"Eurydike, we're home," a smooth baritone announced.

Siegfried and Eurydike went to the main room to welcome the arrivals. They found Tyler, the wiry guy who helped bring Sieg into the infirmary and another woman Sieg did not know yet.

"How by the goddess fat arse are you already walking around? You were half dead just yesterday!" Tyler asked Siegfried, astounded.

"Seems like my ability isn't restricted to conjuring blades," the fully healed guard responded with a grin while shaking Tyler's hand.

"Yes, and if he needs to exert his power every other day like that, we need to raid the third sector for food, or he might eat us out of house and home," the blonde shapeshifter added, amused.

Tyler let out a guffaw, and the woman behind him chuckled lightly. Sieg analysed her appearance with a single glance, taking in all details in the span of an eyeblink. The only visible part of skin was her face which seemed to shine dimly as if a thin layer of sweat covered it evenly.

As for most people, the almost inhumanly intense gaze of Sieg's odd-coloured eyes caused the dark-haired woman to flinch instinctively.

Tyler slung an arm around Siegfried's shoulder. "And this beautiful creature is my loving wife, Penelope."

Quickly recovering her posture, Penelope offered a fully gloved hand. "A pleasure to make your acquaintance, Siegfried." Her attire was a simple but robust working-overall like the cleaning crews wore it, including the leather gloves. "I don’t mean to be rude by leaving the gloves on. It's just that I was a bit more... unfortunate with my evolution," she said with a smile that never reached her eyes and deep-rooted sadness hidden in her undertone.

"Something to do with that subtle film on your skin?" Siegfried asked. Her eyes widened in alarm at his statement while Tyler shot him a curious glance.

"How are you able to see that? The layer is so thin, I can't discern it even though I know it's there. Bone blades, regeneration and now super-sight? What kind of unfair ability is that?" Tyler inquired.

"Nothing of the sort, I just always had excellent eye-sight," Sieg dismissed the question.

"Fortunately, I have not yet met anyone else who could tell my skin is coated in that substance, but you are correct. My skin produces a kind of fluid that eats through most organic matter except for my own," Penelope said and lowered her head. "I was never able to touch any other person after my cursed ability manifested. If I keep it passive, it will just cause a slight burn on human skin and cant eat through leather, but I would be easily discovered if I hurt someone. I really thought I could not ever touch any human again."

Her gaze was set on the ground when she told her story, but they lit up again when Tyler held her hand, and a genuine smile graced her lips. "Until I met Tyler."

At Sieg's questioning look, Tyler produced a small knife from his belt and held out his empty hand in front of the curious guardsman. There was a stretching noise, like a thick rope tightening, and the texture of his palm seemed to shift before he rammed the knife into it. The edge of the knife skidded of Tyler's palm with a screeching sound in the same way a sword would slide of a metal buckler.

"That's a neat trick," Siegfried commented.

Tyler chuckled, "yeah, and it allows me to touch Penelope's skin without melting myself down. As you can imagine, most of us are keeping clear of relationships with normal humans. The risk is just too high, both for them and us."

Siegfried nodded. "Which brings us to my first question: how did you all manage to stay incognito inside the city so far?" The guardsman inquired.

This time it was Eurydike who answered. "There are not many who actually have a chance of doing so. According to my own knowledge and estimation, at least two thousand people should have changed in the past twenty years. And we only know of thirty-two who survived to this day. Whether there is any chance of hiding inside the city or not depends on which kind of evolution you undergo.

"Most will have permanent visual changes, like the giant you slew years ago. Shapeshifters like Haylee, who can shift between their human and a second form, are actually quite rare, and I never heard of another human with an ability like mine. Some of those evolutions even change a person to be more beast than man, including their brain functions. They act solely on instinct, and there is no saving them in any way. Some can flee the city, but only the strongest and most adaptable can survive out there."

"Only thirty-two... no wonder you have not tried to fight back or rile up the citizens by spreading the truth. You have no fighting force, and the Red Brigade would just follow the rumours back to you if you start them," Siegfried spoke his thoughts. "And taking your estimates of two thousand in twenty years into consideration, we won't get anywhere within the next few decades like that." The realisation made him growl in frustration. "Do you have any information about why those... evolutions are happening to us? Is there a pattern?

