The more that Aldweck spoke, the softer Velis’s face became. Chammie also shared the same disposition. He hadn’t known much about Aldweck or why he had done what he did on the ship, but he was sure that the honesty and sincerity in his voice couldn’t be faked. Erick was nodding to everything Aldweck had been saying, but it didn’t stop Grandma Reylis from being somewhat skeptical.

“I have to go. It isn’t that I don’t believe you, but the others are probably looking for me.” Velis grabbed his hat and walked up to Aldweck.

“Punch me.”

“What? Why would I--”

“Punch me Aldweck! I need it to look like I was on your tail, but you got away. Without that I would be investigated by the Cariquey forces and all of us would be going down with your sinking ship.” He put his arms on Aldweck and looked at him solemnly in the eyes.

“If you want me to help you, you’re going to have to go through with this.”

“You asked for this, just remember.” Aldweck pulled his arm back and smashed his fist into Velis’s cheekbone, sending him hurtling to the ground as he held his cheek. He got up and touched his cheek before looking back at Aldweck and nodding.

“That’ll have to do.”

“Sorry about that,” Aldweck said.

“Grandma, take care of them while I’m gone. I’ll be back tonight.”

Velis stormed out of the house and began running through the streets to catch up with his unit. He looked unsettled as he ran through the crowd of busy people of Jarquale. The clocktower resounded throughout the town as Chammie and the others were stuck with Grandma Reylis.

“Now would be the time to escape if you were lying I’d suppose.” She smiled, her trust still not really there.

“I think we are safer here, Reylis.” Aldweck said.

Aldweck turned to look at Chammie who was fidgeting with his hands.

“Chammie, where did you find this book?” Aldweck asked him, pulling out the book from earlier that had been put away in his bag.

Chammie looked at the book and paused, “I can’t exactly remember. I remember it being one of my father’s possessions before it was mine. After he passed, I couldn't exactly ask him where he got the book from.”

Aldweck nodded, “I see. That’s all fine. I’m sorry to hear about your loss.”

“Do you mind if I hold onto it? I promise I’ll give it back when I’m done with it.”

“I...guess it’s fine. I can’t really force you to give it back if I wanted.” He looked down at the ground, his voice petering out.

“I pinky promise that I will take care of this book, Chammie.” He held his pinky out to Chammie.

“Pinky...promise?” He looked up at Aldweck.

“Oh, well maybe that’s something you aren’t familiar with. We wrap our pinkies and it’s considered an unbreakable promise. Okay?”

Chammie smiled and wrapped his pinky around Aldweck’s, “If you say so, I’ll hold you to it.”

“I pinky promise.”

“Well, I imagine all of you could use cleaning and something to eat. All of you smell absolutely horrible.” Grandma Reylis got up and walked to the kitchen.

“I can help you, Grandma Reylis!” Erick offered to help with the cooking.

“You can help me after you’ve cleaned off some of that grime.” She turned back in his general direction, with authority in her voice.

“Roger that!”

~ - ~ - ~

Mitch had the first real shower and breath of fresh air as he let the faucet rain down on him. He knew that all of this couldn’t last though, and while he was still fascinated that this world used magic to engineer the marvels of his own world, he felt a sense of destitution. He missed his home. He didn’t know why he had been called here to this world, and the thought of him being transported here left his hands shaking.

Ever since he had arrived in this world, he had never had time to breathe. He never had time to digest or process what was happening to him, because he was pretending to be someone he was not. Maybe, in some far-off vision, this was destiny? Some kind of message to tell him that he needed to learn to be himself? To stop viewing himself through the lens that could see everyone else? He didn’t know, but the bubble in his head popped.

It all came out and mixed with the shower, a flowing river of tears where Mitch couldn’t catch his breath. At this moment, he was Mitch. There was no mirror to remind him he was in a stolen body, and that the world was out to get him. He was pretty sure he had already died once, so that meant that a way back couldn’t be achieved through giving up.

He crawled into himself as he laid down in the shower.

“What the fuck man...what the fuck…”

Erick stood outside the doorway, drying his hair. He could hear his master’s grief. He knew that something had changed. Those things might never be the same. His master had been through a lot and he didn’t know all of the details, but he would find a way. He would find a way to understand, even though his master couldn’t tell him what it was that was hurting him.

Erick walked away and helped Grandma Reylis prepare dinner.

Chammie kept watch and peered through the blinds of the house. He also examined the pots and plants that were layered across the house. He touched one of them and it spit out a ball of fire, making him jump backward and run into the hallway.

“Woah.”

Velis returned later that night with the rain coming down on him. He quickly tore his clothes off and replaced them with dry clothes.

“Alright everyone, come into the living room. I know all of you are eating, but I need to update you on the situation.”

