Amber swiftly moved through the streets of Running River. Her cloak wrapped around her tightly, keeping the chill off her as she reached Pom's home. With a small spread of her soul, she found the man inside with his brother and sister. Not bothering with knocking, she pushed open the front door, startling the family.

"Are you ready to get started?" she asked.

Pom jumped up and stopped his brother from attacking as the Qi in the air swirled.

Raising her brow, Amber welcomed the attack, just to prove that she couldn't be hurt by a lower cultivator. Instead, the man didn't attack and calmed as Pom spoke up, "we are ready."

"Good." Stepping further into the home, Amber added, "our first order of business is capturing the other leaders and bringing them to heel. If you are taking over for me once I leave, I need to ensure that you have a chain of command."

Nodding, Pom turned to his sister. "Will she be safe?"

Amber regarded the pale, blonde woman. She didn't know her name, nor did she care. "Keep her by your side and she'll be fine. I'll be with you today."

Pom's brother spoke up. "I'll protect them."

Shrugging, Amber turned and left. If the man wanted to protect his family, she wouldn't stop him. Instead, she spread out her soul over the district and found thousands of people in need of help.

Pom joined her a moment later. "I know where they are hiding."

"Bring them to me," she ordered. "I'll be helping who I can. This district needs a leader, and I need to be seen out and about." With a shooing gesturing, Amber hurried him on his way.

Moving through the streets, Amber found a family near a collapsed building. They were all crying as the father dug through the rubble. Quickly scanning the structure, Amber felt a soul buried under everything, growing weaker as she watched.

"Out of the way!" she ordered.

The family jumped in surprise but the father quickly stepped back as she pulsed her soul and showed her strength. Grabbing the rubble, she quickly started moving it aside, lifting hundreds of pounds at a time. In moments, she was through the worst of it and closer to the soul.

A minute later, she revealed the body of a young boy that she quickly checked over. He had several broken bones and internal bleeding. Pushing out her soul, she found Mender with the other healers and beckoned for him to join her. The man became a blur as he rushed through the streets.

"How can I help?" Mender asked as he slowed to a walk.

Gesturing to the rubble, she said, "I don't want to move him. If he's as injured as he feels, then I'll make things worse."

Nodding, Mender joined her side and touched the boy. "I can heal him, but he's going to be very weak. Don't move any more rubble until I tell you to."

"Okay." Moving to the family's side, Amber tilted her head in a bow. "I'm sorry I didn't find him sooner. I've been spread thin since everything happened."

"Who are you?" the father asked.

"Amber. I'm the one taking over this district after the last king created the monsters that attacked."

Bristling with rage, the father was about to rampage in anger and grief when Amber held up her hand and used her soul to calm him.

"The man's dead. My master killed him as slowly and painfully as he could. Now, I am cleaning up the mess the king caused. Do you know anyone else that needs me right away?"

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The father thankfully calmed, and it wasn't until he took his hat off that she realized he was a very large nekorian. So large that bears looked small. Glancing at his wife, Amber found her to be an elf, meaning their children were mixed bloods that weren't showing animal features.

"This street was hit hard," the mother said softly. "Too many of us need help."

"If you need food, head to the Leaping Rabbit. They are still stocked up and in good repair." Amber turned toward the inn. "Tell them that Amber and James said you need help. I'll be directing the storehouses to deliver more food to them."

Bowing his head, the father turned to his family. "Take the children and get something to eat. I'll wait with Ben."

Glancing at Mender, Amber found him nearly done. Knowing it wouldn't be much longer, she returned to his side. "I have to keep moving. This street needs to be searched for those that are buried, and I need to find the storehouses."

Taking a deep breath, Mender nodded. "After I finish with Ben, I'm heading to grab a few more healers. I gave them the rough direction I went."

Patting the man's shoulder, Amber removed herself from the broken house and started down the street. Wrapping her cloak around herself, she kept searching with her soul for the people that needed her the most. It didn't take very long before she found another family searching through the rubble.

***

Zenaria entered Tian's apartment in the early morning as the man was waking up. Or at least he would normally be waking up at that time. Instead, she found her boss deep in stacks of files that he had taken from the enchanter's guild.

"I'm learning what I can," Tian announced.

Walking over to his side, Zenaria picked up a file. "James isn't going to like that it is taking you this long to find anything. He wants answers."

Setting down his file, Tian rested his head in his hands. "I know," he mumbled. "Yue hasn't reported to the guild in nearly a year and I have no idea where he went. With the Forsaken escaping, the enchanter likely went to ground. I need help finding him."

"There are other targets too," she pointed out. "James wants all of them. He also wants the city lord and the children under the manors and lake."

Lifting his head, Tian narrowed his eyes at her. "You are supposed to be on my side."

Shaking her head, she looked out the window. "James is willing to give me a family and freedom. I'm leaving you, Tian."

Pressing his lips into fine lines, Zenaria was beginning to wonder if he would attack her. After nearly a minute, he let out a heavy breath. "Can you help me by finding where they stored the Forsaken bodies. We need to check them for enchantments."

Nodding, she stepped back. "Very well. Tian, James can help you as well. You could be free."

"Free…" The man muttered. "There's no such thing in this world."

Suppressing her sigh, she blended into the shadows and hurried out of the home. Her former boss would be busy for a few days, tracking down enchanters.

Thankfully, she already knew that the cultivators had moved all of the Forsaken bodies to several warehouses near the elevator. All she needed to do was slip in, and she would be able to discover more of their secrets.

The question I have for them, is why are they storing the bodies in their warehouses? Who ordered that, and why?

She would need to dig for her answers, but that is what she did best. To help James, she would bring all of her skills to the table. With that in mind, she hurried to the warehouses, the shadows erasing her movements.

Cultivators were set up as guards all around the area. Most of them were foundation stage cultivators, not really powerful, but still could stop many of the people.

All of the doors and windows were closed and enchanted to be sealed up tight. Frowning, Zenaria judged the bottom of the doors to have slight gaps with shadows to further into the building.

She hated doing it, but she used her Qi to move through the shadows and appear inside the warehouse. It would be at least an hour before she could use the skill again.

The scent of rotting flesh and death filled her senses as she covered her nose. The dim lighting of the warehouse didn't hinder her vision as she moved to the first pile of bodies. Many of them were adults with rags and open shirts. It wasn't hard to find the enchantments on their stomachs and chests.

They were old scars that had likely been done years ago. She began to wonder if they were taken as children and allowed to grow into the monsters that they had become.

Running her fingers over the runes, she did her best to memorize them. One of them was a series of interlocking swirls, sharp curves, and infinity signs. Connecting runes ran between each piece, creating an elaborate rune that most enchanters would never be able to understand. That also meant she couldn't understand it either.

To make matters worse, the runes were tailored to the individual that created them. Without a master enchanter by her side, she wouldn't be able to tell what the runes did exactly. But, since the man was dead, she could do something else.

Adding the body to her storage ring, she smiled. Moving further into the warehouse, she found a child with the same runes and added him to her ring as well. The cultivators would never notice two missing bodies out of the hundreds.

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