((And now, for the explanation of the disappearance of Nai Resh!))
“…and if you need anything, you know how to contact us.†She finished, and turned to walk away. It was true, after all. The IRF had been given a number of routes by which they could contact the Black Market. What they did with them was none of her concern. None of that concerned her now.
But perhaps, when she said ‘contact us,’ she had fibbed just a little. She wouldn’t be around when they came asking. But Nai Resh was no stranger to dishonesty. After all, the leader of a criminal organization’s ‘street teams’ usually has a great deal of experience in the area of theft, lying, stealth, and killing. That was part of the reason she had been assigned to the task of rescuing the children the local pit lord had decided to take hostage. The other part was that she had specifically asked to do it.
She had been teamed up with four members of the Doman Inner Resistance Force, one of whom was the leader of the whole crew, a guard by the name of Griff. Nai had been grateful that he had come personally, and also that he was willing to listen to her orders for the expedition. The others, a jester, a mage, and a young, sword wielding girl, had all performed admirably as well. Although she wouldn’t want them along on a typical midnight storage house raid, they had proved more than capable of helping with the rescue. All told, they had succeeded in rescuing forty-seven children from the demon lord’s prisons. But it was the forty-eighth child that was bothering her. It was the child that Nai had not seen that day which caused her to turn around and walk away from the group without more than a curt thank you.
The ‘Leftsider’ was no sentimentalist. She didn’t wish she could have saved one more child, just so that he or she would be OK, so that he or she would be reunited with his or her family. No, her reasons were more selfish than that. It was the child she had sent to Nocket for protection, who had disappeared after the Malachian army swept over the town, who she had kept secret and safe for three years… that was the child she had been looking for, the reason she had pushed so hard for Ree to let her take the rescue mission personally. Had the demon army killed him in an act of cruelty? Was he executed as part of Malachias’ ploy to make the IRF turn itself in? Did he die painlessly as the magic beam that was meant for Malachias vaporized half of Doma Castle?
These questions whirled around in Nai’s mind as she worked her way through the city in an ever-growing mental haze. In time, the only thing she knew for certain was that her son, whom she had tried her best to protect from the painful effects of her choices, and those of his father, was now dead as a result of those very same choices.
The feeling of a hand grasping her arm broke her reverie. She looked over, and saw the hellish, black skinned face of one of thousands of demon guards who patrolled the city streets. He was asking her something, demanding that she return to the human quarter of the city. A sudden, white hot hatred burned in Nai’s mind, and she resolved that this demon’s mother would never see her son again either. With a single, swift motion she whipped out one of her blades and severed his head from his shoulders. Vaguely, she was aware that he had two companions who were coming after her now. She readied her weapons. What did she care? Let them come. This was war, and in war, mothers were made to mourn… <p>
"Strenghten your lyre and sing
The hymn of death
The sky opens to us
They fly to the ray"
-Cante per me, Kajiura Yuki</p>