The room they found themselves in was not very large. In it were the four of them, plus their gear, which seems that Simeon and Daum had brought along. At this point it was already hard to move in without hitting something.

  “Simeon, how did you end up here?” Corin asked.

  “Well we have our friend here to thank.” He mentioned as he looked towards Daum.

  Daum currently looked out the door, quickly closed it and then moved to fasten several locks on the door. He then entered and sat near the center of the room. He had obtained various light fruits to keep the darkness at bay inside the enclosure.

  “It did not take long to hear the scene you all caused in the front gate.” Daum said. “Once descriptions about three humans accompanied by an apeman and a dragoor came around I knew it had to be all of you. And you were not the only ones who have come here recently. Once I found out about Throk’s arrival I figured you would not be far behind.”

  “But how? How is Throk and his allies still alive? Baltro should have destroyed them all!” Corin responded.

  “Well whatever you did seemed to have been effective.” Daum said. “Throk and two other dragoors were the only survivors of his squad to make it to the city. And save one of them, Throk and the other dragoor were severely injured.”

  “No humans survived from his party?” Livia asked. “But what of the ones we saw earlier at the establishment?”

  “It's simple. Tonatiuh loyalists that have infiltrated Yranto.” Daum replied.

  “What?” Corin shouted in disbelief. “How is that possible? They were not stopped by the gate guards?”

  “Of course not. These loyalists don't come en masse to the city. They trickle in. Their role is to collect information and keep their respective Titan lords apprised of what may be happening in the domains of other Titans. They come here because they know furtives from all across come here, and they all bring something valuable with them.” Daum replied.

  “Information.” Livia said.

  “Exactly.” Daum said. “And it's not just Tonatiuh who has eyes and ears in this city. There are informants for other Dragons, Giants and even Leviathans.”

  The revelation left Corin shocked and angry. For a second he truly hoped that Yranto was a bastion free from the clutches of any Titan.

  “So no place is truly safe from the reach of the Titans is it?” Corin said.

  “Well…” Daum paused for a second, “their ability to control events in Yranto is limited. These informants are here just to gather information. But… there have been cases where the informants have killed furtives, if that furtive did something extremely infuriating to their former Lord. ”

  “And nothing happens to those that kill other furtives here?” Corin asked.

  “Some are able to escape before being caught. But it is generally accepted that once an informant stains their hands with blood they either abandon the city or they fail and are killed before leaving. It is not something that is done commonly.” Daum replied.

  Corin’s anger boiled within. He could not think straight. The only thing he wanted to do was go back onto the streets and find Throk and his informants and put them to death.

  “Damn it!” Corin shouted. “We walked right into a trap by coming to this damned city!”

  “There was no way you could have known.” Daum replied calmly. “The existence of these informants is a closely held secret. I myself only learned about them as one was preparing to part my head from my body. It was pure luck that I survived. You think I would have walked into this city as a former Zifor, had I known that it was crawling with informants?”

  The information did nothing to stave off Corin's rising temper. He started to get up. He would go out and find these informants and gut them himself.

  “We need to warn Nanaua and Zhi.” Livia said.

  Corin looked at her and stopped in his tracks. The rage that was boiling over began to subside. She was right. If Tonatiuh's informants found out where exactly Zhi was, there was no telling what could happen.

  Corin looked at Daum. If he had been searching for him and Livia then he must have been aware of Zhi and Nanaua as well. Livia also looked at him.

  “I don't know where they are.” Daum replied weakly.

  “They went to meet the Oixia!” Corin shot back almost instantly.

  “I informed him of that.” Simeon spoke up.

  Corin looked at Simeon but then turned back to Daum.

  “Most furtives in Yranto only know of the Oixia.” Daum replied. “Few have ever met her in person. And from what little details I gather, every story about her has different details.”

  Corin looked at him, expecting him to say more.

  “I don't know where the Oixia resides.” Daum finally said. “I myself haven't been in Yranto long enough. And unlike the Onsiel, a former Zifor is not going to attract the attention of one such as her. But if the Oixia demands your presence it is not just due to curiosity.”

  Corin began to feel despair.

