Bel blinked her eyes quickly as she looked at Kre with an odd look on her face. With as much diplomacy as she could muster, “You always find ways to surprise me Kre, a rare thing with as many years as I have.” Her words were slow and steady, as if she were taking the time to find the right words so as not to sound belittling or insulting.
“You can speak plainly,” Kitalia said smirking. “He rarely gets insulted even when he does know that he is being insulted.”
Kre just shrugged, fully intending to ignore Kitalia’s attitude when she got in this ill-tempered way. “Whatever,” he muttered. “What are we going to do?”
“About what?” Bel asked.
“About the priest’s request,” he responded. “He said that we won’t have safe passage out of this place unless we take the chalice and scroll with us.”
Bel nodded once and placed a finger on her lips. “That is an issue that I have put off resolving for too long. Normally, my comings and goings aren’t hindered by these spirits. Not all of my kin share my adventurous spirit when it comes to the people you call the Ancients, and I knew that Red and her minions would not follow you here.”
“We will need to circle back to that one,” Kitalia said, as much to give herself a mental reminder as to inform the others. “About why Red is chasing us,” she added, pretty much for Kre’s benefit.
Bel again nodded once, “Yes, indeed. I had thought to hide you here, among the spirits where even her powers cannot scry. Though I did as much as I could, I did not expect that the creatures here would find you and be attracted to you so quickly. It normally takes them hours to form themselves enough to be a threat once they have sniffed out life in their domain, but I the priest’s presence was a factor I had never considered.”
“Can we escape these ruins without the priest’s help?” Kitalia asked warily, uncertain if she wanted to hear the answer.
Bel considered the question for much longer than either Kre or Kitalia would have liked, but it did seem like good news that Bel didn’t instantly give them a negative response either.
“I am going to assume that the direct path will be made hazardous by our spiritual friend. If so, then we still have a handful of options, but none of them direct nor ideal. They all involve dealing with creatures that are best left alone. Even then, if the spirits sniff us out, they can still be a danger no matter which path we take.”
Kre had stifled a small yawn during Bel’s verbal planning, but he couldn’t manage to stop himself from the second, more powerful yawn. “I’m sorry Bel,” he said after he regained the use of his facial muscles. “I think the events of the day are finally catching up to me.”
Both ladies nodded and smiled at him, but it was Kitalia that spoke up first, “Understandable, especially given that crazy run you made to get us both here. I have never been good at telling time underground, but even I can tell that we have not hit evening yet. Still, a nap would be helpful given everything that has happened, and it will give Bel time to come up with something while we get out from underfoot.”