The Temple of Harym (3)

"What did you say?!" the woman then exclaimed.

'Maybe that wasn't such a good idea' Aldryn then decided, looking nervously around himself.

"You think?" the fox then drawled, "For the record... If your end up with a knife in your back that woman... Harym's apostle? She's not a bad substitute for a host" it then joked, causing the blonde to frown and take a step closer to Ylvis.

"We….no, I think that the Scavengers are after you. After you and every apostle in this region", the blonde then said, gathering some of his courage, his eyes continuing to dart all over the room.

"How do you know that?" she then said, her voice lowered, emitting danger.

"Hit a soft spot?" the fox suddenly mocked her reaction.

To that, Aldryn didn't know how to reply.

'You know... If any of us would take a knife to the back it would definitely be you' he commented and only heard a low growl.

"I'm not sure", the blonde then said truthfully, snapping his attention back to the woman, "But please…trust me", he pleaded.

"I see…so that's how it is", another voice then rang out and another woman approached the trio.

Her approach has also caused another chaos to ring around the establishment.

"It's her!" a woman assassin exclaimed.

"It's our Goddess", a man then said looking unable to tear his eyes from the beautiful woman.

Such comments begun to quickly appear one after another around the bar. Even some rangers looked like they recognized the woman and averted their gaze, afraid of being caught staring.

"I heard rumours and rushed here personally", she then said and approached the two priests and apostle.

"Rose", the apostle of Harym greeted her in a friendly manner, not bothering to acknowledge the two men shadowing her friend.

"I heard that the Scavengers have been going after different apostles, so I came here to see if you were all right", Rose said with worry in her eyes.

Despite not recognizing the name, Aldryn could feel power emitting from the new woman. Rose, he made quick note of the name. She must have been a formidable assassin to have the admiration of all the present people, considering their daytime jobs.

"So it's true?!" the apostle exclaimed

"We should move this to a more private room" Rose then said, eyeing the other people present in the small tavern with calculating eyes.

With a nod, the apostle led everyone to the back. She unlocked a door using a key attached to the hip and then closed it firmly behind her.

"Speak" she said, looking between the two Oracles and the assassins.

"We have heard about temples and villages being destroyed", Ylvis begun to explain, "And all of them had traces of Shyra passing through".

"So we begun to search for a connection" Aldryn then nodded.

"And it was us? The Apostles?" she then asked doubtful, "But how are the Scavengers implicated in that?".

"I'm not sure", the blonde said truthfully.

"Regardless", Rose then intervened, "His words are true. The Scavengers have been after Apostles of the South."

"And Shyra? She is the Oracle of Darkness no?" the apostle then asked, looking at Ylvis.

"She is... But we do not know anything about her connection with the Scavengers", he replied and then glanced at Aldryn, who could not look him in the eyes.

"Truthfully", Ylvis then spoke again, "Zevram and me thought that it was her who was attacking the temples."

"So you came here out of responsibility" the woman then mocked.

"No!", Aldryn then nearly shouted. His voice was angry, "We came here because innocent people are dying and we can help" he said firmly.

"Fine", the apostle of Harym then sighed defeated, "I am sorry for my rude behaviour from earlier. My name is Ye Shin" she introduced herself.

"Now that you know about this we should go... while you prepare" Ylvis then said.

"I thought that you were here to help?" Rose then asked curiously, "Surely you haven't made all this way just to give us a warning."

'Yeah... we did' both the blonde and the fox thought at the same time.

"There is still another temple that they will target before arriving here. Zevram is keeping an eye on it and since his messenger is still silent, it must mean that the Scavengers haven't attacked yet" Aldryn explained.

"Are you talking about the Temple of the Love Goddess?" Ye Shin then asked, "It is the nearest one."

"Yes", Yvlis nodded, "She is the next target. We will go and help. Hopefully we will be skilled enough to stop them."

"I didn't know about this one" Rose silently said to herself, "Nonsense" she then shouted, "If those beasts are targeting my friend then it is my duty to teach them a lesson for even thinking this" she spoke firmly, while the men behind her nodded in agreement.

'Why do I feel like there is an ulterior motive here' the blonde gave her a strange look.

"I will also go" Ye Shin then said with a nod, "The two Oracles are right, as much as it pains me to say" she admitted with a sight, "I have to help."

With the decision made, the two Priests and Rose left the room, allowing Ye Shin to quickly prepare herself for the journey.

The three of them went back to the bar, where Ye Shin's assistant took care of the counter and offered them some hot drinks.