Chapter 35

Autumn yawned as she blinked the sleep out of her eyes. As much as she wished she could laze around, her stomach's pressing need for food was more enticing.

Autumn glanced out a window, the sky dark and speckled with stars. Unexpectedly, they had slept through the afternoon sun all the way until nightfall.

Autumn glanced towards Ember's sleeping form, debating if she should wake her. Deciding against it, she made her way down the tree.

'Where was the kitchen again?' She asked herself.

The maze like corridors reminded Autumn of the dungeon they had previously been trapped in.

The walls seemed to press closer on her, the shadows lengthening and looming with a sense of foreboding.

Autumn shivered. It wasn't good to let her imagination get the best of her. Their situation with the adventurers had been sorted out, and Autumn had adapted to her eye injury. Khrona could do it, so she could too. Although…Khrona was a bit special.

Autumn forced herself to think of other things, effectively drawing her attention away from the eerie silence of the night. Even so, doors became harder to open due to her fear of something watching, just waiting for her to peer her head in.

'On second thought, maybe I should wake Ember,' Autumm hastily decided as she spun around.

'But…which door was it?'

Autumn cursed the unnecessary large property the adventurers owned. It was a show of extravagant wealth, she decided. With a bit of disdain and envy she recalled the trick her and Ember had used to make gold coins from mud.

Chuckling a bit, Autumn was able to distract herself.

After calming herself down, Autumn carefully traced her scent back to where it was strongest. Luckily, while they were exploring earlier they moved quickly due to excitement. That, as well as the amount of time that passed allowed her to trace her scent much easier.

'I may be a wolf,' Autumn mused, 'but sometimes I wonder if I'm a cat instead.'

'It should be this door,' Autumn finally decided.

Twisting the doorknob and pushing the door open, Autumn heaved a sigh of relief.

It was only now that she realized how fast her heart was beating. The possibility of something jumping out to scare her was constantly looming in the back of her head, and it didn't help that she was unsure of Khrona's location.

'Last time I checked, he was sleeping.' Autumn nervously glanced around, her eyes adjusted to the darkness even though she possessed no night vision.

Her stomach rumbled softly, reminding Autumn of her mission.

"If Ember wakes up, I'd feel a lot safer,' she decided, placing her emotional stability into the hands of Ember.

Unfortunately, Autumn had yet to discover how deep a sleeper she was. The day's events had tired her out, and the safety the adventurers represented allowed her to fall into a deep sleep.

Contradicting thoughts plagued Autumn. Food, or safety? Autumn wracked her head for an answer, instead deciding to stare out the window and pray for the sun to rise quickly.

'The more you think about time, the slower it passes.' Tik. Tok. Tik. Tok. A clock played in her head.

The sound grated on her ears, causing her to pin them to her head as she attempted to find the source of the sound. Oddly enough, there was not a clock in sight.

Autumn knew it wasn't due to her inferior vision at night, because when she covered her ears, the sound did not muffle.

'Its in my head,' she realized.

Autumn suddenly became aware of the empty space behind her back. She convinced herself that if she looked behind her, something would be there.

Her distress was rapidly growing worse, to the point where she would enjoy the company of Khrona opposed to being alone with her thoughts.

'At least I know what freaks me out about Khrona. I can't fight my thoughts.'

Autumn shifted into her wolf form, scaling the tree and curling up beside Ember. The rise and fall of Ember's chest was a soothing comfort, even as Autumn's eyes darted around the room.

Autumn knew she would be exhausted later in the day. They were scheduled to head to Greyrose City the following morning, which would surely be packed with things to do.

Thinking of this, Autumn forced her eyes shut. Not that it mattered much, anyways.

With her vision blocked, Autumn's other senses became hyperaware of her surroundings.

Her ears were able to paint an image in her head, as if she was seeing the world through a colorless lense.

But…something was off. What was the strange figure in the middle of the room? It was probably Khrona, she convinced herself. Panic began to reemerge as she angled her ears in that direction. The figure…seemed almost transparent…Ember's rhythmic breathing almost too slow…the room a bit too dark and the stars too dim.

Ignorance is bliss, Autumn realized. 'What am I going to do?'