Shining light

Chapter 8

Eleanor slept long into the next day. When she woke up, she went down into the tavern. It was almost noon, but there were still only a few people. Lucas and Daren were sitting alone at a table, talking, so she went to sit with them. They exchanged good mornings.

"You're probably hungry. Here is some money from the king you can use to buy food while we are here. Keep them safe, there are pickpockets here," Lucas said and handed her a leather pouch with money.

She opened the pouch and found it filled with a variety of coins, each with strange symbols in different sizes and metals. "Thank you. Then I will go get some breakfast," Eleanor said and was about to leave.

Daren stopped her. "Me and Lucas are gonna go talk to some locals to try and get some information. When you have eaten your breakfast, you should do that as well."

Eleanor nodded and then went up to the front desk to order some breakfast. After she finished her breakfast, she wanted to go talk to the locals, but she just couldn't get herself to do it.

She had noticed a forest just behind the tavern, so she sneaked out without Daren or Lucas seeing her. She ran into the forest as fast as she could without a goal or directions in mind. As she ran, her mind emptied, leaving her with only her senses. She felt the ground beneath her, the wind brushing against her skin, and she could see and hear nature.

She maneuvered around obstacles without slowing down. She had missed this. She ran and ran, for what seemed like minutes to her but was actually hours, and it started to get dark.

Suddenly, she stopped in her tracks. She had to; there was a river blocking her path, and it was just a bit too wide to jump. She sat down against a tree, gathering her breath. She couldn't escape her thoughts any longer.

"Do I really want to get answers?" she thought to herself. She could get the answers she wanted, but what if she was told something much worse? Could she really handle that?

Suddenly, she heard a tree branch break on the other side of the river, and she saw a pair of dark, glowing eyes. She wasn't scared, even though she probably should be. She just looked at them.

It stepped out into the light in front of the river. It looked like a fox, but it was as black as the shadows it emerged from. It was a beautiful and majestic animal, and she was glad she had encountered it.

"Hey, Shadow fox. What do you think I should do?" she asked it, hoping it somehow could provide all the answers she needed. The shadow fox tilted its head, as if understanding her, and sat down as if waiting for her to continue. So she did.

"Am I doing the right thing? Should I still try to get answers, even though I'm scared of what they will reveal?" The Shadow fox nodded. Was this animal intelligent?

"Then what do you think? Should I still try to help the king's elite squad capture this Zagreus guy who killed my dad? But also I didn't know my dad, so why should I seek justice for him? But it's this Zagreus guy's fault I never got to meet him, and that I'll always just be an orphanage girl," she asked.

She realized the Shadow fox couldn't answer this because it wasn't a yes or no question. "Should I get justice for my dad?" The Shadow fox didn't answer immediately and appeared to be thinking about it. After a bit of contemplation, it shook its head.

"Then tell me, oh mighty Shadow fox, what should I do?" she asked in a joking tone. They looked at each other for a while. "See, you don't know either. I'm lost both mentally and also physically because I don't think I can find my way back to The Wicked Dahlia Tavern," she said and hugged herself.

The Shadow fox suddenly stood up and gracefully jumped over the river. Then it gestured for her to follow, so she stood up and began walking with it. "Are you taking me to the tavern?" she asked. The Shadow fox nodded its head.

"I don't know if I can ask the locals about my parents because I'm scared of what they might tell me," she said and looked down. The shadow fox stopped in its tracks, went over to her, and nuzzled her legs, so she sat down to pet it. "Well, I guess you are right. I shouldn't worry so much," she said and then started to walk again.

They walked in silence for a while, and Eleanor tried to process how she just had a conversation with a Shadow fox. This world she had stepped into was indeed a lot different than her own.

After they had been walking for hours, she suddenly saw a fire in the distance, and she could hear Lucas' voice calling her name. "Hey, Lucas! I am here!" she shouted as loud as she could and waved her hands.

She looked around to say thank you to the Shadow fox that had helped her, but it was gone.

Lucas ran up to her. "Where have you been? We have been looking for you for hours," Lucas said, out of breath. "I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to be gone for this long. I just needed to sort some thoughts out," she explained, looking down. "Never, ever do that again!" he said in a harsh tone.

She felt really small as they walked their way back to the tavern. Daren ran to them as soon as he saw them enter the tavern. "Eleanor, where the fuck have you been? You can't just run away like that. You gave us a fucking heart attack," he said in a loud voice.

Eleanor was still looking down at the ground. "I'm sorry. I just needed to go away for a bit to sort some thoughts out."

"Next time, talk to us before running off. It's our mission to protect you," Daren said. She nodded.

"It's late, so we should all go and get some sleep so we can continue gathering more information tomorrow," Lucas said, and they all three went to their beds.