The sound of the clocktower's bell still rang in the air when Captain Love arrived at the scene. Degeneracy was the first thing to come to mind. Undisciplined was the second. The citizens' cries and shouts drowned out the sound of the bell. It was like a riot had formed; ready to burn the city down for their precious injun.

A soldier walked up to the captain. “We have the three witnesses in custody, Captain.”

“Make sure they're comfortable Ciprian. Let them know that they will not leave until they answer all my questions.” Said Captain Love.

“Yessir. Right away sir.” Ciprian saluted his captain before leaving to fulfill his orders.

Throughout the conversation Captain Love did not take his eyes off the crowd. They were still screaming and waving their fist at him and his soldiers. His privates kept the maniacs up at the front at bay the best they could without hurting them.

"Where's the boy!?!" A voice cried out.

"He's mine! I will be the one to claim the king's reward." Said a woman. Captain Love couldn't help but notice her carrying an infant in her arms. Unconcerned for the safety of her child.

Captain Love focused himself as he stepped up on the city crier's box.

"All of you—"

The words roared through the crowd as they stood silent in awe and shock. It was quiet save for the ticking of the clock behind them.

"If I hear one more word out of any of you about this zapojin without my say so then in the name of Lord Zephiel I will throw you into the brig. Am I understood?” Captain Love's voice was deep and growly.

No one dared answer vocally. The ones nearest were the first to nod followed by the row behind them. And the row behind them. Eventually the whole crowd nodded in unison. Order. It was music to Captain Love's ear.

“Right, this square is now a crime scene. Witnesses will be summoned by one of the guards to hear your testimony to help find this thief. Until then, carry on with your day."

Everyone went about their day. It was as if the zapojin was but a forgotten memory. Captain Love turned to his privates who stood at attention. He eyed his men very closely. No detail was too small. Nothing could be out of place. His privates knew that as they stood with stoicism on their face. He could feel the fear and respect his men had for him. It was order at its highest degree.

“Move along.”

The row of privates saluted their captain and returned to their post.

Captain Love walked towards the small shack next to the city wall. The land was barren and lacked any trees. Two guards stood near the entrance. He nodded at them before going in.

The room was unbearably hot. The young man, the plump man, and the young bronzed skin woman sat on the other end of the table; their faces covered in sweat.

"You-" the captain pointed at the plump man, who shuddered in his chair. "State your name."

"William Delgado Garcia. Lord Zephiel's accountant and head of the Garcia estate.” William brushed off the excess sweat from his forehead. “Couldn't you hurry this up Captain? Lord Zephiel will have my head if the gold isn't–"

"You, woman, state your name. Then the boy." The captain said as Ciprian wrote on a piece of parchment; with no regard to William's last statement.

"Delilah."

"Adan.” The young man said hesitantly.

"The three of you have seen the thief's face. We have reports that the boy started to glow after one of my men's bullets ripped through his cloak. Is this correct?”

"Yes!" The trio said in unison. Each of them proceeded to wipe sweat from their face.

"From what little we have, I believe the boy is indeed one of the so-called zapojin our forefathers worked hard to remove from these lands. Now Lord Zephiel has and his forefather have decreed that all zapojin must be turned over to the king. Any managing to do so will be rewarded with a hefty sum of gold. Enough to support ten generations.

"What's your point, Captain? How is this going to help with the investigation?" Said William.

"It's important to note because the reward is enough to drive any good citizen mad with the potential to claim such a reward. As you have seen erupt in the courtyard today." the captain said. His eyes glared at the young woman, "the missus here was the closest here with the injun and yet it seemed like she let him get away. Care to explain, Delilah?"

Delilah's body tensed up the moment the captain said her name. She didn't know it but all was revealed in that instance.

"I'm just a woman, captain. It may not look like it but you only need to look at the boy's right eye to see that the thief would have overpowered me if I tried to stop him. So I allowed him to move past me. Why risk your life to catch a prize if you cannot live long enough to enjoy it?"

