Highking Gyala rubbed his temples as Cassius cussed out Hyal. Eilis grunted before slamming his hand down and shouting: “Enough!”
The yelling caused Gyala to suddenly collapse back in his seat, but didn’t seem to pay any attention to it as it finally got Cassius to shut up. “Thank you, Eilis. Be a dear and hold my head for me please?”
He nodded, gently supporting his head up so he could look at the two grown adults bickering. “How many times do I need to say to keep your indoor voices? Do you have any idea how long it’s going to take for the paralysis to wear off? We are in a formal meeting and Highking Gyala expects you all to act like adults,” Eilis said for Gyala.
“You took the words right out of my mouth. I made up my mind, Hyal, you are not to be involved in this manner whatsoever. After this meeting you will focus strictly on freeing any leftover slaves, do you understand?” Gyala tried to sound as intimidating as possible, though he seemed like he was going to pass out.
“Yes, my Grand Sire,” he lightly bowed his head, through subtly gritted teeth.
“Good. Lord Benoist, I.” He closed his eyes. “I’m sorry you and your kin are still struggling with this overt racism. Just don’t handle it in a manner that sets off my narcolepsy, please?” 
Cassius simply nodded, staring daggers at Hyal. “Yes,” was all he could say.
“Good. I call this meeting to a close. Benoists and guests, feel free to stay here as long as you need, dinner will be early tonight as thanks for your help. Eilis, could you take me to my room please? I’m not beating this sleeping spell.”
“Yes, my Grand Sire. Shall I light up the candles in your room?” Eilis asked, carefully picking up the paralysed Highking.
“Oh yes please, the scented ones,” he said with a smile, nuzzling into his hold as best he could while Eilis left the room.

“What was that all about?” Havre asked Jaryn.
“Hyal called ivierae violent terrorists and accused Cassius as actually being the serial killer.”
“Yeah that sounds about right,” Garbone murmured, scratching her goatee.
“Are uh.. meetings with the Highking usually this intense?” Jaryn asked.
“When Hyal or Cassius are added to the meeting- yes.”
“I can see why Cassius doesn’t like him.”
“If you ask me, they’re two sides of the same coin. I’m surprised they don’t get along more,” Garbone said.
“That’s because we’re not “two sides of the same coin”,” Hyal hissed, standing up and walking towards them. “Unlike your grandfather, I’m civilised. I grew up in a moon elf village. Cassius was merely raised by barbarians. All he knows how to do is abuse his hypnotism and fight.”
“Says the satyr who brainwashes ivierae,” Jaryn said.
“Don’t get on my bad side, boy,” Hyal approached him closely. “I may have lost my business, but I’m still powerful enough to squash you. I’d hate to see such a young boy on the wrong end of my chair. I’m not above disciplining a half-breed,” Hyal said, eyeing him as he walked out of the room.
Jaryn looked on in fear and disgust, before turning to the others. “How is the Highking even entertaining him being part of his court?”
“My bet is that he’s threatening the Highking. As good as he is, he doesn’t have much of a backbone. Today’s the only day I’ve ever seen him snap like that.”
“So uh.. now what do we do?” Havre asked.
“We’re staying here for a few days before heading back to the embassy. Aside Garbone, you and the other two are free to either help out the Highking with the investigation, or help us out try to capture Lennon to free him,” Cassius said.
“Why not Garbone?”
“I’m going to need all the help I can get to free Lennon.”
“Then I’ll join you both! I uh, I want to make sure Lennon will be alright.”
Cassius eyed her suspiciously. “Fine. What about you two?” He asked the brothers.
The two faced each other and talked back and forth about what they’re going to do, before Jaryn faced Cassius. “We’ll uh, we’ll think about it. But we’re probably going with you,” he said, causing Ryo to hiss in disagreement.
“Alright then. We’ll discuss this more the day before we leave,” Cassius mentioned before walking out.
‘What do you mean we’re going with Cassius? Don’t you want to investigate the murderer?’ Ryo asked, looking up at Jaryn as they walked out of the room and in a separate direction from everyone else.
“Look, I don’t know, maybe it’s best to let the grown ups with their shit together to deal with it,” he shrugged.
