Back at the capital below the Adventurer's Guild, after days of interrogation, Guntar relented and talked.

"That can't be all?" Rayne asked, doubtful.

"Look man, I swear that is all I know. I wasn't in the position to refuse a gold ranker, so I did what I had to! Alright?"

"No Guntar, it's not alright,'' Rayne replied, shaking his head. Guntar seemed relaxed as he talked. Like him opening the tunnels and letting the undead out had nothing to do with him. He swore he didn't have a choice in the matter. The old man named Silva approached him and made him take the deal. Poor Guntar was given hush money that he had to lavishly spend on booze and brothels. He told Rayne everything and… his everything? Didn't amount to much.

Guntar didn't really know who the old man was, where he came from or where he was going. Rayne again had nothing solid to go on, however, he doubted Guntar told them everything.

He's hiding something. I'm sure of it! A few more days in the cell should make him spill out everything.

"Enough Guntar. A few more days in the cell should make you spill out everything!

Rayne turned and left the cell, leaving the confused Guntar behind. I did tell you everything… a few more days is all I needed anyway." Guntar thought.

"So? How'd it go?" Belle asked the moment Rayne returned to his office. He shook his head while saying. "He talked. Said he told us everything, but nothing that would lead us directly to Silva."

"Oh...do you think he's lying? Maybe I didn't press him hard enough?" Belle said questiongly.

"No, you did fine Belle," Rayne replied, the face of guilt showing on his face. "I'll let him cool off in a cell for a few more days."

"Shouldn't we report him to the guild?"

"NO! I mean, not yet…sorry Belle. We will after we get the information I need. Okay?" he asked, pleadingly.

Belle nodded her head. She knew how much finding Silva meant to Rayne. She didn't know all the details but she knew enough and she wanted to help him in any way she could!

Ever since the attack on Westbrook, Rayne wasn't himself. The attack probably reminded him of the attack the night his father died. He's been stressing himself a lot lately. Kidnapping Guntar wasn't how they did things. There were proper methods and channels they, as representatives of the Adventurer's Guild, had to go through. Not that they didn't use the means…not exactly regulated by the guild, just not to this extent.

Later that night, in the dungeons beneath The Guild…a *swish* was heard following with the sound of a body falling to the ground. The clicking of steps echoed down the corridor until they stopped in front of Guntar's cell. "Doesn't look that bad." the meek voice said behind the prison cell doors. Guntar slowly lifted his head and smirked.

"Once you get used to it, it's quite refreshing." He replied.

The jingling of keys was heard and then the door unlocked. Trevak casually stepped in. "I've been gone for a week and look at the mess you've got yourself into?"

"Ah, it…wasn't my fault?" Guntar said, sounding more like a question than a statement. "You're back early…"

Trevak nodded. "Come, let's get you out of here. We're leaving the city tonight. I have a safehouse ready but it will take us a few days to get there."

"That's nice. I didn't know you had that kind of connection! Maybe you should be the boss!?"

"You're speaking nonsense…and no thank you. With a pretty face like mine, no one would take me seriously."

Guntar snorted and with Trevak's help and under the guise of the guard. They sneaked out of the dungeons and then out of the Adventurer’s Guild.

Early in the morning the next day, Belle found dead guards in the dungeons beneath the guild and an empty cell. "Well, poop…"

"Is he dead - gone or gone - gone?" Rayne asked after Belle rushed into his office and delivered the news.

"He's…the disappearing kind of gone - gone! How bad is it?" asked Belle, obviously worried about the whole ordeal.

"Damnit! I told them many times that bronze rankers aren't enough of a security in the dungeons!"

Rayne saw her distressed and tried to diffuse the situation. "It's bad, but better he disappeared than died in our cell. Have a wanted poster commissioned."

"Already done, sir!"

"Good girl. Come, we need to have a message sent to Veeno in Westbrook at once." Rayne said and motioned Belle to follow.

"Veeno? Is it about what Guntar said?"

Rayne stopped in his trek and turned. "Yes. Guntar didn't say much, but the interrogation wasn't without merit. You know what? You go ahead and send a message while I'll go and deal with our superiors blowing this out of proportion."

Belle nodded her head. "Kay Rayne. What should the message say?"

Rayne thought for a moment and once he formulated his thoughts, replied. "Tell Veeno to take a group of his most trusted men and explore the tunnels. I'll mark the location of the entrance. And…tell him to be careful! He should expect an encounter with the undead, but he should also be prepared for the unexpected. Once he clears the tunnels, he should report back his findings."

"Consider it done, sir!" Belle replied and turned to leave when she heard Rayne suddenly add: "You did good Anabelle, I'm proud of you."

She stopped, frozen in her steps, a shiver ran down her spine. She couldn't hide her stupid wide grin so she didn't turn around. She raised her hand and gave him a thumbs up. Rayne laughed seeing how uncool her pose was. His laughter echoed the halls of the guild and a red faced Belle hurriedly left.

The amount of gold rankers in the guild were a dozen but each one was valuable and Rayne knew that very well. Even more so as the pupil of one of the strongest men in the kingdom, his master and the current guild leader, Fluvis Frose.

"What the hell did you do? We have dead guards on our hands and even worse!! You let THAT man ESCAPE!!" An elderly man shouted, pacing back and forth in his office. His name was Gustav and he was a member of the bureau. The same man that berated Rayne after the attack on Westbrook. "This was the last straw! I will see to it that you are expelled from the guild! YOU HEAR ME?!"

Rayne leaned in closer to the man and said: "Why in the world would I give a flying fuck? I have MY guild. I'm not here wasting my time in the adventurer guild because I want to, but because I was needed! So you can shove your seat in the guild right up your-

*cough cough* A loud cough made both of them pause and turn to the doors.