Her words were sound enough. The young man next to her was bruised up. He even had a good figure forming. In another year or two he could be fit enough to be a soldier without any prior training. But there was a tight knot around her tongue. The captain could sense it. She was holding the true reason back from him. But he needed to make them confess it in order to try and judge.

"Tell me Delilah, are you aware of who I am?"

"Vaguely. I know you're the captain of the guards. You have a reputation as an honest man who gives out just sentences. Nothing else. I’m not a lawbreaker so I have no reason to associate with your guards or you, Captain." The captain turned his back towards them. He didn't want her to see the sliver of a smile that had formed on his lips. Was it a sense of pride? Or was it something else?

"What you just told me was the truth. But your answer to my first question was a lie." Delilah said nothing to the accusation.

The air in the room turned cold. All three witnesses felt the shift. Suddenly a rush of energy sprang from the captain. It felt menacing. Delilah did her best to show no signs of fear but on the inside she was quivering like a dog cornered by a pack of wolves. There was nothing she could do to shield herself from this energy. Cold like a blizzard's wind and her body, even with the dress she wore, was naked before it.

"Tell me lass, what was your true motive for letting the thief go? Even the other women that were around tried their damn best to grab their prize but you expect me to believe that you were the exception?"

Her skin felt like they were burning from the bitter cold. She had enough."HIM. Because of him!" She stood from her chair and pointed at the accountant. William did not react. His mind was elsewhere. "He's been harassing me for weeks now. Flirting every day at my stall with the promise of perhaps–" she gagged at the thought of what she was about to say next, "having a stress free life by marrying him and fulfilling his grotesque fantasies."

Delilah looked down at her skin seeing no signs of what she felt before. Her eyes were bulging from their socket. Was she imagining the whole thing? Did the event earlier take a heavier toll on her mind then she realized? She noticed the young man sitting next to her quaking in his chair. His arms rubbing his skin to keep them warm. His teeth jittered. So it was real. Whatever she felt was real. The captain was still staring blankly at the wall in front of him. Delilah, in that instant thought of the captain as a warlock. Somehow performing witchcraft at them.

"Adán. You seem to be one of the many who tried to capture the thief. For that you have my respect. Though your intentions were of the selfish kind your actions would've brought the thief to justice." The captain turned and walked up to Adán. The man sank in his chair as the captain reached out to him with his hand. Moments after the captain's hand landed on Adán's shoulder the young man began to recover from his episode. Delilah eyed the captain. No detail was missed. It was easy. Easy because there was no small detail. No hidden movement. At least not visible to her. It was a simple touch. And yet, Adán regained his composure. Like a crying newborn being comforted by the touch of its mother. What kind of witchcraft did the captain do? Is a warlock even allowed to hold rank? If so, how could Lord Zephiel allow such a thing?

This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

"Now son, did you get a good look at the thief's face?" The captain asked.

"No sir. It's true I held him down for a moment but everything happened so quickly. I was so excited for the reward that I did not pay closer attention to his face. Only that he had brown skin and black hair. His glow threw everything out the window. He could be red all over or orange." The soft smile the captain gave Adán faded. A look of disappointment emerged.

"I see. I had hoped for more from you young man. But I see that you are nothing more than the same. An animal controlled by its emotions. No duty to a cause greater than oneself. You're worse than the zapojin. Only the color of your skin elevates you to a status slightly above him." Adán clenched his hands into a fist.

"How dare you! Who are you so high and mighty to claim such a thing? How can you compare me to an animal such as the zapojin? Who the hell do you think you—"

"The zapojin may be acting not solely for himself but for another. That is an admirable trait for anyone. Even an animal. Yet you only think of yourself. Selfishness will only get you so far."

"None of this matters!" The words erupted from the corner. It was William. He had his hands on his head and he was sweating profusely. "You swore an oath to Lord Zephiel. This thief will be the end of me if Zephiel finds out I lost his gold." William stood up mere inches away from the captain's face. "Captain Love is it? What does any of this have to do with finding out where this thief could have gone? You seem to be more interested in your reputation than in finding this thief. Lord Zephiel possesses abilities that even you won't be able to comprehend with your low level witchcraft. Now do your job and find this thief. We all know the direction he went. Southeast from the city gates. Into the forest. If we're lucky perhaps the abominations got him and the purse—"

"Those things along with the mist that brought them here have been driven off by Lord Zephiel and his private army more than half a century ago."

