The sun was shining brightly through the window when Lasswell woke. He blinked a few times as the light stung his eyes, and he rolled over to escape the unpleasant sensation. He had already buried his head under the pillow and started to drift off again before his mind caught on to how high the sun must have been for it to reach him. He immediately sat up and saw that he was alone in the room.
A frown crossed his face as he looked to see if there were any signs of struggle, and it only deepened when he noticed that Rain's things were gone as well. He could tell it was already mid-morning, so he should not have been asleep. Even if he had been up late.
He jumped up and rushed to prepare himself for the day and grab his things. It was no more than a quarter-hour later that he made his way down the stairs to see his companions were all gathered at one of the tables and chatting with the innkeeper. He tried to keep the frown off his face as he made his way over since he had been the one to sleep in. However, he could not keep the reprimand from his voice when he said, "Why did no one wake me? It is well past when we should have left."
Rain looked abashed at the sudden reprimand, but he was still grinning when he said, "Well, I did try to wake you, but after a few times, I thought you needed the sleep."
Lasswell could not contain his frown at that news, but he still sounded sincere when he said, "I apologize for the trouble."
Fina smiled brightly as she shook her head. "Don't worry about it. Perhaps you were feeling a little ill again." She then paused long enough to hold up a plate as she continued, "Here, this should make you feel better. Ciara made these for all of us as a thank you before she had to leave this morning. It might be cold by now, but I bet it is still good."
Lasswell was hesitant to take the pastry, but all eyes were on him, so he pulled the plate closer as he sat down. He wasn't sure why it bothered him to eat, but he knew part of it was likely guilt. He did not deserve thanks—anything but, actually. Still, it would have been rude to turn it down. Surprisingly, the savory meat pie was rather tasty, even if it was cold.
As soon as he started to eat, the others got back into their conversation. Although Lasswell had missed the first part, it was not difficult to deduce what they were talking about. Fina turned to the innkeeper and said, "I know you said you couldn't stop her but are you really sure it is okay for Ciara to be out alone? Aren't there monsters in the woods?"
The older man chuckled as he shook his head. "Nothing that she can't handle. Plus, she used most of the berries to make half those pies this morning. I couldn't have convinced her to not replace them if I wanted to."
Lasswell felt his guilt twist further at hearing the effort the woman was putting in on their behalf, but that quickly warped into an unexplainable fear when the innkeeper continued, "Though, I suppose I understand your worry. I can't say I don't feel it too. She was looking a mite peaky this morning. Still, she's been stubborn like that since we first found her."
By that time, Lasswell had finished his breakfast. He was already concerned for the woman that had unwittingly been pulled into his drama, and hearing about her did not help. All things considered, he felt it would be best to leave and forget about it all. She should be better with rest, and he would not be around in case whatever that had been should happen again. At least he was aware of how it felt and should be able to prevent it from happening again in the future. Especially since he planned to look into what it might have been at the earliest opportunity. This problem could become large enough to hinder them if he did not.
The innkeeper had stood and started clearing the dishes as soon as he noticed Lasswell was finished. He gave them all a smile as he said, "Thank you for your patronage. If you are ever in the area again, feel free to stop." He then paused and looked down nervously before he looked back up and added, "I know you lot are busy, but if you are headed down the south road, would you mind checking on Ciara? She should be picking berries near the road. She's stronger than she looks, but I'm worried after last night."
Rain was quick to answer with a grin. "We'd be happy to. It's not out of our way at all."
The innkeeper gave them a grin before he thanked them again and headed into the back with the dirty dishes. Lasswell was not pleased with the delay but could not bring himself to argue. The girl would not have been under the weather if not for him. How could he even consider turning down the request? Thankfully, everyone else was ready to leave, so they were on the road with no further delays.
There was quiet chatter between the two women as they walked that Rain would get involved with occasionally, but Lasswell barely heard any of it. He was too focused on the woods around them. He tried to tell himself that it was to keep an eye out for danger headed in their direction, but he knew that was not the only reason. He had a bad feeling that would not go away, and his eyes kept looking for a glimpse of pale skin or midnight hair.
They had been on the road for a little more than half an hour when everyone froze at the sound of a scream. Rain already had his blade out as he turned to Lasswell with determination. "That sounded like someone is in trouble."
Fina pointed to the left of the road as she added. "It sounded like it came from that direction."
