A Wolf's Howl, A Fairy's Wing

Djibouti City was not as over-developed as most other large, ruined city's Erik had seen during his time back on Earth. The buildings were far shorter, there was less glass, steel, or brick, and a lot more concrete and cement.

The destruction it likely suffered after the awakening was also far less prevalent. Many buildings remained standing, despite massive cracks in the walls and foundations.

A lot of patchwork had been done, likely by the original survivors, with mud and metal sheets. Yet, those people were nowhere to be found now. Death hung in the air and some blood still caked to the walls and streets, even if the corpses had already been removed.

The Humanitas Sangh had clearly invaded with a heavy hand, not wanting their initial ingress into Africa to be marred with instability. Now, they'd turned this city into a military encampment.

Arcanist soldiers in robes were everywhere, bustling back and forth as if preparing for something, Meanwhile, branded shapeshifters, vampires, and, unsurprisingly, ghouls, where herded together in various encampments, where they stared ahead with empty eyes.

Naturally, they'd asked Aaron what he knew of this branding process, but the answers had not been forthcoming. Apparently, the actual process was a secret known only to those performing it, but according to rumours he'd heard, they were essentially tortured into submission.

Erik and the other Runebound were unsurprisingly disgusted and furious with that revelation, but for Erik the main worry was now related to his mother.

If she was somewhere in this city, then how did she get here? And what was her current status? His mind was preoccupied with these questions, and he found it hard to focus on anything else. Read exclusive chapters at empire

Elora kept assuring him that, whatever the situation, they could deal with it together and find a solution, but that didn't help his anxiety as much as she hoped. After all, whatever problem they would have to solve, his mother would have likely had to suffer immensely to create the problem

And that was on top of the constant suffering she'd already gone through for the past few years due to sharing a piece of her talent and soul with Jonas.

The only relief he found was in his memories of Runa. Her strength and mental resilience had always seemed to go beyond what he thought anyone could be capable off. The possibility that this view of her was seen through the rose-coloured glasses of a child was not something he wanted to consider.

Yet, whatever the case, she was still alive, and that was what was allowing him to push his mind-numbing anxiety and bone-chilling fury aside to focus on the task at hand. At least for now.

At the moment, 'Aaron' was stumbling through the streets of this ruined, desert city as he tried to find a secluded spot. His rage- and contempt-filled eyes panned across everything he saw along the way.

Fortunately, anyone who recognized Aaron knew that gaze was no surprise, particularly because of his apparent wounds. As for anyone else, they were convinced not to care by the combination of a third-rank aura and stormy mood.

Annoying third rankers was an easy way to get your life cut short for those living under the oppressive rule of the Humanitas Sangh.

Yet, the main problem for 'Aaron', was that he had no idea where he was going. He needed to find a secluded spot, but he couldn't simply wander around aimlessly, as that would be far too suspicious. Thus, he had to move as if he had a purpose, while hoping that his direction made some kind of sense.

Fortunately, moving towards the city centre appeared to be the right decision for now, as no one looked at him strangely. Finally, after a few minutes of pretending to hobble forward with one bum leg, he reached a point where no eyes were on him, and he quickly slipped into a nearby, seemingly abandoned building.

"Are we clear?" he asked the fairy in his head, his voice edged with barely contained fury, anxiety, and impatience.

"Yes, there's no one in the vicinity," Elora quickly answered, after carefully checking the surroundings with her omnisense.

"Good," 'Aaron' then slaked a sigh of relief, and straightened himself. At the same time, he stopped clutching his side and put weight back on his supposedly hobbled leg. Finally, his skin shimmered shortly, before suddenly morphing into the surface of an intimidating black armour with a closed helmet in the form of a wolf's head.

Unsurprisingly, the fake Aaron had been Erik all along.

He'd been able to imitate Aaron's face and clothes by essentially projecting it onto his armour's surface. This was one of the most important, non-combat functions his armour had, and it was only possible thanks to Eira and her core providing both the power and direct control that was necessary to pull this off.

And, of course, Elora's contribution of providing the third rank pressure wasn't anything to scoff at either.

As for the mud slide he used outside of the city, that had been pretty easy to fake by using a sigil to create some mud around his feet, and then simply using his Runebound strength to propel himself forward.

"Thank you, Eira," he told the construct softly, while straining inwardly not to let his internal turmoil affect his behaviour towards his allies.

Eira, in a surprising show of emotional awareness and maturity, realized his current emotional state wasn't very good, so she simply nodded mentally at him. "Of course, Master," she smiled at the same time.

His armour then retreated into its armguard state, and he waved his hand to pull a transformed Naeku out of his dimension.

As soon as she appeared, she looked at him sombrely. She was immensely curious about the origins of this strange and versatile armour of his, but she filed those questions away for later, because her nature affinity and its corresponding instinct, allowed her to realize exactly how tortured he felt inside.

Plus, it wasn't actually much different from how she herself felt. After all, she still didn't know the fate of her father.

"Give me a moment while I start sorting through what I can see," she immediately told him. Green runes appeared around her fierce yellow eyes, and they flash shortly. Then, she closed them and started combing through their surroundings.

Unfortunately, this might take a while. Her nature sense may allow her to cover the entire city, much like it did with the battlefield, but she still had to sort through what she saw. She could see every single person in the city, but finding a specific one among was like finding a needle in a haystack.

Right now, she was checking everyone and creating an internal database of their looks. When she was done, Erik would describe his mother, and she'd be able to cross reference in her mind until she found her. Theoretically, anyway. This was new for both of them.

Meanwhile, Erik waited impatiently. His mind continued to be consumed with a range of emotions that he tried desperately to keep under control so that he could remain calm.

Emma, Emily, Astrid, and Elora, all felt these emotions through their bond with him, but before they could offer any solace, Naeku had, surprisingly, already found their target.

Her eyes shot open wide, and she exclaimed, full of incredulity, "Lady Runa?!"