68 The Scavenger Hunt (8)

Having come to an agreement, the Kenman lifted up the pliant body of the Ryan and started walking back toward the old building, followed by the fox. The two of them got inside and the Kenman gently laid him down and then went back outside.

'He most likely went after firewood' the Thrae decided and stretched.

It sat down for a moment, but then decided to go and look around, to find something to kindle the fire with.

'If only I had my old powers back' it then looked at its now-human arms and stretched them, feeling all the muscles that were weak in comparison to its true body.

By the time the Kenman returned, the fox ransacked the whole mansion but couldn't find anything useful.

'Don't those people eat?' it wondered annoyed and then remembered, 'Right… Raw heart of everything that moves' it shook its head in disgust.

"Well it looks like you have been busy" the Kenman commented amused.

"I tried to find something that we could use to start the fire" the Thrae explained and then sat back down near empty fireplace, noticing how Klyran was slightly shivering.

'That's right' it then realized, 'His coat must be back in the forest' the fox cursed itself silently and took off Aldryn's own to cover him.

The Kenman approached the fireplace that was near the two of them and dropped the logs and branches that he brought back from the forest.

"We should start a fire as soon as possible… The Ryans are not good with cold" the fox explained as it rubbed Kyran's cold skin in an attempt to warm him up faster.

With a nod, the Kenman started snapping the wood in little pieces. It required much strength, making the Thrae wonder just how strong the man truly was. Deciding that it would be faster to warm up the Ryan with a fire, the Thrae quickly approached the other man and helped him snap all the branches and logs.

The Kenman then went to the small shelf that stood in a corner and took out a book from there. He opened it up on a random page and ripped out the paper without hesitation. He threw it into the fireplace and then took out something from his pocked. With a flick of his finger, there was fire now in him hand.

"What is that? Magic?" the fox wondered amazed.

"This is called a lighter" the man simply shrugged.

He lit up one of the pages that he was holding and then threw it into the fire, causing all the paper there to start burning. Then he sat down near it and begun throwing the wood into the fire. When it finally warmed up, the Kenman took off his jacket and laid it down on the ground. He then picked up Klyran like he weighted nothing and laid him down over it.

"This should help him warm up faster. My jacket will protect him from the cold ground" he explained and sat down near him.

"That lighter… What is it?" the fox then asked and sat down near him.

With Klyran on his right and the Thrae on his left, the Kenman took out the lighter from his pocket again. He rotated the small wheel and pressed the button under it, causing the fire to appear again.

'I always forget how easily impressed everyone is by the most simple thing' the Kenman thought amused and handed the device to the fox.

With it in its hands now, the white-haired priest examined it from all sides. It looked simple. The transparent material allowed it to see the fluid that was inside the lighter. It then tried to light it up, but nothing happened.

'He made it look so easy… What am I doing wrong?' the fox thought annoyed.

"Here… Let me help you" the Kenman gently said and covered the Thrae's hand with his own.

After a few more attempts, the fox finally managed to use the lighter and it sighed happily.

"Are you sure about giving it to me?" it asked the Kenman, but the other man only smiled in return.

"I have another one" he said and took anther lighter out of his inner pocket.

With that, the two of them stood in silence for a while. The Thrae noticed that at some point, the Kenman begun to gently stoke Klyran's hair and wanted to comment on it, but decided against it.

'They both seem at peace' the fox decided, 'Doesn't mean that I won't tease Klyran about it tomorrow' it then thought mischievously.

"What do you plan to do next?" the Thrae suddenly asked the man.

"Hmm?" the Kenmna glanced at it from the corner of his eyes.

"Don't pretend you didn't hear me" the fox then looked insulted.

"Hmm…" he then said again and the smirk that was present on his face this time irked the Thrae.

"Is this your little revenge for all the times that Aldryn annoyed you?" the fox asked him with twitching eyebrows.

