Xerxes held the torn blindfold in one hand, the coarse black fabric feeling unnaturally cold. In his other hand, he clutched Thornfum's singular piece of earth, his knuckle white with fury.
With anger, the earthern fragment shattered in his grasp.
"Damn it!" He cursed.
As the pieces of stone and dust layered onto the floorboard, a flicker of something, not stone, caught Xerxes' eye.
He froze for a moment, then immediately scrambled to the floor and grabbed it, it was a small sheet of paper.
Airi fluttered closer, her voice a hushed whisper, "He didn't... Don't tell me he got that idea from those Fedradian confections. The ones with the paper inside..."
"Fortune cookies," Xerxes finished, slightly dumbfounded. The memory was absurd; his trembling fingers eased slightly, and he began to reminisce on the horrible fortunes they both received, which made the experience memorable.
He unfolded the note, and the message wasn't any fortune worth reeling over, but a warning. Scrawled in Thornfum's unmistakably rough handwriting. It was a collection of words, not a sentence, that depicted a horrible message.
'Orpheus. Interpass. Slaves. Curses. Flaming Parrot.'
Xerxes' face paled, realising what situation Thornfum could be in.
He voiced his concerns to Airi, "He definitely knew something was up; he didn't have time to write an actual letter, but Orpheus?"
Airi asked in a slightly sinister tone, "Orpheus, that information broker? Thornfum had mentioned him, and we even met him. It was prior to the tournament..."
They both recalled their first interaction.
Thornfum had once told Xerxes, 'No one ever looks for info, info finds you! How'd ya' think I knew ya' were training here!'
But it wasn't only that, Orpheus had helped him in the tournament, and he directly gave Xerxes pieces of information during it. Particularly about Tristan.
'There are points in the battlefield that Tristan creates using his fire, which trigger his immense speed. Win the tournament, Xerxes, your eyes hold conviction like no other.'
He gave the information to Xerxes, but to his knowledge, no one else had received it.
Why did he want me to win so eagerly? So much so that he'd go out of his way to assist me against my biggest challenge? Xerxes couldn't possibly know at that time, and even now.
He trailed over the next words, 'Interpass, Slaves and Curses'. Thornfum was probably going to the interpass, of Amento and Baratheon, and slaves?
Xerxes had heard all about the slaves who were situated in the south of Baratheon. It was a growing ethical issue, especially amid hardship, so could it mean that Orpheus was connected to the slaves in the south?
Was Orpheus really just a simple information broker, or did he have wicked motives? What was the correlation between his need for Xerxes to win the tournament and the slaves within the south?
"Too many questions, did Orpheus need gold? Or..."
Airi suggested an idea that suddenly seemed to answer a lot of the questions: "With his nature and assessment of people, he likely didn't want something as simple as you to gain fame from winning the tournament."
She continued trying to piece things together, "Orpheus probably knew what Tristan would reject anything from the sanctuary, after all, the only artifact he would ever use was that pendant on his neck. The one his father gave him. But it was known for a month or two that you potentially needed a map; well, the only people who knew were a select few. But it wouldn't be a surprise for Orpheus to gain that information."
Xerxes' teeth ground against each other. "Then why was that bastard about to kill me, if he could take someone like Thornfum, then I'm sure he could have taken my life there."
He gazed at the blindfold that only Orpheus wore. It seemed so sickening a glance, but it wasn't just a blindfold.
Various thoughts swarmed his mind, but he needed Xerxes to know that it was him. Why leave me alive?
He took a moment glancing at the lustreless black blindfold.
Then, Xerxes rubbed his fingers across it, "I think it may be a trap, no... I'm almost certain this is a scheme. It doesn't make sense for him not to kill me there, but what's behind the scheme?"
Airi looked at the last word on the letter, "Flaming parrot, as much as I do hate the name, it is something Thornfum called me to mock me, but I don't think that it is bait for us, most likely just you."
Taking a step back, Xerxes frowned.
He attempted to piece together the knowledge he had so far.
Number one, Orpheus seemed to be the person who took Thornfum.
Secondly, he could assume that there was a correlation between Orpheus and the slaves, but there were multiple 'slaves'. A particular growing problem was the tenebrous outlaws in the southern city of Layne, Merkaities, who all but controlled a small, narrow trade route between Baratheon and Layne. They were known to take extremely skilled dwarves or whatever they could get their hands on.
Xerxes heard stories from his time in Layne that the 'leader' of the south was an extremely strong person. His influence...perhaps even stronger. But it was impossible to connect him to Orpheus.
So the only feasible explanation could be the slave routes near the interpass between Baratheon and Amento. For whatever reason, slaves were always common near landlocked borders, and he had heard that Orpheus was rumoured to be from the Amento kingdom, the land of whispers.
