Zindra was seated at her cluttered desk in a dimly lit room, surrounded by a stack of dusty documents. Her tired eyes had deep bags from the tireless week she had spent investigating. Despite having a clear idea of where the leads pointed, she and the others were unable to take action regarding the orphanage, as it fell under the jurisdiction of the Divine Race. If they wanted to investigate it, they needed permission from the Grandmaster Council in Pilosophis. Meanwhile, the documents from the Center Building were still under investigation, but the task was daunting, considering the eight hundred years' worth of records. Additionally, Pata and Mata's residence was peculiar—appearing almost as if it had been meticulously emptied of any trace of incriminating evidence if there were any, to begin with.
Arc walked into the room with a tired yawn. After glancing around, he saw the scattered papers still in their place from the night before. Even the documents on the bed lay unmoved.
"Did you stay up again? This is the third night in a row." Arc said.
"There is just too much," Zindra said, moving papers around. "I can't just sit still, and it's frustrating that Erkden still hasn't arrived. I need to leave to report this."
Arc shrugged as he moved papers around so he could sit. He had already gone through most of the documents here, so he did not need to help her. He was waiting for permission to charge into the orphanage and look around. What he would find there was not important. He just wanted something interesting to do, and that was why he left that useless child there. If worse came to worse, he could use the child as an excuse to look around that place, but he might as well wait and see if he can do it without stepping on toes first, and the longer he got to stay away from his territory, the better.
"Why do you not just send some of your men for permission? It has already been a week since the other supply master was supposed to be here. Who knows how much more of a delay he could be if we simply wait for him." Arc said
"Sigh, I was already thinking along those lines. As much as I would like to report myself, I think this matter is too important not to send word; the fact we waited this long is already a problem."
"Good. Gather some guards and send them off. Hopefully, we will hear back in a month or two. Then, I can finally see what this mess is all about."
***
"Leave the prototypes here. I cannot have any of you using them out of my sight." Zindra said
"Understood!" Ten imposing guards in full armor stood in formation, each holding out a vial filled with a mysterious liquid that emitted an ethereal glow.
"Good. When you return and complete this mission, I will return these weapons to you. Until then, use what you did before."
The ten guards saluted, although one could see their disappointment in their actions.
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"Here, this is the report that I created. It is a little short, but it should be enough to pull at least a few other grandmasters here if not one or two arches." Zindra said, holding a document out and waiting for one of the guards to grab it.
After the guards looked at each other, one finally took the document, putting it inside his armor before nodding to Zindra.
***
A few hours passed as the guards made their way back to Pilosophis after almost two months stuck in a middle-of-nowhere village. They were finally about to see civilization again. All they needed to do was camp out a few more days and ride the comfortable carriage home.
"Have any of you noticed the strangeness yet?"
"It is too quiet to be in a forest."
"Yes, and the wind feels stale."
"We can add this to the report to the council when we arrive."
"Hopefully, it will only take a couple of weeks since we don't have so many with us."
"Honestly, probably half of us would have been fine. It's not like there is any danger between here and Pilosophis."
"It shows how important the situation is that Zindra sent so many to ensure the letter arrives as soon as possible."
"Yeah, I know; I was just saying."
chk chk chk chk
"What was that?"
The air was filled with the chittering of several full-grown Night Beasts as they stealthily crawled down the towering trees lining the path. Their dark bodies clung to the shadows, avoiding the light of Morin as the guards' carriage passed by. As the nearest beast swiftly pounced, the others quickly joined in, emitting ear-piercing screeches of pain as the light hit their scales and smoke began to rise. They relentlessly tore away at the carriage, catching the unaware guards off guard.
"Night Beat?" One screamed as he held his slowly numbing arm
"When did these monsters start a nest here? And who let them grow so large?" Another screamed as he chopped away at an incoming tail.
"We are not strong enough to deal with a fully grown Night Beast!"
"We would be if Zindra hadn't taken away those prototypes!"
"You can't blame her for this!"
"Just frustrated...ugh."
"No! Hurry, form a circle formation!"
During the surprise attack, only a few guards sustained injuries, while the rest were able to respond swiftly and remained at their peak. The uninjured guards quickly formed a defensive perimeter around their injured comrades to protect them from the attacking creature while strategizing their escape plan.
"There are only about four of them! If some of us distract them, the rest can run ahead and send word for extermination!"
"Sounds good! Who is staying?"
None of the guards spoke, knowing that whoever stayed would stay forever.
"Fine, I will!"
As the first volunteer bravely stepped forward, three others gathered their courage and joined the fray while the remaining six guards attempted to flee. Unfortunately, their efforts were in vain as they were quickly overwhelmed by a horde of beasts chased by young Night Beast. Their desperate quest for help came to a tragic end mere hours after it had started all while everyone else remained blissfully unaware.
***
Zindra lay on her bed after sending her personal guards on a mission. She decided it was best to take a little break, as she had worked enough. Erkden should arrive any day now, and in about a month, the Alchemic Race should help with the situation. Doing too much work would only affect her condition, so it was best to rest a bit and let others handle some matters, like Arc.