Ophilia's leg hadn't stopped bouncing from sheer anxiety since the rest of the travelers had left her and Tressa alone in their shared room. Everyone had scattered to the wind to take care of every other important thing they needed to have done before they left Quarrycrest in two days, and Ophilia had opted to stay with Tressa and make sure she was feeling alright. Tressa still struggled to do much of anything without getting dizzy as she thought of everything they had witnessed that day, and Ophilia simply didn't feel comfortable leaving her alone for any longer than she had to. It wasn't as if she had much else to do, so why not just stay with her merchant companion?

It ran a little bit deeper than that though, and Ophilia knew it. There was so much racing through her head, and it felt like she had been a constant tempest of howls ever since she concluded with the rest of the group that they were staying in Quarrycrest for an extra day. It made sense for them to stay behind for a while longer given all they had witnessed, but Ophilia still couldn't shake the nerves. She hadn't even been able to sit still, hence why her leg was currently bouncing like thunder striking the earth.

Tressa was staring up at the ceiling, a worried expression painted in her eyes. "Are you sure that you're okay?" Tressa asked into the silence. She didn't glance over to Ophilia, already knowing that she had the cleric's attention. "You've been so antsy ever since everyone else left."

Ophilia swallowed dryly at that, desperately trying to come up with a response that wouldn't bring her friend more worry than it was worth. "Oh, um... I'm fine," she replied with a smile that felt so false it was like a stab to the stomach. Of course she was lying. She wouldn't be able to hide that forever, and she knew it.

Tressa frowned at that, already having seen through the lie for what it was. She looked over at Ophilia at last, and the two locked eyes for a few uneasy moments before Tressa went right back to staring at the ceiling again. "You're thinking about Morlock."

Ophilia bit her lip. She had expected to hear that, but she had been hoping that she would be able to keep up the lie at least a little bit longer. She didn't want to worry Tressa more than was absolutely necessary, especially given how awful her friend was already feeling. "I... Um..." At the same time though, was there really a point in hiding it at all? Of course she was thinking about Morlock. How could she not be? The group was staying in his territory for a little while longer, and that would give him all the time he needed to potentially find them. Ophilia knew that he wouldn't recognize her since the two had never even met directly, but she didn't want to think about what might happen if the two crossed paths.

Tressa sighed as she eased herself into a seated position, leaning against the wall behind her along the way. "I talked to Cyrus about it earlier," she told Ophilia. "He thought we were going to have to fight against Morlock sooner or later. As long as he's treating the people of this town so poorly... It feels like it's just inevitable. He's done so much and hasn't cared at all for the people under his rule. How can we just walk away from all of this?"

Ophilia hesitated at that, and as much as she wanted to agree openly, she had no idea what she was meant to say about it. She sighed, forcing her foot to fall still as she pulled her legs up to her chest. "I don't know how to feel about it," she admitted. "I don't want to get revenge against him. That might be the path others would choose, but it's not the one I want. I wish I could just leave all of this behind me, but... He's hurting more people, and that's not something I can just sit back and watch. I want to do something to fix this, but..."

"You don't know where to start," Tressa finished for her, and Ophilia nodded. "I wish there was something I could say to make this easier, but... I really don't know what even can be said. He's done so many horrible things, and what we saw beneath the town... All of that experimentation was in part because of him. He neglected his people and decided he cared more about profits and what they might be able to offer him in comparison to their lives. How can we just sit back and not do anything about that? We have to try and stop him if he's really doing so much to harm others."

Ophilia nodded. "But... I'm afraid of it," she admitted. "I know that I'm stronger than he is. He's not a trained fighter, and I've known that from the outset. At the same time though... I don't know. What if this looks like revenge to the rest of the world? I feel like that's what they're going to think of this."

"Who cares what other people think?" Tressa asked, and Ophilia's eyes went wide. "You know this isn't some revenge trip. This is for the sake of helping all the people he's tossed to the side because he doesn't care enough to help them. Those are two different things, and you know it. Who cares if other people don't understand that? As long as you're able to get rid of Morlock, they won't mind."

Ophilia fumbled for the words she needed to respond to that, but Tressa was quick to fill the silence instead. "The rest of us are the only ones who know there's a link between the two of you at all. Nobody here in Quarrycrest knows a thing about you or what it is that you could be trying to accomplish while you're in the city. We know that you're not out for his blood for the sake of revenge. You just want to help people. You don't have enough faith in us to know you, Ophilia. Our relationships didn't change just because you learned what he had done to your home."

