The Orb And The Onslaught {COMPLETE}

Two's Company, Three's A Clowder

    The journey up North was uneventful for the most part, they stopped off every few hours so Florence could rest or to eat and refuel. They managed to get money and fresh supplies, including some extra clothes each and some food for the cats, though they'd happily hunt for themselves given the chance.

    They did have a run in with a drunken man early the next morning after they'd crossed the River Arence. The man at the cafe claimed that Quentin had stolen his boyfriend. Florence eventually managed to clear it all up but it took up a big chunk of their time. It was early afternoon by the time they were on their way again. They shared a laugh about the whole 'affair' once Quentin had calmed down. 

    Despite being on the move, Quentin slept through some of the driving, so he ate and fussed over Florence while he was awake. Usually it consisted of making her take her pills when they stopped or checking if she'd had enough rest. She started to wish she'd left the pills and him at home, but she swallowed them down anyway; she noticed the bottle was low and would be running out soon, presenting a new problem for Quentin to stress over.

    Once it was done they were on the road again, it was nearly a two day journey to get to their destination. Florence had visited a handful of times but it had been over ten years since the last visit, she just hoped Gladys hadn't moved. 

"Who is this friend of yours anyway?" Quentin asked when they were a few towns away from Gladys's.

    "She's a good friend from mine and Bernard's travelling days, she has a keen interest in unexplainable things, magik, the arcane, that kind of thing. She likes to keep up to date with current affairs as well, so she'll know if there's anything untoward going on here or in the East."

    Now that they were talking about it, Florence started to feel on edge again. Everything felt far too unpredictable recently, she didn't want to let her guard down and somehow end up at the scroll coordinates, helped along by magik or whatever trickery had been at work so far. She told Quentin to keep a close eye on his telephone map, just in case. 

   "Okay, but we should probably rest soon. You need some real sleep and... wait, did you say magik?!"

Florence rolled her eyes at him and waved away his question, they didn't have the time and she didn't have the energy to explain. It was late afternoon and she was starting to get tired, travelling through the night now could prove to be dangerous. They hadn't had any major trouble so far but she didn't want to tempt fate. 

   "We can stop at the next town then, I think we're at a safe enough distance to spend the night somewhere and then we can be at Gladys's by late morning."

Quentin looked excited about that and began searching on his telephone for some accommodation for when they stopped. 

    They reached their stop off an hour later, the town of Brilket welcomed them and it definitely looked welcoming to Florence. The buildings were old, they looked similar to the types of buildings that Florence had grown up in. Trees lined the streets on both sides, and people were bustling around all over despite the cold weather. Everyone they passed waved or shouted greetings to them and each other. 

     Florence felt like a little girl again, although she hadn't grown up in Teridia the atmosphere felt very much the same. 

"This feels a bit creepy," Quentin stated quietly while they drove through the main road of the town.

"Why, because people are being nice to each other?" 

    Quentin grimaced, "Did that sound horrible? I didn't mean it to it's just... this looks like the opening scene from some horror movie."