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

XII

"Well, miss, where are you headed now?"

"..."

"Sorry. Was that the, uh, last resort?"

"I suppose. Now sir, I believe you have a family waiting back at home?"

"Y-yes. Yes I do."

"Then, I think it is time for you to go to them. Thank you for your time. And don't forget to contact me if you get any information regarding my daughter. That girl is more important than she realizes."

"I-uh... yes. Okay. T-thank you, miss. Glad to be of service."
««»»
"O'khasis..." My heart skips a beat at the mention of the former kingdom.

"Cassie?" Laurance asks. "Hate to be a Debbie downer, but there's no saving her. There's no way in hell I'm going back to that godforsaken city."

"Laurance," I say, turning to him, my expression hardening. "I have lost everyone around me. All right in front of my own eyes. Every. Single. Person. I will not let Azlynn get taken by those people and I will go to O'khasis to save her. You will too, even if I have to drag your dead body across the gates, so help me Irene..."

Laurance stands motionless on the roof. Wind blows a tuft of his hair and shock dances in his eyes. He swallows. "Okay," he begins in a wavering tone, "but I won't hesitate to leave the city if I want to. I'll have you know O'khasis is probably the most dangerous place in Ru'aun. Still want to go?"

I don't respond, but I don't move, my eyes still boring into his with fiery demeanor.

He turns around and begins to make his way down the ladder. "I'll take that as a yes."
««»»
"...And you know where O'khasis is from here?" Laurance asks.

"Like the back of my hand. Laurance, I grew up in that house, in this forest," I respond. "I simply can't get lost here, and neither can you, as long as you're with me."

"Then how come you can't navigate your way to Phoenix Drop?" he prompts.

I stay silent for a second. "I'm not sure. Look, I know tons of things about this forest. I know who put the curse on it—"

"Was it that women, Hyria?" Laurance interjects.

"...maybe." My voice etches with defeat. "But I can't tell you much. Anyways, Phoenix Drop had a strange sort of magick coming from it, making it semi-easy to find in this forest... at least, that's what she told me long ago. But times change. They changed lords. I suppose they recruited some shamens or fairies to conceal the village."

Laurance is silent. I turn back to see his carefree face has turned to a menacing scowl.

"Laurance?"

His once-friendly blue eyes dance with secret fury. "I'd rather we not talk about that village. All I'm doing is leading you there. I'm sure as hell not going in."

The question of why? dangles in my mind but I ignore it. Seems like a touchy subject. "You got it," I say reluctantly.

We walk for a few more hours, trudging through the underbrush before Laurance suggests we set up camp.

"We're walking a bit slow," I comment. "When I went, I got there in less than twenty-four hours."

Laurance's eyes meet mine. "I don't care. I don't want to walk at night. Put your stuff down, we're sleeping here."

I'd rather keep walking, but I'm not in the mood for arguing.

Laurance begins to draw odd things around the clearing with a stick in the dirt.

"What are you doing?" I ask.

"Writing runes. They'll keep us safe from the nasties that crawl around at night."

"Is that really necessary?"

Laurance glares at me. "Would you rather we get eaten by some majestic beast while we sleep? Then we'd leave Azlynn for the dead."

"What?"

Laurance gives a sarcastic laugh. "Oh come on, you're really that stupid? I thought a former Jury member would be smarter than that."

"Stop playing around."

He stops drawing runes in the dirt. "Cassie, Azlynn's bait. They're trying to lure you to O'khasis. I dunno why, but if she wasn't any use to them, they wouldn't have shot at her when you guys were on the roof."

Realization hits me. So that's why they weren't getting close to me.

"They're going after the people you value. You're a Jury member, eh?" He smirks. "Then you've got a fancy relic inside you that they want."

"How do you know all of this?!" I ask, shocked.

"I don't," he responds. "These are all guesses, but I know those Jury relics are hella powerful, and they only way to bring them out is to tap into your strongest emotion—anger."

"I'm not asking how you know the strategy. How do you know about the relics? Very few people know about it. That stuff isn't really made public."

His face turns to a sly smile. "How do I know? Well, one of my old allies is a former Jury member."

My breath hitches in my throat.

"Katelyn the Fire Fist. You may know her, hm~?"

Sorry for slow updates. This time, I've really got no excuse. School's out, and I'm just kind of losing motivation to write this book. However, I'm determined to finish the series. And after this, my ideas are simply overflowing for the new fanfic, Tenth!

Hope you're still enjoying!

xxx,
vylad