  “But it's Zhi and Nanaua.” Corin said. “Even if the Oixia were to be dangerous, she should know that Zhi and Nanaua are formidable themselves.”

  “That is true.” Daum said. “But the Oixia is an enigma. Who knows what she wants? Perhaps she wanted to warn your friends of Throk and his kin. Perhaps she just wanted to see a furtive who could wield magic. Who knows.”

  “Well, we ought to do something.” Corin replied. “When Zhi and Nanaua go to the camp, they will be looking for us. We can't just stay here!”

  “I spoke to those other apemen near our spot. I gave them some more of the dried meat on the condition that they tell Nanaua and Zhi to come to the Central market tomorrow at midday.” Simeon replied.

  “And you trust them?” Corin asked.

  “Corin!” Simeon shouted. “Do you think I'm an idiot? Of course I don't! They probably informed everyone who came asking if they had seen us about this!”

  “I didn't mean it like that!” Corin replied quickly. “ I didn't mean to insult you. It was just a question!”

  Corin could see that Simeon was still unhappy.

  “So why the market?” Livia asked.

  “If they're looking for you, then they already know you're here.” Daum replied. “But as I mentioned, their encounter with Baltro left them severely weakened. Their only chance of making any meaningful strike was to attack as soon as you came in. This is why they were searching for you today. They might be desperate and try to attack, but the market is always busy with traffic. Any attempt at an attack by them there would most likely fail and would be suicidal.”

  “But we don't even know if they'll show. All we have is just a hope that they get this message and somehow get there on time.” Corin replied.

  “We're in a bad situation.” Daum replied. “Hope is all we'll get.”

  ***

  Corin and Daum were making their way to the market. It had been a long walk from their hideout to the camp.

  Daum had followed a dizzying path to the surface. For a while Corin wasn't sure if Daum even knew where he was going.

  “I'm pretty sure it's this way.” Daum muttered to himself at one point.

  Once on top, Daum and Corin quickly blended into the crowds of people and made their way to the market.

  It is very hot!

  Corin wore a heavy cloak given to him by Daum. It was uncomfortably large for Corin and had to be altered to fit him. Even then it was bothering Corin more than he would like to admit. It was heavy, the fabric was thick and made him uncomfortably warm, the hood would come down and cover his eyes more often than not, but worst of all the fabric was rough and kept making Corin’s skin itchy.

  “I hate this stupid thing.” Corin muttered to Daum.

  He did not have to even turn around to know what Corin was talking about.

  “Well you have no one to blame but yourselves. You are always loud and attract all sorts of unwanted attention.” He replied without looking at Corin.

  Corin began scratching at his skin.

  “You know some solidarity would be nice.” Corin replied.

  “Your wife cut up one of my favorite traveling robes to fit your small stature.” He shot back without looking. “Solidarity will have to wait.”

  “I didn’t think that would bother you that much.” Corin said silently.

  Daum looked back now. “You thought wrong.” He stopped walking and looked ahead.

  In front of them the road ended and a large open area lay ahead.

  “We’re at the market now. When you see them I need you to do something for me.” Daum said.

  “Which is?” Corin replied.

  “The two of them will have some of Tonatiuh's agents looking for them, agents who know they will come here. When you see them try to approach them from behind. Make sure they do not see you before you approach. When you are within earshot tell them to come down this road and to not look back, but do not follow them directly.” Daum said.

  “You mean to kill the agents?” Corin replied, somewhat aghast.

  Daum paused.

  “Corin if they knew yesterday who you were they would have slit your throat right on the spot.” Daum replied.

  “I know, it's just…” Corin hesitated.

  He could not say that he was above killing others. He had done that plenty of times. But when that occurred those felt as if they were life or death moments. It was kill or be killed. That was not the case here.

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  “I will take care of it. The lesser their numbers the lower the likelihood they discover where we hide.” Daum said as if he could probe deep within Corin's mind and feel his hesitation.

  Still, the doubt within Corin persisted. Something within him could not let go of the feeling that somehow this was wrong.

  “Do you know where their hideout is?” Corin asked. “Where Throk is currently?”

