Tension was upon Rhea-Nori like a dark cloak draped upon it. The denizens watched with extreme caution as the Erref passed through slums, alleys and into shops.
Within the eastern slum of Rhea-Nori, a small group of Erref slipped past buildings and narrow paths. Their leader was Legt, a true giant of a man. His hands were calloused and his body built like a boulder. Through the confession of a particular soldier, they had gotten a lead on the exact location of the woman's house, the supposed mother of the emperor's daughter.
They weaved past little shacks; their occupants terrified. All doors were locked. Only a few souls were found outside, getting important business done. Even they rushed through whatever they were doing, fearing the beckon of the Eye of Karakh. All the people knew full well of the crimes they had committed, along with the ones they had witnessed from a distance. About the slavery, about the illegal drugs, gangs and businesses.
Truly the Erref left no stone unturned. They questioned everyone, especially those who dwelt in the slums.
Legt and his small team soon made it to their location, being led by a guard who had once come to the little home to drag out a suspected accomplice of Rahiel. A woman who seemed to match the descriptions.
"That one. Yes. That is where we found her. The foreign woman…and her daughter.", the guard exclaimed, pointing to a little wooden shack at the top of the hill.
Legt stared with sharp eyes as they approached the house. The city guard took point and announced their presence.
"By the order of the Inquest of Karakh, open this door!"
Clatters and whispers erupted from within the shack. The voice of a baby burst from within, meeting Legt's pointed ears. Legt's eyes sharpened as he waited. Sweat streaked upon the face of the guard who led them. He knew that his life was on the line.
Slowly, the wooden door creaked open, revealing a man in his prime, fear defiling his countenance. A young girl was crouched on the ground behind him, three little children clutching to her tattered dress.
"In the name of the Emperor," Legt said, his tone even and cold, "you will grant us entry."
Before the man even nodded the retinue barged in, Legt entering last. He checked every single detail of the room, noticing strange displacements of objects in the small room.
Turning to the man he asked, "There was a woman before you who lived here, was there not?"
"Yes, sir, there was…"
"She had a child with her. Where is that child?"
Frantic fear rushed across the man's face.
"S-Sir, I don't know. W-We bought this homestead from the guards, and no one was here when we came…"
"You mean to say the place was empty…Are there any belongings of the woman who lived here?", Legt barked.
The man replied respectfully, "N-No. There aren't…"
Legt spied the man's face clearly. The man couldn't look him straight in the eye. It was understandable. After all, Legt had a fearsome countenance. With so many scars from so many battles, Legt was the strongest member of the Erref, and one of the strongest in the entire Seket. His reputation preceded him as The Silent Bear.
He could see it in the man's eyes and the evidence that surrounded him. Clearly, the man was lying.
Legt turned his gaze to the child clutching her mother's dress.
"This is your daughter…is she not?", he inquired.
"Yes, she is…"
The mans eyes widened. 'Where is he taking this?' the man thought.
Legt looked carefully at the scared little girl, and approaching her, he spoke.
"Little girl, who gave you that doll…"
The girl attempted to turn her gaze towards her mother, who was crouched by her side.
Before she could do this however, Legt held the child's jaw, tightly. The child looked at his dark piercing eyes in fear. Tears welled up in her eyes and began to pour from them. Her cries filled the room. She could barely even blink.
"It…it…was a girl…", she struggled to say.
"Which girl?", Legt said.
"I…I don't k-know her…She gave it to me…and…and…I never saw her again…She was fair, but her hair was weird...."
There was truth in the child's eyes. Her innocence like a bar of pire gold. girl most likely wasn't in Rhea-Nori anymore. The chances that she was alive, were very low. It would be difficult for her to survive in such a harsh city.
Without her mother, it made it seem all the more impossible.
Legt sighed, the sound of his breath seemingly filling the entire room. A low growl sounded.
He seized the tattered, dirty doll from the girl, her tears going nowhere to convince the Bear.
"We're done here.", his voice boomed.
Bowing his head, he walked out the door, his white cloak brushing against the door frame.
Within minutes, the entire Erref were assembled in a special room, kept away from the prying eyes and ears of anybody who wasn't Seket. They all stood surrounding a small table, many sheets arrayed upon it.
"Patriarch", Adrel announced. "Give your report."
Patriarch began, "Yes Inquisitor
. My team and I were able to dig up the remains of a woman with a color of hair outstanding from all the citizens of Rhea-Nori. It was darkened as the body had begun to rot. However, it was distinct. Her features matched the description the Emperor gave us, almost perfectly..."
Adrel questioned, "Cause of death?"
"Getting to that sir", Patriarch remarked.
"She was sentenced to death by hanging…for the crime of being an accomplice to a violent murderer, called Rahiel…"
The room stood in absolute silence, as the Erref listened to the report.
