《Talents of a Sidekick》 Chapter 1-Running For Your Life at Night with Strangers, While Being Chased by a Pack of Wolves Thorns tore into my legs while branches scratched my face, but I kept moving. The blood from the body I was carrying had already soaked into my coat and had started to cake over. I tripped over something and fell hard onto my knees and palms. His body fell beside me and let out a soft moan. ¡°I¡¯m sorry¡± I gasped through gulps of air, ¡°I can¡¯t carry him anymore.¡± There was the twang of a bow nearby followed shortly by a yelping sound. ¡°Get up!¡± The archer said in a terse reply. She notched another arrow quickly, and then released it. Once again there was another yelping sound.Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. ¡°I can¡¯t do this!¡± I responded. My hands were throbbing and my heart was pounding at a million miles an hour. Strong arms began lifting me up to my feet. I wobbled, and then stabilized. ¡°We¡¯re almost there,¡± The warrior replied doggedly, ¡°Here, let me help you.¡± Despite her broken leg, she lifted up the limp man and put him over one shoulder and looked at me to do the same. Reluctantly, I placed his left arm over my shoulder and bore as much of his weight as I could bear. Definitely, the worst day of my life. I thought to myself as I shuffled through the underbrush in the dark. If I knew things were going to end up like this this morning, I would have just stayed in bed. Chapter 2- About 3 Days Before Getting Chased By Wolves ¡°Tom, there are 3 customers up front that want a full tour of the city, and they¡¯ve already paid up front so hop to it.¡± The Manager said nonchalantly as walked around the corner separating the front from the office. I was already in the middle of taking off my brightly colored work uniform when I looked up at the fat man. I was expressionless as I looked him in the eyes, any show of defiance would get me trouble, but I was internally writhing. This shit again, right before I leave. I flicked a switch in my brain and turned on a smile. ¡°Yes Sir. Do you know if there was any part of town in particular they wanted to visit.¡± ¡°How would I know?¡± He scoffed with a dismissive gesture as he sat down at the desk, ¡°It¡¯s your job as the tour guide to figure it out, so go figure it out.¡± He had already turned his attention to something on his desk. I stared at his mostly bald head, and internally sighed. I tucked my bright yellow and red shirt in trousers and made my way up to the front. An imposing woman a head taller than me was the first thing that caught my attention. Her dark short hair emulated a cut that a man would get but she was definitely a woman, I think. A shorter blonde woman stepped forward with a blank stare and spoke flatly, ¡°Can we set off at once, please? It will be getting dark soon and I would hope to have supper at a reasonable time.¡± ¡°Of course,¡± I replied, stammering with a sheepish grin. I looked around only noticing the two women. ¡°I was told there were three of you¡­¡± I was cut off by a tall slender man stepping out a shadow in the corner of the room. Without looking, the blonde woman gestured to the tall man. I hesitated and regained my focus, ¡°Of course of course, is there anywhere in particular that you all would like to go?¡± I asked quickly in an attempt to transition past the awkward situation. In a baritone voice the tall dark haired woman responded, ¡°Oh we are just here to see the sights. So what you would normally do is fine.¡± She began rubbing the back of her head while letting out a deep laugh. In a moment of prescience that I would later regret ignoring, I thought about turning around and leaving. I imagined walking up to the manager, slamming my uniform on the desk and giving him the bird as I quit. Although it was only a fraction of a second, it was the only thread of fate that would have saved me from my impending destiny.I blinked and pushed the thought away where it disappeared to only resurface years in the future. ¡°Well in that case let¡¯s begin the tour!¡± Over the span of the next two hours i showed them the trading district, town hall, court yards, market place, the bath house, the banks, taverns, inns, the cathedral of the church, the azalea gardens, the palace where visiting royalty stayed, and the two entrances located on the North and Western ends of the city. After a full day of talking my jaw was sore, and I rubbed it absentmindedly as we ended our journey where we began it. The slender man in flowing clothes whom the other two referred as Charles, tossed me a gold coin and sauntered off.You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story. I caught it clumsily and stared in disbelief. A gold coin was worth a month¡¯s wage for me. ¡°Thank you for showing us around,¡± the large woman boomed as we stood in front of the now closed tourist building. ¡°Anytime!¡± I beamed in genuine appreciation. The shorter woman had already walked off without saying anything. I waited for them to walk off out of sight heading towards the inns and taverns located at the northern part of the city. I turned and began running towards my home located on the opposite side of town. What luck! Passerbyers gave me weird looks as I ran by them.As the neighborhood got dirtier, darker, and generally more depressing I knew I was getting close to home. A few minutes later I arrived at a small 1 bedroom/no bathroom, or as Jerry liked to call it, a glorified shed. Speaking of Jerry. ¡°Where the hell ya been, Tom?¡± Came the incredulous voice sitting on a stump by my door. A familiar silhouette with a mop of brown hair and glinting brown eyes, it was none other than my best friend. ¡°Sorry,¡± I replied. Deciding at that moment that there was something super interesting on my shoe that I needed to look at. ¡°We were supposed to meet up with the other lads for cards tonight! We¡¯re partners for Voth¡¯s sake. Can¡¯t play doubles alone, otherwise¡­ otherwise¡­ they would call it singles!