Ophilia looked down at the ground for a long while, and she nodded once she was finally able to muster the energy she needed to move again. "I... Thank you, Tressa," she said softly. "You're right. Nothing did change when I told you the truth, but... I'm still afraid."

"Of having to face him?" Tressa echoed, her expression distorting with confusion.

"I don't know," Ophilia admitted. "Just... Of everything to do with him. It all feels like too much, and I have no idea what I'm supposed to do about it. I refuse to simply watch as he allows so many people to walk towards their doom, but... I don't know what I'm going to do when I face him. I don't want to become a person that I wouldn't be able to recognize before I began this journey."

Tressa paused for a moment, clearly trying to find a way to word her next handful of thoughts, before she shrugged. "Maybe it's just me, but... I already don't recognize you from when you started the Kindling," she admitted. "I wasn't around when you first set off from Flamesgrace, but you've grown up a lot since then. All of us have. I think it's all been for the better though. We're not the same as we once were, but maybe that's a good thing. I know I don't want to ever go back to my old naivete about the world now that I've learned a bit more about what things are like outside of sleepy little Rippletide."

Ophilia nodded at that. "I guess you're right," she murmured. "It's much easier to see change as it happens from the outside. In my eyes... I suppose I'm just the same person that I always was."

"But I know better than that," Tressa insisted. "And it's because I know better than you realize that I can tell you that people won't assume that you're just trying to kill Morlock for the sake of revenge. Even if you were, I don't think anyone would fault you for wanting to lunge for a man who wiped out an entire village and waged war in the name of his own greed."

"You're right," Ophilia agreed. She pulled her shoulders back in the greatest show of pride she had allowed herself since the rest of the group had left. "I'm not entirely sure what I'm going to do when I have to face him, but hesitating now isn't going to help us at all. There are people here who need our help, and I can't just sit back and not do anything to fix that."

"Exactly!" Tressa exclaimed with a bright grin. "We're going to figure everything out as soon as we can. Tomorrow, we can start looking around to see if we can learn anything more about what exactly Morlock is up to. I'm sure that we'll be able to find at least a few people who are unsatisfied with his rule that we could side with to start a revolution of some kind."

Ophilia let out a shaky breath at that, adrenaline already starting to kick in at the mere idea. "I suppose we're really doing this then," she murmured. "We're going to do all we can to push back against him and start a fight for the sake of helping everyone he's hurt."

"We're not starting any fight," Tressa corrected her. "He was the one who decided to cause all of these issues and bring pain to so many people. That's not on us. We saw what his negligence was doing when we were in the sewers earlier, and we're going to make sure he pays for it after all he's done to ignore his subjects. He might only care about his profits instead of human life, but we're going to show him just how wrong he's been. All we need is a plan, and after that, we're going to change as much as we can."

Ophilia nodded once more, but Tressa wasn't finished talking. "Though I don't think we're going to be able to pull anything off as long as we're so strapped for funds, huh?" she murmured. "Even if we have more than enough to sustain ourselves, I think we're going to need a little bit more to make all of this work out. Starting a revolution isn't exactly a simple business."

"Then what are we going to do about that?" Ophilia questioned. She was far from being experienced in the matters of money management, and that was one of many reasons she was glad to have Tressa on her side. Back in Flamesgrace, the church had paid for much of her daily life on behalf of her working in the church to further the messages of the Sacred Flame. She hadn't really been on her own so completely until after setting out for this journey, and it was still a learning process.

"Oh, I wouldn't worry too much about it," Tressa grinned as she reached into her bag and pulled out the small journal she had acquired from Leon's ship. "I've been flicking through the old pages of this thing whenever I've had the time, and as it turns out, the previous owner passed through Quarrycrest. He said that there were a few precious stones to be found, and as far as I can tell, they're going to be our ticket to a revolution. The miners who are trying to get the stones for Morlock may not be able to pay, but there's a pretty wide class divide here."

"In other words, you mean to sell some of the stones to the richer people of the town to try and fund our next few steps," Ophilia concluded, and Tressa nodded her affirmation. "I'm impressed, Tressa. You've certainly thought all of this through."

"I do my best," Tressa beamed. She swung her legs off the side of her bed before reaching into her bag and pulling out a small notebook. She began to write a few seconds later, her pen scrawling much faster than Ophilia would have even thought possible. "I'll talk with the others to figure out some of the logistics. Trust me when I say that Quarrycrest's current ruler is going to be out of the equation by the time the sun goes down tomorrow if all goes according to plan."

