Gathering everyone together, they followed Gean toward the north end of town, where an oval home sat and their Chief lived.

Gean Knocked on the wooden door, and an old, kind voice allowed them inside. They stepped in two at a time inside the country-style home.

The interior wood was made from cedar against cream, speckled Walls. An older man sat in the living quarters at a large round table. There were bookshelves against the wall and little Knick knacks on the cabinets.

Gean cleared his throat to get the older gentleman's attention. “Chief, I have brought guests who would be delighted to be graced by your company. One of which is a Locksmith.”

“A Locksmith, you say?” The man's jubilant voice rang with sound curiosity and admiration. He turned to them, and they were met with the same toothy smile as Gean. His white hair was balding but slicked back, and his rough complexion was weathered from old age, yet there seemed to be energy in his cobalt eyes. “Come, come, have a seat, please.”

Lyra and the others walked from the foyer into the living quarters, treading lightly over the rug floor to prevent it from becoming muddy.

“Ah, don't you worry about that rug. We have people who can clean that.” The old Chieftain said, waving his hand at the carpet they walked upon.

“Thank you for having us, sir,” Lyra said first, sitting on the wooden stool. Aurora sat beside her, followed by Cassandra, Tierney, and Malakyh.

“Please, call me Albert. It's an honor to have a Locksmith grace our humble home.”

“That's kind of you to say. My name is Lyra Ashbourne. And these are my friends….”

Each of them introduced themselves with a slight bow of their head, respectively.

The man's eyes widened. “My gosh, to have so many faces, least of all an Ashbourne? This is a surprise.”

Lyra grinned. “You must have also known my grandpa. I'm sure he'd love to know how you're doing.”

“Hmm? I know of Ealdred, but I was referring to your father, Arcemedus.”

A quick gasp escaped past her lips. “My-My father?” wide-eyed shock revealed on her face. “He was here?”

Albert nodded. “Back in the day, he would come here often. Sometimes for Locksmith duty, other times to shoot the breeze. He was a young lad, around your age, but always made time for us folk. I was in my thirties and just starting as a leader. I was nervous as one could be, but your father always had a life lesson, and I kept that to hurt. Had I never met him, I don't think I would have become the Chieftain I am today. It's a shame he's no longer here with us. The life span of a Locksmith can be wildly short. Especially back then.”

Though the moment was sad, Lyra still couldn't believe that someone knew her father and pretty well by the sound of it. She was more than eager to hear more stories about the father she never got to grow up with.

Cassandra cleared her throat, pulling Lyra from her excitement. “If you wouldn't mind helping us, sir, we have a mission we are set out to do.”

“Uh, right!” Lyra fumbled over her words. Hoping no one could see the red on her cheeks for forgetting why they were here in the first place. “We came to Ravens Country to survey the area and look for anything or anything… strange.”

The old Man's furrowed brow raised, making the wrinkles on his forehead defined into deep ridges. “Anything or anyone strange? May I ask you to elaborate?”

Lyra pursed her lips and looked to her left at Cassandra and Malakyh for approval to reveal the truth. Both nodded slightly, but their narrowed gazes told Lyra to choose her words carefully.

“There's been something odd going on with the Veilspawn and Fiends, making them more…erratic than usual. We think it might be caused by a group of people that are pretty nefarious. You'd be able to know who they are right away.”

Mentally sighing, she hoped that was a good enough excuse given their circumstances.

“Erratic patterns, you say? Nefarious individuals… mmm, that is quite a conundrum.” Albert rubbed his jaw as he was in deep thought. “Nothing meddlesome so far, but if you feel inclined to survey the area, you may do so.”

Lyra smiled, bowing her head. “Thank you so much, Chief Albert. We really don't want to cause an uproar here, and we'll be out of here in a little bit.”

“Pish-Posh!” The elderly exclaimed with a wave of his mind. “It'll be late once you finish scouting the area. No, you'll stay in our inn tonight, and you can leave in the morning.”

The author's tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

“Are you sure about that, sir?” Cassandra asked. “We don't mean to intrude.”

“Nonsense. Arcemedus has done good things for us plenty of times, but the least I could do was provide food and a place for his kin to stay.”

“Thank you, Chief Albert. That means a lot,” Lyra said, wanting even more to know about her father from this man.

•†•

After patrolling the area, the group settled in for the night at the inn the Chief put them under. However, Lyra could not sleep as she was riled up with excitement and curiosity about the possible stories Albert had of her father.

“...How long are you going to be gone for?” Aurora asked. She sat on the bed with her legs dangling off to the side as she kicked them back and forth.

“It won't be long, promise. I want to ask Albert a few things.” She told her as she pulled out a night set her mother had packed away for the two of them. They were some of Lyra’s old clothing when she was little.

“About your dad?” Aurora questioned, peering up with wide and curious eyes.

Lyra put the clothes on the bed, then sat beside her, brushing her white hair away from her tawny cheeks and behind her ear.

