The large city of the Metalist was divided into a few sectors. At the center of it, the tall castle of the Metalist king stood above them all. Despite the size, it's design, form and the materials used were unassuming or the kind that the populace would use. The four other main sectors were divided into the four cardinals.

The north was the military sector, where the army resided, trained and the usable battlegears were stocked.

The south, it was the main locations of the industries and well diversified. From the civilian factories to the military ones. Those were divided by the color of those industries. Blue for the civilians and black for the military.

East and West were divided into two groups that were mix together. It was the residential and the more brain focused part of the city, as that subgroup never got a real name to it.

Outside of the city were filled with farms and villages who served as the main provider for the city.

Hidden outside of the city, was a base where a group, traitorous to king Titanium, but loyal to their tribe hid.

Those who couldn't let go of the past and had their heart still yearned for vengeance against the humans who exiled them from the Cothica and humiliated them by overcoming the metalist. They still held a belief, that the they were superior to the humans.

Chapter 42: The Hunt Began

One metalist calmly walked outside of the city with a long red cloak to cover his body from the rain that felt from the sky. The hood also hid the feature of his head. The red color made him more visible to the other citizens who wandered during the raining day.

The creature took his time, but he felt under his metal skin the desire to rush and quickly announce something to his brethren. Still, he needed to act normal. He wouldn't want those who were loyal to the mad king Titanium to notice him.

He eventually gazed around. He noticed that there were no civilians anymore and he could act more freely. He took the direction of the tall hill. It was his rendezvous point with the others. He had something extremely important to tell his brethren. They had a chance to get what they wanted.

He reached the hill and looked around. They were many trees that grew around the hill, allowing to hide a few things that surrounded that hill. He approached the side of the hill and put his hand on it. He searched for a little bit of rock that was larger than the rest. He quickly found it and pressed on it. A secret passage revealed itself.

A large chunk of rock moved, revealing the entrance into the hill. He walked in there as it quickly closed behind him. He walked in the darkness of the cavern. It wasn't long before he reached a larger area. It was a small town, hidden from the view of the king. The creature went forward. He saw the largest structure and entered in there.

He saw that one of them sat on a large chair and was discussing with three other Metalists. They were around a large table with a map and a few tools, "We still have no idea why Titanium is suddenly reclusive and greatly reduce the entrance of the citizens," he grumbled in frustration.

The one who complained was the leader of the group. He was a being made of living metal. His body was white except for his red hands, his red foot and his blue waste. He had pale green eyes with a hint of yellow in the center of it. He was bigger and taller than the others, but it was nothing compared to Titanium. Still, he showed that he was powerful and someone enemies should fear.

The Metalist noticed the new comer, "Come observer, I do hope you have something important to report. We have little for a while."

"I have come with some good news. I managed to get in the castle as one of their servants," he shickered. He raised his head and watched the expression of his superior. He couldn't see any change, but he noticed a smirk on the face of his master, "I figured out why the security suddenly increased and there is a stricter surveillance. Nothing about someone trying to murder Titanium. Which means there is something else," he put his hand on his chest, "He brought three humans in his castle," he was about to spoke more, but couldn't as a voice was stronger than his own.

"Humans?" the master growled hatefully. He clenched his hands at the thought of human being on the island and alive, "And the king just let them alive there? We have enough trouble with the humans showing up around Perim and without their real body," he punched the table which he used for something, "That fool! The humans are the ones who sent us to exile and he lets them into his castle. He is kneeling to those… those shortspan!"

"Calm down White Iron. The humans surely are players of that stupid game and it's just their code."

The spy found the opportunity to speak once more. He had much more to tell, "No. I found more. Much more than you think."

"Then tell us," his master known as White Iron ordered.

"Yes master. I found out that the humans didn't come here on their own volition. That fool Titanium kidnapped them from the Cothica and keep them in his castle. I do not know why, but he surely has something in his mind."

"He… He returned to the Cothica? How?" his master asked in disbelief.

"It seems that there is much more that we don't know. Titanium managed to return to the Cothica. Only to get a few humans in his castle alive and well," someone by the side of White Iron commented. The metalist crossed his arms and grumbled, "I don't like this. We might know about those humans, but the simple fact that the fool managed to return to our world, where we belong and just snatch some humans. He could have retaken the world already and enslave those humans once more," he grunted as he thought more.

"And how did he came to the Cothica? A battlegear surely was created," another one muttered as he searched for an answer in his mind. He couldn't find out what kind of battlegear it was.

They had a disadvantage against king Titanium when it came to intel. They weren't that numerous and they didn't have any transportation to go beyond the island.

White Iron grunted as he tapped the table with his finger as he thought about that possibility. He closed his eyes for a few seconds, "We will find an answer eventually. I can only guess a battlegear or a portal was used. Less about the portal, since most of them are surely closed by those Elementalists," he focused on what they had at hand, "As for those three humans, what can you tell me about them?"

"They didn't leave the castle yet, as Titanium knows we might try something against them," one of them said.

The other one commented, "And inside the castle," he glanced at his master, "It wouldn't be a good idea to strike in there and kill those humans. We will only get massacre by the guards, at best. Jailed and tortured at worse. I advise that we either avoided killing the humans until we get an opportunity, or capture one of them to get more information's when they are outside of the castle and in a vulnerable position."

White Iron frowned as he heard that suggestion. He had no counter arguments and relented, "Fine. We won't barge in or infiltrate the castle to kill those damn humans. It would have been the first. Those three humans are surely poisoning more the minds of our kind. We are ABOVE the humans, not under them!" he punched the table again.

The spy bowed, "I have one other thing to tell you. It is important that I share it."

"What is it?"

"I'm sure you are already aware of this, but Titanium is actively hunting for us. He knows about you and a few of us, but he doesn't know of this location. His squadron managed to capture three of us since the humans showed up," he put his hand on his metallic chest as he concluded his last message.

"We might need to move to another location," one of them suggested their master, "Master. You cannot be capture by Titanium. If he gets you, then it's over. We can consider that the humans won if you are under his grasp."

"I know. We will consider that. I will never let those idiots who kneeled down the humans and 'accept their punishment'. They are weak-minded," White Iron declared as he turned around, "You are dismissed. Continue observing them. I want a description of those humans and also a few clues as to how to capture them. We will make them talk before we kill them. I intend to make them scream," he chuckled.

None of them commented on his more sadistic part. They all agreed that they would like to hear those accursed humans suffered for what they did to their kind.

AC: This is the end of this chapter. It's shorter than the others as I have nothing else to write about.

Next chapter will come out at 14 January 2024. I'll take a two-week vacation from work and this story.

Next: A Bit Of Metalist Lore.

Peyton and his parents learned a bit of the history of the Metalist since they lived on Perim.