Chapter 117: Cults

Red’s words hung in the air, Darius clearly understanding her meaning. His frown deepened as he looked between the scarlet-haired girl and Charon, before he reluctantly sighed, his hands falling to his sides. "Very well. As we have confirmation, I will trust your story, Charon. However, be warned, no more secrets. You two are new here, I understand, yet misunderstandings such as these breed conflict." Emerius exhaled, a new look in his eye when he faced his friend. It wasn’t hostile, but there was a promise deep within, the purpose of which was all too easy to figure out. ’He wants to talk more about this later.’ Liam, by comparison, grunted, his features falling as if he were disappointed he hadn’t had the opportunity to split something in two for far too long. "I’m glad yer back. Was gettin’ boring dealin’ with these stone-faced scholars. I need a proper people’s man to joke with!" Charon brushed off the... compliment? He was too focused on Annie’s reaction to care; her gaze locked on him as if unsure what would happen next. With quick movements, she took out a quill and a pad of paper, extending them towards Charon. "If you have a chance, please write down everything you saw. Achlys is not often mentioned, so publishing a work about her current location would bring me a lot of attention. I could even be hired as a librarian..." There was a mysticism with which she spoke about the position, as if it were a dream she had held for many years. Liam promptly burst that bubble by elbowing her in the side and grinning. "Hear that, guys? Princess wants to spend her days pushin’ papers! Bow down for her royal highness and her stacks of boring books!" She scoffed at his joke, while Darius and Red were too busy fighting in a staring contest to react. Although no words were spoken, Charon felt certain a conversation was playing out in their minds, the focus of which was clear. ’He is trying to see what else she knows about me and the Warden.’ Charon took the offered quill and paper with a nod. "I will do my best. The visions were fuzzy at times, so I can’t promise they will be entirely accurate, but whatever helps." It didn’t cost him anything to help her, and it allowed him to get his story straight in the eyes of everyone else, so he couldn’t find a reason to deny her request. ’It also puts me in her good graces.’ He bit back a smile as he envisioned how grateful she might be. ’Maybe when I give it to her, I can ask her to dinner?’ The thought turned his cheeks bright red, the idea of asking a girl out incredibly foreign to him. He had never done it; he had been too busy for something such as dating, but the Mistress had always kept the orphans educated on such matters. According to her, their best chance at getting married would be to marry someone low-born the traditional way, rather than relying on an arranged marriage. No one would set their daughter up with an orphan. ’I’m really busy right now, but Annie will be with me during that time. I might as well take the chance to try building a relationship.’ He did his best to ignore the massive warning sign of "How do you date someone who is technically dead?" Darius and Red finished their silent dialogue as he turned with a sigh. The others instinctually looked to him, Charon included, though he did it with caution. ’If he already suspects I am hiding more, I should do my best to keep my distance. At least for now.’ "Okay, now that Charon is back, I say we make haste out of here. Speaking of which, do we need to worry about the mist any longer?" He faced Charon, who shook his head. "No. After she gave me the crown, she promised us that she would not harm us." Darius nodded once. "Good. Then we can continue in the direction we were heading. If all goes well, we can leave the Dead Lands in another day or two. Annie, any more clues about where we are?" She frowned and pulled out a small booklet. It contained a series of charts and maps covered in small scribbles that appeared to be in her handwriting. "No. I thought I found a partial match, but it was on a map far too outdated to make sense. The only theory that fits the region is just the Dead Lands, but that can’t be the case. Those are far too South." Charon’s eyebrows raised as he raised his hand, as if expecting to be called upon, before lowering it and choosing to speak regardless. "I have an idea about that." Everyone turned to face him, a variety of expressions on their faces ranging from surprise to curiosity. "Speak." Darius’s tone was commanding, but he had regained an ounce of the friendliness Charon remembered. "When I was watching the visions, some of the survivors were told to flee North, to the ’Ridge’. I believe that is the same Rooks Ridge we crossed, which means we really are in the South." Darius rubbed his chin. "That would make sense with our location, yet it does not match our movements. The Fort was nowhere near the Dead Lands. Even if we were moving South, it would have taken us days to reach." Charon interjected excitedly, as if he had an idea that couldn’t wait to be shared. "Unless magic was involved!" His statement sat unchallenged for a moment as the others mulled it over, Emerius being the one to finally break the silence. "That is not impossible. The gods work in mysterious ways, and for a being associated with cults to be involved, nothing can be ruled out." A fire was lit behind Annie’s eyes as she eagerly placed her pack down and ripped it open. Paper, quills, and books went flying as she rapidly dug through them to the bottom, yanking a small text out with a triumphant squeal. Charon watched with rapt attention as her blonde hair bounced from the force of her jerking the book open to near the end, where she found the page she was searching for and stuck it out for everyone to read. "I knew I was forgetting something! Charon figured it out!" Liam looked over with amusement. "What’d he figure out, princess?" "The missing piece! I kept ignoring the fact that the Dead Lands are a magical land, not a mundane one! They were created by powerful Death magic, and so the laws here can be bent. Here, it’s all right here!" She tapped the page victoriously before launching into an explanation. "This book is usually useless as it’s outdated, but it documents cults in this region. One of them, The Cult of the Lost Son, was known to kidnap victims and bring them to the Dead Lands as sacrifices. They were thought to go extinct centuries ago, but this fits their record perfectly!" Darius took the book from her and read the page in record time, his eyebrows narrowing before rising to his forehead. He closed it with a thud as he considered the contents. "So you are formulating that this cult has returned to repeat their actions?" Annie practically bounced with joy. "Yes! They must have used a large teleportation spell, possibly with a space relic, to grab random groups of people from the area and bring them here so they can capture us! They have done that exact thing in the past; it’s one of the reasons the Dead Lands were so feared!" Charon suppressed a scoff. ’If she knew what I knew, she would know that a much larger reason was out there. Alastor outranks any cult I’ve ever heard of, and I’ve read of a lot!’ They were popular in the heroic tales. A classically evil villain group, dedicated to destroying the churches or the empire, was exactly the kind of foe a dashing hero would defeat. Emerius frowned as he stepped around Darius to face Annie himself. "This is invaluable information, yet it does not change our course. If they brought us here as offerings, then we need to leave as soon as possible. Any delay could cost us our lives." The others couldn’t help but agree. The steady sound of their footsteps soon echoed across town as they made their way to the gate.