A Silent Whisperer

At every midnight, something walks whispering past the crimson town.

No matter the weather, it's always there. Wandering through the lone streets, whispering softly yet loud enough to be heard by almost everyone.

Some townsmen had claimed these whispers would follow them to sleep or even nightmares. However, Orwyn had only heard them a few times. Only when he was in certain places of the inn, no such whispers accompanied him to where his room was.

The thing which walks by is followed by the sound of trinkets, starting exactly at midnight. No one could understand the incoherent whispers, they could almost be mistaken for the hissing autumn winds.

But these sounds carried a dreary air. As if the whispers were a cursed incantation.

Unsettling everyone.

As the nights continued like this, those from a certain age group disappeared from the town each time. Never to be found again.

No signs were left behind.

In the end, it was decided that no one would leave their houses past sunset and before sunrise.

The young and the youth of the town were forced to remain within even more restrictions. They mostly stayed inside their homes. Too afraid of any mishaps that could happen.

People stopped leaving their houses unless important

After the dark hours, everyon ewould close their doors and windows. Heavy curtains became a requirement.

At first, Orwyn was curious about all this. He would sometimes try to sneak downstairs with his elder brother and listen closely to the whispers. He would remain as silent as possible to avoid angering his father.

But he was never too harsh.

As long as his sons stuck to the one important rule.

Never look outside.

Orwyn was never really bothered by the whispers too much. He could barely hear them from his room, and he was not too curious about how the source of them looked.

The instances of ghosts and spirits were not uncommon.

Spirits were unpredictable.

Orwyn never broke any of the rules.

But sometimes, he would just sit by the window and listen.

The rhythm of the whispers was always the same. As if someone was humming a bittersweet melody. Yet, somehow they sounded forced and hollow.

"What else?"

Ezrahl was quietly gazing at the younger boy, his dark eyes slightly gleaming with a crimson hue. Orwyn had wanted to simply leave after dropping that eerie advice.

"We are close to a crucial boundary," Aesther interrupted back then, "Alkazar needs to know anything happening near the Kitsune Forests."

The simplest solution was then to forcibly take out the information.

"He is resisting?" Ahzure asked, as the boy remained silent and slightly trembled.

However, soon enough, that was broken.

"S-something else…" Orwyn breathed out, "something else started to happen too."

The town was haunted by the shadows of death and dread at night, but after the dawn broke out, something good just kept happening.

It was nothing too big.

But some townsmen found gold buried beneath his yard.

Someone had an amazing harvest.

Despite the abrupt halt of trade in Crimson Town because of the night disappearances, the town's wealth didn't waver much. They kept getting rich and richer, whether it was from external trades or just finding random yet precious artefacts around the town.

And that, somehow made the people forget about those who were lost. They turned a blind eye, believing it was just 'a dozen sacrifices for a million little blessings'.

It was something Orwyn wanted to feel too.

But not after what happened with his brother…

"He was also spirited away?" Aesther tried to guess.

Orwyn nodded but then shook his head, "We managed to save him…just in time."

His gaze suddenly dimmed. The pain was clear in the way he stopped himself, trying to first get a hold of his emotions and his wavering heart.

He shook his head agin.

"He could have died. But he didn't," there was a shaky intake of breath, "We got him back. But now, it's as if life was snuffed out of him. His eyes no longer carry the light. He does nothing but stays in one place and stare nowhere!"

After that incident, the inn master called some tailors and constructed stronger locks and heavier blinds for the whole inn. He stopped taking any guests, only making exceptions for some of the elite ones like Lady Eleonora and the knights.

He was no longer the same.

Only the loss of his son prompted the inn master to take actual action. He joined hands with some other grieving families and requested aid from Alkazar as they were the only ones responsible for the knights and the safety of the city.

The response was Lady Eleonora.

She confirmed the involvement of kitsune spirits. But all of them had made their liars inside the forbidden forests.

Those from Nesmeria can not enter there unless they had formal permission. But all those formal requirements could take months to complete.

The Arkhon of Akamori is known to be cynical.

He won't allow anyone within the forests unless he himself had made sure that something was indeed very wrong.

The group was left in a short silence.

Lores about the kitsune spirits were known far and wide. And yet, they were not something people discussed so casually. They were passed in hushed whispers, sung in the songs of pleasure houses, and written in erotic stories.

"We should get to our rooms first," he said, "it would be better if we talk with Lady Eleonora in the morning."

He cast a brief glance at Noah, who was deeply immersed in the story.

"Don't wander around."

The rest of them also rose from their seats. Ezrahl headed for the stairs first, ignoring everyone else. Aesther and Ahzure exchanged a soft smile.

"Good night, then."

"Good night."

Aesther slept soon after hitting the bed.

The exhaustion of the day caught up to her making her easily drift onto the slumber lands. But for some reason, she did not dream. It's been the same ever since she came back in time.

Her dreams were nothing but darkness.

Disturbed only when the whispers.

They were barely audible, low and faint. Yet all who can hear them were unable to ignore them. It kept lingering in the back of their mind, seeping into dreams and bones.

Aesther blinked her tired eyes open.

Her body couldn't move. It was covered in a sheen layer of cold sweat, and her numb fingers weekly grasped the sheets. The whispers were distant and faint.

Nevertheless, she could not brush them aside.

It ached to remain so still.

But she had to.

Aesther knew it won't be easy to resist those sounds. She was aware of how much worse the calls of a kitsune could prove for a wolf.

But she was already weighed down by the strong urge to get up and beat up whoever was making these annoying sounds.

They went and on and on and on… as if the spirits were gathered outside her window

It sounded nothing like the cursed incantations or the bittersweet melody Orwyn mentioned.

"Oh heavens!" Aesther sharply hissed under her breath, pulling the pillow over her head to muffle those sounds. It didn't help.

They remained as they were.

Whispering.

Aesther tightly clenched her fists, almost trembling from how hard she tried not to move. As her focus was all fixed on her little goal, the whispers suddenly faded away.

She waited.

But even as almost five minutes passed, there were no signs of those voices returning.

"That's… all?" confused, Aesther peeked out from the pillow and looked at the clock.

It was sharp midnight.

Her gaze became puzzled.

Aesther licked her lips, stepping out of the bed. The room was oddly cold despite the flaming fireplace. She warily glanced around, trying to understand what was the strange unfamiliar feeling she felt.

But before she could think much, an unexpected voice made her freeze.

She glanced at the windows, wondering, fearing if she heard it right.

"Noah?"