Aldweck and the rest of them repositioned to the living room where Velis had a dark look on his face. He waited for everyone to get settled before he brought his low-hanging gaze up.

“They bought the story, but Lord Warner is alive and kicking. I just heard that General Hickory arrived with Lord Warner and he was awake. Things couldn’t get worse for us right now!” He pulled at his hair, holding his head in his hands.

“Wait, hold on. I know that we’re the ones who should be worried now, but why are you so worried? He has no reason to suspect you.” Aldweck said.

“It’s not that simple.” Velis got up and started pacing, “Ever since the rise of Lord Warner and his regime, the people in the lesser islands suffer and work like slaves. All men at the age of seventeen are enlisted into the army and are forced to work for five years minimum. Except that’s not the whole truth.”

He wiped his face, “The soldiers never get to retire, and the few who do choose to stay because they are in the upper echelon.”

“What do you mean, ‘never get to retire?’” Erick asked.

“In the last year of our contract, we’re sent out to war. Sold to other countries as mercenaries if it isn’t one of our own. We are just merchandise to that Lord Warner. He throws us away for money and power and has amassed everything around himself.”

“Yet, he fails to see what he’s doing to our country.” Grandma Reylis interjected.

“The Cariqueys have never been so underpopulated in history. There is a shortage of young hands and the economy is in shambles. All the things you have seen here are an illusion. A semblance of what Jarquale used to be. The riches he amassed will slowly peter out, and nothing will be left. Our nation is falling apart.”

The room was quiet, but Aldweck nodded his head.

“Isn’t there a way to just leave? Why don’t you just go?”

“I can’t leave. Does it look like I own a ship to you or have the means to sneak away from the highly guarded ports?”

“Even the Spirit of Auda has been renounced with Lord Warner’s rule.” Grandma Reylis sighed.

“The bastard will only let us worship him for all the great things he’s done for this country.”

Velis picked up a candle and lit it, “Follow me. I know all of you want to flee this country, but as soon as you came here and were put up as wanted criminals, your chances of escaping are as slim as mine. There is hope, but only if you trust in what we’ve been building can you find your escape.”

He pushed the table over and opened a hatch on the floor, “Oh, you’re going to need to put on some of my uniforms. It’s just a double measure. Trust me.”

Aldweck, Chammie, and Erick, got into Velis’s uniforms and followed him down in the hatch. Down the hatch seemed to be an endless ladder that drifted into darkness. A void that fell to the ends of the earth, carved out by hand. The only light that remained was the candle that Velis held toward the bottom of the ladder.

“Careful with your feet, careful.” He grabbed Chammie and sat him down. Doing the same with Erick, and then Aldweck. Grandma Reylis closed the hatch and left them in darkness. The glow of the candle reflected off of Velis’s skin and made him look tanner than he actually was. He looked fiery under the darkness of the man-made chasm.

“Follow me, we’re not far from where we need to go.”

Aldweck and the others were soon engulfed with light and a group of men in uniform who were drawing up plans on a large-scale map in the darkness.

“From here, we will take the harbor hostage and infiltrate the castle to attempt Lord Warner’s life…” A man in the center spoke, his voice trailing off when his vision caught the approaching group.

“Private Velis, you’ve brought more men to the revolution?”

“With all the precautions, I’ve enlisted them in hopes of freeing our country from madness, sir.” He saluted.

“At ease, this is your first time bringing new men on. I trust your strict judgment of those to be a part of this tide that is turning in our country. Come quick, and listen. We will enact our plan in the coming days.”

“Yes, Commander Larience.”

Aldweck cautiously approached the table and stood a few feet back. The familiar feeling of Erick being by his side brought him comfort when nothing else would. He had been his rock ever since he had arrived in this world. Erick stood with a strong face and took note of everything that was going on like a hawk. He already looked like a soldier.

Mitch, on the other hand, was freaking out. Was he about to participate in what was essentially a civil war? He wasn’t trained with guns and was afraid of what kind of shit Lord Warner and General Hickory had in their retinue to throw at him. Let alone, the idea of Alex finding him and taking him through hell again was enough to encourage vomit.

“Okay, back on topic. Lord Warner is celebrating his return to Jarquale through a military parade. Despite popular belief. This is a terrible time to try assassinating him. He keeps his most loyal circle around him during these parades, and we would likely be fighting more than we can chew. Our attack needs to be discrete and efficient.”

“How can we do that? Our forces number two-hundred at most. He has thousands that are armed!” A bigger man across the table slammed his fist on the table.

“Vice-Commander Abion, please calm yourself. We are going to do this efficiently--”

“You’ve been spouting for months, Larience! All about being discreet and waiting for the perfect time. I’m sick of it! You’re a man who can’t back his talk, that's for sure.”

