Max stood in front of the line where Elder Obi’s wall of light almost obliterated him when Cy last brought him here. Time was running out. But he couldn’t make up his mind on the best way to approach the orphanage.

  “You lot, come on out.” Max watched several poor dryads from the other side of the line dash out of their trees before immediately being consumed by the light. Only their ashes remained. Max sighed in frustration. How many more hours until sunrise? It was an effective defensive spell… Perhaps Delrid was right. Cy might be hiding here. Max thought carefully for a moment before beginning to draw a rune in the sky above the building.

  There were a cluster of lights depicted in the map showing the orphanage was filled with people. But nothing indicated the ages of whoever were inside the building. Max remained sceptical about the children being left behind but decided to lean on the side of caution. He needed information and to take control of the situation quickly.

  After completing the runes, he waited patiently for them to come into effect. A few minutes passed. Max started to get restless in anticipation. A few more minutes passed. Max let out a sigh as he checked the drawing of his runes in the sky. He couldn’t see any flaws… Perhaps he had been wrong about his assumptions? Just as he was about to come up with another plan, something broke the upstairs window. Finally, the cue he had been waiting for.

  Peacefully crossing the line and getting closer to the scary building, Max saw it was a small trike that had been tossed out the window. He calmly knocked on the door. There were some creepy giggles from children before one of them shouted in a nasally voice. “What’s the password?”

  Max rolled his eyes before leisurely moving some of the runes above them. Once he heard a few thumps, he opened the door to a corridor filled with children. They were all in deep sleep. Snoring and drooling as they delved deep into their dreams. He had to hand it to the system. It was a good idea to round up the children and overthrow the adults in control. They were even able to turn off the defensive spells at the same time.

  Despite the cold exterior of the orphanage, the inside was warm and inviting with the wallpaper being composed of proud displays of various drawings by the residents. Along the walls was a rhythmic mixture of cabinets filled with clothes and boxes overflowing with toys. Looking down at the sleeping faces, it was evident that despite being removed from their parents’ custody, they were well cared for.

  Turning the corner and peeking into the first room, Max saw one of the remaining adults. She tried to call out, but she had been bound by skipping ropes to a chair and a scarf had been tied around her mouth. He removed her gag. “Where’s Cy?”

  “What did you do to the children?” The stranger wailed back.

  Before Max could ask more questions, another emergency transmission began. He quickly replaced the gag, so he could hear properly.

  “This is an emergency broadcast.” That’s Delrid’s voice? “We can confirm Max is continuing his hunt for Cy. Based on the theories presented by Elder Edric, Max does not know the runes for Cy or his magic. In other words, currently, he is depending on physical appearances to find him.” … This was about to get annoying. “Wai-”

  “But don’t you fuckers start going around using filters and shit!” Thank you Haiddeck. “The motherfucker can see through it in a goddamn instant!”

  There was some kind of scuffle and argument in the middle of the broadcast. Max and the strange exchanged awkward eye-contact before Max shrugged. Eventually, Delrid regained control over the broadcast.

  “Like stated, Max can see through filters quickly. Next, you should be advised that Max is using some kind of monsters that come out of trees. Continue procedure C and begin procedure F.” F? “In addition, Max doesn’t know what the procedures mean. Use this knowledge to your advantage. Also, be advised, he should be at Elder Obi’s orphanage.”

  Her voice was calm and factual as she delivered the last bit of information… Cy probably wasn’t here.

  There were a few moments of silence. Was the transmission over? Max moved to remove the gag again before Delrid resumed. The caretaker looked equally disappointed. How long was this transmission?

  “Elder Aris has informed us that Elder Nova, Elder Edric, and Elder Ji-min are considered traitors until this crisis has been averted. Elder Nova’s whereabouts are currently unknown. Her labs have been abandoned.” They have? Did she cut her losses and ran after sending Lurch to tip him of? “Elder Edric should be in the capital. If you see him or Elder Nova, please use the emergency broadcast system immediately. Elder Ji-min has already been apprehended.”

  …Darius wasn’t seen as a traitor? Maybe it was because he sounded the alarms.

  “Keep alert. Keep busy. Keep Cy concealed as much as possible.” The transmission was cut.

  Max moved to remove the gag when he heard a pleasantly familiar, foreign sounding accent. “Don’t touch her.” Holding his hands up again, he turned around to see a sweating Elder Obi in the doorway. She must’ve rushed here. “You. Don’t-”

  “Cy isn’t here, is he?” Max gleaned quickly from Elder Obi’s expression. Delrid tricked him into coming here and wasting so much of his time and resources. Now, he faced another Elder in her domain. Well played. He may have won the chess game, but she had managed to outwit him in the real game between him and the community.

  Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  “No.”

  Max looked back at the tied-up worker, who was frantically shaking her head. He lowered his hands. “How about we take this outside? There are so many children sleeping. I would hate to wake them up.” Elder Obi looked around conflicted. “Let’s leave this place before anything gets out of hand.” Too many Elders have been itching for a fight today.

  “You first.”

  “No, you,” Max said in a firm voice. “I’ll stay right behind you. Let’s go.”

  Elder Obi walked calmly and slowly towards the entrance. Was she part of this time-consuming plan too? Was this their intention from the start? As Elder Obi walked closer to the line where her shield once stood, Max turned around to gently close the front door behind him without waking inhabitants.

  Based on what he experienced so far, she was going to drag this out for as long as possible.

