Thanks to the Zoombeans Tee had been dropping as we ventured into the caves our journey out was rather painless. It did strike me as odd that Aqua Marine hadn’t posted any guards in the caverns. If I were performing experiments on the local population, I would have guarded the lab where I was doing said experiments. I didn’t know if it was something she just overlooked or a reflection of her ego, I was inclined to believe it was the latter. Whatever the reason was, I wasn’t complaining; I was still wiped out from the fight with Gary and was more than content to have a quiet walk back to the village.

Rose led the party, with Duncan close behind her and Tee taking up the rear. Tee whistled to himself as we made our way through the maze of tunnels, pointing out the beans whenever Rose had a problem finding them in the dim light. Despite the lack of life in the caves, Duncan kept one hand on the hilt of his dagger the entire time.

As we closed in on the entrance, I noticed that no sunlight came from the outside. We had been underground much longer than we had thought. The moon was high in the sky as we emerged back to the surface. After a brief discussion, we decided that it was better to make our way to the village instead of resting for the night. Rose wanted to return as soon as possible to tell her father about everything we had found inside the cave.

The village was only illuminated by the light of the moon as we approached. I assumed this was due to the time of day and most members of the tribe being asleep, but the look on Rose’s face told me my assumption was wrong.

“Stop, something is wrong,” Rose said, holding up her hand.

“Are you sure? It’s really late. I would think everyone would be sleeping.” I said.

“No, my father always keeps a few torches burning to keep predators away. He would never let the camp go completely dark unless something was wrong.”

Duncan slid his knife from their sheaths, preparing for a fight.

“I should have figured a warm meal and a bed would be too much to hope for,” I said.

“Be prepared for anything,” Rose said.

We slowly approached the entrance to the village, weapons in hand, ready for anything. What greeted us wasn’t vicious monsters but dead silence. The entire village was quiet, which, as it turned out, was more disturbing than if crab people had ambushed us. As we made our way towards Kreguer’s tent, I tightened my grip on my club, ready to cast a spell if needed. Rose slowly opened the flap, and we stepped into the tent.

There was nobody in the tent. Kreguer was gone. What disturbed me the most was that the contents of the tent were undisturbed. Nothing had been touched or moved. It didn’t look like an abduction or an attack. By all accounts, it looked as if the entire village had just up and left, Kreguer included.

Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

“Where did everyone go?” I asked.

“I don’t know, but it doesn’t make any sense. The entire village wouldn’t just up and leave. This is our home and our livelihood, and my father would have been the last to leave. He may be complacent when it comes to a lot, but he would have never abandoned the village.” Rose said.

“You don’t think Aqua Marine would have taken the entire village?” Tee asked.

“If she would have tried something like that I would expect the village to show signs of a struggle. Nothing is out of place. It looks as if everyone just vanished.” Rose said.

“Look on your father’s desk,” Duncan said, pointing to the back of the tent.

My eyes followed Duncan's finger, and I saw a pile of scrolls lying on the desk. The lack of light made it impossible to tell what the scrolls were from the other side of the room. Duncan walked over to the desk and started digging through the parchment.

“Brodie, come over here and give me some light,” Duncan said.

I summoned a small ball of fire and held it above my head as I made my way over to the desk. I leaned in close, and the small flickers of flame danced in the air, casting shadows on the walls. Duncan had his head down and was skimming the scrolls, a look of concern and excitement on his face as he read.

“These are the plans to the temple,” Duncan said as he continued to read.

“Why would my father have left them out on the desk like that? This doesn’t make any sense unless, of course, he knew he was leaving and left them there for you to find.” Rose said.

“But how would he know he was leaving, and why would the entire village go with him?” I asked.

“There are certainly more questions than answers,” Tee said.

Duncan was silent as he began gathering up the plans and putting them into his backpack.

“I'm sorry about your village, Rose, but right now, we have what we need to take down Aqua Marine, and we need to act as quickly as possible. Whatever happened here, I have no doubt she was involved, and that means there is a good chance she knows about our plans. We can’t give her time to react. We need to move now. If you no longer want to help us and would rather stay here and find out what happened to your village, I would understand.” Duncan said.

“No, whatever happened here. I know Aqua is involved, and staying here isn’t going to get me any closer to figuring out what happened to these people. I’m coming with you, and before I smash her skull in with my hammer, I’m going to make that bitch tell me what she did with my father!”

Duncan took a step back as Rose’s anger grew as she spoke. Duncan, of course, didn’t slap her for cursing; that very much seemed to be an honor that was reserved for me.

“I guess it’s settled then. We should head off towards the temple now; as I said, we don’t have any time to waste.” Duncan said.

As the others walked back outside the tent, I lingered behind for a moment. The confidence of the day before had vanished at the sight of the empty village. I wondered if my meager selection of spells would be enough to stop someone like Aqua Marine. I had only been in the Caddyverse a few weeks whereas Aqua Marine had countless years here. Nobody knew the true extent of her magic powers, but I could almost guarantee they far outweighed whatever I had learned in my short time here. I shook my head in an attempt to clear the negative thoughts, took a deep breath, and walked out to join the others.

“Ok, guys, I’m ready,” I called out as I left the tent.

The three of them turned to look at me, and Duncan nodded his head in agreement. The somber look on his face told me that Duncan understood my concern for my well-being. Unfortunately for me the chance to defeat Aqua and take revenge for his people far outweighed any concern for me Duncan might have.

“Very well, let’s get going,” Duncan said.

Once again, we set off into the hilly countryside. I almost wished we were going to fight another Gary. That would have been easier than the things we were about to face.