††††††

In the heart of the first district, a third-class enforcer, drenched in cold sweat, traversed the corridors of the Red Brigades' headquarters. The gold-adorned, armoured double doors of the commander's office loomed above him like a gate to the underworld as he closed in on them. His gut churned as if his innards themselves trembled in fear of the oncoming audience.

The doors were opened from inside, inviting him into the grand room behind. He had been expected. The ostentatious sculptures and luxurious furniture could not draw his attention as his eyes were fixed to the towering figure standing in the middle of the office.

The trembling enforcer held his steps in the appropriate distance and stood attention while the leader of the Red Brigade conversed with one of his officers.

The mightiest enforcer that the city had ever seen was a giant of a man. The heavily adorned, scarlet-red mantle was draped around massive shoulders, and ridiculously bulging muscles stretched the leather around his arms. His bald head sat on a bull's neck, and his face was all rough edges, bushy brows and a long, braided moustache. Ultimately the monster of a man shifted his attention to the newcomer, and the poor man's blood froze under the malicious gaze.

"Report." The rumbling voice of the commander brought the third-class enforcer out of his paralysis.

"C-Commander Ultor, Sir!" he stammered. "The spawn of the Araneae class hybrid might have escaped. We found the assigned enforcer's body in a street near the halls of order in the western districts —"

"His body?" Ultor bellowed, his chest rising in anger. "That useless piece of shit let himself get killed by a baby changeling?"

The messenger stifled a whimper at the outburst. "No, Sir, o-of course not! From the remains of the fight, we deducted that it was a different changeling, a humanoid who also used a sword," he explained as fast as he dared without stumbling over his own words. "Apparently, he was investigating a person by the name of Siegfried."

The commander shot his underling a cold, expecting glare. "So I can take it that this 'Siegfried' is waiting in the dungeon to be interrogated?"

It was nothing short of a miracle that the third-class enforcer managed to keep his bladder from leaking as he answered. "A squad is currently searching for him and interrogating his acquaintances, we will —" a sharp gust of displaced air stopped him mid-sentence. He noticed that the commanders hand rested on the pommel of his sword.

"Useless bunch of idiots. Better distribute Akali’s power to someone else," he murmured absently, turning back to his working desk.

Suddenly the third-class enforcer felt dizzy, and his head slowly dipped forward. He fell, the ground coming closer while he numbly wondered how his legs were still standing upright. His brain ceased functioning before the severed head hit the ground.

††† Haylee †††

Haylee was observing the barracks from the top of a nearby building. She had been tasked with tailing Bolverk but had to stay back when a squad of four enforcers took hold of him and Eirik. "Shit, I can't go in there… c'mon, old man, you can think of something!" she whispered to herself, rocking her prone-laying body back and forth in agitation. After the squad took them into the barracks, Haylee shifted parts of her body to her feline form and quickly scaled the tall house nearby to get a better vantage point.

She let her furry ears grow out and tried to pick up snippets of the conversation, but there was too much background noise from other guards.

"And in consideration of —," she managed to recognise an enforcer's voice. "— duty, we will abstain from —," a round of cheers drowned the following words. "— keep an eye on the both of you."

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The front doors opened, and the four enforcers strutted out of the barracks. Hayley stayed hidden on the roof for a while, shifting back to her fully human form. When she was confident that the squad had left, she nimbly scurried down the shadow side of the building and casually strolled out onto the main street. Her target left the barracks shortly after, again together with Eirik.

As they stopped in a small back alley, she sat down around the corner, pretending to take a rest from walking.

"I can't lay low while my boy 's still out there, Rik'," Bolverk whispered, his tone agitated. "He's alive, or they wouldn't search for him, but he'd be injured, hiding somewhere, and needs us!"

"Sieg won't die so easily. If we search the whole area, tapping our connections, they will trace it back to us," Eirik answered, calm but definite.

"He's just discovered he's different now and will be hunted by them all his life. Ya can't leave him alone now." Bolverk's voice nearly broke with emotion.