Lasswell frowned as he nodded, and they all headed through the woods. The scream had sounded less like a cry for help and more like a battle cry. Still, it had undoubtedly been a feminine voice. His blade was drawn as well when they burst into a clearing not far from the road. Though they all froze at what they saw.
It had been Ciara, and she did seem to be in trouble, but none of them knew quite what to think or how to jump in. She was surrounded by a pack of wolves and bleeding heavily from a gash on one arm, but that did not seem to be hindering her movement. She had both arms out in front of her. They only noticed the wolves suspended in the air in front of her when she slammed her palms together, and the two animals smashed into one another before they fell senselessly.
Lasswell moved without thought when another of the wolves rushed toward the woman. However, before he could reach her side, she had ducked as the animal sailed over her. One of her fists punched toward where the animal was still in midair above her. Although there was well over a foot between her fist and the beast, it was sent flying.
By that time, the four travelers had managed to get inside the ring of wolves with her. Whether it was their presence or the wolves' losses, the pack backed away. Though they did not leave. The remaining wolves were snapping and snarling, and everyone could tell it was only a matter of time before they struck again. However, they were all shocked when Ciara turned to them with wide eyes and breathlessly said, "Stay as near to me as you can. I don't want you caught up in this!"
Rain and Lasswell shared a confused look, but Fina had already gone to the woman's side to see if she cast a healing spell. Lid was not far behind. By the time Lasswell and Rain reached her side, the woman had disregarded Fina's help with an apologetic smile. "That can wait. I need to stop them before they attack again."
She didn't wait for anyone else to say anything before she turned out toward the circling wolves and clasped her hands in front of her. Her body glowed slightly as the wind around them began to stir. Lasswell suddenly understood her plea for them to stay close when a whirlwind arose around them. It was difficult to see precisely what was happening with the dirt and debris filling the air, but the howls and grunts of the wolves seemed to be going farther into the air.
Though the wind around them was the epitome of danger, the spot where they all stood was calm. Even the sun was shining brightly above them. It was only a few seconds later that the wind suddenly disbursed, and everything fell back to earth—the dirt, grasses, and twigs, as well as the remaining wolves. When they landed, none of them moved again.
As soon as the wind was gone, Ciara slumped. Thankfully, Rain was close enough to catch her before she fell. Fina was quick to step in and start healing her now that the emergency was over. Unfortunately, Lasswell had to distance himself. Now that there was nothing else to distract him, the scent from the night before came back even more potent. It did not take much for him to deduce that it was because the woman was bleeding. He couldn't understand it, but he also could not allow such a horrible thing to happen again. He was standing at the edge of the clearing when they were finally done, and Lid was helping Fina support Ciara.
The woman gave them all an apologetic look as she said, "I hate that I have caused you all trouble again. Please accept my apologies."
Lid grinned at her as she said, "It wasn't any trouble for us. We didn't even have to do anything. Looks like you handled it pretty well."
Instead of accepting it, Ciara looked at Fina and said, "I appreciate the healing. I should be fine now."
She then looked at Rain as she tried to extricate herself from the two women and said, "Honestly, I was overconfident. I guess Mr. Holland was right. I'm still feeling a bit under the weather this morning, and I shouldn't have strayed so far from the berry patch. If you don't mind walking back to the road with me, I should be fine to return. I would hate to bother you further."
She had stumbled a little when Fina let her go, so Lid was quick to grab her arm again to keep her from falling. She shook her head as she smiled and said, "Don't worry about it. We already got a late start, thanks to Lasswell. A few minutes to take you back to town isn't going to be a problem."
Rain grinned as he nodded, "She's right. There's no way we would let you go alone after seeing all that." He then paused and looked around until he noticed Lasswell on the other side of the clearing. He gave him a confused look as he asked, "What are you doing way over there?"
Lasswell was torn and didn't answer right away. Yes, taking the woman back would be the right thing to do. He could not even fault Lid for her gentle prodding, as it had been his fault they were running late. However, he did not want to be near the woman longer than necessary. Despite his guilt, there was part of his mind that was afraid that if he spent much more time around her, then he would become the monster he was in his nightmares.
He was so absorbed that he hadn't noticed Rain walk over. His long-time friend gave him a worried look as he lowered his voice to whisper, "What's wrong? You look pale. Was Fina right—are you sick again? You know, even though we are in a hurry, it wouldn't hurt to spend one more day here. It would be worse if we got into the middle of nowhere, and you couldn't go on. We've both experienced that once already. No point in pushing out luck."