"That's enough of you two." Fluvis interrupted, entering Gustav's office and putting an end to their bickering. Their arguing could be heard out of the office and down the hallway, for all to hear.

*sigh* "I'm sure Rayne had his reasons for undertaking such a risk and taking matters into his own hands, right kiddo?" Fluvis sternly asked.

Rayne knew he needed to justify his actions and with what information he got out of Guntar, he did just that.

"My interrogation of the suspect in the assault on Westbrook led me to believe that the fraction of the undead raised in the vicinity of Wesbrook was still out there in the tunnels beneath Westbrook. I have already sent my men to the location to investigate and report back to me."

*hmph* "And how reliable is that information?" Gustav asked.

"We'll see, won't we?" Rayne replied, glancing at Fluvis. Gustav snorted and said this wasn't the end of it! He would send Roselyn and her men to the tunnels to - his exact words were - "Get the job done!"

Rayne gnashed his teeth but held back and replied. "As you wish." Gustav rushed out of the office, his office, leaving the two alone.

Awkward silence permitted the room and master Fluvis was the first one to break the ice. "How is it that you have such a temper? A man of your position, a gold ranker and what’s more, someone specializing in Ice magic shouldn't have such a temperament!"

"I'm…young?" Rayne replied not coming up with a better excuse.

Fluvis paused for a second, then chuckled. "You're quite right. I often forget how young you actually are! Back in my day-

" I'm leaving." Rayne interjected and proceeded to leave the office.

"Wait Rayne! This is important!" The old man said, leaving after him.

That same day Veeno, with a group of guild operatives, secretly entered the tunnels beneath Westbrook and began the not-so-secret operation of finding the remnants of the undead army. A few hours later, a gold rank branch guild leader Roselyn herself entered the tunnels with a small group of people.

In a small tavern in the western district of the capital, Silva and Tivaara were taking a private manavator leading down to the Underground. One of the reasons the Hounds acquired the tavern years ago.

They exited the manavator and entered an abandoned alley that led to the intersection where the street was bustling with activity. The underground was a much darker place than the city above. Literally, it was underground! Manaposts lightened the streets in a dim light and the far away crystals decorating the ceiling illuminated the surroundings. All kinds of shady characters mingled down below, making secret deals and trading stolen goods. It was also a place where the Assassin’s Guild operated.

Soon after entering the busy street, Silva and Tiv stopped in front of the building and entered. Heavy smoke permitted the inside and dozens of people were sitting at the tables drinking and smoking. Low tune music was playing in the background and the bartender was cleaning a glass behind the bar. He gave the newcomers a once over and nodded. He pulled a lever under the counter and they nodded back while going past the bar and through the doorway leading to the door of the basement.

The building was another hideout of the Hounds and it was their actual base of operations. In the basement of the hideout, a pale, sickly looking person with black veins covering his entire body was resting on the bed. A medic was sitting beside him, going through the data in his notebook. Hearing incoming footsteps, he turned around.

“Ah! Silva, Tivaara, it’s been a while!” The medic greeted the two.

Silva greeted the medic back and Tiv nodded down her head in greeting, stepped aside and leaned against the wall.

“How is he Bert, any better?” Silva asked.

The medic, Bert, shook his head. “Afraid not! I’m surprised he lasted this long. The ritual was too much for his body to handle. This is way beyond mana poisoning". Bert motioned for Silva to get closer and continued. “Mana within his body is corrupted and is ravaging his body from the inside. His body is breaking, falling apart! Look at this.” The medic said while pointing towards the missing hand.

Silva tsk'd, seeing a stump in place of a hand.

“It fell off…The corruption is spreading fast and I cannot stop it, it’s already too late.”

Silva heavily sighed. The man wasn’t with them for a long time and had grand ambitions but he was still a beneficial member to the Hounds. “A shame really, any chance he turns into one of them?”

The medic fixed his glasses while looking at Silva. “Undead? Impossible. An abomination? Low chance. It’s more likely he’d turn into one of the corrupted ones, but we’ll end it before it gets to that.”

Cultivating impure mana like the necromancer did and not filtering it by Meditation was the leading cause of mana poisoning. It rarely happened, but when it did, one of the most undesirable outcomes was for the infected to become corrupted and later turn into an abomination. Corrupted mana has another name that wasn't often used among the living as it was associated with the Netherrealm. Chaos mana! And as its name implied, it was destructive, volatile and opposite of pure mana. Chaos mana was the driving force behind the undead and the demons.

Silva nodded. If the corrupted was to be seen in the capital, all hell would break loose. Such a shame really. With him gone, our mission also failed…sort of. We left the Risen in the tunnels because the necromancer couldn’t control them all at once. Now, they’re on standby in the tunnels and it won’t be long until someone finds them. Well…we took the appropriate measures in case of that happening.

“We did as much damage with the undead army as we could. He did well. Has he woken up? Said anything?”

“Well, he did wake up briefly. Said something incoherent and fell asleep again. He’s been like this ever since. Oh, he did ask to see the newcomer, Bones was it?

Silva raised an eyebrow. “Bones? What in the world would he want to see Bones for?”

The medic shrugged and said his patient’s head isn’t screwed on straight!

“I’ll try and ease the pain as much as possible but…we should think about ending his suffering”. Bert said and was about to continue talking when the raspy voice beside him whispered: “No!…not yet.”

Bert escorted Silva and Tiv out of the basement and they parted ways. Bert went back to the basement and Silva and Tiv somewhere unknown.