Carmila was a good girl, and all the good girls always told their parents where they were going. But the thing she saw was so shiny, she had run in pursuit, leaving her nanny’s hand. It glistened, and seemed to sing, and she wanted one! She wanted this one. It sang a lovely tune, speaking of palaces and adoration. How could she not have it? And it was right when she managed to catch it, holding it in her hands, that she saw that it was a green rat. And that was the last thing she saw.

----------------------------------------

“Sorry, what do you mean with ‘kidnapped’?”

“We’ll talk while walking da, let’s go.” Lazaro got out of the doorstep, closing the door to his house behind him. “Hello mother.”

“Hello son,” Liliane answered, nodding in his direction while following him “I’m sorry we’re reuniting in such a difficult moment”

Lazar was trying to keep up with the two, who were power walking down the street.

“What happened, exactly?”

“Well, there had been some disappearance of kids in the poorer district of the city, but we just thought it was hearsay.” The man looked around, then took a left. “Plus, the guard did not look into that.”

“The guards never look at the poorer district, son,” Lazar said, a bit out of breath, “did I teach you nothing?”

“Actually no, you didn’t.” Liliane scowled a bit, seeing her son frown. “Still. They didn’t. And two days ago, someone broke into my brother-in-law's shop and kidnapped my niece.”

“Wasn’t the shop warded? I remember you telling me they had some pretty expensive stuff for sale.”

“That’s the thing. It was.” He took a right, then another left. “But they used something that stole the light of day and deactivated all of the rune’s workings. If his other daughter didn’t manage to rip a piece of the kidnapper’s cloak we wouldn’t even have a lead.”

“You mean to say that you have something belonging to him? Assuming he’s a he. Still. Have you already tried scrying or divining his position?”

“Yes, yes we did. Meredith has a friend who dabbles, and she asked her master, since this was clearly an emergency. Nothing came up. It seems that’s blocked, somehow. We also tried scrying Riley-”

“Who’s Riley?” asked Lazar.

“My nephew.” Lazaro snarled. “Don’t interrupt me, da. We tried scrying her too, but nothing came up.”

“Fantastic. Love, do we know a good seer?” asked the old man to his wife.

“Yes we do, but it seems like time is of the essence, here, and if you recall, she lives at the other end of the empire.”

“Bummer.”

“Don’t you have some idea on what you could do?” asked her son while he was still walking.

“I mean. We’ll need a bit more details.”

After a few more twists and turns, they finally got to the house of his brother in law. Lazaro made three short knocks, and after a couple seconds a dark haired man, with a five o’clock shadow, opened the door.

“Daniel.” Laaro hugged him, then stepped back. “Any news from the guard?”

“Still nothing.” He seemed distraught. He had dark circles under his eyes, and looked very pale. “It seems like another kid was taken away tonight, this time from the rich district. They are in uproar, and there’s talk of a city wide search.”

“If they’re kidnapping other children, there’s a good chance they are still in the city and are all alive.” said Lazar from behind his son.

“Who are the two old goats here?” quipped Daniel.

“The two old goats, young man,” said Liliane, glaring at him and giving more oomph to her voice “are your brother in law’s parents, Liliane and Lazar, and it would also do you well not to talk this way to people who are at least three times your age.” She looked down on him. “They might smite you where you stand.”

“Mother! This is not the moment for bickering.”

“That’s ok, Lazaro, he’s right. I’m sorry.” He made a small bow. “I’m Daniel. What are you doing here?”

“We’re here to help, young man” said Liliane, trying to bring the conversation to lighter tones, seeing that the young man asked for forgiveness..

“We might be of aid. Could you show us the fabric piece you managed to tear from the kidnapper’s cloak?”

“Yes. Sarin has it, he should be on the upper floor, in his room.”

“Sarin is his wife’s, Karin, brother.”

“Wait, I know who Sarin is.” Said Lazar, a bit surprised by the coincidence. “He’s our tailor.”

“What do you mean with ‘your tailor’?” asked Daniel.

“Well, almost all we have on, hats excluded, were his make. He’s pretty good with his hands, and has a perfect sense for fabrics.”

“Well, we won’t need to introduce you two, then,” said Daniel, before bringing them up the stairs and down the corridor. The second door to the right was the guest room, where Sarin was staying.

They knocked on it, and Sarin opened almost instantly.

“Liliane? Lazar? What are you doing here?”

“We’re here to help.” answered the old woman.

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“How did you know I was here?”

“We didn’t. We’re this young man’s parents.” said Liliane, trying to ruffle her son’s hair with her hand, which he avoided.

“I didn’t know we had people in common here.” the old man said.

“Me neither. You never told me that Lazaro was your son.”

“It never came up-”

“We’re not here to exchange pleasantries,” interjected the old couple’s son. “What can you tell them about the cloth?”

Sarin went and took it from his desk, showing it.

“It’s… something I never saw before. Mother can testify too, it’s a make that is just not done in the empire.”

“They are foreigners, then?” asked Daniel.

“Or have relations with one of the kingdoms or the republic.” added Lazaro.

“Still, it’s one of the best clothes I had the pleasure to touch.” concluded Sarin.

“Let me see it, please.”

Liliane took the cloth from the tailor’s hand, and touched it softly. She looked at it for a while.

“This is Natahir cloth. It’s the lightest cloth imaginable, so impalpable you could fit an entire dress inside a ring. They must be rich if they’re able to buy something like this. It's also very, very enchantable and retains runic power as nothing else. This means that either this was unenchanted…”

“Or the thing they used to disable the wards works on them, too.” stated Lazar.

