Eight Intertwined

198 - Crossroads

"I want to go to Northreach."

After the travelers finished the day's work in Riverford, they retired to the tavern to enjoy one last meal before they left town. As much as they wanted to stick around and see how the city reconstructed itself in the aftermath of Werner's death, the travelers knew they needed to get back on the road again soon. The day of the fair in Grandport was fast approaching, and they had other matters to settle before that too. 

Therion spoke up almost immediately after the group settled down, and Alfyn felt his eyes go wide as he turned to look at the thief. "You want to follow him?" he asked, not bothering to speak the name of who he was talking about. He didn't think he would have been able to call Darius by name without his rage consuming him anyway. 

"I do," Therion confirmed. "Being back here has told me that I need to go after him as soon as possible. I'll feel better if I can just get it over with." Alfyn knew what Therion meant by that; back in the day, Therion and Darius had passed through Riverford, and their time in the city had caused the massive rift that ended with Darius pushing Therion off the cliffside. Therion had been handling himself admirably well for being back in a place he despised so much, but it had reminded him of everything that needed to be done. Darius had once taken charge of Riverford from the crime ring that ran it during Werner's coup, but now that both Werner and that crime ring were gone, the only one left with ties to the city was Darius. It made sense that Therion would want to go there next, but... 

"Are you sure?" Alfyn insisted. It wasn't that he doubted Therion's judgement when it came to rushing into battle. In fact, Alfyn would have said that there was no one in the world he trusted more than Therion and the rest of their friends. However, he definitely did not trust Darius, and the last thing he wanted was for Therion to make himself miserable by going to face his old partner before he was ready. "If you'd rather wait a bit longer, then--"

"I'm ready," Therion assured him. "Well... Maybe I'm not exactly ready, but I'm going to do whatever I have to in order to see this through. That has to count for something, doesn't it?" Alfyn hummed softly, and Therion glanced around at all the travelers with something dark but honest in his eyes. "If there are no objections... I want to handle him in Northreach."

"I will not objecten," H'aanit said. "If this is the choice thou has decided upon... Then I will standen by it to the bitter end." At her side, Linde mewed her agreement, and H'aanit began to rub at the top of the snow leopard's head affectionately. 

"I see no reason to disagree," Ophilia smiled. "If you're really ready to face Darius, then so are the rest of us. We can use the Warp Staff tomorrow to travel to Stillsnow, and we can head north from there." She cast a glance at Cyrus at that, but just as he had been ever since Wispermill, he barely seemed to be paying attention. Instead, he was staring at the floor just in front of his feet beneath the table, mouthing out words no one could hear. Ophilia shared an uneasy look with Primrose since the dancer was on Cyrus' other side, and Primrose simply shrugged. They had all noticed Cyrus' strange behavior over the last few days, but none of them knew what to do about it. 

In the end, Tressa was the one who found the power to speak up. "Cyrus?" she ventured, but the scholar still did not stir. "Cyrus!"

That was finally enough to jolt Cyrus out of his trance, and he looked up with wide eyes to see the entire table staring at him. "Oh... My apologies," he said slowly, though if Alfyn had to guess, he would have said that Cyrus didn't even really know what he was apologizing for. "What were we talking about?"

"We're going to Northreach tomorrow," Primrose replied with a stiff frown. "Are you alright? It seems like you've barely been paying attention to anything ever since we left Wispermill."