RAY VAN CAMARO

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After Gilead villagers and adventurers were found all over the country, news of the incident spread like a disease. It was promptly called the Great Shuffle due to how the villagers were shuffled around the continent like pieces on a board game.

When we found a ship willing to take us and the Gilead villagers residing in Lalatina back home, we said our goodbyes to Czeslaw and Chris.

“It was good seeing you again, Ray,” Czeslaw said. “Remember, if there’s any trouble, light the beacons. If Gilead calls for aid, Port Town will answer.”

I shook his hand. “Only trust letters from me and Pops with anything that involves this thing. And when you receive them, look for the truth within the truth.”

With that, we Gileadeans hopped onto a ship and made our way back home.

Something dark was at play and so many innocent people were caught up in it. Jaime, Trisha, and Ilias were fine. I knew they had to be. I just wish they got sent somewhere safe. Away from whatever was causing all of this.

When we got back, Doria escorted the villagers back to the village. I had also ordered her to go through every tavern to look for Abel’s signature. The rest of us headed back to the hut.

“Why are we looking for the incantation circle?” Gama cried. “Any incantation circle must be long gone by now. Let’s just go home.”

“Quit your whining, Private! Gilead is thirty minutes from here. We can afford to take our time and investigate.”

“Abel had a circle right in these notes, why would he put it on something if he’s trying to hide it?’

“Do you really think he would waste his time to rearrange the circle? The wind would just blow it away.”

“He could’ve done it inside.”

“The caster needs to see what their target is. You can’t see anything from inside that hut.”

“Well, maybe he got creative and cut grass. Or poured sand in the shape of a circle that got washed away when it rained. Or drew it in the earth where it was blown away in the wind. Or—”

“We found it, Colonel,” Kaiser and the others yelled from the roof.

The incantation circle was painted on the roof and hidden underneath straw. And from this vantage point, the view of Gilead was clear as day.

When we entered the village, we ran into Doria carrying a stack of books. She verified that Abel’s name wasn’t in any of them.

He’s guilty of this. There was no doubt about it now.

The Seraphim soldiers directed us to the morgue where Pops was. He was standing in front of a table staring at a motionless dwarf in a military uniform.

I know that face.

“Colonel Fundin was found dead,” Pops said as he covered up the body with a cloth. “He was teleported to the Glistening Woods and attacked by a trio of trolls. Colonel Fundin tried his best, but in the end, he was beaten against a tree.”

Colonel Fundin was the colonel regent in my absence. If I were in his place, would I have been laying motionless and cold here too?

“He was a good man, Pops. I’m sorry, I know he was a close friend to you. He helped me a lot.”

After telling him everything we’d discovered, Pops marched me to the jail cells where Abel was being kept. Without question, we dragged him to the hut where we chained him inside.

“What is this?” General Clegane asked, slamming the cookbook in front of him.

“It looks like a pile of notes,” Abel answered.

“A pile of notes the colonel and his men found hiding in the latrine pit just outside this hut.”

“Now,” I said, “the notes are just for cooking. But if you take apart the pages and place them in a certain order, you get a map of Armestis with runes. We visited these runes and found waypoints.”

“I don’t know why you’re telling me this, Colonel,” Abel said.

“And do you know what happens if you flip over the pages?” I took a paintbrush and drew the incantation circle on the floor. “You get this. An exact replica of the circle drawn and hidden within the roof. And upon further examination, the circle is a spell that causes a beam of light to appear and teleport any living thing engulfed in it to these waypoints. It’s very suspicious that you got teleported right where this book was hiding.”

“I don’t know what you’ve been drinking, but I’ve got nothing to do with whatever you’re suspecting.”

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“Then who are you? I don’t recognize you as a villager.”

“I told you! I’m an adventurer who was passing by.”

“What inn were you staying at?”

“Carrot and Stick Inn.”

“That makes it easier for us. Doria!”

The lieutenant went through the stack and handed me the check-in book belonging to Carrot and Stick. “Then how come there isn’t an Abel in their check-in book?”

General Clegane put on a white glove with an incantation circle on it. He directed it at Abel, clenched his fist, and began twisting his wrist. “Twist And Shout.”

Suddenly Abel’s joints began to twist and contort. His cries let us know the spell didn’t numb the pain. Whenever Pops stopped the spell, his joints healed themselves to normal.

“Ray, which one of your men is the best at torturing?” Pops asked.

Kaiser stepped up. “That would be me, General.”

“I’d like you to stay here with me and my men.”

Kaiser grabbed a pair of pliers and began pulling at one of Abel’s fingernails.

Abel glanced around in a panic. “Wait, wait, wait. What the hell do you even want? Who the hell tortures without asking questions?!”

“So you were expecting questions?” Kaiser didn’t stop pulling and ripped out a fingernail.