‘We have our shit together-‘
“Do we? Do we really? We’re still in exile, I’ll never be allowed to grow up because the whole village is dead. I just. I’m tired of this. I want to do something that isn’t going to make me feel like nothing, because we’re not accomplishing anything in this investigation. We’re just two people being dragged along while others work on the case.”
‘You need to relax, you’re overthinking everything. They never had to let us come along after we gave them the info needed. Besides, if it weren’t for you, they probably wouldn’t have figured out that one elf was being controlled. I don’t know when you started acting like this, but you need to pull yourself together. Just focus on this problem and you can be most all you want afterwards.’
Jaryn rolled his eyes and crossed his arms. Suddenly, his ear twitched as he heard something going on. Ryo gave him a knowing look.
The two crept their way over to a nearby room, and peered in.

“I want this whole room searched. Take notes of everything. I’ll handle his work desk,” Hyal said as the group of knights split up into different sections of the large room. 
The mage's workroom is a vast, circular chamber filled with an air of quiet intensity, where the arcane meets the scholarly. Shelves line the stone walls, crammed with ancient tomes, scrolls, and mysterious artifacts, each pulsating with untapped magical energy. A large, ornate table sits at the center, cluttered with alchemical equipment—flasks bubbling with strange liquids, crystals glowing faintly, and tools of both mystical and mechanical nature. Dimly lit by flickering candles, the room hums with latent power, its atmosphere thick with the scent of incense and burnt herbs. A wide window allows beams of natural light to stream in, casting long shadows and illuminating the dust that floats lazily in the still air, while a large, gilded door at the back leads to a potentially even more secretive study.
Jaryn watched as everyone rummaged through the room, taking notes about what was there. He tried to step back, but accidentally stepped on Ryo’s tail, causing him to shriek and catch the men’s attention.
Hyal rushed up to the door, getting dangerously close to Jaryn’s face. “What are you doing here?”
“Uh, uh, nothing! No clue what you’re doing, it’s not my business. I just wanted to make sure uh, everything was okay,” he darted his eyes nervously to the side.
Hyal gave a small grin. “Everything’s fine. No need to concern yourself, child. We’re just cleaning up Hyalbtz’ room. Now that he’s unfortunately passed,” his smile dropped.
“Who’s Hyalbtz?”
“He was the Highking’s official court wizard. We’re still investigating his death, but we suspect foul play.”
“I see. Uh, I’m sorry.”
“It happens. Now, run along, I’m sure you have something important to do for the investigation,” he said, shooing him away from the room.

Gyala was laid in his bed, now in pyjamas thanks to Eilis’ help. He was fading in and out of consciousness, but momentarily awake. “Thank you for everything, Eilis. Is everything set for Sir Frescae’s mission tomorrow?”
“Of course, Gyala. And yes, he and his men are prepared,” he said, rubbing a wet cloth on his forehead, causing Gyala to sigh in comfort.
“Good. I have a feeling they’ll find something important there.”
“If my sources are right, it might just be the hideout for the Yati Fae Guild. No doubt we’ll find something incriminating. It’s just a shame they have to be brought to justice.”
“I agree,” he said as Eilis left the wet cloth on his forehead, and began massaging his shoulders. “They’ve done so much charity work, but I can’t just let it slide anymore with this indiscriminate murder. I don’t understand what could cause them to change from having these elaborate hit lists. I almost admire it, from a civil rights point of view anyways.”
“Are you planning on pardoning them at all?” Eilis asked, massaging down to his torso and arms.
“Maybe a few of them. I know some of them genuinely have nothing to do with the murders. Maybe I’ll see about rehabilitation for those I don’t pardon. Maybe have them aid me in giving their kin more rights.”
“Doesn’t sound like too bad a plan. It’s always good to listen to the oppressed. I’m definitely not looking forward to the riots that will cause though,” he said as he moved down to the hips and thighs.
Gyala closed his eyes. “I don’t even want to think about how many people will be upset. Everyone in the city will be calling for execution, and..” he trailed off, momentarily falling asleep.
Eilis smiled as he moved down to his lower legs. When finishing, he stood up from his position and stretched. “Good night, love,” he said, removing the cloth and kissing his forehead before leaving the room.

Yiyral wiped the sweat from his brow as he stared down the path towards a cave, sword at the ready. Carefully checking the path was clear, he signalled for his men to follow as he advanced, quickly hopping between trees with five men in tow. Wait, five?