  Daum was confused by the question. It seemed to have no bearing on their current situation.

  “I do not, but even if I did it's not like we can just walk in there and attack.” Daum replied.

  “Perhaps not, but wouldn't it make sense to know their location? Know their numbers? Know exactly who it is that is looking for us?” Corin began. “Right now you're about to execute some of them with the hope that it will avert the likelihood of our discovery. But if we're able to find their hideout perhaps we can be smarter about our movements. Not only hope that we don't get discovered, but actively avoid and perhaps even take out those who pursue us.”

  Daum was silent. It was clear he was weighing his options.

  “So what? We capture whoever is following your friends and torture them until they give us the information?” Daum asked.

  “We would still have to kill them afterwards.” he mentioned casually.

  Corin could tell he was already thinking of how he would torture the poor soul that had been following Nanaua and Zhi.

  “No, that's not what I was thinking.” Corin replied.

  “No?” Daum said, confused.

  “No.” Corin began. “If I lead Nanaua and Zhi here and let them know to follow you, the informant will follow along. Once they do I will be right behind them. Once you lead Nanaua and Zhi down a path underground, there is a high chance that the agent won't follow. Afterwards, I can continue following the agent to their hideout.”

  Daum was quiet the whole time.

  “But why don't I follow the agent?” Daum asked Corin quickly after he was done.

  “Oh, well,” Corin felt ashamed saying this. “Because I don't know how to get to the hideout? Or any of the buildings that would lead to the underground path?”

  “So what is your plan after you are done following them?” Daum asked.

  “Well, what if I came back here to the market after I found the location of their hideout? I should be able to make my way back here, it is just in the center of the city. I come back here and meet with you, and we go back to our hideout and plot our next move.” Corin said.

  Daum was quiet. He contemplated the plan.

  “Fine.” He finally replied. “But just know you're putting yourself in a lot of danger.”

  “I know, but I'll be-” Corin began to protest why he would be fine.

  “Understood,” Daum cut him off “then let's move ahead. I'll be here. Tell your friends to follow me, but know that there will be those who are observing. Be as quick about it as you can. Now go.”

  With that Corin turned around and headed into a busy market alleyway. He had to make sure to make a note of which way he came in.

  The first steps that Corin took into the market felt like he walked into a new world. The air was thick with a smattering of spices, the crowds bustled and moved around, and furtives moved around at a furious pace, all with something they needed to do. Corin felt that if he were to stay still even for a second he would get swallowed by the crowds and carried off. In order for Corin to stay afloat and continue moving it felt like he had to maneuver around ten people to take even one step. On top of the massive crowds around him, and the heavy cloak he wore, Corin had a hard time seeing over the furtives that surrounded him. Even though there were some short furtives around him, such as dwarves, the majority of the other furtives were taller than him. Whether they were other humans, dragoors, wood elves, sparrowlings, or sirens they all made it hard for Corin to look across and search for his friends.

  As Corin walked around a faint sweet smell wafted up to him. He looked over and saw a curious thing being held up by string, some sort of food, that was being sold. He was enticed by it, but he quickly redirected his attention.

  I am not here for sweets!

  Corin continued down the alleyways, unsure of where exactly he might find Nanaua or Zhi. Worse yet, how was he supposed to instruct them to follow Daum without making it obvious.

  It would be more than certain that they would already have agents of Tonatiuh following them. If he were to be discovered, he would not be able to follow them afterwards. As he walked through the market, he saw something that might be of use to him. A vendor specializing in cloths painted with a variety of decorations.

  Corin walked up behind the vendor, grabbed a piece of cloth and a brush.

  In dragon script he wrote:

  “Follow me, but do not call out my name, you are being followed. I shall guide you to someone you know. They will take you to the rest of our allies. I will join you later. - Corin”

  Corin waited for the ink to dry, stuffed the message in his pocket and continued moving around the various alleyways.

  After various more turns he found them. In the distance he could see Nanaua and Zhi. They were scanning the marketplace looking for him. Corin put his hood over his head and continued down past them. He had not seen any indication of Tonatiuh’s agents, but he was sure they were looking.

