report

(Read the author note, please.)

While Alex was running through the forest, the group of three lead their horses through the wood, back to the settlement before immediatly set off for Orario, and it two hours long ride.

By the time they rejoin the walls surrounding the city, the sun was about to vanish behind the horizon. Left immediatly in after being recognised, they rode further, till the guild building at the centre of the city.

Entering and dismounting the barrack, behind the building, Driti walked to it for his report while the girls started unfastening their luggage.

Knowing where to found the man at the hour of the day, Driti entered the staff area, serving as an office. Founding Rehmer was a simple task; announcing what happens wouldn't.

Clearing his throat to attract the attention of the chienthrope pouring over a stack of documents, Driti stood.

Raising his head at the sound, already having heard the person coming, Rehmer narrowed his eyes at the presence of Driti, not liking what it was implying.

"We have an emergency, sire, and Lady Gaia and lady Athena presence may need." Say him nervously.

As goddess overlooking the guild, those two entities had a tight schedule, for something to need their presence told Rehmer that the problem was worst. While the situation could say to only concern Athena, Gaia, as the head of the guild affairs, needed to be warned.

He immediatly raises from his chair.

"Follow me." Simply said him, while briskly making his way out.

~~~

Driti was immediatly led to the building's underground floor, the personal quarter of Gaia, while a messenger departs, warning Athena.

Knocking on the only doors at the last staircase's end, and wait until open from the inside. Those doors were highly sought commodities. Made with only a set of handle for inside, they represented the highest security money could afford. This was all thought to a cleaver little enchantment. One would simply need to register his magic or divinity on the blank enchanted slate on the outside. From there, only the one registered would be able to open them from the outside. This had the benefit of barring anyone entry and easy assassination attempts.

~~~

After a good twenty seconds, the male heard the 'klick' of the handle on the other side, and the door opens.

Behind the door stood a woman. Her thick and lustrous earthly brown hair was framing a delicate face. Gaia was a relatively small woman, barely taller than a metre sixty with a motherly aura and body. While deprived of outstanding curves, her body exuded a warmness to ease anyone in her proximity, like a mother embrace.

Gaia looks inquisitively at the two standing in front of her door; her large brown eyes rapidly flicker from Rehmer to behind him.

From the stair appears a brunette draped in a white toga. The woman blue eyes immediatly fell on Driti back, feeling the connection to one of her children.

"Athena? Is there something wrong?" Asked her, surprised by the appearance of her fellow goddess.

"I think there is." say Athena." And useless I'm wrong, it had to do with the team send at Tiris." SAid her while pursing her lips, knowing that something wasn't right for them to be already back, and Driti appears in place of Liam.

"Then, it would be better to process in a more private space, do came in." Invited Gaia.

~~~

Entering the private quarters of the goddess, the group of four found themselves in a cosy place. The room was small, only a good twenty metres square, and had nothing but a small fireplace, some crouch and seat around a table.

Gaia commonly used this place to receive guest, or member of her Familia, without impeding her quarter, serving more as a boundary between them and the guild.

"Driti, what happens to the party send to Tiris? Why are you already back?" Immediatly asked Athena.

Bitting his lips, the scout faced his goddess shamefully.

"Liam and Syona are death." Saud him in a small voice, drawing some gasp from the two goddesses and his complete attention from Rehmer. Not willing to be blamed for any overseeing, he started with the start. "On your order, we departed Orario eight days before. As we weren't given express order to found the missing party, we managed the horses, needing around four hours to arrive. Once in the settlement, the villager told us that the party hadn't been sighted since it departed to explore the surrounding forest.

Not long after our arrival, we started to look for a clue in the surrounding. During the seven first days, we found nothing. It was only this evening of the seventh days that we witnessed large smoke volutes raising from the east. We feared a forest fire at first, but they kept to the same place and the relatively same quantity. Unwilling to risks it, we waited to the following morning before making our way to their origin." Said him, keeping his voice under control until then. His brief pause warned the other three that the following wasn't pleasant.

"After arriving at the place, we discovered a large rock formation, a few hundred metres from the foot of the mountain. The smoke had lessened, and before we could explore the place, he appears." Said him, his voice briefly hitched at the memory of the young they faced. He continued, collecting his spirits, unaware of his body light shaking, not missed by the others.

"We had been warned that a young therianthrope, the one who warned the settlement, was still behind." The single sentence immediatly made Athena groan, knowing full well Liam character, while Rehmer brisked too, knowing the man.

"At first, Liam seems able to kept his racist behaviour under control, presenting ourselves while the young responded until Liam slipped."

