The sight Kagi had come upon was far from the one that she had been expecting.

When she arrived in the village, she was greeted with the sight of armed men swarming all over it. This naturally led to her fearing the worst.

Hope was a fragile thing. During her journey from Euma to Lucel hope had been building up inside her heart. Hope that she would find at least one survivor. Though after that all that hope had converted into dread.

She dreaded the possibility that she was too late. The guards around the villager made her think that the one she was looking for had been found and captured. She didn't know if she had what it took to rescue them if that was the case, and what if they weren't captured? What if they were…

Kagi shook her head violently at the thought. She left Thendle behind. He had detected another one of his kind anyway, so while Kagi would sneak into the village he would go investigate.

As Kagi made her way into the village she enveloped herself in darkness. Surprisingly she got into Lucel without any problems, it was almost as if they weren't looking for a tenebrage.

She reached out trying to find the soul of a tenebrage. She prayed to whatever god would listen that she found one.

Golden threads filled her mind. She tried to sort through them, but she couldn't find what she was looking for. Just when she was about to give up she saw a glint of purple.

She honed in on that. The purple thread was faint and blurry. She was never able to get a clear image of one except for her own. It was the same for whoever she had asked about it. She stealthily ran around the village. She tried to concentrate on the soul as she did, trying to notice if it got bigger and brighter. She ran into alleys and along rooftops. She ran all around the village in search of the person she had been looking for days.

Eventually she got to a point on a rooftop that wherever she went the soul dimmed. She began to get frustrated. The effort it took to concentrate on that single soul alone was exhausting and she could feel a headache coming on.

But the thing that aggravated her the most to the point of breaking into tears was the fact that she was so close. So close to finding that one person. Maybe if she found them then it would make everything she went through so far mean something. All the death and burying. Maybe if she finally found them then the nightmares would finally stop.

She wondered where they could be. Whenever she moved from this spot the light dimmed a little…

Kagi's eyes widened and she knew that she had to get into the house she stood on. She jumped down into an alley and luckily there was a window right next to her. All rational thoughts of carefully entering the house went out the window when she heard a commotion in the house.

She rushed to the window and tried to open it. If it didn't then she would just shatter it. To her surprise however, the window opened without a problem.

***

The room was silent for a couple of seconds. All eyes were on the little Hand that had come into the house.

Alyze was the first to break it with a fire in her golden eyes and a kook of pure curiosity on her face, "A Hand!?"

Jarvus let out a simple, "huh?"

Umbren looked at her with shock in his eyes, "Mistress?"

Kagi witnessed all of this and more. She saw a large man about to swing a hammer at a boy with a familiar face, and a golden eyed girl who looked as if she was about to jump at her.

After a few seconds Kagi's eyes filled with regret as she turned back to the window.

Umbren noticed that she was turning around and ran to her. He almost didn't catch her before she scampered out the door.

"What are you doing?! Let go of me...what's even your name!?"

Umbren held Kagi by locking their arms, "My name's Umbren?! How would you look for me without knowing that?!

Kagi struggled against him, though not strongly. It was almost as if she was tired, "Umbren! Can't you see that they're going to kill me! Look how big that man is. He'll probably take me out with one swing of that thing!" Kagi jerked her head towards Alyze who was eyeing her as if she was some exotic animal, "Not to mention her! Look at those eyes! She might make you try to kill me too!"

Umbren still tried to struggle to keep Kagi from running away, "You know, I didn't hear any word of concern about me Mistress."

Kagi looked back at Umbren, "How could you be so selfish at a time like this! Can't you tell I'...we're in danger!"

Alyze slowly got out of her chair and walked towards Kagi with awe on her face, "So you a Hand of Morta?"

Kagi's struggled against Umbren more frantically, "Umbren help! She's going to take over my mind!" Kagi jerked her head back to Umbren, "Don't tell me she's controlling you?!"

Umbren was getting a little fed up with the newcomer. He was over the moon to see a familiar face, but he wished she would just stopped being so much trouble

"No...Mistress please just calm down so I can explain."

Umbren looked around the room for support. Alyze wasn't going to be much help in her current state. She would actually probably make things worse. His last hope was Jarvus, but there wasn't much chance of that. He was sitting at the table with another drink in his hand, he still had the hammer in the other. Umbren didn't know if it was for him or the Hand that had just come in.

After about an hour of back and forth with Kagi, she finally gave up struggling. Though it was probably because she was too tired to keep it up.

"So...you want some tea Mistress? Umbren asked"

Kagi looked down in defeat, "Yes, please."