  Coming from behind them, Corin bumped into Zhi and placed the piece of cloth in her hand.

  “Hey!” Zhi said out loud. And then went quiet.

  I hope they got the message.

  Corin walked toward his intended location now, following the path he had taken to go to Daum. At one turn he took a quick peek to the side, and could confirm that both Nanaua and Zhi were behind him.

  He continued towards the area where Daum was, and continued walking.

  “Ladies.” Daum said.

  Corin continued walking, turned down an alley, and hid in the corner away from view. As soon as he did his heart began to race.

  “You’re the one.” Nanaua said. Corin could hear the anger in her tone.

  “That’s right,” Daum began “I understand your hesitation, but I promise you we will sort all of this out, but we need to move now!”

  Corin saw the three move along quickly. From his vantage point he kept looking to see if anyone followed them. So many furtives moved en masse that it was hard for Corin to see any specific ones that might stand out. But then, just by pure chance, he saw a face move in and out of the crowd looking to where Daum had gone. A clean shaven face he could recognize. One of the men from the previous night, Riccus, and he was beginning to move close behind Daum and the others.

  That bastard.

  Corin's heart beat with even more intensity as he saw him. He did not know this man, but Corin could tell he was dangerous. But he had to hurry. As soon as Riccus moved past him, Corin also fell in behind him, following in his footsteps. Daum was moving along at a quick pace, and Riccus matched his cadence. Corin had to adjust, he did not want to lose sight of him, but more importantly he did not want him to know he was following him.

  As soon as Daum and the others dashed into an alleyway, Riccus followed closely behind. Corin had to make sure to leave enough space so as to not arouse suspicion himself. But it seemed as if Riccus' attention was solely focused on Zhi and Nanaua. At no point did Riccus turn around to see if there might be others following him.

  Thus Riccus and Corin followed Daum through a confusing trek of the city. Twists and turns through various alleys, which finally landed them in front of a red brick building that was indistinguishable from those around it. Sure it looked a bit older than others around it, but that was the only thing that Corin could point out. Daum quickly opened the door and went in followed by Zhi and Nanaua.

  Riccus stopped across the street from the building from a hidden vantage point. Corin waited to see what happened, and it seemed that so did Riccus.

  Corin did not know what exactly Riccus was thinking, or what he thought might happen, but Riccus was determined to continue observing the building. Corin had been leaning against a wall and peeking around a pair of furtives that were conversing to keep an eye on him as he continued to observe the building that Daum went into.

  After a while the furtives that had been hiding Corin moved out of the way. Almost simultaneously Riccus got up from his perch and began moving again. Riccus began to go in the same direction that Corin currently found himself in.

  Oh damn!

  Corin panicked, he would definitely be noticed by Riccus. As soon as he began to attempt to scramble a large furtive stepped in front of him looking around as if lost.

  The large furtive, a shiny black dragoor, looked around, clearly trying to find something.

  The large dragoor turned to Corin.

  “Do you know where the market is?” The dragoor asked in a kind tone.

  At the same time Riccus walked past Corin. As he did the dragoor continued to move about as if he would be able to see the market if he looked hard enough, continually blocking the view of Riccus from Corin.

  “That way.” Corin said quietly as he guided the lost furtive.

  Corin looked past and saw Riccus further down the street, seemingly unaware of his presence.

  “Ah, that’s what I thought.” The large dragoor said. “Thank you stranger.”

  The large dragoor smiled and walked away. As the dragoor walked away Corin felt a strange sense of calm wash over him.

  How odd. It feels so familiar.

  Corin began following Riccus now, who moved through the crowd swiftly. He did so with such grace that Corin was certainly impressed. But it also made it hard for him to stay close and not lose sight of him. But the one thing that Corin did have that favored him was his size. Thanks to his small frame it was easy for him to squeeze into small openings between furtives and keep his head below the general level of chaos that seemed to be the norm in Yranto.

  As Riccus gracefully moved through the crowds, Corin did his best to squeeze, push through, and filter through any opening he could find in the swarm of furtives. After many alleys of this furious pace continuing, Riccus began to traverse down paths where the crowd thinned. Here Corin could not rely on sheer numbers to hide himself. He had to be careful as to how he tailed him. But that he did, keeping track of where exactly they turned in order to get to where they were.

