Now that the only occupants of the house were a pair of dead bodies, the plan had changed.
"The blood is fresh," said a kneeling Argus, who was rubbing the red liquid between two fingers. He looked up. "This most likely occurred not long before our arrival."
"I see," Theron said with a heavy breath.
The corpse Argus was in front of was an older man with a full beard and light gray robes. His body was littered with stab wounds.
"I suppose this is the Priest," Argus said.
"Guess his daughters turned on him after all," Theron said, then stroked his chin: "Poor timing though…"
Mathew looked at the other corpse, a slender man with hawk-like features and short blond hair. He was bleeding from a wound in his neck and a few other places. It looked to Mathew as if he had been killed by a wild animal.
"This guy doesn't look like a young woman," He said, "unless they shape-shifted into a middle-aged man."
"That looks like one of the bounty hunters. Name was Creas, I think." Theron said.
"Uhuh… Why is his hand missing?" Mathew eyed the missing appendage. Blood was still oozing out of it, pooling on the ground.
"Monsters probably took it." Theron said with a shrug, "Maybe had a little snack."
Argus stood.
"I think I have an inkling of what manner of creature we are dealing with." He said. "The daughters must be Enfiri." Ophelia's eye twitched.
"Immortal Hounds?" She spoke as if she had swallowed gravel.
"Of course!" Theron exclaimed, and placed a hand on his forehead. "The old priest was hiding them, as Hounds are hard to tell apart from humans. They must have gone into a blood frenzy and turned on him. I bet Creas walked in right as it happened, and they ripped him apart."
"It is a good explanation for the claw marks and the size of the bite wound on his neck," Argus confirmed.
Mathew tried to keep on top of the information. "So… These creatures look like humans? And they were just… hiding in plain sight their whole lives?"
"That's my guess," Theron said.
Something wasn't adding up in Mathews head. Killing the bounty hunter investigating them made sense, but why would they suddenly turn on the one who had taken them in? Because their cover was blown? Surely the priest had known what they were when he had given them shelter. Why didn't they kill him long ago?
"We do not have time to waste," Ophelia said. "If they truly did leave recently, we must pursue them immediately." Argus nodded.
"I assume you have a way to track them?" He asked Theron.
"I had Stringa give me just the thing before we left the outpost."
Theron reached into a bag at his side and pulled out a pair of orange feathers.
"These are fireflight feathers," He explained, "taken from a bird native to this area. When activated, the feather will guide you in the direction of the target for the next hour. Max range is ten thousand meters. The only requirement is that you have an item the target has touched recently."
Mathew and Ophelia scanned the room, trying to guess which item would be best.
"No need for that," Argus said, and walked up to the corpse of Creas. He then proceeded to tear off a piece of his shirt. He held the fabric up in the air.
"This will most assuredly work."
…..
Not much time passed before Mathew, Argus, and Ophelia were walking the streets of Arlem.
After taking the fire flight feathers from Theron, they had decided it was better to start walking now, or else the distance between them and the monster sisters would grow too far.
Theron had taken the responsibility of bringing the current events to the notice of the local authorities, which were less military enforcement and more a group of bureaucrats. Any actual military might came from bounty hunters, local or otherwise.
So it was up to the three of them now to track down the targets.
The main issue right now was that there were 2 main entrances into Arlem, and they had no way of knowing which one the sisters escaped through, or even if they had left town at all.
"It seems we must split up, Lady Ophelia," Argus said.
"Explain." Said Ophelia.
"We have no time to waste. I will go to the west entrance and ask the guards there if they have seen anyone pass through. You two do the same at the east entrance."
"Why pair us that way? The task is simple enough for me to take on alone."
"My Lady, I am the most capable warrior. If I come across the monsters, I should be able to handle them alone. Besides that, Dread is your responsibility."
Ophelia sighed through her nose: "Fine. But if either party discovers where the creatures have gone, we pursue them immediately. There are two feathers, after all." Argus nodded.
"No matter the outcome, we all meet back up at the outpost by Sunset." He said.
"Agreed."
They split ways as soon as Argus handed a fireflight feather to Ophelia.
"Couldn't we ask the people around town if they saw where they went?" Mathew asked.
"What then, Dread? Shall we interrogate every single person? That would take days."
Mathew shrugged. He supposed at least checking each gate first couldn't hurt after all. They could always start questioning people later.
He caught sight of someone familiar out of the corner of his eye.
It was a short-haired girl wearing a bandanna. She was leaning against a crate, holding a large orange fruit that resembled a peach in both hands. As she went to take a bite, Mathew called out to her:
"You there. Seems we meet again." The words sounded silly to him as they left his mouth, but at least he had her attention.
She paused mid-chomp and looked up as Mathew approached.
"What are you doing?" Ophelia hissed. He ignored her.
"H-Hi…" the girl said, a tremor in her voice. Mathew wished he could smile to calm her, but he would have to make do with his expressionless face.
"What's your name?" He asked
"Chloe." She said, and her whole body tensed up.
"Chloe, I was wondering if you could help us?"
She hugged her fruit tight to her chest and said: "I'm not sharing."
Not the response he expected. He thought for a moment about saying that even if she did want to share with him, he wouldn't be able to eat it.
"No, not that. We just need help finding some people." Mathew asserted.
"People? Why? What people?" Before Mathew could respond, Ophelia stepped in:
"Do you know of the priest called Damon who lives at the edge of town? He follows the ways of the Elysium god, Purity."
"Oh! Him. I know him." The girl said, perking up.
Mathew folded his arms. Why was it that the girl was so eager to answer Ophelia? Was he really that intimidating? He wondered if the girl would share her fruit with Ophelia if she asked.
"Well, the priest Damon has two daughters that I believe to be a bit younger than me."
"Siyah and Beyah?"
"Are those their names?" Ophelia pressed, and the girl nodded eagerly. "Did you happen to see them recently?"
"Yes." The girl said, "I just bumped into them today!"