Daylight displayed the full extent of last night’s carnage. Comi had an almost checker board pattern of scorched black plots of land.

  Crumbled buildings littered the roads as several people dug through debris in search of anything reminiscent of their pasts.

  Some people just roamed around listlessly; their way home lost forever.

  The colony of towers avoided the worst of the chaos while the city’s harbor district (shut out from mostly everyone) remained virtually untouched.

  The Cosondera that voyaged out of the city returned back overnight. They only needed to take one step past the harbor section to realize their travel led them astray.

  With the harbor being the only part of the city intact, it was finally opened to the people. That first morning back began with a crowd along the pier with the red cloaked Cosondere Tchay Cosane firmly in the center.

  He paced back and forth along the boardwalk. Beside him was a man lowered to his knees, wrists bound to his ankles which was then tied to a solid block of stone behind him.

  Though he wore no cloak, his attire matched with Tchay’s which meant he was also a Deraviv.

  More and more residents flocked around the scene. From the roofs to the ground, both Sentar’i and Yerps gathered to witness the impromptu affair.

  Once a sufficient amount of people gathered up, Tchay took one last step to face the crowd and raised his arms to address them.

  “To the residents of Comi, we...have let you down.” Tchay resumed with his paces but with his eyes on every spectator possible.

  “As members of the Cosondera, it’s supposed to be our job to quell chaos wherever it crops up. But instead, chaos arrived in the cover of night and us, the more seasoned and experienced soldiers of the Lady were left out in the dark.”

  “There was a plan!” the other Deraviv barked out. “We didn’t just leave this city to die, we had a clue on where the Black Nails were! We traveled over there to find and crush them, that’s why we left!”

  “Yes, indeed that was the reason,” Tchay stated. “And since you’ve disclosed to these people why we left, can you tell us what we found at our destination?”

  The captive said nothing in response. His head lowered as he made a halfhearted attempt to break his binds. They simply glowed red with every tug.

  “Oh, now you want to be silent. Why don’t you tell these fine people here how it was your idea to leave town.

  “Tell them how we spent the rest of the day chasing nothing but air while Comi nearly burned to the ground.

  “Tell them how it’s all your fault this city suffered.”

  “Nobody knew about an ambush! No one expected a coordinated attack in the middle of the night! Nobody objected the plan! No ill-will was intended regarding what we did!”

  “You can yell as loud as you want Der. Sonsal, the corpses still won’t hear you,” Tchay told him before he walked up to the block of stone and turned to the crowd.

  “People of Comi, as some of you know, we Deravivs of the Cosondera have a greater responsibility than our plain and blue cloaked associates.”

  Tchay placed his foot above the block behind him.

  “We shoulder the burden of determining one’s fate right there and then. If we deem it, we can end a life. But only as a fitting punishment when the misdeeds call for it.

  “Concerning this Deraviv you see here, their plan led the Cosondera on a false trail. Worst yet, for you people who have done no wrong and deserve no wrong, their plan led you all down a path of destruction and death.

  “Quite. A. Misdeed. One that I feel can only be rectified one way...”

  The poor man started to breathe heavily as every part of his face opened wide.

  His head swung wildly from one side to the other. He looked around for any signs of sympathy, he couldn’t find any.

  “I’m sorry!” he cried out. “I’m sorry for what happened here! I’m sorry for what happened to you all! I didn’t do this intentionally!

  “None of us thought the city was in any danger! We were all in agreement that we should find these fiends! I never meant for any of this-”

  The stone block cut off his words when it yanked the unfortunate Cosondere off the boardwalk and out from sight.

  The crowd heard him one last time on the way out before a second splash silenced him for good.

  Laughter broke the silence courtesy of the seagulls up above as if they witnessed a good show. Tchay took a few seconds to peek down at the water before he turned back to the crowd.

  “Everything we do as the Cosondera is for the safety and security of everyone within our borders,” he told them to laughter from the gulls. “Seeing those two things jeopardized is something we don’t take lightly.”

