That evening, Holden and Sable returned to the RavenEye publishing office. Holden donned his face changing mask to alter his appearance to that of an elderly man with wrinkly skin. He and Sable then found a spot across the street from the publishing house, and kept a close eye on it, waiting for the publisher to leave the building.


    The duo witness Mars exit the building about an hour after sundown, then proceed to follow him all the way to his house in eastern Chrimoria. It was a two-story house located in a neighborhood called Saphirra Fall, which was named after the crystal blue river which passed through the neighborhood from outside the city. This neighborhood was also home to wealthy citizens of Chrimoria, most of whom owned large and successful businesses that operated in several cities.


    While RavenEye was considered a successful publishing house; it was small. There was no way the publisher could afford a house in Saphirra Falls off the profits from the publishing house alone.


    The moment Mars walked through the door of his abode, Holden and Sable quietly rushed forward. Holden peered through the window, and saw Mars flopping onto the living room couch. Silas pinched his nose as if he had a headache, then sighed. He then made his way to the kitchen where he began preparing dinner.


    Holden and Sable watched the man for a full hour, while he just went about his business. Sable found himself yawning from boredom wondering why they were just sitting around watching this guy.


    “Holden, what’s the point of all this?” Sable asked. “I thought you said we were going to visit this guy. Why are we just staring at him?”


    “It’s called spying,” Holden replied. “We’re watching to see what he does. Maybe we’ll find a hint to our stolen manuscript. We might even dig up something else to use against him so he’ll let us talk to his employees.”


    “So, we’re looking for either evidence, or blackmail material. Typical spy stuff.”


    “Welcome to the PI business, spy style.”


    Sable tried to keep himself from laughing. “Did you just say ‘spy style’? And you say I’m ridiculous for writing songs and poetry.”


    Holden chuckled. “Need I remind you of the singing cat from the Middoes.”


    Sable tucked back his ears in embarrassment. “Oh. The headlines.”


    Right as Sable said that, Mars suddenly spoke. “Hey, what’s going on?”


    Holden and Sable both sucked in their breaths thinking they had been caught. However, when they looked back into Silas’s living room, they noticed he was face-to-face with someone in a black cloak and mask.


    “Mars, it’s time,” the cloaked man said. “Do you have the delivery?”


    “Yeah, yeah,” Mars replied. “Give me a minute. I’ll grab it.” Mars then went into another room connected to the living room, and came out with a stack of papers which he handed to the cloaked man.


    Sable gasped when he saw the stack of papers. “Those must be the manuscript.”


    Holden shushed Sable, then the two of them continued to eavesdrop.


    “Here they are,” Mars said, referring to the stack of papers. “And what of my payment?”


    The cloaked man then handed Mars a bag of digmata from beneath his cloak. “Of course. There you are. Give your contact our regards.” Mars was about to turn away, until the cloaked man spoke again. “Wait. There’s something else.”


    Mars sighed. “What is it now? Do you need more paper? This is high quality stuff. It’s not easy to get a hold of.”


    “No. Your other activities seem to be drawing too much attention, though.”


    Mars clenched his fists as his face contorted in anger. “You mean the manuscripts I sell? Just because some no name PI came snooping around the publishing house, doesn’t mean anyone’s caught on to me.”


    “Selling other writer’s work to big time authors is a dangerous scheme. You’re close to being found out. Don’t think there are no other means of acquiring the high quality paper we need. If your other activities endanger our operations, we have no problem getting rid of you.”


    “Threats like that won’t work on me. This parchment I’m providing for you isn’t as easy to find as you think. So you and the rest of the Followers of Balmusk can leave your threats at the door, unless you’d rather try acquiring it yourself.”


    The cloaked man growled, but maintained his silence as he suddenly was enveloped in a shroud of shadows. He then disappeared right before their eyes.


    Holden and Sable’s eyes both popped when they saw the cloaked man’s sudden disappearance. The two of them then duct down beneath the window so they were out of sight while they talked.