  Finally Riccus stopped in the middle of a quiet street and walked into a large stone building. The one he walked into was similar to those around it. This entire street seemed to be occupied with some of the nicer buildings Corin had seen in Yranto.

  Must be nice.

  The large building had only one distinguishing feature. It would have been easy to miss, as to the majority of the citizens of Yranto it could have been mistaken for unique art, but Corin knew better. Engraved into the metal door there were markings in Dragon script. They read “Tonatiuh”.

  So much for subtleness.

  Not wanting to chance being spotted Corin made sure to hurry back to the market. By this point Daum must have been waiting for him for what seemed like ages.

  ***

  “So the house they're hiding in simply says ‘Tonatiuh’ on the front door?” Daum was the one who asked.

  “That's right.” Corin replied.

  The others were also surprised at the revelation.

  “Well it's not like most furtives would know what it even said.” Livia said.

  “Aye that is true.” Daum replied. “I myself have never met any other furtives who knew how to read dragon script.”

  “But that is not the only bit of news we have to share.” Simeon said. He looked at Zhi and Nanaua.

  “Correct.” Daum replied. “Sorry I got carried away.”

  “Zhi, can you tell Corin what you and Nanaua learned?” Simeon stated.

  “Right,” Zhi began. “Our meeting with the Oixia was quite the event. We were blindfolded and led about the city. They brought us to a building, and still blindfolded were led inside. Once inside they kept leading us deeper into the building until finally we were told to sit. Once there we were able to remove our blindfolds. In front of us was a young gesherin.”

  “A gesherin?” Corin asked.

  “Yes, they are the ones with the gray skin, the long skinny arms and legs, and the large eyes.” Daum replied. “You normally do not see them on the surface, their skin is very sensitive to the sunlight. They normally wander around Yranto at night. A sizable portion of this city’s population is made up of gesherin, but most would not know that.”

  “So was this the Oixia?” Corin asked.

  “That's what she claimed.” Zhi stated.

  “Doubtful.” Daum stated. “The Oixia is known to have other female gesherin stand in for her to conduct business with people she has never met. No doubt the real Oixia was nearby.”

  “But did she know about Belaran?” Corin asked.

  “If she did, she did not share that information with us. All she said was that she would ask around the city and find a furtive that might know of him.” Zhi stated.

  “And did she ask anything of you?” Corin asked.

  “Many things about the internal workings of Tonatiuh's palace. Names of other Lord Protectorates, other Zifor Yorens, what their likes are, who they dislike. Every minute detail we could think of she wanted to know. And she was memorizing every little detail.” Zhi replied.

  “At one point, I was discussing how Throk had been following us with the other members of his failed plot, I mentioned Narsil. It was a slip of the tongue since Narsil was not implicated in Throk’s crimes. But the Oixia quickly asked me who this Narsil was, since I had only mentioned Noro, Nureilla, Traillo, and Nerua along with Throk in his failed assassination attempt.” Nanaua spoke up.

  “Well it seems that she did not reach her position solely due to her secrecy.” Simeon said.

  “Once her questions about Tonatiuh' palace ceased, we thought that was the end of it. We were wrong. Then she wanted a full accounting of our time since we landed near Trinixo.” Zhi added.

  “And of course what we have been up to since we escaped from Tonatiuh.” Zhi replied.

  “So you shared all that with her and all you got in return was the potential to receive information?” Corin asked.

  “I'm afraid so Corin.” Zhi said. “All she said was that she knew that there were agents of Tonatiuh within the city and that our safety would be hard to guarantee. So she said we should wait in hiding and that when she has the information she would reach out and let us know.”

  The room was quiet. The group was considering their options, whatever those might be.

  “I don't think the Oixia is to be trusted.” Daum said, breaking the silence.

  They all looked at him in surprise.

  “What makes you say that?” Zhi replied.

  “I can't say exactly what it is.” Daum said. “I just feel as if we should be wary of the Oixia and what she promises us.”

