{-Casrane-}

Casrane, as the one with the easiest access to the map, was the one to take the lead. They’d guided the other missing people back to Anthalas City though didn’t enter it themselves; after making sure they were fine, they immediately went back out again.

“Do you think we’re actually going to find the rest of the people there?” the Lady prompted.

The Lord nodded. “At the very least, it might be one of their bases. If there’s not more people there, then we might be able to figure out where they are.”

“We’ll need to be careful, no matter where it is,” Shemle decided. “We don’t know what’s going to be waiting for us. I think something saw us leave… they might already know that we’re coming.”

“If you thought something was watching us, then why didn’t you say anything?” Casrane meant it to be casual. She already knew what he was; a part of her hoped that, by the time everyone else would, maybe her suspicion could’ve helped dull their surprise.

Shemle was quick to find his excuse, though. “I didn’t notice it until we left.”

“Do you think they’re going to try to go after the townspeople again?” the Lady asked. “They’re all alone in the city…”

“They’ve only ever captured one person a night before,” Shemle remarked. “I don’t think they’re going to try to kidnap anyone else for at least a day. That gives us plenty of time to get this all settled; once we find the others, we’re going to go right to the people responsible and put an end to all of this.”

Casrane, a bit more absently than she’d intended, stopped and declared, “This is where the map says we’re supposed to be.”

It was the entrance to a little patch of woods but, more specifically, a little hut near the entrance of it. There wasn’t anything immediately off about it; it just looked like a normal hut, perhaps once used to house travelers or a recluse’s retreat. But from there, it turned into a jumble of mixed signals—it seemed like the foliage was about to overrun it, yet the house itself looked perfectly maintained. When she got closer, she could hear dozens of clicks and pauses.

Someone was trying to send a message.

She’d braced herself for a fight immediately, knowing there was no sense in trying to run from it. The others had taken the hint too so none of them were completely caught off-guard to see the door swing open and two unfamiliar people waiting for them.

The only thing that made this fight any different than the others was that their opponents went first. Still, they’d been prepared enough that, with Shemle’s help, it wasn’t a problem.

Shemle walked up to the now-defeated ambushers and hissed, “Who were you trying to contact?”

“I’m sure you already know that,” one of them spat. “Aren’t we all just following orders here?”

“You’re going to call off whatever reinforcements you tried to get,” Shemle muttered, “and you’re going to do it before I make you.”

One of them was more than willing to comply, heading back in to mess with the telegraph a little longer. When he came back, he walked past the four of them and gestured for his companion to follow. “You better be quick, whatever you want to do in there. Just because I told them not to come doesn’t mean a few wouldn’t have gotten the message.” Then they both left.

Casrane took the lead in wandering inside. They each began their separate searches for some kind of clue that might help them find what they were looking for; the Lord was the one to get it. She hadn’t seen what he did, just that a hatch opened up beside him that he called everyone else’s attention to.

Shemle gave it one look and gestured towards the door. “I’m going to stay here. Someone needs to be on the lookout for if the reinforcements still show up. You figure out if there’s any people down there and do whatever you need to get them free.”

“Be careful.” She’d said it without thinking—how he looked at her made her realize what it must’ve meant to him.

With the ability to think for themselves, that meant that they could feel conscious about what the code said they should do. Not everyone was meant to be the hero of the story.

She didn’t say anything else, motioning for the Lord and Lady to follow her down. There was, for a little while, a time when she simply needed to be careful; without light, she had to rely on something other than sight to help her judge where the next rung might be.

Then, just like last time, with a dim light at the end came hushed voices as well. These, though, sounded much more mournful than their other counterparts. After all, they’d likely been here the longest—depending on how long this has been going on, they couldn’t have had much hope left.

Only one of them bothered to look up when the three of them came into view. Casrane carefully walked up to them to say, “We’re here to bring you back to Anthalas City.”

Still, no one bothered to say anything. It wasn’t until the three of them started working towards unlocking them that they realized they weren’t lying.

“Have you already taken care of the guards?” one of them dared to ask. “Is it… is it really safe for us to all return home?”

“We’re going to solve everything for good,” Casrane confirmed with a nod. “You don’t have to worry about it anymore.”

Another, after being freed, showed an overwhelming sense of gratitude. “That must’ve been quite the journey and trials you had to go through to get to us. How could we ever repay you for everything you’ve done for the people of Anthalas..?”

“We don’t need anything in return,” the Lord said, giving them all a small smile. “We’re just doing the right thing.”

“Wait, I think I’ve seen you before,” a woman mumbled after a pause. She stepped closer to the Lord and observed him and the Lady. “Up until a few years ago, I worked for Duuzlo in Nafrius. You two had always been there, no matter where I went. What was it that they called you… oh, curse this memory. You’re the Beithana twins, aren’t you?”

The Lord looked around the group of people. They were all listening now; there was something familiar about that name and, now that it had been acknowledged, they all saw it. Everyone except for Casrane, at least, who for all her knowledge still didn’t recall ever knowing their names.

Cautiously, he nodded. “Yes.”

“You got the confirmation you needed. Go ahead and do whatever you want, they’re all yours.”

The new voice was by no means unfamiliar. While everyone else had looks of confusion as they tried to find the source of it, Casrane only instinctively pulled the Lord and Lady closer to her. She knew what was waiting for them and it was best to be as prepared as possible.

Another passageway opened up from the one that they had used before. A large group of people swarmed out of it, last of all the owner of the voice… Shemle.

For all the signs Casrane had been trying to give, the Lady still had a heartbreaking expression when she saw him. “Wait, you’re—”

“I’m one of the people you should be fearing the most,” Shemle finished. His tone was completely emotionless, yet somehow they could all tell what it hid. “We’d been hearing things that Duuzlo had finally let the two out of his sight. We had this all planned out for a while, just waiting for the heroes… then all we needed was a reason to think the rumors are true. Congratulations, you’ve all helped in furthering the goals of the Rune Reactivation Project. I promise it’s not as bad as you may think it is.”

The majority of the group formed a circle around Casrane, the Lord, and the Lady, though there were a few that stepped in to keep the others in line.

“Are you just going to lock them all away again?” the Lord questioned.

Shemle’s dismissive gesture led those members of the group to back away. “No, they’ve already served their purposes. They can all return to Anthalas City and continue on with their lives. What happens next holds little importance to them…” He’d mumbled something to a man beside him and, addressing the civilians, said, “Follow him back out. He’ll make sure you all return to the city safely.”

“And why should we trust you?” one of them spat.

“I’m no different than the Shemle you’ve all become accustomed to,” he pointed out reasonably. “You would’ve trusted me before, no matter what it was I said I was doing. All I’m asking is that you trust me one more time before you get caught up in something you’re not supposed to. There’s no turning back if you refuse to listen to common sense.”

None of them were allowed to say anything else before they were ushered away.

Shemle brought his attention to the three of them. “As for you… we’ve got a special place we’d like to show you.”