A Wolf's Howl, A Fairy's Wing

About a day later, they found themselves not far from Djibouti City, the once-capital of Djibouti. It was a relatively large city on the desert coast, surrounded by sand, cracked earth, and sparse vegetation.

A transformed Erik crouched on a sandy hill and looked out into the distance, towards the city. Naeku was on his right side, still in her transformed state, and on his shoulder facing the werepanther was Elora.

A small covenant mark now graced the back of Naeku's furry, clawed hand, the only purpose of which was for her to keep Erik's secrets. Thus, revealing Elora was not an issue now.

By now, Erik had told the werepanther princess the gist of what they were doing there. So, she turned to Erik with a sceptically raised eyebrow, "And you're sure your mother is there? Alive? I don't mean to be rude, but Djibouti City has been overrun by the Humanitas Sangh for over a month now. Any shapeshifters are surely either dead or branded and firmly under control."

Since Erik continued staring at the distant city with an unreadable expression, it was Elora who answered with a determined nod. "We're sure. We don't know her current condition, but we know she's there, and alive."

Naeku clearly remained sceptical, yet she still nodded in assent, "Fine… But my nature sense can't reach the city from here, so we still need to get closer, and preferably inside. How are we doing that?"

Sneaking into the city wouldn't be easy, as large walls of sand and stone had been erected to surround the city, either by the hunters, or those that lived there before. Erik didn't doubt he'd be able to scale or destroy those walls, but not without going detected.

Of course, that was assuming those walls weren't protected by a slew of sigils, which even Elora couldn't tell from this distance. Unlike in Bamburgh before, they couldn't get close enough to inspect those walls without being detected.

Meanwhile, many first and second-ranked Arcanists patrolled the top and outside of the walls and going in guns blazing was not an option. Even if Erik and the others could fight their way through the thousands of first and second ranked soldiers occupying this city, they were not the only dangers here…

Fortunately, Naeku would be able to tell them a little more about those dangers, so long as they could get her inside.

Meanwhile, the city appeared to be a bustle with panicked activity, likely because the survivors of their battle with Naeku's forces had recently returned.

"Getting in should be simple," Elora shrugged casually as a response to Naeku's question. "We just walk in through the gate," she continued while pointing at a well-guarded entrance. Although, to be fair, it wasn't so much a gate, as it was simply a hole left open in the wall.

Naeku scowled, now adding confusion to her scepticism.

"The gate?!" she exclaimed, demanding explanation. "That Arcanist your wife enslaved clearly told us this city was more of a military camp on lockdown than a city! Let's assume you're not stupid enough to send one of the Runebound in there, but even Emily or Emma wouldn't just be allowed in! How would they even explain that damn orb you have your servants carry around for you?!"

For a moment, Elora narrowed her eyes at Naeku, a little annoyed with Naeku's constant underestimation.

"I guess you can be forgiven because you haven't truly seen our work yet, but I'd appreciate it if you held a more respectful tone…" she threatened slightly with narrowed eyes as her third rank aura washed over Naeku.

Naeku couldn't help but shrink back a little as a low growl escaped her throat. Even with Elora's diminutive stature and no offensive presence, she was still a third ranker, and perfectly capable of intimidating Naeku. Find adventures on empire

Erik ignored their conversation, as his focus remained on the city and what he might find there. Even if it wasn't for his mother, Aaron had told him a lot of other things as well…

"F— Fine," Naeku finally answered, while instinctively eyeing Elora with caution. "Can you please explain the plan? I'd like to return to my people alive, if at all possible."

Elora relaxed while she pulled back her third rank aura and grinned at the somewhat more docile werepanther. "Sure," she purred, while patting Erik's shoulder with a mysterious grin. "You see, they may not let any of us in, but they would surely do so for the miraculously surviving Aaron…"

* * *

Not much later, a wounded man in a torn, once-luxurious robe, was stumbling his way towards the gate, pain and frustration marred his face. One of his legs dragged a little behind him, and caked blood was everywhere. Occasionally, he'd use a mud slide to advance a little faster, but then he'd have to wait before using it again.

All in all, he didn't move as fast as a third ranked Arcanist should, but still fast enough that the second-ranked Arcanists at the gate only noticed him a few minutes before he showed up in front of them.

"D— Deacon Aaron?!" one robed man exclaimed in surprise when he recognized the wounded man's face. Instantly, all the other Arcanists jumped to attention as shocked gazes turned to the approaching man. "W— We'd heard—"

Instantly, Aaron interrupted him with a furious scowl, and flooded the area with third rank pressure, "I don't care what you'd heard! And if you dare to suggest a second ranker could get the best of me, I'll drown you in dirt!"

Instantly, the guard gulped and shut his mouth while all the others did the same. Aaron's cruelty and sadism was well-known, and equally well-feared. Standing in front these guards, he panned his gaze across their faces, as if trying to determine who would be facing the brunt of his wrath today.

Yet, seeing them all remain perfectly still and obedient, he finally snorted and continued walking. "Bah!" he snarled, while pushing aside any Arcanists in his way. "You pissants aren't worth my time. Move aside! I need to see the confessor!"

Quickly, these guards sighed in relief and made way. Normally, they'd suggest sending an escort along, or at least ask for identification, but none dared to risk Aaron's wrath by speaking up when he so clearly wasn't interested in hearing their opinions.

They all knew his face, and reputation, so they weren't going to risk life and limb for the 1% chance this wasn't actually Aaron. It's not like any of them had heard about such sophisticated disguises, anyway. Not to mention that he was clearly a third-ranker either way, judging by his pressure, so they were happy to let those inside the city deal with it.

Meanwhile, inside 'Aaron's' head, the dulcet tones of Elora's mischievous giggle echoed, "Hehehe, too easy." But then, her voice became graver. "Now, let's go face your past, my love…"