"I mean, once the thief shows the Ears to the Forgemasters, killing them is the only way to keep their mouths shut.

"Yet the disappearance of a single Elder would raise the alarm like it happened with Pharek. If something happens to this many Forgemasters at the same time, the Council will spare no time and expenses to find the culprit.

"The manhunt would be hundreds of times worse than Maergron's." Solus said.

"I know." Lith nodded. "Once connected, the dots form a weird pattern but it still fits our mark. We'll talk about this after we return from the Desert, Kami. Kiss Elysia and Valeron for me."

"Will do." She grumbled.

A few days ago, while Lith was away for Valtak's lessons, Solus had repeated the "divination" test, offering Elysia toy weapons, books, and coins. Much to Solus' dismay, Elysia had picked up a toy battle claw shaped after Sky Piercer.

Kamila had consoled Solus while inwardly rejoicing before conducting the test herself. Only after Elysia had chosen the battle claw again did the two women deeply empathize with each other.

Valeron, instead, was old and smart enough to understand the purpose of the test. He had no idea what each object was supposed to represent, just that he was supposed to express his preference.

The baby boy always crawled to Lith, Kamila, or Solus and ignored the items. Useless to say, he melted Lith's heart and made the two women shed many happy tears anyway.

The Zouwu called after lunch as promised, bearing unsettling news.

"I can confirm the rumor. All of the Forgemasters have disappeared and only a few of them informed their apprentices of their absence. The rest are just gone and the weird part is that they all left in different moments and circumstances as if they were trying to go unnoticed." "Or if their kidnappers wanted to avoid drawing attention." Lith shared his doubts and concerns with Strider. "The entire situation is off. A huge conspiracy doesn't make sense but it's the only possible explanation."

"I agree." Strider nodded. "This matter deserves an investigation but unless we inform the Council and provide the Elders solid proof, they'll never mobilize the Hand of Fate. We have to do this alone."

"We?" Lith furrowed his brows in annoyance.

"Yes, we." The Zouwu growled. "One of my men was gutted like a fish and Solus was almost killed on my watch. This is personal. Also, the matter of the Forgemasters is not the only mystery here.

"Why do you care about a bunch of people you don't even know, Lith? How is this related to the thieves and why have you put a bounty on an alleged grimoire written by the First Ruler of the Flames?"

Strider had performed thorough research, connecting more dots than he was supposed to and guessing the identity of Haug's contractor. All things that Lith had assumed would happen and for which he had prepared in advance.

"I refuse to believe you are so stupid that you haven't reached my same conclusion." Lith scoffed, his face a mask of cold annoyance. "No one would bother attacking a unit of the Hand of Fate for an old piece of junk.

"Solus and Rhuta weren't the target or the thieves would have tried to deal the finishing blow instead of running away. It means that their job was done when they got their hands on the helm. The attack was just a diversion to cover their escape." Lith said and Strider nodded for him to continue.

"Limbell was the best Forgemaster in the Kingdom and Maergron was his shadow apprentice. I bet the helm must have been part of Limbell's legacy that he didn't want to share with his official disciple.

"Since the helm played no role in the fight, the only possible explanation is that it's some kind of Forgemastering tool. You gave the helm to me and I want to retrieve it without having to fight with the Council or Nem Limbell for its ownership.

"I couldn't put a bounty on the helm so I came up with the best next thing. The grimoire justifies my grudge and allows me to search for the thieves while also letting them think they got away with it.

"I used Menadion's name because I expect that whoever has the helm is using it to improve their Forgemastering abilities. I needed something that would fit every voice of the bill without giving out my real objective."

"Damn if you are a cold, calculative bastard." Strider mumbled. "I like you and I agree with everything you said. The made-up grimoire is a nice trick and one I'm stealing. This doesn't change the fact I'm coming with you."

"Do we have a problem with the ownership of the helm?" Lith wanted Strider to come along.

It was the reason he had contacted the Zouwu in the first place. Lith needed Strider's influence to gain access to the Forgemasters' labs without triggering a war. At the same time, he knew that the Zouwu would need Lith's tracking skills to not repeat Limbell's fiasco.

The situation was bound to make Strider think the alliance was his own idea and that mutual aid served their respective purposes.

"No." He shook his head. "You can keep the helm. I just want to know who tried to kill Rhuta and why. Then, I'm going to kill them."

"Then we are going to get along." Lith scowled, yet he inwardly grinned.

The mark had taken bait, hook, line, and sinker.

"Do you mind if I call Xenagrosh? The bastard had several allies and we need big guns to counter the numerical advantage."

"Be my guest." Strider replied. "I'll try and contact the members of my team as well. We need all the help we can get."

"What if they don't agree with the original distribution of Maergron's loot?" Having more witnesses wasn't part of Lith's plan.

"That's their problem." The Zouwu grunted. "I'll back your claim but I doubt it will be necessary. We are looking for a grimoire and missing Forgemasters, after all. I we find the helm in the process, it's just a happy coincidence."

'This guy is shrewder than I thought, but I still don't like this development.' Lith said via the mind link.

'Don't worry.' Solus reassured him. 'I just need to touch the Ears to get what we truly want. After that, Zoreth can stage stealing the artifact and later return it to us. She'll be glad to take the blame and draw attention away from us.' "I like your plan." Lith nodded. "Meet me at my mansion tomorrow morning after breakfast. There's no rush and we need to prepare thoroughly. I don't want the thieves to get the drop on us again."

"Agreed. Strider out."

Lith called Zoreth as soon as the conversation with Strider ended, finding that her rune was still unavailable.

'Dammit, it has been days since the last time I heard from her. Should I be worried?' Vastor's rune and Bytra's were online which reassured him.

"Zor is fine, Lith. Don't worry." The Fourth Ruler of the Flames said after picking his call. "She can't answer her amulet because she's undergoing another stabilization treatment.