¡± ¡°You know there is a game called singles, right?¡± I replied with a half smile trying to lighten the mood. ¡°You know what I mean!¡± Jerry blurted out. ¡°Seriously man what happened?¡± I sighed, letting my shoulders droop, ¡°Last minute tour, and you know how my manager regards my time.¡± Letting my words trail off. ¡°You gotta stick up for yaself man, can¡¯t let some fat bloke walk all over you. You¡¯re 17, you¡¯ve been a man for well over a year now. Voth, man.¡± Letting silence be my reply, I stood there awkwardly, until I remembered my generous tip. ¡°Let me buy you a drink, to make up for missing out on the doubles.¡± My grinned a little more forcfully than I would have liked. ¡°What the hell is this?¡± Jerry got off his stump, eyes wide in disbelief, ¡°Tom buying me a drink? Tightstrings Tom buying me a drink? It¡¯s not my birthday so something else must be going on?¡± He walked over to me draping his arm across my shoulder. Jerry was my best friend, but I knew if I told him about the gold coin he would probably make me buy him more than one drink, and I had plans for my money. I slipped out under his arm and over to my door. ¡°Give me 5 minutes to change and grab some money, I¡¯ll meet you over at your place.¡± ¡°Fine,¡± He sighed heavily, ¡°But don¡¯t keep me waiting a second longer, or I¡¯m going to make you buy me 2 drinks.¡± A twinkle lighting his eye. Although a slender man, Jerry had the uncanny ability to drink more than twice a man his size. I know that for certain because I was his size and he could drink twice as much as me. After unlocking the door I quickly lit a nearby candle. The place was clean and well organized, just as I had left it this morning. My meager amount of clothes sat inside a chest at the foot of my bedroll and I opened it gingerly. Underneath the latch on the inside cover was a secret pin I had installed. I took out the pin, carefully, and lined it up with an inconspicuous hole on the back corner of the chest, a false bottom. After pressing the pin in the false bottom there was a faint click, releasing the latch that held it in place. I carefully removed my folded clothes and placed them on the bed. I pulled out the secret drawer, revealing my life savings. Mostly copper, with a few silver coins strewn throughout and only one gold coin. Well now 2, I smiled to myself in delight. I grabbed the small notebook that lay politely in one of the corners. I added the gold coin to the balance, and deduced the 10 copper pieces I would useto cover the night''s activities. After carefully placing everything the way that it had been, I rinsed my face and hands on a basin of water that I had used this morning, quickly wiped my body off with a wet rag, and put on a fresh pair of clothes from the laundry from the day before. Folding my dirty clothes and placing them in a basket, I headed out for a night with Jerry. Chapter 3- Back to Running Away From Wolves The archer, Vi, put her bow on her back and pulled out 2 shortswords, ¡°I¡¯m out of arrows,¡± She huffed while wiping some dirt off her face. I was too tired to look up. All of my attention was focused on not tripping through the underbrush in the dark. A booming howl pierced through the dark causing me to flinch. Shit, we¡¯re going to die The warrior stumbled dragging Charles¡¯ limp body, and myself along with her. She fell towards one of the small pine trees that were prominent to the south of town. Surprisingly, she beat the tree, literally. As she was falling she shot out her right arm and smashed it into splinters. Stumbling through where the tree would have been. After a couple more steps and some sharp intakes of pain, we were able to stop our momentum and not fall over as a group. ¡°Sorry,¡± she said in her deep baritone. The pain was evident in her voice, and the sickly smell of blood was permeating the air both from her and Charles. A darting shadow came out lunging for the weakened warrior. Before I could let out a warning, Vi darted to intercept, slashing quickly with her blades and kill the wolf before it landed. Unfortunately, the lifeless body still smashed into our group of 3 and we fell like dominos. Reflexes dulled by exhaustion, I gracefully landed face first, Shan the warrior, shook the earth with her fall, but the most concerning thing of all was that Charles made no noise when he fell. That¡¯s not good ¡°Shan get up and grab your axe, we¡¯re going to have to fight our way out of this.¡± Vi said lowly, barely audible. The hulking form near me began pushing herself up. In the half moon I could see her pained expression through the light canopy of trees. ¡°I left it to help carry Charles,¡± she responded in a groan. ¡°Here,¡± Vi said, sliding one of her short swords across the ground. ¡°Hey, tour guide, grab some of the knives out of Charles'' pockets, you¡¯re going to need to defend yourself and Charles.¡± I begrudgingly pulled myself up to a kneeling position and looked at Charles'' unmoving form. ¡°I don¡¯t know how to fight.¡± A quick hiss followed by a terse reply from Vi, ¡°For Voth¡¯s sake. Do you want to die? Grow a pair and man up!¡±This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience. Her language surprised me, of the group she had definitely been the one with the most proper speech. But now hearing her, it made me wonder who exactly she was. I complied with her request of course, on account of not wanting to die. I gingerly at first, and then more aggressively began combing through the man¡¯s pockets. Voth, how many pockets does one guy have. Hidden in the folds of his clothing there were at least a dozen pockets of various shapes and sizes with weird pieces of metal or small glass vials of something. Shan grunted heavily, followed immediately by a loud whine and a thud of small body. ¡°Check his armguards,¡± she said raggedly, ¡°He always has at least one in there.