Leoric Blackwell.

The name cycled through his mind as Shinsou Vaan Osiris was spat out of the portal a kilometre from the town of Casa Antiga, and immediately broke into a sprint towards where his senses guided him. The Telgradian had absolutely no idea what his one-time accomplice Leoric Blackwell was doing in Alerar, nor why his “esteemed employers” thought that the distinguished adventurer might have been the key to closing the portal in the Temple, but he was at least grateful that the pair had met before. Because of this, his spirit sense would allow him to locate the man with relative ease.

His livery of faded cream and black slunk through sheets of falling rain, whilst leather boots splashed into puddles shaped in potholes. As Shinsou navigated the road, his mind wandered back to Umbra and Celandine. Thoughts of his comrades coursed through his mind. The demon presence had intensified greatly, and the Telgradian only hoped that Umbra’s strength and Celandine’s courage would see them safely home. That aside, the knowledge that he alone would soon redeem them gifted his feet tireless haste.

Every breath fed him strength, and every exhalation escaped as a plume of vapour into the chilly ceiling of clouds. His body swayed from side to side, the partially destroyed track to Casa Antiga destroying the rhythm of his pounding legs. It was clear that the demons had attacked here, rending the roads, buildings and agriculture around him into fields of debris and embers. It made him uneasy, and every now and again Shinsou cast a glance over his shoulders, as if expecting pursuit at any moment.

Cresting a low rise, Shinsou slowed to a walk as the full scale of the devastation of the town unfurled before him. The demons had taken huge chunks out of the defences of solid stone, and pockmarked flame scar remained where proud houses and noble manors had once stood. Refugees streamed out of the only road out in exile, in constant fear of having to endure another assault. The militia had apparently ousted whatever demonic presence they could find but protecting the citizens leaving via the back road was stretching their lines thin. It was clear to Shinsou that they would falter in the face of another overwhelming assault. Everyone was trying to pull together for what little remained.

This is what you would leave as your legacy for Alerar, Cazri? You’re a damned fool.

The dark elven sentries at the first picket, huddled against a collapsed stone house and shivering in the rain, saw the Telgradian first. Their eyes tracked him, and when he stopped for breath neither offered him a hand.

“My name is Shinsou Vaan Osiris, part of a Radasanthian relief delegation,” The Telgradian half-lied, “I’ve come to meet with a man named Leoric Blackwell, one of our number, and provide whatever assistance I can.”

Relief drowned the picquet soldiers as they pointed beyond the stone house, down the road.

“Any help you can give us would be valued. The demons tore apart our supply carts, and we’re short on men and supplies. Leoric was last down the main road, to the right.”

“Thanks,” Shinsou responded with a nod, “If there is anything I can do to help, I will.”

His feet broke out again in a run.

Down the main thoroughfare he went, the rattling of Enpera’s sheath beneath his white greatcoat echoing around the wrecked stone foundations of the townhouses lining the streets. Broken walls of wood and plaster flanked him, partially spilling into the streets, and as Shinsou ran he could hear muted whispers from the unseen occupants within. Everything reeked of sewage and death. And the whole town tasted of hopeless lassitude, of too many people crammed together in fear and uncertainty for far too long.

Cutting a corner beneath the eaves of a balcony, Shinsou could sense Leoric’s life aura within one of the damaged houses on the right. With little time to waste, the Telgradian slowed from his sprint into a fast walk, and burst through its heavyset doors.

“Shinsou?!” The handsome adventurer said as he nearly shit himself from the startling manner of the Telgradian’s entrance. It looked as if he were about to prepare some sort of magic, but Shinsou didn’t have the time to ask.

“Leoric bloody Blackwell. Our paths cross again, it seems. and in such a gods-forsaken place as this.” Shinsou spared a wild glance in the direction of his new comrade.

“What are you doing in Alerar?” Came Leoric’s obvious question.

He wondered what Leoric would say when he learnt what Cazri had asked of him. Would he trust the Telgradian at his word? Would Shinsou tell Leoric about his grander plot against Alerar’s coup de etat? What would he, and the others, think of Shinsou?

For a moment he stood there, lost. Then the Telgradian crouched down beside him, his waxed ivory coat bristling against the floor.

“I was sent here to make sure you got to the Temple of Elrohir Fararil, because there are certain people who believe you might be able to do something about the portal. I don't know why, right now,” Shinsou spoke into the sudden silence as curious pairs of eyes from militiamen outside peered at the house, the sudden commotion attracting their attention. “but while they may be right, let me tell you now that there are wolves in these hills. They lie beyond the grasp of the demons, using the invasion as a cover for something far worse. The same wolves sent me here because they think I’m their friend, but they're sorely mistaken. Find me somewhere we can talk, and I’ll explain everything – and I’ll tell you what we’re going to do about it.”