Pressure.
Intense pressure.
Egan stared at the empty bed before him. Fear and anxiety were coursing through his veins, driving his animosity. Every part of his being cursed the figures who did this.
He should have done better.
He should have protected her.
All the blood in his body rushed to his head. He couldnt think straight. Every molecule in is being was screaming. Not if pain, but of sorrow.
What was the reason for promised himself anything if he couldn't keep it? A man like that isn't worth anything. All he's ever done since coming here is cause pain and grief. Even Thaerin told him that his very presence is sending the world into chaos. He is a flaw,
and should have always been treated like one.
'I am a failure'
***
At the speed of lightning, he dashes through the open window to his right, grabbing Thaerin's coat on the way out and wrapping it around his body. The only thing visible are his piercing, bloodthirsty eyes and the horns he now despises.
Blood pounding
Dashing from rooftop to rooftop, he spots a familiar alley. He needs to find those figures and force them to talk. If they won't
'I will kill them.'
His voice constantly rings that phrase in his head. He reached the roof of the alley he had fought in just moments prior. He looks down to try and find the people who jumped him. Upon landing smoothly on the ground and looking around, they were gone. He was too late.
His blood pounding further. Every pulse feels like a tsunami crashing against his skull.
Without knowing what else to do, he jumps back onto the rooftop and runs straight to the guild.
'Liz might know what to do'
The town was still bustling; the festival was reaching its grand finale. The artificial lights dancing around the sky were whizzing by while he jumped from the rooftop to rooftop. Each landing cracking the shingles that line the roofs of the homes. His mind was only focused on one thing at the time. The happy singing of people in taverns, musicians playing in the corners of the plaza, and booths selling their unique wares to any passersby. All of it was tuned out. It didn't matter anymore. This culture festival was for Sarah, so what is the point if not to experience it with her?
With a quick dash forward towards the guild, he stops right in front of the large double doors. He doesn't know where Liz lives, so this is his best option for finding her. He knows that she already clocked out for the day, but he has no other option available.
Still wrapped in Thaerin's coat, he barges into the empty guildhall. It was past closing, so everyone who used to fill the inside of the guild had finally left. From the inside out, it felt like a ghost town. The only people inside were the long-haired ponytailed receptionist from earlier and—
'Liz!'
With a quick dash towards the desk she was stationed at, he now stands towering over her. From the looks of it, Liz was straightening up some loose ends she missed from her shift. Liz, noticing a man's presence, looks up, only his glowing orange and crimson eyes shining through the hood.
"Can I help you? We are past closing, so if this can wait, then…" Liz croaked, concerned about the mystery person in front of her.
After flipping off the hood and slamming his hands on the desk, he looks at her straight in the eyes. His gaze was intense, but desperate. As though pleading for an answer.
"Oh! Egan, what are you doing here-"
"Sarah! She's missing! I need your help; I need to find her!" Egan said, tears running down his cheeks. His eyes were still focused intensely on hers. Her gray eyes stared back, as though a mist had enveloped his senses. It was a calm gaze, one of sympathy.
He was right to trust her.
"Sarah's missing? But-"
[A loud groan bellows from under the receptionist desk.]
A very sickly-looking Sarah reaches her arms up and around the desk, pulling herself up to see who is yelling. Her face was still beet-red, her skin sweaty and glowing. She was wearing different clothes than before, these being baggy and loose.
"Who's yellin'? Make 'em stop, Liz…"
Egan looks at Sarah
Sarah looks at Egan
"Oh! Hey, Egan..."
The immediate feeling of relief pulses through Egan like a tidal wave. Each and every heartbeat slowly and slowly calmed him down. Seeing her face in one piece was like a miracle. More beautiful than any sky-painted landscape. Sarah had only known this man for a short time, but for Egan, she was everything. The first person he had ever met, and the first one he trusted. Even though his wings have long since been snatched from his frame. In this moment,
He really felt like he could soar.
***
"What—uhm, why, how?"
He looked towards Liz for an answer he so desperately needed.
"Calm your tit's demon baby I'll tell you what happened," Liz said, looking down towards Sarah, who was once again strewn across the ground next to her.
"Demon baby?"
