{-Llewel-}
He dreaded asking the question, but knew that someone needed to. “I assume this definitely isn’t a good thing?”
Esaphi shook her head, fidgeting so that she wouldn’t start pacing again. “No, definitely not. I felt that they were done and I went to look for myself—carefully, since I didn’t want them to notice that I was there. A lot of them had left, but… there were still a few of them there.”
“Could it have just been a group to moderate it or something?” Zetai asked, clearly not liking wherever this was going.
“It was a lot more than that. Usually—they have a lot of other things to take care of in other places, after all—they only keep half a dozen people in one area, at most. I never really saw them have a supervisor with them, either. But both of those were different this time. There were probably still half the crew—which was a lot more than any other kind of maintenance-related issues—and they had a supervisor with them, too. At least one. I didn’t want to get too close, but I could tell that someone was giving them orders.”
“Did you hear at all about what it might’ve been for?” Reynneak prompted.
“Not a single thing. I didn’t stay for long.” Esaphi paused, considering what she wanted to say next. “I don’t know what it is, but… I think you should try checking it out. Try to see what it is and if there’s anything you can do to stop it.”
Tinath nodded. “Even without the details, that doesn’t sound like the kind of thing we should just ignore. The three of us can go and see what it is—with any luck we might at least know more about it, too. If not a way to prevent it.”
Llewel, already aware of what she really meant, repeated, “The three of you?”
Zetai shrugged. “We’re not the ones they’re trying to stop. We’re players—the exact people that they’re supposed to be trying to please. They can’t do anything to us. Not like what they could do to any of the three of you.” She looked at the twins. “And especially not you.”
“This is the exact opposite of all the sentiments about sticking together!” Myr pointed out. “Are you really just going to keep us out of it?”
“Sorry, you two, but I have to agree with her,” Reynneak remarked. “It’s better if you’re somewhere where you’re, hopefully, safe. As bad as it sounds, sometimes that’s just the kinds of things that have to be done.”
“You don’t have to worry about them,” Esaphi said, though perhaps still not as confident as she could’ve been. “I’ll make sure to keep an eye on them. They won’t get anywhere near the danger.”
Llewel wasn’t surprised. His reservations from the idea came from not knowing what would happen to them, not the fact that they were trying to protect the twins. Myr, however, gave Esaphi a sad glance.
“You’re siding with them, too?”
Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author's consent. Report any sightings.
Esaphi’s resolve seemed to falter at that moment, but it didn’t last long. “I want to help keep the two of you safe. Of course I’m going to go along with this.”
“There’s no use sitting around here,” Tinath pointed out. “They’re only going to get further along and we’re only going to get further behind. If Esaphi’s alright with looking after the twins, then we should check it out now.”
“Yeah, sounds like the best plan.” Zetai gestured for the other two to follow her, then looked at the twins. “We’ll come back as soon as possible, alright? No need to worry about us. We’re perfectly capable of taking care of ourselves—you just worry about staying out of it.”
Knowing who it was really directed to, Llewel mumbled, “I know.”
She shot them both a smile before all three of the players left the cave again.
“Can we all agree that we’re definitely not just standing here?” Myr asked.
Llewel shrugged. “We both know everyone’s right. Things’ll probably go better—a lot better—if we aren’t around. You’ve got to have noticed by now that we’re kind of magnets for that kind of thing.”
“Why do you always give up so easily?”
“Because I can tell when something’s for the better—when it’s going to keep us safe. They’re fine on their own. They can’t be hurt from this in the same way any of the three of us can.”
Esaphi hesitated and said, “It’s funny you say that, because I was going to ask if you wanted to trail after them.”
“What?” Though they said it in unison, their tones were completely different; one of a clear excitement, and the other complete opposition to even the thought.
“I could tell, you know? That you both really care,” Esaphi explained. “I can keep an eye on you and we can all stay out of danger—that’s exactly what I promised to do. But that doesn’t mean I can’t help you make sure your friends stay safe, too.”
“That’s a great idea!” Myr said, already ready to go after them.
“No, a terrible one,” Llewel pointed out, resolving not to move from his place. “It’s like this is just because they decided on it randomly, but it isn’t—there’s a reason behind this. We should just stay here and far away from whatever the workers are doing.”
“Don’t you want to make sure that they stay safe?”
“Of course I do. But I know they’re more than capable of taking care of themselves. They don’t need us to make things worse for them.”
Esaphi, then, chose a different method of persuasion. “It probably won’t matter whether we’re here or with them. I’m sure the Nankohm workers already know that I’m here—there’s not too many places I can go where they’re not doing something. When they recognize your friends, they’ll probably be able to piece together where the two of you are, too.”
“When?” Llewel repeated, getting an even worse feeling about all of this than he already had.
“If! I-if they recognize your friends,” Esaphi corrected quickly. “There’s no telling if they will, not really. But a lot of people are starting to recognize that the five of you are traveling together.”
“Then it sounds like both of our options are terrible. Either way, they’re going to win.”
“I never said that! It might be better if we’re all together, really. They’re more capable of protecting the two of you than I am on my own.”
“So can we catch up with them?” Myr prompted.
Esaphi nodded. “Just make sure to stick with me and far enough away from them that they won’t notice us. We’ll all be together if something happens.”
“I still don’t like this idea,” Llewel declared.
“Well, you’re definitely not staying here by yourself and I know you don’t want to. Come on—we need to make sure we can catch up with them before they get to where the workers are.”