Chapter 9: Chain of Events

" Ah, the prodigal swordman returns. I must say, I haven't seen you in a while, Azaroth, ever since you left my place without any prior notice. A little miffed, but I assure you that I understand perfectly why you have to do it. Sit, please sit down," Tryhayren spoke to them in the same voice she used to greet Azaroth when she first met him. It felt as if he had never left. Snapping her fingers at once, a young girl by her side bowed and left towards the back portion to predictably get them some refreshments in the form of drinks.

" Well, a lot of things came up," Azaroth replied.

" Part of the army now, I see. Not here to cause trouble, are you, Azaroth?" Tryhayren asked casually.

" Not if I can help it," Azaroth replied. The girl returned with a tray of drinks in her hand, and Grimjaw picked a glass without looking, taking the entire drink in one gulp. Azaroth randomly picked one, only to realize this one had a very strong alcoholic smell. Believing this was a wrong choice, and wanting to change drinks, he found himself unable to as the girl had already left.

" So now, what business does a army official and his motley crew stationed all around Morroc want with me?" Tryhayren asked.

" …You don't seem to be bothering with the small talk," Grimjaw replied in an odd tone.

" Come now Grimjaw. You leave Morroc for a short period of time, only to return with a worried, anxious expression on your face and your good friend who is from the army. It doesn't need an ounce of my sixth sense to tell me that something is critically wrong, and the reason why you and your friend have come here is to ask for help, not to ask me what I need of you next. Now Grimjaw, I'm a fair employer, especially to my best employee," Tryhayren spoke casually, but with an odd seriousness dripping from her tone. " What do you need, Grimjaw?"

" Do you know where Treiken Varosious is? I believe he might be in Morroc," Grimjaw replied.

" I expect some payment for this information," Tryhayren replied.

" We'll see what we can offer," Azaroth replied.

" Azaroth, you should know that when I ask for a method of payment, especially from Grimjaw, it's always within his boundary to pay for it," Tryhayren replied, taking a sip of her drink, which was on her desk. She leaned forward and suddenly whispered. " I want you to kill him, painfully, if you can possibly do so, Grimjaw. Now, as for his location, he's on the Third Street on the East side, up on the 14th house on the right. No way you can miss that."

-

" I'm not sure what he does, Mister T, but that man you speak off goes in and out of that house a few times. I saw him, along with a ragtag bunch of people. He stays there," the thief spoke. Tryzen and Sapphire looked out at the place the thief had pointed to. It was just a simple house, as like the rest of the Morrocan houses that littered the area. Few people could be seen wandering around the area, and Tryzen was almost sure that they were there to guard the place.

" Good boy, here's a tip," Tryzen said, flicking him another zenny coin. The thief's features lighted up as he caught the coin. " Now, things are going to get a little hairy here, so it's best if you make yourself scarce." The boy obeyed at once. It took him 4 seconds to leave the area and another 4 seconds to make his presence disappear from the place.

" So, what do we do now?"Sapphire asked. It was quite obvious they could not storm in the place without making a fuss, and attention is something they did not need right now. However, they probably needed to make sure about things.

" Leave this to me," Tryzen said, stepping out into the streets and walking towards the house.

-

" This bar sucks," Vermillion muttered under her breath. " I hate this cheap distilled wine they are serving. It cheap for a cup of alcohol, but it sucks nonetheless."

Semilia didn't really answer, but sip her cup quietly while her eyes quickly scanned the entire area all over again. They were not too sure where exactly to start the search, so they decided to do it manually, going to the taverns one by one to look for Treiken, or any word that was spoken about him. Her sharp eyes scanned the room slowly for any signs of Treiken. It was an almost futile search, but still they had to try. They didn't dare talk with anyone, since they were foreign, and they were unlikely to obtain any information and cause some attention to fall to them.

Vermillion wasn't really looking around the tavern. Her thoughts were still focused on Semilia's comments on Serene. Perhaps it wasn't odd that she could have guess it was Serene. Elves lived in a tight community, or so she heard, and even 'domesticated' ones still kept in contact with the rest of them. Perhaps Semilia knew Serene, or guessed that she had been missing, and just blurted out an answer that might have been obviously obvious to her.

Coincidences don't happen often though, not in Vermillion's life that is.

" Are we done?" Vermillion asked.

Semilia merely sighed. There was no sight of the man they were hunting. She was getting tired of this, but she knew she had a duty to accomplish, and she had to see it through. At least the cynical and wiry remarks of this monk kept her company. Semilia felt odd, this was the first time she appreciated some human's company, even if she was…

" Yes, he's not here," Semilia said.

They dropped their glasses on the bar and started to leave. Vermillion pushed past the wooden door, forcing a man to step aside as she barged out of the place. Semilia followed her closely, before noticing the robes the man had on him. As the door closed, Vermillion stopped walking when she saw Semilia staring at the door of the tavern, looking very surprised.

-

" We've been walking around for a while now, but so far, not good," Teranis replied as she surveyed the entire area. Iris was busy trying to keep people at bay as she slithered along the road. Teranis yawned slightly, which surprised herself, She was tired and bored of this desert city enough to yawn. Iris caught Teranis's actions, but didn't comment upon it. However, her face light up all of a sudden.

" Hey, isn't that the wizard...what's his name...Tryzen...what's he doing walking towards that house?" Iris replied all of a sudden.

-

" What?" Vermillion exclaimed.

" I saw him...Treiken just entered the bar," Semilia replied.