"I was also sketched out by the guy you bravely confronted back at the Inn. You know, the Duke Hadrian S. Vanitinova? Something about him didn't seem quite right, so after I dropped Berthold off at his shop, I immediately ran to the Inn she was staying in. I had no idea she was this sick, but still. Anyway, I overheard the duke whisper something under his breath. Something like "If I can't have her, I'll take her by force. I have an 'innate talent' that enhances my hearing almost 2-fold, so to me, I could hear everything he was saying. Back to the point, after getting to her place, I saw the door was unlocked, so upon letting myself in, I took the damsel in distress and hid her out here. Didn't think you would come looking for her, though. Sorry bout' that!"
After Liz's long speech Egan felt even more at peace with the situation. A visible wave of happiness washing over him.
After a short silence, he looks back over the counter to see what Liz is scrounging together. He notices it's stuff about the missing people in Westhaven, along with adventurer documents about the duke. Egan feels as though she will understand the strange presences he had been feeling all over town.
"I have some news about the duke. I also think that the abductions happening in Westhaven aren't a coincidence. Vanitinova is next, I'm sure of it." Egan said, concerningly.
"Why do you say that?"
Egan: "First of all, after I dropped Sarah off at the Inn, I ran to go get medicine at the apothecary nearby. On my way there, however, some strange assassins all adorning the same emblem attacked me out of nowhere! They said that they're after me, but if they can't get me, they'll go after Sarah instead."
"Good thing I got there in time, huh?
Egan nodded
Egan: "By the time I got back from the alley, the window in her room was shattered in."
"No wonder you were in a panic."
Egan nodded
Egan: "I have also been feeling this strange presence ever since getting to this settlement. I didn't want to ruin Sarah's time here, so I stupidly kept it to myself."
"Yeah, that was stupid."
A dilapidated Sarah once again reaches her arm up and around the receptionist desk. She was still disoriented from being sick as a dog, but with a frustrated look on her face she looks at Egan.
"You should have told me, idiot." Before passing back out on the ground.
Egan, who would usually have gotten mad, didn't. This time, all he felt was joy. For he knew in this moment, Sarah was okay.
"Anyways, the same presence that I've been feeling…
Was coming from the duke."
Liz looked down at the papers she was holding. Her face scrunched up from the conflicting thoughts.
"It says in his records that he barely participates in any guild-related activity, only the one quest a month you need to do to keep your adventurer's license." Liz added, still looking down at the papers, "Strange rumors have also been spreading around about how unauthorized merchant wagons have been heading in and out of town at an irregular rate ever since the soon-to-be duke began gaining traction."
Liz continuing-
"Luckily, no missing people have been reported yet, so maybe you two were the first ones." Liz added, "They have to be deciding who to pick off somehow."
Egan looked puzzled by the whole ordeal. The only thing running through his mind was punching the shit out of that duke.
"We are currently in the eastern section of Vanitinova, the Duchess's embassy palace is located in the center of Vanitinova."
Liz looks up at Egan, a look of passion in her eyes. Egan, confused at the sudden excitement boiling off her, looks back down at the documents she is holding.
"How did you get to Sarah on time? The Inn is a decent bit away, yeah?" Egan said, still curious about how Liz can provide support if worse comes to worst.
"Sarah didn't tell you? I used to be an adventurer, you know.
Titanium-ranked adventurer, Elizabeth Bernstein. At your service!" Liz proclaimed, standing up and pointing directly at Egan, who was still leaning over the counter.
Egan, a look of shock on his face from the sudden reveal, now feels a whole lot better at the situation. He still had no idea what a 'Titanium-ranked' adventurer was, but the duke said that he was one too so it must be someone fairly strong.
"I have a formal request of you, Egan."
"Hm?"
"We're going under the radar for this one, I'll hide Sarah here for now, at least until she's better. If what you said is true, this is the safest place for her. We are at war, Egan. We need to find out what is happening in Vanitinova."
Egan looks down at the sleeping Sarah right next to Liz. A look of determination plastered on his face, his eyes emitting a bright glow.
"You mentioned wanting to join this adventurer guild, didn't you?"
"Yeah, I did," Egan said, his eyes still exploding with determination.
"Usually, you would need to do a written test, but I'll make an exception this time.
As head receptionist at Vanitinova's Rampart Adventurers' Company's eastern wing. I now offer your first formal quest, Egan!"
"Think of this as your initiation exam…Do you accept?"
"I do."
"Alright then! Now… how about we get down to specifics?"