"The news from the Sanctuary Groves are getting interesting, several parties reported the hordes of undead fighting the adventurers and soldiers. There is also talk of an unknown creature hunting the undead, reports are conflicting about it's presence, some are convinced it's just the work of ghouls. Stay tuned for more news, now on to sports." The radio is turned off, Lance takes off his headphones and the sound of wind rushing comes back.

"It seems I am late to the party, hopefully the adventurers did not disturb the clues too much." Lance looks around from his vantage point on a large tree, the groves are in sight, just a short fly away. He briefly considered going by car but flying would be faster and more efficient, he also did not want to burn down the car again.

Normal people would stop at a city or outpost before heading in a comfirmed war zone, Lance however had evidence to collect and he already lost too much time sorting the files of the people of interest. He hoped Eugenio did not touch the careful order he left in the office.

The door to the office opens."What the fuck!?" A very confused Eugenio there to check on the database finds himself assaulted by the horror in the room. The walls are completely covered in papers and strings of all colors, expanding way beyond the normal evidence board like a spiderweb, the ceiling was also not spared. A postit note on the screen of the PC simply reads Don't touch the evidence, Feel free to update the database with my findings. Eugenio sighs and resigns himself to a long day.

The outer edge of the grove seems surprisingly clean, it may be the presence of civilization and guards keeping the undead under control and the place clean, but closer inspeaction reaveals that the place is undisturbed. There are no tracks, no signs of a struggle, they did not clean up the bodies, they simply did not fight at all. It seems the undead did not reach here, that was interesting but to gather more information Lance needed to go deeper, into the sanctuary part of the grove. Lance hovers over the forest, being careful to not disturb the tracks or possible evidence, even if sometimes his mere presence is enough to melt the snow. After some time the first battle site comes into view, corpses lay on the ground, the snow has yet to cover them so they must be fresh. This battle seems to have been between ghouls and the undead, there are corpses of both around and they each show wounds likely to be casued by the opposing party, the undead were picked clean of meat, the ghouls must have won this one.

Very similar sites are everywhere around the groves, occasionally interrupted by the odd adventurer site, they even managed to bring down one of the headless horses, a feat the ghouls had yet to repicate. A scream catches the attention of the young detective, he reluctantly stops taking samples and rushes to the source. A small band of adventurers is fighting some ghouls, the scream came from a young girl, apperntly a sort of mage going by the runed staff she carries. The rest are frontline fighters, a boy with an ovesized sword he can barely move and a tall girl with a bow, she uses it as a mace of sorts with very poor results, a quiver hangs empty at her back. "Who would let these kids get this close to... any kind of battle really?" The sight is confusing but it's clear they need help so it's time to act.

A wall of dark flames erupts between the two opposing parties, the ghouls are deterred by the sudden heat and the kids are stunned and confused loking all around for a new danger to approach. Lance descends in front of the kids, flaming wings behind him. "W-we are n-not afarid of you monster." Says the smaller kid, struggling to point his sword at the man in a suit.

"Unfortunate, it shows a severe lack of critical thinking and survival instincts. It would be fine for the likes of me but for you kids it may prove dangerous in the future." Lance looks at the kids more carefully, they are covered in bruises and cuts but most of them are superficial, most of the damage is unsurprisingly on the kid with the sword, the mage seems untouched apart from dirt clearly gathered by falling considering the imprint with her shape on the ground. "I am not a monster either, but that mistake is at least understandable."

The girl with a bow seems to be more calm. "I apologize on behalf of my companions. We are just a bit on edge, this is our first adventureand we were... unprepared for this kind of prolonged engagement." The surroundings are littered with arrows and a few corpses of ghouls. The ratio of arrows per body is way to high, it seems this archer does not have the best aim.

"I noticed, it would seem you are in quite the predicament. I have some more work to do here, so unfortunatey I cannot accompany you to safety, however I can purify the general area from danger to allow for you to wait for rescue. Judging by that card you are part of the adventurer's guild, I am sure some more experienced members are near and willing to help." The mage that was quiet until now was wearing her adventurer card as the pendant to her necklace. "Now if you'll excuse me I have some evidence to gather and these ghouls are getting a bit annoying."

