“Wei?” Song asked.

  “Mhm. The drones are released; from what I see, there was an attack. Many traces, many individuals. I thought that they were creatures, but now I can say they were people. Look, here—it had to be a long chase. Traces are going far here, see? And it all ends here, see? There are no bodies.”

  Song noticed that Wei gave him a worried look.

  Hell.

  He felt rage. The place he left Taj was as if something bombed it.

  Taj was not to be found.

  “Calm down,” Wei added, and continued. “You said you cannot track him, but there are ways to cover the energy of a person. If they wanted to kill him, he would be dead here. I apologize for saying it that bluntly, but it would be like that. The camp is destroyed. I also found his messenger; it is destroyed. It was to prevent him from making contact. I assume someone wanted Taj alive. Song, if they had wanted him dead, he would be here, dead. If they wanted him alive, it means he is. We need to find him. Look there, at the traces as well. Taj fought for long. I have the location. Let’s transport there to see where the trail ends.”

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  …

  “… It looks like transport machines. They caught him, Song, which means he is alive. They managed to hide his energy. I sent a request to start talks with the City. The board, including you, needs to talk to them. We must do it together. These machines look different from the ones that these labs in hiding use; they appear expensive and professional. Do you see these marks here? I can sense there were the Healers. The City. It is someone from there. Lan said that they were recently asking about our research, about energies. Taj is, unfortunately, the only person who had two energies—Rowan! I need to check. Song? Go to the City and try to detect him. I will go check on Rowan and talk to the board. Mhm?”

  Song agreed without words.

  They transported.