Ophilia smiled at Tressa's words, allowing silent relief to start rushing through her body. Anxiety still nipped at the inside of her heart, and she feared that this wouldn't be as simple of an operation as Tressa was making it sound. Still, she wanted to hope that all would go as they were planning, and she wasn't going to falter when they were on the precipice of something so important.

Failure wasn't an option anymore. In the name of everyone who Morlock continued to disregard and cast aside, the travelers had to find a way to win this.

Linde pounced at a small creature that dared to move out of its place in the limited bushes of the Cliftlands, and Cyrus winced at the sound of the monster's neck snapping under Linde's iron jaws. He and H'aanit had been away from the heart of Quarrycrest for about an hour now, and while Cyrus would have expected to be used to the gore by this point, he couldn't seem to stomach it. Even though Linde wasn't even looking at him as she dove in to indulge in her meal, Cyrus felt sick to his stomach, and he looked away with a wince all too clear on his features.

Cyurs hadn't been able to take everything that had happened earlier in the day off his mind. It was to be expected given the circumstances, but it was a bit of a problem given where he and H'aanit currently were. The sounds of Linde's hunt only seemed to remind Cyrus of the way the bones had creaked and given way in the sewers, and no matter how hard he tried, Cyrus couldn't tear away the images of necromancy from his mind. Everything seemed to be an invitation and a dare to think about it, and keeping his anxieties quiet was starting to give him a headache no medication would be able to cure.

"Cyrus, thou art struggling," H'aanit said simply, not missing a beat in pointing out his current strife. It wasn't a question either, instead simply being a statement of fact. She knew that he was having a difficult time after everything that had happened that day, and as such, she saw no purpose in dancing around it.

"I suppose I am," Cyrus confessed, not bothering to mount a defense since he knew it would ultimately crumble in a matter of seconds even if he tried. "I haven't been able to stop thinking about everything we saw in the sewers. We have a lead that could take us back to the mastermind of this ordeal, but..."

"That doth little to erasen the images that have already implanted themselves in thy head," H'aanit finished for him. Cyrus nodded, and H'aanit glanced up to where Linde was licking her paws clean and stretching out, her tail flicking behind her all the while. "I understanden. The brutality of man truly is something to be feared... The worst among us discoveren new methods of cruelty with each passing day, it seemeth."

"Necromancy is certainly one of the worst methods one could use to harm others..." Cyrus remarked. "I've been aware of this breed of fell magic for quite some time, but I haven't ever seen anyone use it. The mere idea is preposterous. Most would never even dream of using such a dark type of magic against others for the sake of their own gain."

"And yet, we hath seen what greed can bringen to the lives of others... It bringeth misery," H'aanit said softly. She reached down and pet at Linde's head when the leopard curled around her legs. She paused for a few moments before glancing back to Cyrus, her expression hardened. "It goeth against the very foundations of life... The cycle of life and death is precious to all beings that yet drawen breath, and this curseth all those who continuen to liven on arounde us."

Cyrus nodded his agreement. "It's absolutely disgusting... And that is precisely why we must find a solution for it as soon as possible," he declared firmly. "There must be some inkling of the truth to be found within Stonegard... That seems to be where the abridged copy of the tome came from, and returning there seems as if it will be our best chance to unravel the truth once and for all."

H'aanit nodded as well, and she shifted her hand to scratch gently behind Linde's ears. "May we bringen an end to this curse againste the living," she murmured. "Disturbing the path of life and death bringeth with it a great tragedy that all others must correct. Art thou read for the darkness this might bringen us?"

"Of course," Cyrus assured her without missing a beat. "If it will do something to help those who have suffered under Gideon's work as well as the work of the one who commissioned his actions to begin with, then it will be worth it. As soon as the chance presents itself, we can adjourn to Stonegard and investigate as much as possible."

H'aanit hummed her agreement for a few moments before she turned to glance over her shoulder, almost as if she was searching for something. Her gaze found nothing though, and she frowned in dissatisfaction before returning to offering her hunting companion all the attention in the world. "As of now, it seemeth as if the ones behinde the experimentation can only resurrecten the dead as bones," she remarked. "I fearen thinking of what those fiends may attempt next... If the necromancers can make the bones risen and fighten at their command, then what will the next step be?"

There was something Cyrus didn't want to think about, and he shook his head as he tried not to imagine what the world might look like if the dead could return. Life was a precious thing that needed to be protected and preserved, and as sweet as the return of the fallen souls of the world may have sounded, it would have come at a price. That was something Cyrus could say with certainty. Nothing was ever truly free, and returning the dead to the land of the living was hardly an exception.

