Between the Veil and Crown

Kylin 16

"Harn already left," Xane informed them. "About a few days ago. Asked about the barrier, and if I noticed anything suspicious. I guess you didn't meet him on the path?"

Kylin shook his head while Marta looked somber.

"Can't say I heard anything, either," Kylin said.

"Well, have you noticed anything suspicious?" Marta asked, with a small note of hope.

"Well, despite Rei's misgivings, the barrier's held so far," Xane answered. "That means we probably have a little more time to gather what we need to strengthen it. But other than that, I haven't seen anything out of the ordinary."

Marta pulled out her journal and flipped to the page where she had sketched the blossom Candel had found. "Have you seen anything like this?"

Xane studied it critically, tilting his head to the left and right. "Harn was asking if I had seen a flower too," he said. "But I've not seen anything like that."

Kylin sighed in disappointment. "Well, that means we still have a mysterious flower, and now a missing flower. Ivelios isn't going to be too pleased about this."

"I'll keep an eye out for him," Xane told them. "Just in case he makes his way back here. Let him know that he's causing a bit of concern." Despite the offer, Xane's tone was doubtful.

Kylin gave him a nod and turned away, back to where the horses were.. He heard Marta give her own parting words and catch up to him.

"I don't want to even begin to think what happened to him," Kylin said when he reached Wylett. He swung himself into the saddle, then waited for Marta to mount her own horse.

"We can always hope he got sidetracked," Marta said hopefully. "Saw something else and went to investigate it."

He shrugged, but he wasn't as optimistic. He didn't spend a lot of time with Harn, but Harn never struck him as someone who just got sidetracked.

They headed back to the base in silence. The gravity of the situation weighed too heavily on them to feel the need to talk about anything not related to the issue at hand, and there was no new information that made talking about the issue worth it. Still not a word was exchanged between them when they settled down for the night.

They had a later start than usual the next morning. The beginnings of rain casually dropped on them as they got their horses ready and mounted. It got heavier as the day progressed, pelting through the leaves, determined to the get them wet. By midday, Kylin found he could not hear anything over the rain unless it was close by. Uncomfortable by the limited use of his hearing, he slowed the pace considerably and glanced around him constantly. Marta didn't question it. She slowed down herself, hood pulled well in front of her face to help keep it dry.

At one point, he flashed a glance to his left. When he registered what he had seen, he looked again, pulling Wylett to a halt. He heard Marta's mare give a snort of protest at the sudden stop that caused her to run into Wylett's hindquarters. In his peripherals, he could see Marta look up, confused.

He narrowed his eyes, surveying the landscape to his left carefully. He was quite certain he had seen it- an unusual flash of color. Even amidst the browning leaves, it was a shade that wasn't quite right- a shade that he seen before.

Marta waited in silence for him to explain what was going on, looking over to the area that had caught his attention every once a while the longer he took.