He saw a boy inside the alleyway.

Elaine covered her mouth when she yawned. She knew that neglecting her health would have bad consequences if she made it a habit, but could she truly be blamed when she lost herself; immersed in magic? She had to admit it was bad that she lost track of time and forgot to sleep, but she made progress! The glove—

Her head bumped on Dunnford’s back, who had stopped short. He had been leading Elaine, Brig, and Wald through the alleyway of Lune.

Elaine touched her nose, it hurt slightly. His back was harder than stone.

Why did you stop? she wanted to voice out her irritation. However, she refrained when she saw Dunnford looking at the ground to his side, staring at that empty spot with thought.

‘What’s wrong?’ Elaine asked.

‘… Nothing,’ he said. ‘Sorry for stopping suddenly, Miss Elaine.’ He continued onward.

‘You’re not lost, are you?’ Wald asked.

‘Rest assured, I know my way.’

Elaine would have believed him more if he said he was lost. The alleyway in Lune is—confusing, she thought.

It was a narrow place with nothing for guides. She could compare the place to a forest and it would have more pointers for directions compared to this alleyway. In the forest there would be trees, nests, burrows, or anything. In this alleyway there was nothing. Just walls on the left and right, an indistinguishable unkept small twisty path; full of confusing turns and dead ends, and she believed certain paths could go in circles.

It’s like a maze…

***

‘You alright?’

Dunnford could hear that voice again as he led the way through the alleyway. It was the voice of a boy from the past. Of a friend whom he had ventured into the alleyway with. It was unmistakably Kadas’s voice.

Walking through a straight path, Dunnford could see a boy: his past young self, lying weak and helpless on the ground after he had been beaten black and blue by thieves. There, appearing in front of past him, was Kadas; with Sadak hiding behind him.

‘You should learn your way through here if you want to live.’

When Kadas had offered his hand to Dunnford, he had taken it. And it was the start of a good friendship…

Passing through that vision, the straight path had branched into three. Knowing where to go, Dunnford took the left path without hesitation. He could navigate through the alleyways without difficulties, but that didn’t mean that he was at ease in there. He couldn’t explain it, but a chill always crept at the back of his neck whenever he went through the alleyways. Something was there—an unknown.

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

Now the path branched into two. The correct path to take was the right, but Dunnford could have sworn he saw a figure on the left path. Not a vision, but an actual person.

Could that have been a monster worshipper?

Dashing past Dunnford, Brig took the left path and chased after the figure; acting on her own volition. Her action had spurred Wald’s and he followed her. Both of them left Dunnford and Elaine behind.

‘What—’

‘We’re following them.’ He didn’t need to hear Elaine’s full sentence. ‘Let’s go, Miss Elaine.’

***

Dunnford and Elaine managed to chase them and they saw Brig and Wald confronting a man. He wasn’t wearing the sanctum’s white uniform, but he had a hawk emblem on his shoulder.

‘Gol, what are you doing here?’ Brig asked.

‘To avenge Kadas and Sadak of course.’ He was holding a sword in his hand; its sheath was nowhere to be found.

‘Who else are here?’

‘Who else? Pretty much everyone.’

‘Thought you’d all be wasted,’ Wald remarked. ‘Drizzle’s stash can’t be that dry, can it? Zen! Tell me you saved some for us!’

‘As if we could drink when Brig is out. The wine tastes bad when knowing that she’s doing something while we’re all doing nothing.’

‘Actually, I—’

‘Gol, is it?’ Dunnford joined in. He was sure Brig would say that she would have joined had she been invited; and Dunnford would rather she not drop the morale by finishing her sentence. ‘You should join us. Working together as a squad is more effective to find the monster worshipper.’

Gol spat on Dunnford’s boots.

In the military, that act was punishable, but Dunnford wasn’t dealing with new recruits. He was dealing with a loyal squad member who was having a tough time after having lost his squad leader.

‘Why are you both following this guy?’ He made it clear in his tone that he was looking down on him.

‘I’m just following Brig,’ Wald said.

Brig said nothing. Gol respected her silence and didn’t pursue further.

‘I’ll do things my way,’ he said and turned. ‘I’m not following some meek guy who accepts being spat on.’

I’ve got long ways to go to bring the Hawk squad back together, Dunnford thought as he saw the man left. He had failed to convince him to join.

***

Elaine followed Dunnford who led the path once more. She couldn’t tell whether he had responded correctly to that man. If what had happened to him happened to her, she was sure she would be furious. However, it felt to Elaine that Dunnford keeping his calm was the right thing to do in that situation. Any other response would have yielded the same, if not worse, outcome, she thought.

‘We’re here,’ Dunnford said.

Only after covering a yawn did Elaine look at the alleyway’s open space. She would question the structure of the place, since it was weird to have an open area inside the alleyway; it seemed purposeless to her. However, instead of pondering further on that matter, Elaine’s eyes were attracted by the sight of a Magic Formulae written on a spot on the ground with blood. It was the inscription that Dunnford wanted her to check.

Without having to be told, Elaine approached the inscription. When she was thinking about magic, her tiredness always seemed to vanish. She could have sworn she was very tired and sleepy when she was traversing the narrow pathway. Now she felt awake and rather energized.

With the end of her staff, she scraped the inscription. No matter how much force she applied to scrape the dry blood, it remained on the ground. It’s a strong one, she thought. Generally, an inscription that stuck more to where it was written was stronger than those which didn’t.

She crouched down, taking a closer look. Then after a while stood back up to distance herself. I’ve seen this kind of inscription, she concluded after being sure.

Something bothered her.

‘This was written during the storm, you said?’ Elaine asked Dunnford.

‘Yes.’

Magic is stronger when costs are involved, she thought. If the storm and the blood was the cost for this Magic Formulae, then this inscription must do something of big effect.

‘What is it?’ he asked, determining that she had an answer.

She had herself a partial answer: ‘Extinct Formulae Magic.’