Istaroth closed the heavy curtain behind her and casted a soundproofing spell in the small room.
"So you finally met them."
Seraphine nodded. "Yes. Thank you for sending them my way. I never would've thought this could happen without 'them' knowing."
The old woman sat down on one of the plush armchairs and took out a smoking pipe. The delicate fragrant smell of herbs filled the room. The smoke she exhaled twisted and turned in the air, almost as if it was alive. It slowly took the form of a clock with four moving components, with a painting of a sun, two moons, and a starry night sky depicted on the background of it.
Her golden eyes glimmered as she nodded towards the clock. "I believe we're roughly on the right path to welcome the travellers."
"Is that what your 'Foresight's Eyes' telling you? In that case, that's good news."
Seraphine studied the old woman, who had switched her focus back to the clock again. Just like her, Istaroth possessed one of the four fabled 'Runic Eyes'; Judgement's Eyes, Foresight's Eyes, Memory's Eyes, and Watcher's Eyes. The holders of these eyes inherited the abilities only after the previous holders passed away.
The Foresight's Eyes, which could see varieties of future possibilities, had never been known to be possessed by a human. There might have been one or two, but unable to handle its power, they often went insane very quickly due to the infinite number of possibilities they could see. That was why the possessor of the eyes was more likely to be born to one of the races with strong arcane power and long lifespan, such as the elves or night elves.
But the person, or being, in front of her was not an elf - Istaroth was one of the last dragonkins in the continent. While not a pure-blooded dragon, she was the closest being to a dragon in this day and age, where dragons had gone extinct.
"Your current identity seems to serve you well. How did you get acquainted with the Magistrate of Dohara?"
Istaroth frowned. "That old man is a busybody. He seems to have this peculiar sixth-sense that only a very few humans have."
Seraphine raised her eyebrow. "Does he know you're a dragonkin?"
"I think he knows I'm not a human, but that's as far as it goes. He came with a request, something that I've been meaning to deal with myself." She eyed Seraphine. "Actually, you owe me a favour, so would you be able to check this for me?"
"Is this a request from you, or from the holder of Foresight's Eyes? I'm a little bit in a hurry here."
"Ah, pshh!" Istaroth waved her hand, completely eradicating the smoke-formed clock. "When have I ever asked you to do something that is disadvantageous to you?"
"Erm...if we consider the last time..."
Istaroth glared at her. "Is this how your mistress taught you? To question your elder? When have you actually suffered a loss from our past dealings?"
Seraphine put her hands up in a surrender gesture. "Please don't bring mistress into this. What can I do for you, elder?"
The old woman smiled in satisfaction and inhaled another bout of smoke before speaking. "There has been an increase in the number of missing children in the area. It started from the beggar children, then the farmers', and even the visiting merchants' children. The Magistrate has been doing his best to investigate, but so far, he has lost two mages, three priests, and two legions of knights. Disappeared without any traces."
Losing two mages would have been very painful for a small city like Dohara, so Seraphine was not surprised that someone like the Magistrate would resort to a dramatic measure like contacting the unofficial ruler of the city's underworld.
"Is that why he's here? To ask for help?"
"Yes. I've been doing my own investigation as it involved our children. He called it 'working together', but I know the Archon is starting to pay attention to this case, so he needs to move fast. He knows the only way to move the mercenaries is through me."
"Hmm..." Seraphine lightly touched her lips. "I didn't see anything on the way here, not a missing poster or anything. Nothing on the newspapers either."
Istaroth clicked her tongue. "It seems the Archon wants to keep it quiet, lest the people would panic. I'm surprised that holy knight and mercenary were able to get in - the security must have been really tight nowadays."
Without thinking, Seraphine took out a piece of mirror shard from her subspace, but Istaroth waved it away. "You can try, but it seems whatever - or whoever - is doing this has blocked any kind of distance interference. I suspect they have an ancient artefact with them."
Surprised, Seraphine put the mirror shard away. "How did they manage to obtain one?"
"God knows. Well now that you've accepted this task..."
"...I haven't said I will accept it..."
"...It seems that it is the right course of action." The smoke formed into a clock again, and her unreadable golden eyes glinted as they read the future only known to her.
****
Armand glanced at the waitress with a smile as she put down a set of tableware and cutleries. "Thank you."
The waitress blushed as she nodded and walked away.
Frederick studied him. He had always been proud of his ability to read people. When he met the young Fontaine first in the capital, he thought of him as someone quite orderly but emotionally detached, calm but stony exterior. He had also sensed a quiet resentment bubbling away beneath that exterior, something that he could not feel now. Either it had gone away, which he doubted, or this man had just gotten better at hiding it. Now he was a picture of a model holy knight: noble, righteous, and benevolent. Of course, his striking good look also helped.
"I have to admit, I'm quite saddened, Commander. I was expecting you to come and visit this old man when you arrived yesterday."
Armand's smile never left his lips. "Of course, that was my intention, Lord Magistrate. Alas, we received information that required my companion and I to act quickly."
That was a lie. If Armand had really intended to stay at the Citadel, where the Archon and the Magistrate resided and ran the day-to-day operations, he would have sent a letter or an arcane recording prior to his arrival.
"I entered under a different name as it was a sacred mission from the Temple. I hope for your understanding."
"Of course." Frederick only smiled and nodded without giving explanation on how he found out about Armand and Flint's arrival.
"That is to say... the security had been tighter than what we usually encounter in a place this size. Has it always been the case?"
"Hmm..." Frederick took a sip from his wine glass and sighed. "What a coincidence, Lord Commander. Or is this really a coincidence? The day I met the 'Mother' of the underworld was also the day I met you, a holy knight."
Frederick sat back. His eyes caught the waitress' eyes, who immediately bowed and walked away.
"There are only my people around, so we're free to talk. Commander Fontaine, we would like to commission the World Tree Temple to take on this request."