~~~

Driti word confirmed to Athena that Liam had once again been a disturbing element, unable to socialize other than humans.

"The problem was that unlike in Orario, the young therianthrope didn't seem to have any knowledge of the guild or us and didn't hesitate to react to Liam barely veiled racism badly. While he showed restrain and possibly reacted instinctively at the aggression, he reins himself and diffuses the situation."

Driti comment made Rehmer momently smirk, knowing it must have sting Liam pride that those so-called 'savages' were more sociable than him. On the other hand, Athena could clearly see where it was leading and didn't like it at all.

"He explains to us that he was the one responsible for a large amount of smoke produced the previous day, just coming back for raiding a large force of goblins."

"How large?" Immediatly cut Rehmer, knowing that, even if the event had already happened, his years of work forced him to gather all information to judge the situation correctly.

"At the time, he only say a couple of hundreds. Not seeming to understand that an un-blessed couldn't face such force without injuries, much less in an enclosed place." Say Driti, directly looking at both goddesses. As he expected, both sported disbelieving impression, glimpsing at Rehmer, he winced at the dark face of the chienthrope.

"He couldn't bear it, was it? That a 'lesser creature' could have such potential." Spatted him, receiving a weak nod from Driti.

While it wasn't uncommon that therianthrope was sometimes more gifted than others, it was scarce, more so for someone as young as the two goddesses thought Alex was.

~~~

"As you said, Liam couldn't bear it and tried to direct the conversation on our task, wanting to force him helping us."

"Does he have no shame?! Forcing an un-blessed child to follow. Not only the poor boy had no ties with the guild, but he also is free!" Exclaimed Gaia, positively angry at Liam behaviour. "It's time you clean your house, Athena; we can't have this type of people representing the guild. It could be a catastrophic result!"

Said goddess wince a little at the ire of her fellow goddess but know she was right. Turning back to Driti, after nodding decisively at Gaia, she said kindly.

"Please continue."

Nodding back at his goddess, Driti did just so.

"As we could have expected, the young immediatly refused for the same reason, before telling us that our targets were already dead." On the side, all three had to restrain themselves from asking how, knowing it would perturb the report.

"This turned to be the last straw, and Liam snapped and shouted, surely thinking something along the line that he would cower and roll along."

"But he didn't." Barely whispered Rehmer, clamping hard on his anger.

"But he didn't, "confirmed Driti. "After delivering a scathing comment on us, forgetting that it was those outside the wall that kept the adventurers alive. Them being true heroes for him, and not the posturing braggart roaming the dungeon, Liam crossed the line when he heard Isis weep."

~~~

For Athena, having a good grasp on the emotional situation undergoing in her Familia, this was all she needs.

"Liam was the first to tries on go for his blade," said Driti, lowering his head in shame at the attitude of his past leader.

"Drawing your weapons against un-blessed is a crime!" Immediatly shouted Athena, standing on her feet. "As a member of my Familia, he could not no know it! Were his he, Driti were is Liam?! The last time he sullies our Familia image, but to think he would break the laws? While bearing my blessing?!"

"He's dead." The barely higher whispers made all the three snap back at Driti after Athena outburst.

"What?" Asked her, completely lost at the notion.

"Are you telling us than an un-blessed child was able to kill a mid-rank Level 2 adventurer on its own?" Asked seriously, Rehmer. 'This is a disaster; if this were known, the blow it would do the guild is unfathomable. One of our own, charged with protecting the commons, breaking the law before being killed by the one he offended? The Familias would feast on our corpse.' Darkly though, Rehmer, his brain already in full throttle, trying to think of a solution.

"And Syona, after she attempted to kill him for that. I have never seen someone react like this before. He was even faster than elves with his bow!"

On the side, the two goddesses were thrown so far out of the loop it wasn't funny, and even then, it wasn't the worst.

Sighing, Rehmer given the last blow." It not the worst. Eina had great hope of making this young therianthrope join the guild; after what happened today, I fear it will never happen."

"While losing such valuable is sure a shame, but surely, it couldn't be that bad, right?" Asked Gaia to her Familia member. Rehmer shook his head.

"You don't understand, lady Gaia. The young isn't even a youngling, but a child! From Eina report, he just became fifteen the day of the attack, barely three weeks before! Do you understand what it means? He is far from his peak and was already able to contend with top-class Level 1 adventurer! By the time he is twenty, it wouldn't be far-fetched to think he would no be worst than a mid-level 2! Lossing such a young to any other Familia is just a disaster in the making; with Liam action, he could even reveal what had happened for pure spite!"