Whitewater Port

But the captured assailant suddenly fell silent, stating that he couldn't even if he wanted to...opening a mouth full of blood revealed a strange seal carved onto his tongue.

It took a closer look and a few fingers to keep the assailant's mouth open for Shynerai to understand what the formula on the magic seal was capable of doing. Having got all he could from them, he stepped away from him, calling Meira to the back of the vehicle to discuss everything they knew.

They try tried to put what little they knew together, everything they had on the Quest, noting that the request was sent by the town's mayor: Mayor Mikhall Ludleef, calling out the point that the request concerned a large number of people going missing at night, that the quest also carried an 'A' rank. 

Finally, the Nycerii in the area were mobilized by a Forsaken to prevent anyone from entering the Port.

The sudden involvement of a Forsaken could've meant that the severity of the Quest might have been understated by the mayor. All was speculation until they arrived.

Since Meira was here mainly as a proctor, she wasn't allowed to do anything for the participants...only being allowed to assess his performance and assist if requested.

It was stranger still when he could recall how much Meira was adamant that they rescue Konnor immediately. While he wouldn't have abandoned him, at the time, he was prioritizing the Quest and his duty to complete it.

'Maybe, there's more to being a hero than just duty.' Shynerai decided that they should first find a way to stop the kidnappings, then they can worry about the Forsaken.

"I thought your Quest was to investigate? You made that quite clear when you wanted to leave Konnor behind! Why would you go out of your way to do that?" Meira asked.

"Doesn't it even matter if he came to save me?" Konnor asked, trying to calm Meira.

"I understand your frustration, I don't really get why but I guess, because I don't like the idea of a hero that can't save anyone." He turned to Meira, asking if she could head with the assailant to meet Mayor Ludleef, hoping that she can find out more about what has been happening in the village. But before accepting, she questions him on what he'll be doing:

"I'm going to take a look through the town, hopefully there might be some clues that could help us make better sense of this Quest."

With their discussion complete, Konnor let them know that they have entered the town.

Considering the reputation the town had for being one of the busiest ports on the continent, it was plain to see the devastation that had come with the disappearances of its people.

In the past, Whitewater welcomed scholars from across the Glass Sea, ferrying passengers and goods between the Kingdoms of Falsetti, Rylev Rose and Amber Faltarien, but now most of the town was barred and barricaded. 

Heading past the town's gate from the hillside road, they were able to spot the derelict ships that sat walled up against the docks and moored onto the alabaster beach, in various states of decay and destruction, its former beauty was a washed with debris and scattered sails dragged along by the wind.

Managing to find a place to stop within the town square, Konnor pulled over the G.A.V, letting them off to pursue their different objectives with him offering to book them into one of the available inns.

With that, Meira made her way off to the Town Hall, with a bound and frightened stranger joining her...but she was surprised by what she found when she arrived there.

Seeing the entrance to the town hall barricaded with the windows boarded up.

Not wanting to scale the building to find a way in, she opted to break down the door...before turning around to seal the opening. Pulling out a vial from her pouch, she poured out the strange fluid that caused thick and dense foliage to sprout from the ground.

With the entrance closed up, she stepped into the hall only to be greeted at spear point by several armed albeit worn and injured individuals.

She asked them to calm down and that she was sent by Trinity Cross Academy to take care of their request. Merely hearing that assistance has been provided, the stout and unkempt mayor forced his way to the front of the group to greet her. 

"Took you lot long enough, with all the time you've wasted getting here, we could have long been saved from this mess" The figure pushed through the last of the townspeople.

"Oh, they've sent a child…what has happened to the Guardians of this generation. All right then, who are you, miss and why have you broken into my office?"

Though Meira found it difficult to hide her disdain at the sight of the man's sleazy behavior, she eventually swallowed her disgust and went on to explain why she was there.

On Shynerai's front, things began with an interesting turn as he spent his time analyzing the buildings and areas that were heavily afflicted by whatever attacked the village. His discovery occurred south of the square near the Fue'nay Shipment Houses. 

Having noticed that despite most of the buildings lying collapsed in heaps of rubble and crumpled cars littering the roads closest to the town's square, he couldn't seem to find much blood if any around as well as in the victim's homes…let alone a single body.

While the warehouses were well maintained and managed, the stood completely unoccupied

Further adding to the list unlinked clues as what also accompanied a lot of the damage were the teeth and claw marks he found everywhere there was devastation. From what he could tell, there weren't any natural predators that would match the carnage he witnessed, though the number of possible beasts roaming the town that could have torn through it only left him scratching his head in frustration.

