The piercing gaze of that awful rat found itself resting on Kali's fallen figure. Her legs had given away beneath her out of fear as she felt her body violently trembling. The inquiring family's cries found themselves on deaf ears as the rest of the world seemed to fade away. Colors seemed to mix together and fade to black as all that was left was Kali and Eodum. Eodum's glowing white eyes kept themselves locked on Kali. Eodum was talking and keeping its lizard eye on the crowds, but Kali could feel the watch of its true eyes lingering on her.
"Kali, what's wrong!?" The call of Freyr reached her as she was shaken by her shoulder, "Are you okay!?"
As the world redeveloped and her senses came back, she slowly and unsteadily rose back to her feet. She wobbled a slight bit as her legs kept trembling beneath her. She plastered on another fake smile, "I-I'm fine, my legs just felt w-weak all of a sudden."
"We should get Kali back inside so she can lay down." Luara suggested.
Freyr nodded in agreement, "Yeah, I think that'd be for the best." Kali was led home by her parents while Basil followed shortly behind.
Basil kept turning back to see Eodum; he noticed how Kali had been terrified when she saw the stranger. Her face was similar to that when she had first returned: pale, empty, and fearful. Was that person the reason behind her return and her fear? Who were they? What had they done to make his sister like this?
In the end, Basil didn't know, but he wanted to know despite his own fear of the stranger. It wasn't the same fear as that of a phobia, no, it was closer to that of the fear of darkness. That of the unknown.
As the pale wooden door closed behind the family, Kali stumbled back into her room. She closed the door leaving her family to their own devices. For the moment, she just wanted to be alone to think.
Nomed was gone. She could see its smoking figure on the horizon behind Eodum. She could only assume that it was Eodum that caused the destruction; it did have its true form revealed during the battle with Ksilisab. Then again, Eodum was calculating and cold, and this didn't seem like the most logical route to take.
… Maybe something else happened after she left? She had left soon after Eodum formed its new party, Void Horse, so anything that happened afterwards would be a mystery for her.
As Kali sat in a corner of her room, she overheard Basil talking, "I'm gonna go see what this new person is all about, bye!" Her eyes shot open. Her brother? Near that thing? No way in hell!
She opened her room's door quietly. She wanted to sneak out of the house to avoid telling her parents why she was suddenly feeling like moving about. Kali silently exited the house and looked around for Basil. She saw him rushing to the slowly dispersing crowd of people, but then he hid behind a building just like she was doing. Basil was keeping an eye on Eodum and its party while staying as silent as could be.
What was he doing? What was the purpose of this? Why would he have any reason to sneak around? As questions whirled around in her head, Eodum began to move. At this point, most of the villagers had walked away, the initial surprise of the strangers fading. Eodum and its crew made its way down the street, heading straight for the Egall Inn.
The three got close to the inn, but then they made a sudden turn into an alley, disappearing from sight. Basil pressed on, swiftly following the three into the alley. Kali followed suit, wanting to keep her brother from dying. However as she made the sharp turn into the alley, she found herself next to Basil with a stinger-like blade at his throat. Another stinger flew right in front of her own neck as she stiffened with fear.
"Hello Kali," Eodum said in an ominous tone, "It's been a while, hasn't it."
Kali felt herself stiffen, and she tried to swallow down her fear with a gulp, "H-Hey Eodum, it has h-hasn't it? Say, wh-why don't we just all c-calm down, and not stab my b-brother and I's throats, yeah?"
Henry's eyes sharpened, "That depends on why you were following us."
"I was following you because you were suspicious," Basil announced confidently, "Don't know why she's here."
Kali could feel a vein appear on her forehead, "I was trying to make sure you didn't end up dead somewhere!"
"I can take care of myself, I don't need you following after me!" Basil retorted, starting to get caught up in the irritation the siblings felt towards each other. The arguing continued for a while longer, the entirety of the Void Horse party getting visibly annoyed.
"ENOUGH!" Eodum yelled out, the stinger on its tails penetrating their skin. A squeak came from Basil's throat while his sister winced at the slight penetration of skin, "Kali, you most likely know what happened to Nomed, yeah?"
"Y-Yes." Kali responded sheepishly.
"Alright then," Eodum started, "Let's keep things simple: you keep your mouth shut, and this village isn't torn to shreds in a battle. Purple minotaur, this deal applies to you too."
"A-Alright." The two siblings complied in unison.
Eodum nodded its human-esque head, "Good, looks like we've come to an understanding." Slowly, the stinger pulled away from the duo's throats and they felt the air they held in let itself out in a couple of wheezes. Sheila rushed over and healed them up with her spells. The stinging they'd felt had disappeared along with the small damage done by the stinger, but there was still the blood that had run out of the wound. Basil gasped a few times before a basil-like smell wafted through the air.
"What's that sme-," Kali started pondering out loud before coming to a realization, "Oh shit, the poison!"