Igni and his companions briefly stopped at the end of a street, waiting for some pedestrians to pass between them and a small, somewhat isolated tavern at the bare intersection. He crouched on a branch in the low canopy of a tree, his arms resting comfortably on his thighs and his smile pleasant as he waited.

“Why are we waiting?” Qora demanded. “We can just go by them.”

“’Cause I want to.”

She huffed and suddenly sped out of the verdant. Before he could get a word to her, she appeared before the citizens with her dagger raised.

His eyes widened. “Qo—”

The poor people didn’t have so much as a chance to truly register what happened before their throats or bodies were sliced by a sharp blade. With a hiss, Igni watched the Gnat reappear from using jūryovā in the street, chuckling at her handiwork.

She licked her blade with a delighted chuckle. “There, darī. We can go n—”

Igni appeared before her and his hand darted out to meet her cheek. The woman’s mask flew off, her upper body snapped violently to the side, and she stumbled before falling to the ground.

Crouching, Igni grabbed her face and turned it to look her in the eye. “Why’d ya do that?” he demanded, a deep rattling sound in his throat. He pointed to one of the bodies she had slain. It was a child.

“Oh,” she whispered, lime eyes wide with fear and potent shock.

“Yeah. ‘Oh’.” He released her, moving to stand and slip his hands into his sleeves. “‘F I see ya kill another kid, somethin’ real bad-like’s gonna happen to ya,” he said in a low, even voice. The rattling was still prevalent in his throat.

Rubbing her cheek, which had turned a violent red and started bleeding, she slowly, soberly nodded.

Turning away, he saw Zakir and ’Aras weren’t looking in his direction. ’Aras glared at Qora and Zakir merely sighed while shaking his head, looking at the tavern.

“We’re lucky no one saw that,” the Sloth said softly.

Igni continued hissing, passing his companions to continue leading them. He pointedly kept his eyes off of the slain civilians.

He entered a small garden-like area with trees, shrubs, and a pond a few measures from the tavern. A person wearing a mouse mask was sitting on a bench within the semi-enclosed space by large shrubs and dim lantern light.

When the woman saw them, she smiled and removed her mask. “It’s been a while since I saw you, Igni, Zakir, ’Aras.” Her eyes narrowed. “And Qora.”

The Mouse didn’t comment on Qora’s wound, and the Gnat herself was still in a state of shock; Igni’s tongue briefly slithered out to confirm it. He ignored her, moving to stand near the bench as he positioned his mask so it showed his blindfolded face. Zakir and ’Aras also stood around while Qora didn’t move deep into the area. She kept glancing tentatively at Igni.

“What’cha got?” Igni asked the Mouse.

“The indrahti who attacked the Gukui likely aren’t terrorists,” she said, making his eyebrow rise. Upon seeing his expression, she nodded and crossed her legs atop the bench. “The Isrid Division inspected a mask left behind by one of them. It revealed something rather strange. It would seem that these Gukui indrahti are using less refined materials than the usual terrorists. That means less resources, which means, possibly, a less organized group. None of the other indrahti since today’s attack in the Gukui have used such materials.”

“How many are there, again?” Zakir asked, arms folding.

“Three.”

“Just three...Has it been confirmed they started the attack in the Gukui?”

“No. The investigation is still ongoing.” Recen glanced between them. “Unfortunately, I don’t have much else because of that.”

“S’good enough,” Igni said with a nod.

“Ah, however.” Recen leaned back. “Someone named Khabir Wuan joined the Faifeleth Dojyao a few weeks ago.”

“Wuan?” Zakir and ’Aras chorused.

Igni’s head slightly tilted to the side. “’S’in…”

“Yes. He seems to be Ruqaiya Wuan’s younger brother.” Recen closed her eyes. “We don’t know why he joined…but we’re certain he is looking for someone.”

“We?” Igni asked.

She nodded. “Several other captains and myself.”

“Still gonna let ’im in?”

“Don’t see why not. We will be keeping a close eye on him.”

“Interestin’.” Igni shifted, moving his mask back over his face. “Thanks ya. Keep us informed, yeah?”

She nodded, taking up her own mask. “Will do…oh…” Her expression changed upon seeing something behind him.

He sensed the approach of the new individual as well, and he glanced over his shoulder to see a tall boy with the mask of a toad appear out of a run with jūryovā.

“Oh, good! I found you.” The Toad, Taquir, removed his mask as he approached, revealing glowing lime green eyes framed by long light brown hair. “I got news from Ignakō.”

As he stepped into the space, Igni tilted his head to the side. “The Bat? What’s ’e up to?”

Taquir’s expression became grave, and he briefly nodded at Recen before explaining, “Several members of his bunkal, as well as several units from the 4th and 5th Bunkali, were deployed at the Dala Vīksok today. He barely got his message to me before leaving.”