  “What are you doing?” Elder Obi exclaimed, as she witnessed a new shield cover the entire building and the rune above beginning to mutate. “I can’t…”

  “You can’t get in anymore.” Max clarified as he stood firmly in front of the entrance. The shoe was now on the other foot compared to when he was looking for a part-time job. Good thing he didn’t hold too much of a grudge against local people. “Where’s Cy?”

  Elder Obi sneered, “I’m not telling you.”

  Max pointed up at the new rune above the orphanage. There might be a limited supply, but his patience was running thin. The markings dispersed into little shards of light before reassembling into a menacing combination of runes hovering above the orphanage. “Do you see that line up there? You see how it is not connected to the others? That means, for now, those kids and whoever was watching them are safe.” Max moved the loose line closer to the incomplete rune. “Do you know what happens when that line reconnects with the rest of the rune?”

  “…No.”

  “Everyone under this rune will die. Now, where’s Cy?”

  Elder Obi looked at him in disbelief. There it was again. Was it really that hard to believe he could be this cold? Max had been worse before. “You wouldn’t-”

  Max moved the line closer causing Elder Obi to flinch. They were so close to touching. “Where’s Cy?” Despite the threat, she still looked torn. “Why’s it so hard for you to give up his location? You’ve already betrayed him before, remember?” Elder Obi’s face showed a mixture of confusion and offence. “You abandoned Cy to ‘protect’ the other children from feeling uncomfortable around him. Elder Ji-min became his mentor because you didn’t want to be responsible for him.”

  “It wasn’t like that-”

  “Then what was it like?” Max asked. Edric’s report was cold and factual, just as June requested in the past. He didn’t like this approach. The devil always lurked in the details.

  Elder Obi struggled to find the words. “At the time, his predictions were inaccurate, and his arrogance was too high from being involved in a cult. There are only so many times I can tolerate his roommates being terrified out of their minds from the threats of a fortune teller.”

  “Threats?”

  “Sometimes… Cy doesn’t always say or do the morally appropriate thing…”

  “Well, don’t I know it.” Max scoffed. “The man pretended to be a vet while there was a bovine epidemic. And he stole some beans when we left the village only to feed it to some seagulls. Not to mention, around the time we first met, he turned a blind eye to me murdering one of us in public.” The list really could go on… Sly… Elder Obi managed to distract him a little.

  Taking inspiration from his five-star life, his posture and voice became colder as he resumed the personality which did the impossible by doing the unthinkable. “This is a waste of my time.” Max looked up to the runes and jerked his arm up.

  “He’s at Kita Waterfall.”

  Kita Waterfall… Kita Waterfall?

  Kita. きた. → Taki. たき. → Waterfall? 滝.

  Waterfall waterfall?... Where the fuck was that? Max used the runes to open up the map. “Point to his dot.”

  Elder Obi gave him a baffled look before pointing to a spot deep in the woods. Cy was alone. “You don’t know where Kita Waterfall is?”

  “Should I know where it is?”

  “Elder Darius’s house is right next to it.”

  … Wait, it was that waterfall? The one right outside the room he was using for the last month? He was there the whole goddamn time?!? “You better not be lying.”

  “I’m not.”

  “Why’s he alone?” Max frowned. The closest dots were miles away.

  “He’s not supposed to be. Cy broke the procedure a while ago. We don’t know why, but he’s insisting on waiting there alone.”

  “No one else tried to stay with him?”

  “Procedure C. Do not approach any of the fate readers.”

  Was this the real meaning of procedure C? This one came from Darius. “Maybe it has something to do with his fate?”

  “Maybe.”

  Since she was spilling, may as well ask about the other procedures. “What was procedure E?”

  “Prepare for a mass evacuation.”

  Max looked at her confused. “Prepare? Why didn’t you just evacuate everyone?”

  “We don’t know what these runes are.” She gestured to the glowing ones on the floor. “We didn’t want to risk people’s lives if there’s a preventative spell.”

  But there was nothing stopping them from evacuating? Nothing but an order from Darius telling them to stop and cancel procedure E. Realisation began to dawn on Max. Darius wanted to keep as many lights on his map as possible, so Cy was harder to find. “Procedure F?”

  “Those on the frontline are to attack the active assailant.”

  Which would waste his resources and time. Delrid betted Max wouldn’t kill anyone who wasn’t Cy… “When I leave, immediately sound the emergency broadcast and cancel procedure F.”

  Max looked back at the runes before putting a twenty-minute timer on it. “The runes and shield are going to stay until I can confirm Cy is there,” he lied. On cue, the orange runes below them gave out a few blinks. Resources were starting to run low. “If I find out you’re lying or you don’t start the broadcast-”

  “I’m not lying.”

  “Okay.” Max didn’t need telling twice. He tried to teleport in the vicinity of Darius’s home but found himself at the centre of a barren Tsujuma. Was this another protective spell? Either way, it was a good sign Elder Obi was honest.

  Hearing the emergency broadcast sound and a defeated Elder Obi retract the order of procedure F, Max looked around the familiar spot. He searched for the arch he stepped through hours ago, but found the teleport back to Darius’s home had been torn apart. Max called out a dryad to start another whisper before he began his approach on foot.

  A figure resemble Cy was there.

  Right beside the waterfall he had seen every night for the last twenty-or-so days.

  At least there was a positive side to all this. Thanks to Elder Obi ratting out the location of her former mentee, the children of the orphanage were spared from one of their teeth coming out early. Even though Elder Obi couldn’t read the runes, the overall shape was convincing enough. Who knew the runes of teeth and death being so similar would be so threatening?