ETTING   OME   O   LFANDRA

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Catanora's Troubles part 2

*She curses under her breath, and continues toward the inhabited place.*
'Darnit ... I surely can't be reading this right ... what would be the chances of ending up here, of all places?'
*After only a few minutes trudging through the squelchy mud, she sprouts a large pair of wings and sweeps silently across the starlit sky for perhaps an hour. She checks the instrument again to regain her bearings, but now it seems more ominous even to the untrained eye. It shows a large, twisted iron-grey spike pointing at the same image.*
'What? Now I'm sure this thing's acting up, there are - *were* hundreds of people in that tourist town. Surely they can't all have just disappeared ...'
*She laughs uneasily to herself, but the sound is swallowed dully by the dense air. Quickly translocating into the town, muttering at the need to waste her magic, she is surprised to find the normally bustling town totally empty.*
'Isn't this place ... Hyoriwe, near Neesyssak? Have I been dropped back to Gyundarai?'
*Searching around, she can see that ovens are left on and food half-eaten outside restaurants: everything seems to have been dropped in a moment.*
'Is anyone there? Hello?'
*Silence*
'Hello? Jett? Muscoe? Kasper? Miranh? Is there anyone here?'
*She thinks she can hear a faint answer, somewhere behind her. she whirls around, only to find Kasper, one of her childhood friends.*
(Kasper) 'Catza! Haven't seen you in absolute ages ... what are you doing here?
*He appears unconcerned by the lack of people.*
(Catza) 'Oh ... a slight accident, nothing important. Where ... is everybody?'
(Kasper) *laughs quickly* 'Well, they've probably gone to gawk at their new king.'
(Catza) 'New king? King Aderiv was only a few centuries old.'
(Kasper) 'There's been a few changes since you were here last, Catza, we have a new ruler and new rules now. Come, you must meet him.'
*Catanora makes no protest as Kasper takes her arm to lead her.*