Alyze eagerly went to make Kagi a cup of tea. Umbren had managed to get her to sit at the table, but she was still antsy.

He sat next to her while Jarvus still sat across from them drinking his liquor. Umbren still wondered if Alyze had that headache. For some reason though he felt a level of excitement that he had no right to be feeling, it was almost as if the emotion wasn't his own.

Umbren looked to Kagi, who was still shuffling in her seat. She brought about a feeling inside himself that he couldn't quite explain. It was one of relief and comfort. Her presence destroyed the darker thoughts inside his mind. The thoughts that he had been left to die. The thoughts that no one truly cared if he was gone or not.

Alyze came back with the tea, "Here you go Mistress."

Kagi almost jumped, "Mistress!"

Alyze tried to cover up a laugh with her hand, "I just heard Umbren call you that, so I thought it was the right way to address you."

Kagi looked down at her tea, "No...it's the right way to address me. I think at least, I haven't really spoken to a luxcian before."

Alyze nodded her head and went to sit next to Jarvus across from the two tenebrage.

Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

Kagi was the first to speak up, "So if you weren't attacking Umbren then what are you all doing to each other."

Umbren answered before Alyze could, "They've been nursing me and my attoka back to health the past couple of days."

Kagi took a sip of her tea, "So that's what Thendle sensed."

Alyze perked up, "What did you say Mistress."

"Oh. Nothing. Just that…my attoka sensed another one of his kind nearby when we were approaching the town and went to investigate. I'm guessing it was Umbren's attoka."

"So they can sense each other?"

Umbren shook his head, "Didn't we talk about attoka sensing each other the other day?"

Alyze leaned back in her chair, "Well we did but I thought that might of only applied to Loinir and Dorcha attoka. I didn't know if two of the same kind could sense each other. I've never owned one after all."

Umbren nodded, and as he was paying attention to Alyze his gaze naturally drifted to Jarvus. Umbren was surprised that Alyze hadn't gotten on him for drinking. When they came into the house he made it seem like it wasn't something he was supposed to do.

After a moment Alyze spoke up again from her tone it sounded like she tamed her excitement if just a little.

She pointed towards Umbren, "By the way, is he important? If you went through all the effort of tracking him all the way from Euma he has to be. From his cloak I could tell he was special, but he always played it down."

Kagi shook her head weakly, "No...not really. I was just told to find the ones who disappeared in the ambush."

Alyze seemed to reflect on her talks with Umbren as she put a finger to her chin and glanced at Kagi, "Wait...if he's not important then why would he be wearing that cloak."

At this question Kagi became more energetic, "Well that was one of the main things that my sisters discussed the past few days. You can't really blame us, he kinda showed up out of nowhere. I didn't really participate in coming up with rumors, but some things I heard were extraordinary. The most popular one was that he was gonna become a Hou..."

Jarvus suddenly raised his hammer aiming it at Kagi, "Don't you dare say that name in this house!"

Kagi leapt out of her seat and dashed towards the window. Luckily Umbren was able to just barely catch her again. As he was getting a hold of Kagi, Alyze berated her father for his behavior, but he seemed to ignore her and sat back down at the table.

"See! See Umbren, he's gonna kill me! I have to get out of here!"

"Don't be like that Mistress. He hates that name, that's all. Just calm down so we can talk."

Thus another back and forth ensued between Umbren and Kagi, and even Alyze butted in again after she gave up on her father.

After several minutes Umbren was able to get Kagi back into her previous seat. Though she appeared to be more uncomfortable than before.

Alyze looked at her father with her arms crossed, "Are you going to apologize?"

In response Jarvus just grumbled and took another sip of his liquor.

Alyze looked to be exasperated at her fathers behavior, but let it go.

Kagi rustled in her chair, and was now more timid than ever, "I'm sure you both are nice, but right now I need to talk to Umbren in private. I don't really want to be interrupted like that again."

Alyze looked at her displeased, but Umbren jumped in before she could say anything, "I think she's right. Mistress Kagi probably has a lot on her mind. I don't think she would be comfortable with you two here." Umbren paused, realizing what he said sounded a little harsh, "I don’t mean to be rude Alyze. I'm sure you understand. After we're done talking I'll make sure you have plenty of time with her yourself."

Kagi was about to protest, but Umbren grabbed her shoulder, stopping her.

Alyze leaned back in her chair with her arms crossed, and sighed, "I understand, take as long as you want. While you're doing that I'll make sure the Mistress has somewhere to sleep for the night."

