Searching for Ghosts--The Ro'meave Sister, Book 2 [MCD Fanfic] ✔︎

XI

"When she left... was she sad? Angry?"

"I apologize miss. She left so suddenly... she didn't even say goodbye..."

"Well, you're just about as useful as a fish out of water."

"Pardon?"

"Unless you can give me information about my daughter, you're useless to me. Stay still. I'm going to relieve you of your memories of me."
««»»
"An entire regiment!" I whisper-shout, my jaw hanging open. "Why would they send an entire regiment into the forest?"

Laurance shrugs. "Beats me. Jurors have a reputation for being brutal in their killings."

"But I don't kill!"

Laurance gives me a look.

"...Much."

"This doesn't matter!" Azlynn bursts in. "Can only three people take on a powerful section of the Tu'la army? I don't think so. Hide in that house and then, Cassie, you're going to have more explaining to do."

I swallow.

"Cassie, that note said that 'Hyria' or whatever her name is sealed up this house with magicks. No one with the Tu'la crest will enter," Laurance states.

I nod. "I know. But there could be some sort of shamen in the mix. Tu'la is a powerful and mysterious region. I'm fairly certain a few of their shamens could be on par with Hyria."

"Either way," Azlynn begins to tug on my armor, nudging me inside. "we need to get inside. And you need to tell us, or rather, me, more about your connection to the owner of this house."
««»»
We're inside the house, hiding out on the top floor. The soldiers are firing arrows at us, but it's to no avail.

"Okay. Laurance, goodbye," Azlynn snaps harshly. "I need to speak to Cassie in private."

"Damn," Laurance responds. "Okay then."

I mouth a quick 'sorry' to him but he shakes his head with a playful smirk plastered on his face. He goes into the second room and a few seconds later, we hear the click of the door locking.

"Get on with it then," Azlynn prods.

"What do you want to know?" I ask, crossing my legs.

"Everything. What your connection is to this house, first."

I sigh. My eyes flicker over to the closed door where Laurance is. "The woman... Hyria. The one that wrote the note... is my mother."

Confusion dances in Azlynn's eyes. "I thought you were a Ro'meave? So wouldn't your mother be the priestess of O'khasis? What was her name... Zania? Zianna?"

"Zianna. But... I'm still in the dark about most of this, but from what I've inferred, Zianna put me under Hyria's care when I was a baby. I don't know why. It doesn't make sense... she kept Vylad and publicly announced him as a Ro'meave... but why did she give me away? This whole ordeal gives me a headache," I mutter, staring at the oak wood floorboards.

"Mm," Azlynn murmurs in thought. "Well, you're a girl. Also a twin. I suppose having an affair is bad enough without twins coming out of it."

"I guess you're right. But that's not that important. Anyways, you can—"

"Fire!" Another soldier cry from outside. A few minutes ago, we would've dismissed it as nothing. But then, we hear a cracking sound. Like when you drop a glass on the floor and it shatters. Just then, Laurance bursts through the door.

"Cassie, Azlynn! They've got shamens! And they're breaking through the protective magick!" he cries frantically. "We have to get out!"

"Dammit, dammit!" Azlynn curses. She turns to me. "We might need to fight our way out!"

"Are you kidding me?!" Laurance interjects. "There's an entire regiment out there! From Tu'la! We've got no idea of how strong they are, and plus, they're got powerful shamens."

"You got any better ideas?" I retort. "Okay, I'm going to need to get to the roof. From there, I'll try to pick the shamens off first. Then... we'll wing it."

Laurance gives an unimpressed scoff but says nothing.

"Ready?"

Azlynn and Laurance exchange a glance and nod.

"Then let's go."

I lead them through the top floor, maneuvering around Hyria's magick supplies.

"Cassie!" Azlynn tugs at my purple cape. "That roof is pointed! Are you crazy?"

"You just found that out now? Come on, trust me."

Azlynn swallows. She glances at Laurance, who's absentmindedly looking at the floorboards. "Okay. I trust you."

The roof's small—smaller than I anticipated. I gulp, realizing I'll need Azlynn to keep me up on the house as I aim.

"Hold on to my cape," I command. "I think they've spotted us. But that's okay, because I just need to hit the shamens."

She takes the cape in her fist and holds onto the pinnacle of the house wordlessly.

Then, another crackling sound. The shamens have breached the top layer of the barrier. Color drains from Azlynn's face.

"Focus!" I shout at her. I fire an arrow blindly in the direction of a shamen. It misses. In return, another arrow flies upward. I'm able to dodge it, but it lands right in Azlynn's shoulder.

Fear runs through her eyes. She teeters backwards and forwards for a second before toppling off the roof.

"AZLYNN!" I scream, my voice cracking. Tears flood my eyes as I grasp the edge of the roof, reaching down—partly to see if I can catch her (which is to no avail) and to stop myself from falling.

"Cassie!" I hear Laurance's voice. "What's going on?!" He peeps out of the roof. His face pales when he realizes Azlynn is gone.

I whirl back around to see Azlynn hasn't hit the ground and died. No... rather, the regiment has caught her... and now, they're bringing her somewhere... they're leaving.

"Nahakra!" I yell. "They're going back to Nahakra!" I begin to race down the ladder into the attic, but Laurance grabs my shoulder.

"They're not," he says, peering out a circular window. "Nahakra is that way. They're headed in the direction of O'khasis."

If anyone wants to talk about BTS hmu

Also, my school is out~! Expect my regulated updates!

—Important: the prologue to my new MCD ff will be uploaded shortly! However, the next chapters will not be updated until TRmS is complete.

xxx,
vylad