Alieya closed her eyes tightly as soon as the dog leaped forward and sprinted through the forest.
"The little girl really wasn't lying when she said that these dogs could run fast like the wind." Fox said with a soft chuckle.
Alieya gritted her teeth as she wrapped her hands around Fox who was just in front of her. She pressed her face into his back, afraid that she might fall off. She could hear the distinct whooshing sound as they passed through the trees and she could feel when the massive dogs leaps and jumps. She just kept her eyes closed and focused to steady her breathing.
She opened her eyes when she felt the dogs slowed down their pace. The view that met her eyes was almost breathtaking.
The dogs were now jogging steadily by the seashore. The sea was into her left, reflecting the glittering stars on the moonless night. The sound of the waves was giving off a calming rhythm. She finally relaxed her grip on Fox and looked around her.
"Our village is just over that cliff, we will arrive there soon." Zaia shouted cheerfully beside them, pointing her fingers ahead.
Soon, they saw a group of four men riding horses coming to meet them.
"Are they from your village?" Foxed asked in a tensed voice.
"Hmm. Hmm. They are some of our clan's peace keepers. Let's go ahead and meet them." Zaia answered, waving her hands over her head.
"Hi, I'm back! These are my new friends Fox and big sister Alieya." Zaia announced when the men on horseback was near enough.
"Good evening lady Zaia. We will escort you and your friends inside. You must be tired." The tallest man said as all six of them get down from their horses and bowed in front of her.
"It's okey Grei, I'm not tired at all. I had lots of fun today." Zaia said cheerfully.
Zaia leaped from her Midnight dog and walked towards Raru.
Raru growled loudly and the four Midnight Dogs ran back towards the woods and disappeared into the night.
"Let's go inside to our small village." Zaia beckoned them forward.
The village entrance was flanked with two large Stone statues of Midnight Dogs. The Stones were so massive that it was almost intimidating. Before the high wooden gates were two watchtowers with armed men, watching them.
"So much for a small village." Fox said, his voice full of awe.
Alieya nodded to herself. Just the sight of the front entrance was enough to rival most modern structure on the city.
She noticed that Zaia would greet everyone they passed by cheerfully and the people would bow their head to her.
"She must be a member of a noble household, or maybe even a royalty." She whispered to Fox.
"I think so too." He whispered back at her.
Their hypothesis were quickly answered when Zaia lead them into the front door of a big mansion.
Uniformed men hurriedly bowed in front of her.
"Good evening your ladyship. Are they your new friends?" An old man that looked like the house butler lowered his head and asked respectfully.
"Yes Gramps, they are my friends from the city." Zaia answered with her ever cheerful voice.
Suddenly a loud footsteps was heard from the inside. A large man appeared in front of them. The guards and the maids quickly lowered their heads once again.
"Father, I'm back!" Zaia said and run up into the man.
"Ha ha ha. You dirtied your dress yet again." Her father ruffled her hair.
"Raru killed some bad people on the forest near the city." She announced proudly.
"Did he, now. I told you not to go near the city. Your mother will be mad to both of us if she found out about this." His father said, laughing with her daughter.
"So which one of them is the beast contractor?" Zaia's father asked lightly after a while.
"Uhhmm, I don't know father. Raru said Fox is the beast contractor. But Fox said that he never had a beast. He's Fox, and she is Alieya." Zaia answered sweetly, introducing them to her father.
Alieya felt a little prick of jealousy at the closeness of Zaia to her father.
Alieya was never close to her own father while she was growing up. Her father has always been busy with his work and Alieya never complained as everything she wanted was always given to her. Looking at the scene in front of her now made her miss her father for the first time since he passed away.
"How old do you think Zaia is? Fox whispered quietly beside her.
"I don't know, maybe around fourteen or fifteen." She whispered back, a tiny smile formed on her lips. She remembered that she always wanted a little sister.
Both of them were ushered inside the mansion by the butler and some maids while Zaia and her father was talking happily on the front lawn.
Alieya was given her own room and an elderly maid was assigned to her while Fox was lead somewhere else. Maybe to his own room.
She felt so sticky and dirty that she almost cried with happiness when she was offered the bathtub.
So many things had happened on the last few days. They were shot at back on the hotel the other night, and chased all the way to the forest. Just because of some newly discovered but already dead beast. She lost her laboratory and she may not be really be able to go back to the city anymore.
Tears silently flowed down her cheeks as she thought all about it. She hugged her own knees as she sat in the warm tub.
----------
Back on the City of Zongco, Marco DeContre was standing in front of an elderly man inside a bright room.
In contrast to his exquisite office in the City Council's building, the room he's inside at this moment looked like a museum for animal skeletons and resin replicas.
He recognized most of the displayed species in the room as most of it was originally researched by him on his younger years.
"You really did come to see me personally. You must be in deep financial trouble." The elderly man said in a mocking voice.
"I came here not for money, father. The egg finally hatched, but the creature died before I even saw it personally." Marco said, clenching his fist.
"Yes, I am aware of the news about the tragedy. I am also aware that you ordered the death of two elite soldiers as part of your so called research. Also the mess of your mercenaries in the prison and at the hotel." His father said in a calm voice.
