Under the cover of night, Saria left the Royal Palace and headed towards the official’s villa.

It was her first time in the city and the first time she was able to be completely alone with her thoughts.

Walking through the empty streets of Aervelis, Saria was enjoying this temporary peacefulness. Albeit, she had a feeling it could also be a traitorous silence before the storm.

Trying to stay focused on the task at hand, she still allowed herself to take in the view.

She looked at the colorful walls of magnificent buildings and the colonnades surrounding them. Even in the dim light of torches, the colors were as eye-catching as during the day.

She gazed upon the statues of gods and historical characters, whose names she could not remember, painted with vibrant colors. They stood tall at the entrance of every building and at the heart of every square.

Each cobbled street of Aervelis was decorated with mosaics informing the passerby what they could find there. Every corner adorned with lush green flora.

Saria thought that the capital of Aelius was really breathtaking.

Nevertheless, her little sightseeing tour came to an end earlier than she secretly hoped for, as before she knew it, she was standing in front of the official’s mansion.

She made sure that nobody was around and turned into an alley between the villa and the other buildings.

From what Lysandra told her, the official didn’t have many guards, and the overall security was rather lacking. Everything appeared to suggest that it was going to be a piece of cake.

Saria fixed the hood on her head and the mask she was wearing and jumped over the wall, landing quietly on the grass on the other side.

The villa was calm.

In the distance, she heard the guards patrolling, and there was light in the window on the second floor. She guessed that it must’ve been the office.

Sticking to the shadows, she carefully moved towards her target.

Her body adjusted every step and every movement with a learned precision, making her unnoticeable to normal people, while the shadows clung to her, as if she were one with them.

Saria went inside the villa, avoiding the patrolling guards. Then sneaked to the staircase at the end of the hallway.

She froze halfway there, sensing that someone was coming her way.

She looked around for cover.

A few meters away, she noticed a wooden screen, so without delay, she darted towards it, making no noise.

A moment later, a servant went down the stairs carrying a little girl in her arms.

“It’s alright, we’re going to get you some warm milk and the Little Lady will forget about monsters,” the servant coaxed the girl.

“But what if he’s still there,” the child sobbed, “and it wasn’t a monster! It was a person, Flora! He was standing in my door!”

“It must’ve been one of the guards, Little Lady. He probably came to check if everything is in order. Nobody else in this villa is awake besides them, us, and your father in the office.”

The Little Lady didn’t seem convinced and continued her argument even when they disappeared into the kitchen.

In the meantime, Saria was already back at the top of the stairs.

The layout of the second floor differed slightly from the ground, but remembering the light in the window, she was still able to find the office without much trouble.

Saria waited by the door for a moment, listening for signs of anyone being there, and once she made sure that the place was empty, she cracked it open.

By the desk, she noticed a man slumped in his chair, sleeping.

But something was wrong.

She should have noticed that someone was inside. She was always able to tell.

Looking around the room, she didn’t see anyone else.

The rich scent of iron assaulted her senses as she carefully approached the desk.

The clouds on the dark night sky parted, and the silver light of the moon shone on the man.

The blood spilled from the deep, long cut on his throat like a grotesque waterfall, falling in the puddle of deep crimson at his feet.

Saria touched his deathly white skin.

Still warm. He had to have died just moments ago.

Then, her instinct kicked in.

Presence on the balcony.

Her head snapped in a direction her premonition pointed.

A tall man with a hood covering the majority of his face stood hidden in the shadows.

A dangerous grin rose on his face as he held out his hand in front of him.

“Ex Aeger,” his grating voice ripped through the silence.

What happened after, Saria barely had the time to register.

She saw a glowing orange sigil flash before the man, setting off a chain of explosions.

The first projectile hit the floor, shattering it into pieces under her feet.

The second crushed the walls around her, shooting fragmented limestone everywhere.

The third destroyed the roof above her.

There were two more explosions, but she didn’t see where they hit.

The damaged structure crumbled under her feet and collapsed down with her among the rain of debris and embers.

Violent, ferocious flames erupted around her.

Their uncontrollable tongues devouring everything in their way without mercy.

People screaming. Crying. Yelling in agony. The sounds started punching through the nauseating ringing in her ears.

The smoke assaulted her eyes and nose.

Her body ached the moment she tried getting up. Something heavy was crushing her to the ground.

She forced all of her strength into pulling herself up, and after a second try, she was finally free from under a large piece of roof that had landed on her.

She looked around, trying to orient herself in the chaos around her.

Through a hole in something that was once a wall, she saw a dark silhouette running away.

The culprit.

Saria clenched her jaw and pushed through the pain to pursue the man, but just as she was about to jump through the opening in the wall, she heard a scream.

A child was screaming.

She turned around, looking where the sound was coming from.

“Flora! Flora, help me!” she heard a familiar voice.

The girl from before. The ‘Little Lady’.

Saria’s eyes darted between the silhouette getting smaller with every second, and the ruined depths of the house.

She could chase him. She still had energy. She had a chance to catch him…

“Somebody! Please!”

Shit.

Saria stepped away from the wall and dashed into the rubble.

The heavy smoke blinded her. Her lungs ached from the burning air.

The closer to the screams she was getting, the heavier and hotter it was getting.

Finally, she found the girl in the corner of what was once a kitchen.

She couldn’t be older than five. Her light brown hair had nearly turned black from the burned dust. Her big black eyes were filled with tears as she kept calling for her maid.

Surrounded by tall fire, there was no way for her to escape on her own.

“It’s alright. I’ll get you out of here,” Saria said, jumping across the flames.

She took off the scarf covering her head and wrapped it around the girl, then took her in her hands.

The child obediently threw her small hands around Saria’s neck and held tightly.

They jumped out just in time to dodge the beam, breaking off the fallen floor above where they were just standing.

Saria rushed through the flames, feeling that she was running out of time.

The structure trembled and, with a deafening thunder, nearly a third of it crushed under its own weight, just a moment after they got out.

The streets around the villa were already full of people.

Some, more cool-headed, had already started to bring water to put out the fire. Others tended to the wounded who managed to get out of the rubble on their own.

There were also those standing agape, unable to comprehend the destruction in front of them.

Somewhere from the crowd, a woman saw them and immediately rushed toward them.

“Drusia! Oh, by the Ten!” she ran up to them with tears in her eyes.

“Flora! I found you!” The girl let go of Saria’s neck and clung to her caretaker. “You were gone somewhere and I couldn’t find you!”

“I went to get more honey from the pantry, and then next thing I knew, there was an explosion, and I couldn’t find you, Little Lady,” Flora explained, cuddling the girl.

Saria didn’t wait around.

The moment she passed the girl to her maid, she went to the back of the mansion, hoping to still see the trail of the man.

Despite scouring the area as thoroughly as she could in the given circumstances, she was unable to find anything.

Beaten and bruised, she dragged her body back to the Royal Palace, carrying the heavy burden of guilt.