25 The Third Day Part 1 (1/2)

Leo woke up. He slept well during the night. A bird flew beneath the grey clouds, and Leo stared at it. He stared at the bird, for it was free—truly free, unlike him. It wasn't chained to a coat as a form of branding.

Leo got up and noticed that no one was in the first floor of Raynark's inn. He looked in the kitchen. He looked in the street. He wondered to himself, 'Where could Raynark have gone to?'

(Where had Raynark gone indeed)

The city was empty. To the left, and to the right, no matter where he looked. Leo found no one. And then he sensed demons moving. They were moving toward the center of the city. Leo followed.

He ran for a good half mile, until he came across a group of children. He recognized some of them. They were the kids from the slums. They were also the kids from the middle class of the city, the children of merchants and tradesman. He could tell by the quality of the clothing they were wearing—by the contrast between the well off and the impoverished children's clothing. He hid around a corner, while the demons moved the children to a door outside of Ahab's palace.

'Does the door lead to beneath the palace?' Leo thought.

Leo watched the door close behind the demons and children. He also saw two men guarding the door. They wore black robes, and Leo could sense residual traces of the fire element from their clothing.

'Where have I seen them before?' Leo thought.

A man appeared from a dark portal in front of the door. The man's abnormally low cheekbones seemed familiar to Leo. He couldn't recognize him until he heard his voice.

The man who appeared from the door said in a shrill, high voice, ”Open Sesame.”

The guards said, ”Welcome, Lord Harumi.”

Leo was shocked and confused. He remembered the lanky man with a shrill voice that followed the Fang who chased him off a cliff of the Kingdom of the Seven Mountains.

'Wasn't he a bandit?' Leo thought, 'Why is he here? And what was that portal?'

Leo wondered how he could enter the room, but he didn't know how. He didn't want to alert the two guards, and he didn't want to run into Harumi, but he couldn't let the children go without him. He didn't know why that was the case, but heirs heart wouldn't let him. He made a sheepish half-grin, 'I can't fall that far... now can I?' Leo decided. He would kill the guards.