..............

  The man sat in the guild.

  “Heard Joe has vanished, together with his girl,” one man said from a table away.

  “That so? But I understand. I mean, he’s pretty vulnerable to the others; we all know what can go wrong,” another replied, taking a sip of his beer.

  “What a beauty. Who is she?” the first one asked, looking at a woman entering the hall.

  “Wanna ask?” the other challenged, standing up. While everyone else was drowned in their stories, the man approached the lady. “Forgive me, but I have noticed you look rather unfamiliar. Are you from here?”

  “No, but I’m looking for someone. Oh, there—that’s him,” she said, walking toward the man’s table.

  “She’s taken,” the friend muttered to the other, heading back to his own seat.

  “Who are you?” the man asked, surprised, as she made herself comfortable.

  “Don’t worry, I’m just here to sit. But that explanation shows past meetings,” the lady replied.

  “No, never seen you before.”

  “Are you sure? In fact, I think you might have. Azeya—that’s my name,” she said. The waitress arrived just after the name was spoken.

  “Anything? You look new, so if you want a job to adventure on, that’s the board, just in case,” the waitress offered.

  “Maybe later. Just get me food. Here’s the money,” Azeya said.

  “Sorry, but I have to leave,” the man said.

  “No,” she began, surprising the man yet again. “I need your name, and what you are doing this side. If you think I can’t get the scent on you, then you think less of me.”

  “Yeah, I don’t know what you're thinking or saying,” the man said. He had a muscular body, a white complexion, a scar on the side of his back neck, and a smaller one on his face.

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  With that, the man left, leaving Azeya to her food. “Seems there’s more here. I need to find the little girl fast,” the man muttered, walking into an alley. It was dusk, the darkness starting to settle in.

  'She won’t give up,' the man thought. He looked at the lady behind him, tilting his neck just enough to see her. “If I say my name, will you leave me?”

  “No. I want the name and who you want here,” Azeya replied.

  “Varok. That’s all,” Varok said. He started to walk but was disturbed by a hand on his shoulder.

  “Huh. I never thought this would happen,” Varok said, shoving his shoulder to remove her hand. “I don’t fight females for fun, but I’ll make an exception for you,” Varok said, throwing the first punch.

  “Then don’t hold back,” Azeya said, shortening the distance again after leaping back.

  It was a classic alley—walls on each side, paved ground, and no back doors from either building. Varok threw a right, then a left, and a leg kick, but Azeya deflected the two punches while stepping away from the kick.

  'He is strong.'

  “I think you get it; even deflecting can be harmful,” Varok said, smiling. He went in again, using his reach and height advantage.

  Azeya retaliated, giving him two full punches to the body. “Guards up,” she said, cutting back in, her punches landing on his weaknesses.

  Varok grabbed Azeya by the neck, tossed her into the wall, and threw a heavy right. The punch cracked the wall as Azeya gave him the "one-inch dodge" treatment. He threw more punches, targeting the head, but none hit. The goal was close, but just far enough.

  “See? I told you not to hold back,” Azeya said from behind Varok. “Seems I’m off it. I blame you, Jack. You just had to do something stupid,” she added, wiping her left cheek and seeing blood on her hand.

  'Was that it? I only heard about it,' Varok thought, looking at Azeya cleanse her hand on her jeans.

  She rushed in. 'Gotta keep my guard up,' Varok thought, his eyes failing to match her hand movements.

  He threw a punch at a breath's distance, but Azeya snapped back. The punch was once again almost there, but not quite. Just as his hand retracted, Azeya was already close.

  Head. Punch. No, kick. Left, no, right. Stepped back again, then a right punch to the torso. Nose bleeding. 'What?' Then again—flicker jab. Another side-step from Azeya. Another flicker, retracted—no, blurred vision from Varok. It never retracted. One-inch punch. Inside kick. Torso. He swung two heavy punches right and left, but once again, there was no block or deflection—just near misses. Uppercut. Then she busted his nose wider with another flicker, one or two, Varok couldn't tell, sense's where out already.

  “Okay, okay! Just came for a job. Supposed to kill someone,” Varok said, panting from the ground.

  “Sorry for that. It’s actually been a long time since someone else made me bleed. Got lost in the fun, I guess,” Azeya replied. “And not to worry, I don’t want to play knight. Just make sure to stay clear,” she added, walking away.

  ....

  “So, how did you find it, after all the recent looking?”

  “Why say it like that? Making it look like I’ve been hiding something,” Veryn replied.

  “I mean...”

  “Leave it, Neyra. Regardless, explain,” Leon said.

  “It’s a little hard, but there was something I couldn’t fully comprehend. Looked more like a new creature,” Veryn said, a hand on his head.

  “Yeah, we will head there tomorrow. According to you, it will be a mess,” Leon said, standing up and leaving Veryn with Ryke and Neyra.

  “So tell me, what will I work with? Because whatever you saw, I felt, and I didn’t like it,” Ryke said.

  “I told you, it looked like one of our animals, maybe… but… it’s hard to explain,” Veryn said.

  “I understand. The same happened to me, but I think I can explain,” Ryke said.

  “Varok, still not finishing it? Time is running out, you know,” a female said from behind him.

  “Not yet, Ell. Need to find her first,” Varok replied, walking toward a Duskwolf.

  “That so? Then I’ll pass through. Gotta relax first,” he said, standing up, patting it on the back.

  ..............

  “Ben, Ben, you fine?”

  “Yeah… where are we?” Ben asked, looking around.

  “Well, I’m to thank, but it’s simply returning the help,” Tork replied, coming in.

  “We are at Tork’s little hideout, outside Miraen,” Sky replied.

  “Dakota, where is she? And Aisha and Anjali?”

  “Dakota is resting. The rest I’ll explain later. You rest,” Sky said, as Tork took her leave.