Chapter 93 - Cryptic crypts
“That’s one large statue~” Rosa sang as their group crested the last ridge, treading along the craggy path that trailed the hillside.
Before them stood a tall rock statue of some kind of knight—at least thirty meters in height—that held up a giant shield in front of it. The head had broken off and there were several large nicks and gashes in the bare stone that made the statue’s age apparent, but it was an impressive sight nonetheless. This place probably didn’t see much traffic, considering how out of the way it was, but it was at least notable enough to be marked as a minor point of interest on the map that Scarlett had bought.
She gazed across the nearby landscape. It was nothing but rolling hills, covered with clusters of rock and yellowing grass. Even with the statue being as tall as it was, trying to find it would have taken a while if they’d had to search through the entire region. She was lucky they found as good a map as they did. Following its directions, they had been able to cover at least three-quarters of the way on the carriage. The rest had only taken about two hours on foot. With the stamina boost afforded by the [Mark of the Staunch], a trek like that wasn’t an issue for Scarlett anymore.
As they made their way to the foot of the statue—which sported several haphazardly spread stones that might have once been part of the statue itself—the others in the group stopped. All of them looked around.
“What now?” Allyssa asked.
Scarlett turned to the girl.
Right. Discounting the Zuverian outpost near Fynn’s old home, none of them had actually been there the last time she found a Zuverian ruin. They wouldn’t know what to expect.
She threw one last look at their surroundings, searching for any movement. Not that she was expecting to spot any. If anyone were following them, she’d be the last to notice. Fynn had already checked if there were others nearby, though, and she was confident enough in his abilities. Whatever tail the Cabal was bound to have placed on her probably wasn’t around at the moment.
The fact that they’d traveled through the Kilnstone from Freybrook to Darkshore so suddenly might have helped with that. Then they’d immediately left Darkshore to find this place, so it was highly unlikely anyone would catch up to them.
And, well, even if someone was hiding nearby, they probably wouldn’t stay an issue for long.
Scarlett walked closer to the statue, stopping slightly in front and beneath the large stone shield it was holding. The shield had eight circular designs etched into its face, arranged in a rupee-like shape. Lines connected all the shapes, but it didn’t look like much more than decoration on the stone.
Let’s see if she could remember this correctly or not.