Thief of Twilight

Part Two: Chapter 60

Viper sprinted through the trees as fast as he could. After spending a few days in Jincheon near the palace, he was able to gather some information on Zurine's whereabouts. He learned that she was now in a small village to the west. But he was unsure of which village she was in. It didn't take long for him to realize that there were several villages to the west.

He slowed to a walk as he approached the river deep within the forest. Leaning over the shore, he scooped some water into his hands and held it to his lips. Viper knew he had to find Zurine quickly, but wondered what Dahi was planning. He has never searched for someone with little to no information. He suddenly remembered that Ajri hadn't returned from her mission several weeks before. She was sent to find Zurine but didn't know the details. And Dahi hasn't sent a search party to find her.

Viper stood up and walked along the shore. He followed the river as far as he could until he came to what appeared to be damaged weapons tossed along the rocky shore. Bending down, he began searching the area.

"...These..." he bent down to examine the bow, quiver, and dagger. "Belong...to Ajri..." he quickly stood up and searched the trees. The air was tense as if someone was watching him. His eyes flickered about searching for any sign of movement. Looking back at the weapons, he could tell that it wasn't an animal attack. It didn't take him long to guess that Ajri was killed. But he couldn't figure out by what.

"But...Zurine...she did not do this..." he knew Zurine couldn't have done it. He took a deep breath before slowly walking through the trees. As he disappeared into the forest, a head popped out of the water.

Hyemi watched as the man scanned the area before disappearing deeper into the forest. She wondered what he was looking for and why he was so puzzled by the damaged weapons. She also wondered why he mentioned Zurine's name and what his connection to her was. The mermaid sank beneath the surface of the water and followed Viper through the river. She listened closely to his words as he spoke to himself.

Breaking through the trees, Viper gazed upon a small village. He walked down the slope until he reached the market. He kept to the shadows hoping he would be able to overhear anything that pertained to Zurine's whereabouts.

"I know! She's doing such a good job! I'm glad the spirit has been appeased."

"As am I? I knew she would help us when I saw her white eyes and hair!"

"White eyes...and hair..." he murmured. That's definitely Zurine..."

"Should we bring more offerings to the temple?"

"Let's leave them outside. I think that lord is taking care of her now."

Lord, Viper thought.

He searched the village until he came to a slightly larger-looking house compared to the others. He slipped around the back of the house and snuck in through one of the windows. He looked around the temple to see a table with bowls of fresh fruit, a futon with pillows, and a round wooden basin. Large ceramic jars filled with water stood by the door closer to the back of the temple. Above the table against the wall was a picture of a god he could not recognize.

"They truly believe her to be their savior." he sighed. "Zurine is definitely staying here." he knew that he should tell Dahi about his discovery, but for some reason, he couldn't bring himself to do it.

It's no secret.

The events that took place at Deep River Grotto.

Everyone knew that Lord Baldwin didn't survive and now Dahi has taken over the guild. Many think Dahi is behind Lord Baldwin's failure and ultimately his death. It also wasn't a secret that Zurine had a large debt that she would never be able to pay back. But he wondered if she also had a debt to pay back to Dahi. If so, that would explain the reason for his need to find her.