Chapter 263 Disappearing

"You seem to be lost in thought," Titania said as we made our way back to the wagon with Kendra, where Rexa was waiting for us with a worried look on her face.

"Just trying to process everything," I replied honestly as I walked with the girls back to the wagon where Rexa was waiting with the horses.

"I see; well, we will be able to discuss it more once we get more information. I do not think it would be wise to stay here in this village since they are already on edge as it is," Titania said, and I nodded my head in agreement.

"I agree, but where do you think we should start?" I asked

"Well, I think it would be best to start with the blacksmith, Tarna. She has been harassed recently by Carrie's goons, and she might be more willing to talk if we can offer her some protection," Kendra suggested, and I nodded my head.

"Alright, but I am going to see how the girls are doing inside the carriage," I said as I walked around to enter the carriage. It was already getting into the morning, so the girls should have been up and about.

I slowly opened the door, but all I heard was the sounds of breathing and light snores coming from the rooms of the Spatial Lodge. I quietly closed the door and smiled to myself as I walked back over to where the two goddesses, Kendra and Rexa, were waiting for me with the horses.

"Are they alright?" Kendra asked with a worried look on her face, and I nodded my head.

"They are just sleeping, but we should probably get going so we can get to the blacksmith's place," I said and then looked at Rexa. "Do you mind staying to watch over them while we go deal with this?"

Rexa shook her head before replying. "Of course not, my God."

"Thank you, we will be back soon," I said before turning to the women. "Lead the way."

We made our way through the village to the blacksmith's shop, and I could feel the eyes of the people on us as we walked. It was obvious that they were not used to strangers in their town, but I tried my best to ignore it. We finally arrived at the blacksmith's shop, where a middle-aged woman was hammering away at a piece of metal while two other women were watching her with awe.

The moment she saw us enter her shop, she stopped what she was doing and looked at Kendra with confusion. "What are you doing here?"

"I came to warn you about Carrie," Kendra said plainly, and Tarna frowned deeply before gesturing for us to follow her into a back room where no one would be able to hear our conversation. As soon as we entered the room, Tarna closed the door behind us before walking over and sitting down on a stool by her work table. She motioned for Titania and me to sit down in some chairs across from her while Kendra and Goldy took seats on a loveseat.

After we all sat down, Tarna sighed deeply before starting to speak again. "I don't know how much longer I can take this..." Her voice trailed off as if she wasn't sure how much she should say or if she should even say anything at all.

"It is alright; you can trust Galio," Kendra said reassuringly, but Tarna just shook her head before replying.

"It is not that I do not trust her... it is just... difficult." Another deep sigh escaped from between Tarnas lips before she continued speaking again. "Every day since that woman showed up in town, things have been getting worse and worse." She paused briefly as if collecting herself before continuing on with what sounded like a rehearsed speech. "At first, it started out small; things would go missing here or there without any real explanation."

Another pause followed those words, which gave me time to process everything that had been said so far, but there were still parts that I didn't get.

"Who is this woman that she is talking about?" I asked, looking to Kendra for answers.

"Melly, she was sent here by Carrie to help out, but she really hasn't done anything since she came. I think she is just eyes for Carrie, but the Cult activity has started to increase since she came," Kendra explained, and I nodded, running a hand through my hair.

"I see, so the Cult activity has been increasing ever since Melly came to town?" I asked Kendra, who nodded her head before turning back to look at Tarna.

Tarna nodded her head slowly in response to my question before continuing on with what she was saying. "Yes... but it didn't really start getting bad until a few weeks ago."

"What happened a few weeks ago?" I asked, leaning forward slightly in my seat as my interest was piqued.

Tarna looked down at her hands which were now clenched tightly in her lap, before replying. "People started disappearing."

"What do you mean people started disappearing?" I asked, and Tarna looked up at me with a haunted look in her eyes.

"They would go out into the forest to gather some herbs or berries for their morning meal, but they never came back." Tara's voice cracked on the last words, and she had to pause for a moment to collect herself before continuing. "At first, we thought that maybe they just got lost since it has been known to happen before."

She paused again as she took a deep breath before continuing on. "But then we found symbols all around town that match up with those used by the cult."

By this point, Tarna was visibly shaking, and Kendra walked over and placed a comforting hand on her shoulder while Goldy hopped off of the loveseat and made her way over to sit on my lap. I wrapped my arms around Goldy protectively as I listened to what Tarna had to say next. It sounded like things were about to get a lot more complicated than they already were.