"I pray we never need to find out," Cyrus whispered, though he already knew that was what they would be finding when they arrived to Stonegard. It would still be a few days before the party could travel there on account of them agreeing to stay in Quarrycrest for an extra day before setting out for Victors Hollow, but Cyrus knew they had to set out for the Highlands town sooner rather than later. If the mastermind behind Gideon's actions realized that he had been killed before his work could be completed, they were likely to take up the mantle themselves. Cyrus couldn't allow that to happen, especially after all he had seen previously.

Linde pounced forward when she saw something else move in the shadows of the minimal grass of the Cliftlands. Cyrus winced as Linde defeat her target before starting to eat, and H'aanit simply watched her companion with detached eyes, clearly thinking through the rituals she would need to take once the hunt had drawn to a conclusion. Even though she was a huntress, H'aanit valued life more than most others, and Cyrus certainly appreciated her gratitude for the power of survival. It was refreshing, and beyond that, her passion was powerful.

If only everyone else felt the same way about the importance of life. If they did, perhaps none of this would have happened.

Olberic ran into few issues as he glided through the merchant district of Quarrycrest. The town had more shops than he had been expecting, and he couldn't help his surprise at seeing so many stores bunched together in such a small area. Quarrycrest was a place of great economic gaps with the wealthy ruling over the town and the poor doing all they could to serve those on top. Anyone who looked at the city for too long could see the issues, and the problems felt glaring as could be as Olberic pulled together the last few supplies the group was going to need for their journey to Victors Hollow.

Olberic was still much more anxious about their next destination than he was willing to admit. He knew he was going to have to face the truth of his past-the truth Erhardt had left behind-sooner rather than later, but he still didn't know what he was going to do when he arrived in Victors Hollow. For all he knew, the lead Gaston had offered him could have dried up and vanished ages ago while the party was concentrating on each passing destination on the way to the city. The mere idea filled Olberic with fear, but he did his best to shove it aside. Still, that was much easier said than done. He didn't want to go all that way only to find that the person he had been hoping to speak with was already long gone. What would the point of this entire journey be if he had tried to find the truth behind Erhardt only to fall so completely short when the truth should have been in his reach?

Olberic refused to admit it openly, but he was relieved the party had decided to stay in Quarrycrest for an extra day. They would still be there the day of the tournament, and while Olberic doubted it was going to be at all helpful in his search for information, he was excited to see what he could find there. He hadn't been able to enjoy an environment like that since he was a new knight of Hornburg so long ago, and reality had been brutally happy to rip him away from that glorious past before he could even fully embrace it. If nothing else, the tournament would be a nice distraction, albeit a brief one.

Quarrycrest was, in its own way, a distraction as well, but Olberic had no objections to it. He hadn't realized just how desperate he was to get out of his own head, but he needed to just... Not think for a little while. It wouldn't entirely solve the current problem, but maybe getting some distance from his issues would help him to resolve his fears. It wasn't a foolproof plan, but it was at least something, and who was Olberic to turn that down?

Something shuffled behind him.

Olberic went still at the sound, and he began to look at the surrounding merchant square. He didn't know what had made him feel so on edge all of a sudden, but he was confident that shuffling sound hadn't come from anything normal. His instincts were better than that, and he knew they wouldn't just lie to him over something so important.

Olberic scanned the rest of the surrounding area for a few more moments, all of his thoughts about Victors Hollow and finding Erhardt cast aside. If Olberic was being honest, he had gotten this feeling quite a bit as of late. He just couldn't shake the feeling that something was happening that he didn't understand. It was like there was someone always watching him, but when he looked, nobody was there. Up until the, he had just been sure that it was him being paranoid, but he couldn't shake it anymore. He was sure that sound had to be a sign of everything he hadn't seen previously, and the person attached to it had to be the one who was watching him.

Olberic left behind the merchant square as soon as he realized that he wasn't going to be able to find the person as easily as he would have hoped, and he made his way back to the inn. He had already taken care of buying all the supplies the group was going to need, so there wasn't much of a reason to stick around for any longer than he already had. He was fine with that; he wanted to get out of that crowd so that he could isolate the person who had been following him. Olberic had no idea what they wanted, but he wasn't going to let them get away with it.

By the time he arrived at the inn, Olberic's nerves were running high. He didn't know what exactly a spy could have wanted with their ragtag group. There were a myriad of reasons to target one of them specifically, but if that was the case, why follow them for so long? Why not just strike as soon as the proper moment arrived? There was no reason to keep the gamble up for such an extended period.