¡± Sure enough she was right. In each of his armguards I found a slender knife about the length of my hand. It was plain looking, and surprisingly a little rusty. I would have thought that an assassin would have his weapons in better condition. I glanced up and saw a large boulder that was familiar. ¡°The main road is just around that rock,¡± I pointed out, even though they were too preoccupied to look. ¡°How far is the city?¡± came Vi¡¯s snappy reply. ¡°Uh I¡¯m not sure,¡± I responded honestly. ¡°Best guess?¡± Shan asked gauntly. ¡°I don¡¯t know, 2-3 miles probably?¡± I responded. There was a moment of silence until Vi quickly broke in, ¡°I know what you¡¯re thinking Shan, but you¡¯ve already raged once today, the chances of you dying are extremely high.¡± ¡°The chances of all of us dying if I don¡¯t are even higher,¡± Shan replied. She proceeded to pull out a large vial from the small pack around her waist, and downed it quickly. I had been standing by Charles slowly turning in circles in an attempt to not be eaten by wolves, when i saw that exchange take place. ¡°Uh, what just happened.¡± I asked to anyone who would give me a clear answer. ¡°Shan¡¯s about to get us out of this mess, or we are all going to die.¡± A deep guttural scream cut through the night. I took a step back instinctively. The wolves that had been slowly drawing near paused. Shan was bent over, fists clenched into tight fists. From her silhouette I could see something very disturbing happening to her muscles. It was almost as if they were growing. She let out another roar and dashed towards the nearest wolf with inhuman speed. The wolf didn¡¯t have time to react as she swung a wide haymaker. Her fist connected with its body and responded with a cracking sound akin to fireworks. Additionally, it was launched 15 feet into a nearby tree. What the hell just happened. The remaining wolves snapped out of their confusion and came charging at her from all sides. It¡¯s hard to describe exactly the events that transpired, but to summarized: The wolves continually gnawed at her flesh while she systematically beat the living shit of each of them until they were all dead. She had killed 15 wolves before the rest of the pack whimpered off the way that we had come. Her entire body was covered in blood as she stood there in a daze, eyes towards the halfmoon. Who the hell are these people? Chapter 4- Two Day before getting Chased by Wolves I woke up to the sound of our neighborhood alarm clock, the rooster named Big Earl. I sat up groggily. Jerry and I were out pretty late last night just goofing around and my body was protesting the lack of sleep. I got out of bed and immediately turned around and straightened my sheets and pillow. Sticking with my normal morning routine, I walked out the back door to my immaculate pile of logs. Took 3 along with some tinder, and went about making a fire in my cast iron stove. It didn¡¯t take long to get my breakfast of dark coffee and fresh eggs, compliments to my 3 chickens, Gloria, Rufina, and Haze. Haze is my favorite but don¡¯t tell the other two, they¡¯re sensitive. The town bell went off chiming seven times reminding me that I had an hour before I needed to be at work. After enjoying breakfast I cleaned my dishes, swept and polished the floor, washed myself with a wet rag and a water basin, dusted the small room, and finally washed my clothes and hung them out to dry. The bell chimed twice, indicating the half hour. It was only a 10 min walk to the ¡°Tour Emporium¡± so I pulled out a small pocket notebook and relished in what I knew was to come. I didn¡¯t keep track of my savings in this notebook in case some else was to view it, besides I knew my savings by heart. But what I did have in this notebook was a list of my expenses: Rent, food, clothes, and some small miscellaneous things. If my calculations are correct, which they always are, I now only needed to save up for 19 more months before I could accomplish my dream. I closed my eyes and imagined it, tried to make it seem real in this moment. I¡¯d never seen it so it was a little difficult, but I had seen pictures of it. Unfortunately, pictures were not enough, and I needed to experience the real thing. I open my eyes with a determined expression on my face, and in a little over 19 months I would experience it. I swung by some local shops and grabbed supplies for the ¡®Tour Emporium¡¯. I would get reimbursed at the end of the week for the supplies of course. There was no way I was giving anything to that fat jerk for free. I happily walked to work, lost in my own imagination when I turned the corner to the ¡®Tour Emporium¡¯. Standing outside the front door were the 3 individuals I had toured the previous evening. What if they want their gold back! My heart began beating faster It¡¯s not like I stole it, they gave it to me. They can¡¯t just demand it back, can they? No of course not, if they didn¡¯t mean to give it, it''s their own fault. Still I hesitated as I walked up slowly to the building. They turned as they heard my approach, but didn¡¯t seem to immediately recognize me in my unassuming cream shirt and brown trousers. I flicked the switch in my brain that turned on my extroverted demeanor, ¡°Hey guys, want another tour I said,¡± not believing the words out of my own mouth. The short blonde woman spoke up, ¡°Yes.¡± I paused, taken aback. No one had ever gotten a tour twice before. I narrowed my eyes looking at the group weirily. ¡°Okay¡­. Is there some place in particular that you are wanting to tour?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± She responded flatly again. There was silence, I leaned my body towards her, dipping my head slightly as if to say, ¡®Okay, then where?¡¯ But she was not getting the hint. ¡°Where did¡­¡± but she cut me off. ¡°I want to see the outskirts of the town, specifically a place that has this landmark.