"Rahiel, you say", Adrel menyioj.
Patriarch continued, "Yes sir. They say he was sentence to death by Anul. However, and you wouldn't believe this sir …apparently, he broke free…inside the flame."
There was a common surprise and intrigue in the room.
There wasn't a single report they had ever heard, of a mere murderer breaking free from the bindings of the Anul within the flame. No man was capable of performing such a feat. Even with the hardest drugs in Rhea-Nori, ones body would be broken down by the heat and flame.
"Are you sure of this, Patriarch?", Adrel questioned.
"Affirmative, sir. We took seventeen reports from soldiers in the barracks. They all confirmed the same thing. Describe it as 'a bloodbath'."
Adrel's ears twitched as he listened. He wondered that Rahiel simply had to be inhuman. And, a threat to the empire.
"Continuing, sir. They say he escaped. He literally walked out of the city…with a girl in his arms."
The information hit Adrel's mind like a jackhammer.
"Patriarch", Adrel started. His voice rang with a shrill intuition within the dimly lit small enclosure, and a desire for discovery. The Erref knew this tone in his voice well. It meant he was on the verge of discovering something.
"Tell me. How did they describe the girl?"
"Well sir," Patriarch began, "Most of them were too frightened to even approach him. However, one of the watchers of the gate described something; she had a fuzzy bundle of light brown hair, with cream streaks within it."
"Just like the woman's…", Adrel remarked.
They were putting the pieces together. There was no other person in Rhea-Nori with such a combination of colors in their hair. It was unique to only two people, the emperor's supposed concubine, and her daughter; the emperor's daughter.
However, they needed even more irrefutable evidence.
"Well, now we have a lead,". Adrel said.
"Legt, give us your report."
Legt began, his vocal cords vibrating with the air in the room. Deep and powerful.
"Yes sir. My team took charge of the western slums, just as you ordered. We discovered the woman's house. However, we met new occupants. It was ridden with poverty, but upon searching we found this."
Legt carefully took out a little, tattered wooden doll, and placed it at the center of the table. It was severely chipped at several areas, but it had one distinct feature of it.
Whitish streaks of hair were upon its head, as though whoever had it, wanted to recreate someone.
There were only two people who had that hair, again; the emperor's daughter, and the mystery concubine.
Legt's report coincided with Patriarchs report.
And surely enough, all the other reports, pointed to one thing; the girl in Rahiel's arms leaving the city, through the east gate.
"Erref, we have a lead. The girl is surely alive, and as the emperor lives and Calor's fire guides us, we shall surely find her." The Erref sharpened their ears, listening to everything their immaculate leader would say.
"Ruhl. Map."
Hastily, the seemingly smallish man produced a map, from a pouch that hung along his side, and obediently handed it over to Adrel.
Placing it flat on the table, Adrel's delicate looking fingers passed across the surface of the large map, depicting the entirety of the Southern part of the Karakhian Empire.
He quickly tracked the location of Rhea-Nori, and tracing eastwards, he came to the mouth of a forest.
"The Akar Forest…", Adrel murmured.
"Inquisitor, if I may add…", Patriarch started.
"…At the time of Rahiel's exit, hundreds of mercenaries, adventurers, bounty-hunters…the whole lot…were sent to bring back his head."
Patriarch paused.
"And," Adrel mouthed.
Patriarch took his time, a slight hint of alarm in his low voice.
"None of them returned."
The Erref remained silent, only exchanging alarmed looks.
"They say that even the legendary bounty hunter Brujil led them…Even he didn't make it out."
The Erref were well aware of Brujil's capabilities. He was a veteran; an ex-soldier turned semi-rogue. He was a master marksman and an instinctual hunter. A savage man who lived by few proper principles. His skill, however, regardless of his rotten attitude, was the real deal. He was considered one of the most skilled fighters in all of Karakh. There was no beast or man he hadn't overcome.
Except Rahiel.
The news hit Adrel hard. Whoever Rahiel was, he was certainly proving to be quite the problem. For one, he was the last known person with the emperor's daughter. For another he was a mass murderer with hundreds of dead to his name.
"All right then…its settled."
The attention of the twenty Erref were drawn back to their leader.
"Tomorrow, we set out. Towards the Akar Forest."
The candlelight pulsed with the beats in his voice.
"We shall retrieve the child, and bring her to her place before the Emperor. For the glory of Calor!", he announced.
"For the glory of Calor!", the Erref announced, the voices of twenty men and women sounding throughout the room.
The guards outside heard and grinned to each other. With the Seket now in motion, they knew it was only a matter of time before the issue would be resolved. That was just how ridiculously efficient they were.
They would surely succeed.
And Rahiel would fall.
But of course, it was only a conviction. Reality had other things planned.