The wall of fire shifts, moving from behind Lance to surrounding the young adventurers. The ghouls are still there, some are singed from trying to get past the wall. Lance concentrates, the ghouls all focus on him being denied other alternatives, five of them encircle him. They are rotting, some have wounds from prevous fights that have yet to heal, they should be no problem but killing them is not the only goal. A ghoul tired of waiting leaps at Lance, a dark flame engulfs his hand and he dodges to the side while leaving a trail of fire behind him, the ghoul is left with a mark on it's rotting flesh. The rest follow suit, leps and bites dodged to leave fire on the opponents, between dodges Lance shoots fire at the ghouls apparently missing most shots, which starts setting fire to the field even with all the snow. After a bit more of this strange dance the ghouls are all left with a variety of strange burn marks that still glow faintly, but for the most part unarmed.

"It seems the fight is over, now I would like to ask some questions." The ghouls manage to look confused by the sudden statement, they look at eachother for a moment then one of them leaps. Lance makes a dismissive gesture, his eyes glow red and the crisscross of marks left on the ghoul all combust at once, only burned pieces fall around him. "See, that was disappointing. Now, would you like to reconsider my offer?" Lance can see the fight or flight instinct kick in for the ghouls, apparently seeing one of them go up in flames from unknown source was enough. Flight wins, but unlukily for them it's too late. "I suppose it was too optimistic to hope for a proper whitness account from ghouls." As the rotting creatures run away the flames lingering on them flare up and they meet the same fate as the first one, apart from one that instead finds itself covered in dark crystals that stop it from moving. Lance slowly walks to the now paralized ghoul, and for one last time attempts comunication. "Can I at least know why you are here?"

The ghoul refuses to elaborate but does utter a growl that sounds vaguely comprehensible. "MYlOrD" It just repeats that over and over. A bit disppointed Lance decides to put the creature out of it's misery, turning the crystal back to fire incinerating it.

The wall of fire disperses and the three adventurers have a chance to look at the carnage, the small clearing is covered in smoking pieces of flesh and small fires everywhere around them, how the whole place is not up in flames seems a miracle. The mage speaks up for the first time. "Excuse me sir fire man, we talked about it and we were hoping to accompany you. It seems much safer than waiting for rescue or fighting our way back, and we could learn a lot from a high rank adventurer such as you."

The mage was mistaken on the adventurer part, but correcting her would not have any importance right now. "You do seem to be in need of protection." Looking at the mage closer he noticed her staff was full of a bunch of runes but they were all disconnected, he did not know enough about magic to recognize them at a glance but he knew they were supposed to be connected to have better effects. "Fine, I will allow you to follow me. But don't pollute the evidence, no touching anything unless I say so, are we clear." This was going to slow him down a lot, but he could not bring himself to abbandon these kids.

"Yes sir, we will not disappoint you sir." The mage attempted a vague military stance, with the other two following her.

"You can stop calling me sir, I am not that old."

And so the investigation resumes, much slower now that Lance can't just fly from site to site. Even if slow the travel was not difficult, some stary ghouls were burned and a couple undeads rose up just to be torn apart by crystal. Only two fields were significantly different from the others. There was a small clearing with ashes mixed in the snow and the remains of strange blood, the kind of burns left in the area looked very fresh and a strangely familiar feel was in the air, another phoenix must have been here. A rarity under normal circumstances it could prove useful here, phoenixes tend to be historians so they may know some relevant information, hystory repeats itself after all, maybe this already happened. There were also some peculiar traces of blood, it was still warm, almost burning and with high metal contents, as unlikely as it seeemed a dracos seemed to be around here, or it could be a creature of the Flesh that got particularly far, but there was no body to be found and that stuff tends to be hard to miss.

