Ada and Marcelle stood facing one another directly outside the inn. Marcelle's inky black hair obscured parts of her eyes. A pack of reagents hung on her potion belt. Ada carried a bundle of new clothes under her left arm. In her other hand, was a long wooden sword. A smug smile draped across her lips as she approached Marcelle.

"What?" Marcelle's voice was gruff, as she watched the blonde wolfkin wave her new wooden sword around.

"I got a new sword!"

"I can see that."

"But, it's not just any sword! It's enchanted! Look at it! Isn't it beautiful?"

"It's wooden, Ada."

"Wait! Just a minute! Let me explain. You know how we're in a town of convicts right?" Ada asked.

"Yes."

"I was looking for new clothes, when I found an interesting shop. I asked the old lady if she had any powerful enchanted weapons laying about. And guess what?" Marcelle eyes glazed over, as she stared silently ahead. Ada continued on completely oblivious. "They had one! They don't allow convicts to hold weapons. Only tools. Well this sword used to belong to a powerful mage, who was falsely convicted. Jilted and angry from her false imprisonment, she agreed to hard labor in exchange for a reduced sentence. Pooling her magical powers she created the instrument of her revenge! Because it's wooden, they were able to hide it and even convince the guards to keep it several times after they were searched. The sad part is, the mage never got a chance to enact her revenge! She died suddenly of mana fever! Isn't that sad?"

"Ada, that's clearly just a practice sword."

"No, it's enchanted. They shopkeeper said so."

"Ada...."

"It's gonna evolve. Once the blade soaks up enough blood, it'll change materials. It'll become lighter and stronger, morphing from wood to iron to steel to even mithril. One day, I'll hold a legendary blade capable of killing anything! I've always wanted an magic sword, now I got one! Once we kill the 'you know what', what do you think this will transform into?"

"Wood. Ada, go get your money back." Ada's excited smile dropped under Marcelle's withering glare.

"No. I'm gonna show it to Fritz and Neva. They'll understand, what I've got."

"Your so incredibly stupid. They're gonna say the same thing."

"Nuh, uh."

Walking inside, and climbing the stairs the two walked while bickering back and forth. Reaching the third floor, Ada opened their door. Her eyes immediately widened as she saw Neva collapsed on the floor. Rushing into the room, Ada threw her spare clothes onto the floor. She held her wooden sword aloft ready to attack any lingering intruders. Sensing Ada's urgency Marcelle quickly followed inside.

"Neva? Neva? Are you ok?" Ada asked as she cradled the mayor's head. The mayor let out a strange grunt as Ada slapped her scarred cheek. Marcelle's eyes went wide as she looked over the room.

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"Fritz? Where's Fritz? Zola's really gonna kill me! It's so over! I'm so dead! These fools have doomed me!" Marcelle exclaimed. She let out a flurry of curses as she spun around the room. Ada shook the mayor's shoulder.

"Neva. Neva. Wake up! Come on." Ada said.

"What happened? What the hell happened? Were they attacked?" Marcelle asked. Ada shook the mayor again. She quickly scanned the room before answering.

"There's no sign of a fight. She wouldn't have gone down so easily. Our stuff is missing too! They took everything!"

"Robbery! Someone is dying! I'm gonna kill them!"

She chewed on her fingernails as she thought. Her purple eyes settled on two cups of wine that had spilled onto the floor. Still on the table was a bottle of opened wine. Moving forward, Marcelle grabbed the bottle of wine on the table. Raising it to her lips, she tasted it.

"They must have been poisoned! The bottle tastes adulterated!" Marcelle exclaimed as she spit out the wine. "Most likely with Nightweed. Yes, Nightweed."

"Nightweed?" Ada asked.

"It's a powerful sedative. Can put anyone to sleep in a matter of minutes, if you've ingested enough. Easy enough to find in the forest." Marcelle frowned, as she put the bottle down. Reaching into her dimensional bag, she began searching for a cure.

"How long have they been like this?" Ada asked.

Marcelle ignored her. She pulled out a small round black ball that looked like a blueberry. She reached down towards Neva. "Open her mouth. There. Now massage the throat, to force her to swallow." Marcelle instructed. After swallowing the pill, the two waited for it to take effect.

Ada's panic was fading, an unfamiliar unfolded piece of parchment on the nearby dresser drew her attention. Setting Neva back down gently, Ada stood up and crossed the room. She picked up the paper and read from it.

"'We have your hoo-man.'" Ada started.

"What! Where?" Marcelle interjected.

"Let me read." Ada said as she shushed the lamia. Ada read slowly as she tried to decipher the ugly handwriting.

"'We have your hoo-man. Come to the old mill at night. We'll give him up for a fair price. Don't report this to the guards, or you'll never see him again.'" She set the piece of parchment down. Neva snored lazily on the floor.

"We've got to save him." Ada said. "We need to find him." She made her way towards the door.

"Stop!" Marcelle warned. "Come back and shut the door." Her hand started stroking the length of her hair. "We need to think! They will pay for crossing us!"

"We need to hurry up and find him. He's in danger!" Ada protested.

"Yes! But they want to negotiate for him, he should be safe for now. It must have been one of the townsfolk. If they wanted to kill us, they would have just finished him and Neva off!" Marcelle responded.

"For now." Ada grumbled out. "We can't just do nothing. We need to act. The sooner the better. The criminals should be brought to justice!" Ada raised her sword valiantly into the air.

"Put that down. We need a plan." Marcelle said. "Neva may know more." She looked back to Neva. "It will take a bit to digest. In the meantime, did you notice anyone suspicious? Anyone who might have been tailing you on your way out? Anyone waiting for you as you left the inn?"

Ada cast her gaze down towards the floor, as she tried to remember any details. Pacing around the room, she became lost in thought.

She reached the center of the room. The bare wooden floor stared back at her.

"Where's the rug?" Ada asked as turned towards Marcelle. The lamia seemed to freeze at Ada's words. "They must have taken him out within the rug. They could stuff him between the rug, and carry him throughout the town." She said quickly. She moved over towards the window. Opening it she looked outside. Underneath the window was an obscure alleyway. "They could have dropped him." Marcelle said as she looked down. Ada looked down at the dirty, muddy alleyway. From the third floor, a chaotic mess of muddy footprints stood in focus.

"I'll find him! My sense of smell is still destroyed, but I can maybe follow their footprints in the mud. I'll ask around too! Someone must have seen the kidnappers carrying a rug!" She moved back over to the window. "Can you stay with Neva until I come back?" Ada asked. Marcelle nodded to the blonde wolfkin.

"It'll give me some time to prepare. My vengeance shall be terrible!" She said as she collected various reagents from her shopping pack.

Moving towards the window, Ada jumped down into the alleyway. Landing in a crouch, she investigated the ground. Seeing a strange, peculiar set of tracks she followed them deeper down the alley. With her eyes to the ground she made her way throughout Trira searching for Fritz.