Yiyral quickly turned around to count his men. 1, 2, 3, 4.. 5. “Where the Hell are the other 10?” He whispered to the soldier next to him.
“I- I don’t know, Sir. They were all here not even a minute ago!”
He growled in frustration, beckoning his remaining men to come closer. 
Four men approached. 
“Where’s Sir Chiri‽“
“He was just next to me Captain, I swear!” The tall soldier sputtered out. “I, I just heard some grass rustling and he was gone.”
“Ai and Kaezh, you two team up. Chøn and.. What?” Yiyral noticed his men, terror plastered on their faces. 
Yiyral braced himself as he slowly turned around. Right behind him stood a ginormous rotting corpse in advanced decay. Putrid green flesh dripping from its bloody skull onto his cheek as a glowing yellow eye bore into his soul. Yiyral turned white as a ghost. 
“You do not belong here,” it whispered quietly, extending a bony finger to point in between Yiyral’s higher set of eyes. “Leave.”
Yiyral was frozen in place, but his men wasted no second as they ran off in the opposite direction of their goal.
Its cold finger could tear him apart as chills ran through his body. Instead, he backed up and pointed his sword at it. 
“What are you?.. Who. Who are you?” His voice shook.
“The end of your petty career.”
He flinched, ready to attack as he raised his sword.
“schehyetalk.”

The last thing Yiyral remembered was confronting. No, no, he can’t think about that, thing, whatever it was. He groaned as he woke up in an infirmary bed, attempting to reach for a glass of water that was left beside him. For some reason he couldn’t reach it with his right arm. The familiar sound of Aulilizha was comforting.
“Sir Yiyral? Please relax, let me get that for you,” she said as she grabbed the glass, and helped him drink from it.
“Thank you, nurse. Why can’t I..?” He trailed off.
“You, uh. You lost your right arm, I’m sorry.”
“What?” He looked down at where his arm should’ve been. Instead it was just a stump covered in bandages.
“Do you remember anything that happened? I tried asking you earlier but you were freaking out too much to be consoled.”
“I, uh..” He trailed off, resting his palm on his head. “I remember doing a stealth mission for the Highking. Um. There was this. This. Oh gods what were they? A lich??” His voice cracked.
“Hun I think you were hallucinating, liches don’t exist.”
“But I could feel them poke me. The men that didn’t disappear saw them too!”
“What do you mean disappeared? Five were killed, but none of your men vanished. Sir La’et is talking to them as we speak.”
“I need to talk to them, where are they?” He asked, attempting to get up from the bed. He swayed and stumbled over into the nurse’s arms as she gently laid him back on the bed.
“Not yet hun, you’re in no condition to get out of bed.”
Still, Yiyral tried to force his way out of bed, though a simple hand on the chest was all Aulilizha needed to keep him down.
“Please, let me see my men! I need to see that they’re alive.”
“Please relax for me. I promise I’ll have them come visit you, but I can’t let you leave just yet.”
“I can’t. Please help me,” he begged. 
Aulilizha walked over to the medicine cabinet and pulled out a small blue vial before walking back over to Yiyral. “Drink this,” she said as she helped him drink it.
Immediately his tension diminished and he was able to lay back peacefully. “Thank you,” he murmured as he shut his eyes.
She nodded with a quiet sigh before going to rinse out the glass vial. “I have a feeling Hyal is involved with this. I hope to the heavens he’s punished for it,” she said to herself as she slammed the vial down on the counter.
She tried to calm herself down, but couldn’t help but feel Hyal was the cause of this misfortune, and so she stormed out of the room. She walked past Hyalbtz’ room and paused when she heard muffled sounds coming from it. No doubt one of them was Hyal. She scoffed, and ran to the Highking’s throne.
Highking Gyala and Eilis were chatting about random things, and paused upon seeing the nurse.
“Good morning, Aulilizha. What seems to be the issue?” Gyala asked.
“Hyal messed up. I don’t know what he thinks he’s doing, but I overheard him messing with Hyalbtz’ things.”
“What? Why would he- god dammnit,” he facepalmed. “Is be still there?”
“Yes, your great highness.”
“Alright, I’ll take care of it. Guards, come with me,” he ordered, standing up carefully with the aid of Eilis.
