerous, I certainly know that." Well, not as much as adult Basilisks, but that’s just perspective. "And they transmute their surroundings only when they decide to live somewhere.”

"I still don't see what business you have with it."

“My friends fought a difficult battle and, right after they returned weakened and vulnerable, they got attacked. Or they decided to engage a group of Rangers above their levels, as you people seem to believe for some reason. Either way, they battled against something that they hadn’t expected to find, and you sent them there.”

The elf, seeing that even the guides intently gazed at him, relented a little. “Fine. I scouted the place a week or so before asking your friends. There, I saw six, or eight monsters tops. I told the Templars that this was going to become a problem soon, but I didn’t think that it would be already. I… I must have missed a deeper layer.” He shrugged.

Thoughts?

/He hesitated for a moment/

Let’s press on. “Why haven’t you killed them yourself, instead of posting a Quest? Your level was more than enough to easily deal with them.”

"I was scouting the area. Scouts can't stop dealing with everything they find. That’s a hunter or a Ranger’s job.”

“Not even for something that you yourself defined as a 'nice and easy Quest, soon about to become a problem?'"

A single drop of sweat ran along the other’s cheek. Something unnoticeable for many, a glowing sign of tension for the omnidragon. “I don’t need to explain myself to an Astillian!” He growled. “Get out of my Hut!”

“Or what? You’ll ask a group of kids to hunt me down?” Nashariel taunted, leaning on the counter.

A large vein pulsed on the elf’s head. “I’ll put a Quest for your hide and bones, dragon!” He shouted, slamming his punch on the counter.

Got him! Nashariel let out a ferocious grin. “I’m sure you will, scout.” She distanced herself from the man, clearly feeling the other ‘Hunters’ stiffening behind her. She ignored them, going out with the guides.

“Anywhere else that I can use to find something?” She asked, once outside the building. Almost nighttime, she noticed. Her nose also detected someone’s cooking, making her stomach growl loudly.

“Before that, what have you discovered? He seemed bothered, for some reason.”

“Just to be curious, what’s your stance on friendly monsters?”

That had the three elves pausing to glance at each other. “Uh… I don’t mind, I guess?” Answered the healer.

“Good.” Nashariel dropped part of her innate occultation. “Identify me.”

They did, then widened their eyes.

“So, since I told no one here, how did he know?” The dragokin readjusted her defense, letting out a smile. “This is my final theory, now that I can support it with evidence:

Someone tried to kill us and failed. So they resorted to murdering three of you to frame us. Think about it: Only a single elf had been poisoned, the building crumbled thanks to a shout that should’ve at the very least killed someone, someone knew about my true nature in advance… And I could go on.”

“There had been many inconsistencies…” Slowly admitted Aroth.

“But who? And why?” Asked Salah instead.

Nashariel shrugged. “I don’t know who, but I can probably tell you why. Where we can find the Elder right now?” They had arrived near the stairs, at this point.

Salah opened her mouth to answer when the group turned the corner. What they saw had her gulp down what she was about to say.

“I think that you have another appointment scheduled, Templar.” A chestnut-haired woman said, playing with a long dagger. Five more elves stood nearby, all with their various weapons unsheathed. “One that you can’t really miss out.”

The healer Nashariel had spotted running was currently there, heaving for breath. Still, he had nothing of his usual innocent look.

Five more elves appeared from the shadows behind Nashariel’s group, the dragokin easily recognizing them as the ones she noticed at the Hut, owner included.

Duck.

/Duck indeed/