Elmer's breath abruptly caught in his chest, his stomach tensing in return. He was not even sure when his gaze dropped to the floor as he wobbled into his thoughts.
The only people from Andhera that he'd ever seen, before Craig Wiley of course, were those priests on that bloodcurdling night five years ago. And even they had not known his name—at least he had never mentioned it.
Still, was it them? Had they been spying on him and found out his name somehow?
That deduction didn't even make any sense. Why would they go through all the stress for that?
They'd already done what they'd wanted with Mabel, used her as a sacrifice to their God. There was no reason for them to bother with him. And even if he gave those thoughts the benefit of the doubt and it was them, then what could be their reasons? What could it be that they'd lead a corrupted one to him?
If he remembered correctly, during his and Mistress Eleanor's countless failed tries to get the officials in Andhera to take on his and Mabel's case of kidnapping, then the law stated that a resident turned criminal of a city was to be handled by the officials of the city they hailed from.
Using that logic for bounty hunters and corrupted ones, then shouldn't this Craig Wiley have been tagged and taken care of in Andhera? It made no sense for those from the Upper Echelon of the Church of Souls to willingly let him leave the city. At least, with all Elmer had heard from Ms. Edna and Eddie, that should have been the case.
No matter how protected by the law they seemingly were, they shouldn't be stupid enough to cause a city like Ur troubles with a corrupted one from their own city.
Ur was not Meadbray. It was under the jurisdiction of a Magistrate, and it had a Church and a God. If the Church of Time took it up for the troubles it caused, the Church of Souls would never go scot free. It would never pan out the way it had done with what had happened to him at Meadbray.
But somehow Craig had left, and with the help of this messenger who had said he should find him at that.
It was not adding up. Those priests would never take such a risk—at least their Church wouldn't let them.
So if the only ones he had come in contact with from Andhera were not those who made up this 'messenger', then who in the world was it?
Elmer's head throbbed hard from all the thinking, his heart doing the same.
"You…You spaced out."
Elmer gasped at those words, and sharply raised his eyes back up to see Craig staring at him halfheartedly from the end of the warehouse. He tightened his shoulders once again, waking them up from their momentary slump as he firmly held his revolver up.
"Why are you still pointing?" Craig whimpered. "You were the one not listening… I was talking… You were not listening." His voice slowly had a spike. "You were not!!"
"Calm down!" Elmer shot back, his heart beating fast. "Just… Calm down."
Craig inhaled sharply. "But I am calm. This is me being calm… You were not listening…"
"I am now," Elmer said, his words coming out with caution. "Just say it all slowly. I am listening."
Elmer made up his mind at this moment to not distract himself any longer no matter what he heard. It was a bad call to do so. He was to listen to all of Craig's words and decipher a way to get a hold of The Warlock's Torch through them. Whoever this messenger was, and whatever was their motive, had to wait. The Pathway of Time took priority.
Craig Wiley continued in his usual erratic stammering, "I… I said it was sudden. I still don't know why it happened or how, but I heard screams at night. In… In my sleep. I tell you, they were loud and crazy ones!" His voice skyrocketed as he finally dropped his arm from his face, exposing the dreadful countenance that made up both halves, one due to the maggots, and the other because of some past scar that he had now recalled. "You don't want to hear them, trust me! They'll run you mad. They ran me mad!" He gasped sharply, then lowered his tone. "No. No. I'm not mad. I'm fine. I'm perfectly fine. There's nothing wrong with me. I… I just have to use the torch and I can go back home to Rose and Ella. Yes. Yes. I can." His eye, which had been dropped to the floor, flew back up to Elmer instantly. "Come. Quickly. Quickly now!"
Elmer maintained his calm stance, knowing that keeping his inner fears caged was the only way to come out on top in this confrontation.
Coolly and collectedly, he voiced, "You've told me nothing yet." Craig Wiley's chin which had been raised up in an exaggerated manner, lowered at once. "Like I said, I will only help you once you have told me all about your interactions with the messenger. I think you should start talking about that if you really want to go home. There's not much time to spare—for either of us."
