Meanwhile, Elliandra found herself rousing to consciousness. Her head was buzzy with an aching pain permeating throughout. The first thing she noticed was the cold floor that she was lying on, then the fact that something was covering her eyes, preventing her from seeing.


    Elliandra tried getting to her feet. It was then that she noticed her feet were also bound by ropes, along with her hands.


    “What’s going on?” Elliandra asked, unsure if there was even anyone around to hear her. The air felt cold and still. Her surrounding seemed quiet, leading her to wonder where exactly she had ended up.


    It was then that a rough voice responded to her question. “You’re our captive?”


    Elliandra quickly jerked her head to the sound of the voice. Though it was impossible to tell whether or not she was looking in the right direction. “Who are you?”


    “An enemy. That is all you need to know.”


    “What do you want? Elliandra asked, wanting to keep whoever it was with her talking so she could glean as much information about her current circumstances as possible. “You kidnapped a prosecutor for the Mages Union. Are you with Leudox?


    The owner of the rough voice huffed. “We want you to stay out of sight for a while.”


    “Why?” There was no response to her last question. All she heard was the sound of footsteps slowly wlking away. The footsteps sounded like boots walking on concrete. There was also a loud echo when she or the other one with her spoke, leading Elliandra to believe she was in a large room with a high ceiling. Unfortunately, she wasn’t able to glean anything else out. All she could do way lie there in darkness waiting for some unknown fate to befall her.


    ***


    Holden and Sable were handed a pile of reports detailing the investigation into the missing officials so far, and allowed to use an empty office on the first floor of the Mages Union. Durik was assigned to assist the two of them in case they needed some muscle, so he followed closely behind them.


    Holden read through the reports, finding a few things of note. The plocie interrogating every Leudox member they had in custody, including those involved in the kidnapping of the nox-dragon. However, they were unable to turn up any leads, even using psychic magic to pour through their memories left the policew with nothing to go on.


    “So, it’s probably no the eudox,” Sable said after listen to Holden summarize that part of the reports to him. “That checks them off the list. But are their any better suspects?”


    “Not necessarily,” Holden pointed out. “Just because none of the Leudox members in custody knew anything about the disappearances, doesn’t mean those who ar still roaming free aren’t involved. When dealing with an operation like this, it’s best to share as little information with as few people as possible. Especially since psychic mages can dig whatever information you give to anyonje out of their heads.”


    “So, you’re saying the Leudox members in custody might intentionally be kept out of the loop? That makes sense.”


    A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.


    “Yeah. We can’t write them off. Though its hard to find a motive for targeting anyone other then Elliandra.”


    “Is it possible that we’re dealing with multiple kidnappings by multiple organizations?”


    “And all of them just so happen to be occurring at the same time,” Holden said, finishing the cait-sith’s thought for him. “Yeah, that’s possible. Unlikely, but possible.”


    “So, then, what are we going to do first?”


    Holden sighed, then looked through the list of missing persons. Aside from Elliandra, there were also five other officials who had gone missing. The first one to go missing was a human named Elliot Manson. He was the Supervisor of Chrimoria’s Waste Management and Disposal Unit. It was a department within the city government that dealt with the disposal of garbage, along with the maintenance of the sewer system. He disappeared three days ago in the early morning.


    The second missing person was Captain Briarthorn, an elven police Captain who was in charge of Precinct 13 in Southern Chrimoria. He had disappeared on the same day as Elliot. The third person was the head clerk of the Merchant Licensing Agency. This agency was tasked with approving business licenses within the city. The head clerk was essentially the supervisor of all the other clerks, who were charged with distributing licenses. She was an elf, who had disappeared two days ago during the evening by the name of Celia Kamrot.


    The fourth missing person was an inspector in the Workplace Compliance Union, a government agency which audited all of Chrimoria’s businesses. She was a beastfolk with dog ears and a tail, who had disappeared yesterday morning. Her name was Sia Reinhouse. The final missing person aside from Elliandra was another member of the Mages Union; a dwarf by the name Halrick Ironborne. His job within the Mages Union was to safeguard pattens for magic items. His disappearance was confirmed this morning, meaning he disappeared the day after Elliandra.


    After looking through all of their files, including work history, known associates, and other public records, Holden found nothing connecting any of these people. Some of them might’ve had contact with Elliandra given the nature of her work, but that was the closest thing to a connection he could find between any of them.


    “This is odd,” Holden said after setting down all of their files. “There isn’t a solid connection between any of these people. Why target them? I can’t for the life of me think of a motive.”


    Sable gave him a knowing glance. “Unless the red pixie is targeting government officials who are part of the trafficking ring.”


    Holden sighed. “Then why target Elliandra? She’s the one trying to put the Leudox away. Unless the Leudox are targeting people they’ve been secretly working with, while also trying to get rid of Elliandra at the same time.”


    “So, they might be cleaning house.”


    “Yeah, possibly.” Holden then skimmed through all of their files once again. “I wouldn’t be unheard of. We put a major damper on their operations. Maybe some of the conspirators were scared. Maybe these people conspired to betray the Leudox, and the Leudox got wind of it. Now they’re making an example of them.”


    “An example?” Sable asked.


    “An example. And if that’s the case, we might be finding their dead bodies soon.”


    Their discussion was interrupted by a knock on the door. Durik swung it open, letting one of Naomi’s guards into the room. The guard had aneutral expresio on his fae, but the news he brought them was nything but.


    “The police uncovered the body of a woman not too long ago in a warehouse in West Chrimoria. It’s been burned pretty badly. We don’t know who it is, though, or if its related.”


    Holden could feel his heartrate increasing rapidly. His face contorted as anger welled up inside of him. Was it Elliandra? Was he too late to save his friend? Holden immediately jumped to his feet, and grabbed the man y his collar. “What warehouse? What warehouse was it!?”


    “Holden!” Sable shouted jumping onto his shoulders. “Calm down, and let the man go.”


    Holden exhaled deeply as his removed his grip from the guards collar. “Sorry. I’m-.” Holden then put his hands on his hips while taking a moment to let himself calm down. “Let’s go to the scene. I have to confirm who it is.”


    The guard nodded his head. “Understood. I’ll show you the way.”


    “Thank you,” holden said with a head bob. “And, sorry again.”