The Foolhardies 120 Where the Truth Lies

"You realize I have no idea what that reference means," I answered wryly.

I leaned back on the lavish couch trying to feel comfortable, but my mind just wouldn't let me forget the stress that's been hounding me for days.

"Um, ancient elves love their bows, you see, so when they lose it—"

"—They also lose their shit," I finished for her. "I get it… and I'm fine, Aura. Really."

"Right," she said, picking up a satin pillow on her couch and throwing it at me. "You realize I feel your emotions through our bond, right?"

I caught the pillow and squeezed it between my arms and chest.

"I've never asked you how that works… do you actually sense the emotions or just pick up a vibe" I mused.

"The latter," Aura answered. She raised a finger to her lips in that way she sometimes did when she was thinking of an answer to my questions. 'Yours is like the weather. Sometimes, when you're feeling proud about something, often Luca, you're a warm summer's day. When you're sad… it's like a heavy downpour of rain. More often than not it's cloudy, that's when I know you've got your thinking cap on."

"The weather, huh," I repeated. It was an interesting way to describe emotions. "What's the weather in me like now?"

"Black clouds and thunderstorms," she said quickly. "Is it just about Ty?"

My eyes took in the view of the room the auction's staff had asked us to wait in. It was so similar to the first time we'd visited, the same atmosphere of wealth and indulgence. It didn't feel like the kind of place that would trade in slaves.

"Yeah… and no." I sighed. "Did I tell you that Arah and I went to see his parents today?"

Aura shook her head. "That bad, huh?"

"His mom was understandably upset… but it was really his dad who… well, he was always the loud one in the room, you know? Always the first one to crack a joke and invite us to a smash Bros bout," I locked my fingers together as if in prayer. "Today the man barely spoke… he was like my mom."

As my eyes were turned downward, I didn't see Aura get up, but I felt it when she sat next to me on that soft cushioned couch. I felt her arm wrap around my shoulder, and suddenly, I found myself feeling even more emotional.

"Arah blames me, you know," I whispered. "She doesn't say it out loud but I can feel it…"

"She's just lost too, you know," Aura said, placating. "You and her, you're both just desperate to find Ty... and when you do, I bet you'll be right as rain again."

I sniffled. It was nice to be held like this if only for a few seconds and be reminded I was just fifteen, a kid by any standard. It was a fact most people forgot. Hell, even I forget sometimes. I was the boy touched by fire, after all, the young commander with five hundred souls following my lead.

After what felt like an embarrassingly long time, I pulled away from Aura's half-embrace and recomposed myself. Then I glanced sideways at her.

"You think Ashley and Luca are in yet?" I asked.

Aura shrugged. "I'm honestly not sure. They're not exactly the stealthy types, are they? It would be better if we'd brought Thom or Qwipps along instead."

I scratched my head. The task I'd set for Luca and Ashley to infiltrate the auction house and search Kallista's office for clues while we kept her distracted was a long shot at best. Aura was right; the current team wasn't exactly suited for that particular kind of stealth mission.

But no alarms had rung yet so the pair of them might just pull it off. Maybe.

Kallista arrived while I contemplated bringing more suitable troops the next time, greeting me and Aura with a big smile plastered on her face.

"I expected you sooner, Dean," she said, sitting on the couch opposite ours and crossing her legs, making her rather short dress ride up an inch higher.

I gulped and forced myself to look away. It seemed the game was already afoot.

"You already knew we were in the canyon," I guessed, thinking that things had changed and it was now time for a more direct tactic than we'd initially planned.

"Not when you arrived," her eyes twinkled with impish delight. "You've made a capable new friend."

"When, then?" Aura asked.

"A beautiful elven maiden in a golden mask and her dourly human companion were seen wandering the Slave Quarter asking around about something that would normally pique the interest of my little birds," she answered nonchalantly.

Kallista uncrossed her legs and leaned back on the couch.

"I assume you didn't come to me first because you believed me involved?" She was smirking, but the brightening tips of her red hair kind of gave her irritation away. "And here I thought I'd earned your trust."

I cleared my throat. It was time to take charge.

"You have… that's why I didn't come with my army," I said, leaning forward. "But we've received intel from two different sources confirming you'd recently met a slaver company looking to sell a special kind of product…"

Kallista's smile wavered, but I stopped her from talking with a wave of my hand.

"To be clear, nothing in our past dealings makes me believe that you trade in slaves… even if you did, if you discovered a slave with a connection to us, I'm assuming you would have informed me," I reasoned. "Like I said, you've earned our trust."

I glanced over at Aura who nodded her head in agreement.

"The fact that you haven't sent word suggests you never met Ty or learned who he really was," I added. "But I think you did meet with that slaver company, so I'm guessing you turned them away?"

"I did meet a group of slavers claiming to be in possession of a child of magic," Kallista admitted. "And I did turn them away as you guessed. If what they had was the real deal, a true chosen one, then I had no desire to be anywhere near it. Such creatures brought misfortune to those who seek to misuse them."

Hearing the word 'chosen one' describe Ty was blowing my mind, but I did my best to keep my composure. I cleared my throat and soldiered on, storing this info about Ty until I could unpack it properly later.

"So you never saw him?" I asked.

Kallista shook her head. "As I've said, creatures chosen by faith are very hard to manage. They're never good for business."

Hearing proof that Ty really wasn't hidden behind those scarlet drapes at the back of the room wasn't as cathartic as I'd hoped. Sure, it helped to clear the misunderstanding between me and Kallista but now the search was at a standstill.

"And the slavers?" Aura picked up the thread for me. "You wouldn't happen to know where they went after you turned them away, would you?"

Kallista procured a pipe from some hidden pocket behind her dress and lit it using the spark of fire released from the ends of her hair.

"There are few places one can trade such a rare product. It's why they came here, first. The name of the Rings of Fortune Auction House guarantees not only a higher payoff but also security of the goods until it is sold," Kallista explained. "Anywhere else and the chosen one would most likely get stolen from them before they saw even a single Leprechaun."

She took a long puff of her pipe, and then breathed out a deep cloud of violet smoke from her nose.

"After I turned them down, they would most likely seek out our biggest rivals in the central region, the Sunrise Auction in Westersand Desert," Kallista explained. "But that is further west than you're allowed to go, too deep in—"

"—Dominion territory," I finished.

Kallista nodded, taking another puff of her pipe.

Damn, it was another tough hurdle to jump in what was already beginning to feel like a dragged out quest.  

"We would need to ask for Great General Garm's permission to cross the Westersand," Aura added, sounding like the prospect of meeting her estranged uncle wasn't one she was keen on.

"You think he'll let us through?" I asked.

Aura bit on her lower lip before answering. "We can only ask, but I wouldn't get my hopes up, Dean… my uncle has a grudge against me and my brother. He's not likely to agree if he thinks it helps me in any way…"

"Well," Kallista interrupted. "Should you fail in getting permission, I may have another way for you to get to where you need to go."

Before I could ask Kallista more about this other way, a loud banging cut across the silence of the auction house's walls, assaulting our ears with the beating of tribal drums that sounded a lot like the drums in Jumanji.

"Ah, it seems your friends have been found," Kallista smiled wryly back at me. She got up from her seat and said, "Shall we go get them before the security troll do?"

Chapter end