    “Did you see that?” Sable asked. “That shroud. That man was using dark magic.”


    “Yeah, I did,” Holden replied. “He also mentioned the Followers of Balmusk.”


    “Balmusk. Isn’t that some mythological monster?”


    “Yep. The one horned centaur of catastrophe whose gallops were believed to generate lightning and thunder. An ancient beast that roamed the plains of the Western Confederacy thousands of years ago who enslaved humans, forcing them to worship it, and sacrifice every first born child to satiate its ravenous hunger.”


    Sable sighed at the thought of such heinous acts. “Why would someone worship such a creature? These followers are crazy.”


    “They aren’t a cult that worships the beasts. More like what the beast represents. It is said that Balmusk passed down forbidden lightning magic to its most loyal followers. Oftentimes some magic supremacist groups will adopt the name of ancient beasts like it.”


    If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it.


    “If they don’t worship it, then why are they referred to as followers?”


    “The followers in their name refer to how they followed in Balmusk’s footsteps by passing down forbidden magic like it once did. They are obsessed with magic research. My guess is the palate Mars is supplying them likely contributes to said research somehow.”


    “And you know all this how?” Sable asked.


    “I was a spy, remember? One of the organizations I infiltrated had ties to this group.”


    “Yes, how can I forget about your mysterious days as a spy.” Sable then yawned while stretching out his body. “Anyways, what are we going to do now? We know that Mars stole Randy’s manuscript. Are we going to break in there and search for it?”


    Holden needed a second to think. A smart criminal wouldn’t keep the things they stored at home; they’d usually have some kind of place that was well hidden and secured where they would store them. It was a precaution in case the police ever searched their house. Holden didn’t necessarily peg Mars as being bright, nor was he a fool.


    “I think searching his place won’t turn up much. But we have to be thorough. You never know what’ll turn up.”


    “Fine then,” Sable said. “I guess we’ll just have to wait until he goes to sleep before we break in.”


    Holden nodded. “Let’s just hope he doesn’t wake up like Samuel did. Otherwise we’ll be in big trouble.”


    ***


    Two more hours passed before Mars finally went to bed. His house was lit by stone with a faint glow, but with a clap of Mars’ hands every stone that lit the place ceased glowing, darkening the entire house as Mars fell into his bed.


    Holden used his magic lockpick on the front door, and quietly stepped inside with Sable. The two then quietly made their way through the first floor looking for any signs of the stolen manuscript. Unfortunately, their search turned up nothing. The living room, the kitchen, and all the other various rooms on the first floor turned up no signs.


    Holden and Sable quietly made their way upstairs, searching every room they could find, aside from the bedroom where Mars was sleeping. Their tiptoeing around turned up nothing yet again, leaving them with only one room left to check.


    “Are we really going in there?” Sable whispered. “He’s definitely going to wake up.”


    “Done it before,” Holden said. “I did more than just watch people all day as a spy.”


    “Wait, were you an assassin?”


    Holden didn’t bother answering him, and crept through the door instead. He made his way through the draws and end tables without waking Mars. However, there were no signs of the manuscript, or any evidence pointing to anything else Mars seemed to be involved in.


    With every room thoroughly searched, Holden and Sable left the house with Mars being none the wiser. Sable groaned as they made their escape out the front door.


    “Another waste of time. When will we find this stupid manuscript?”


    “We should try the office next,” Holden said right when the duo made it out into the street. “Mars could have-.”


    Holden was abruptly cut off when he spotted the cloaked man who was in Mars’ house earlier appear out of the shadows into the street with a short sword in hand.


    Clank! The cloaked man swung the short sword at Holden, who blocked it with one of the daggers he carried. The two traded several more blows. Holden could tell from the way this man fought that he was well trained in short swords. He was also agile, light on his feet, and had the reflexes of an assassin.


    Their clash of blades continued before the cloaked man jumped back, taking a moment to talk to Holden. “I thought you might be listening in on us. Though I didn’t expect you’d be this skilled with daggers. What are you? An assassin?”


