Kitsune in the Shadows
Chapter 121 – Return to Haelmor

What happened after that was a bit of a blur. Many people came out from the bushes, each saying something about seeing our signal and that they had been looking for us for most of the day, but it was difficult to follow any more than that with just how much was happening all at once.

Not that I really needed to know what exactly they were saying, as after their brief introduction, they both swiftly and carefully picked us up… well, all of us except for Tybalt and Rya. Rya actually just seemed to be ignored by everyone. There was someone who offered to help Tybalt up, but they just wound up getting grunted at as Tybalt stood himself up. However, it was clear that Tybalt recognised who they were, which gave my mind some peace that nothing bad was happening… mostly.

Even though they were being carried, Cattleya still didn’t want to leave Ava’s side, so the two men with them on their backs ended up having to stay what I could only imagine was uncomfortably close to each other.

The person who ended up carrying me was admittedly quite nice, although that might have been because she was told something ahead of time, as she immediately jumped in when some other people began to swarm around us. She offered me some water from the flask on her hip… but I didn’t accept it despite how thirsty I was. I had had enough surprises for that day and wasn’t going to risk drinking something from someone I didn’t know. The others, however, didn’t seem to have the same issue as I did.

It surprisingly didn’t take all that long for us to reach the gates of Haelmor, especially compared to how long I felt we had been walking for, even before reaching that cave. Once we were past the gates, most of the people dispersed, with only those carrying us and a few others following us into town and on our way towards the Volpe Rossa guild.

Elenia was actually waiting outside the guild, her eyes quite literally lighting up as she laid eyes on us. She immediately told those helping to bring us into a room they had prepared in advance.

The room itself was fairly large, with plush sofas, beds and a whole buffet of food and drink already laid out… although… I had to admit my eyes were first drawn towards the concerning amount of medical supplies that were stockpiled in the corner.

The people carrying us set us down on the sofas before saying a short goodbye and leaving us with just Elenia in the room… Who immediately stared Tybalt down until he just got up and left the room, saying that he’d give his report later, which Elenia seemed happy with… even if he certainly wasn’t.

“Please, help yourselves,” Elenia said as she gestured to everything in the room, “Whatever you need, you can take. I’m just glad you were found as quickly as you were.”

“Found-?” I asked, once again getting caught out by how dry my throat was.

“Come on now,” She turned around, grabbed a cup filled with a pale yellow liquid and handed it to me, “It’s dandelion tea, made from only the flowers, so it should be a little sweet. I brewed it myself, so you don’t need to worry about it… Oh, and it wasn’t a bother at all, it’s actually a hobby of mine.”

She then took a cup for herself, drinking it in front of me as if to prove that it was safe… funny enough, the first thing that came to my mind at that moment was actually all the plants she had us gather for her. It all made just a tiny bit more sense why she wasn’t all that concerned about how they looked.

I took a small sip and was quite surprised by how nice it was, even cold… or maybe it was because it was cold? It wasn’t very sweet, but it was undeniably floral in a strangely pleasant way.

I glanced over at Ava and Cattleya to see how they were doing, but it seemed that Ava had her hands full, still trying to help her calm down.

What exactly did they see down there?

“Now, for your question…” Elenia looked a little guilty as she spoke, “I was a little worried about sending you all alone like that, so I sent a few people behind you just to make sure nothing happened. But they ended up losing you. So we had… a few parties on the lookout for your group.”

…

“… I’m sorry…” That was all I could say in response.

“Don’t say sorry for that. It’s what they were being paid to do; if anything, everyone here should be saying sorry for losing track of you in the first place.”

As if it was planned, someone then poked their head around the door, someone whose face was eerily familiar.

“Guild Master, all the parties have made it back safely,” The man said.

He was a rabbit beastkin, with familiar dark red hair and bright green eyes; although, unlike the image I had in my mind, they were full of life.

“Thank you, Luca. You can just turn in for the day. We’ll handle all the admin in the morning,” Elenia responded, “Tell everyone else the same for me.”

“That sounds great. I’m sure everyone would appreciate it,” Luca said before noticing me.

He just gave me a small wave without saying anything more before leaving, silently closing the door behind him.

“I’m sorry about that. Luca was the main person in charge of those with their feet on the ground these last two days. He was actually the first person to find the nest from our people, so he was very invested in seeing this all come to an end.”

