When word broke out about there being an entire city unearthed, Kyrel hadn’t wasted too much time in getting his things prepared and his horse taken care of before riding off quickly for the outpost There had been things going on in the desert as of yet and it seemed like an excellent opportunity to go and explore what he could. A place long forgotten didn’t just pop out of the blue everyday, you know. And with that, there were bound to be artifacts from back when Aysut was at its peak, not to mention the history it had within its walls. Kyrel had said his goodbyes as quickly as possible to those in the Purple Court and stated his return to be later rather than sooner. At least this time, he was better ready for the harsh desert than his first visit.  

Reaching the outpost itself wasn’t a difficult task, nor was it hard to miss. He spotted tents all set up  and weirdly enough as he rode in and halted his horse, a large amount of cats that took refuge as well. “Where did all of these come from?”, he questioned as he gained the attention of one of them and it hissed at him. He shooed it away and looked about. There were plenty of people here and he was a bit afraid that they had started expediting Aysut without him.

Pouting, he secured his horse and started looking around to see if anyone knew what the hell was going on. As much as he wanted to ride all the way into the city, something was telling him that it wouldn’t be a wise thing to muster.   

He had indeed said his goodbyes but Cathrine felt a bit… At a loss to say the least. She wanted some way to be able to express how she felt but it wasn’t until her eldest daughter came to her.

“You should have gone with him. You know you want to, you miss the adventure.” Liz chuckled a bit and Cathrine looked over at her.

“I can’t I have you two–”

“We can take care of ourselves. You need to go on an adventure and he was more than willing to take you with him even if he didn’t say anything. No more arguing. I can take care of Crystaline for a while.” Liz made a shooing motion so Cathrine would go get changed. It was awkward changing into her exploring gear as she went down and saddled a nightmare.

She pet the horse’s fiery mane and it wasn’t long before she saddled him and began the journey out of Sularia. Her white hair was braided up and out of the way. Her wings were gone but only so they didn’t get the sand of the desert in them as she traveled. Her horse moved fast across the dunes as she reached the undead city of Aysut.

It didn’t take her long to use the wind to find him. Her eyes saw him and her ears heard what he said. “Cats are said to be the guardians of the dead. Back before the sands of Sardon took over the city they were valued as protectors from evil. They tend to know when you are dying and… when the dead have come back. That is why they are here.” She rode the nightmare closer to him before dismounting. Giving him a smile she chuckled. “All your time exploring and you never knew that? It’s a shame.”

Looking around she took a mighty sigh. “We need to get the horses inside away from the undead… Pick a horse… Barricade it a way only we can get in… After that, we can decide just where to start spelunking.”

He hadn’t expected Cathrine’s voice to chime inside his head, but when he turned around to see that she was actually there, she was a sight for sore eyes. Kyrel gave her a warm smile and looked back to the cats that wandered about like they did own the place. “Interesting little facts. Guess I should have some more knowledge on the subject but then again, I haven’t traveled to the desert before now, so how was I supposed to know?” As much as it was great to have her here, he was concerned about her well being. Heavens knows what would happen if something happened to her while in his stead. He shuddered to think what that hot headed sister of hers would do to him, but Cathrine was old enough to make her own decisions.

While he was curious as to what drove her to come here, the Queen had a point. They needed to get their horses to safety before these things would come after them. “Alright, this way. I found a house big enough to store them in for now." He led his horse quickly into a spacious house and made sure that the windows were shut tight and that the steed stayed quiet by giving him an apple before handing Cathrine one to give to hers.

“Well, while we are here, we might as well check out things then.”Kyrel opened the door carefully and peeked around before gesturing to her to follow him onto the streets. “Keep low and to the shadows. These things rely on sight maybe, but definitely on their hearing. Heard some things from some fellows.” As they snuck around, keeping themselves out of trouble, he did turn his attention to her for just a bit,

“Mind telling me why you are out here, milady?”

Cathrine chuckled a bit at Kyrel and shook her head. “It’s just the little things you pick up over the years. I probably wouldn’t have known it either had I not lived in the desert for so long. So it’s nothing to be ashamed over.”

Taking their horses to a house she helped put them in and gave her horse the apple. Once she felt like the animals were set they left the house with caution. “Trust me, I will hear them before they hear me.” She gave a chuckle. Cathrine made sure to alert Kyrel to whenever the mummies were near by and she was quick to take care of any.

“Why?” Cathrine seemed a tiny bit distracted by that question as she stood up. “Because my kids said something silly about not letting Kyrel go into the desert alone. Something about wanting to go with him.” She chuckled a bit more and kept close to him as they made it closer to the pyramids. “My daughters were outright angry I didn’t tell you I wanted to go with you so they made me come after you left.”

After a few seconds, she tilted her head. “Does it bother you that I have decided to accompany you?”

Kyrel was peeking over the corner of the building they were behind, seeing that the danger had yet to reach them when she answered him. He turned around enough to face Cathrine but was still alert to their surroundings. “Lady Rose…uh Cathrine, I didn’t know that you wanted to come here also. Forgive me for rushing out earlier.” He thought about it- he had indeed rushed over her with a quick farewell without considering how she or her family felt. “Just got a little excited by this place is all. I think that if we can get to the structure in the center, we should be good.”

Plus, on the the bright side, they could go on another exploration together. “Didn’t think the girls liked me that”, he humored as he took her hand and lead her through the maze like city. Aside from the occasional deathly moans, he only spotted a few of the cloth wrapped creatures and hung back until its attention was caught by something else and the coast was clear for them. Cathrine had already took the situation by the head and wiped out any stragglers as they proceeded. “Your daughters don’t strike me too much as the sort that could force you to do something like this”, he smiled as they approached the pyramid. “Still can’t believe an entire city was still intact after so many eons. Whatever sort of magic used to bring it to the surface is very powerful.”

He considered her question for only a second before shaking his head. “It was never a problem with me to have your company, Cathrine. You are trust me on that.” If anything, he just had to make sure that she came back in one whole piece. Still, he truly didn’t mind her being here and it provide more time for them together as far as he was concerned. He liked having her company. It took him a bit before he realized that he still had her hand and quickly dropped it and scratched the back of his head. “Shall we then?”

He lead the way inside the pyramid, stopping after they reached the entrance only to take hold of one of the unlit torches that were collected in a massive jar. Taking a deep breath, he blew out a quick stream of flames at it and lit it brightly. He took up another one in hand just in case, but had yet to set it aflame. Kyrel brought up the lit one to the wall as they started walking again and was looking towards the symbols carved into it. “Hm, what do we have here? Have you ever seen these drawing before?”