Alaric's gaze sharpened. "Traces?"
Marcus stepped forward, unrolling a small parchment and setting it on the desk. "At the old chapel beneath the market, we found this wedged inside a loose stone. A coded letter. Half burned, but enough to prove it was a message left for a courier. They must have abandoned it when word spread their men were missing."
Alaric picked up the scrap, scanning the jagged symbols.
Carlden added, "At two other sites, a barrel at the east docks and the brick hollow near the mill, we found faint markings. The crescent symbol carved so faintly it could be missed by any untrained eye. But they were fresh, no more than a week old."
Alaric's thumb pressed hard against the parchment, creasing it. "So they were still operating. Still dropping orders even after we gutted their men."