Haylee crossed her arms to stop herself from fidgeting as she bit her lip in frustration. Her orders to stay hidden were clear. But in the short time she’d observed Bolverk, the older guard had grown on her with his grandfatherly demeanour. They definitely knew about Siegfried's ability and were on his side. Eurydike didn't know that when she asked Haylee to tail him. Surely, she would not mind if she knew.

Typically not one for prolonged indecision, Haylee went with her gut feeling and approached the two guardsmen. "Uhm, hello, sir —"

"Who're you? Did you listen in on us?" Eirik immediately cut her off, hand on his sword pommel, expression guarded and wary.

"I'm a friend. I don't intend any harm," Haylee declared, holding her open palms up and trying to appear as non-threatening as possible. "I just wanted to let you know that Siegfried is okay and —"

"Ya know where Sieg is?" Bolverk asked hopefully, but Eirik held his arm out to stop him from walking near Haylee.

"Your innocent appearance won't fool me," Eirik warned her. "The way you move betrays your disguise. You're a trained warrior. How should we know you a friend of Sieg and not the Brigade?" He slowly drew his sword, keeping the metal from ringing out.

Haylee kept calm and smiled in acknowledgement of his keen perception. "Good observation, but I did not have any kind of training. My movements come to me natural due to the same reason I cannot be part of the Red Brigade." Instead of explaining further, she changed her eyes to her cat-like form. The emerald green colour of her iris converted to a bright yellow, and the round pupil narrowed down to a vertical slit. "Our leader brought Siegfried to a safe hideout and is nursing him back to health as we speak."

While Eirik instinctively took a step back, Bolverk couldn't care for caution as his relief overwhelmed him. He closed the distance in three long strides and bear-hugged the smaller young woman. "Thank ya, girl! I knew he was alive — I knew it!" The burly old guard lifted her up in his embrace.

Haylee giggled with glee at the happy outburst, patting Bolverk on the back. "Don't worry, sir. Siegfried is not alone." When Bolverk let her down to face her, she continued, "We are not many, but we take care of each other."

"Where is he? Can ya lead us there?" Bolverk asked enthusiastically.

Haylee's face fell to an apologetic grimace, "I'm sorry, but not yet. I shouldn't have even revealed myself, to be honest." When Bolverk frowned, she added quickly, "But I'm sure it won't be a problem. I just have to check with our leader first."

"I'm still not buying it," Eirik said, although he already sheathed his sword again. "Just because you're also —” his voice broke into a surprised cough. “Is that… a dancing rat behind you?" He asked, flabbergasted, pointing at the ground.

Haylee turned, and indeed, a small rat was jumping up at the spot and squeaking to get her attention. "Ferdinand!" She exclaimed enthusiastically, gently scooping the rat up with both hands, "are you here to bring me a message?" She tucked a small, rolled parchment out from under the rat's belly, where it was fastened with a thin thread. She let Ferdinand down again and quickly unrolled the message. "Hah, that's perfect! Thank you, Ferdinand." Haylee looked at her small messenger and slowly voiced a single word, "home." The rat turned on the spot and darted away. Haylee twitched as her instinct bid her chase the rat, but she forced herself to turn away.

Eirik was gaping with his jaw dropped, whereas Bolverk chuckled and asked, amused, "a friend of yours, lass?"

"Ferdinand is one of Torwynd's bonded animals. At least, that is what we call them. Torwynd can communicate with animals to an extent, like an exchange of emotion or something — I don’t understand it either. But he uses rats to coordinate us as they have a keen sense of smell and can follow our scent through the city,” she explained without taking a breath. “Anyway, Eurydike asked to bring you along, isn't that great?" Haylee excitedly waved the small piece of parchment in front of Bolverk.

"Well, that is great, but what about Rik' here and who is Eurydike? Sounds like a name from Denethor." He added the last part with a frown. The city of Denethor was the eastern divine city, protected by the goddess Nemuni. Where Akali gifted her warriors with incredible speed, Nemuni lent them power over the mind of others.

"Eurydike is the one who saved most of us, including Siegfried, from the Red Brigade. And I don't believe it'll be an issue if Eirik comes with us… he knows about it anyway now," she answered with a guilty sigh. "Well, we better get to it. Don't want to keep her waiting."