  Suddenly, the flock above were attacked by some unseen force. In midair, several of them dropped to the surface. The rest made a quick flight out of sight.

  “Rest assured that we will not take this lightly,” he stated with a straight face as dead birds rained down.

  “We will find these people and make sure that every one of them and their misdeeds are met with equal care. As Deraviv of the Cosondera, you have my word.”

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  As Tchay gave his speech to the crowd, Quin watched the whole episode from atop the walled gate to the harbor.

  He couldn’t hear a word spoken down there but based on what he saw, he had a good idea of the topic.

  The scene also gave him a good idea of what would happen next. In one way shape or form, the Black Nails were due for some retribution.

  He still processed what happened last night. The Aerviv told him about the dangerous line of work a Cosondere faced, but he never thought things could get as bad as they did that evening.

  In the distance behind him near the city’s entrance, he spotted two Tyrovivs next to a very familiar wagon.

  He had yet speak to his teammates about the mayhem of the evening. He wondered if they ever experienced anything like what happened yesterday.

  As he stared at the wagon, Quin repeatedly expected someone to pop out from the back; he had to constantly tell himself that wouldn’t happen.

  Once Ythan appeared in his view, Quin realized he’d be the last to form up. Still aware of his standing with his boss, he rushed to the stairs and down to ground level.

  Meanwhile down by the entrance, Conon and Onyl stood by ready for the first order of the day. Ythan looked around before irritation grew on his face.

  Through his teeth, the blue cloaked asked, “Where is he now?”

  Onyl pointed toward the harbor. “He was standing over the gate just now. I assume he is on his way here.”

  “Yes, I’m here! I’m here!” Quin yelped out as he appeared in an instant. “No need to look for me, here I am.”

  Ythan gave a light groan while he squinted at his subordinate.

  “We’re heading out for Sononcoly,” he announced. “We’ll do this thing and come right back. If the harbor remains open, then we’ll sail back to Sirqu with haste.”

  Quin’s mask concealed his shock. What about the Black Nails, he thought. What about the damage they’ve done to the city? To the Cosondera? To Yach?

  Quin couldn’t believe after all that had happened, his boss still focused on the mission and only the mission. He resisted the urge to speak up and ask; he knew no good favors would come from it.

  Ythan’s attention shifted to the Yerps. He seemed ready to raise his voice at them when he stopped.

  “Right, right. There’s two of you now,” he mumbled. “Well let’s go.”

  The group made their way for the entrance, now an exit. They were only in the city for a day, but a turbulent day it was. A day in the life of a Cosondere.

  Quin wanted to speak about it so much.

  His teammates already seemed over it and the chroniclers stayed quiet. Despite all that happened, it looked like Quin would depart the city the same way he arrived, with his head down surrounded by an awkward silence.

  The travel only lasted a minute before a loud whistle grabbed everyone’s attention. On top of the harbor’s wall waved Tchay Cosane, his face lined down to Quin and his party.

  Another Deraviv stood beside him, a dark skinned man with all of his hair stored beneath his chin.

  Somehow, Ythan grew even more irritated.

  The two red cloaks launched themselves off the wall and straight to the sky before they descended and touched down right next to the squad.

  Tchay arose with a smirk as his gaze went from Ythan to Quin then back. “Glad I found you. You always seem to be in such a rush.”

  “That’s because I’m always busy,” replied the blue cloak. “What do you want?”

  “Isn’t it obvious? It’s about last night. We have some news that I felt you should hear.” The Deraviv saw the two Yerps and his smirk vanished.

  “Those two however don’t need to know.” He waved off. “They can disappear.”

  “They’re a part of our mission. They go where we go.”

  “This is Cosondera business,” said the other Deraviv with a solid stern stare. “Keep them close if you want, but get them out of our faces.”

  Ythan relented and the chroniclers were shooed away. They took off without a word and made their way to the gate on their own.

  Once they were out of earshot, Tchay focused back on his cloaked associates.

