Zilian woke up in a fright after tossing and turning restlessly in bed, he had a nightmare of something terrible happening to Farame and his warning them to flee safely away. Tossing the blanket off him, he climbed out of bed.

He ran into the bathroom to wash his face, his heart pounded in his chest as the water cooled him down. He was worried because Farame still had not shown up, even after them being delayed from the crazy turn of events in the caves. He jumped as the doorknob suddenly jingled on his door, he was still antsy from his nightmare as he sneaked to the door. He saw that dawn had not even started, since it was still dark outside. The door knob now rattled furiously. Startled, he turned to hide somewhere and looks around wildly, but finds nowhere suitable to hide in. The door then burst wide open, and he turns to see who his invader was.

A young man stumbled in, he got up clumsily. He looks around confusingly.

"This. Isn't my room. Or is it?" He asked incoherently.

Zilian stood there stunned, the man scared the wits out of him. The man took a step back and looked at the number on the door and his key, seeing they were not the same.

"Sorry pal. A long night. For me." His garbled speech ended with a hiccup as he left the room, closing the door behind him.

Zilian went to lock his bedroom door, but finds that the lock was broken and sighed. A ray of light fell across his face as the sun rose over the horizon, forcing him to block the light with a hand. Since Erica would be getting up soon, he decided they would just go out and do something in town as they waited another day for Farame. Tossing on his new set of clothes, he ran down into the lobby to let the lady know about the broken lock. He did not like the idea of going out with an exposed door like that, so he hoped to have it fixed before they got back.

Before he took the last step heading down the stairs into the lobby, a girl’s voice just in there had sent chills down his spine.

"Hello. I am looking for my cousin Zilian Ainn, he said I should meet him here."

Cousin, what is she talking about? He peered around the corner.

He saw a young girl who was certainly older than him, but not by much. She wore a long hooded, silver cloak and a beautiful long golden-blonde hair that she had tied back, and a white dress with the sides slit open revealing long black pants underneath. She had a long pole-like blade weapon hooked behind her. She definitely was not anyone Zilian recognized, and she could not have been sent by Farame because he knew of no cousins.

The lady behind the counter replied, "Very well then, let me check through my records, we get plenty of people coming in out all week."

He knew the lady behind the counter was lying to her, she was also suspicious of this girl.

That's it. No more time waiting. He ran back up the stairs down the hallway and into Erica's bedroom. He burst the door wide open and finds her she combing her hair. She jumped in surprise, clearly startled by Zilian's sudden dramatic entrance.

"Goodness Zilian, you scared me. Don't just open doors without knocking..."

He cut her off, "Quick, get your bags out. We are leaving."

"Now? Ferry is here finally?" She put down her comb and eyed him hopefully.

He shook his head, "No. Just get your things." He ushered her to speed up.

She did not understand him, but she saw the urgency in his voice. Without wasting a moment, he ran in his room and grabbed his bag wrapping his sword so it would not be noticed. Turning to exit the room, he and Erica met in the hallway at the same time. He realized now that there was no way to get out except through the lobby. He looked down the hallway at the end and saw no one. Near the stairs however, a woman with three young children came out of a room. An idea occured in his head.

Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.

"Excuse me miss." He approached her.

"Yes." She answered annoyed as she groomed her children.

"Mind doing me a favor? Down the stairs, there's trouble." He asked her hastily, hoping she would not say no.

She narrowed her eyes, "What kind of trouble?"

He sighed in relief, at least she did not say no, "Well, I am not so sure. Here, I'll pay you for this favor." He reached for his pouch of money and pulled out fifty Semps.

"Not so sure fifty Semps worth making you a small inconvenience?"

He heard a voice down the stairs, "I am sure I am able to recognize him if I to search for him."

The counter lady said, "No worries, I am sure to find when this cousin of yours checked in."

He turned his attention back to the mother and pulled out more coins, "Fine, 500 Semps. Fair?"

Mother bounced her head back, "Deal. Now what is it you want me to do?" She snatched the money from his hands before he changed his mind.

"Just as I leave say something to give the impression I am your son, can you do that?" He hoped that the persona would be enough to let him slip past her.

She shrugged, "I may know a thing or two about children. Go and I will say something." She waved him to get moving.

Not having time to ask her what she is going to say, he ran down to where the young girl was at. As he came down, he saw the blonde girl eyed him suspiciously. It was as if she believed she found something that was lost. Zilian then looked at the lady at the counter who lifted her eyes to them both without raising her head from the book. She saw clearly now that this girl did not recognize him, so her claims that she would recognize him were proven false. To set his ploy in motion, he called up the stairs.

"See you later mom!" He called up the stairs to the woman.

The mother then called back in a sweet tone, as if they were her own children, "Have a good day sweety, don't spend all of your allowance in one place."

He could not help but smile, she was a true mother indeed, "Don't worry, I won't."

He turned to leave and noticed the smile on the counter lady, she was obviously laughing in the inside. The blonde girl ignored him, bringing her attention back to the counter lady impatiently.

"Ah, here he is room 204. Right there, up the stairs." She turned the book to show her, to show she was not lying. Not that it mattered anymore at this point, he would be long gone by the time she learned he had already figured her out.

The girl replied, "Thank you."

She went up the stairs, giving him one last doubtful look.

Zilian waved his good bye and tossed some coins on the desk to pay for his stay, adding a little extra for the help. He ran out for the nearest city gate exit, approaching the guards that let him in a few days ago.

"Leaving early?" Zacke asked.

"Yeah, he's not here so we are gonna meet up with him somewhere else." He fibbed quickly.

"If you say so." He shrugged uncaringly, it simply did not impact him either way, at least so he thought.

Without any further questioning, he opened the door to let them out. Zilian followed Erica out through the small door, then took the path that led east to the Kenplar Estate. They followed the path for a short silent while, until Erica finally broke the awkward silence.

"You going to tell me why we left without Ferry?" She challenged him.

"You saw that girl before we left the inn?"

"Yeah, what about it?"

"I was going down to mention about my handle being broken, and as I was going down before entering the I heard her mention me by name."

"You're saying you don't have extended family?" She remark sounded a bit too accusing, perhaps it was that she did not want to give up Farame just yet.

"Actually, I have no family left, I am the last one. I doubt I have a secret brother or cousin out there." He stated flatly.

"Sorry." She stopped in her tracks and drooped her head sadly.

He stopped too and confused, "For what?"

"Sorry that you have no family. You must have been lonely before I found you." She sounded a bit sad to have learned he had no family.

He scratched his head, he felt bad when he lost his dad but now that pain has mostly ebbed away, "Yeah, I guess I was. None of that matters now, since I have you and Ferry."

They continued walking again and Erica continued the conversation. "So where do you think Ferry is at now?"

"I don't know. I have a feeling he won't be making it to Greyus or Kenplar."

"Why do you think that? You saying he's dead." Mixed emotions filled her eyes, fear that she lost her grandfather, sadness that she was alone, anger towards whoever had caused the pain.

He held his hands out to calm her down, "I am not saying he's dead, I just have a strange feeling that we won't see him soon. He should be safe in Swamp Capital, right? Probably held back there with whatever it is that he knows."

"I hope you are right. I miss him." She said quietly, almost whispering to herself.

That is if what he knew was not so dangerous that it costed him his life. He remarked to himself.