The remaining pages after Viom's book were empty. Ahri closed it and softly pressed it against her chest, as a child pressed it's toy against it's chest for comfort. Tears began to stream down her cheeks. Two words spun inside her head now, two words.
Auhrei, Shon-Xan.
Auhrei, Shon-Xan.
Auhrei, Shon-Xan.
Another question popped up. "What if?"
"Foxy, what happened?" Lanius approached her and sat down next to her. He seemed concerned. Ahri looked at him and wiped the tears off her face. She then handed him the book.
"Is there something about the book?" he asked.
"I think I finally found something." she said with a bitter smile.
.
.
.
The young man closed the book after he was done. He then wiped another tear from her cheek. "I see." he simply said.
"What if?" Ahri asked him. "What if I'm the little unborn Auhrei?" she now touched her forehead. "I'll finally have something about my family."
"The Winters book also has information about the Vesani. See the matter from all sides." he now said.
"All sides? What do you mean? Auhrei could easily be wrongfully pronounced Ahri...and Shon-Xan didn't need an explanation." her voice began to crack mid way, but Lanius placed both of his hands on her shoulders, prompting her to stop.
"If you want to search for them, you will. I'll also help you, you don't have to worry about that. You're free to go back to Ionia now. I have to stay here in order to find clues about the rune. I'll come to assist you later. Together we have more information and more opportunities to find them." he said.
Ahri now hugged him. Another time he comforted her. Another time he showed that he was a good friend.
She let go and watched him take a necklace with a yellow stone and hand it to her. "It's an Echo Amber." he told her. "It shows you the memories of those that possessed an item or object." he took her hand and approached a deactivated golem. "Touch it with one hand and hold the crystal with the other.
Ahri did so and the scene appeared in front of her eyes like vision. She saw two vesani construct it and then activate it.
She then looked again at the young man and smiled." Thanks...for everything you've done so far."
"Well, they're not many." he muttered.
"Don't say that, it takes courage to let a portion of your soul be consumed on a daily basis." she explained.
"Well...I suppose mine's like a liver, it regrows." he joked.
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.
.
"Where have you two been?" Kayn asked. Ahri sighed and sat down by the fire. The young man also sat down next to her, they both looked exhausted. After giving her the echo amber, they searched the hole place for memories.
They found a plethora, or rather Lanius found. After he was done, Ahri hit two birds with one stone, as she took her dose of essence. The good part with Lanius was that he never lost his memories, and instead just gave a perfect copy to Ahri, otherwise he'd not even remember his name at that point.
Kayn looked at Lanius , then at Ahri, then back to Lanius and smirked. "Oh...I see..." he said.
The young man and the vesani growled at him at the same time. They were in no mood for puns.
"Well where have YOU been all that time? Akali disappeared with you a few hours ago and you two returned later." Xayah asked.
Kayn rolled his eyes in defeat. "Fair enough." he said through his teeth. Akali just burst out laughing and soon everyone followed, even Farru and the elder Sentinel, who mostly looked calm and collected.
"Right, be sure to get some rest, tomorrow we'll have to cross the Isles to reach the main land. Farru, will Nagakabouros keep us safe?" Lanius asked.
"The Bearded Lady will assist you, but you will have to do the work yourself. My artifact must be used only in emergencies." Farru replied. "I am sorry, but I cannot do otherwise."
Lanius shrugged and didn't say anything else.
.
.
.
"Gods, what is this thing?" Sett asked with disgust.
"Bilgewater citrus." Farru replied.
"How can you eat this? It's so bitter." Sett tossed the fruit over his shoulder and took a gulp from his water bottle, trying to remove the taste from his tongue.
"I know, but it's the best we got in here. Ionian citrus are few and pricy, and the risk of scurvy is also big. Eventually you'll get used to it." Farru replied.
"Thanks for the offer, but I'll pass." Sett continued to walk along.
"Could you keep it down?" the Rookie asked. "It would be better if you didn't drag the whole wraith population of the Isles here."
"Yeah, yeah. Don't they like already know where we are?" Sett asked.
"Not really. They sense you, but that's pretty much it." the elder Sentinel replied.
As the next day came, the crew got ready and left the vault for the main temple. They were now in the middle of a plain. They could see the temple in the horizon.
"I wonder what we'll find there." Kayn muttered.
"Death...and Ruination." the Rookie replied.
"Mostly Ruination, I suppose." Akali exclaimed, seeing the floating debris in the air.
Lanius looked around him. So many ruins...
The young man sighed. He wanted to get done and distance himself from the Isles as much as he could. He wanted to find answers, the rune and liberate Ionia, avenge his tribe...
But more than anything, he wanted to help Ahri. He wanted her to find her own answers. And he would help her.
Farru and the Sentinels suddenly stopped. Lanius had a bad feeling about this...a very bad feeling. The whispers in the background grew louder and louder.
Xayah and Rakan heard it at the same time as him, drawing their feathers. Sett and Ahri a second later.
He saw him, the centaur lead the front of the attack.
Lanius knew that this could only mean one thing...
Death.
And death then and there wasn't an option. The army of the dead men approached from the direction of the city. They had to both run and fight...better start with fighting.