None of us bothers saying anything, as we simply share a look and then follow him as he turns in a seemingly random direction and starts walking. At least it seems completely random to me.
“We will keep you surrounded and look for any threats as you journey there,” Laikynn says as he moves off to the side and out of my eyeline.
“Thank you,” Aldrastos replies with surprise.
“I have a question,” Loki starts after a few minutes of walking.
“Of course you do,” Reaper mutters, making me smile.
Loki rolls his eyes but decides to ignore him as he continues, “We’re walking in pitch-black darkness right now. I can barely see you guys, and we’re walking pretty fucking close together. How do you know that you’re going in the right direction?”
Good question, and not one that I had thought of.
Poca is clearly fed up with the talking since he nudges my leg and then disappears into the darkness, Meri still on his back. I have no idea where Oryn is, but I’m hoping that he’s here somewhere and that Poca knows where that somewhere is. I would be more concerned, but this is where I found him.
Hold on a fucking second.
That means that he’s not a creature of the Void like I thought, but he’s from Siorraidh.
Maybe that’s why the others couldn’t see him.
“He shouldn’t wander off like that,” Aldrastos mutters quietly, pulling me out of my thoughts as he looks in the direction that Oryn just wandered off in.
I nod, “Probably not, but he’s been leaving me in the Void for as long as I have been coming here, and since the Void is actually Siorraidh, I’m going to assume that he knows what he’s doing and most likely knows more than we do.”
Rival grins, “It’s Poca, of course he knows more than we do. I’m sure that if it were something that he felt that we should know, or something to do with Farren’s safety, that he would find a way to tell us.”
“Without a doubt,” Khaos agrees.
He has actually known Poca longer than any of us, even me. Although he’s known Cerberus, and while I know they are the same creature, judging from the way Khaos reacted when he first saw him, Khaos only knew work Poca, and Poca kept a good deal to himself.
Aldrastos looks sceptical but chooses not to comment.
I nod, “Oh, absolutely. Plus, he wouldn’t just wander off if I were in danger.”
Clearly deciding to drop it, Aldrastos explains, “To answer your previous question, I have very good eyesight, and I am used to navigating in this pure darkness. If it makes you uneasy, then I can put up a dim light, but I would rather not attract anything to us.”
To be honest, I had forgotten that Loki had asked him that.
“I’m good,” I shrug.
I’m not sure that now is the best time to tell them that I can actually see a fair amount. Everything is still shrouded in darkness, but the ground under my feet is still humming softly, in a weirdly comforting way, and I can see the outlines of several things around us. At least well enough to know that we are walking down a pathway of some kind with trees on either side of us.
“I don’t mind the dark,” Reaper says. He shrugs, and his eyes glow briefly as his smile becomes dangerous, “Besides, if you are leading us into a trap, I will simply eat you.”
Aldrastos’ eyebrows rise with surprise, but he doesn’t try to hide his smile as he replies, “You’d have to catch me first.”
Reaper chuckles but doesn’t say anything.
We all fall silent as we carry on walking, and my interest returns to the buzzing ground beneath my feet. I wonder if the others can feel it, or if it’s just me. It doesn’t feel threatening or like something that I should be concerned about, but I could be wrong.
I’ve been thrown off by the new revelations about this realm, so who knows?
Before I can think on the subject for any longer, I feel a knock on my mind.
“Alright, Farren, care to explain why you suddenly decided that taking cover was a good idea?” Khaos asks me through the bond.
“How the fuck did you catch that?”I ask.“Wait, was it that obvious?”