¡± She pulled out a folded piece of paper that seemed incredibly old. She handed it to me delicately. I softly unfolded it, to reveal an old charcoal drawing. It was extremely faded, but I was able to immediately identify it by the shape. ¡°Ah the statues of the three sisters. It is a popular choice, although people tend to just view the one here in town.¡± I replied, handing her back her paper. The deep baritone voice broke in, ¡°There¡¯s more than one of them?¡± ¡°Yes,¡± I responded quickly, but then remembering my occupation added cheerfully, ¡°There are actually 3 statues of the three sisters. Funny I know!¡± adding a cheesy laugh. The group did not seem affected. I coughed and then continued, ¡°There is one statue located in the cathedral of Voth, another not far outside to the south of the city. And the final one,¡± I paused for dramatic effect, ¡° no one knows.¡± The group looked unfazed by the information and Charles, who had his face covered by a scarf said, ¡°Can you take us to both of them?¡± I paused, thinking about the southern side of town. There wasn¡¯t a gate there, but there was a heavy door, but normal citizens weren¡¯t able to pass through the door. It was barred heavily from the inside and guarded at all times.Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit. ¡°Yes we can if that is what you want. As you might remember from the tour yesterday, there is only a gate on the western and northern part of the city, and if we want to leave we will have to buy a pass.¡± ¡°That¡¯s fine,¡± Charles responded smoothly. ¡°Wonderful,¡± I replied cheerily while I remembered last night and hoped that I would once again receive a generous tip if I did a good job. ¡°Let me go get changed and total up the cost and we can head out in a jiffy!¡± Less than an hour later we were standing in front of the statue of the three sisters in the cathedral of Voth. It was a reverent place so I made sure to get close and whisper. ¡°This statue depicts the oldest sister, Katrina.¡± I gestured to the beautiful statue that was immaculately polished. ¡°The three sisters, Katrina, Elizabeth, and Lilian were born to a some nameless farmer. While they were still young, a plague swept across the countryside ravaging thousands. After their father succumbed to the plague, they traveled from city to city, town to town, village to village, caring for and helping nurse the citizens to health. For their service to Voth they received the title of Saintess. Lilian is still the youngest person to be named Saintess, as she received it when she was only 14.¡± ¡°Wow, only 14 that¡¯s crazy¡± the tall muscled woman responded and whistled. ¡°What happened after that?¡± she asked. ¡°No one knows,¡± I replied, ¡°But because they were believed to have been from the southern part of the kingdom, three statues were placed in this region to commemorate their service.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t you think it is odd that only one of them is inside the city and the other two are not?¡± The shorter blonde woman responded. I turned and found myself staring into a pair of deep blue, piercing eyes. It took me a moment to regain my train of thought, ¡° Uh yes, it is odd now that you mention it.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t you think it is odd that one of them is completely lost, even though they were supposedly so important?¡± ¡°Yes, it is indeed very odd.¡± I replied with a playful shrug, ¡°But that was thousands of years ago, so who knows what happened to cause this.¡± I turned to the other two and noticed that Charles was no longer standing with them. He was instead on the other side of the statue scribbling something down. After wrapping up at the cathedral we made our way over to the western gate. There was a huge line with at least 30 people leading up to a table with a man and some guards. ¡°Voth, this is going to take forever,¡± The large woman let out with a heavy sigh. A glint in my eye appeared as I turned to the group proudly. I activated my cheesy voice and said confidently, ¡°Fear not my dear customers, for I, Tom, your humble tour guide have prepared for this moment.¡± The group stared at me in disbelief as I gestured for them to follow me. We got many angry looks from the line as we strolled up to the front. The captain, a man well past his prime with more gray than black in his hair, looked up from reading his papers. ¡°Good morning Captain!¡± I said cheerfully while handing him 4 pieces of manila paper with the words ''Prepaid Certificate¡¯ on them. He looked at me, took the papers quickly and stamped them, before handing them back. The entire exchange took less than 7 seconds. We made our way through the gate before one of the members asked, ¡°How did you do that?¡± I showed them the pieces of paper that had some technical mumbo jumbo and the town crest of the eagle stamped on them. ¡°If you don¡¯t mind filling out some paperwork every week and paying a small fee, you can purchase these at the bank.¡± ¡°Then why doesn¡¯t everyone do them?¡± Charles asked curiously. ¡°Well most of the merchants do, but many of the people can¡¯t afford the extra couple copper fee on top. Additionally, not everyone can read.¡± They nodded understandingly as we walked underneath the city walls. A pleasant two hour walk later and we were at the second statue. The statue of Elizabeth was carved out of the same marble material, but was not nearly as well kept as the statue of Katrina. Leaves and dirt covered various portions of the statue, but it was all still easily distinguishable. I began my speech about the second sister, but the group ignored me as they all got extremely close to the statue and started looking for something. Glad for the break, I sat on a nearby bench and allowed them to do whatever it was that they were doing. After 5 minutes they seemed to have found whatever it was that they were looking for, because they all began to huddle together and write something down. I took this moment to unpack the quick lunch that I had prepared for the group. When they returned they were surprised. Sandwiches, apples, water, grapes, some dried jerky, and nuts for each person were set on wooden plates. ¡°Impressive,¡± The shorter woman replied before quickly plopping some grapes into her mouth. ¡°It always pays to be prepared,¡± I responded with a slight laugh. I had prepared twice as much food for Shan, and I was glad to see that my guess was correct. That woman was an apparent black hole of food. She managed to finish off any remaining scraps of food that either of them had left on their plate and all my extra nuts and apples. ¡°That was surprisingly delicious. Fruit doesn¡¯t normally taste this good.