“We are attacking as soon as next week, you just need to be patient. We can’t win this war by fighting him head-on and you know that Abion! Even if his support is so low among his retinue, there is no way we can expect all of them to rebel against the Lord!”

“I’m done following you. I can’t expect anyone else here to want to live another day under this hell. If you want to attack tonight, then detain Larience.” He coldly pointed across the table.

A bunch of the soldiers grabbed hold of Larience and pinned him to the ground, “Can’t you see you’re making the same mistake?!” They started to drag him away, “You are no different from Lord Warner if you take the things you want by force. This is hypocrisy. You’ll regret all of this!”

And just like that, the deadline for to-be a revolution became a now-revolution. Aldweck had been roped into something again and he had no part in saying what he wanted. Luckily, as soon as everyone disbanded for the night. They would be able to choose whether or not to participate in the assassination.

As soon as Aldweck started to turn, “Wait.”

Abion turned and looked at Aldweck, “None of you are leaving. We commence the attack tonight. We can’t have anyone shy away from this because of a power shift.” He slammed his hand down on the table.

“Anyone who leaves now will be assumed to be a traitor to this just cause.”

The room was silent as Aldweck turned back around and nodded, even though he wanted to reach across the table and punch Abion square in his jaw and tell him how much of a dumb piece of shit he was being.

“Latun’s squad will lead the assault through the castle and Velis’s squad will come in through the backdoors during the distraction to clear a way to Lord Warner’s chambers. From there, my squad will push through and kill him in his sleep or near sleep state.” He looked up and got everyone’s eyes with his, “Does that sound good? Any questions?”

As soon as Abion was done speaking and prompted a period for questions, Aldweck had already felt sick. He had plenty to say, not that he was ever going to say it. It was at that moment, that he realized Erick was the savior and bane of his existence all in one. A package of sweet and sour that was hard to pinpoint whether it was helpful or harmful.

“I don’t believe in this plan’s success. It’s too simple.” Erick said plainly.

“That wasn’t a question, I don’t believe.” Abion slid the map down the table and pushed several men out of the way to look at the young Erick.

“Believe you’re new around here as well? Don’t you think you’re a bit too green to be telling me what’s best?”

“No, I think you are just making hasty emotional decisions that are selfish. All of these men here deserve to live to see their families, yet you’re using two-thirds of them as diversions so you can swoop in and attack where the enemy is most vulnerable. I think that is cowardly. If anything, bring the other guy back who has the brain. You’re just talking muscle mass.”

“Why I oughta--!”

No one tried to stop Abion from grabbing Erick, but Erick wasn’t going to allow that to happen. He summoned a blue chain that wrapped around his wrists and left him chained to the ceiling. That level of magic fluency was rarely seen in the world and left the whole room speechless.

“H-How are you this skilled with magic? It’s impossible! To think you could…”

“Bring back Commander Larience. He will lead this operation to succeed. Whether it’s tonight or several nights from now. I trust his judgment to be careful and more intelligent than someone who is willing to stoop to the same level as his enemy to win.” Erick looked at the room, and they were quick to comply.

“Hey-hey, aren’t you being a little hasty to revert things back to how they were? We could end this tonight!”

“You fail to think even about the simple things. How are you going to fend off General Hickory who is proficient with magic? God forbid Lord Warner wakes up as well. His magic is just as strong if not stronger than the General’s. And you call yourself a better leader for this job?”

“But with you here, now we can--”

“I don’t want to be the tool for your revolution. I have no plans to hurt you, but I don’t want you to waste the lives of the people here. Come up with a plan that can have all of us making it back to their families alive after it’s said and done.”

“But--”

“No buts!”

“We’ve brought back Commander Larience.”

“Just when I thought I was going to be used as a scapegoat for when everything went wrong.” He held his face as he stumbled to the table.

“Are we ready to have an adult conversation and plan this out like men, or are we still going to be impatient?” Commander Larience looked around the table until his eyes met Erick’s.

“You must be the one who saved me. Thank you for what you’ve done. This revolution was about to be turned into a squandered rebellion because of Abion’s hasty judgment.”

“I--I didn’t mean to cause harm. I just wanted what was best for the nation!”

“I know. That’s why you’re still going to help us win this war against Lord Warner. I’m not so quick to betray my comrades like you. Even after they’ve betrayed me.” He brushed his hair back behind his eyes.

Abion went silent, his eyes drifted to the floor. His face was full of regret and complicated emotions.

“So, since I’m seeing a lot of urgency with what’s developed recently. I’ll take feedback from everyone and we can revise my plan to incorporate everyone’s thoughts. Does that sound fair?”

Everyone nodded, “Yeah. That sounds good to me.” One guy even said.

Just as that happened, smoke started to fill the room and people started coughing.

