Chapter Text
It didn’t take long for them to reach Mollie's house at a dead sprint. Ashe and Gregor reached the home first and the guardian wasted no time pounding on the door. Keir caught up to them supporting Markus who had been grown winded after the first few steps.
"Thanks, buddy." Markus panted, giving the larger man a pat on the shoulder.
"Anytime pal."
The door creaked open to reveal a less then pleased looking Mollie. She narrowed her eyes at them before pushing the door open all the way. "More questions?" She asked, her eyes finally landing on Ashe.
"Mollie! Can we come in? We really need to talk to you." Ashe pleaded.
"Now?"
"Yes." Markus said, shoving his way past before Mollie could think to turn them away. "Right now. Markus Velafi, by the way."
Mollie looked a bit peeved as the tiefling ducked under her arm and into her house but resigned herself and let the others pass through.
"I'm really sorry, Mollie." Ashe started, stepping in behind Marcus. "But we really need to talk to you. We… may have messed up, really bad."
Mollie's eyes narrowed sharply and she cocked her head like a bird of prey. "How bad."
"Putting the whole town in danger bad." Ashe answered sheepishly.
Mollie seemed to consider this for a moment before motioning for them to follow her into the kitchen.
The room was just a cozy as the rest of the house which made Errin's mass stand out all the more as he moved about with surprising grace for such a large tightly wound man.
"Hey, Annie!" Kier called, spotting the slight girl at the small table in the center.
She looked up with a start but smiled and gave a small wave when she saw him. He wasted no time taking a seat and making himself comfortable.
"Hartway!" Errin cheered, his grin somewhere between delighted and menacing making him appear at least a little unhinged. "Long time to see, you didn't come here to check up on little old me did you?"
"They're here." Mollie started before anyone could play into Errin's teasing. "Because they have something to tell us." She eyed the group pointedly before taking a seat at the table next to Annie.
Errin's grin dropped just a little and he cocked a brow.
Moments later they were all gathered and comfortably as possible around the table that was really only designed to seat five. The necromancers had been in the middle of their own lunch when the adventurers had interrupted. Errin was apparently quite the cook, having prepared a surprisingly delightful stew that Ashe and Kier had also decided to partake in as well despite having already eaten. The three listened carefully as Markus recounted the events that had led their merry band to the town, and in turn the Necromancers, for the two present who hadn't weren't aware and finally ending on the very recent discovery of the tracking spell.
"I managed to stop the spell, of course, but… there's no telling how close they are it at all…"
As their story came to close Errin fixed Mollie with the most serious look the group had seen from him since their arrival. The silence and the tension in the room grew thicker as he hard gaze threatened to burn a hole into the side of her head and she made a pointed effort not to acknowledge him as she stared down at the table thoughtfully.
"Funny." He said finally, loosing patients. "How you never mentioned any of that."
"It didn't seem relevant." Mollie answered quietly.
"Well it's sure as hell relevant now, isn't it!"
The woman growled and finally locked eye with her irate companion. "Are you suggesting this is my fault?!"
"Hey!" Ashe cut before the situation could escalate. "We came here to warn you as soon as we found out. So you could… do whatever you might need to."
"The Twins need to know." Annie muttered. "Should we… call off the festival? Gather everyone and leave before…"
Mollie opened her mouth to speak but Errin cut her off with a harsh "No." Everyone turned to look at him. "We're not running."
"But-" Annie tried again but was once again cut off.
"We leave and this place is left unprotected. We don't know what will happen when this guy shows up. We're not running." His decision made Errin's gaze briefly darted over the Nine Shrines gang before he pushed out of his chair. "I'll tell The Twins and have lookouts placed around the town and make sure my people are fully charged. I want you two," he motioned to Mollie and Annie "to start warning everyone else. Spread the word quickly and quietly. Don't panic the town."
The women exchanged glanced before hesitantly nodding.
Satisfied Errin strode briskly from the kitchen, moments later the front door was swinging shut behind him.
We’re really sorry." Ashe offered again after a long moment of silence.
Mollie sighed and shook her head. All of the tension seemed to leave her body at once as her shoulders slumped. "It's not your fault." She muttered. "We could only hide for so long. "
Annie nodded. "It was only a matter of time, really."
"So you expected this?" Markus asked, quirking a brow.
"Not this exactly." Molly answered, leaning back in her chair.
"We always thought if we were discovered my someone with… malicious intent. We wouldn't know until everything was already on fire." Annie added thoughtfully.
"We need make sure everyone knows what's going on." Mollie stood from her seat before anyone could say anything else. "In case something does happen. We need to be on guard."
"Is there anything we can do to help?" Ashe asked as the rest moved to follow the woman out of the kitchen.
"You shouldn't." She answered shortly. Ashe and Markus cringed and Gregor furrowed his brow.
"There are some who may not react well to hearing the message from outsiders." Annie explained, hoping to soften her companion's harsh manner.
The gang reluctantly nodded. It wouldn't help anyone if they got in a fight with any of the Necormancers. Mollie and her friends were one thing. But admitting their mistake to weary stranger probably wasn't the best want to make friends.
"We'll be here if you need us." Markus offered before they parted ways with the girls.
Mollie's tight stance seemed to loosen and she nodded with a sigh before motioning to Annie and stalking briskly away.
"Maybe it'll be fine!" Markus whirled around to face his friends, arms wide. "Maybe nothing happens and everyone has a good time and we all go home, preferably with more rare magical items then when we arrived!"
"Yeah! That's totally possible!" Gregor added with a tone that made it impossible to tell if he was being sincere or sarcastic.
"We don't have a very good track record for 'nothing happening." Ashe reminded him, folding her arms in front of her.
"You need to be more optimistic, Ashe." The sorcelock said sauntering past toward the center of town. "Now what should we do while we wait for disaster to strike?"