I. Doubts.
Killion frowned at the expression on the woman face even as the woman rose up to float up high into the sky where she congregated with the other two Great.
What was he even supposed to make of that comment? His frown grew deeper as he watched them convene to discuss their findings without involving him or his group and for this reason, he felt annoyed. There was a pool of blood in the middle of the square and several groups of bodies or people scattered all over the place and all he had to go with was her uncertainty? Maybe he was tired or hungry but her attitude and lack of trust for him or his group aggravated him. Hadn't they left Bethesda and given their resources in order to help them? Sure he would still have looked for Havillah himself, but his team did not have to and yet they had given their blood and sweat to this mission. Why was she closing him off now that they were this close to finding her?
He looked away from the sky and turned back to his group who even then were perusing the area, taking care to do so stealthily in order to avoid rousing the attention of the people in the town.
Having nothing else to do, Killion looked around the square and studied the place. He had never been out this far west, but he was glad to observe that the design of the town was much like the ones that existed further east from it. In essence this meant that, like every other typical town, all the shops congregated around the centre while the rows of houses were located much further outwards extending out towards the wall. At this time though, all the shops were closed, despite there being lights that burnt brightly from all the windows and every corner in the square.
They should have been visible he knew, to any observing eye that was looking, but the row of shops around the square obstructed the view of most if not all the houses from seeing what was actually happening there. Despite all this, it still worried him that now one had come out, taking into account the single burst of light that Havillah had apparently emitted and the commotion that had obviously taken place there. It had done nothing in the way drawing the people's attention or even their presence towards the town's square.
What did that mean? Was there something that the town was scared more of than these things that were now writhing in the square? Killion thought as his eyes went out to the surrounding jungle and back at the the still squirming bodies that remained littered on the square's cobbled floor. "But of course, they must know of the terror and maybe, it is not actually safe to be out here in the open like we are doing now." He finally concluded as he lifted up his comm device to communicate with his group. They were not that far off, but he did not want to risk shouting and drawing the attention of whatever terror that haunted this place.
"Stay close and be on guard." He told them. "We do not know what did this or what kind of terrors stalk this place." Killion sent out the word to let his people know to be alert even as they continued to comb through the place and study the aparations that may have once been humans, but were now simply ghouls that bore no shred of the soul that made up a human.
"What kind of terror would have done this anyway?" The voice of Gabriel cracked in his earpiece as he cleverly manouvered the masses to reach his Captain's side. "They are like shrivelled husks that have somehow maintained their faculties of speech. That one of there has been saying no over and over again and there is even one that is actually shedding tears. That aside, they appear to be quite violent if you touch them or go quite close." His captain did not answer him. Instead, Killion gazed back at the floating trio who were still emersed in conversation floating up some several feet above the square.
What were they doing? his brows furrowed. Were they discussing the scene before them or were they simply thinking of a way to seek out the girl who was even now eluding them. She had to be some where around here. Killion concluded. Was she hiding after we what she had done? Was it because of guilt that she had left Bethesda in the first place? He shook his head. There were too many unknowns in this situation and he could not help but grow suspicious of the trio that even now had not thought to include him in the discussion like they had done before. Had it been all for show? He wondered remembering how the woman had teased him in regards to his feelings towards her own daughter.
What were they trying to hide from him? He wondered thinking back to their powers, Havillah's banishment and the priesthood that had already betrayed humanity once. Living up there in their paradise while humanity perished at the hands of the terrors. Who was to say that they were not responsible? The same hand that could dispel a terror, could it also not have summoned it?
"But could Havillah have done this?" Killion looked back to the pool of blood before turning his gaze up and back at the trio who were still engrossed in their discussion. "Was she the one who had done this to these people?" His heart told him no. However, his mind was now filled with doubts, doubts that he could no longer ignore even as he pondered back to the situation with Selene and what had been her own mother's words. The lady had said that she was sure that Havillah had been the one responsible for the burst of light and even the tech guy confirmed it, saying that her patterns were all over the place mingled with that of the terrors. Add the bodies to that equation and the pool of blood that had left him with more questions than answers and he suddenly felt qeasy as he looked back at Calla.
Could she have been right all along? Was Havillah turning out to be a person who should not have been trusted? Sure, she had saved him, but had he been so blind to her faults that he had endangered the others that he had been tasked to protect? For some reason, he still could not look at Havillah as a malicious type. Despite this, that did not stop the doubts that were swarming in ,"Why did she run away?" His questions multiplied. "What was she running from or was it running to?" Killion wondered as he turned around to find his tech team to search for some much-needed answers. At least, with these ones he was sure, that they would get him straight answers and if it came to it, he trusted that they could help him find her fast and put an end to all this trouble, before yet another person came to some form of harm.
"So?" He walked up to Matthew and seeing this, Calla approached. This time however Killion did not protest her presence or harbor any strained feelings.
"The field here is quite strong, too strong infact for any of the devices to pick up other readings. Therefore, we will have to leave the square to find more info, probably up there, where there is no interference." His said pointing up the mountain.
"Even with a drone, that will take time."
"Yes, and the people are tired." Calla added pointing out to the suited soldiers who were slowly drifting around the place.
" I understand, but something else is worrying me."
"Which is?" Killion questioned.
"The other readings. As we came across the fog outside the town, the readings seemed to spike. At the moment,we thought it was an anomaly, but when we came here we found something else."
"Which is?" This time, the two impatient soldiers each gave him a look prompting him to continue with explanation without another word.
"I was curious and so I decided to look around for the origin of the initial terror patterns and what I found is some residual energy within the town square. On closer examination, the team and I found out that these...these people" he stuttered for luck of a better word "are actually the source of this weakened signal."
"Really?"
"What?"
Both Killion and Calla called in unison.
"A terror inside a person? That is unheard of" Calla questioned the assessment.
"I know. It is strange, but that is what this data here is implying."
"Well then, continue digging up data until you know that for sure. " It sounded harsh, but right now Killion had a lot on his plate including, the possibility of a betrayal to waste his time on assumptions and even now as he looked up to the trio for what was possibly the fifth time, he found himself wondering at the mystery of the whole matter.
"What have we dragged our selves into?" He wondered even as he watched the two younger women hand over small shining objects to the older woman. With the same mysteriousness that she had done everything, the woman held out the objects in her hands infront of her and appeared to close her eyes in deep concentration.
Suddenly her eyes flashed open, the grey irises around her dark pupils flashing silver as she turn around to face the north eastern direction. "There", Killion heard her say and quickly prompted his own men to follow after the women that were now hovering off in that same direction.
Stealthily the group walked swiftly below the trio and soon enough they found themselves before a little metal gate that was also wide open. Slowly Killion and his team walked past the gate and trudged up the hill looking around to keep their movements concealed and silent until they came to a fork with a path which branched off eastwards while the other continued northwards and up the hill.
Following the three women they took the side road and ended up in a grove of trees in the middle of which was a huge house with several lanterns shining around the compound.