Damian and Lacey both stepped silently down the road.

Damian had his hood up, covering his distinctive hair. This was the one situation where he cursed the size of his horns. As he had gotten older, they became much larger, curving back from above his temples, causing the once small flick upwards to be an obvious giveaway of a horned being under the hood.

He could shave them down like many of his kin did for convenience sake, but something inside of him rebelled at doing anything to damage them.

He had been accused of vanity in his younger years due to their gleaming black surface and knife sharp point, but Damian had never made alterations to his horns. The only thing he ever did to them was to attach small steel caps to the end as he had today to avoid the shredding they would have done to his hood.

He glanced over at Lacey, who was also dressed non-discripitly, with a cowl pulled up over the bottom of her face, covering over the bridge of her nose. He could see how uncomfortable she was in the tightening of her eyes.

That was a common sight in this part of the Prims, full of smog clouds that it was.

The smog was due to this section of the Prims being right under the main industry area for The Hub. The Prims was a sprawling city, originally built to quickly house much of the middle class when The Hub first started expanding. More specifically, as Shalefort began bursting from the seams with a huge rise in trade.

Although The Hub technically referred to the whole area including Shalefort, the Prims and other, smaller, cities and towns in this region, most people just meant Shalefort as that was where the trade all took place. The Hub had been discovered to be the best region on the planet to host multiple permanent portals to other realms. Now it was the largest centre for trade anywhere.

Inevitably as the population boomed, very distinct areas of wealth and poverty became apparent. As the many industries followed the people, a very ‘intelligent’ city planner in Shalefort made sure that all the industries that would pollute the air were delegated a space on the far side of the city. Unfortunately, that did not take the neighbouring city of Prizal into account.

Most of Prizal had gotten progressively filthier, until a permanent smog hung over the city. Those that could afford to leave had done so, making a large swath of the city almost empty only a few years after construction. Although conditions were practically unlivable, there were always those desperate enough for somewhere to live that eventually the place was filled with what many in Shalefort would deem ‘undesirables’.

Now, many years after the original shift, this was just the way things were. No-one who didn’t live in the Prims bothered to visit, unless they were up to no good. It was almost impossible to get any good trades or craftspeople to do a job here, even with the short distance to Shalefort.

The city had been mockingly called primitive by the inhabitants of The Hub, so the locals unironically called it the Prims.

Some sections of the city were worse than others, since the Prims was a large sprawling mishmash of neighbourhoods. Due to the spread out nature, the whole city covered much of the base of the mountain under Shalefort, trapping the disgusting air. This was made worse in this neighbourhood, which was shielded by a sheer cliff on one side.

Pulling at his own cowl to secure it over his nose, Damian scowled. He hated this section of the city, not fully for the same reasons as many others.

This is where he had been abandoned and he loathed to relive those memories. He pushed the thought out of his mind as he had done many times in his life. This mission was important. His new family far outweighed the old and any issue he might still have. He had a reason to be here and he focused on that.

They were making their way down to the Shaft.

The Shaft was a grubby bar frequented by the labourers and less than savoury characters that made a home in the smog filled streets. It was known for cheap liquor and just about anything else you may want to get your hands on, if you knew who to ask.

It made sense that someone like Seth would frequent such a place. He heard things on the wind and would share what he heard, for some coin.

Jay had a passing familiarity with the kid and was able to give him and Lacey what they needed to know. This was the most likely place to find him this time of day, otherwise they would have to go where the kid lived. If he had gone elsewhere, this was also the best place to find out where.

This morning they had discussed a few plans depending on what happens when they get there.

Ideally, they could lay low and stake out the bar until the kid arrived. That way they could listen to the rumours going about as well. If they were unlucky, the kid wouldn’t show today. Even worse, if this was a set up, it was possible there may be some Rissi there. Damian hesitated to rule out any possibilities after the disaster yesterday.

A dark part of Damian wanted there to be Rissi present when they arrived. The part that was still raging over the states of his friends, of Rem. He imagined pulling out his blades and paying back all of their injuries with interest. Then he would find the person who sold them out and do the same to them.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

Logically, he knew that he couldn’t just walk into the bar and spark a gang fight. Unfortunately.

They had planned to draw the least amount of attention while gaining as much information as possible and if he walked in bloodthirsty then things were likely to go south quickly.

If the Rissi were present and looking for them, they had contingencies in place. They are better than that scum and would not allow innocents to be in the crossfires of their war.

Damian doubted they would get any information of a member of that gang, although he wasn't against making one of them talk if need be. He brushed his hand along the charm in his pocket as he imagined doing so.

Before they left, Ally had given him a small etched crystal charmed to sense the truth. Although nowhere near as powerful as their ward at home, he could focus his will into it to activate the magic. It would heat if the person speaking was lying. He had been warned that it would only last one hour, so to use it at the right moment.

It was an ideal way to question the kid once they found him. If they didn’t, he could always use it to check information from anyone else they questioned. Unfortunately it couldn't be used to force anyone to speak, so even if they did run into the Rissi, they would probably need more than just a truth charm to get honesty.