"I heard the rumors. They're still out there. Waiting for their chance to strike. And the injun attracts them. We got to act quickly, Captain Love."

The room turned quiet. Everyone in El Paraiso knew what the mist and the abominations were. Not from personal experience but from the stories told by the elders in the city and their forefathers. "Those are just tales told by the senile. Not even my father believed the tales his father told him.." Said Adán. He looked around the room. Their faces were pale. "A-arent they?"

Delilah pondered. To think that the stories her grandmother whispered to her when she was a child were true. How thousands of people were taken by strange beasts at night. They would appear under the cover of a thick mist. Too thick to see more than an inch in front of you. Delilah pictured her grandmother. A slim old woman whose skin had wrinkled up throughout the decades. Her hands, while fragile, showed signs of strength. Strength one may have needed to survive such an environment. Where the strongest lived and the weak perished. Delilah focused her attention on the look on her grandmother. How could she have missed such a detail?

Was it because she was a child who was too scared herself to think of anything else? Or did she simply choose to live in denial? To believe that the stories were nothing but a figment of her grandmother's imagination. That she had, along with the rest of the elders, grown too old to remember what was real and what wasn't. Her grandmother's face was pale. It was a white as the full moon in the black sky. Each time she remembered the terrors of what she lived through day and night her face showed the fear that lived in her heart.

"My grandmother too told me of the terrors she lived through during those dark times. She says we're lucky to even be able to read these days. Back then no one cared to learn. It wouldn't stop them. Not the monsters. Of course I don't believe in all of the stories. My grandmother once said that the ground quaked as a beast as large as a mountain walked the earth in search of food. Nothing but nonsense." Said Delilah. She brushed the hair out of her eyes and in that moment regained her composure. "If the creatures did exist wouldn't you think that we would've found the bodies?

"Unfortunately there are next to no written documents of those times. Only the nobles had the luxury of living long enough to where reading would matter. The rest focused solely on survival. So we have no way of deducing the real from the fantasy." Said Captain Love

"Nonetheless we must catch the boy and bring his head back on a spike. Otherwise the mist might return. The clan of barbarians outside the walls will be the first to fall and then us Captain Love. Said William.

Captain Love looked at the man for a moment. Analyzed him from top to bottom. "You're not worried about the mist are you, Don William? At least not entirely."

William gasped at the thought. His jaw almost dropped. "Don't be preposterous! Of course I'm concerned about the mist returning. All I have worked for would be for not."

Captain Love grabbed the wooden chair behind him and sat across William. "You're lying."

"I beg your pardon, captain?"

"No one can lie to me. Not when my goal is to maintain order. Now what are you really afraid of? What could scare someone like a member of Nuevo Paraiso?"

Banging came from behind the door. "I'm busy questioning witnesses. Whoever you are, please come back at another time or leave your complaints with the guards." There was a moment of silence before the next series of knocking. The door opened and a tall cloaked figure walked in. Captain Love felt the table trembling. It was William. His face turned pale. The captain did not recognize the man who interrupted his questioning.

"Who are you?" Captain Love asked.

"Where are my manners?" The figure removed his hood revealing a pale face with dark brown hair. He was attractive to the eyes. "My name is Ephidel, my good captain. It's been such a long time since we last met. How're you enjoying your post? It's been how many years? Two years since you’ve been promoted to captain? My, how fast time flies don't you think?"

He noticed the woman and the young boy sitting in the room. He bowed to them in the way a circus announcer would bow before his audience. Delilah awkwardly bowed back. Adán sat in his chair confused. Too taken aback by how nonchalant the man was in front of the captain. "Now then if I may ask, Captain Love, what exactly is happening in my city?"

