Kitsune in the Shadows
Chapter 116 – No Choice but Forward

That night wasn’t particularly great for me. While I did manage to get something down in the end, I hardly tasted it… which was unfortunately only the precursor to a long, restless night.

Rya insisted on staying around while we ate dinner, though she mentioned that she didn’t need to eat, but she still found the social part enjoyable… even if in truth she was probably the only person who found that meal enjoyable in any way.

I had also still been trying to ask Ovia or Aria to tell me what was happening, to ask about where Rya wanted to take me, but there was no response, just leaving me clutching at the pendant as I lay silently in bed, left with only my own thoughts.

By the time morning eventually came around, I was already wide awake, staring up at the ceiling, counting the number of boards above my bed. Ava woke not long after sunlight started filtering in through the windows, while Cattleya was already waiting outside our door by the time we decided to head down to get some food.

Breakfast wasn’t much different to dinner from the night before, well, apart from the fact that Rya wasn’t there. Once we had finished eating, we went straight back up to our rooms in order to prepare for the day. Ava and I got dressed in the leathers we wore on the escort mission that first brought us to this town.

It was a bit of a strange feeling, which was only amplified when I placed my knives in their holsters at my side. Everything I was feeling when I first left Mom washed over me… but I didn’t have the time to give it any more thought than that. Instead, I took a quick note of what Umbra had hidden away in my shadow in case any of it might be needed in case of an emergency.

Cattleya, however… was back in the green dress and pirate coat from when we first met her…

“Really?” Ava questioned.

“What?” Cattleya responded immediately, looking just as confused.

Ava just decided not to press the issue any further, and we just made our way out of the inn. Standing outside was one of Elenia’s guards from the day before. Again, they didn’t say anything; instead, they just gestured for us to follow them, which we did.

They took us down to the docks once again, going straight to Elenia, who was looking much worse for wear. The only jewellery she still had on was a few of her rings, and the bags below her eyes were clearly much heavier. The sides of her hands were stained black from what I could only assume was an awful lot of writing.

“Is it just the three of you now?” She asked as if nothing had changed from the night before, “Where is Rya? She’s the only reason I’m even considering any of this right now.”

I don’t…

I looked down at my pendant, once again hoping that maybe I’d hear something. However, it seemed that wasn’t necessary as the same sparkling dust from the day before quietly appeared, followed shortly by Rya herself.

“Sorry I’m late to the party,” She said, “Since we were delaying this little excursion for a bit, I needed to take some time to tend to my usual duties… even if they can be quite drab.”

Elenia sighed, “Do you know what you’re doing?”

“Mhm, I explained it all yesterday. We walk in there, and I fix the problem. Nice and simple. |In and out, and it’s all over.”

…

“Where exactly are we going?” Ava asked, placing a hand on Rya’s shoulder, “I’m sure you can at least tell us that much.”

“Oh, of course!” Rya shouted as she slipped out of Ava’s grasp, “There’s a place a little way into the forest where the local mana is behaving a little… unusually. I’m just going there and sorting out whatever’s causing it. You three will just get to enjoy the show.”

“Not quite. It’s not going to just be those three with you,” Elenia looked back and waved her hand, “There will be one more person going with you.”

Someone started heading towards us from where Elenia was looking. I was initially worried that someone I didn’t know would be joining us, but thankfully, that wasn’t the case.

“Good morning to the three of you,” Tybalt said, lowering his head slightly, “I’ll be joining you today on the request of the Guild master. I do hope you’ll find my performance satisfactory.”

“Tybalt?” I questioned.

“I told you before, he started by hauling cargo for me. At the very least, he’ll be robust enough to act as a wall… even if he’s not quite as sturdy as his sister.”

“I’ll be doing my best today,” He said as he hoisted a war hammer onto his shoulder.

“Now, there’s just one more thing before I can send you off,” Elenia said as she turned and started sifting through a bag perched on one of the crates.

“There’s more?” Rya questioned as she tried to look into the bag by floating up just a little, “You really don’t need to do so much. I’m here after all.”

“I’m not saying I don’t trust you, but…” Elenia didn’t continue that sentence, instead pausing for a moment before turning around and presenting us with a few slips of paper that had unfamiliar symbols drawn on, “If anything happens to any of you, make sure you can see the sky and tear one of these talismans. People will come to you as soon as possible after that.”