The second peculiar site was a bunch of undeads torn apart by something very sharp, it left regular wounds and the strikes were precise and calculated for the most part, it had to be someone sentient and trained in a skillful combat stile. There was also a corpse of a headless horse on the ground, showing signs of unnatural decay and weakening prior to being wounded. The signs on the horse were very similar to what the effects of a cockatrice gaze was supposed to be, just stronger, and the slashes were the proof it was a strong fighter, possibly with some kind of magic to enhance the power of attacks. A dangerous creature, but of the multitude of unluky soldiers killed and left to rot none had the same kind of wound, It was selective with it's victims. Rumours of a monster terrorizing some village long ago come to mind, and the file back at home about a cockatrice being sighted near this zone seem to indicate this is it. For now it's not a prority but someone that killed a headless horse is a whitness so contact should not be avoided.

The Sanctuary Groves are cold and covered in snow like most of Fharamun this time of year, it's not snowing right now however so tracks and evidence are not disappearing as fast as they normally would. This does not mean the place is stable as the landslide in front of the group proves, it seems strange for that to be a natural occurrence as usually the snow needs a bit more time to melt and turn to mud, and with this cold it would be more likely to turn to ice instead, but the proof was undeniable. Natural or not the result was the same, any kind of clue was now gone and the path was unusable, by flightless people at least. It was not all bad however as the mudslide cleared the path in the direction of the city, making the approach much easier by being careful and following the path.

"Well, it would seem my investigation has to be cut short. I have some evidence to work with and the outpost should have some people willing to talk. I also cannot go any deeper with the kids following me, I am not risking it considering how bad they are at surviving."

The kids have not been completely useless to be fair to them, but they are far from ready to fight stronger opponents. The girl with the bow started hitting more than she missed by the end of it and with the revolutionary idea to get her arrows back she at least has not ran out anymore. The boy with the sword now uses a random one he got from an undead, showing that he does have the training to fight effectively but he refuses to abbandon the giant sword for some reason. And the mage is just incredibly nervous, she has a reason for the multitude of disconnected runes, she is a Golden Beast so her plan was to combine her natural magic with different runes on the spot for different effects, she just discovered that she freezes in dangerous situations. The three of them managed to take down a couple of undeads by themselves, they clearly just decided to jump in unprepared into the first adventure they found, they may even be runaways, but they don't complain about going back now so it's more probably they are just new.

"Mister flame man can I ask you something?" The mage speaks up, she started doing that more over the course of this short excursion.

"You already did technically. But sure, Elilona ask away. I am not omniscient however despite proof to the contrary so I may not have the answer."

"What? How do you know my name? I don't remember telling you."

"You have your guildcard as a necklace, your name is on it. That was a strange question to ask, no offense." The group of kids is briefly stunned, but recovers quickly.

"That was not the question, sorry. What I wanted to ask was if we could join your team?."

Lance was stopped in his tracks, maybe it was the time to solve this little misunderstanding. "I... am not an adventurer, not one wth the guild anyway. I am a detective, I gather evidence, solve cases, find people occasionally, but I am not with the guild. I am not sure where you got this idea from but sorry to disappoint, I am used to doing that anyway."

The three kids look at eachother for a couple seconds, they seem to reach an understanding surprisingly fast. "But you are so strong, and fearless, you would be perfect for it. And maybe you could just train us anyway? I would really appreaciate it. " The last part is spoken quickly in barely a whisper.

"This is going to be difficult, it may be my curse acting up. Look I don't know how to train people, what I do is not even magic, not your magic at least, and I can be fearless because I am in no real danger compared to you. I am sure it's full of people more qualified than me at the guild that would be willing to help you." The kids look unconvinced.

"You're better than anyone we saw there. And you were able to direct us even if you barely knew us, that's leader material, if you have that you can train us too." The look of determination in her eyes was undeniable, she was utterly convinced in her words.

"Ok, that's some huge leaps in logic you are making there, I just recognized what would be the most efficient way for you to fight based on the evidence I have access to, that's just deduction. Let's just get to the city, I am sure someone else would be better, but if you are still convinced after calming down and reflecting properly I will see what I can do, I am sure it's just the adrenaline talking. You can call my office." Lance offers a buisness card to the young mage.

