CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE. Too Late.

Arud and Dutris walked quietly into the ramshackle hut, pushing the weak, bog-eaten door open. 

They glanced around at the old, small space in front of them. 

Meldevick's home. 

Everything looked silent, deserted. The whole place draped in dust. 

There was a small, wooden table at the centre of the room with four small chairs all around it.

A shelf stood against the wall in the corner. Old books and a glowing, round shaped rock, a lightstone, had been placed on top of it.

Dutris leaned against the creaking door panel and clucked his tongue, surveying the place with something akin to pity.

"With all the privileges he gets as a senior Guardian, it's a wonder how he could still live this way."

Arud breathed in the smell of dust, old food, rotten wood and the scent of a bunch of Gregors he didn't recognize.

Which felt strange, as Meldevick was a loner. The only person he had ever let stay with him was his granddaughter, Ashi.

"Well, from what I remember," Arud said. "He had never been a fan of fancy furnishing."

Arud could sense that more than two Gregors had been here.

As he strolled into the small space, the wooden floor creaking noisily with every step. 

"Are you sure shadow reading's gonna work for this? Don't you think it would have all faded by now?" Dutris asked behind him. 

"It's still worth a try," Arud answered, moving to the table. He ran his fingers over the smooth surface of the wood. The dust turned the skin over his fingers brown.

"Did you see Tenor's face when you suggested this plan?" Dutris asked. Arud glanced at him, his friend had a triumphant grin lighting up his face. 

"Ha! Priceless! He looked like his pride had been tossed into a chasm."

Arud rubbed the dust with his thumb and, as if roused by this action, faint whispers danced in his ears. Voices of every Gregor who had been here previously.

"Meldevick was found here, wasn't he?" The Prince asked, turning to look at Dutris.

Dutris had lifted up the lightstone, examining it.

"Yeah, there were no signs of a struggle, he was just ....sprawled across the ground, unconscious." 

"l don't get it," Arud said, frowning as he folded his arms. "Why try to kidnap someone if you're only going to leave them behind in the end?"

Dutris placed the lightstone back on the shelf carefully before answering; "Ashi had been their main target. They had taken her instead."

"And no one around had sensed anything?" Arud asked.

"The people who lived close by then had heard a few noises up here around the same time Meldevick was found." 

"Tenor thinks they had frightened off the kidnappers, 'cause by the time they arrived Meldevick was alone."

"Well," Arud said, turning his gaze back to the small room. "I guess this is the only way then."

Arud summoned the little energy he had stored in his body, letting it flow up to his eyes.

His Abmador allowed him to not only use the energy he absorbed from other Gregors, but also keep what was left. 

The borrowed energy he had wasn't much, but, right now, it was all they needed.

There was nothing for a few moments, the room remained as it was.

"Is it just me, or are you finally getting old?" Dutris quipped.

At the end of his words, the air grew cold. 

Mist swirled in from the doorway behind them, continually pouring into the small room till they could see nothing else but pale-white space. Slowly, they began forming strange, distorted shapes.

"No, it seems it's just you, Dutris."

The shapes were human figures, moving around the room, speaking in quiet, indiscernible tones.

But there was something wrong; the figures had no faces. They wore nothing, no garments or anything else that could tell him who they were.

It was like watching shadows dancing on shadows. He couldn't even grasp the words they whispered to each other, couldn't tell one figure from another.

Arud sighed in defeat.

"Looks like we're too late," Dutris said, walking up to stand beside Arud.

Shadow reading was a formidable ability, but, like many other talents, it had its limits. A certain occurrence couldn't be read if it happened much too long ago. 

Tenor had mentioned this earlier back at the 'Den and Arud had hoped he wouldn't be right, that they could still get some answers.

The Prince canceled the talent immediately and the mist faded away.

"Those kidnappers, they struck well, taking away every tool or Gregor we could have used to find them. The only shadow reader we had anywhere near here long gone before..." All of a sudden, Dutris' words trailed off, his expression vacant.

Arud felt a trickle of energy coming off him.

"What? What is it?" Arud asked, his heart quickening with excitement. Dutris only bore that face whenever the others sent him a message telepathically. Being the mindreader of the group meant the Guardian served as a messenger of sorts. 

But Tenor and the others wouldn't send a message to them unless it was extremely important.

His friend stayed that way for a few seconds, when his gaze fell on Arud again, his words were barely above a whisper.

"l just got a message from Gladys," he said, his voice grave.

"Meldevick's dead."