¡± Charles pointed out. ¡°That¡¯s because I get our fruit from a local merchant every day. Her name is Gertrude and her family has been growing fruit around these parts for generations.¡± The group nodded in lazy agreement as we sat in the shade on the beautiful summer day. We rested for some time and talked about inconsequential things such as the weather. After some quick chatter amongst themselves they decided they were ready to head back. I obliged and found myself walking alone for the remaining two hours. The three of them traveled some distance back talking amongst themselves and occasionally pointing furiously at a map that they had pulled out. We arrived where we had begun and I was ecstatic to receive another gold coin as a tip. I waved fondly to the group as I thought I would never see them again. Chapter 5- At Least the Wolves are Dead My head was throbbing from breathing too hard. Spittle began running down my mouth in sticky strings as I ran as fast as I could. The southern edge of the wall was finally insight. After coming onto the road, the going had been a lot easier. Although not paved, the compact dirt was a welcome change to the underbrush they had been trekking through for the last couple of hours. I saw the door, glad that the end was in sight and that help would finally be found. The previous command replayed in my mind. ¡°Tom, you have to run to town and bring back help. I¡¯ll stay here to protect them just in case. Tell them everything except about the heart. Trust me, they¡¯ll come if you do.¡± Vi had sounded almost panicked as she had relayed the plan to me. And now, a couple miles later and about to have a heart attack, I was finally at my destination. The large wooden door stood approximately 10 feet tall and 5 feet wide was made from hard maple wood and was thickly set in its frame. I stopped just in front of it, wiped the spit off my mouth and wet my lips. ¡°Somebody help!¡± I banged on the door, sending pain through my curled fists. ¡°I need help! People¡¯s lives are in danger! Somebody please!¡± I continued banging my fists into the door harder and harder. Finally a reply came. ¡°Who goes there?¡± Came the stern reply. Thank Voth! ¡°My name is Tom and I work for the Tour Emporium!¡± my breath came out in huffs, but i continued, ¡°I took some adventurers over to the dungeon today but it collapsed and one of them is severely injured. On our way back we were attacked by wolves. You must send for a doctor immediately!¡± There was no reply ¡°Did you hear me! I need a doctor or a medic or something right now!¡± ¡°I''m sorry but I can¡¯t open the gate unless it¡¯s an emergency.¡± the voice responded. ¡°Are you out of your damn mind! This is as much of an emergency as it gets! People are going to die if you do not open this door right now!¡± my voice began to crack as warm tears began streaming down my face. I¡¯ve failed because of this idiot! People are going to die because of me.The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. My eyes shook open in remembrance. I padded down my pockets until I felt a slight indentation. ¡°If you open this door right now I will give you a gold coin.¡± I pleaded. Almost immediately I could hear latches and beams of wood being moved. Within a minute I could hear both the moaning of the door and the man who was straining to push it open. I grabbed on to aid in the effort. A young man in his early 20¡¯s held out his hand for the payment. ¡°Not until you grab the medic or doctor.¡± I replied curtly while settling my deepest glare. ¡°Look, that wasn¡¯t..¡± He began but I cut him off. ¡°Go get the damn doctor right now or the lives of 2 innocents are on your head!¡± I screamed at the top of my lungs both hoping to intimidate and to gather anyone who might be passing nearby. I succeeded in the later. A pair of guards who had been coming towards the sound of the commotion now jogged to where I was. I told them frantically about my situation and one of them went off to grab the garrison''s medic along with some additional help. 5 minutes later a half awake doctor and 6 guards all with horses stood outside the wall with me. I told them of the dire situation and we all mounted up. The doctor and I each rode with one of the guards at the front of the caravan. Before we left I intentionally tossed the gold coin to the guard that had opened the door in full view of everyone else. ¡°Thanks for doing your job.¡± I said before turning away. I could see that one of the guards who wore the insignia of a captain squint his eyes, registering the guard''s face for later. Serves him right. I have never ridden a horse before, but I¡¯ve determined that it is most definitely the worst form of travel imaginable. Breakneck speeds were required that night, which did not make for easy travel and my crotch along with my thighs were continuously jostled. There were definitely going to be bruises. Within 10 minutes we had dismounted and pushed through the underbrush to the area where the 3 adventurers had been. As I came into the space where they should have been I noticed many things that were wrong. First and foremost, Vi was not with them. Secondly, the bag of supplies along with choice pieces of Shan and Charle¡¯s armor were missing. The bracers that I pilfered for daggers earlier were one such item. Finally, although Shan was there, she was a weird shriveled version of herself. Her muscles were gone, her heavy figure now replaced by a thin emaciated woman. Her skin was no longer a deep caramel, but now was as white as cotton. The doctor ran past me towards the two of them. He gave directions to two of the guards to begin bandaging Charles while he pulled out some mysterious vials and began coaxing the liquid into Shan¡¯s mouth. A guard behind me whistled loudly, ¡°Damn look at all the dead wolves.