††† Haylee †††

Haylee was observing the barracks from the top of a nearby building. She had been tasked with tailing Bolverk but had to stay back when suddenly a squad of four enforcers took hold of him and Eirik. "Shit, I can't go in there… c'mon old man, you can think of something!" she whispered to herself, rocking her prone-laying body back and forth in agitation. After the squad took them into the barracks, Haylee shifted parts of her body to her feline form and quickly scaled the tall house nearby to get a better vantage point.

She let her furry ears grow out and tried to pick up snippets of the conversation, but there was too much background noise from other guards to understand what happened in there.

"And in consideration of—," she managed to recognise an enforcer's voice. "—duty, we will abstain from—," a round of cheers drowned the following words. "—keep an eye on the both of you."

The front doors opened, and the four enforcers strutted out of the barracks. Hayley stayed hidden on the roof for a while longer, shifting back to her fully human form. When she was confident that the squad left, she nimbly scurried down the shadow side of the building and casually strolled out onto the main street. Her target left the barracks shortly after, again together with Eirik.

As they stopped in a small back alley, she sat down around the corner, pretending to take a rest from walking.

"I can't lay low while my boy 's still out there, Rik'," Bolverk whispered, his tone agitated. "He's alive, or they wouldn't search for him, but he'd be injured, hiding somewhere, and needs us!"

"Sieg won't die so easily. If we search the whole area, tapping our connections, they will trace it back to us," Eirik answered, calm but definite.

"He's just found out he's different now and will be hunted by them for all his life. Ya can't leave him alone now." Bolverk' voice nearly broke with emotion.

Haylee crossed her arms to stop herself from fidgeting as she bit her lip in frustration. Her orders to stay hidden were clear. But in the short time she observed Bolverk, the older guard quickly grew on her with his grandfatherly demeanour, bulky frame or not. They definitely knew about Siegfried's ability and were on his side. Eurydike didn't know that when she asked Haylee to tail him. Surely, she would not mind if she knew.

Typically not one for prolonged indecision, Haylee went with her gut feeling and approached the two guardsmen. "Uhm, hello sir—"

"Who're you? Did you listen in on us?" Eirik immediately cut her off, hand on his sword pommel, expression guarded and wary.

"I'm a friend. I don't intend any harm," Haylee declared, holding her open palms up and trying to appear as non-threatening as possible. "I just wanted to let you know that Siegfried is okay and—"

"Ya know where Sieg is?" Bolverk asked hopefully, but Eirik held his arm out to stop him from walking near Haylee.

"Your innocent appearance won't fool me," Eirik warned her. The seasoned guardsman spotted immediately that something was off with Haylee's movement. It was too deliberate and sinuous, like that of a trained martial artist. "You're no simple civilian. How should we know you a friend of Sieg and not the Brigade?" He slowly drew his sword, keeping the metal from ringing out.

Haylee kept calm and smiled in acknowledgement of his keen perception. "Good observation, but I did not have any kind of training. My movements come to me natural due to the same reason I cannot be part of the Red Brigade." Instead of explaining further, she changed her eyes to her cat-like form. The emerald green colour of her iris converted to a bright yellow, and the round pupil narrowed down to a horizontal slit. "Our leader brought Siegfried to a safe hideout and is nursing him back to health as we speak."

While Eirik instinctively took a step back, Bolverk couldn't care for caution as his relief overwhelmed him. He closed the distance in three long strides and bear-hugged the smaller young woman. "Thank ya, girl! I knew he was alive— I knew it!" The burly old guard lifted her up in his embrace.

Haylee giggled with glee at the happy outburst, patting Bolverk on the back. "Don't worry, sir. Siegfried is not alone." When Bolverk let her down to face her, she continued, "We are not many, but we take care of each other."

"Where is he? Can ya lead us there?" Bolverk asked enthusiastically.

Haylee's face fell to an apologetic grimace, "I'm sorry, but not yet. I shouldn't have even revealed myself, to be honest." When Bolverk frowned, she added quickly, "But I'm sure it won't be a problem. I just have to check with our leader first."

"I'm still not buying it," Eirik said, although he already sheathed his sword again. "Just because you're also—… is that… a dancing rat behind you?" He asked, flabbergasted, pointing behind Haylee.

The girl turned around, and indeed, there was a small rat, jumping up at the spot and squeaking to get her attention. "Ferdinand!" She exclaimed enthusiastically, gently scooping the rat up with both hands, "are you here to bring me a message?" She tucked a small, rolled parchment out from under the rat's belly where it was fastened with a thin thread. She let Ferdinand down again and quickly unrolled the message. "Hah, that's perfect! Thank you, Ferdinand." Haylee looked at her small messenger and slowly voiced a single word, "home." The rat turned on the spot and darted away.

Eirik was gaping with his jaw dropped, whereas Bolverk chuckled and asked amused, "a friend of yours, lass?"

"Ferdinand is one of Torwynd's bonded animals. At least, that is what we call them. Torwynd can communicate with animals to an extend, like an exchange of emotion or something— I don’t understand it either. But he uses rats to coordinate us as they have a keen sense of smell and can follow our scent through the city. Anyway, Eurydike asked to bring you along, isn't that great?" Haylee excitedly waved the small piece of parchment in front of Bolverk.

"Well, that is great, but what about Rik' here und who is Eurydike? Sounds like a name from Denethor." He added the last part with a frown. The city of Denethor was the eastern divine city, protected by the goddess Nemuni. Where Akali gifted her warriors with incredible speed, Nemuni lent them power over the mind of others.

"Eurydike is the one who saved most of us, including Siegfried, from the Red Brigade. And I don't believe it'll be an issue if Eirik comes with us… he knows about it anyway now," she answered with a guilty sigh. "Well, we better get to it— don't want to keep her waiting."

††† Hall †††

Hall was sick to his stomach. After Bolverk and Eirik were interrogated in the barracks, he just couldn't ditch the feeling that something was off with Bolverk' statement. To have his hunch confirmed hit him harder than the boy had anticipated. He felt like he was becoming part of the motley group. At least Svana seemed to be uninvolved. He tried to calm himself as he stalked the traitors. But the calm wouldn't settle in his chest. Instead, an old acquaintance of his threatened to fill him out and control his every action.

They were doing it again. Again, the changelings would take everything from him. Hate. The one companion that sustained him through the past years.

Siegfried was already dead, taken over by the changeling, and now it would lead Bolverk and Eirik to their demise, assisted by the other vile abomination that led them on. He didn't really blame Bolverk and Eirik. Everyone had their weak spots, and they already lost their long-time friend Agnar just days ago.

But this time, he wouldn't let his enemies have their way. As long as there was a drop of blood left in his body, he would fight them with the unwavering resolve of someone who already lost everything once. He would not fail. He would kill both changelings and bring Bolverk and Eirik back to sense.

His heart hardened as he continued to follow them from the shadows to find the base of the underworlds' spawn.