Marco gritted his teeth but didn't refute his father's words. He was not aware that his father was keeping tracks on all his activities. Even about the mercenaries which he was very sensitive about.
The incident on the prison was quickly handled with just a bunch of phone calls, money and few blackmails on some of the city's top officials.
The hotel mess was entirely different. Marco Decontre did not think such kind of incident would actually happen. He had to burn the whole place down and made it look like a group of lawless bandits attack the place.
He did not expect that his father would be able to trace it back to him.
Marco Decontre clenched his his fist tightly but didn't say a word.
"Being that out of the way, can you tell me now why you're here?" His father asked, his voice was serious now.
"I will tell you all about it father, but we have to be alone first." Marco said as he scanned around the rather empty room.
His father was silent for a few seconds before suddenly bursting into a hearty laugh.
"Sure, sure. Let's have it your way." His father said in a lively voice and tapped his hands on the table a few times.
A second later, Four men hidden from each corner of the room walked forward. They gave a snappy salute to his father before marching out of the room.
"We are alone now." His father said in serious voice.
Marco scanned the room once more before nodding his head.
"Father, you always knew that my all my research and studies was because I wanted to find a strong beast to be bound under me by blood contract." Marco said, taking the empty seat in front of his father.
"Yes, of course, You wanted to challenge the Da'anar clan for the right to rule their village. You wanted an official duel but you didn't have a strong contracted beast. Though that was more than ten years ago. I'm sure that you already have new priorities after all that time. That village is too rural and their only livelihood comes from the sea and the merchants that trades with them. You won't fit there." His father said, shaking his head and letting out another hearty laugh.
"My real reason is this." Marco said, pulling a small wooden box and opening it in front of his father.
His father's laugh was cut short by the sight presented in front of him. The wooden box contain a small translucent orb, just a little bigger than a fingernail.
"This is a Sea Dragon's teardrop." Marco said in a low voice, almost whispering to his father.
"This-This can't be. Dragons had gone extinct more than 100 years ago, way before the global war. This must be a hoax." His father said bluntly but his actions betray him.
Marco watched as his father took the orb from the box and caressed it like his life depended on it. He pulled some instrument from his desk then checked and rechecked the orb under the bright light.
"This can't be true." His father murmured in disbelief.
"I got it from an underground auction when I was still working on the military a decade ago. Tell me father, is it fake?" Marco said as his father was still inspecting the orb closely.
"This--I think this is authentic." His father finally said, carefully returning the orb back into the wooden box.
"This Sea Dragon's teardrop was found inside an underwater cave in the sea, under the Da'anar Clan's protection. The cave's location is within their territory." Marco said in a clear voice.
"So, you want to mine the seafloor and look for signs of this dragon? For all we know, That dragon teardrop has been kept for a long time, when there were still actual dragons around. But today, with the steady advancement of technology, there has been no more evidence to suggest that they still exist." His father argued.
"It's very much possible father, but we will not be certain if we won't try to look for it first."
"Our city can't be implicated on this. Zongco is already in bad terms with the Da'anar clan, and we are not very much favored by the national council at the moment." His father said slowly.
"That's why I came here to see you father. I know that you have good ties with the Hammerhead pirates that plunders the southern seas. I ask you to contact them and make an appointment for me. I will deal with rest."
"So, you're giving up on the prisoner that you were hunting?" His father asked.
"I lost contact with the mercenaries that I hired to hunt him. I will just set him aside for now. He can't go very far in the forest, sooner or later he will return here to the City." Marco said calmly.
"Fine, Give my men a couple of days, I will send a man to you on the third day."
"Thank you father. I assure you that we will profit greatly from this." Marco said before giving his father another bow.
He walked out from his father's office with a better mood.
Marco DeContre had long planned to explore the Da'anar Clan's territory. He already tried to send groups of merchants and adventurer's caravans in the past. He tried to bribe some of the clan's elders. He even once tried to entice its rival clan start a war against them.
All of it didn't work out well for him.
Sending assassins to kill the clan head was also a catastrophic failure. The Da'anar Clan were very good warriors, and their village has always been protected by the hunters of the forest. The Midnight Dogs.
After all those blunders, he was left with only option. If he wanted to have access to their sea, he has to duel the Clan's head. Now, that option is not available for him anymore. This time he will seek the help of the Hammerhead pirates.
He has no idea how his father got in good terms with the Pirates. He just accidentally learned about it from one of his high military contacts. Maybe his father trades with this pirates. Not that he cares in any way. He has his own dark connections himself.
These pirates doesn't recognize any rules or tradition. They plunder and kill as they please. It will be a perfect cover for him. He doesn't mind if that village was burned to the ground. After the dust settled, any surviving villagers will accept all the assistance they can get to recover. That's the time that he will enter the scene. He will help rebuild the ravaged village, and finally he would be allowed to explore its underwater caves.
The Da'anar clan's rule will soon end.
Marco was not able to contain the smile from his lips as he thought about his brilliant plan.
"Perfect, just perfect." He said to himself as he laughed in the night.