Entry 9

The sound of dried leaves crunching beneath me went unnoticed, as my mind focused heavily on the questions I had. Why would Bovica still search for a man who was presumed dead? They wouldn’t, which means he must be alive. The reasons a nation would have for hunting down a dead man are so few, I could likely count them on one hand. And still leave two fingers unoccupied.

Buried in my thoughts, I failed to notice James finally closing the distance between us. I had left him sitting there beneath that oak, no doubt confused and a bit overwhelmed by my sudden shift from passive listening to active running. His labored breathing was loud enough to pull me out of my own head - not to mention nearly driving me mad in the process - but I couldn’t stop now. Answers would not be handed to me easily, and time grew short.

“Hey! What are - why are you running so damn fast?” asked the exhausted and athletically-handicapped James, as he desperately used whatever strength that remained to prevent himself from collapsing on the road. I gave no response, and luckily the silence put an end to his meaningless questions.

The empty air between us didn’t hold for long as we finally arrived back in Tresin; two new guards stood watch upon the ramparts and, obviously unaccustomed to a militant lifestyle, lazed around along the walls. The gatekeeper from my initial visit took one glance at me before reaching his hand over to pull a lever on the wall, paying the rising gate no mind as he returned to fiddling with the straps of his poorly-secured chestplate. I pitied them; were even the most minor threat to arrive in Tresin, those poor fools would be massacred.

The first courtyard was empty - no, not empty. Completely deserted. Like every soul inside had simply vanished. Something was wrong.

I rushed down that back alley, threw open the cellar doors at the far end and sprinted past the steps so fast I nearly floated on air. And then to add onto the strangeness of the desolate village, another problem arose:

My mother was gone.

Finding answers had just become much more complicated.