Chapter 157: Darkness Closing In
As Elmo heard Elin speak loudly, he couldn't help but be startled. Up until that point, they'd been quiet and each had seemed to understand why they should be quiet.
Which was partly why it was so startling to Elmo. However, he also understood that for her to break the silence like that, she had to be trying to get the attention of something. Not that he was eager to learn what that was. He had a few guesses, but none of them were very pleasant.
Elmo didn't have to look at Jonas to know he was startled as well. It was just one of those things that he understood without having to confirm. Especially with how they'd been working together for a while.
Elmo started out barely a moment behind the noise Elin was making, hurrying to find out what the reason for it was. He still had the lamp in his hand, having mostly forgotten about it. He couldn't even remember when he'd picked it up, but he couldn't say that it was bad to have it. Who's to say when it would turn out to be useful?
As he reached the hallway where Elin had gone, he stopped as he saw what looked like two Elins in the dim light. Almost like she'd acquired a double or something. Elmo stared for a minute before remembering about the lamp in his hand. If nothing else, it might help him know who was who in the darkness.
"Brimstone Fire," Elmo said, focusing on the wick of the lamp.
The wick caught flame with the burst of flame from his spell, though aside from the sudden odor of brimstone, the flame quickly died down to just enough to see in the dark hallway.
What came into view was the fact that it was two Elins. Each looked at the other with open hostility. Elmo felt like the one closest to him should be the real Elin, but he really had no idea if his assumption was correct or if he would be helping the wrong one if he himself was wrong.
"She's the doppelganger!" the Elin farther away from him called out.
"She's the doppelganger," the Elin closest to Elmo said a moment before she called out, "Sacred Shot!"
The spell hit the other Elin and she staggered back, but quickly got back to her original position and called out, "Sacred Shot!"