On the Heels of the Khaosborn (Tailing Jian Marco and Sil)

All of the work from the week was scattered around the office, all on the floor of his office. Arkadius had scattered it in anger after returning from his bedroom. He had a tendency for dramatic flair of emotion and distress. He was feeling... angry, frightened, paranoid, distrusting, down-right furious. All at the same time. How dare someone come into his home and make a mockery of him in such a way, how dare they. He paced around the office, glaring at the mess. This was just another one of many missteps that she'd made, a misstep one-too-many, and now she'd pay for this, yes she would. His eyes flicked around the room, taking a note of all the notes he'd made during his investigation, his first attempt at something new. In his brain, something flipped. He'd stretched beyond his limited world, trying something new. Something different. And he was... proud. Of what he'd achieved. This was his thunderbolt.

Even if perhaps he hadn't quite gotten there through success and stealth, he knew he had her attention. Well, he had someone's attention at least. His eyes flicked to his desk, catching on the box and the note leaning on it's front, sitting neatly to one side of the desktop. They knew he was on their tail, they'd made that clear enough through their actions. They knew where he lived and worked. They knew more about him than he did them, but that could be resolved. He just had to keep working on it. He grinned to himself, walking over to the desk and opening the box to take another look at the contents.

"I'm not giving up that easily, you think you can scare me like this? Pfft," he said to himself. He closed the box calmly, and sat down in the chair. "This just proves my point that this needs resolving, once and for all. It is time, my dear, that we stop dancing around each other, tip-toeing through the world. There's only room on this plane for one of us, and I don't intend to leave any time soon. Not willingly." He slowly leaned down, opening a desk drawer and carefully removing several pages of parchment. "You... shall have my utterly focused attention, Khaosborn. Babis Farstep can wait, with his treachery and lies. I think that I shall need to be prepared when you come for your... chat. I need to be prepared, and I need to be not alone."

Atop the first three pages on his desk, two words are carefully written onto each parchment by Arkadius, in his neatest handwriting possible...

"Dearest Menace,"

Arkadius has been staying late in his office at Ffirst Airmail, using the space to piece together the information he has gathered on Jian and Sil. Things seem to be coming together - Kobolds aren’t particularly common in Port Ffirst, and Arkadius has strung together a few confirmed sightings and thinks he might be closing in on their location.

Not long now, he thinks to himself, picking up the candle from his desk and locking the office door behind him.

As he walks back along the corridor to his room, he feels a surge of confidence - he is closer now to tracking down Khaosborn and her family than ever before.

Arriving at his door, his hand freezes halfway to the handle. There is light coming from underneath the door. He’s sure he put out the light when he left the room. Pulse racing, he turns the handle and pushes open the door.

His bedroom is lit by two large black candles, neither of which were there when he left, and on the bed is a small wooden box.

Cautiously he approaches, putting down his candle and giving the box a cursory look over for any obvious traps. Finding nothing, he tentatively opens the lid. Inside is the body of a small, speckle breasted thrush. It seems to have been burned - beak and feet scorched and feathers singed black.

A note is nestled at the back of the box.

“Careful, little bird. You see what happens to those who fly too close to the sun.

Perhaps it’s time we had a chat. We’ll be in touch.”