Chapter 21- Wisps of truth
"She is failing me,"
Dillon flinched at the words. He'd suspected the goddess would only call him if things were going either very good, or very bad. Unluckily for him, it was the latter. He shunned his concerns away, hiding them behind his cocky smirk.
"I'm sure she has everything under control, milady," Dillon ran one of his slender hands through his hair, fixing those attempting to escape his hairdo. In his mind, Dillon was already pulling strings, searching for the right words and actions that would allow the goddess to forgive his friend.
"Does she now, Dillon?" The goddess didn't open her eyes, but the black haired man could still feel the glare beneath her eyelids. "It appears to me that she is distracted. She hasn't made an appearance in the story. And our heroes grow restless, already searching for a way out."
"Ah," Dillon open and shut his mouth. Anything he said. . . Anything could be too much. If the goddess knew what he'd done to spice things up. . . he shuddered to think of the consequences. With one flick of her wrist, she could erase him from the story. "Believe me, My lady, She's just playing them. Soon she'll attack, and they'll be trapped here long enough to belong to you."
"I wouldn't have it any other way, Dillon." The goddess replied, bowing her head, a signal for Dillon to leave.
Bowing with a bit of reluctance, Dillon stepped out of the candle lit cave.
Kai ran out of the building, heading back out towards the forest. Now that he was alone, the empty houses seemed to be more eerie than before. The ninja of fire could've sworn someone was watching his every move. A small hint of worry began to grow in the back of his mind. Maybe he shouldn't have left the others alone. Sure, the girl, Laurie?, had seemed like she could take care of herself, but it was something entirely different to take care of someone who was wounded too.
They'll be fine. They're safe. There wasn't really anything to worry about, was there? They were at an Inn, resting, with no potential threat nearby. If anything, Kai should be worried about himself. He was the one wondering out to-
The red ninja froze. Wondering out to where exactly? He didn't know where the black castle was. Heck, he didn't know where anything was. Kai looked around. He could still see the lights of the village, as he hadn't made it more than a couple of steps into the forest before realizing his mistakes. Hypothetically, he could go back. Ask where the castle was. Kai probably should. But then Laurie would be there, and she'd smirk with satisfaction, pointing out that he shouldn't have left in the first place.
Heat flushed Kai's cheeks at the very thought of it. No, he wouldn't go back. He could find the castle on his own.
Laurie paced back and forth the length of the room. She did and undid her ponytail frantically, feeling the need to do something with her hands. Kai shouldn't have gone out there. He didn't know this place well enough to find his way around. Laurie did. The choice of who went and who stayed should have been obvious.
But no, the hot-head had wanted to be a hero.
Part of Laurie couldn't blame him. She couldn't say she was perfectly level-headed. But the other side of her wanted to smack some sense into the boy.
Jay groaned, and Laurie stiffened, momentarily startled. The red-head turned towards Jay, stepping closer to the bed. The blue ninja's eyes opened, but Laurie could see him struggling to keep them that way. "Are we. . . out yet?"
"Nope. Still at the Inn. Your friend just left to try to find something that might help us." Laurie sighed, allowing herself to sit by the edge of the bed. "He might be a while,"
"Wondered off without asking for directions?" Jay guessed, trying to chuckle but whimpering instead. He was glad Nya wasn't here to see him like this.
"Yup,"
"Sounds like Kai alright," Jay closed his eyes, enjoying the darkness behind his eyelids. "So, we just wait?"
"Well. . . Yeah," Laurie nodded, looking around the room. There was a faint orange glow emerging from the small window. Was it sunrise already? "We can't move you. It's the only choice we have."
"No no," Jay muttered. "I've got this. I can totally stand"
After a few minutes of awkward struggling, Jay could still barely manage to sit up. He let himself crumple back against the bed, defeated. "Okay well, never mind that. Staying sounds good. The outside is dangerous anyway."
Laurie shook her head, a small smile lighting up her features. It was getting hotter. She wiped away a bead of sweat from her forehead, still staring towards the small window. The orange glow was growing, and yet, Laurie could still see the dark sky in the background. That wasn't the sun.
She stood, tentatively walking towards the window. The closer she got, the easier it was to spot the strange figures in the shadows. They seemed to be human, most likely the villagers, but just like the Inn keeper something seemed a little. . .off. Each of them held a torch, fire illuminating their pale, non-expressive features. None of them were moving.
"Jay, Jay I think you're going to have to stand." The moment the words were out of her mouth, every villager looked up, their piercing dark eyes locking against Laurie's. The leader, or at least the one standing nearest the front, reached out with his torch. It didn't take much to set the creaky Inn on fire. "We have to go now."
Ten minutes later, Kai still hadn't seen anything that might be a castle.
At this point, he couldn't even see the village. Once again he wondered about the safety of Jay and Laurie. Maybe he should go back. Not to admit that he didn't know the way, but to check on their well-being. After all, the very thought of the village was enough to send chills through his body.
He couldn't quite point out what was wrong with it. Sure, it had been eerily empty, but they'd arrived at a late hour. Most people would have gone off to bed by then. Nothing unusual about that.
But the Inn keeper. Kai would be lying to himself if he said the man had acted normal. He'd seemed empty, almost nothing more than a puppet. A decoy.
A trap.
Kai froze.
Footsteps were coming towards him. Not running. It was slow, almost reluctant. Kai backed up, then spun around trying to find a path that would lead him back to the village. The footsteps were closer. Kai was sure whoever , or whatever, was there knew about Kai's presence. And yet the steps didn't speed up.
It was almost as if they knew Kai had nowhere to go.
"She's not happy with you,"
Dillon paced back and forth in front of a mirror. Yet the reflection before him was not of himself. Someone else stared back.
"She says you haven't been doing your job."
"Why did she call you and not me then?" The reflection replied, a bit of anger in her tone. "If she has any problem with me, she can tell me herself."
Dillon smirked, shaking his head. "You should really learn to hold your tongue. No matter what happens, she's still stronger than both of us combined. We have to play by her rules. You know who you are. You know what your job is. Then do it. I can't keep her anger from hitting you full force for too long. She grows restless."
"I'll have you know I have everything under control. I've just been. . . ," Dillon raised an eyebrow, ". . . Somewhat distracted. But believe me, they won't get far. They'll be trapped and useless before sunrise."
"You'd better hope so," Dillon replied. "Now, if you'd excuse me, I've got to get back to my own story."