Igni frowned, as did his other companions. “That’s real far,” he murmured, looking off into the direction of the marsh towards the southwest of the plane. There would be only one reason to deploy three brackets to the Dala Outpost. And he didn’t like it.

“The śabh?” Zakir asked, echoing Igni’s thoughts.

Taquir nodded, lips pursed. “They’ve become bolder.”

As Zakir’s expression worsened, ’Aras sucked his teeth and crossed his arms. “What’re we going to do, Igni?”

Looking back at Taquir, Igni nudged his head towards him. “Yer comin’ with us, fer one. We was gonna look fer ya anyways.”

“Alright,” the boy said with a nod.

“As fer Ignakō…‘Is situation brings bad mem’ries an’ we ain’t want no repeat of fifty-two years ’go.”

Five heads of brown hair bobbed in easy agreement.

“Recen, yer gonna ’ave to take o’er Ignakō’s job fer now, yeah?”

The older woman nodded firmly. “Understood.”

“We’re gonna go back ‘ome, then, but I’ll visit th’ ol’ Bat to get ‘is side o’ things.” Igni moved his hand out to the side, pushing the air to create a portal. He beckoned for his companions to follow, but not before waving amiably toward Recen. “See ya, Mouse. Be—”

He froze, a strangely foreign yet entirely familiar sensation rippling through his consciousness.

“Igni?”

“Darī…?”

He barely heard ’Aras and Qora’s words, swaying briefly on his feet before planting himself firmly. He spun around. “Y’all go in without me,” he said, passing through them. “I’ll be back.”

’Aras came to his side. “Wait, Igni, what h—?”

Igni’s surroundings changed, cutting off his companion’s words. The moment everything faded back to reality, his nostrils twitched at the heady scent of death around him.

He could have licked the air clean of the scent of blood from its potency. His tongue flicked out as he slowly tread over debris of wood and blood-soaked grass, unseen eyes scanning the sight before him with a thin-lipped expression.

He found himself in a ruined village, several houses burning with pyromantic fire that clouded the already dark sky with black smoke. Bodies, burnt, sliced, and bleeding, decorated the ground along the village paths at every turn of his head. Such ruin and destruction prevented him from even guessing where he was.

Undoubtedly, this was from an indrahti terrorist attack, but that didn’t bring him here. Something else happened before he arrived, something he didn’t even know could happen—or what it was.

But here he was.

He reached out with his senses, using them and his tongue for the scent of a survivor. There had to be at least one or he had no reason to be there. But that couldn’t be right, either...

After some time, during which time it started to rain, his head snapped in the direction of a building that had a caved-in roof. He frowned. Something small lingered inside—alive in all this death. An animal, perhaps?

With a soft hum, he approached with long strides; the presence wouldn’t last much longer and it was getting cold. He lowered his hand to the ground, allowing large multicolored snakes to emerge from his sleeve and enter the debris.

He looked through his snake’s eyes, searching with urgency. The life was small and delicate. Too young.

A...kid?

Frowning, he walked into the debris, cautiously moving large pieces of wood aside with ease. His snakes reached a woman covered in wetting soot and debris lying on her side, something curled against her chest. It looked like a bundle of some kind, wrapped in a dirtied white cloth.

His tongue slipped out, lingering for a moment before retracting. The bundle held life in it; it could be nothing but a child in his mind. The woman, however...

He finally reached them through the remains, his movements quick as he raised a large slab off of the woman’s body. His snakes surrounded her, their tongues flickering in and out in her direction. Crouching, he waved a hand over her. Her body was broken beyond aid; it surprised him that she still held breath. He frowned, then looked at the bundle. Slowly, he reached for it.

“W-wait.”

He paused, moving to see her clearly. The hand which held the bundle reached for him, shaking from weakness. Tilting his head to the side, he let her hand touch his while removing his mask.

“D...Dōl-Rangī…”

He hummed with furrowing brows. “How’d ya bring me here?”

Upon touching him, her hand shook faster in an attempt to grasp his wrist. “H...help...her.”

He gazed over the bundle. It was wrapped in such a way that only a small opening allowed him to see the chubby face of a baby; a girl, perhaps. Her breaths came out in small shudders and she appeared to be unconscious.

“T-take...her. Please...” The woman’s breath gave out, and he sensed the little life she had within her fade.

For just a moment, he pursed his lip. He gently took the child from her guardian’s broken grasp. Putting her into the crook of an arm, he passed his free hand over her. Miraculously, she bore no injuries he could see or sense.

His tongue flicked out, becoming accustomed to her scent. She was young, perhaps no more than ten.

Glancing from her to her guardian, he sighed to himself. This situation felt familiar but he couldn’t place it in his memory.

He could do nothing about it now.