¡± The doctor looked at me eyes blazing, ¡°Tell me again exactly what happened.¡± I gulped and averted my gaze not realizing that this would be the most important story that I would ever tell. Chapter 6- The Story that Would Change the Course of My Life, pt.1 I sat in a cold room surrounded by dozens of various officials, the duke, the captain of the guard, and a bunch of people I presumed were important. I tried to swallow, but my throat was too dry. A man and a woman both in flamboyant silver and blue sat across from me wearing the royal seal of the King, the three headed hydra. These were the royal justicars of the empire. The law, the fist of the King himself, his undisputed will made action through the flesh of these elite. And here I sat, lowly me across from 2 of the most powerful individuals in the world. I tried to shrink back into my chair, but there was nowhere to go. ¡°I''m sorry you had to wait over a month in jail.¡± The woman said in a low raspy voice. ¡°But it is imperative that we get the full story from you directly.¡± I nodded slightly in acknowledgement of the statement. They hadn¡¯t treated me poorly the time that I had been here, and allowed Jerry to visit as often as he wanted. ¡°Now if you will start from the beginning of the day in question, and tell us everything that took place.¡± The man said in a growl. Why is he so angry I coughed to try and clear my throat, and began telling about the day in question, for the 20th time in the last month. ``````````` `````````` ````````````` The morning started the same as any other because Big Early made sure everyone got up on time. I did my normal routine of making my bed, making breakfast, cleaning up the house and leaving for work with enough time to pick up supplies for prospective customers, especially since Shan had eaten all of the extras that I had prepared. I was shocked when I rounded the corner to work to see the same 3 faces waiting for me, except there was a notable difference this time. They weren¡¯t wearing casual clothes, they were wearing leather armor, swords, axes, bows and quivers. They were prepared to go fight someone or something. Upon recognizing them I began to turn to go to the managers house directly and explain the crazy situation. ¡°Hey Tom! Long time no see,¡± Shan boomed while waving frantically at me. The other two just stood there with arms crossed in direct contrast to their companion. Dangit, I¡¯ve been spotted Once again I turned on that extroverted version of myself and mustered my largest grin and waved back as I walked towards them. ¡°Hey everyone, long time no see indeed!¡± as I got closer i continued, ¡°What are you all doing here this morning, not purchasing another tour I should think?¡± I laughed nervously but no one corrected me, ¡°Are you?¡± Vi¡¯s long hair was pulled back into a ponytail allowing me to see the entirety of her face for the first time. She was dazzling to say the least. I felt my jaw begin to drop but began biting my tongue to force myself to remain expressionless. ¡°We have a proposition for you, one that you will find quite profitable.¡± Vi continued, ¡°You''re going to leave a note to your boss that you are taking us to the entrance of the dungeon, which is technically true. But what we are actually going to do is go find the lost statue of the third sister, which is where the secret entrance to the dungeon is.¡± I waited for the punchline, but it never came. ¡°You''re joking right? A secret dungeon, the lost statue..¡± she cut me off by pulling out two gold coins. ¡°Are you in or should we find someone else?¡± Her matter-of-fact expression told me that she already knew what my answer was going to be. ¡°Let me get our vouchers and pack some supplies and I¡¯ll be ready in 15 minutes!¡± I replied reaching for the coins. She pocketed them quickly and added, ¡°After we get there.¡± ¡°Of course of course.¡± I guess that makes sense As instructed I led them back to the statue of the second sister on the outskirts of town before they told me anything else. Vi pulled out a newly purchased map and folded it out for all of us to see. It must have been a fairly expensive map, because the entire area was detailed including the proportions of the lake, river, mountains and their distances from each other. She pulled out a charcoal pencil and handed it to me. ¡°Make an ¡®X¡¯ exactly where each of the first two statues are and where the known dungeon entrance is.¡± I did as instructed. Charles pulled out a small notebook out read outloud, ¡°Where the twins intersect with the mouth of the beast there you will find a ¡­something I couldn''t make out in the last part it was faded.¡± He slipped the notebook back into his pocket deftly.This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version. Vi took the pencil back and made a triangle out of the three points on the map, then drew lines across the points to the other side to reveal that they intersected at one point¡­ They looked at me expectantly and I instinctively fidgeted from the attention. ¡°What?¡± I asked. ¡°Well, what¡¯s located there?¡± Vi asked narrow eyed and expectant. ¡°Nothing.¡± ¡°What do you mean nothing, there has to be something.¡± ¡°I mean there''s farms out there, so crops and livestock most likely.