“Yes. My dad died when I was young, so I would like to know more about him and his adventures as a Locksmith.” Lyra’s hand gently cuddled her cheek. “And when I get back, I hope you will be asleep. We'll have to wake up pretty early tomorrow.”

“How come I can't come? I don't wanna be in here alone…” she leaned forward to whisper. “It's creepy.”

“Cassandra and Tierney will be here. They should be back from getting food, and if it needs to be addressed, Malakyh is in the room across from us.”

Aurora pouted. She wasn't sure what it was, but a feeling of nervousness increased within her that she couldn't shake away.

“Okay? Everything will be fine, I promise. I always keep my promises that I'm Fine, right?”

Aurora nodded. “Okay.” She let out a sigh.

Lyra beamed at her and kissed her forehead just as the doors opened for Cassandra and Tierney to make their way inside with food.

“I'll have your food stored away when you get back,” Cassandra said to a leaving Lyra already out the door.

“Thanks, Cassandra. I'll see you all in a few.” Then, closing the door behind her.

In the hallway, however, was Malakyh leaning against the inn's faded brown walls.

“Are you… waiting for something?” She asked, with raised brows.

“Just wanted to tell you something,” he said, leaning off the wall. “It won't be long.”

She shrugged. “Shoot.”

“When you're out there, just be mindful of your surroundings. It might be peaceful here, but things are rapidly changing around here. I can't shake this feeling in my gut, but instead of telling you what to do, I only wanted to warn you.”

Weird. He's sounding like Aurora. Maybe there might be some Fiends or Veilspawn lurking about? Possibly. We still don't know what the curse is about, but Albert's house isn't too far…

“I'll keep that in mind, don't worry.”

With nothing but a nod, Malakyh stepped aside so Lyra could reach the stairs. Though she couldn't help feeling his eyes staring back at her, he was no longer there when she turned around.

A little past Midnight

Aurora tossed and turned in her sleep, turning left, right, and left again until she finally woke upright in the bed. It was dark inside the inn's bedroom, but she could still see the silhouette shapes of Cassandra’s broad shoulders and Tierney beside her.

What she didn't see beside her was Lyra.

Aurora pouted. She patted the space beside her to double-check if her mind was playing tricks on her, but it was indeed empty, and a thump of nervousness in her chest slammed into her chest.

She should have been back by now. Aurora had already slipped out of bed and walked to where Cassandra slept.

“Cassandra? Cassandra? Something is wrong… Lyra should have been in by now.”

She waited for a response, but no one came. She frowned and shook her shoulder again. Nothing. She could feel her body rise and fall but didn't stir awake.

“Cassandra?”

Aurora tried to wake Tierney, but once again, nothing happened. Both of them were breathing and alive, but it was like they couldn't hear.

Panic washed over Aurora's features as the worse played into her head. She hurried to get dressed and rushed out of the bedroom to knock on the door across from them.

But the door was already opened, and the cloaked figure stood with a look of concern.

“Malakyh!” Aurora exclaimed. “Thank goodness you're up!”

“Aurora?” Malakyh was bewildered seeing the little girl walking about. “Is Cassandra and Tierney–”

Aurora shook her head before he finished his sentence. “I tried to wake them up, but they wouldn't move even though they were both breathing okay.” He sucked his teeth in frustration and mumbled to himself. This isn't good. I knew something seemed off.

“And Lyra? She's still not back?”

Again, Aurora shook her head.

“This isn't good.” Malakyh shook his head. “We need to find Lyra quickly. Come on.”

Malakyh darted down the inn's halls, and Aurora tried to catch up.

“Malakyh, what's going on? How come Cassandra and Tierney are unconscious? Why are we the only two up?”

“It would seem like whatever is going on here affects the people in this town, but that doesn't include witches or…” He paused, wanting to say anything he shouldn't.

“Someone who's not a human….” Aurora answered him. “I know… I'm a… Homunculus.”

They made it to the inn's door when Malakyh stopped. He bent down to her height. “I'm sorry you had to learn that, but right now, you are the only one who can free Lyra and the others. Are you ready? Homunculus or not, you'll have to be the hero they need right now, and I bet all my denarius it has something to do with the Curse.”

Aurora tightened her fists and nodded, knowing she would need to put on a brave face. She wouldn't let anything happen to Lyra, Cassandra, or Tierney.

“Good. Stay close to me; we don't know what Veilspawn or Fiend awaits us, but if it looks like the trouble, you'll have to high tail it out of here and get some help if you can.”

Malakyh removed sheathed blades from his cloak and held them out to her. “Have you ever used one of these before?”

Aurora's eyes widened at the sheathed daggers in a brown cloth skin. She shook her head. “I… I have… power already.” However, she wasn't sure if it was Essentia or something worse.

“And do you know how to use this power of yours?” Aurora pressed her lips together and stared down at the daggers. “Just think of them as a fail-safe, okay? If your power doesn't work as it should, you might have to fight up close.”

“Lyra won't be happy about this,” Aurora said, hesitantly taking the daggers in each of her hands.

Malakyh grinned. “Guess that's our little secret then. Now let's go find out what's happening.”