  “Don't you think you're being paranoid? If she had wanted to harm us then she could have done so already.” Zhi asked.

  “There are other things out there that we have to watch out beyond just being attacked. And you're asking a former Zifor if he is being paranoid? Of course I am!” Daum replied.

  “Why?” Zhi asked.

  “Right now we are in a position of weakness. We are told that for your group’s safety we should hide and wait for them to arrive with this crucial information. We are powerless to do anything without their help. What I want to know is what is in it for them?” Daum asked.

  “Did you not listen to what I just said? We gave them information on Tonatiuh's palace, on all the places we have been through. What more could the Oixia want?” Zhi replied, beginning to lose her patience.

  “Ah that?” Daum said as he waved his hand away. “I'm sure they know his palace better than you do. I've seen other escapees from Tonatiuh's palace here during my time, none of them have been summoned by the Oixia, including me mind you. They wanted you to believe you were being helpful.”

  Zhi seemed bothered by Daum's suggestion. It seemed she could not believe that she had been fooled.

  “You have all these grand ideas floating out there, but you have yet to tell us why exactly they would go to these lengths. What exactly are they hoping to gain that they already have not achieved?” Zhi replied.

  To this Daum was silent.

  “Well?” Zhi followed up.

  “That is what I have been trying to figure out.” Daum finally said, breaking his silence.

  “So you don't even know?” Zhi asked.

  “I don't need to know every detail to see the most important thing. You cannot trust the Oixia.” Daum replied.

  Daum's stubborn ways finally got to Zhi.

  “You know what your problem is? You think everyone is as untrustworthy as you.” Zhi shot back her temper flashing hot.

  “Zhi-” Corin began.

  Daum said nothing. It was clear that Zhi’s comment struck him.

  “If it weren't for him we wouldn't be here.” Simeon interjected. “He warned Corin, Livia and myself about Tonatiuh's agents. Had he not done so, we probably would be dead. And you two would be much closer to being caught.”

  Zhi’s face reddened. She knew she had crossed a line.

  “I'm sorry.” She said.

  Daum looked at her direction and smiled weakly.

  “But we should listen to what Daum has to say. Perhaps he is wrong, perhaps the Oixia will come through and deliver the information. But that does not mean we should not try ourselves to find Belaran's possible whereabouts. We know that Tonatiuh's agents are in this city, and they know that Zhi and Nanaua are here. They know our hiding spot is underground. If we wait too long Throk will have regained his strength and our position will be precarious.” Simeon stated.

  “We know where Throk hides! We should go there and take the fight to them!” Nanaua said finally breaking her silence.

  “I don't think that would be a wise choice.” Simeon stated.

  “Why?” She asked.

  “First off, we don't know how many agents reside in the house. You are a very skilled warrior, no doubt but we should assume that we will be outnumbered.” Simeon said.

  “Any fight of that size will attract the attention of the city guard. If they get involved their instinct is to assume everyone involved is working for one Titan or another and leave no survivors.” Daum said.

  “Now that we know where they hide we can be smart about this. Daum and I can go and watch their movements. We can determine how many enemies we are dealing with and if the opportunity arises perhaps thin their numbers.” Simeon said.

  “Alright, well that means Livia and I can go and ask for information about Belaran.” Corin said.

  Livia looked at him and nodded.

  “Well what does that leave for us?” Zhi asked.

  Nobody answered her.

  “Really?” Zhi stated.

  “They are looking for you!” Corin finally stated. “We don't want to make their job easier!”

  “Well what if they find me here?” Zhi said.

  “I'll be here!” Nanaua said. “None will take even a single step into this room before I cut them in half!”

  “Ugh.” Zhi said.

  “My love?” Nanaua sounded hurt.

  “It's not you dear.” Zhi replied, turning towards Nanaua. “I'm just tired of having to stay behind. But I understand why. We are so close to the end of our journey.”

  Zhi turned to Simeon and Daum.

  “Well if you can get rid of those agents quickly I would appreciate it, and you.” She now said turning to Corin and Livia.

  “You better find information on Belaran soon! I am already done with this city!”