The Illicitor's Code #1

008: To Save the Little Girl

The voice of the child in the forest shocked all the Venators. Both Damian and Oriyan reflexively looked up at the almost dark sky and cursed as only a few minutes were left until the sun completely disappeared from the sky. Furthermore, when night falls, the monsters will become active, emerging from their hiding places and reacting to the presence of the kid in the forest, disrupting the Venators' plan.

"Watch your language, please," Clarinassa said, sounding anxious. "There's an 11-year-old boy here, remember?"

Damian cursed again. "What's that little kid doing in the forest!?" he asked, ignoring Clarinassa.

Clarinassa sighed in exasperation, and Oriyan laughed.

"How could anyone know?" Oriyan said, while observing the smartwatch embedded on his right wrist. His eyes watched the red dots on the screen enlarge and shrink. "Mathers, Alexandrovich, the sound is coming from around you."

"We know," Xavera said calmly, while Icaros cursed in the background. "But we aren't sure where the kid is. She could be anywhere."

"Find that kid before the sun sets over, and bring her to the van!" Damian commanded. "We only have a few minutes before nightfall."

The Venators sighed and grumbled in annoyance. They hadn't expected something like this to happen, and didn't want to deviate from their previous plan like this.

"I'll look for him, Damian," Dim-Dim decided, panicked at the thought of a young child being endangered by monsters in the forest. "I'll turn into an eagle, then fly into the sky and search for her with my sharp eagle eyes," he explained shyly, while the Venators silently considered his suggestion.

"Okay. Our time is running out. You search for the kid before the nightfall, she must be around Mathers and Alexandrovich," Oriyan said to Dim-Dim. "I'll follow you from below, and once we find the crying child, I'll bring her to the van before the monsters realize."

"Okay," Damian agreed to this new plan. "The rest of us, except Dim-Dim and Oriyan, focus on our previous plan. Let me know when the monster trap is ready."

"Alright," Jay replied.

Dim-Dim had finished his bread and decided to transform now. But since it wasn't dark yet, he chose to become a Peregrine Falcon. Within seconds, his arms flattened and spread into wings with neatly arranged feathers, and then his bones began to shrink and branch out. The next second, he was flapping and flying three meters high, then landing on top of the car.

Turns out, flying still felt difficult.

"Don't forget to use your infrared glasses later, Dim-Dim," Clarinassa whispered to him through the earpiece.

Dim-Dim nodded with his bird head, then leaped and flapped his wings again. When he finally mastered how to fly, he had spent about five minutes. He flew upwards until very high, then found a thermal wind.

With that wind, he no longer needed to flap his wings, just spread them wide. Now he could slowly rotate above and see the entire forest.

His vision was incredible. Even from this height, his eyes could see every leaf on the top of pine trees, cracks in tree roots, and damp leaves rolling on the ground.

He could see Jay Oliver attaching a device from tree to tree in the northern part of the forest near the lake, and nearby, Dr. Valee was helping tidy up the necessary equipment. Not far behind Valee, Charlotte and Florence sat on different trees, searching for the best positions. They all wore infrared glasses.

"Uh, oh," Xavera said. "The monsters have already come out of their hiding spots. Twelve o'clock direction. They're still oiling their legs."

"Damian and I will go there immediately," said Clarinassa.

Upon hearing that, Dim-Dim quickly headed into the middle of the forest, and found Icaros with Xavera sneaking behind bushes. Their gaze both focused towards a large birch tree. Dim-Dim followed their gaze and was stunned to see three monsters emerging from burrows around the tree roots, their thick skin seemed bulletproof, and their legs so sharp that the nearby tree roots split neatly as the creatures stretched their legs. Strange black fluid coated their leg joints.

Looking at them made him feel wary, and the fine hairs on Dim-Dim's arms stood on end. He knew that the forest was home to dangerous predators, like monsters, but Clarinassa had assured him that these creatures were nocturnal hunters, and their completely black eyes validated that. Dim-Dim tried to calm his nerves and focus on the task at hand, but it was difficult.

Dim-Dim's father had once explained to him about the three types of eyeballs found in owls: yellow for those active during the day, orange for those active from dusk till night, and black for those active from night till dawn. When night fell, all these nocturnal hunters—owls, monsters—would be at the peak of their strength. The story had made Dim-Dim afraid of any animal with black eyes, and now that fear resurfaced.

Dim-Dim continued to observe the creatures for a few more seconds, seeing their closed mouths. He was startled when suddenly their heads lifted, their dark eyes staring skyward directly at Dim-Dim. Saliva dripped from the corners of their mouths. But their eyes soon shifted to the grass where Icaros and Xavera were silently observing them.

They knew there were Venators in the forest. And they weren't afraid of the Venators.

Those creatures had often been hunted, so they were not afraid. Dim-Dim thought they must be very hungry, that's why they were not afraid of Venators.

Dim-Dim forced himself to look away from the monsters, and then he saw a child's shoe stuck in the mud. Not far from the puddle of mud, there were bicycle tracks.

Could it be...?

Following his instincts, Dim-Dim flew low, following the bicycle tracks, heading towards the slightly denser eastern part of the forest. He hovered slightly high above the dense pine trees and then found the crying child, crouched under a large pine tree. The little girl wore a warm orange-black sweater and a green ruffle skirt. Her face was smeared with powder and tears. Dim-Dim noticed dirt on the bleeding wounds on her knees, glanced at the dust and leaves on her bare feet. He then saw the bike with its loose chain not far away.

Dim-Dim immediately descended, and was slightly surprised when he saw Oriyan crossing the bridge from the opposite direction to chase after him. He had never seen a human run that fast before, the eagle within him felt uncomfortable with Oriyan's unusual running speed, but Dim-Dim tried to stay calm. He watched Oriyan arrive next to the girl in less than five seconds, squatting in front of her, then lifting the little girl onto his back. His lips whispered comforting words.

Dim-Dim was about to show them the way out when suddenly Oriyan's hand waved towards him as he ran across the wooden bridge.

"Forget about us. The monsters are chasing you! You need to go to Oliver's trap location as soon as possible," Oriyan said to Dim-Dim. As he spoke, the sun had completely disappeared from the sky, and they were enveloped in darkness. Without slowing down, the Venator pulled out infrared glasses from his pocket.

Dim-Dim forgot to put on the infrared glasses. He was about to land on a tree branch and transform back into himself, put on the glasses, and then transform again, but suddenly he heard the roar of monsters very close to him, and he was startled.

With his panicked mind, Dim-Dim immediately transformed into a Eurasian Eagle-Owl, a creature that could see in the dark and was believed to be able to see infrared light. He spread his finely feathered wings and then silently flapped, flying back into the sky.

Dim-Dim briefly turned his head to see Oriyan running away. Then his eyes scanned his surroundings. The monsters were nowhere to be seen.

However, the Venators started talking simultaneously through the communication devices embedded in Dim-Dim's ears. It was chaotic.

"They're split up! Let's split up, guys!" shouted Icaros. "Mathers and I will chase the biggest and most aggressive one."

"I'll take the smallest, and you, Damian, take the one in the middle!" exclaimed Carinassa, her voice full of excitement. "Oliver, is the trap ready?"

"Not yet!" said Oliver. "Almost there, guys!"

"Aaargh!" Damian suddenly yelled, startling Dim-Dim. "Parenzee, the monster I'm chasing is heading in your direction!" Dim-Dim immediately flew towards Oriyan and saw a monster running incredibly fast, darting from one tree trunk to another like a spider, and he couldn't help but shiver at the thought of what was going to happen to Oriyan and the little girl.