If that happened before finding Seth, then they were going to have to grab the kid and drag him back with them. Damian refused to not verify anything he said after yesterday.

As they approached the front of the bar, Damian fell a half step behind Lacey, letting her take the lead. He hunched in on himself, adjusting his body language to a less confident appearance. In front of him Lacey did the same, both of them well practised in blending into the crowd.

It had been a while since he had done anything like this and it felt good to step into his old role. Now that he was the face of a group, he did much more using his own identity. Usually that is more useful for intimidation nowadays.

They stepped into the bar, just as crowded this early in the day as it would be tonight. There was smog free air in here thanks to the small runes etched inside the doorway. That didn’t help much as the inside stunk of alcohol and piss with clouds of smoke drifting from the pipes and various other things the clientele here smoked.

Damian wondered why the business would pay for the upkeep of such magic, if they were going to allow the air inside to be just as disgusting regardless.

With a quick glance around, Lacey led him to the side of the room where a few tables sat empty. She gestured to the bartender on their way over and soon they were both situated with mugs of the green swill that passed for a drink here.

They surveyed the room while sipping at their mugs.

No one he recognized was in the room so far, but that didn’t mean there were no Rissi here. What he did pick up on rather quickly was the subdued air at a few of the tables. He noticed t one that a few men were exchanging hushed conversation and looked worried.

When his eyes flicked over there, he saw Lacey had noticed the same. She gave him a nod before draining her drink and standing. She slowly made her way across the room to the bar near the table, giving herself a much better view of the men speaking.

Eventually she worked her way back over to their table and leaned down.

“We should go outside while I fill you in,” Her voice was quiet and he could barely hear her over the general noise in the bar.

Wondering at her sudden change in their plan, he nevertheless listened, trusting her to know what she was doing.

He also finished his drink and put a few bills on the table, following her back out to the street.

She led him down the road a few buildings and across the road, tucking them into the mouth of an alley. From here they could still clearly see the door of the Shaft, but wouldn’t be easily spotted.

He turned to her, waiting for her to confirm they were alone.

“Boss, I think there is something more going on than what we originally suspected.” She started once she had completed her check down the alley.

“In what way? I assume you heard something from those men just now.” Damian questioned.

“If I understood what they were talking about correctly, and I would bet my boots I did, then our lead just dried up. The kid was found dead this morning.” Lacey explained, a troubled look on her face.

“Killed by the Rissi?” Damian demanded.

“That’s the strange part, Boss. He was discovered by his roommates. They found him in his bed and it just looks like he fell asleep and never got up. Those guys were saying something about magic. If that’s the case…” Lacey trailed off.

“Then it is very unlikely to be them.” Damian finished.

There were three issues here as far as Damian was concerned. The first is that last he checked, the Rissi did not have anyone powerful enough to use such magics. The second is that they like to send a message. If they were going to kill you, they want everyone to know who did it. The third is that this is not the first citizen of the Prims to be found like that.

“This is too much of a coincidence. Our one lead turned up dead hours before we could question him. The one person who had information to sell about a rumoured gang meeting- which never ended up happening. Killed in the same mysterious way that has been occuring the last month. I don’t like this.” Damian stated.

“Could the Rissi have allied with whoever has been behind the killings?” Lacey questioned.

“It’s possible. Donovan is a wily one. The problem I see with that is if they were allied with such a strong magic user, why were we able to get away yesterday?”

Damian was not happy. This was the second mission in two days that something had gone wrong. There was a situation going on here, and he had a feeling it was worse than they originally assumed.

“Change of plans. I want to salvage as much of this as we can. I want you to stay here and watch the bar. When those men come out, I want you to question them further.” Damian ordered.

He considered for a moment giving Lacey the charm Ally had made, before deciding against it. He had a feeling he may need it more.

“Yes, boss. Where are you going?” Lacey asked.

“I am going to take my own look at where he was killed and see what I can find out with my own eyes. This is all too much rumour and hearsay. I have a bad feeling that this is worse than slavers, and unfortunately it seems like we may be in the middle. I will meet you back at base when I am done.” He explained.

Lacey looked uncertain.

“Are you sure you should be going without backup? Jay and Rem wouldn’t like it.” She said,

“Lacey, I have done more dangerous things than some information gathering and I can assure you that should either of them be unhappy with my decisions, there will be no consequences to you, understood?” Damian refused to be upset with her over the question, but it was tough when she prodded right at his negative feelings.

Lacey didn’t know how much he was struggling with his emotions since yesterday.

“Okay, boss, whatever you say.” She gave him a cheeky salute.

He rolled his eyes at her, a quick grin stealing over his face. She was always a good one for lightening his mood, even if she didn’t know it.

He became serious again and pinned her with an intense look.

“Remember that you are more important than any information and if anything seems strange you get out and stick to the escape routes we planned.” This time she was the one to roll her eyes at his words.

“Yes, boss, I know. I got this.” She assured him.

He put his hands up in mock surrender.

“See you tonight.” He said and began walking to the end of the alley. Lacey waved him off as he made his way around the corner and down the road.