The inside of the tavern was rustic. There was a man in one corner playing a harp. Compared to the upscale places I had been staying at, this one was plain. I searched around, but there were no signs of anyone special. The few eyes in the place settled on me. I made my way to the backmost table and sat down. I kept my back to the wall. Sanaa took the chance to stretch out across my entire shoulder. She felt more like a snake than a dragon, but her presence was reassuring. I kept both hands on the table and waited. A few minutes after I sat down, a woman made her way up to me. She was a daphan with caramel-colored skin and a dark brown braid reaching down to her waist. She wore a garment that was one long piece of fabric stretched and wrapped around her.

“Greetings my Lord. Is there anything I can get for you?” The woman bowed when she finished, the tips of her fingers fiddling with the edges of her dress. I raised an eyebrow but ignored it.

“Hello, would you bring me something to drink? A rum,” I ordered as per the letter, but the woman didn’t react. Either she didn’t know what was going on or she was a good actress.

“Right away, your Lordship.” She bowed again before backing away from the table. Once she had taken five steps, she turned and rushed into what I assumed was a kitchen.

“She was afraid. That is good,” Sanaa added while I stroked her scales. I wasn’t sure if I agreed with that.

“It would be better for us to be liked and loved. Fear is no way to govern or to live, really.” I gave it a moment, but Sanaa didn’t respond. I couldn’t tell if that was because she agreed or disagreed with me. I leaned back and let my gaze shift over the room. A few moments later, the woman returned. She had a glass filled to the brim with dark liquid. I summoned a gold coin from my ring, but she refused it.

“I we couldn’t accept your coin here, my Lord. It is our honor to serve.” I didn’t have the time to argue before she left the glass and scurried away. I took the glass and took a sniff. I had no idea what rum was supposed to smell like, nor did I know what a potential poison would smell like, so it was mostly for appearance. I placed the glass to my lips and pretended to sip.

After ten minutes, I had made my mind up to leave when a man entered the tavern. He was of average height, no armor, with two daggers on his hip. He made a beeline straight for me. I sat up straight, left the glass on the table, and waited. He sat down across from me. “I have been told to bring you with me. Will you join me?” The man’s voice was rough as if he had smoked every day for his entire life. I nodded, and the man stood up and gestured for me to follow.

I did as he instructed and we stepped into the kitchen, then down a back set of stairs. The tavern had two sub-levels. One of which was a cellar. We walked in silence until we reached a wooden door with a thick iron handle. The man opened the door and gestured for me to enter. I hesitated for a moment before shrugging my shoulders. The door was so small I had to duck down to avoid hitting my head. The room was empty except for a short man with a piece of white fabric wrapped around his eyes. He was skinny but bore no weapons from what I could see.

“Hello there. I hope the arrangements weren’t too difficult for you to bare with.” The man sounded tired. As if he had seen too much. Done too much.

“Well, they weren’t what I would have chosen, but I assume they were necessary?” The crouched ceilings forced me to lean to the side. I wasn’t sure if this was some kind of trick. If the man wanted me to feel off but I ignored it.

“Right, as much as I would enjoy meeting you properly, there is business between us. You are looking into the missing people. I happen to know who it is.”

That was unexpected. “I see, and you haven’t told the guards about this?”

The man laughed at that before turning and looking at the wall. I was pretty sure he couldn’t see anything, nor was there anything to see. “There would be nothing the guards can do. Many scorpions are hiding in these sands. All of them waiting to sting anyone who digs too far.”

“And you think I am the man to do the digging?”

Silence fell on us like a blanket. It was a strange feeling. It was like we were both dancing to a song, only we were in the middle of a change in the beat. Neither of us made the first move. The man eventually began again. “I think that you are the only one around here that is willing and able. The adventurers around here either won’t risk it or don’t care enough about the inhabitants. The guards are either too weak have families or are too lazy to do anything about it. The few with the will are bogged down with rules. You are not. You are in no guilds. You have no loyalties to the city, nor do you have connections to others. As far as this city is concerned, you are a ghost.” The man let out a dry chuckle. “Or should I say a dragon?”

