The group hurried back to where they had been when they first realized Tommy was missing. Whether there really had been something in that other cavern, or whether it was all in their hyperactive imaginations, that was something they probably would never know for sure.Once they felt they were far enough away, Kryschenn paused, unpinning from her tunic the somehow-magical rose Cole had given her this morning in exchange for her Sgian dubh, and inhaling is sweet fragrance to ground herself and get her bearings again. 'Lucky guys,' she thought of the group who had left earlier to raid Venger's castle. 'They've got to be having a better time than we are. At least they probably don't lose members of their party under mysterious circumstances.' They were probably being heroes out there, and today she'd assured that they'd receive nothing even close to a hero's welcome when they returned to Yarfell.
Time to focus on the situation at hand. Looking around in the light of Varla's illusions, she hoped for another glimpse of their ghostly guide that seemed to be showing them the way to something. But they were quite alone. The thing had been down this tunnel, but she wasn't sure if it meant that they were supposed to continue this way, or if it was merely showing them to an escape from the fireball.
"I don't know if we're supposed to go this way or not," she said hesitantly, feeling rotten for her uncertainty, for not having a definite plan, for possibly dooming Tommy, for almost single-handedly ruining the Outworlders' reputation, and anything else she felt could remotely take the blame for. "But I really do not want to go back that way," she added with a nod towards the other tunnel. Drawing her sword, she pointed it down the tunnel, then back the way they came, her eyes closed as she focused all her awareness on the steel in her hands. It seemed to have just the slightest hum, a tiny vibration which she realized it always had when it was around other magical, but currently inactive, weapons. "I don't know," she repeated, and suddenly was overcome by a yawn. "Does anybody have a clue what time it is?" she asked, wondering if it was really late or if she was just tired from the somewhat elevated stress level of today.
((What time IS it, anyway?))
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