The Divine Wolf...or?

Whilst Ark was in the midst of excruciating pain, Ephine, Atar and Thufrat had arrived back at their house in Moonhill. Just seeing the house again was enough to make them all mad, but this time around, they had brought company. Through the help of the Torment of the Fallen, they had managed to hire 2 members to help them find Ark. One which was skilled in tracking and espionage, and one for his pure strength. Finding Ark was the most important, but if they found him, but didn't have enough strength to save him, they would be in for a treat. 

These helpers they had brought in, even if it was through the Torment of the Fallen's connections, were not free. Just to get their help, Ephine and Thufrat had to pool together all of the money they had. They even had to sell off some of their equipment that they didn't use too much. The tracker they had hired was a wood-elf that specialised in wind magic. Ever since they met her, she had been practically looking down on them, acting all high and mighty. She hadn't even told them her name.

This didn't really sit well with any of the others, but they had no choice but to rely on her, they couldn't afford to get mad at her right now. Luckily for them, the other person they had hired, a young man with extraordinary strength, was much more approachable. His name was Adam, and he was a spirited young man. Maybe it was because of his body's extraordinary strength, but he always exuded an aura of absolute confidence. The two people were like polar opposites of each other. One was beautiful and haughty, and one was ordinary-looking yet nice and confident. 

"This friend of yours... he's not a human right?"

The dreary atmosphere was suddenly interrupted by the voice of the wood-elf that had been checking out the surroundings. She had a special talent called [Spirit Eyes] that only a few elves had, which allowed her to see the spirit of things. In Ephine and Atar she could see the silhouettes of elemental wolves, whilst in Thufrat she could see a dwarf with the heart of a dragon. 

"That's right, he should be similar to Ephine and Atar."

Ephine was a little taken aback by the question, but Thufrat just answered it without any sort of surprise, even going as far as gesturing towards Ephine and Atar, since he was a little unsure of whether she remembered their names or not. Thankfully, the wood-elf seemed to understand this gesture of his.

"You guys did the right thing in hiring me for this job."

"And why is that?"

Thufrat was a little taken aback this time, but he still answered fairly quickly.

"These people that kidnapped your friend are pretty meticulous, they even went as far as erasing any sort of scent and aura before they left. However, with my spirit eyes, I can still see remnants of a wolf spirit that was once here."

"Does that mean you can find him?"

Finally seeing a glimpse of hope, Ephine asked another question before Thufrat even had time to process what she had said. 

"Of course, I'm one of the greatest trackers in all of Geotopia after all."

At this point, no one was too annoyed with the wood-elf's haughty attitude anymore. If she could really find Ark, then who cared if she was a little arrogant or not?

"Then what are we waiting around here for, let's get a move on." 

"Hahahaha, you guys look ridiculous. You hired me to find him, so of course I'll do my job."

Everyone was a little taken aback, this was the first time they had seen the wood-elf smile, much less laugh. 

"What?"

Seeing the weird looks on their faces, the wood-elf could feel herself blushing a little.

"Hahahaha, nothing, let's just get going."

Adam tried his best to steer the conversation in the right direction, but after this little exchange, everyone felt a little closer. With the wood-elf leading the way, their party of 5 started to quietly leave Moonhill under the cover of the night. Since they thought that they would have to track Ark down for days on end, they had all prepared supplies that would last them at least a week, but to their surprise, the wood-elf came to a stop after merely an hour. 

"Why'd you stop all of a sudden?"

"Is something wrong?"

Both Ephine and Thufrat were anxious, if they had come this far just to be let down then their hopes would truly be gone. 

Before anyone could really process the wood-elf's words, she summoned a wind elemental that took the form of a small hawk. After whispering something into its ear, it suddenly flew away into the distance. 

"Before you guys start asking questions, just wait here for a while, this shouldn't take too long."

Thufrat had to swallow the question that was on the tip of his tongue. He was anxious and even a little nervous right now. What did she mean by saying that the trail ended here? Did it really end here? There was no way Ark was around here right? That could only mean that they had no way of finding him. Although he wanted to put on a tough front, he couldn't help biting his nails in his frustration. It was a habit that he had developed as a kid, and that he hadn't gotten rid of completely yet. 

The group as a whole grew more and more anxious as the wood-elf just stood in place quietly, with her eyes closed. The only one who had an idea of what she was doing was Adam, but he wasn't sure if he should share it with the others or not. It would be a bit rude to explain someone else's powers in her presence, especially since he wasn't sure if it was true or not. It was probably better to just let her explain it herself. 

After around 15 minutes of awkward silence, the wind elemental returned to the wood-elf's side, before disappearing into nothingness. 

"Ahem, although I didn't find your friend, I did find something pretty suspicious."

Disappointment instantly hit Ephine, Thufrat and Atar, before their hopes were instantly rekindled again. To think a single sentence could send them through a rollercoaster of emotions, Thufrat almost started laughing at the thought. But then again, now really wasn't the time to laugh, he wasn't that insensitive. 

To everyone's surprise, the wood-elf didn't explain anything as they thought she would. Instead, she just started walking cautiously into the distance. Since they could only trust her at this point, everyone followed her. But since she was so cautious in her approach, everyone stayed vigilant. They had no idea what she had seen to be so cautious, but it couldn't hurt to be careful. 

After walking for a few minutes, the trees around them grew sparser, and they found themselves in a small glade. No one was focused on the sparse trees around them though, as they were preoccupied with a large abandoned house in front of them.. The abandoned house was covered in scorch marks and mold, and to be quite honest, it looked like it had been through the ages.