Julie entered Sarin’s room, looking a bit shy.

“Dad, who are those people?” she asked.

“They’re your uncle’s parents, love. Liliane, Lazar, this is my daughter, Julie.”

“Nice to meet you, darling.” said Lazar, gently.

“Likewise.” added Liliane. “You seem like a proper lady.”

Julie got a little red faced.

“Where is mum?” she asked her father.

“She is in Grandma’s room with Timmy. They are talking in private, better not to disturb them.”

Lazar looked toward Daniel.

“You said they used some sort of… contraption, to block the wards. Could you describe to me, in as many details as possible, how that worked?”

“Uhm. Yes. Ok, first thing first, it all went dark. Not dark as in ‘it’s past dawn’ dark, dark as in ‘I can’t see three steps away’. Then the window was broken, and-”

“Why not the door?” quipped in Liliane.

“Sorry?”

“Why didn’t the kidnapper use the door? I mean, if the wards were all down at that moment, he could have just entered from the door.”

“Shock and awe, maybe?” said Lazaro.

“No, the door was bolted shut. Physical lock, steel. I always thought it was a bit overkill but my father in law never trusted wards that much.”

“We could check the door,” suggested Lazar. “See if the kidnapper tried that first and, seeing that it did not open, resorted to breaking the window.”

“Will do. The shop is not far from here, five minutes on foot tops, three running. I’ll go as soon as possible.”

“Ok, then what happened?”

“The darkness disappeared, and the wards lit up again. I never saw anything of the likes. The darkness almost seemed…”

“Physical, right?” stated Liliane. “Like it was fog, not absence of light.”

“Exactly! How do you know?”

“We encountered similar things in the past. The Deinish call them Lagani Ijudi, light eaters. They are a product of alchemical solutions and ritual magic. They say it brings back a bit of the Night, but we always chalked that up to superstition. They’re just very useful as ward killers, but using one when you’re near means all your runes are down, too.”

“So, this one, could be a Deinish?” asked Daniel.

“Let’s not jump to conclusions. We have little proof, and what we have now-”

Two knocks sounded from out the shut window of the room. Outside, Thyme and Spyce were trying to get the people’s attention. “Oh. Sorry. These are friends. Could someone go down and open the door a second?”

“I’ll go!” said Julie.

“They’ve been very helpful the last time we were in need, so maybe-”

“Wait, who was the third one?” asked Lazar.

“Which third one?”

After some seconds, three rats, Thyme, Spyce and a black one entered the room. Thyme and Spyce climbed on Liliane and started speaking with her.

“Oh, you say he’s a… ambassador for the shopping district colony? What do you need?”

The black rat squaeked and moved, replying to the old woman. Liliane looked at the other people in the room.

“It seems like the rats have been afflicted with some kidnappings, too. A great number of them, first in the poorer district, and now elsewhere. This is exactly the pattern that you’re having with the children.”

Lazaro laughed.

“Do you really believe that the disappearance of rodents and that of human children could be connected?”

Lazar glared at him.

“I mean, we can’t exclude anything at this point. Thyme, do you think you could manage to find the trail of this piece of cloth?”

Thyme made a small vocalization.

“He says it’ll be a bit tricky, since the smell of coal is so intense, but he will try his best. We should go now, though. It seems like we have to parlay with a Big Boss.”

“What are you talking about, mother?”

“Nothing that concerns you right now, my child.” She smiled. “Let me be useful as I see fit. We’ll get to the bottom of this, have no fear.”

Lazaro looked towards the woman.

“Just… Just keep me updated if you find anything suspicious, or if you have news, or-”

“We will. Don’t worry. We’ll be back before lunch. Daniel, please, be a dear and give me something belonging to Riley. I want to try something.”

“Sure, I’ll go fetch her brush.”

“That’s perfect.”

Daniel left the room, leaving them alone with Sarin.

“Thank you for you help, Liliane, Lazar. I hope you’ll have more luck. I can’t think of losing…”

“Since it seems like you are part of my son’s family, you are part of mine, too. It’s only natural.”

“And I believe we deserve a family discount next time we’ll need a new shirt” interrupted Lazar.

“Shush, you old coot. Do you think it’s the moment to ask for favors?”

Seeing the two elders bickering made Sarin burst out in laughter.

“Thank you, I needed a bit of release. It’s days we are so tense. I’m sorry for the problems we’re sharing with you, you probably were here just to visit your son…”

“Actually we’re not. We’re on… a camping trip. You know, for my birthday.”

“Oh! Happy birthday then! When was it?”

“Oh, a bunch of days ago, don’t worry about it.”

Daniel came back to the room, with a brush in his hand.

“Here, this is Riley’s.”

“Thank you Daniel. Now…”

She started twirling her hand, and some of the hair still stuck in the teeth of the brush started flying around, slowly taking the shape of a fly. It buzzed and made rounds, before landing on the tip of Sarin’s nose, who looked like he was making a great effort not to shoo it away.

“This should help you locate her, at least, it should show us where the kidnapper went before their anti-scrying wards went up again. Just go back to your shop and start from there.”

“I don’t know how to thank you.”

“Don’t. Just wait until we actually find your girl.” replied Liliane. “Now, Lazar, let’s go talk with the Boss.”

The black rat squeaked, outraged.

“Yes, yes, Big Boss. Come on now. There’s no time to lose.”