When Olberic thought about it, he realized that he had never really been free of this burning sensation. Ever since he met up with the travelers, he had felt as if there was something just out of the corner of his eye that he wasn't yet seeing. At the time, he had been happy to shrug it off since he had so many other things to worry about, but he couldn't just ignore it anymore, not when he had no idea what sort of threat the other person could have posed. Olberic hadn't mentioned it up to that point since he had no evidence, but he couldn't quite bring himself to ignore it any longer. He had to tell everyone as soon as possible about what was going on.

But he couldn't alert the person following them that he was aware of their presence. Olberic didn't know what they wanted, but he knew that dragging them out sooner than they had planned could have been a problem. The group needed to find a way to get the drop on them, and Olberic was going to have to ask the other travelers for a plan as to how they were going to do that specifically. It seemed to be the safest course of action, if anything could be considered safe at all under these circumstances.

Olberic was careful and slow when he shut the door behind himself once he had entered his room of the inn. Tressa and Ophilia were just across the hall, and while he could have gone over there to tell them about his fears, he didn't want to bring them unnecessary anxiety just yet. There had to be something else he could do about this, and if all went well, it wouldn't add an extra weight to anybody else's shoulders along the way.

Well, at least not for the time being.

Olberic put away as many of the supplies as he could for the time being, and after that, he waited. Cyrus had to get back soon enough, and Olberic figured he would be the perfect person to start this conversation with. Olberic had no idea how to approach the idea of somebody following them all this time, but something had to be done about it. He didn't know what the culprit wanted, but he knew it had to be fixed as soon as possible.

Oh, how easily everything spiraled out of control.

When night arrived, the travelers gathered together in Ophilia and Tressa's room. They had grabbed food from the town's shops so they didn't have to risk eating in the tavern. Therion had insisted that they would probably be fine and wouldn't need to worry about Morlock walking in on them, but the anxiety ran high regardless. Olberic was glad they had decided to stay in for the night; he didn't want to risk them being spotted in a tavern while they were talking about overthrowing Morlock and changing the flow of Quarrycrest's history once and for all.

That was perhaps the most immediate danger, that the person trailing after them would sell them out to the Quarrycrest authorities for inciting a rebellion. Nobody could ascertain the details of the person's intentions quite yet, not that Olberic had shared it openly. He wanted to talk to Cyrus and perhaps H'aanit first about what they should be doing, and after that, they could devise a strategy to share the information with the rest of the group. At least somebody else must have noticed that they were being followed, right?

Or so Olberic hoped, at the very least.

Either way, the fact remained that they were going to start planning for their small coup against Morlock and his injustices the next day. It wasn't going to be easy to try and destabilize such a firm hold on power over the course of just a few days, but nobody was going to give up so easily after everything they had seen caused by Morlock's negligence and greed. They had to at least try something, and this was the best way for them to go about it.

Olberic's anxiety had only continued to run high over the course of the afternoon, and he couldn't imagine things getting any simpler the following day. He could only hope that the travelers were able to find a plan that didn't bring them too much grief in their path to stopping Morlock. At this point, he almost bitterly wished for the days when finding Erhardt had been his greatest fear. Now, that seemed like the least of his issues despite it being one of the only things pushing him forward each day when he woke. Times had changed so quickly and mercilessly.

Oh, how cruel the world and its corresponding fate could be.

And that just about wraps up Cyrus' chapter two!

At this point, we've only got one more piece left for his chapter two, but that won't be happening until after Tressa's second chapter. It's going to be a while before we can completely finish it, but this is where we're leaving the chapter for now. The only things that remain for Cyrus' chapter two are his travel banter with Olberic and the farewell conversation with Odette, both of which are going to bookend Tressa's chapter two just before we head off for Victors Hollow. Since that's a while off though, I decided to cap things off for the time being with Cyrus' heavily edited travel banter with H'aanit. I like how it turned out, and I've loved writing for the strange little character combinations of this chapter and its aftermath.

This chapter's name, Hunt, came from the common theme of this chapter. Ophilia and Tressa discussed how the group is thinking of hunting down Morlock and making him pay for his crimes. Cyrus and H'aanit literally went out so Linde could hunt a bit and get off steam. Olberic thinks the group themselves is being hunted by some unknown figure. It's a great blend of meanings, and I love how well the chapter title fits in with the wide array of things that happened here.

Next week, we're going to jump into the heat of Tressa's chapter two at long last. Until then, I hope you all enjoyed this chapter. Feedback is appreciated as always. Have a nice day, everyone!

-Digital