King Oleander sat in his silver throne complete with crushed red velvet cushions as the Knights filed into the throne room. He combed his bushy, greying beard while smiling at his youngest son as they approached him. He couldn’t be prouder that his son was defending the city and the leader of a band. He had yet to be disappointed with the Knights’ results. They really got things done.

Chrys stood next to his father with an obvious scowl on his face. He had no idea what was going to be asked of them, but he was confident that he could do a better job of it than the Knights. He didn’t want to look, but he couldn’t stop staring at Quil and the smug look on his face. He felt his body temperature rise. He told himself that he had to find a better way to deal with his feelings. Jealousy? Sure, for lack of a better name.

“Father, how can we be of service to the kingdom?” Quil asked.

Oleander held up the message that had been delivered earlier. “Are you familiar with the Gogo-Kraken?” He studied their faces as the Knights tried their best to look knowledgeable, but ultimately failed. “It’s okay if you don’t. For many centuries, the Gogo-Kraken was a myth that village leaders told their people to frighten them and get them to act right. Unfortunately, it is not a myth.” He paused for dramatic effect. When he felt the right amount of tension had been achieved, he continued.

“What is the Gogo-Kraken you ask? It’s a creature that is able to travel through different dimensions devouring worlds. It once resided here. Very powerful wizards were able to lock it away just outside our dimension. Strong magic kept it at bay. A tiny statue held the spell to repel it. That statue was stolen yesterday by forces unknown.”

“Who steals random statues?” asked Princess Romana of the Severtine. She was the Knights’ second in command, serving as the team’s tank. She was a 6’2” buff warrior princess from the Severtine Jungle, complete with a complement of many sharp pointy things. She was built like a house with hands that could strangle a tiger, and muscles that could snap the thickest neck of a wrestler. The jungle did wonders for her skin, which was a lovely shade of tan. “Tsk tsk tsk. That person has no respect for the arts.”

Oleander replied, “I need you to find the person who stole the statue, kill them, recover the statue, and return it to its resting place.”

Oh, is that all?” Jaco snorted. “Would you like us to pick you up anything while we’re gone? Dry cleaning? Groceries?"

"Oleander chuckled at Jaco’s snarky comment. This surprised everyone, especially Chrys. It wasn’t just anyone who could mouth off at the king and get away with it. “No, I think that will be all, Jaco. Thanks for the offer.”

“What does this statue look like?” Quil asked.

Oleander handed the paper to Chrys, who walked it down to Quil. He examined the content on it and saw the plea for help from a Father Masonley and a picture of the statue. It looked like a bizarre octopus with tentacles curling every which way. Not only were there tentacles, there were four legs equipped with claws that protruded from a serpentine-like body. It was expertly etched in charcoal, which gave its crisp, black edges a lifelike appearance. It made him shiver with dread. He hoped that he wouldn’t have to see this thing in the flesh.

“We’re on it, Father,” Quil said, rolling up the paper and handing it to Romana. “We won’t let you down!”

“You never have, son.” Oleander saluted them. This was met with an eye roll from Chrys. “Good luck, Knights!”

Quil led the Knights out of the throne room. The double doors shut behind them triumphantly. Quil was pumped for this mission, just like he was for every other mission. Though he felt he should have asked more questions this time. Where was the statue resting when it was stolen? Who was Father Masonley? What magic was keeping the Gogo-Kraken away from their dimension? What the hell kind of name was Gogo-Kraken? It was like someone gave up halfway through naming it and slapped any random syllable in front of the word ‘kraken’. He supposed he would have to find out these answers on his own. It would be far too embarrassing to go back now and ask for more information. He had faith that he and his teammates would figure it out.

“Gogo-Kraken?” Romana snorted. “What a ridiculous name! I guess they couldn’t come up with anything better.”

“No wonder why it wants to eat our world,” Jaco added. “It’s pissed at us for giving it a stupid name.”