I wasn’t sure what I was supposed to say to that. It was true of course I didn’t have those things, but that didn’t mean I wanted to be thrown to the lions or the “Scorpions”. Before I could decide, he continued. “Regardless, I can’t make you do anything. It will be up to you to decide whether or not you will help.” Before I could make any kind of decision, a prompt appeared in front of me. I read it over.

You have been offered the Quest: Secrets of Afrium II

You have been offered the identity of the person responsible for the disappearances of several people in Afrium. You have discovered that indifference is just as much responsible for the darkness in the city as the perpetrator.

Success Conditions: Investigate the information you have been given and do what must be done.

Penalty for Failure: Unknown

Rewards: Unknown

“His name is ‘Sacad’ he is a prominent figure in the city. According to the stories, he arrived in the city about a decade ago. He had an adventuring party and was an enchanter of some renown. It was said he was a specialist in body enchanting. I was not in the city at the time, so I can not confirm that. What I have been able to confirm is that his party fell in battle. They had gone to investigate a dungeon and only he returned. The loss of his friends hit him hard. He withdrew from public life. Over time he became emaciated and the few who saw him described him as a ‘mad man’ obsessed with souls. I hired a mercenary to look into him. He never returned."

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I stood still as the man continued his story. So far, nothing he said was surprising. He had already been told that adventurers who looked into this had gone missing. The man’s name was a welcome addition. “And where can I find him?”

The man gave a slight smile at the question before reaching into his robes. He removed a white scroll bond in a blank string. I nodded and Sanaa pushed off from my shoulders. The dragonette flew down and grabbed the scroll in her claws before twirling in the air and returning to me. She dropped the scroll in my palm. “What happens after I go and see him? Will I have to do with you taking credit?”

“Not at all. You must be the one to deal with this and get the boons, my friend. As for what happens next, we both go our separate ways. From what I have heard, you are in the middle of something as is.”

“I assume I don’t need to return to you after I complete the quest, then?”

The man shook his head. “It would be best if you and I never speak to one another again.”

I wanted to complain about all the people who asked me to do things while refusing to do them themselves, but there was nothing I could do about that. Ultimately, quests gave me the chance to get experience and relationship points. Both of which I wanted more of. I gave the man a last nod before knocking on the door. It opened a moment later, and I made my way back into the tavern. Once I was sure that I wouldn’t be disturbed again, I went to find Zakia. It was time to finish this.

Tenebris came to me nearly as soon as we made it outside. “Master, nothing happened.”

I chuckled upon hearing his voice. When he took his perch on my left shoulder, I scratched between his wings. “Very good. Where is” No sooner did I finish the thought before Zakia came out of a side alley.

“Well, it looks like you avoided getting killed.” She said while glancing at the tavern.

“Yeah, it was legitimate.” I held up the scroll. “The person responsible for the missing people is a man named ‘Sacad’. He was some kind of ‘body enchanter’ who lost his adventuring party. I assume the man has made his money from selling enchanted objects.”

“So we just have to go there and kill him?” She asked while placing her hands on the hilts of her swords.

“No, we first have to prove he is the one responsible after that. If we can catch him, that would be best. If not, then I guess we would have to kill him.” The idea of killing another person was a bit daunting. Especially choosing to kill them, but technically, I was an agent of law enforcement. Like a bounty hunter, which should mean I have the right to do that.

“Either way, we go ahead, deal with that problem, and then we can go to the auction and head back home. As much fun as the city is, it gets old after a while.”

I opened the scroll while we walked. It didn’t have any new information besides a map of the house, as well as a recommendation on where to go to break in. There was a sub-level window that was out of view of the street. “I assume you want to come with me?”

“Why in the hells wouldn’t I? Minimum, I should be able to earn some experience plus I want some of whatever rewards you get for the quest. I also already accepted both versions of the quest.”

“How?” Knowing I didn’t share the second part with her.

“Once you told me about the first one, I got it and then you got the update just now so I got it as well.” I filed that information away for later. I wondered if there was a way to use that to my advantage.

“Alright, so do you want to go and check out the house now? Or wait until tomorrow?”

“I can’t think of a reason to wait. The sooner we deal with it, the sooner we can finish.” I couldn’t argue with her reasoning, so I agreed.