“I’ve blocked the exit, they won’t be escaping,” Eilis mentioned as he walked beside Gyala.
“Thank you, Eilis, you’re a dear,” he held his arm lovingly.
The entire group strode purposefully toward Hyalbtz's chamber, their marching echoing through the corridor. When they arrived, a knight stepped forward and swung open the heavy door, revealing Hyal and his men, scattered around the room, sifting hurriedly through piles of papers, their faces intent on their search. Hyal looked up to see the Highking and knights standing in the doorway.
“Hyal, I told you repeatedly to focus on your own efforts of freeing the slaves, and I’m tired of you constantly going behind my back. You’re under arrest for treason. Guards, arrest him.”
Hyal’s eyes widened as he put his hands in the air to surrender. “Before you arrest me, you must know something.”
“I’m not interested in you trying to frame Hyalbtz. He was an honourable man who merely had a renegade slave. Guards-“
“Wait!” Hyal interrupted. “Not Hyalbtz. An Angalt. Cathal Angalt,” he said, holding out a piece of paper. “I know I haven’t gotten along with Hyalbtz, but I think he’s innocent. I think Kyazf is corroborating with Lord Angalt. This has Kyazf’s handwriting,” he said, holding out a piece of paper.
Gyala eyed him suspiciously before taking the paper and looking at it. The paper had a drawing of an Angalt heirloom, a butterfly ring. Below the drawing is some text that reads:
｢Aldmae Frur,
This is the ring we need you to locate and transport this ring back to the Angalts. We choose you because of your ability to locate ancient artefacts, we expect you’ll be able to find this ring. Word is that it’s been last seen in the catacombs of Blansade City. We expect you to complete this without fail. Should you need to contact any of us use the clear quartz ball given to you
-Kyazf｣
He looked at Hyal for a minute before saying. “I’ll take this into consideration, but you’re still under arrest. Take him away,” he waved his hand, signaling for the guards to grab Hyal and drag him away. He stood in the doorway for Hyalbtz’ room and sighed before looking at another guard. “Arrange for someone to take inventory of everything in here. We’ll need it before his property is distributed to his family.”
“Right away, my Grand Sire,” the guard said, saluting before walking off.
Her nodded before turning to Eilis. “Call a meeting with our guests please. I doubt we’ll get much information from this, but at least we can cover our bases.”
Eilis nodded. “It’s been arranged for after lunch today.”
“Thank you very much,” he said, tempted to hold his hand but refraining as some noble ladies walked past. Eilis smiled, holding a few of his fingers secretly after they were out of sight.

After a nice and light lunch, Garbone, Lennon, Havre, Jaryn, Ryo, Akae, and Gyala all convened back in the meeting room.
“Thank you all for coming back on sorry notice, but I have a couple things I feel should be discussed,” Gyala stated, shuffling some papers. “Firstly, Hyal of Slave Enforcement Services has been arrested for continuously interfering with the investigation. Thanks to Sir La’et’s investigation, he was able to determine that Hyal’s meddling messed up a stealth mission I had planned for Sir Frescae and his men to arrest members of the Symilf branch of the Yati Fae Guild,” he said as he moved his hair behind his ear, then continued:
“It’s been found that those specific members; Valerija Emile, Oli Peace, Lallie Martha, Luciano Diede, and Lukas Jüri, have been found guilty of murder of a number of humans just outside city walls. We can conclude they’re all working with the original murderer as they all used the same butterfly spell, and similarly, any ivierae associated with those nobles all disappeared.
Additionally, Sir Frescae has claimed to have seen a lich, though the knights with him say there was nothing there- that him being shot with a fear spell made him hallucinate the lich. I’m frankly likely to believe the knights, as there’s no proof that liches even exist. Zombies are one thing, though liches are rather different. The evidence it was a fear spell is evident, as he has the same markings young Garbone Benoist had when they were first kidnapped by Lennon. Does anyone have any questions so far?” He asked as he looked around the room. 
Jaryn raised his hand, to which Gyala called upon him. “What’s the difference between a lich and a zombie?”
“Well, liches are undead beings. They’re like zombies, but were once previously powerful mages who use magic to defy death. Zombies on the other hand, are knights specifically raised from the dead by Lady Merthicz herself so that they can continue fighting.”
