The Travels of Rose Ashmaw

Chapter 28

Mu was exiting the front gate of Stoneholde when Rose and the others arrived.

Rose: Aunt Mu, What's going on?

Mu: Good, you're here. I was wondering how long it would take for you to make it back.

Mu looked between all of them there with her gaze stopping on Mizzu for a moment before looking back to Rose.

Mu: Rose, your mother and father went to Foxpine as Azur had asked for their help with something. If I remember correctly it had to do with setting up a proper, long-term supply route between Foxpine and Stoneholde now that Foxpine was most of the way rebuilt.

Kizik: Rose's letter said something about Leon being missing. What's that about?

Mu glared at him.

Mu: I was getting to that!

Mu looked back to Rose.

Mu: About two days after they had left I received a letter from Azur about Leon being missing and if I could spare anyone to search a location to see if it was possible that he was taken there as the guard and Riya were already searching Foxpine.

Mizzu: Where is it that he wants us to search?

Mu: It's in the middle of nowhere, around a day from Foxpine. I'll be coming with you.

Rose nodded.

Rose: Show us where we need to look, Auntie.

***

Leon woke up tied to a chair sitting in the middle of a stone room that was barren outside of the chair he was in, a chair with someone sitting in it across from him, and sconces with lit torches on the walls. Whoever was sitting in front of him was hunched over and looked half asleep. After long enough his eyes had adjusted enough that he could see that it was a white-furred Lupine wearing gray leather.

Akana: Oh, you're finally awake!

After she said this, a door opened behind her, and her two sisters walked into the room and stood to her left and right.

Cecillia: That took long enough.

Pricilla: I'm not complaining, I had more than long enough to perform the spell so that I could see what they've been doing to him.

Leon's eyes shot open at hearing that.

Leon: You did what!

Cecillia: Calm down, it's just so that we know how to treat whatever they may have done to you.

Leon: You don't know what you're talking about, they haven't done anything to me.

Pricilla: Oh please, they're Gnolls. Of course, they did something to you.

Leon: I can promise you that they didn't. I can also tell you that if they find me like this you will have a very real problem on your hands.

Akana: What? Why would they come looking for you? You couldn't possibly be that important to them.

As she finished talking Akana watched as Pricilla brought over a basin full of water.

Leon: What is that for?

Cecilia: She's going to use it to project what she got from the spell, now let her concentrate.

As Pricilla placed her hands on the sides of the basin there was a brief flash of light before she began to stare intently into the water.

Pricilla: He has a daughter.

Akana: We can worry about that later, right now we need to...

Akana's voice trailed off as she saw that Pricilla was shaking slightly and looked like she had seen a ghost. Pricilla's pupils had shrunk to pinpricks as she slowly looked up from the basin and at Leon.

Pricilla: He...he had a daughter...with one of the Gnolls.

Cecilia's mouth hung open while Akana's expression was unreadable. Akana barely spoke above a whisper.

Akana: What?

There were several minutes of deafening silence before it was broken by Akana.

Akana: What did you say!

Akana then looked at Leon in disbelief.

Akana: How could you have a child with one of those...those...Beasts!

The chair Leon was tied to jerked as he attempted to stand.

Leon: Don't you dare call Riya or any of them that!

Akana jumped back as the look on his face, the look of disgust on his muzzle from what she had said and the anger in his voice, had startled her.

Leon: I can promise you that if they find me like this and find you here that you are going to regret it. I would suggest you let me go before that happens.

***

Mu: This is it.

Rose looked down and saw the entrance to an underground building of some kind, the door torn from its hinges.

Rose: What is this place?

Mu: Someplace I haven't been for a long time, and a place that should be empty. I will warn you that this place isn't small so we are going to need to split into groups to try and cover enough ground and check the entire place.

Tsarasa: Wait, you said that it was supposed to be empty. If that's the case why are we searching here?

Mu: Because someplace that is supposed to be abandoned would be the perfect place to hide, and Azur realized that. Now let's get going.

As she said this they split into groups and began to enter the underground building.