“Alright, come on, it’s not that far from here, probably a twenty-minute walk.”

The journey was pretty uneventful. We arrived in a residential section of the city. The houses here were traditional houses made out of stone, wood, and ceramics. Each one was an estate with a plot of grass surrounding it. They were all about the size of a suburban house back home. It was a bit surreal that such a beautiful-looking place could be where such bad things were happening. Then again, that was how it worked in my world. Sacad’s house was pretty easy to find.

It was old but in a distinguished way. It was made from a walnut-colored wood with grey bricks. The windows were triangular and small. The windows had wooden shutters over them which was a bit unique from what I had seen. The grass outside of the house was starting to grow uncontrolled.

“Can you take to the sky and search around for us? I don’t want to be surprised by anything.” I spoke my instructions out loud for Zakia’s sake. Both dragons took to the sky and started doing slow circles that grew in width.

“The letter says that if we head around back, we should find a window that will lead into a basement.” I lowered my voice and started to round the house. Zakia settled in behind me. Once we were out of view from the main road, we climbed over the stone wall and entered the property. The specified window was right where the letter said it would be.

“Can you open it from here? Without breaking it, I mean. Or at least without causing too much noise.”

Zakia leaned down and placed the tip of her sword in between the wooden shutter and the stone. She flicked her wrist, and the wood separated from the stone. The wood popped free and slid to the ground. She did the other side and moved to the glass.

“I can’t remove the glass, not that way anyway. They put the glass in from the other side so it’s going to fall onto the inside.” I raised a hand for her to stop and then called Sanaa and Tenebris back to me. When they landed, I spoke out loud.

“When she drops the glass, I want you two to fly in and grab it before it hits the ground. Try to avoid shattering the glass if you can.” Zakia hesitated for a moment before shrugging and placing her sword against the first corner. The glass popped free after a moment and both dragons darted forward. Unfortunately, they were unable to catch the glass, but they were able to slow the fall. Just enough to make the sound mostly quiet. We all stopped and listened. After several seconds of nothing happening, we continued. Zakia went first, swinging her feet into the window and disappearing into the darkness. I followed after her a moment later. Once we were inside, I cast Sphere of light. The small ball illuminated the darkness.

The room we were in was some kind of closet. It was filled with scraps of everything from wood to stone and unfinished projects. There were even the legs of a statue. My familiars landed on my shoulders and we made our way over to the door. “Alright from here on we assume that we are in danger. Stay careful.”

She nodded to me and pushed open the door. We entered a stone hallway devoid of light. The hairs on my arms stood up as we walked. Everything was eerily quiet. There were no signs of life anywhere. The few doors we found led into various rooms. Two of them were bedrooms, one was a bathroom. It wasn’t until we reached the fourth room that things became strange. It was larger than the rest by half and had a stone table in the center. The table was large enough to fit an average-sized person and was surrounded by runes. I knelt and ran a hand over some of them. My ability didn’t trigger, so either the runes weren’t words or they were somehow beyond my ability.

“Do you recognize these?” Zakia’s voice pulled me from my thoughts.

“No, I don’t know anything about runes.” I looked around the room, taking stock of everything. From what I could tell, this was some kind of ritual chamber. There were chests, most of them empty and scattered about. I wasn’t sure what I was looking at, but the faint blood stains told me that something dark had happened there. We left the room with Zakia drawing both of her blades. The next room we entered was even stranger. It was framed like a large trophy room. There were ten podiums, five on each side, with a dull white sphere floating above each one. The podiums had people on them. It was like walking through the wax figure museum, only much more macabre. Each of them had faces twisted in masks of fear. Zakia and I walked down the middle, side by side, staring at each one. It wasn’t until we reached the last two that my blood ran cold. The figure was blasted in the face. It was as if her face had been burned or rather as if someone had hit it with a blast concentrated of light.

“It can’t be.” I reached out and touched the woman’s face. The skin was room temperature but was skin. I flinched back, bumping into Zakia. She stumbled away, nearly knocking down the other podium. Her blades scratched into the stone. I turned and began helping her up when Sanaa and Tenebris began to growl. I turned as a man entered the room.

“Now, isn’t this a pleasant surprise?”