"No, we don't," Eurydike admitted. "If we want to stop Akali's chosen from slaughtering innocents, we need help from outside."

"Outside?" Siegfried looked at her like she had lost her mind. "You don’t mean outside the sector but outside of the city, right? What kind of help would you search for between monsters and demons?"

Eurydike smirked. "We actually do have first-hand information about the inhabitants of The Wilds outside of the divine cities. Despite being as dangerous and often aggressive as the priesthood claims, they are neither demons nor monsters. The non-intelligent species seem to be derived from normal animals... at least most of them resemble different species of animals we also breed in the divine cities. And several of the intelligent denizens have vaguely humanoid shapes, intelligence and even speech."

Siegfried dragged a hand over his face. "You indicate that they might be like us. Originally human and changed to something else. But that must have already happened before the city was built."

"This is our assumption, yes. I believe that a widespread instance of the same forced evolutions happened centuries or even millenia ago, and they are the descendants of the aftermath. Why it suddenly started to also occur within the city for the past two decades, I can't say. But killing off innocent children won't stop it. We need to find a way to coexist in the city with normal humans.

"Life in the city, no matter the sector, is peaceful and easy compared to The Wilds. If we can coax a force of evolved individuals from outside, we could affront the current regime."

"Okay, maybe we should get in contact with Bolverk before planning any grand scale operations," Sieg offered. "He has a lot of experience and knowledge, and I wanted to check on him as soon as possible anyway," he said with a frown.

Eurydike smiled, "I already presumed that he knows about your ability and asked Haylee to keep an eye on him. We will arrange a meeting then."

††††††

In the hearth of the first district, a third-class enforcer, drenched in cold sweat, traversed the corridors of the Red Brigades' headquarter. The golden-adorned, armoured double doors of the commander's office loomed above him like a gate to the underworld as he closed in on them. His gut churned as if his innards themselves trembled in fear of the oncoming audience.

The doors were opened from inside, inviting him into the grand room behind. He had been expected. The ostentatious sculptures and luxurious furniture could not draw his attention as his eyes were fixed to the towering figure standing in the middle of the office.

The trembling enforcer held his steps in the appropriate distance and stood attention while the leader of the Red Brigade conversed with one of his officers.

The mightiest enforcer that the city had ever seen was a giant of a man. The heavily adorned, scarlet-red mantle was draped around massive shoulders, and ridiculously bulging muscles stretched the leather around his arms. His bald head sat on a bull's neck, and his face was all rough edges, bushy brows and a long, braided moustache. Ultimately the monster of a man shifted his attention to the newcomer, and the poor man's blood froze under the malicious gaze.

"Report." The rumbling voice of the commander brought the third-class enforcer out of his paralysis.

"C-Commander Ultor, Sir!" he stammered. "The spawn of the Araneae class hybrid might have escaped. We found the assigned enforcer's body in a street near the halls of order in the western districts—"

"His body?" Ultor bellowed, his chest rising in anger. "That useless piece of shit let himself get killed by a baby changeling?"

The messenger stifled a whimper at the outburst. "No, Sir, o-of course not! From the remains of the fight, we deducted that it was a different changeling, a humanoid who also used a sword," he explained as fast as he dared without stumbling over his own words. "Apparently, he was investigating a person by the name of Siegfried."

The commander shot his underling a cold, expecting glare. "So I can take it that this 'Siegfried' is waiting in the dungeon to be interrogated?"

It was nothing short of a miracle that the third-class enforcer managed to keep his bladder from leaking as he answered. "A squad is currently searching for him and interrogating his acquaintances, we will –" a sharp gust of displaced air stopped Steven mid-sentence. He noticed that the commanders hand rested on the pommel of his sword.

"Useless bunch of idiots. Now I'll have to hear out another one for a finished report," he murmured absently, turning back to his working desk.

Suddenly Steven felt dizzy, and his head slowly dipped forward. He fell, the ground coming closer while he numbly wondered how his legs were still standing upright. His brain ceased functioning before the severed head hit the ground.