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Everett Arbalest, a bespectacled dwarf man, who was the team’s weapons expert and artificer, cleared his throat dramatically and said, “I think we would do well not to antagonize the creature. We should just focus on getting the statue back where it belongs… which is where?”

“Hell if I know,” Quil replied.

“You didn’t think to ask?” Everett’s voice had the slight twinge of irritation. Quil shrugged. “This thing could be from anywhere! How are we going to narrow this down? We could be wandering the entire world before we could even come close to where this thing originated from, let alone finding the person who took it! I can’t believe that… I… I… I need a drink.” He reached into his satchel and pulled out a silver flask. He unscrewed it and took two big gulps before replacing the cap. He took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “Sorry.”

Everett’s freak out had taken them from the main courtyard to the castle entrance. The guards acknowledged their arrival and saluted them as they passed through the archway leading to the neighboring village. The group stood outside and waited for Everett to calm down.

The last member of the Knights was an elven priestess, because no team should be without an elven priestess. Ambereese, or Reese as her teammates affectionately called her, commanded elemental magic when she saw fit to smite evildoers. She approached Everett and asked, “Are you alright, friend?” She patted the dwarf on the head.

“I feel fine,” Everett lied.

“Princess, please allow me to look at the message,” Reese requested. Romana handed her the paper gladly. Reese studied it intensely, looking over every inch of it, even inspecting the sides. “This is from a small monastery by the Hyleian Mountains. It is about two days’ travel from here. If we leave now and keep a good pace, we can be there before sundown on the second day.”

Quil and Everett stared at Reese in amazement. Did she just pull that out of thin air or what? Reese stared back at them with a knowing smile. “What?”

“That was amazing! How did you do that?” Quil asked.

“It was my duty to know every region of the Seven Lands. It was a regular part of my duties to know the peoples and customs of every land.” Reese tossed her long blonde hair over her shoulder. “Child’s work. Shall we procure transportation?” She stepped away from the group and headed into the village. The others just stood there stunned for a moment before they eventually followed her.

***

Tidas found shelter under a large Jacob tree in the forest that surrounded the Hyleian Mountain range. He was so exhausted from the climb down that he immediately fell asleep once he found a good spot to make camp. It was mid-afternoon now. He awoke when he felt something crawl across his face. He slapped himself in the hopes of squashing whatever it was, but only succeeded in hurting himself. That definitely woke him up.

He sat up and scanned the area for any signs of the person he was supposed to meet. It appeared he was alone. That was almost disappointing. He wanted to be done with this job as soon as possible. The employers were shady. They were literally shady. In the viewing globe he used to communicate, the people were shrouded in shadow, only their silhouettes were visible. If they had somehow found him now, it would be comforting to know that they were actual people and not shadow demons from the Underworld or whatever.

He didn’t know how long it had been beeping, but eventually, he heard his Crystal going off. He reached into his small pocket and procured the device. “Hello?”

“Do you have it?” whispered a woman’s voice.

“Yes, mistress,” Tidas replied. “It was really hard to get to. I’m afraid my rates will have to go up.”

There was a long silence. He wasn’t sure if it was a happy silence, an angry silence, or an ambivalent silence. He just knew the silence was making him nervous.

“Money is of no consequence,” was the response given. “Bring it to the village of Lagrimos by day’s end and you will be rewarded.”

The line went dead before he could happily say that he would do it gladly. He put the Crystal back in his pocket and sighed. Lagrimos wasn’t exactly close to where he was now, but if he hoofed it quickly, he could get there by day’s end.

He stretched and yawned. As he did, he felt something shake inside the satchel. He stood still and waited for it to happen again. It didn’t. He opened the fanny pack and looked inside. The statuette was housed snugly. It didn’t look like it had moved, but had it? Was it doing something magical now that its resting place had been disturbed? He suddenly got the creeps. What if it had a curse associated with it? What if he was now being cursed because he stole it? He dismissed the idea as he closed the satchel. No time to think about curses now. If he didn’t get a move on, he was sure to be cursed by his employers. He quickly embarked on his journey without looking back.