“Fire! There’s a fire. We’re being smoked out! We need to run!” Many of the soldiers started grabbing their rifles and splitting in every direction as shouting from above got louder. Erick looked around and saw people were getting detained and gunshots were going off.

“Well, this just got a lot more complicated.” Abion gritted his teeth.

“I’m letting you go. I hope to see most of you on the other side of this.” Erick released Abion and turned to Aldweck. “What should we do, master?”

“Let’s get the hell out of here. Velis, show us the best way out of here without getting detained. Now that the cat’s out of the bag it’s clear you’re involved in this. So we need to go and get Grandma Reylis.”

Velis’s eyes widened, “Grandma!” He lost all his focus and started madly dashing back toward his house only to be blocked by soldiers.

“No! They found my house. They came through my house! Shit!” Tears started welling up in his eyes as he returned to the group. “Let’s go, we have to move.”

“What about your grandma?” Chammie asked.

“The punishment for conspiracy against the crown is death.” He gulped, tears running down his eyes. “Let’s just go while we can.”

Erick nodded, “Then we will follow Larience’s path and run down that tunnel.” He pointed before they made a dash under the smoke.

The smoke was soon to have everyone coughing, between the screaming and bright flashes of light as gunfire resounded throughout the chasm. It was a hellish nightmare that would make anyone’s heart beat out of their chest. Bullets flying in the dark constricting air that was impossible to breathe. Mitch didn’t know how his luck could be so bad. It’s like he had won the lottery for the worst things possible to happen in every instance of his life.

He dashed forward and followed Erick up the ladder and Chammie was quick to be behind him. Velis was after Chammie. A group of loyalists rushed to the base of the ladder and pointed their weapons.

“Stop! If you don’t comply, we will shoot!”

“Like you wouldn’t kill me if I did!” Velis screamed, spitting at them as their guns went off. Erick shielded him, one of the bullets scraping Erick’s shoulder.

“Are you okay?” Chammie asked worriedly.

“Fine, keep going. No time to look back!”

Aldweck could see light and emerged from a sewer hole in an alleyway. He followed Erick up and then helped Chammie and Velis out of the pit.

“Okay, where to next Velis? You know this island better than any of us.”

“I-I know, I’m struggling to think. I’m freaking out right now.” Tears streamed down his frustrated face, snot bubbling up in his nose.

“I need you to think hard about what’s the next move,” Aldweck said, putting his hands on his shoulders.

“We--we should hide in the forest! Commander Larience always said...that if this were to happen we would hide in the forest and regroup from there.”

“Okay, good. Take us there.” Aldweck said.

“Right, right!” His eyes fluttered open as he did his best to think. He looked in two different directions before deciding on one and motioning for the group to follow him. They followed him only for Velis to be stopped by a group of soldiers who blocked the alley. He went to turn around and they were surrounded at the other end as well.

“Don’t stop! We will push through this together!” Erick shouted, casting fireballs that exploded in both directions, causing the two lines of men to stumble and falter. They scrambled, trying to pat their burning clothes from scorching them to burnt flesh.

The group pushed through and ran up the terraced hills that served as a backboard for the island city. A number of bungalows lay on the foundations of the winding roads as the terrain quickly transitioned to a wooded area.

They crashed into an area of bushes and Aldweck somehow found himself by Commander Larience and some of his men.

“We had somebody rat on the revolution, it’s clear that things are about to get loud. I’m glad you remembered the contingency plan Velis. I’m sorry for your loss.” Sweat poured down Larience’s nose as he pulled his gun out and looked over the bush line.

Velis was hit with the loss of his grandmother all over again when Larience mentioned it, making him stumble back to the ground.

“Sorry, probably not a good time to mention that.”

He aimed his gun and looked at the others that were filling in. The last of the resistance to file in reported to the commander.

“Sir, the ones behind me are enemy soldiers. Prepare to fire.”

“Thanks for the report.” He clicked his tongue.

“Fire on sight from this point on!” He screamed throughout the forest as a bunch of birds flew from the branches. Several men appeared over the horizon and the bush line of the forest lit up in the night sky. Gunfire resounded all over the forest and was like a strobe light that left Aldweck’s ears ringing.

“It’s a full-on war from this point on!”

Velis grabbed a gun and began firing with the rest of them, his eyes red with heartbreak.

“You bastards, you stole my grandma from me!” He furiously fired off his rifle, making Aldweck slide further into the forest as he covered his ears. Chammie and Erick followed suit. They weren’t used to the sounds of gunfire and not on this level.

Just when Mitch was sure things couldn’t get worse, a large explosion erupted several meters from where Commander Larience stood and sent all of them flying back. People screamed and another explosion went off.

“Shit! They’re using magic bombs!”