Chapter 83: The Four Sheepman
The torchlight flickered against the stone walls, casting shadows across the faces of the gathered party. Arthur’s brow furrowed as he processed the information Lara and her team had shared. The cold castle air seemed to grow heavier with each revelation, and Arthur found himself leaning forward, his voice tinged with a mixture of concern and determination.
"So how do we find them?" he asked, his eyes scanning the faces of their new allies.
Lara’s lips curled into a rueful chuckle, though there was little humor in her expression. "That’s the problem..." she began, her voice echoing softly in the chamber. "As far as we know, spells such as this one from this world need to have some sort of spell circle drawn for it, and the totems would usually be placed around the circle."
Arthur tilted his head, the gears in his mind turning as he contemplated this new information.
"So then all we have to do is find the spell circle, right?" he said, straightening his posture with renewed hope. "It’s gotta be somewhere. We just have to keep going room to room."
Before Lara could respond, Kay leaned forward from where he had been leaning against the wall. The tall, broad-shouldered man shook his head firmly.
"Yeah, about that..." Kay’s deep voice cut through the silence, his eyes narrowing slightly as he spoke. "During our first week here, we went through as many rooms as possible to try and find some sort of pattern. This castle has an absurd amount of rooms, but after a while, we stopped getting new rooms." He paused, letting the implication sink in. "It’s been a week since then, and we still have yet to see any new rooms... which means it’s safe to say there aren’t any..." His voice dropped lower, almost to a whisper. "Yet still, we have seen no spell circle."
A heavy silence hung in the air. Arthur exchanged a quick glance with Aziel, whose confident demeanor had become pensive. The crackling of the torches was the only sound that dared to break the oppressive quiet.
After what felt like an eternity, Lara spoke again, her voice taking on a more optimistic tone that seemed almost out of place given the circumstances.