Eyde sat in the guildhall of Daralen’s Vanguard, sipping warm tea from a simple mug. The building was located in the Roots, but close enough to the Interior that it could benefit from a small amount of natural light. Bare red brickwork formed the outer shell of the building, worn in places and covered in pale lichen. Like much of the Roots it had seen better days.

Mina and the others had left him alone in the common room before disappearing into the main body of the building, half supporting, half dragging Teyvar between them. Galatae had emerged moments later, thrust the cup into his hands with a smile and turned to leave.

“Wait, Galatae,” Eyde called after her. “Is Teyvar alright?”

“He’ll be fine, Eyde,” she replied over her shoulder. “Just leave him to me.”

The rough wooden table at which he sat was one of several in the large room. A countertop on the opposite wall sat below row upon row of shelves, each holding old and often empty bottles. It gave the impression of a vibrant bar neglected and lost to history.

Eyde had used the time by himself to peruse the faded paintings that hung on the once-plush flock wallpaper covering the walls. He stood in the centre. To his left hung depictions of people wearing military uniforms. The scenes were those of battle and victory. In the paintings to his right, produced in more recent years judging by the level of grime and dust, the uniforms had gone and the settings were more urban in nature. The number of people featured in each painting dwindled the further to the right you looked.

“Marvellous, aren’t they?”

Eyde jumped at the sudden voice behind him and spun on his heel, coming face to face with a young man in wire spectacles.

“I’m so sorry,” The young man laughed. “I’ve been told I have a tendency to sneak up on people. My name is Berringly.” He held out his hand, “You must be Eyde.”

“Er, yes. Hello,” Eyde took the offered hand. “I was just admiring the artwork.”

“As well you might,” Berringly beamed. “Here rests a pictorial history of our beloved guild, from its founding by Daralen himself over a hundred years ago, to its current iteration under Matriarch Sylva”

Eyde took in the figures that were indicated at either end of the row. One a large, powerful-looking man carrying a large-bladed halberd and clad in gleaming armour, the other a small, middle-aged woman dressed in blue robes.

“Teyvar mentioned the guild isn’t as active with the lack of military contracts. Is that why there are fewer members now?” Eyde indicated the most recent painting.

Berringly’s jovial manner took on a melancholy tone, “Yes, well. The guild was founded with the birth of Daewen as a unified country. Before that time, many different Princes claimed sovereignty and were constantly at war. Prince Volgran, the man who would come to rule Daewan as a whole and after whom this city is named, counted Daralen as one of his knights. When the war was over, there was no shortage of idle soldiers who were eager to be put to work hunting down brigands, deserters, and protecting the fledgling country from insults outside its new borders.”

Berringly trailed off into introspective silence for a few moments before continuing, “But now, with so many guilds competing for contracts and jobs along with new, less dangerous employment opportunities appearing in the form of mills and factories…” He sighed, “We’ve been having trouble recruiting.”

“I’m sorry to hear that,” Eyde murmured. He hadn’t intended to cause offence.

“No harm done,” Berringly’s voice regained its vibrancy. “I understand our number has increased with your arrival. Mina has filled me in on the details and sent me to fetch you.”

“I not sure that I’ll–”

“Fit in?” Berringly interrupted. “Nonsense. I know Mina can give off a somewhat abrasive exterior, but she’s really very charming once you get to know her. Follow me, if you please.” Berringly bustled off between the tables in the direction of the door Mina and the others had passed through on their arrival, his cloak swishing behind him.

“Wait,” Eyde called after him, but there was no stopping the man. Why am I always the one running to keep up? he thought.

“...Mina, he didn’t do too badly for his first time,” Galatae’s soft voice fell quiet as Eyde entered the room behind Berringly.

She and Mina were sitting on either side of a long table made of rough planks, along with a woman in a simple, corseted dress of light blue. Her sleeves trailed on the table as she held the gemstone up to the light.

As the two men entered, she turned in her seat and her long hair shifted, revealing a graceful neck and small, upturned nose beneath deep brown eyes.

“Ah, and this must be the man who retrieved my stone,” her voice was smooth, her accent out of place in the Roots.

“Yes, indeed,” Mina gestured to the pair at the door with a ring-laden hand. “Miss Sorelle, this is Edebus Berringly, our guild historian, and Eyde…” Mina paused for a few moments.

“Eyde Barethawn, madam,” Eyde finished, flashing an irritated glance at Mina. Each of the men bowed slightly in greeting.

“Yes, Eyde Barethawn. He was instrumental in our operation.”

The woman stood, holding out her hand on which was a simple silver ring. “The pleasure is mine,” she flashed a deep, warm smile. “I am pleased that I now know where to come should I require further assistance in the future. It must have been terribly frightening to face such a creature.”

Eyde stammered slightly as he replied, “It was nothing, Miss Sorelle. I was merely in the right place at the right time.” He took her hand and gave an awkward bow; her smile became a smirk of amusement.

Mina rolled her eyes. “I’m glad we were able to assist you in this matter, Miss Sorelle.” She stood and walked to the door through which Eyde and Berringly had entered. “May I escort you outside?”

“Of course,” She smiled, placing the stone within a leather pouch before secreting it within the sleeve of her dress. “Good day, everyone. Thank you again for all your help.” Eyde’s eyes lingered on the door after she had left.

“Pretty, isn’t she?” Galatae asked, a playful edge to her voice.

Eyde turned to look at her. “Miss Sorelle? I hadn’t noticed,” he replied.

