['I lied about everything.']
Antenela was dumfounded, but considering it could be part of the ploy she remained calm.
'What do you mean by that Franck, what did you lie about?'
He gulped.
Under Breath, Robert whispered 'What are you doing?'
'I think it's part of the act.' Antenela whispered back in Franck's defence.
Franck began to stutter, attempting to collect his words and phrase out whatever statement he needed to say in the best way possible.
The more he struggled to speak, the more it became probable that he wasn't pretending.
'Franck, What did you lie about?' This time Antenela spoke with a more stern tone, she was growing impatient with him.
'The little girl...'
They all turned and looked at Elsie.
'What about her?'
'She shouldn't be here, with her here our pursuit of The Book of Silver Thoughts is in vain.'
'Franck you're not making any sense!'
The pair of them had become agitated with Franck.
'I - i was naive, i overheard her talking about the book so i thought that taking her to the real thing would help undo my wrongs, i thought she could help me redeem myself, but every single minute that goes by i realise how wrong i was.'
The two were perplexed and rightly so, they didn't know whether what'd he just said was true or entirely false but from the look of regret etched on the cat's face it was safe to assume that it was true.
But the legitimacy of his statements mattered little compared to the now burning urge to know what this great blunder he needed to correct was and why he needed a child to do it.
Before they could organise their thoughts in a meaningful manner and construct a set of questions which they would direct towards the talking feline they were disrupted by the prompt and unexpected awakening of Elsie.
Now free from her unconscious state she murmured the same phrase continuously to the point where it got a bit disturbing.
'Find the book and you find home! Find the book and you find home! Find the book and you find home! Find the book and you find home! ...'
She repeated this several times until Antenela eventually attempted to stop her, she may have been awake but she still wasn't fully conscious. Antenela placed her hands on Elsie's shoulders and tried to break her zombie like state shaking her incessantly.
Unable to wake, the commotion from her worried companions grasped the attention of the guards at the top who notified the guards at the gate and had them approach the group in order to properly assess the situation, with them came along Sage and Theodochus.
'What is the issue?' wondered Theodochus.
'I don't know, something's wrong with her!' cried out an increasingly worried Antenela.
'Elsie! Elsie wake up!' Antenela persisted in her attempts.
Everyone else watched on, standing by like passengers mere passengers in a train station.
Unable to stand and watch any longer Franck got involved, hoping she would recognise his cheesy french accent. Robert too half heartedly began to shake the kid but neither of them were met with an encouraging response.
She continued to murmur, her skin grew pale, hear pulse was thready and weak, and her eye balls were fully engulfed in pitch black.
It was understandable why concern was beginning to splurge out so haphazardly, such a sight was not a kind one to the eye regardless of who was looking. Some even grew fearsome that she could well be on her way.
Regardless of the trying circumstances, Theodochus and Sage maintained their composure. Sage was unconcerned more than anything for obvious reasons, his partner on the contrary bore a sympathetic expression on his face, for all his admirable characteristics (in the eyes of Sage mainly) the faun was still very much an empath with a soft spot for humans.
After a few more moments of fruitless endeavour, someone interrupted. A lanky, hunched man in a purple robe decorated with similar henna-like drawings to those of Ayosha and co. emerged from the mouth of the tiger hut. He had a knee long beard and even longer locks on his head, both coloured orange.
His face was so vastly covered in scars and wrinkles that it was difficult to make out exactly what he looked like, that and the thick beard on his face.
His purple eyes popped out intimidatingly and he wore a variety of beads around his wrists and neck, all in different colours, presumably each one had a specific meaning or purpose, he even had some around his ankles.
'What's all the racket about?'
They were all inanimate, his appearance was so sudden it caught all of them off guard. No one was ready to speak just yet, partly because they didn't understand his language but also becayse they were still caught in the devastation of the situation that was unfolding before them.
Not knowing what to do Sage immediately bowed to the old man assuming it was standard procedure to follow in the presence of a significantly powerful male bearing titulary status.
'Get up you fool!' The chief grunted at him once again using the unknown tongue.
'Sorry, but we don't do that here.' Ayosha comforted him.
'Bowing is considered the act of a slave here in Erika and doing so would imply that the chief of Erika is a slave master. Given our history, we don't take too kindly to such a gesture, so please refrain from doing it again.'
Theodochus translated.
'Oh.' Sage responded embarrassingly 'Forgive my insolence.'
The old man re-directed his focus toward Ayosha.
'So this is them?'
'That's right chief.'
He turned back to the group 'I'm listening.' He eagerly said to them.
They all turned to Theodochus, they could tell he expected an explanation but each one of them was now cautious of acting in way that would be considered disrespectful or offensive.
But the faun didn't break sweat, he remained calm as usual, he was the only one that could understand their language afterall.
'Chief of Erika, i am Theodochus: Protector of the wild. Traversing with me is my partner Sage and a group of travellers from the west we share a common goal with.'
'That goal being to attain The Book of Silver Thoughts, correct?'
'Yes, we do hope that you may be able to help us find it.'
'What is your purpose with the book?'
'I believe your noble liegeman has already relayed that information...'
Antenela interrupted.
'Theodochus! please, get him to help Elsie!'
...
The old man peaked at her and the incapacitated Elsie.
'That girl? is she dead?' He pointed at Elsie with his twig like index finger.'
'Her heart still beats, but it seems she may be on death's doorstep, we have no idea what the cause could be.'
'Theodochus! please, ask him to help her!'
Antenela desperately continued to shout as she held Elsie in her arms, the kid was now slowly fading away, only soft, faded breaths formulated as evidence that her life was still intact.
'How do you know that?' The chief furthered the conversation while simultaneously mending his sleeves as if he were about to perform some ritual.
'Know what?' Theodochus questioned.
'About her heart, she looks dead to me.'
'I can hear it.'
'I see.'
The chief lifted his right arm, and opened his palm.
As he did so the beads on his wrist began to glow brightly; a purple smoke then diffused from his hand wrapping around Elsie and lifting her into the air.
An interesting situation unfolded as he revealed that he too was a magic user just like Theodochus but he channeled his abilities through his beads.
Shortly after, he laid the girl back down and provided a diagnosis. She had been possessed by a spirit and was in a trance like state, similar to experiencing a lucid dream or an elongated sleep paralysis.
An exorcism was required, so he instructed Ayosha to take her inside and perform one. The rest were to stay outside until they had been cleared by the chief.