Elmer really did mean that, but it only pertained to himself.
He had been frightened that 'The Warlock's Torch' would have already been used, but having judged the current scenario that was unfolding before him, he had come to the conclusion that it wasn't the case. Somehow, his help was needed to use the artifact, causing it to be brought directly to him.
Why exactly was his help needed though? He would get to that soon enough, hopefully. But he could not shake off the feeling that the unfolding of this event was a bit too tailored to suit him.
He who was in need of the artifact is suddenly the one person required to help the one who had stolen the artifact?
It felt like something out of a theater play.
Was the messenger an ally? Did they know of his plight of being in the Pathway of Souls?
Impossible. That was even a harder thing to find out than his name. Unless… The messenger was actually his landlord!
A nonsensical deduction, in truth.
Craig had been told since he was in Andhera to find Elmer, at that point in time he had not yet even become an Ascender. It was in no way feasible for his landlord to be the—
No! How was that even remotely possible? If he followed his feeling that this event was tailored to suit his needs and the messenger being an ally, then didn't that mean that the messenger had known he would join the Pathway of Souls and seek The Warlock's Torch even before he had tried to become an Ascender?
That was like seeing into the future. How could he believe that to be the case?
Elmer's heart raced faster than it had already been. There was something he was missing.
"I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I want to go home. I'll talk," Craig resumed. "The maggots grew on my face each night, one at a time. Because of that I visited as many alchemists as I could, but none could tell me why it was happening. They suggested that I go to the Church, but… I… I couldn't. The Church scares me!"
Elmer's brows narrowed. "What? Aren't you a worshiper of the God of Souls?"
And why didn't the alchemists report you for showing signs of corruption…? It's similar to my landlord agreeing to keep my real pathway a secret even though he did not owe me any loyalty… Is it something like a doctor's oath, keep clients' situations a secret if they want…?
"I… I am," Craig answered. "It doesn't mean I can't be scared of the Church." Craig shivered suddenly as though a bucket of ice water had been poured onto his body. "No one knows what the Church does to those they term insane. They never return. What do you think they'll call me with maggots growing on my face? They won't even believe that I didn't take part in any dark rituals. They won't listen to anything I have to say. I was scared. I… I had to resolve it without getting the Church involved.
"And… It was then that I saw the letter at my doorstep. It was from the messenger. It told me about the ability that came with my plight and how I could control it, what route I could take to sneak out of Andhera without getting noticed, where to find the artifact that'll save me from my distress, and that I would meet you, my savior, Elmer Hills, at the time I took hold of it."
Elmer's neck stiffened, and this time it was he who was blanketed by the sensation of a bucket of ice water whooshing down his body from head to toe.
Every single word that had come out of Craig's half lip was nothing short of creepy. In fact, if there was a greater word then it would no doubt be deserving of that.
"Heh, I didn't believe it at the time. After all, why would a random person decide to help me? What was their aim? But… I took the chance regardless. I was desperate for help. And when I saw you that night, I… I was so happy that I was unable to control my ability, and I almost killed you." An eerie half-grin appeared on Craig's face. "Thankfully I didn't. But you ran away before I could talk to you. I… I couldn't chase after you so I left a spiritual message as the messenger had taught me to do in that room in hopes that you would return to the apartment. We… We are connected after all. And you being here proves it."
As Elmer had expected, he could not make any sense of what was going on. Every single statement from Craig gave him the impression that this messenger had known all of his steps even before he had taken them, and had planned ahead for this moment.
Looking at such from the point of view of someone who had even just a bit of common sense, that was in no way reasonable. It was not something that should be possible. Surely he was just overthinking things. And if he was not, then he was back to wondering about what he'd tried to push aside… Who in the world was this messenger?
"I've told you all you wanted to hear." Craig breathed heavily as though he was finally losing his wits and slowly turning into a mad animal. Then he smiled again, a half smile with the only remaining part of his lip that spelled humanity. "You're my savior, Elmer Hills. So come quickly… Come and save me."