{-Casrane-}
They’d done a couple of quests in Anthalas, mostly to just talk more and make sure that they were prepared for what happened next. She’d shown them both what being on a train was like and, almost begrudgingly, agreed that they’d go on a boat too when they were at Kehnore. It wasn’t long until they were finally ready.
“Leaving for Kyirius?” Cahacu asked with a smile. She’d asked it nearly every time they were about to leave the inn—a prompt she must’ve slowly been getting tired of saying.
Casrane nodded. “We should have everything we need.”
“Make sure to be careful on your way to the city,” Cahacu said. “I hear there’s a lot of dangers around there. You should try to avoid them as much as you can, at least until you have someone who’s more familiar with it.”
“When we get to the city, we can see if there’s anyone who can guide us through the area,” Llewel agreed.
“Can… someone remind me why we’re going to Kyirius..?” Myr mumbled, then paused. “Is that something I’m supposed to question?”
“Not really, but the fact that you are is a good thing to me,” Casrane remarked. “We’ve got to go through Kyirius to get to Kehnore. While we’re at Kyirius, we might as well explore a little, too.” She wanted to keep a majority of what they did there to herself. There were some things she didn’t quite know regarding how much they knew about the story affecting anything.
She stepped closer to the door and gestured for the two of them to follow her, causing Cahacu to wave goodbye.
“You can come back whenever you’d like,” the innkeeper reminded them. “I’m sure everyone here feels the same, too.”
Casrane offered a smile before leading the way out of the inn.
Their walk through the city was filled with the same kind of thanks and praises they’d been receiving for a while now. She hoped that, by the next time they visited, it would’ve stopped. As much as she was glad that they appreciated their three heroes, this constant attention wasn’t something she was used to.
When they got out of the city, she started a casual conversation—something to keep away the silence and allow them to break out of their restraints a bit more. When they got closer to the border between Anthalas and Kyirius, it abruptly ended. She was worried for a moment, before she remembered what was supposed to happen.
“They say that there’s a lot of ghosts in Kyirius,” Myr said after a minute. “Do you think we’re going to come across any?”
“It’s only part of the forest,” Llewel pointed out. “If we stay in the right areas, we should never come across them. The hard part is that we don’t really know where those areas are.”
“I wonder what kind of ghosts they are. Are they like the ghosts in the stories that Duuzlo would tell us that helped the explorers find the treasures they couldn’t?”
“I doubt it. I don’t think Kyirius would be considered dangerous if they were benevolent.”
“You don’t have to worry,” Casrane assured them. “They’re not going to be a problem as long as we stick together.”
Knowing that she wouldn’t lie to them, they both gave a smile. They might have continued the conversation from before, too, if it wasn’t for the fact that they triggered something else.
The leaves above them rustled, too big to be a kind of animal. Even though the twins stepped closer to each other, they saw Casrane’s expression and must’ve assumed it wasn’t anything dangerous.
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Someone a bit older than the three of them jumped down from the trees, pointing her sword between the three of them. “Alright, I know you know where they went! We can do things the easy way or the hard way, it’s completely up to you…”
Casrane, after giving it a bit of thought, casually said, “We don’t know where the ghouls are.”
“That’s exactly what they’d say to cover up their own tracks! Come on, spill it, or else I’ll—” She stopped when the full realization hit her. “Wait, how did you know what I was looking for?”
Llewel understood the situation and dared to speak up. “Those clothes and the hairpin. You’re a part of the group that’s been looking into all the ghosts—marking what places are dangerous or not, trying to make it safer for everyone.”
She slowly nodded and put her sword away. The look she gave them suggested that she wasn’t against pulling it out again, though, if she thought she needed it. “Name’s Vureta. I am one of the Ghost Hunters, but I’m just a scout—all I’m supposed to be doing is finding where the ghouls went for someone else to take care of.”
“It doesn’t really look like that’s what you were going to do,” Myr remarked casually. She glanced over all the other pouches and bags Vureta had.
“You know, I’m not going to answer that when I don’t know anything about you.” Vureta, like she remembered that they were still strangers, took a step back. “Who are you guys?”
“I’m Casrane and these two are Llewel and Myr.” When that didn’t seem to do much, Casrane added, “We came from Nafrius and we’re trying to get to Kehnore.”
“If it’s not serious, I don’t think you guys should go over there. Sounds like things are pretty bad. We might have ghosts here but that’s a bit more predictable than regular people.”
“We’re going there to hope that we’ll be able to stop all that fighting—to try to get rid of the runes.”
“Hate to break it to you, but that’s… impossible…” Vureta trailed off when she actually stopped to consider their appearances. “You’re the hero of Masylm and the Beithana twins. I—I’d heard the rumors, but I figured that’s all they were! No one was willing to believe there was anyone remaining of Emmyth’s descendants. And they’re standing right in front of me…”
“We’d appreciate it if you tried to keep them rumors,” Llewel mumbled. “I think you can guess why.”
Vureta nodded. “Yeah, I’ll try. You can all just be a couple of random people I found wandering on your own, if that’s what you want to be. But I… guess that, whoever you are, I can guide you to Kyirius City. I know this area like the back of my hand, there’s no way you’re going to get lost with me here.”
Casrane and Myr both offered kind smiles and followed her, but Llewel trailed behind a bit. When Casrane looked back at him, she recognized that expression immediately, though he said anything before she did.
“I know, I know, a little while ago I wouldn’t have thought twice about this. But…” He glanced past her to Vureta, who seemed to be oblivious of the whole thing.
“That’s called ‘common sense’ and it’s usually something you’re going to want to listen to.” Considering the situation, she continued, “Now isn’t one of those times, though. Shemle might’ve had other motives but Vureta’s fine. You know you can trust me, right?”
Finally, she was able to see him smile, too. “Thanks.”
“It’s just what friends are supposed to do. Don’t worry about it.” She gestured for him to walk beside her and he took up the offer. It took her a moment to realize that Myr had wandered from her previous position to be closer to Vureta.
“So is now a better time to ask why you were out here?” Myr prompted.
“I was going to go hunt one of the ghouls myself,” Vureta answered with a shrug. “Convince everyone back at the base that they don’t need to baby me, you know? I mean, come on! You all look younger than I am and I can’t even imagine all the stuff you’re going to need to do. They should be able to trust me with a ghost or two—they aren’t even all that dangerous when you know what you’re doing like I do.”
“How close were you?” Llewel asked. “To finding it, I mean?”
“It was pretty close by, according to other recent reports. It mainly just projects voices that lead travelers to it—a lot more dangerous than you might think it is. It can make these physical things, too. That’s what I was following before I lost track of it, and what I thought you were.” She let out a bit of nervous laughter. “As you can imagine, I wasn’t expecting any actual travelers around here. Sorry about that, by the way.”
Then there was a voice that made them all stop.
“Someone’s here to play? That’s great! You shouldn’t have kept me waiting for so long.”