Zokel didn’t wait for her to ask any questions before leaving again. She decided to stay there until closer to the group’s decided meet up time. When that hour finally came, she casually made her way to the rendezvous point—and was successfully the first one to be there when she was supposed to be.
It felt like she was waiting a while before Lydia came.
“Did you look around?” she prompted.
“Not really.”
“I guess you didn’t find anything interesting either?”
“Sort of…”
Samone didn’t explain further since Dimas soon showed up, quickly followed by Imre and Kiah.
“Well, that was absolutely pointless,” Kiah remarked. “Did anyone actually get something?”
Their collective mumbles proved that they didn’t. It made Samone have to work up that much more courage to admit that she actually had.
“Zokel showed up,” she finally revealed after a few moments. “He wants us to think a little deeper.” She didn’t know how much of what he said was really meant for all of them. Or rather, she didn’t know how much of the conversation she wanted to share.
“Deeper? Like, when we were younger?” Lydia tilted her head, already starting to take the initiative.
Dimas sighed. “Lydia, I doubt that’s going to—“
Just as he began to correct her, she suddenly snapped from her thoughtful position to furiously dig through her satchel. “Remember when we were all talking about how no one knew where to find an entrance to the Anysia Caverns? I know I didn’t say anything, but I realized I knew something. Once I find it. I’ve got a lot of maps in here…”
“You have a map?” Kiah questioned, clearly not amused by the whole situation. “If we knew you had a damn map this whole time then we wouldn’t be wasting our time here!”
“I forgot about it!” Lydia defended as she pulled it out. “I’ve got a lot of stuff in my bag, okay?! Yesterday I was cleaning it out and found a gem I was supposed to use to deactivate the traps of a ruin I went to three years ago! I thought I’d lost it, but apparently it was in there. With how many other maps are in here, I wouldn’t have noticed the Anysia Caverns one.”
However much they’d all wish to deny it, that was definitely a normal thing for Lydia. It was nearly impossible for her to remember everything she needed to get on a good day; she was always just a bit too absent-minded to completely think most things through. There was a reason Samone often needed to use magic during their trips. It wasn’t like this was the first time Lydia randomly remembered something that would’ve been incredibly important to know before then, and it was only one of the last for hardly related reasons.
Imre gently took it from her in order to look it over. “This is only a couple days away from here.” He looked up at Lydia. “I’m assuming you weren’t the one to mark the points here? It doesn’t look like your mapmaking, at least.” Samone assumed that was his nice way of saying ‘this is actually halfway legible.’
“Dad did that one,” Lydia responded. “He had a story to go along with it, too. None of us really liked it so he didn’t tell us more than a handful of times. I think I still remember most of it…
“He and one of his old friends, Keanu, were looking through some old records. They were bored so they were hoping to find something interesting; a possible mention of a legend or, even better, a hidden treasure map. Even if it was far away, they had the time to spare. Then they stumbled upon a really old text that talked about a cave that was actually pretty close by. More specifically, it was one of the caves that the Fleyw Bresh used—an entrance to the Caverns.
Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.
“They left as soon as they could. There wasn’t really anything to prove that it was accurate or if the mentioned place ever existed at all. After all, a part of adventuring is figuring out what part’s fact and what’s fiction. But they didn’t look into it any more than that. They didn’t read any of the parts about what was suspected the children of Fleyw Bresh kept there. Dad would later wish that he’d thought about looking back, instead of just going in without thinking about it.
“When they got there, Keanu started complaining about feeling watched. Dad didn’t feel anything so he just dismissed it and kept looking for the cave. He marked it on the map once he did find the entrance, but they didn’t have the chance of going in together. Keanu went in first. The entrance closed—though not exactly caved in—before Dad could follow him.”
Lydia’s storytelling skills came in handy for that story. The way she descended into a foreboding tone near the end made it just as unsettling as its ending. Samone knew she wasn’t the only one chilled by it, and she had a feeling that was the exact tone Lydia was going for.
Kiah was the only one who showed no sign of unease. “So, did none of you like this story because someone died at the end or because Andrew wasn’t perceived as the ultimate god of adventuring?”
“Ellie just didn’t like it,” Lydia remarked. It seems she wasn’t planning on actually saying if it was one or the other. “But he also had a ton of better stories to tell us when we got older, which were way more exciting. They didn’t really do anything in that one.”
“Can we talk about the entrance closing part instead?” Dimas suggested. “I think that’s a little more important than deciding why no one liked it.”
“Andrew and Diana are Father’s age,” Imre began casually. “They were also married almost as soon as they turned twenty. Having kids hasn’t stopped Andrew so getting married definitely didn’t, which means it could’ve easily been right before and slightly after Zenas died. Presuming, of course, the entrance to the Caverns closes when one of the Keys dies. It seems like they would, judging by how it can regenerate a new set when two of the previous ones were still alive.”
“Is there really that little keeping random people from wandering in..?” Nothing was making Dimas like the idea any more. In fact—though Samone didn’t know if she was imagining it or not—he looked paler the more information they found about it.
“That and common sense,” Kiah mumbled. “I don’t think normal people decide to go into random caves for fun.” Without looking, she added, “And, Lydia, before you say anything, the Stones are not normal.”
Samone decided to get them started on talking about their next plan. “If it’s a couple days away from here, then we’ll need to make sure we have everything for the trip. I know we intended to get supplies here, but I doubt any of us went shopping between then and now.”
“I have the money with me, though I got sidetracked.” Imre patted the little pouch at his side. “We should try finding whatever we can here. It’s a village that sees a lot more travel than most, so it should have a lot if not all of it, but whatever we can’t find we can look around the camp for.”
“We’ll be quicker if we split up into practical groups,” Kiah suggested. She gestured to herself, Imre, and Samone before adding, “We’ll make sure all the necessary stuff is taken care of. We can come up with a general list and only get what we need. Lydia and Dimas can get the other weapons from camp. We’re probably going to be sleeping outside the entire time so it’s worth having them around.” Of course, she always had a sword and dagger with her. It was probably so then the rest of them could at least try to be helpful, should they run into trouble.
There wasn’t any arguing. Imre mumbling a couple of instructions to Dimas. When the two shared a decent enough understanding, Lydia picked up on it and dragged Dimas away.
Even as the other three began walking into shops, no one made any mention to them. They’d went about and collected what they needed without too much interruption.
It was at a particular shop, though, that really got her thinking about what Zokel had told her. What they were doing and how they got there didn’t seem to be what he really wanted them to do. There was something else he wanted. Something else they needed to do…
Imre seemed to notice it pretty quickly. He gently nudged her and asked, “Is there something on your mind? You’ve got that pensive I-don’t-really-want-anyone-to-realize-I’m-distracted face.”
Samone was honest with him. “I don’t think talking about Lydia’s father was what Zokel really meant for us to do. He mentioned the ‘Fox that came before me.’ I think… he means something about the previous Keys. About Minne and her friends or even people beyond that…”
“I don’t doubt that you’re right,” he remarked. “But let’s see where this can lead us first.”