Each of us took two talismans each, I kept one inside a pocket inside my cloak, while giving the other to Umbra for safekeeping. Which, Umbra gladly took and hid away, despite the way they had been acting recently.

“Thank you,” Ava said as she tucked her own talismans away.

“With that… I think that’s as much as I can do for you right now…” Elenia said, sounding a little downcast.

“Then let’s get moving!” Rya shouted as she made a show of walking away.

“Come back safe, all of you!” Elenia called out as we followed behind Rya.

“Mm,” I hummed, even if Elenia probably couldn’t hear me over the hustle and bustle in the area.

From there, we made our way through town and into the forest, with Tybalt making it so that we didn’t need to worry about the guards standing in front of the gates who were busy turning everyone away.

The walk itself… was surprisingly uneventful, and honestly not that different to all the other times we had come through this forest over the last week… although strangely, that feeling of being watched wasn’t there anymore.

Rya following along with us was also a big difference. She simply refused to leave my side, saying that she needed to be close in order to be as efficient as possible when using my mana or something like that. It didn’t make much sense to me. It did, however, make me wonder why she didn’t just tell us where to go and only appear then, but when I asked, she didn’t respond.

She also made me keep my hood down… as every time I pulled it back up, she slowly slid it back down so I wouldn’t notice until it was too late. It got to a point where Ava even asked Rya if she could take my place, but Rya just shrank herself down and hid in my tail until Ava gave up.

I didn’t know if it was intentional, but the whole song and dance almost made me completely forget about what was happening… almost… But before I knew it, there was a noticeable shift in the atmosphere.

The forest went silent. It was quiet before, but there was always something, the rustling of leaves, the whistle of the wind, but right in that moment… nothing. The trees themselves seemed to reach higher and higher into the sky with every step until the canopies seemed impossibly out of reach.

“It shouldn’t be too much longer now,” Rya said as she poked her head out from my tail.

“And what exactly does not too much longer entail?” Tybalt asked, his war hammer in hand as he surveyed the area in front of us.

“Right… now!” She jumped out of my tail, returning to her size from before and pointing out a small entrance to a cave.

There was something about that cave that made my hair stand on end, but I couldn’t quite put my finger on it. Unfortunately, that didn’t mean anything as Rya just walked straight for it.

“Ooh!” She exclaimed.

As the rest of us turned the corner, what came into view was… astonishing. The cave walls were lined with numerous trinkets of silver and gold, many of which were adorned with large gemstones, while others had a soft, otherworldly glow. The cave itself seemed to stretch on for an eternity, delving deep into the ground below.

“This is…” Ava mumbled.

“I’m taking you all back right now,” Tybalt said immediately, “It has just become all the more likely that we are in fact dealing with a dra-”

“No, no, it’s fine,” Rya said as she took the first step inside, “If it was really so dangerous, I doubt any of you’d still be standing up here.”

“Wait! I recognise those!” Cattleya suddenly screamed, lurching forward and picking up a silver ring from the floor, one that even I could recognise, “This is where the artefacts are! The whole time they were right here, just outside town.”

Tybalt took the liberty of inspecting the ring and confirmed that it was one of theirs beyond any doubt, even holding it up to a piece of paper to ensure it.

We were left at a standstill, with both Rya and Cattleya wanting to go deeper into the cave while Tybalt and Ava both wanted to leave instead… and I… wasn’t sure what to do.

…

On one hand, Rya, who had been sent by Ovia, was telling us that it was fine, that we should just go in and somehow fix whatever was going on… but I couldn’t say I was confident in that plan. If anything… I probably wanted to run away more than anyone there.

…

Unfortunately… I wasn’t going to be given a choice.

“Come on now, I’m already far behind schedule,” Rya said as she waltzed into the cave, “It’d be better for me if we just get it all over with as soon as possible so I can save my ears the scolding later.”

“Y-Yes!” Cattleya shouted ecstatically as she followed close behind.

“No!” Ava shouted as she chased after Cattleya, “Think this through!”

Tybalt and I weren’t really left with a choice but to try and keep up with them. It was probably better for all of us to be together, no matter what we decided to do.

Although… that might have been a big mistake.