With the enforcers and their mini army of hunters now roaming the towns and villages of Iron Hold, Emerald Gate, and allegedly going as far as the mountain range where Zephyrion used to live, everyone was laying low. Zephyr continued to steal, but he didn't take any unnecessary risks, and his 'earnings' were much lower than before.
He'd ensured where he was located was completely free from hunters or enforcers before starting his days.
Despite this, Zephyr continued training, growing stronger, and learning the skills he needed for survival. He hadn't killed since the enforcers' arrival, but he was also unsure whether this was a good idea. The enforcers didn't help with petty crimes, not that murder fell into that category, but Zephyr wondered if it would prove to them that a demon was the one killing or if he was overthinking this.
Zephyr wouldn't have an issue if it wasn't for this need to kill vermin.
Still, the Slinktail followed orders only for his own good and did as little damage to the surrounding towns and villages as possible. Each one had varying degrees of protection and rules to abide by. Zephyr discerned which locations had been frequently assessed by the enforcers, their rules much stricter and the air thick with tension.
It was as though a dark cloud swept over the land and lingered with a slight gloominess.
The enforcers and hunters might be hunting demons, but with it, humans and dwarves had to follow their orders. Most were eager to, yet the northern lands of Thraesia weren't quite under the thumb of the Valorian Empire as others. Slinktails had been granted entry, and most towns allowed their presence while holding such low opinions of them.
None ever intercepted or helped when those from the Empire walked through the streets with their demon captives from the mountains or surrounding areas before the arrival of the enforcers.
Why would they?
Strolling through one of the many towns, Zephyr remained on guard as soon as he saw the cart full of Slinktails and one Draegorth who'd clearly killed at least two of the Slinktails inside of the cage. They had to be days old, and the guards beside them couldn't remove them without the possibility of being attacked, so the corpses remained, the smell putrid.
Zephyr stopped nearby, listening to the guards' conversation, pretending to look at a fruit stall. He remembered when he was in the cage how little the guards cared about privacy in front of their captives. They would speak about everything, including details about the Empire, information at the time he couldn't understand.
It was risky to linger nearby, but any information he learned was important.
"Where are the enforcers?" One of them muttered.
"You just want to know where that woman's gone," the other answered with a snicker.
"You can't deny she's a looker."
"Probably cut your balls off or something," the other one grunted in response, then cleared his throat. "Ace and the Spymaster are in Emerald Gate for a few weeks before returning."
The Spymaster? Was that the name of the woman enforcer? Zephyr was yet to learn of her name, but it was evident that nobody knew what it was and if she was some great Spymaster then it would probably be close to impossible to learn. It didn't matter, only their locations and missions were important intel.
"I thought they went to the mountains?"
"No, the other hunters did. They should be returning tonight."
"Hmm. We'd be spread too thin otherwise."
They came with many men, but they were spread out across Emerald Gate, Iron Hold, where he was mainly working, and now it appears the mountain range where Zephyrion used to live like so many other demons. That was probably why he'd seen so many carts around lately.
They were purging the mountains.
"I wouldn't worry about it. It's been piss easy. I didn't expect anything else. It must have just been rumours and a few cases the villagers started to get concerned over."
"I dunno," the one who lusted over the Spymaster shook his head. "Those rumours had to come from somewhere…"
"It could be ya typical everyday criminal or killer." The second shrugged, then paused, sensing someone watching them. The guard's eyes flicked in Zephyr's direction the same time the other guard looked at him.
"Just the one." Zephyr passed a coin to the fruit vendor. He'd been watching from the corner of his eyes but had been standing there a little too long.
"Took ya bleedin' time for one lousy apple," the vendor complained.
"Make it two," Zephyr added, making sure the vendor didn't peer up at him too much. The scarf could only hide so much of his face, and the hood cast the top half of his features in shadows, but anyone close enough would see the strangeness of his skin and eventually discover his scales.
The vendor brightened a little more and bagged the apples. The hunters were still observing him, so Zephyr continued his nonchalant attitude, accepting the bag, tensing slightly when the guards strolled towards him.
Zephyr bid the man good day and continued walking away, looking straight ahead, releasing a breath when they rushed past him and tackled someone behind him. His gaze flicked to the cage full of demons one last time before he turned away to make his escape.
Over the course of a month, things began to get worse for the demons. So many rules were being set in place.
Zephyr was in line to enter a small town, only to stop when he read the sign:
No masks.
No hoods.
Guard will inspect any entering who cover their face.
Images were painted beside the words for those who could not read.
Zephyr inclined his head over some of the crowd and watched as a man's hood was ripped back aggressively by the guard at the gate, revealing awful burn marks on a bald head. It was more than likely the reason for hiding his features.
The guard beside him was taking advantage of this new rule and stood close to a beautiful woman, leering at her features, gripping the front of her cloak and looking down at her chest.
Slowly, Zephyr backed away. Nobody usually took notice of him, but he was standing too close to the front, waiting in line for a while.
Now that he suddenly turned away, some took notice and peered at him, glancing at each other and whispering.
One man in particular voiced his suspicions loudly, "Why's he suddenly leaving?!"
"That's suspicious! Guards!" He yelled over his shoulder, alerting the guards to the situation.
The moment the man turned back to show the overly tall, hooded man retreating, he looked at the empty space, flabbergasted. "Where'd he go?!"
The man beside him looked between the space and his friend and then to the guards, bowing his head apologetically. "I'm sorry he wasted your time."
"We do not appreciate this prank," the guard warned them.
"No, I swear someone was here!"
His friend shook his head, face reddening. "You've been drinking again, John. Sorry, fellas."
"Not that much!" John complained and continued describing what little he saw of Zephyr.
The guards tsked and returned to their posts as Zephyr fled the scene, only to return later in the evening. He left the town after some pillaging, and the handsy guard from the morning who took advantage of the new system was discovered dead by his post—
He'd fallen from the top of the wall guarding the town, body crippled and bloodied, a bottle smashed by his side.
How clumsy.
The guard was rumoured to have slipped in a drunken state to his death. It was hardly anything to be linked with a demon stalking the night and finding victims. And nobody did ever link the two together.
This, however, among other series of events that continued in the evenings, such as Slinktails escaping their carts, instigated another rule: A curfew was set in place. Anyone who was out past the set time was punished. Businesses complained about their decline in forturne due to the lack of punters in the evenings.
Any that did stay open were quickly used as an example.
Evidence had returned, revealing it wasn't only demons helping their brethren from escaping but humans as well. It was a very minor amount that pitied the poor buggers and helped release them.
Any that thought so uselessly were punished severely to prove their point:
Do not pity demons that would never pity a human.