The young adventurers look much happier than they should be for just being given a piece of paper. "Thank you, we will not disappoint you I promise."

Lance could have given them a fake number, but that kind of behaviour was beneath him and the kids were genuine enough that he would feel guilty just dismissing them. He was curious why all of them seemed to have such inefficient combat styles. "Just keep walking for now. And be careful to not slip on the mud, it seems it already claimed a victim." Lance said as he looked at a suspiciously person shaped slide mark in the mud.

A more traveled path becomes clear as the group gets to the end of the slide, the marks keep going for a surprising lenght before ending abruptly, a light smell of burnt fuel hangs in the air. There are some very recent tracks of a big group of people heading to the outpost, from the depth they seems to be mostly wearing heavy armor and there are signs of stretchers being dragged so they must be a returning group with wounded soldiers. Some tracks are lighter, civilians? No they would have no reson to be here, maybe some adventurers that metup with the patrol. The strangest thing is the tracks of high heels, they are not suited to the terrain, or the outdoors in general, they seems very high as well, who would be so crazy as to fight in high heels?

The outpost is finally in sight, a strange feeling of dread rapidly appears and passes in the span of a moment. The kids are startled and all cling to a very confused Lance for support. A couple of guards are posted at the gate, they seem on edge but don't act hostile at the apporoach of the group.

"Identify yourselves. We had a lot of traffic recently ." One of the guards states in a tired tone.

"Lance Burn, of Burn Intelligence, detective. Here for work related matters, I am sure you know of the radio program." Lance shows a buisness card and points at the radio poorly hidden behind a stool near the guards. "Don't worry, I have no intention of ruining your passtimes in this dull job."

After some brief shock and some worried glances the guards seem to relax slightly, they then look intently at the young adventurers attempting to hide behind Lance's cape. "Oh um... we are adventurers, we also heard of the problems from the radio like most of the guild." Elilona seems to be acting as the leader of the group for some reason, and they seem unusually on edge in this situation.

The young mage gathers enough courage to step up to the guards and show the adventurer's card and the other two follow her, digging up some cards of their own. "I see, you can go. We do appreciate the help, it's just been a long day and some strange things have been happening."

"Looking at our friends being brought back on stretches barely alive did not help." Adds the other guard looking at a building near the gate.

"We should be glad they came back at all." The first guard replies, it seems to not be a common occurrence for the wounded to make it back.

The outpost is surprisingly lively for what is the edge of a warzone, but it is far enough from the border to not be in danger of attacks in normal circumstances. "Our paths diverge here, I am sure you have some adventurer things to do like making reports and resting. I will be investigating around here, people hopefully are more willing to cooperate than ghouls."

It does not take a master detective to see that the adventurers don't want to separate from the newfound hero that saved them, but a familiar sight in the distance seems to convince them to at least try. "We are grateful for your guidance, your help was invaluable." The tall girl says, being completly serious despite the exagerated claims she makes.

"Sure, thanks for the pointers man, and for not laughing at me for my weapon ." The boy tries to avoid eye contact al all costs, being grateful does not come natural to him.

The mage just stares at Lance before going in for a hug. Lance is not sure how to react to the sudden show of affection, this must be some kind of consequence of his curse. After letting go the mage just runs away, followed by her companions, the tall girl makes a short bow before going.

"Well that was... something that happened. Not the worst thing the curse got me into at least. Now it's time to go back to work, the barracks seem like good place to start." Lance starts walking to the building the guard was absentmindedly looking at, it must be where they keep the injuried.

Dusk is filtering through the blinds, an exausted Eugenio falls on the sofa, a pile of papers now scattered across the room. "I really should have just asked Carmine to do this, he is good with this tech stuff. Lance doesn't even use the digital archives, why did I bother?" With these doubts in his head Eugenio passes out on the sofa.

The door creaks open, a figure stands behind it barely visible. The figure scans the room, and after seeing the sleeping goat sighs and steps away. After a bit it returns to place a blanket on the sleeping form and starts cleaning up the papers on the ground and desks. "Maybe we should go on vacation."

The day is ending but the case is just beginning.