The following morning, Alaenor woke up early due to the sun rising. Once she finished getting dressed into the outfit she selected at the store and got ready to go downstairs, she noticed something was missing - Cordelia never slept until noon and even then she would sleep until late afternoon. Where could she possibly be?

Looking about the room, she saw no trace of her companion. Puzzled, she wondered where the other had gone - perhaps she had gone out to buy something or check for news. With these thoughts running in her head, she descended the stairs of their rented room, walking outside and gazing around the town in hopes of spotting Cordelia. Her suspicions were proven correct when she spotted her a few streets away - sitting quietly against the wall, looking deep in thought.

Her eyebrows furrowed as she approached Cordelia's direction, worry etched on her face, "Is everything alright?"

Cordelia lifted her gaze slightly as her mind registered the woman's presence, nodding slowly. "Yes. Why do you ask?"

The brunette shrugged, trying to appear casual but failing miserably, "You seemed awfully quiet during our trip yesterday. Is everything alright?"

The redhead looked away from the woman before answering. "Everything is fine." She lied. The truth was she hadn't slept a wink last night - not because she wasn't tired, but rather because she was too busy worrying about her friend and making sure nothing bad happened. It was the only thing keeping her going and she had barely gotten any sleep at all.

Cordelia let out a small sigh, her gaze drifting down to the ground before turning away. Then, she stepped away from the wall and glanced at Alaenor, "Come on, let us not waste any more time. We need to get going."

Alaenor gave a half-hearted nod before hurrying back inside the inn. She picked up her backpack which contained everything they needed for their journey and threw it over her shoulder, following Cordelia who had already started making their way through the crowd on the street.

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Then the redhead led Alaenor towards Elderhollow when she stopped before the gates of mist that prevented them from entering and took a moment to look at the other, "This is where I let you go. I have... things to settle away from here."

The brunette nodded, understanding completely what she meant by those words but unable to say anything for fear that her voice might give something away. Instead, she raised her hand to caress her cheek affectionately, hoping it would ease her worries for a little bit. "Take care, Cordelia."

With those words, Alaenor entered the gates of mist as it engulfed her into Elderhollow. The sky was nothing but grey, giving off a gloomy vibe over the nearly empty town. The place didn't seem very large but it felt much bigger with all that fog that covered its entirety.

The streets of the town were mostly deserted. Some passersby occasionally glanced in Alaenor's direction. It was obvious they were wondering what kind of person would travel alone through the town but she chose to ignore them. Instead, her mind was focused on finding Zevran. Wandering around aimlessly, she soon arrived before a large gate and a board that wrote Zevran's surname on it. This must be the place, she thought. She was just about to knock on the door when suddenly, she heard someone call her name.

"Miss, are you lost?" Asked a man with thick black eyebrows who was standing near the entrance of his manor.

The brunette paused for a second before letting out a breathy chuckle, "I suppose not. Is this where Zevran lives?"

His brows furrowed at her words as he asked in puzzlement, "What makes you think it is him?"

Alaenor blinked in surprise when she realized that his question was a valid one. "Oh sorry. I mean I haven't really met anyone so I assumed that-" The brunette shook her head before continuing, "Well, I'm looking for him and it is quite an urgent matter."

The man stared at her for another second before nodding his head, "You are looking at Zevran himself. Come, if this matter is urgent to you, we may discuss it further inside."

Before he led her inside, she took note of how Middle Eastern-looking he was - from thick wavy hair and a scruffy beard to complete his look. His brown eyes, however, were enticing mysteriously.

Once they were inside the house, Alaenor followed him into a spacious living room which she guessed was used for guests, with two comfortable-looking armchairs placed across each other facing the fireplace. While she was examining the room closely, trying to figure out how to start a conversation, the man sat down on one of the chairs, gesturing towards the other one for Alaenor to take a seat. The brunette smiled in appreciation, "Thank you." Before taking a seat in front of him.