Abel thrashed around in agony.

“Too bad,” General Clegane said. “The time for asking questions has long passed. Ray, you’ve had a long trip. Go get some rest and return at night.”

Abel’s dispersed screams were heard from Gilead when noise died down. We returned at night to find a campfire burning outside of the hut. Kaiser and Pops’ soldiers surrounded the fire and were eating stew. The old man sat by the hut’s entrance drinking whisky from his flask.

General Clegane took us inside to the beaten-up Abel. His face was covered in dried saliva and blood and his right eye was bloated. All of his fingernails were missing and his right hand was sliced between his index and middle finger. He was also shirtless with lacerations on his chest and back.

Usually, I’d feel bad, but I held no remorse for Abel.

Pops knelt beside the prisoner. “You can talk now.”

Abel struggled to keep his neck up and face us. His voice simply sounded tired. “Yes, you’re right. Me and a couple hundred other jynxists surrounding Gilead used the incantation circles hidden in cookbooks. It’s a spell that creates a giant beam of light that teleports everyone engulfed in it to those five waypoints. We had other associates wait by the waypoints to seize the villagers.”

“Why weren’t they teleported to those waypoints?”

“That stupid spell,” Abel coughed. “Someone tried to protect the village with a barrier spell. It ended up mixing with the beam of light. The barrier protected the waypoints. Instead of the spell teleporting everyone to one of those five waypoints, it teleported everyone everywhere but those waypoints.”

“Why were you trying to make this look like a mana accident? What are you trying to hide?”

“We couldn’t just kidnap them,” he slurred, dozing off into exhaustion. “We didn’t want to mess with the Warden of the West and the so-called Bad Company.”

I pressed my fingers together, ready to snap. “Kidnap them? Who’s them?”

“Ilias and Trisha Payne.”

My unit shot looks at me. Pops gritted his teeth but held back what would’ve otherwise been an explosive reaction.

“Ilias and Trisha?” I questioned, shaking Abel. “What for? What have you done with them? What are you planning?!”

But Abel didn’t answer. He was completely passed out and no amount of shaking would wake him.

“Pops, take him back to the village and keep him chained up in the library. He’s lost a lot of blood, so get a doctor to look at him. We’ll resume this tomorrow.”

I couldn’t catch any sleep that night. I sat awake wondering what someone needed Trisha and Ilias for. They were nothing but mundane villagers in this quiet settlement. I’ve known Trisha ever since I was a boy and I was raising Ilias in his father’s stead. Nothing about them was kidnap-worthy.

What could anyone possibly want with them?

The moment I heard the first rooster crowing, I put on my uniform and went to the library. I was greeted by Pops who gave unfortunate news.

“Abel is dead.”

“What?” I asked. “He didn’t lose enough blood to kill him. Did you get a doctor to look at him?”

“The doctor healed Abel. But some time during the night, Abel chewed his own tongue off and killed himself by choking on it.”

Dead? How would we unearth this thing? We need to find everyone! We need to find Ilias and Trisha before these people get to them! We need to find Jaime! I can’t lose a family again!

I tried to walk past the general, but he grabbed my shoulder. “Ray, I know how you feel. I’m worried about them too.”

“You don’t know how I feel, Pops!” I screamed at him, tears forming in my eyes. “I was put in jurisdiction of this village. I was supposed to be its protector. And where was I when a hundred jynxists conspired to break it apart? Where was I when my home needed me most? I was gone! And the person put in my stead is dead. One of my men in my personal unit was teleported to a sea infested with pirates. My daughter is missing. And Ilias and Trisha are being hunted by whoever is behind this. You don’t get it, Pops. I’m a failure of a soldier! And I’m lost. I don’t know what to do…”

“You’re right, son. My pain isn’t the same as yours. But you’re not a failure. You’ve done your duty. But sometimes, there are things you can’t prevent from happening. Right now, you’re digging up this conspiracy, taking care of this village, and looking for everyone who’s missing. And for that I am proud.”

“That’s not enough. How am I supposed to protect Armestis, when I can’t even protect a village?”

“I don’t know, Ray. But you can start by asking for help. You’ve got people around you that you can trust. You’ve got a big dream and I know you’re strong, but even I know you can’t do it alone.”

Pops is right. I’ve tried my best. I need to stop moving forward alone.

“I’ll have my men continue to look for Gilead villagers,” he said. “I’ll put someone in charge of this place so you can do whatever you need to. But what’s your plan?”

“We’ve got two advantages. One, we know the truth and the people hiding it don’t know that we know. I’d like to keep it that way. Two, we don’t know where Trisha, Ilias, and Jaime are, but so do they. They’re alive—I know they are. We just have to find them first.” I wiped my face and straightened my back. “I will ride to the Capital and ask for the king’s aid in getting to the truth behind the Great Shuffle.”