  “So the Black Nails showed up in the dead of night to wreak havoc on the city and whatnot but as it turned out, their retreat wasn’t so orderly since you know, night and all that.

  “So we were able to pick up on their trail and we might have located the whole lot over in some caves up north.”

  “What does that have to do with us?”

  “Isn’t that obvious? You and your squad will take part in the coming assault.”

  “Madness. Our mission’s objective is to reach Sononcoly.”

  “Perfect. The reports said they were near the area. Maybe you can kill two birds with one stone. Der. Axerick here will take charge of this operation. Don’t give him too much of a hard time.”

  “And what about you? Where will you be?”

  Tchay’s smirk became a full grin. “How nice of-”

  “Can you just answer the question?”

  Tchay sighed and shrugged. “Always in a rush. Maybe that’s been the source of all your shortcomings.

  “But to answer your question, I have to report this all to the Aerviv whom I’m sure is pacing a hole in the floor awaiting updates.”

  Tchay looked at Quin momentarily; the latter looked away. At first he thought it might have had something to do with the man’s rank and stature.

  Now Quin began to think that Tchay just naturally exuded an unsettling air around him. In any case, the glances bothered him all the same.

  “I guess I should consider myself lucky,” said Ythan.

  Tchay chuckled. “I’ll let you have that. This upcoming charge is going to be real serious. This won’t be some routine beatdown, then the fight ends.

  “Fellow members died last night. No turning back after that. This is your chance to show everyone what you got. That goes for all of you.”

  Once more Quin had to avert eye contact with the Deraviv.

  “I know you haven’t been convinced, but I’ve been rooting for you this whole time Ythan, so I’m hoping for the best. But if this ends up being our last meeting, then I guess you weren’t so lucky after all.”

  Tchay nodded at Axerick then bolted for the entrance. The bearded Cosondere, a towering individual with no sign of a friendly demeanor, kept a steely expression as his foot turned away.

  “Once we get more solid reports, we’ll all form up outside of town,” the Deraviv stated. “Unless it’s a personal catastrophe, I expect to see you all there.”

  The imposing Cosondere took his leave. The squad stood in silence for a bit. Once more Ythan had to change his plans against his wishes.

  Quin saw the sunken face on his boss and for a brief moment, Ythan appeared relatable.

  The blue cloak had his own bosses to follow and obey. Despite being the Aerviv’s son, he had very little to control outside of his subordinates.

  It made him look powerless and to Quin, it felt like the gap between them shortened if only just a little.

  Ythan noticed his junior’s stare and his face scrunched. Quin instantly recognized the ire. He had to think of something fast.

  “I’ll go ahead and retrieve the...Yerps sir,” he blurted. “With your consent of course.”

  A tense few seconds occurred. All Quin could think about at the moment was if he had overstepped his bounds.

  Could the standing with his boss gone so low that he couldn’t even speak to him.

  Finally, Ythan waved Quin away with the same motion to send the chroniclers off. Quin took that as an okay and moved at once.

  On his way out, he noticed his team huddled together. He felt left out again, he wondered what it would take exactly for the Neraviv to treat him as one of the team.

  Those were background thoughts however. The impending battle with the Black Nails took the most of his mind.

  What exactly was their plan, he pondered. Would it really put an end to the group’s activities? What if things got worse than last night?

  So many questions on his mind. So many thoughts to parse through.

  Quin hopped several yards away from town when his mind finally hovered over the chroniclers. What would happen to them; the mission?

  As long as the Black Nails loomed large, more deaths would be on the horizon.

  No Yerp nor mission would be safe with their constant interference. More people like Yach would fall victim to their plots.

  Simply put, they had to be stopped, once and for all. If the upcoming charge could do that, then Quin supported it even if it was fraught with potential peril.

  As much as Ythan might have been against it, Quin looked forward to the coming storm ahead, he steeled his heart and soul for the pending showdown.

  He hoped it would really be his chance to finally prove himself.