Captain Love stood silent for a moment. Many knew about his promotion to captain. It was all the villagers could talk about for once that didn't involve the mist. When Commander Joaquin died and the former commander rejected to claim the title again, Love was chosen. But he refused, and decided to be promoted to captain instead. The act alone was a scandal to some in the city, But Captain Love did not recognize the man claiming to know him. And why was he acting like the lord of the city? Didn't he know that only Lord Zephiel could claim the city as his own? Even the aristocrats dared not to challenge his authority.

"You seem to know me personally, Ephidel. But I do not know you. And how dare you call Nuevo Paraiso your city? Do you have no respect for Lord Zephiel?" Captain Love bellowed.

Ephidel smiled at the captain as he reached for a note inside his cloak and handed it to the captain. Captain Love glanced at the letter. Noticing the stone head seal. It was from Lord Zephiel

To Captain Love,

I, Lord Zephiel, give my advisor Ephidel the title of Lord. He will be my heir to the throne and your next ruler. His word now holds the same weight as if it were my own. For now I will continue to sit on the throne and all future orders will be given by him. I do hope you serve him as loyally as you have served me.

Your friend, Lord Zephiel

Captain Love found the note hard to believe. Why would Lord Zephiel give up his authority like this, and out of the blue? The young captain did not have long to ponder on his thoughts as Ephidel began tapping his cane on the ground.

"As you can see Captain Love I have every right to call this city my own." Said Ephidel with his lips stretched from ear to ear. Captain Love felt uneasy as he looked Ephidel in the eyes. They were abnormally large.

"My apologies, Lord Ephidel. I didn't mean to disrespect you. " Captain Love said with his head lowered.

Ephidel tapped his cane on the ground. "No offense taken captain. It was such a shame what happened to Commander Murrieta. I was fond of the man. As I am of you my friend." There it was again. Captain Love felt a strange aura around Ephidel but without using that he was unable to pinpoint exactly what this feeling was. But it felt almost familiar. But if there was one thing Captain Love could read it was deception. The lies this man spew from his mouth. He didn't really care about his mentor Murrieta. And he certainly didn't care about Captain Love.

"If only I had something to remember him by." Ephidel continued. "Luckily, you were there to take his place. After all, Commander Murrieta was an extraordinary man. No one but you could've replaced him and lead the city guards to where they are today. Which brings me back to my original question. What is happening in my city?

Captain Love felt his heart stop when Ephidel finished speaking. It was as if he was a heartbeat away from death and his next words would either keep him in the land of the living or…

"It's an honor to have you grace us with your presence sire. Just a small burglary. Nothing out of the norm besides…"

"Besides what Captain?"

"We have reason to believe the thief is an zapojin. The villagers went berserk to claim the prize Lord Zephiel promised to give for their imprisonment."

“They brought the mist upon us!” Adán shouted from his seat.

Ephidel burst into laughter.

"I have heard such claims countless times in my lifetimes, and it never ceases to make me laugh. Rest assured that Nuevo Paraiso will be safe from the abominations of old." Said Ephidel. He gestured to the captain to lean in. The captain gave him his ear. "Find the thief but do not kill or harm him. I planned something special for the boy."

Captain Love nodded.

"Now then Garcia," William shuddered when he heard his name called. "We have much to talk about. Come." William left with Ephidel. His eyes were sunken and he sweated profusely leaving residue on the doorknob.

Captain Love dismissed Delilah and Adán as he stood in the room alone. Something that Ephidel said caught his attention. It was no mistake. Ephidel was highly educated and disciplined to make such a small mistake in his grammar. Lifetimes instead of lifetime. Was he overreaching? Perhaps. But Commander Joaquin Murrieta always told him to trust his instincts. It would always lead him to the truth and it was screaming at him. Telling him that it was essential to a mystery that Captain Love wished he could put behind him.

But investigating Ephidel was not his assignment. Finding this zapojin. This boy was. His instincts screamed at him again. How did Ephidel know that the thief was a boy? His curiosity peaked. But he felt his inquisitiveness would be the end of him.