"You know… I'm innocent here… I always tell him to leave you alone" it continued.

"Do you now?" the Keman asked amused.

"Of course… Always tell the kid to leave you alone… In case… You know… You once snap and decide to murder him" the Thrae explained hesitantly, causing the other man to laugh.

'Huh… This guy… He almost looks human now' the fox looked at his face, noticing how some of the shadows seemed to have disappear, causing the Kenman to look young.

'Now that I think about it… This guy… He looks like he's in his thirties' the Thrae noticed for the first time, 'And his face is not bad'

"Why would You be worried about that?" he asked the fox then.

"You know… Aldryn dies, I die. And despite this annoying kid, I do like to be alive" it explained there.

"If Aldryn dies then you die?" the Kenman asked confused.

Just when the fox wanted to mock him with words such as: 'Look at that. So there is something in this world that you don't know about.'

"What do you mean?" the other man asked, "Don't you know the spell that Aldryn used?" and those words caused the Thrae to snap out of it and look at him sharply.

"What? Of course I know the spell. The kid told me" the fox said insulted.

At the single risen eyebrow, the Thrae decided that there was something the Kenman knew and just before it snapped, he continued.

"You should ask him again. I know the spell that Aldryn used and his death won't affect you" the Kenman said and then continued, "As a matter of fact… If he dies…" he then suddenly stopped.

"I always wondered why the two of you got along so well. Why you never tried anything" the man then narrowed his eyes.

"Are you implying that if the kid dies… I will continue living? That's impossible" it scoffed, "How can I continue living if my host dies. I can't fully return to the stone. My soul will be thorn the moment Aldryn dies" it explained.

"Is that what you think?" the man then looked at the fox, as if assessing it, "Very well… Continue to think that. But if you purposely kill this kid just to possess his body… I will personally hunt you down" the Kenman then said with cold eyes. His voice also caused the fox to shiver.

'Possess him?' this word stuck with the Thrae and made it think about it, despite the obvious danger that was in front of him, 'This kid… Could it be that he didn't tell me everything about the spell? That he did something like that?…' its eyes then narrowed, 'Seems like the two of us will soon have a nice chat.'

"I never knew" the fox confessed, "I always thought that if one of us die… Both of us are goners… That kid…" the Thrae said with narrowed eyes and then glared at the Kenman.

"You" it growled with a bit of its true voice leaking out, "You think that I would ever hurt this kid?" the fox asked in a voice much deeper than its usual one.

"How dare you imply such a thing?" the Thrae's voice then echoed faintly around the room, due to its power.

"I see…" the Kenmn said and then turn away from the fox and looked at the Ryan, noticing his eyes flickering slightly, on the verge of waking up.

"Glad to know that we are both on the same page then" the older man then said and looked at the fox sharply, "Wake up the kids and I will hit you" the Kenman added suddenly and then titled his head, causing the Thrae to bark a laugh and calm down.

Once its true voice was gone and Klyran fell back in a deep sleep, the Kenman looked at the fox again. It looked him in the eyes and confirmed that Aldryn was also still sleeping.

"That kid… Nothing can wake him up once he's asleep" it said with a sigh and received a nod from the Kenman.

"And you? What do you plan to do next?" the Thrae asked the other man again.

"Me?" he replied with a smirk, causing the fox to become annoyed, wondering if he will ignore the question again, "I will be going on a Scavenger hunt" he said with calm voice, but there was something in his eyes, something dangerous.

"Sounds like fun" the Thrae said and sat down with its hands supporting its head.

"I'm in" the fox then slyly said, "And I'm sure Aldryn will be interested as well. And Klyran" the white-haired oracle then looked at the Ryan, "That guy will follow you and I'm sure that he won't mind getting a bit of revenge against those people for trying to make a soup out of his horn" it the laughed silently.

The Kenman only shook his head and looked back into the fire. His hand never one stopping from its motion of stroking Klyran's black hair.