Morte, the lost Heir (ONC 2024)

16. Linger

First, the hyenas appeared, hearing their nervous cries in the distance. Then, they saw as they ventured closer and threw themselves on the scorpions' corpses. Over their heads, the vultures circled patiently.

The small team took turns digging the grave with Keenan's giant sword, where they placed Tobi's body. They stood silently over the grave for a long time, and then, as the sun set, they started gathering their remaining belongings from the red carpet.

"Didn't they scatter somewhere along the way?" Elgatto asked when he saw Aura searching more and more nervously for her backpack among the others' stuff.

"But they put all our equipment here!" Aura looked around the clearing nervously. "I didn't see them separate anything."

With a determined look in his eyes, Dupe volunteered to search for the missing backpack. He spread his wings and soared into the air, his keen eyes scanning the ground below for any sign of the lost item.

They all shared the same unspoken fear. The medal, a key to their survival, was also in Aura's bag; how would they escape the Sepulcher without it? The spellbook, a treasure of knowledge and power for Aura, was also in their enemies' hands. The stakes were high, and the path ahead seemed treacherous.

"It's quite strange that only your bag disappeared," Keenan remarked, his voice tinged with suspicion. "After all, you were one of them, weren't you?"

"Let's wait for Dupe to come back. Maybe he'll find it somewhere. There's no need to accuse right away!" Nerina reassured her husband.

Aura didn't like Keenan's accusation, but she didn't have time to dwell on it because Dupe returned shaking his head, showing that he didn't find anything.

"Well, this is a big problem!" Elgatto also worried. "If we go down to the Sepulcher without the medal, we won't be able to get out!"

They all looked at Aura expectantly. She felt this and knew that she was now in the spotlight and had to come up with an explanation.

"Don't think that I still belong to them or that I could be in cahoots with them. After all, they left me here, tied up! I don't think, in fact, I'm sure they don't know about the medallion or that it was in my bag!" the elf girl apologized.

"But then, why did they want your bag?" Keenan asked.

As Aura looked around and recognized the doubt in their eyes, the familiar feeling overcame her, as if this had already happened to her, like when she stood before the Loyalty and had to explain why she teleported them so suddenly. And no matter what she said, she was accused of being hired by someone. Or when she had to explain to her relatives at home why she didn't want to marry her chosen fiancé. She couldn't bear the accusing looks, she felt cornered. Tears started from her eyes, traveled along her pale face to gather at her jaw, and fell in fat drops to the ground.

Nerina was the first to move; she approached the distraught girl and enveloped her in a comforting hug. Aura was taken aback by this unexpected show of support, a stark contrast to her past experiences. Her new friends and her team surrounded her, offering reassurance and comfort. Elgatto embraced her and helped her sit down, offering her water. At this moment, Aura felt a glimmer of hope amidst the darkness.

Although they wanted to find a suitable place for evening rest, they ended up preparing to sleep in this place. They lit a fire, and Dupe unpacked the spices from the dwarf's bag and prepared dinner, something Tobi used to make. This touched everyone. The winged one managed to cook the boring dried meat just as their departed friend used to.

They didn't question the elf girl anymore, but they felt hesitant about what would happen to them now. They promised Tobi they would find Morte, but they needed the medal to accomplish this. Or, if they still stuck to the plan, what guarantee did they have that they would survive?

Aura had difficulty falling asleep; she kept thinking about what could have caused her backpack to disappear. Did Damian know about the medal? Did Beliem, the Goddar priest, tell someone that they had it?

In her dream, she found herself again in the room filled with undead, Elgatto running towards her with monsters behind him. But Aura now knew that her magic wasn't working; she was sure that no matter how much she uttered the magic words, they wouldn't work, and Elgatto didn't even grab her waist, just ran past her, letting the monsters swarm over her. She woke up trembling from the dream.

Keenan was the next guard on duty. She recognized his towering figure. He sat by the fire, which they had already extinguished because they didn't want to attract attention. The elf girl tossed and turned a little, but only thoughts raced through her mind, so she got up and sat next to the orc. "I'm relieving you; I can't sleep anyway," she said.

"Are you sure? If you do get sleepy, wake up Elgatto next... I'm sorry for accusing you; I didn't mean to hurt you!" the orc replied uncertainly.

Aura nodded. "It's okay. I would have felt the same way in your place. I thought the priest we were in Goddar might have told them we had the medal. I can't think of anything else why they would want my backpack..."

"That's logical, but why didn't you tell everyone this? You let us all think different things."

"I don't know. I just got scared of how you looked at me..." the girl replied, tears welling in her eyes.

"We're not monsters! We're a team! You should stand up for yourself a little more!" Keenan looked encouragingly at her. "Okay, I'm going to sleep. Can I leave you here?"

"Sure," the girl murmured.

She wiped away her tears and couldn't even remember why she was crying anymore. Was it because Tobi had died, her backpack with the magic spells and the medal had been stolen, or because she felt Elgatto getting farther away? Or was it all combined that brought her into this state?

It was dawn when Aura realized she should have woken up the next guard, but she felt she wouldn't be able to sleep anyway, so she just stared at the myriad flickering lights of the stars and watched the distant shadows.

In the morning, they discussed continuing their journey, and they already had two goals: to find Morte and to search for the Loyalty team to retrieve the medal and Aura's spellbook.

As they set out, the canyon stretched before them, its rugged walls towering on both sides like the ancient guardians of a long-forgotten realm. The sun mercilessly beat down, casting harsh shadows on the barren landscape as the group moved further toward their destination.

Suddenly, in the distance, the massive walls of the Pagan temple emerged like a giant sentinel, its weather-beaten facade bearing the weight of centuries past. The impressive structure standing at the canyon's heart evoked reverence and fear in everyone who beheld it.

As they approached, the air was heavy with midday heat and the scent of ancient mysteries, mingling with the faint whispers of distant winds echoing through the canyon's depths. Each step brought them closer to their goal yet also closer to the unknown dangers lurking within the sacred halls of the temple.