Jaryn slowly blinked, regretting he asked that.
“Merthicz is certainly mysterious like that,” Gyala chuckled, recognising the confusion. “Anyways, onto the next topic; a letter that Hyal found. It’s addressed to Aldmae Frur from Kyazf. Does anyone recognise the ring drawn on the paper?” He asked, passing it around to everyone. 
Once it got to Cassius, he nodded. “I remember that ring. It’s Lord Angalt’s most prized possession- because the gems are extremely rare and only found in Hell. They hold great power, specifically when it comes to black magic.
“I see,” Gyala said, thinking.
“Can I see that letter?” Akae asked. Cassius passed it over to him, and he read it. A look of surprise plastered over his face. “I think we’ll need that ring. Good thing I have him detained at the Demon Embassy.”
“Oh you do? Fantastic, Eilis can you arrange to have him transported here? We’ll have Arkon interrogate him as well, see if he can give us any valuable information.”
“Hm.”
“What’s the matter?” He looked at Eilis.
“Aldmae escaped. I’m currently arranging to have guards search for him.”
Gyala sighed. “Thank you, Eilis. Wasn’t he one of the runaway slaves Hyal was always complaining about?”
“Yes, your Grand Sire.”
“See to it that after this whole crises ends Aldmae is safely escorted back to his original home please.”
“Of course.”
“Alright, at least that’s settled. I’ll have one of my Paladins in the meantime establish communication with the Angalt family, and check if any of them are compromised. Sir La’et, I’d like you to accompany the Benoists back to the embassy and guard them.”
Akae looked at him in surprise, but his tongue. “Yes, your Grand Sire. For how long?”
“Until the crisis is over. I don’t know what’s going on with missing ivierae, but I have a hunch the killers aren’t finished trying to mind control the Benoists. If they’re able to compromise Cassius it’ll be much more difficult to handle the situation.”
Akae simply nodded.
“Good. Does anyone have any questions before I close the meeting?”
“Hello? Is this the right place?” A young ivierae girl walked in, her cane leading the way.
Everyone looked at her, with Cassius and Garbone immediately recognising her.
“Ciaraidh? What’re you doing here?” Garbone asked.
“Uhm. That’s a great question. I hope I’m not interrupting anything, I uh, I just need to speak with Sir La’et,” she said nervously, gripping her cane tightly as she looked in the direction of Garbone speaking.
“Well, we were actually just about to end this meeting. Sir La’et, I don’t have any more meetings scheduled for today, so feel free to use this room to speak with her if you’d like,” Gyala said before facing the young girl. “You must be weary from your travel. Are you hungry at all?”
Ciaraidh walked over to the nearest chair to sit. “No thank you, I’m good. Just nervous is all. This is the furthest I’ve gone without my siblings.”
“I see. Well, if you’ll excuse us, we’ll leave you and Sir La’et to talk,” Gyala said, prompting everyone else to get up and leave.
As Cassius walked away he whispered to Akae “Ask her if she knows anything.”
“I was going to do that,” he whispered back before moving seats to sit closer to Ciaraidh.
“So, what’s on your mind little one? Is everything alright at home?”
“Oh yes! Everything’s fine,” she cracked a smile. “I just couldn’t wait to come officially meet you, I think I was a baby when you last visited the family. We figured out that you’re one of us!” She shouted happily. “You and Arkon.”
He paused as she said that, before blinking and shushing her as he heard people walking by. “I’m happy to hear that, but please don’t shout it out.”
“Why not? I know how much you miss your family!! Grandpa says so all the time.”
“The people here don’t know I’m an ivierae. Do you remember your grandpa ever telling you about how the people of this country enslaved ivierae?”
“Yeah, but that’s done away with.”
“By law it is, but the humans here still want us to be slaves. So until their opinions of us change, I just need to play pretend a little while longer. Promise you won’t tell anyone?”
“Anyone at all? Even grandpa’s friends?”
“Even them. Do you pinky promise?” 
“Mm, okay,” she extended her pinky, and Akae shook it with his pinky.
“It’s settled. Now, are you sure that was everything? Was anyone in the house acting oddly?”
A bead of sweat rolled down her cheek. “Everything’s fine! Promise.”
“Alright. Now, let me hug you! I’m so happy to be part of your family,” he said as the two