Despite this, he continued this investigation. Noting down everything that seemed relevant, and ensuring nothing wasn't left to study. It was around the late afternoon when he decided to go searching for Meira and Konnor for lunch.

Returning to the town square, he managed to find Konnor resting in the G.A.V before waking with the prospect of finding a place to eat but not before they found Meira. So setting the location of the Town's Hall in his Notebook, they made their way down.

Once they got to town hall they were met by the sight of enormous growth covering the entirety of the entrance...leaving Shynerai thinking that it was the result of a spell by whatever has been causing trouble or maybe even the Forsaken themselves.

Wanting to find out exactly what was happening for himself, Shynerai began to call out to whoever was inside to show themselves...an act which became really embarrassing when an opening in the growth parted as Meira walked out and berated them both for making so much noise, with Konnor trying to protest to his innocence only give in against her wrath.

After the two were scolded, she introduced them to Mayor Ludleef.

With the three of them together she asked Shynerai if he managed to find anything that could help with the disappearances, but he tells her it will be easier if he explained his findings over lunch. All they had to do was pick a place. Something the once-again jovial Konnor was eager to suggest, a restaurant near their inn on the Western street from the Town Square.

But she stopped him mid-sentence, stating that there's something important that they have to know.

Mayor Ludleef walked towards the group and began to explain what exactly she meant:

"Young man…oh a Daumier, you're the one that's been investigating the disappearances and attacks that have been plaguing my town?"

"…Yes sir, we think there might be a link between what's been happening here and the people that attacked us while we were in the Nycerii territory but at the moment we don't have any idea what their goals or intentions are. Can you tell us anything about the people that were taken?"

"Well...for starters, it's been happening for almost a month now. Something has been hunting and stealing our people in the dead of night. Every night without fail, the creatures tear through the town looking for its next victims and..."

"A whole month…why didn't you send for help? From the north you could have gone to Aria, the Gardens of Mimis South-West from here, even the Divine Strait or the Sword Isles was an option–"

"We did ask for help, you half-breed child. When they first started, we sent out a request to the major cities nearby, all except the Divine Strait. But for some reason, no word ever came. No one came, by the time it had been happening every night….we were already cut off. Travelling out of the town was suicide."

"Mayor…are you serious right now–" Konnor stepped in after hearing Ludleef snide remark, startling the figure, though Meira held him back, with the shake of her head leading him not to do something he might regret.

"Hold on...you said steal…don't you mean attack. I saw the claw and bite marks riddled about but I couldn't make out the creature."

"Well yes, the victims were never seen being attacked, just dragged away...the only ones that managed to get hurt were those caught as they tried to flee but no one was harmed or killed...well except for the town guards"

"What do you mean...were they....?" Sighing heavily as though he was annoyed by the circumstance:

"Unfortunately, after the first few days of the kidnappings, I mobilized the guards to hunt down the creatures and retrieve all the missing citizens. But they were last seen heading to the ridge that overlooked the port, although there wasn't much up there except for the aged standing of the Coral Stone Chapel."

"That should have been mentioned, if they kept heading to the same place every night then we can follow them back to their nest.

A puzzled look befell Ludleef.

"If we're going to find out the source of all of this, we'll have to wait for them to come to us."

Meira voiced her thoughts on his comment:

"Wait, do you just want to wait for them to attack the town again? What happens if you can't protect what's left of the people? You'd potentially be adding more victims to the tally instead of hunting those pests down."

"Hopefully not. I'll head over to the Chapel before it gets dark, while you'll stay with the rest of the people. And Konnor, if things go wrong and I can't make it back in time, ready the G.A.V with as many as you can, then leave immediately, alright?"

"If I have to protect the town, that means you don't expect to return before dusk...just what do you expect to find up there?"

"If we're lucky, answers."

After their discussion with the mayor, they left for the restaurant 'Gift of the White Sea' to get some food. When they arrived Shynerai told them that they could go on ahead while he grabbed something from the G.A.V. 

Ten minutes later, he returned to the restaurant and joined them for lunch as he filled them in on what he had learned.

The group's continued discussion found no interruption aside from the occasional appearance of the kind waiters and needing no real reason for hushed tones since the place was almost deserted, even so, they took caution not to raise their voices as they spoke.

Shynerai expressed that Mayor Ludleef might have cleared up a lot about this Quest, mentioning the damage and tracks leading away from the town. He took some time to investigate the wildlife in the area nearby and found no predators using the area for shelter, confirming his suspicions of beasts being involved.

