Veiled Machinations (3)

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“Although I’m asking for your ‘cooperation’ I really just need you to give me some more information about the Rune and that basilisk.”

After preparing myself for the negative response that was certain to come, I spoke up, filling my voice with earnest desire as I returned the specter’s gaze.

“So this really was just an attempt to get information out of me huh?” Lennon remarked, judging by his tone he clearly wasn’t amused.

“I know it’s not the best way to ask for help, but we don’t really have a lot of time here. The members of Brunhilde are using that wolf monster to parade around the forest, hoping that it starts reacting to the mana from the rune. I don’t know if that’s where you’ve hidden it, but they’re definitely searching for the rune under the guise of hunting the basilisk and they’re starting off by combing through the places you frequented in and around Zale. They’ve been at it for two weeks now, if this drags on any longer, they’ll start searching the town itself, I’m sure you can guess what’ll happen if that comes to pass.”

Even though he was dead now, Lennon still held the key to resolving all of this, it only made sense for him to be suspicious of anyone who came to ask him about the very thing that sent him to his grave.

“I can understand why you’d want to know about the basilisk, but the rune is an entirely different matter. After dying a year ago, I’d thought the best course of action was to simply leave it as is so no one would ever find it, eventually all those rumors about a rune being here would start to fade with time but, looking at the state of things right now, I suppose I was being a bit too optimistic.”

Avoiding my gaze as he spoke, Lennon cast his attention towards the forest in the distance. He was still looking in my direction but seeing as he wasn’t standing on solid ground, looking over my head must not have been that difficult.

“Liam, I can tell you what I know about that basilisk but, you’re not going to find it.”

“What....do you mean by that?” I asked in a voice drooping with curiosity.

Lowering his gaze to once again meet mine, he continued, speaking with a sort of detached luster in his voice. “I’m sure you’ve seen a girl in the Brunhilde party, her name is Amaris, she’s the key to finding the basilisk.......because she’s the one controlling that monster.”

That one sentence from Lennon just now had abruptly flipped all the information that was now swirling around in my mind. “She’s controlling it!?”

“Yeah, Amaris is a radical, more specifically, a tamer. She has the power to dominate any monster that she’s significantly weakened, as for how she got her hands on the basilisk, I guess you could say it all came down to luck. After Oliver brought it to the brink of death all those years ago, she somehow managed to find the creature in its weakened state and use her power on it.”

The mechanics of that party were now starting to make a lot more sense after hearing what Lennon just said, the reason that girl had those two guards by her side must have been due to her power being unsuitable for a direct confrontation.

“If she could do that then the story does hold some truth to it after all, they staged your death using that basilisk didn’t they?”

His eyes subtly winced in the wake of my question; this clearly wasn’t a very pleasant topic, but it still had to be broached nonetheless.

“No, they used it to threaten me once we’d gotten deep enough in the forest. I don’t think they wanted to outright kill me just yet, not until they got the rune at least. My body was consumed by that monster to destroy the evidence, but I was killed by the hands of a human, one of the last memories I have from when I was alive was the feeling of my neck being pierced from behind with a metal blade. Unfortunately, as for who it was-”

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Without even realizing it, Lennon had still given me the answer I'd been looking for, that last bit was the final piece of the puzzle surrounding his death.

“That’s fine, you don’t have to say anything else.”

“Sorry......”

“No, its fine if you can’t remember anything else about that but can you tell me more about the other members of Brunhilde? Like what kind of techniques do they use?”

Lennon once again seemed to be at an impasse, even after dying he was still holding on to his morality.

“What are you planning to do with that information? I hope you’re not thinking of confronting them, even though they’re all level one the members of that party are still leagues above regular people in terms of strength. Druid or not, you’re still just a child.”

Lennon had seen through my obvious front from the very beginning, still, just going off appearances it was to be expected. That was one of the major disadvantages of possessing a body of such small stature, if things went on like this then nobody would take me seriously for another ten years.

Exhaling a deep breath, I relaxed the muscles in my face, dissipating the casual expression I’d been sporting the entire time. I retuned his looming gaze, summoning every ounce of sincerity this body would allow before imbuing it into the words that were about to leave my mouth.

“You know, I haven’t told anybody I can see souls, I don’t think anybody would believe me if I did, but that doesn’t matter right now. I can help them with this power, even if its just in a small way, but I need your help before I can help anybody else. I don’t know if this will carry any weight, but you have my word, I won’t do anything unless the situation gets out of hand, I’m just trying to help everyone.”

That wasn’t a lie, but it wasn’t exactly true either.

I extended my right hand towards him, allowing it to reach as far as my juvenile limbs would allow before stopping in midair. I opened my palm shortly after, unwinding my curled fingers and signaling my intention to perform the gesture known as a ‘handshake’.

Lennons eyes trembled upon witnessing the sight before him. A young child was earnestly asking for help from him, an adult. Whether he was alive or not didn’t matter right now, his parental instincts wouldn’t allow him to dismiss me that easily, not after seeing the lengths I'd gone to.

Shortly after, a cold sensation enveloped my hand, Lennon had firmly grasped it in response, meaning that this ‘handshake’ was now complete.

“.......Fine....I’ll tell you what you want to know, but only under the condition that you avoid acting recklessly. Don’t even think about confronting them Liam.” His voice had sunken even deeper into regret, but this had to be done, there was no other way right now.

“Yeah, I promise.”

Heaving another sigh, Lennon composed himself before he spoke.

“The members of Brunhilde are all level one, Ulric the leader is a wind mage that uses dual swords, but his swordsmanship is rather rough. They're from rich families so they’ve hardly been in any life-threatening situations, to them, being a raider is mostly just for show.”

I allowed him to speak freely, staying competely silent until he was comfortable enough to continue. I don’t know if he was just venting his frustrations, but either way there wasn’t much for me to add here.

“Amaris isn’t really a combatant, she’s usually at the flank commanding whatever monster is under her control, but at any given time two people are always protecting her. And finally, there’s Gavin, he’s a level one earth mage but unlike Ulric he doesn’t use any weapons. The big problem is that wolf you mentioned, Amaris is a level one tamer so she must be using an artifact to keep it under her control, she’s not strong enough to handle both the basilisk and that wolf at the same time. To get around that thing one would need to clear their formation and subdue Amaris, killing her is out of the question since there’s no telling what it’ll do once its free.”

“Thanks, that was a lot of information.” I turned my back towards him just then, facing the opposite end of the stubby road that brought me here.

“Are you going back now?” Lennon asked in a curious tone.

“Well, I did sneak out after all....But it was worth it, I’ve been wanting to meet Emma’s dad for a while now. I’ll come looking for you again if I need to know anything else.”

I took a few steps forward before his voice halted me in place.

“Wait, Liam. Isn’t there something else you need.....” Judging by the way his voice trailed off just now, it could only mean one thing. My eyes widened almost out of instinct as I turned to face him.

“......You’re going to tell me about the rune?”

His subtle nod silently gave the approval I was waiting for.