“Oh,” Kre said, blinking his eyes as he took in her words of seemingly prophetic doom. “So… that sounds better?” His voice cracked just a bit at the end, and he was thankful that Kitalia either hadn’t heard it or was mercifully ignoring it.
Bel shrugged, “Creatures of flesh and blood, I can better empower you against. Here, in this place, the spirit of the priest you met is simply far too powerful for me to handle with you two being so vulnerable. He made that very clear when I was unable to draw you back from his illusionary world after he pulled you in.”
“In fairness to you, you had no idea he was even a force to be reckoned with, did you?” Kre wasn’t sure now if Kitalia was trying to make Bel feel better or worse. Her words seemed to be sympathetic, but her tone had that familiar edge to it that seemed to indicate otherwise.
“Thank you dear, but like the choices of foolhardy youth, that is hardly something to be proud of.” Bel’s own words were said in a grandmotherly tone but bore the exact same sardonic edge as Kitalia’s own.
It was almost enough to force Kre to take a step back to avoid being in the middle of this wordless war. Sadly, it was only through personal experience that his instincts were thus honed. He couldn’t count the number of times that he awkwardly and, usually, unknowingly stepped into these kinds of incidents back in his village. It was so bad that his friends had a running joke about it, much to his dismay.
There was far too much silence and yet far too many words being spoken through the eyes of both Bel and Kitalia. Kre wisely kept his mouth closed until it was Kitalia who shifted her eyes first. No matter how curious he was, Kre knew that he would never learn why it was that she broke the gaze. In his own mind, he assumed that it was only some sheer mental magic possessed by dragons that could defeat Kitalia’s own steel will, but he would have to be satisfied with his own imagination in that respect.
“Now then,” Bel continued sweetly, “as I said, the path from here won’t be easy, but I think it is far less dangerous than trying to battle a city full of angry spirits.”
“Agreed,” Kitalia murmured, still not locking eyes with Bel. “If it is going to be a spelunking slog, however, I had best prepare myself appropriately.” She turned sharply on her heel and returned to the small back room where the two had rested just a short time before.
“I don’t really have any idea how to prepare for his,” Kre admitted. “Should I at least find a serviceable stick or something? Maybe some of the sharper rocks here would work if I can fashion a sling or something. Would that even work?”
Bel chuckled and sighed, all at the same time. A dreamy sort of sound in any other time and place. Here, underground in the ruins of a city full of demon spirits that wanted to consume their souls, Kre felt that the sound was just one more indication that he had no business leaving his sheep behind.
“Unarmed is as good as alone down here. It’s dangerous to go alone. Take this,” she said, her words almost an incantation of sorts, invoking a deep, golden-edged memory from somewhere within his soul.