"Up until now, we were fighting crazed lunatics and freaky guys in cloaks, now we have monsters?" Konnor was a bit thrown off with what he was telling them.

Meira assured him that they would stop them, it's why they were here, looking at Shynerai as she spoke.

'It seems like there might be something worse than a monster involved, but until I get to the Chapel, I can't be certain' Shynerai thought to himself for a moment after hearing her words which made her take notice.

He continued to elaborate that the reason they came here was to investigate the strange disappearances that were happening in the town, and before arriving they were already ambushed by robbed figures and now it's possible that beasts could be responsible for kidnapping the townspeople.

She questioned him if he wanted to leave the Quest, wondering what his next move would be. He could tell what she was thinking from the look in her eyes. He reminded her that technically they did complete the quest's objectives.

The words of which caused her to slam the table in frustration.

Konnor seemed like he wanted to speak but he soon sat back down feeling far too out of place.

Shynerai remained firm, telling her once more, but this time he added that they weren't just here on the Quest that the mayor sent out, for now, that they now knew the town was being involved in a greater schema at someone else's hands and people's lives on the line, they came here as Guardians…and right now these people need him to be Hero.

Her expression eased along with her clenched fists after hearing that. Apologizing for her outburst and for worrying Konnor.

Feeling the air of tension having lessened, Konnor felt the capacity to ask how they planned on going forward.

With this Shynerai explained that he had a plan that could work, but they would have to split up again. Much to Konnor's dismay as he asked they had to. Meira and Konnor were briefed on their parts in the plan, though she couldn't help but stress a bit of uncertainty with involving Konnor in the fight.

But Konnor insisted that Shynerai allowed him to join, refusing to simply abandon them. He assured him that if he wanted to help, he would let him. The two smile in agreement, though Meira was incapable of shaking the looming feeling of dread brought on by the idea.

So she made him promise not to join in the fight, he could help but not as a part of the battle, something she stressed to the point of gaining immediate compliance from both of them.

Once they finished going over the plan, Shynerai reminded of one crucial rule,

"If things go wrong, get everyone back to safety and call for help. I've left something in the G.A.V that should make it possible."

They were a little confused by this statement but he warned them that there wasn't much time and that the beasts would be coming soon...but just as he finished–

The windows of the inn shattered violently as harsh and gaunt figures leapt through and inside. Stalking the place and crashing through the furniture, the waiting staff hid behind the bar while the rest managed to run out the backdoor. Seeing the group at the table, the pack of shadowy dog-like beasts surrounded them.

"Damn it, I really hope I'm wrong but…it looks like we're dealing with a necromancer."

"Wait…how? Where would one even come from?" Konnor blurted in a panic all the while using one of the chairs to keep the beasts at bay.

"The Vulpins right? grave-robbing slaves summoned by all dealers of the dead" Meira commented as she rushed over to the bar before kicking one of the beasts into a table…

Shynerai nodded with a worried look as a bead of sweat started to form on his brow as he watched Meira lead the rest of the staff out of the restaurant from the back

"On three, I want you to take Konnor and make a break for the G.A.V, and head to the Town Hall, I'll catch up.

And remember when you're there, focus on protecting the people, that's all. We won't win this fight if any more hostages are involved."

Meira was all for it and before Konnor could ask how they planned on leaving, she jumped back out from the bar and flipped one of the tables, kicking it in two of the rabid beasts knocking them to the side with one of them breaking through the entrance. 

In their confusion, she grabbed Konnor by the hand and dashed out of the opening, with the panicking manic in hand.

The rest of the Vulpins took the chance to attack as they leapt towards them, but the eruption of a blinding emerald light knocked them all away…with a green flash Shynerai appeared before them, blocking the exit.

They tried to get back up and started surrounding him, but he didn't have much time, and so with that moment, all three of the beasts were sent flying out of the building, collapsing the roof as Shynerai raced for the G.A.V, knocking on the door and asking them to let him in

Entering the transport, the green light faded as the wisps unraveled from his body, leaving him fairly worn as he tried to catch his breath, something Meira couldn't help noticing but he quickly assured her that he'll be fine.

"I know you're not gonna want to hear this, but Meira…I still need to head to the Chapel, something's going on, and we need to find out why" Managing to word his next decision through heavy breathing and a look of distress even though he was having trouble hiding.

"Shynerai—Erai? Look at me, what's happening to you?"