Kagi looked as if she was going to protest again, but Umbren cut her off, "Thank you. Come on Mistress, we have much to discuss."

Umbren got up and pulled Kagi down the hall and through the pantry door. She seemed to struggle against his grip at first, but shortly gave up.

As the door closed behind them Umbren turned around and examined the Hand. She was short, even shorter than himself with pigtails. If she hadn't been wearing the black cloak then he wouldn't have believed she was a Hand at all. Though he did recall seeing her in his party. It was hard not to notice her.

"Mistress, why are you here?"

Kagi was still a bit timid from what had occurred in the main room, but more confidence could be noticed in her voice, "I told you before, I was looking for you."

Umbren furrowed his eyebrow, "Who would ever tell you to do that. There is no reason for someone to make you go that much out of your way for me."

Kagi's face filled with frustration, "You know I actually did go out of my way for you! So a 'thank you' would be appreciated."

Umbren's face remained unchanging.

"Uh!! If you want to know so bad, it was our Lady! Morta sent me!"

"But why would she want you to find me? There is no other reason for you to have come all the way here from Euma."

Kagi clenched her fist, "She could have cared less about you! She sent me away so I wouldn't get in the unit’s way! I was told to bury those that died!"

As Kagi's tone filled with frustration, Umbren's face weakened.

"You know I wanted to find one person! Just one person! I wanted to prove that I was useful!"

At this point it didn't even seem like she was talking to him. Umbren didn't know what to do except just stand there.

"I wanted to find one person! Just one! But you want to know what I found! NOTHING!" Her voice broke, "I FOUND NOTHING BUT CORPSES YOU HERE ME!"

Kagi fell to her knees as tears started falling down her cheeks, "I...I didn't know what to do, but to keep going. I almost gave up all hope until I found your trail. I...I hoped so much...more than anything in the world that you were...alive. If I could just save one"

Umbren felt the urge to embrace her. Her cries of desperation sounded so familiar to his own. He couldn’t let her spiral into despair.

As he hugged her, her eyes widened, "You weren't useless. You found me didn't you? I come back with you to the others, so you have nothing to worry about anymore, okay?"

Kagi pressed her face against his chest, "Umbren I don't know...what I would have done if....I just don't...please don't leave me alone. I...I can't take it anymore."

Umbren rubbed her back, as she cried in his arms.

As the two sat there on the floor of the pantry Umbren felt ashamed that he thought about staying. Really what had this girl gone through. He barely knew her, but she was crying over finding him. He couldn't deny her wish of bringing him back after all that. Frankly he didn't even want to anymore.

***

"Did you really have to do that?"

Alyze glared at her father who was still spacing out with the bottle of liquor in his hand.

"Seriously what did you even talk about with the mayor to end up like this."

Jarvus took a sip from his bottle, "Just a trip down memory lane."

Alyze clenched her teeth. She would have taken that bottle from his hand if he wasn't in that mood, "That explains why you acted like that when the Hand almost said their name. But was that really necessary?"

Jarvus grimaced, "How could you say that after what they did?"

"It's been years, just saying their name shouldn't get you that riled up."

Jarvus just grumbled in response and took another sip of his drink.

Alyze gave up and sat back down but near the fireplace this time. As she waited for the two tenebrage to get done. She wondered what they were talking about. She never thought in her wildest dreams that another one would show up out of nowhere. She was still irritated that she hadn't gotten to talk to the Hand more. Though she understood that they needed to talk. She still wondered what they talked about. At some points she even heard the Hands' voice from the pantry.

Alyze did not have to dwell on these thoughts for two long as the town suddenly came to life with lights from guards. She wasted no time rushing to the window.

The whole street was lit up. It even looked as if the source of the commotion was coming this way. Alyze had her eyes glued on the window.

Umbren and the Hand walked in a moment later.

Umbren looked at her in confusion, "What is it..." Panic spread across his face. She had never seen him that afraid even when they were swarmed by guards, "Get down Kagi!"

Umbren jerked the girl under the table.

Alyze looked back at them utterly baffled.

She looked back out the window to see what scared Umbren so bad.

The mayor was hurriedly addressing an individual that Alyze hadn't seen in a long time.

A man with a silver military coat, a general, with long golden hair, almost as long as the mayors but it hung loosely. His expression held murderous intent and one could spot insanity in his eyes.

"I'll kill him!! I'll kill that Greencloak! I'll make him regret the day he ever crossed me!! That Hand too! Yes... that Hand. I'll take my time with her! I'll kill both of them! I swear it!!”