This was an unexpected turn of events. Their target had all of a sudden appeared in the middle of a tavern, casually strolling into a bar. The idea itself was just too much to imagine, and with that, they stood in the middle of the street, unsure of what to do. Vermillion broke the silence by slamming her fists together loudly, her knuckles crackling under the pressure she applied.

" Perfect...I want to teach him a lesson," she snarled.

However, before either of them could do anything, a familiar figure of a rogue ran right past them. Grimjaw ran past them at top speed, not even bothering with them, although maybe it was due to the speed he was running at that he was incapable of seeing them. He wasn't alone, however. Right behind him, eight other people were right behind his back.

" What the hell is going on in this place?!" Vermillion exclaimed. All the activity that was happening all at once was just too much for her to take. Semilia whipped out her bow and Vermillion readied herself in a fighting stance as the pursuers closed in.

-

Things happened so fast within the next few seconds, Azaroth somehow wondered why he couldn't react to them earlier. A minute ago, he was in Tryhayren's office. Right now, he was running at top speed in Morroc, most likely attracting the attention of all the people present and this was probably the reaosn why he felt he had people chasing him from behind.

The minute Grimjaw heard Tryhayren speak, he dashed out of the door, his weapons in his hands in an instant. He flew out the door so fast Azaroth wasn't even sure what happened. When Azaroth came to his senses, and realised that Grimjaw was rushing foolishly rushing towards where Treiken was located. He had not expected Grimjaw to react as such. His actions, although may bring a quick solution, will bring too much attention toward them.

" Fuck!" was the only thing Azaroth could muster to say as he tore after Grimjaw, 10 seconds behind him.

Azaroth was a fast runner, but his speed could not keep up with Grimjaw, especially when his concern for his sister was blinding him to act so rashly. He didn't expect it to spiral so fast out of control. Perhaps bringing Grimjaw along was a bad idea, no matter how important he was to Azaroth and the person that was invovled. Grimjaw entered the edges of the city just as Azaroth exited Tryhayren's dune.

Azaroth knew he could not afford to lose Grimjaw. He was still unfamiliar with the streets, and there was no way with the instructions Tryhayren gave he could ever figure out a way to get to the destination. But it was a futile attempt. As soon as he entered the city limits, Grimjaw was nowhere in sight, and there was a lot of unwanted attention being directed to him as the people around him looked at him and whispered to one another.

Azaroth knew Grimjaw will draw too much attention now, and with that, the rest of them were at risk. The entire plan was ruined and they needed to get out right now. Azaroth dug through his pouch and took out a small cylindrical object. It was one of the flares Melanie had given to all of them when they entered the city. Just in case there was any emergency, pulling the flare will get Melanie to step in, provide some support, and hopefully with the help of warp portals, get out unharmed.

Azaroth aimed upwards and pulled the base, but the flare didn't ignite. Azaroth cursed as he tried to loosen the cap on top that held the thing too tightly. Try as he might, the flare's cap was just too hard for him to loosen. He gave it one last tug, and all of a sudden, it burst open. However, at that time, the flare was accidentally pointed to the ground. It went off, and shot his leg. He leaped around as the fire of the flare sizzled on his leg as he attempted to kick it off.

" This is getting from bad to worse," Azaroth muttered.

-

" Tryzen..." Teranis whispered to him as he walked across the street. Tryzen paused as he saw Teranis and Iris coming up to him.

" Hmm, you two..." he muttered.

" I thought you were not supposed to be checking this side of the city. What's with the break of formation?" Iris asked. Tryzen glared at her slightly. It was surprising to find that a creature like her was so analytical about such things, although Tryzen reminded himself that he shouldn't really underestimate these creatures intellect. Sapphire came up when the arrived, and the four of them united for a while.

" My sources tell me that Treiken is in, or has been in this house," Tryzen said, nudging his head to the side.

" Really now? So, what do we do about it?" Teranis asked.

A sudden noise interrupted them all of a sudden. Looking up towards the rooftops, they suddenly saw Grimjaw running a top speed towards the stated building. With one swift jump, he leaped from the rooftop and flew in a sharp arc that sent him smashing through one of the windows, showering them with shards of glass. They raised their hands instinctively to guard themselves minimally from the broken pieces of glass.

" What the hell is Grimjaw thinking?!" Teranis exclaimed.

Tryzen carefully scanned the streets. Right now, people started to emerge at all corners. Grimjaw's actions had drawn too much attention. People probably associated with Treiken. He was with a band of rogues and bandits when he attacked Selene's troop. There was no reason to not believe that they were not around.

" Well, I was planning to check the house a little bit, but it looks like we have a problems on our hands," Tryzen said. " Light your flares."

-

" You know, if you are going to stay any longer in the sun, you might get a stroke, Melanie. Now, why don't you get down and stay in the shade before you turn yourself a darker shade of brown, eh?" Flick suggested. Melanie decided to ignore him. He could be quite persistent in asking her to do things, and it was the third time he had been asking. " It's not like they are going to light a flare anytime soon."

" Just shut up and let her be, won't you?" Camelia reprimanded her comrade.

" Just making a point," Flick replied.

Melanie didn't reply and merely kept her eyes trained on the horizon for any signs of absolutely anything. She took a long sip from her canteen, and returned her attention towards the city. All the voices she heard below her were insignificant.

" Guys, don't waste your energy anymore with some pointless arguing. Let's conserve it for the time when we need to use it, alright?" Selene asked.

" Yeah, listen to the priestess at least if you don't vaguely listen to me," Melanie replied, only to see five flares go up into the air almost simultaneously.