¡± The three of them looked at each other with squinted faces. This didn¡¯t seem to be what they were expecting. After some deliberation on their part we headed for the spot on the map. After 2 hours walking on the road and on the outskirts of a couple other farms we came to the general area that the map had located. The farm in question belonged to a Mr. Arnold Hamptoms. He was a grower of various vegetables as well as some livestock. I didn¡¯t know him personally, but I knew of him generally. ¡°Well,¡± I said, gesturing to the sweeping nondescript land before us, ¡°We¡¯re here.¡± ¡°There¡¯s nothing here,¡± Vi said in disbelief. She looked at me, eyes aflame. ¡°Like I told you earlier, there¡¯s nothing.¡± I replied internally smug. She took a step towards me, the anger very present on her face. I held my hands between us to act as a barrier, not that those shortswords strapped to her waist would be stopped once they got going. ¡°Come with me,¡± I said to the group and led them to a cluster of trees a few hundred yards away. ¡°Here,¡± I said, unpacking some supplies, ¡°I¡¯m sure you¡¯re all hungry and a little tired..¡± ¡°For Voth sake, I¡¯m not hungry, we need to be out there looking for whatever it is that is supposed to be there.¡± Vi had regained control of most of her anger, but some still spilled over in her words. ¡°Let¡¯s just hop the fence and looked for ourselves.¡± Charles piped up. ¡°Yeah it¡¯s not like they could stop us,¡± Shan grinned with her hand going to the giant 2 handed axe strapped to her back. I finished unpacking their picnic feast and stood up dusting the dirt off of myself. ¡°As much as I would love to see y¡¯all looking through fields while waiting for the city guard to come find you, I have a better solution.¡± ¡°Which is?¡± Vi said pointedly. ¡°For the low cost of 1 silvery I can solve your problem.¡± I said smiling. Deftly Charles stood up and reached for one of his bracers. Charles was usually the most straight face and detatched of the bunch, but his pupils seemed to have fully dilated while a chill ran down my spine. I quickly said, ¡°To bribe the farmer for information.¡± Backing up all the while with my hands up. Was he about to hurt me? He slowly returned to normal and sat down crosslegged as Vi fished out a silver coin from a generously sized purse of coins. She quietly handed it to me and I took it and strode off in the same breath. ¡°I''ll be right back,¡± I promised. ¡°Try not to get arrested while I¡¯m gone!¡± I wonder what it was that I said that set him off. Maybe he thought I was trying to exploit them for money? But even so, I feel like the response was still a bit much. WIthin a couple minutes the group was far behind me as I strode up to the old wrap around porch of the farm. It was probably a beautiful place in its heyday, but now it seemed to be barely hanging together. The white paint had all but browned, there were more holes in the porch then there was wood, and it seemed that they had an infestation of cobwebs. I knocked on the door loudly and waited for someone to answer. A little girl, not older than 6, opened the door. Red hair, pigtails and freckles made her the picture perfect postcard for country life. ¡° Wh¡¯cha want.¡± she let out with a southern draw in her voice. Not necessarily something that I was proud of, I slipped into the southern accent that I had worked extremely hard to get rid of over the last few years, ¡°How ya doin little lady? Your pa around these parts?¡± ¡°Naw he¡¯s out in the field.¡± ¡°What about your Ma? ¡°Dead.¡± ¡°Sorry to hear that.¡± She shrugged in response. ¡°Do you know when your Pa will be back?¡± I probed. ¡°Probably won¡¯t be back till supper.¡± She looked away nonchalantly. I gave her a quizzical look and pulled out a silver coin. Her eyes lit up like diamonds, ¡°Wanna earn this here coin?¡± She nodded feverishly. ¡°I¡¯m looking for some information, but I doubt a young lady such as yourself would know such a thing. So I¡¯ll just come back later when your Pa is back.¡± The expression of shock ran across her face like lightning. ¡°I know plenty. Give me a chance I bet I can answer just as well as Pa can!¡± I raised one of my eye brows giving her a disbelieving look, ¡°Maybe so. I¡¯m looking for something¡­.special,¡± I paused, trying to figure out what exactly I was looking for, ¡°It would have been in the middle of y¡¯alls field for a long long time. Your Pa ever tell you about anything like that?¡± Her face squinted hard as she tried to think. There was a long string of silence until the expression of realization that was the same on humans of all ages was plastered across her entire face. She ran off quickly into the house, I smiled and waited. From the inside I could hear a chair scraping across the floor in tiny bursts, the thudding as something heavy hit the floor, and finally the panting of a little girl as she showed back up to the front door with a large leather bound book. She placed it on the ground breathing hard, ¡°Ma told me a story once about this giant rock from a long time ago.¡± She flipped through pages past pictures of different crops and animals drawn by someone with a good eye and a steady hand. She stopped dramatically and pointed to a picture. There was a picture of a tombstone. The journal entry next to it described how the tombstone was much larger than a normal one and had some gibberish engraved in it. The family was tearing it down to expand the zucchini beds, but decided to copy the text just in case. ¡°Here lies a memorial to our beloved sister. Her final resting place was in the mountains where her heart was. Directly from the bosom of the only two people that ever knew her and truly loved her.