That short explanation from Elenia was enough for me to… mostly put together what had happened in the tunnels… or at least who that monster was mimicking, even if I didn’t have the reason why.

“However, I imagine the question of whether everything is over is something I should be asking you instead. Rya?” Elenia asked.

All attention in the room was turned towards Rya, well, all except for Cattleya, who still hadn’t managed to fully calm down yet. On the way back, Rya had been distracted with something she had hidden in her sleeves, not even paying attention to the rest of us… and that had yet to change.

…

…

“Rya?” Elenia asked again.

“Hmm?” Rya finally looked up, “Oh! Yes, everything has been taken care of now.”

“And what exactly was it that has been taken care of?”

Rya stared at Elenia blankly for a moment before realising what she was actually asking for, “Ah, this young one was the one causing all the mischief.”

As she spoke, Rya finally revealed what she had been hiding inside her sleeves, a sleeping bird with black feathers over most of their body, but white feathers on their chest. By all accounts, there was nothing unusual about their appearance, yet as I laid eyes on them, my instincts were telling me that wasn’t quite all there was to them.

“A magpie?” Elenia questioned as she placed her forehead into the palm of her hand, “You’re trying to tell me that all those ships that ran aground, all of those people I’ve had combing through that forest, all of that was because of a single bird?”

“Oh no, not just any bird. They’re a Divine Beast… well, an anomaly of one anyway.”

Divine Beast? Like Umbra?

“They’re actually a fairly well-known issue, but well, they aren’t the easiest to track down, unfortunately. Even I didn’t know what I was walking into until Kierra here managed to stun them for a moment with that bright flash or whatever,” Rya explained, “I just took that opportunity to give them a bit of a… telling off in their dreams.”

“And why exactly were they stealing from my ships? Surely a divine beast has better things to do, let alone one that’s been called a ‘known issue’.”

“Well, as I said, they’re an anomaly. Their name is Fallere, the Divine Beast of Illusions, but… there is no Deity of Illusions to be responsible for them. By all accounts, they shouldn’t really exist at the moment, yet it’s hard to say that they don’t.”

The Divine Beast of Illusions…

I had a strange thought upon hearing that title.

If Umbra is also a Divine Beast… what are they the Divine Beast of?

Is it Darkness? Like Ovia? Rya just said that there should be a Deity responsible for them… but it just… doesn’t seem right for some reason.

“Okay,” Elenia let out a heavy sigh, “So what’s going to happen now?”

“You don’t need to worry about that at all,” Rya giggled to herself, “I’ve already come up with an utterly perfect plan.”

Right at that moment, the magpie finally started to wake up, its golden eyes fluttering open as it got onto its feet in Rya’s lap. They looked around the room briefly before suddenly locking eyes with me.

Without even having to think about it, I clutched at my pendant over my clothes, preparing for something to happen. I looked up at Rya, expecting her to say or do something, but she just smiled back at me.

Fallere then spread its wings before quickly flying towards me. Immediately, I tried to pull away, but was just too slow as the magpie landed on my shoulder.

“What is-?” My question was interrupted by the magpie moving just a little closer and pressing their tiny forehead against my cheek.

Instantly, a wave of heat washed over me, somehow waking me up completely despite my exhaustion. It filled every inch of my body, yet just as quickly as it appeared, it retreated, moving towards my lower back all at once.

What’s happening?!

I could no longer even find the strength to open my mouth, as if all the energy in my body had somehow just vanished, leaving me struggling even to stay sitting upright. Elenia’s eyes immediately widened, as if she had just seen a ghost.

Ava quickly reached over, placing her hand on my shoulder, clearly trying to use her magic based on the soft glow, yet it did nothing for me.

“J-Just get her to a bed,” Elenia said, a slight tremor in her voice, “I… Just get her to bed, it’s nothing bad. She just… needs to rest for a while.”

She was the one who ended up picking me up and gently laying me down on one of the many beds in the room, whispering something into my ear that I couldn’t quite make out. Not that it really mattered, as the moment my head touched that pillow, I simply couldn’t hold out any longer.

My eyes slowly closed, watching as everyone else slowly faded from vision.

…

The last thought that crossed my mind in that moment was simply that I wasn’t able to eat any of the food that had been set out for us.