Galatae laughed, “The blushing makes that difficult to believe, Eyde.” Composing herself, she continued, “Felora Sorelle is, that is to say, was our client. Kellin took the gem from her home on the Quick.”

“I see,” Edye considered this. “The stone must have meant a lot to her.”

“Our client’s business is none of ours,” Mina stated as she blew back into the room. “We were hired to retrieve the bauble and that is what we did.”

“Mina, will that be all? I still have work to do for Matriarch Sylva.”

“Yes, Berringly. Thank you.” The historian nodded and smiled at the room before leaving the way he had entered. “As for you, Eyde,” she beckoned him to follow her. “We still have work to do.”

The caerna splayed out in front of them on the wooden table in the centre of the small room. The people Mina had sent to collect the beast had left it lying on its back with its feet pointing towards the ceiling, blood clotted and dark against its leathery hide.

The stench in the room was so pervasive Eyde could taste it; both he and Galatae covered their noses as they walked around the scaled bulk on the table. Noticing the tray of sharp instruments beside the body, Eyde turned to Mina with a questioning look.

“We sent out for tools from a local surgeon who owed us a favour,” Mina explained.

“Surely you don’t want me to–Mina, I’m a zoologist, not an anatomist.” Eyde was incredulous.

“You’re the most experienced person we have,” Mina’s face betrayed a hint of a smirk. “You’ll have to do.”

“But what about Galatae? She’s healed both myself and Teyvar in the last two days. She must–”

“Magical healing isn’t the same as physical healing, Eyde,” Galatae shook her head. “Suuri doesn’t require that I possess knowledge of the ailment to heal it.”

“How good of him,” Eyde murmured as he picked up a slim knife with a keen edge, turning it over in his hand.

He approached the table at the point the caerna’s large tongue lolled from the side of its toothy mouth. You didn’t deserve this, he thought. You didn’t deserve being trapped in a sewer and burned to… “Hang on.”

“What is it?” MIna stood from where she had been leaning against the wall.

“The caerna,” Eyde replied. “It was covered in flames and yet there’s no sign of that on the body. Its skin is unharmed. Help me turn it over.”

With Mina taking the hind legs and Eyde the front, the pair fought the effects of rigor mortis to flip the caerna onto its belly. Sure enough, there was no sign of burning on the scaled hide.

“So the fire was magical,” Galatae suggested.

“It must have been,” there was little space between Eyde’s face and the body of the beast. “There’s certainly no natural way the caerna could have produced the flame. I know there exist some animals with glands that secrete flammable material, but that’s usually ejected from the mouth.”

“Like dragons!” Galatae said with a cheerful smile.

“Well,” Eyde considered his response. “Dragons are exceptionally rare. It’s been decades since one was last sighted. There’s also a lot of debate over whether they are part-magical to begin with given the nature of their aerodynamics and the sheer force of their –.” He felt the look Mina was giving him. “ Anyway, no one has ever reported a mundane animal that can wreath itself in flames before.”

Eyde looked again at the knife in his hand, if there existed a network of fire-producing glands under the skin of the caerna, he wasn’t sure he wanted to be the one to find out.

“So how does a regular animal cast magic?” he asked.

“Well, mages attune to the Rhoki and use their bodies as a sort of doorway. Perhaps it did that.” Galatae stood beside Eyde, inspecting the caerna’s hide as he did so.

Eyde’s brow creased as he considered this. “Perhaps. But don’t mages also have to shape the energy from the Rhoki with their words and movements?”

“That’s true,” nodded Galatae. “Mages can also be harmed by their own spells, and Teyvar was burned pretty badly. If anything, this looks more like–”

“A binder,” Mina’s voice was firm as she sat on her haunches staring at the creature. “A Rhoki spirit would allow this level of control with little to no effort on the animal’s part.”

The room was silent for a few moments.

With some hesitation, Eyde spoke, “I’ve never heard of animals becoming bound to Rhoki spirits before.” He replaced the knife as he turned to face the others.

“Neither have I,” Mina looked up at Eyde. “Usually the bond requires an agreement between the spirit and the binder. But it’s the only way I can think of that the beast was able to do that. It’s the same with that lantrit you saw. Fire and Light. Two animals, two Rhoki.”

Eyde looked back at the caerna and spoke near a whisper, “I don’t know much about binders. Only the stories. People possessed by spirits from the Rhoki granted terrible powers that destroy their bodies as they turn more and more into monsters.”

“Some people believe that they’re avatars of the Darna. That each Lord of the Rhoki selects someone to do their work on Esthia.” Galatae said solemnly.

“We’re getting off track,” Mina interjected as she stood, her tone of voice stern. “Focus on what we know: The creature was living in the sewers and, as far as we know, it had no way of getting there without anyone being aware of the fact; it can use magic, though it’s unlikely that it has any fine control over it and has been observed using only one element, this suggests the presence of a Rhoki spirit akin to a binding.”

“Binders can only use one kind of magic?”

“Yes, Eyde. However, a bond with a Rhoki spirit requires compliance from the binder themself. This clouds the theory considerably.”

Galatae had abandoned her examination of the caerna and was now leaning against the wall with her arms folded, “I think the most pressing issue is finding out who’s bringing these animals into the city.”

“I’d rather not think about something like that happening,” Eyde murmured.

“Life doesn’t care about what you want, Eyde. We’ll find out if it’s happening and put a stop to it,” Mina said the words as if it were a foregone conclusion.

His mood buoyed by her confidence, Eyde looked at her and nodded with determination, “Agreed. What do we do about Kellin?”

Mina gave an unamused laugh, “Kellin will turn up somewhere. He always does.”