Lasswell shook off his troubled thoughts as he frowned and answered, "There is no need for you to worry about my wellbeing, as I am not ill. However, we have no time to waste. I agree that we should escort Miss. Ciara back to Kolts, but we should not linger."
Rain didn't look convinced, but Lasswell had already stepped around as he called out. "Do you need assistance walking?"
Fina and Lid were both on each side of Ciara, so the former waved with a smile and said, "We've got this. You two keep an eye out in case any of those wolves decide to come back for another try." Lasswell was still uneasy, but he put it aside for now as he took rear-guard and the group headed back to the village.
Before they exited the clearing, Ciara stopped and picked up a basket that had been dropped. She gave the berries that had fallen and been squashed a rueful look but didn't tarry. Thankfully, the trip back was uneventful and quick.
The innkeeper gave them all shocked looks when they walked back in that turned to a horrified expression when he caught sight of Ciara and the blood on her blouse. He was quick to give them instructions on where to take the woman and told them he would send his wife right up. Ciara tried to reassure him, but he ignored it, and Fina was happy to escort her upstairs with Lid's help.
Once the women were gone, the innkeeper turned back to the two men and said, "You have my thanks once again. I know it may seem strange since we've barely known the girl for a couple of months, but she has a way of making a person want to take care of her. Plus, my wife would kill me if anything happened to her. She says it like we finally have a daughter."
Rain was already smiling as he waved off the thanks and said, "It was no problem. Honestly, by the time we got there, she had things handled. Fina helped heal her, but we didn't do much."
The man seemed to relax a little as he said, "Yeah, she does seem to be able to take care of herself. That's something, at least."
Despite his anxiety to be on the road quickly, something about the whole situation bothered Lasswell. His brow was furrowed when he said, "Yes, she seemed quite powerful. Not many people could face such a large group of fiends and walk away with nothing more than a few scratches."
Rain put his hand on his chin as though he was thinking about Lasswell's point. He nodded slowly as he said, "Lasswell's right. Surely, there is some reason behind it." He then paused and looked at the innkeeper as he continued, "You said she can't remember who she is, but do you have any clues where she might have been from? How did you find her?"
The innkeeper sighed as he pointed to one of the tables and said, "We might as well have a seat. I'll try to explain, but it's nothing but a bunch of mysteries. At least to us. Maybe you've seen enough of the world to know something."
Lasswell and Rain shared another look, but it only lasted a moment before they joined the innkeeper. Once they were all seated, the older man sat back with a sigh and crossed his arms over his chest as he said, "The day we found Ciara was a strange one right from the beginning. It was barely dawn when a light brightened the sky north of here. Some of us thought the old airship yard might have suffered from some explosions, so a few of us gathered to go see what was going on."
"We hadn't been gone for more than a few hours when we saw smoke curling up from the woods. It wasn't the factory, but we still needed to find out what it was. When we got to the site, we found Ciara. She was unconscious and curled up in the bottom of a crater."
The old man paused and blushed as though he was trying to compose himself to finish. "Well, she looked uninjured, but there were pieces of crystal all over the place. We gathered them up, and I put my cloak over her so we could bring her back. She woke a couple of days later and has been here since. Her lack of memories just makes the whole thing stranger."
Lasswell looked over at Rain with a furrow between his brows. His unease was not helped by his partner's frown. "There is no way this could be a coincidence."
Rain nodded as he said, "You're right, but the question now is what connection she has to the Veritas, if any, or if she could be someone like Fina."
Lasswell had already thought of both of those possibilities. However, the man across from them sat forward with interest as he said, "So the two of you know something?"
Rain shrugged, and Lasswell answered, "Perhaps, but we would need to investigate. You said you gathered the crystal shards, correct?"
The old man nodded as he said, "Sure. I kept most of them myself in the hope that they would eventually help the girl figure something out. They're in my office."
Lasswell got to his feet as he said, "Would you mind showing us?"
The innkeeper stood with a shrug as he said, "I don't see why not. As much as I like having the girl here, it would be best if we could figure out where she came from. Maybe you fellows can help her get back home." Both Lasswell and Rain thanked the man as they followed him into the back to investigate the first part of this growing mystery.
A/N: So we get to see a bit more of our mystery woman and she only becomes more mysterious lol. It really seems like Lasswell is going to be out of luck. How will he handle it if the others insist the woman should come with them? Anyway, I hope you have enjoyed this so far. Thanks for reading and cheers!