    Holden smirked at the cloaked man’s question. He wasn’t too far off the mark, since Holden actually had been tasked with assassinating people during his days as a spy. “You’re pretty sharp. Judging by the way you fight, you’re from a similar line of work.”


    “I guess you’re rather sharp yourself. The Followers of Balmusk would welcome one with your skill in our ranks.”


    “Even one who has no magical ability? I thought your group was all about magic supremacy. Or did you all come to your senses recently, and change your mission?”


    “No. We still seek to create a society ruled by magic and mages. That being said, we aren’t above using the unblessed to reach our ultimate goal. We can even help you forge a contract with a magical creature, if you so desire.”


    “And become a warlock after I sell my soul? No thanks. And referring to those of us without magic as unblessed isn’t doing you any favors.”


    “I suppose so. It is considered an insult. My apologies,” the cloaked man said with a slight bow. “Then there’s no choice. One of us will have to kill the other.”


    The cloaked man was enshrouded in shadows, then disappeared. Holden took on a defensive stance, while Sable teleported onto his shoulders to watch his back.


    “I think that was shadow travel,” Sable said, referring to a dark magic spell that would allow the user to literally become one with the shadows and move through them. “I’ll keep an eye on your back. You just focus forward.”


    “I see your studies in the library has taught you a few things.”


    “O can’t take all the credit. Leryssa’s a good teacher.”


    “Letyssa? Is that the elf receptionist who was helping you out that one time we visited the Grand Library.”


    “One and the same.” Sable then saw the cloaked man rising out of the shadows. “Holden behind you.”


    Holden pivoted with his daggers at the ready, managing to parry the moment the cloaked man swung his short sword. Holden parked with such force that it caused the cloaked man to stumble. This gave Holden the opening to get in close and drove his dagger into the cloaked man’s stomach.


    Agh! The cloaked man grunted then fell to his knees after Holden pulled the dagger out of his stomach. He started coughing up blood, even as he fell to the ground. “Well, that’s unfortunate. I was so focused on you I didn’t notice the cait-sith. Rookie mistake.”


    Holden grabbed the cloak and tore it off of the man so he could get a better look at his face. The cloaked man was maybe around twenty. “You were pretty skilled. But inexperienced. This was probably one of your first jobs. Wasn’t it?”


    “Yeah,” the man said. “I was raised within the organization. Since I was a dark mage, they trained me as an assassin. I just finished my training before being assigned to establish contact with Mars. He’s only been providing us with high quality parchment for the past couple months. I found out he was hiding a stolen manuscript in a safe within his office.”


    “You’re awfully talkative for an assassin.”


    The cloaked man chuckled, causing him to cough a few times before responding to Holden. “I hated the Followers of Balmusk. Sure, I followed their creed. Did everything they said. But being an assassin was never what my heart desires. Guess I just want to stick it to them. You know, get back at those jerks with my last dying breath.


    “Just leave me here. Someone will find my body and alert the police. I got evidence of Mars’ crimes on me. He was involved in a lot more then just stealing manuscripts, and selling use parchment. That guy’ll go away for years with all I have on him.”


    Holden tapped the young man’s shoulder. “You probably would’ve turned out to be quite the upstanding person, if it weren’t for your upbringing.” He then paused for a moment. “Do you want me to end it quickly?”


    The young man nodded his head. Holden then drove his dagger straight through the young man’s heart finally putting an end to his suffering.


    Holden then got to his feet while somberly looking down at the young man. There were several feelings swirling around inside him. Sadness. Anger. Regret. He had seen similar situations many times before. Young men and women forced to be spies and assassins. It was despicable.


    His complicated expression didn’t escape Sable’s notice. “Are you alright?” Sable asked. “I’ve never seen that look on your face before.”


    “I’m fine,” Holden replied. “This is just too similar to my own past. I hate seeing kids his age end up like this.” Holden sheathed his dagger, and took one last look at the young man’s face before walking away. “Let’s get out of here. We still got a case to solve.”