The only anomaly seemed to be 'curses', the forest of dreams in Baratheon was known to give curses to those who failed to conquer it, but it seemed illogical for Thornfum to mention that within the same string of words as 'interpass'.
Finally was the flaming parrot, which definitely referred to Airi.
But what position did Airi have in all of this? How was she connected to those points, and with Xerxes winning the tournament?
"If Orpheus is really leading some sort of slave trade, then he needs people or..."
A particular memory suddenly surged, one of him and Aliya back in the City of Truth.
'You should be careful, if someone knows the capabilities of a phoenix, then they would take it if they have the strength to do so, one of those methods is by killing the human to whom the beast is tethered. But remember, Xerxes, there are surely more methods out there.'
Xerxes' anger began to bristle. He never thought it would be this soon. 'Could Orpheus really be after her, after Airi?'
He admired her for a moment, she had brought him so much hope in a point where everything felt over, she had always been there for him, she was someone who had beliefs and a purpose to grasp.
Xerxes' brows furrowed as he clenched his fists; the room shook from his rising mana. "I think Orpheus is after you."
Airi considered Xerxes' words carefully, and it seemed to make sense.
But she couldn't help but notice the expression on Xerxes' face, when was he able to mask such a...terrifying look?
His voice suddenly became stern and brimmed with authority, "Airi, I'm not your master; you are my equal. But if anything happens, you will leave, Orpheus can not take you for me."
Airi tried to protest; there was no scenario in which she would leave Xerxes. There wasn't anything that she believed could separate them.
"I refuse, something could ha-." She was cut off.
"You know, Airi, to me...after everything that's happened, one thing my fate has proved to me is that losing precious to me is cruel. But what makes it even more cruel is knowing you avoided an outcome where everything could be salvaged, where lives could have been saved, where smiles could have been preserved at the very minimum."
He gently stroked her feathers, "And this time I won't make that mistake, if Orpheus is after you for some reason, if he's luring us to some place, I don't want you to make the mistake I did and defy orders that were simple and clear."
Xerxes tried to reason, "Airi, the truth family told me that the world views you as a weapon. What if someone takes you? What would happen then? I hate how you're viewed, but it is a fact, you're not just some...flaming parrot."
They both smiled slightly, and Xerxes continued, "You're an ancient mana beast, with power that could spell devastation with a flap of your wings, just promise me. You can not stay if anything goes dire, because this is more than just me and you; if your power is used incorrectly, innocent people can die."
She nodded, but it was empty to a certain extent. Airi never wanted to decieve Xerxes, 'but if anything dire was to happen to him, he forgets that I am stronger than him, I will burn anything in his path.'
With them agreeing on the outcomes, Xerxes immediately gathered his things. He gathered his blade, his new cloak, and before leaving, he picked up the peerer artefact.
"It's time to see whether Thornfum's idea was correct, now Peerer locate Thornfum Furdia."
The empty canvas began to ink itself manually, and it trailed south; it continued to trail south. The distance seemed too far, it was only 10 minutes since he had received the attack from Orpheus, yet they were moving so fast.
And if what Thornfum was saying was correct, they should be heading towards the interpass of Baratheon and Amento. Originally, Xerxes wanted to put out a request to the guild in order to investigate more of what's happening with the slaves, but with the speed and distance Thornfum was moving, it would be impossible.
Xerxes folded up the map, placing it in one of the pockets, and deliberately told Airi to hide within his cloak.
He placed some gold on the desk in his room so he could pay the repairs, then darted. There was no point in taking a horse and chariot; it was too slow. Xerxes was faster. He was perhaps one of the fastest Tier 4 mages, thanks to Tristan.
Previously, he had only used the mana points situated at his wrists to increase his power, but he had been a fool for so long not realising that the ankles were also mana points, places where mana was released, and with enough precision and control, they could increase one's speed considerably.
Xerxes wasn't going to let Orpheus get away; he clutched mana with his hands and gritted his teeth, soaring with incredible speed.
The frosted winds bit at Xerxes' skin, making him feel every inch of coldness and sharp pain.
'With every step I take, every stride... it just pulls the strings tighter. I can feel them now, wrapping around my bones, propelling me forward. I question what I am fighting for. Is this upcoming fight already woven by the intricate design of destiny? Because even now, I feel the effect, the road 'you' paved for me. I know 'you' hear my thoughts, don't you? Just like I heard you vividly. I heard the next message when I reached tier 4. At tier 5, it was leave The fallen kingdom, now, I must obtain 'Moonshard'. But that wasn't all, 'Travel to the Land of Whispers and learn the secret price the gods paid'... I wonder what exactly the world wants from me?'