¡± I pulled out a crumpled piece of scratch paper and wrote down everything precisely as it was written. I handed the beaming girl the coin and told her to have a good day. Giggles could still be heard when I was more than 20 ft away from the house. Chapter 7- The Story that Would Change the Course of My Life, pt.2 The three of them must have been excellent with crossword puzzles. In a matter of moments after I returned and told them what had been written on the tombstone, they had determined that drawing a line from the two known statues towards the mountains was where we needed to go. I looked up at the sun, it was already past noon and if I was to approximate the distance on the map correctly, it was still a few hours away in the opposite direction of town. ¡°Cheer up Tom, we¡¯ll have plenty of time to get back to town,¡± Shan assured me with one of her big grins. I responded in kind out of professional habit, but I was beginning to feel more and more uncomfortable. Vi pulled out the two promised coins as if reading my expression and handed them to me. ¡°You do not need to come with us, we have got it from here.¡± Thank Voth! ¡°But,¡± she said, pulling out 2 fresh coins, ¡° If you finish this adventure with us, I¡¯ll give you two more.¡± She tactically twisted the coins so they reflected the sun. Vi, although quite pretty, was definitely manipulating me. She knew what it would take to get me to do what she wanted, the question was, why? Why have some random nobody come all the way out in the middle of nowhere. Unless, they planned to kill me and take all the¡­ She interrupted my spiralling train of thought, ¡°By the way we aren¡¯t going to murder you or anything, it¡¯s not like you are worth much. You¡¯ve just shown your value a moment ago, and if we get into a situation in which we need a local, I would rather be found with one, than without.¡± Still, something wasn¡¯t quite adding up But there they were, the two golden haired twins calling out to me and asking me to take them home. It¡¯s two more months that I could leave sooner. It¡¯s two more months, it''s two more months. ¡°Okay I¡¯m in.¡± I let out with a sigh. ¡°Splendid, then let us get a move on then.¡± Vi replied. Shan gave me a big toothy grin while Charles gave me a blank expression. Although most of his face seemed to always be obscured by some random piece of clothing, I had the distinct impression that he would be quite good looking. By the time we reached the mountains two hours later, my clothes were drenched in sweat and my legs were killing me. Whenever I snuck glances at my companions they seemed to be nonchalant about the entire endeavor. ¡°Okay, Charlie my boy, what did the other clue say,¡± Shan said with an eyebrow raised at her companion. Charles shot daggers out of his eyes, but eventually acquiesced in a melodic voice, ¡°The path can be found by setting out directly south from the oldest home around.¡± I looked around. There were no homes nearby. The mountains lay directly before us encompassing most of our field of view. There were some shrubs, other rock formations, some grass, flowers and a lonely tree. Oh it¡¯s the¡­ ¡°It¡¯s obviously the tree.¡± Vi pointed out. ShowoffIf you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it. She walked over the southern side of the old oak tree, turned towards the mountains and began to march quickly. As we began to follow Vi, I was able to see a crack, not discernible from any other crack in the mountain. When we finally got close enough, it was apparent that this was not just a crack but a decent sized hole. The three of them began unsheathing their weapons, Shan in the front and Charles in the back. ¡°Wait here Tom, we will be back in a couple hours.¡± Vi said flatly. I nodded in reply and the group set off. The first hour that I was waiting, absolutely nothing of consequence happened. It was right at the two hour mark when I heard these occasional deep rumblings coming from below me. I stood up and put my backpack on in preparation for something. But nothing else happened. At 3 hours the rumbling grew more intense and more frequent. I was beginning to get extremely worried. I had already separated myself from the entrance and stood out in the opening between the mountains and the tree but where I could still see the entrance. After 4 hours of waiting, the sun was beginning to set so I had been gathering some supplies to make a fire just in case. Thankfully there were plenty of dried tinder and branches from the nearby shrubs and the tree. I ate a quick dinner and waiting for my 3 patrons to return. Somewhere at about 5 hours I felt a deep rumbling and lost my balance and almost fell into the fire. The earth shook violently and the mountains seemed to yell out in frustration. Rocks near the top of the mountains began to cascade. The mountains nearby seemed to collapse inwards on themselves. I packed up the food that I had set out for the group and got ready to leave. Money is not worth dying for As I stood up I heard a deep scream. I hesitated while standing at the ready. I''m leaving in 5 minutes no matter what. But soon a huddling mass of figures came out of the Voth forsaken hole. To be precise, they limped and dragged over to my location. Vi had Charles'' body draped over her back, and Shan was using her giant axe as a walking stick. The earthquaking shakes had finally ceased so there was a momentary stillness over the situation. ¡°For Voth sake Tom are you going to help me with Charles or just stand there all night,¡± Vi spat out tiredly. I obliged and slowly put Charles to the floor. My hands came away with blood over them. I inspected the prone body to find matted blood and fresh blood all of his clothes but concentrated predominantly on his head. ¡°What happened?¡± I asked in shock. ¡°Is Charles¡­ dead?¡± ¡°He¡¯s not dead¡­ at least not yet, but if we don¡¯t get him to the city he might be though.¡± Shan let out while wincing. I instinctively turned as she spoke to find that almost her entire body was covered in cuts and bruises. Dried blood matted almost the entirety of her arms and legs. ¡°What happened?¡± I asked again in disbelief. By this point Vi was quickly wrapping Charles'' head with some white cloth bandages. They were immeditely stained a deep red. ¡°I will tell you later,¡± Vi winced as she continued her desperate work, ¡°We¡¯re going to have to try to get back to the city as soon as possible.¡± She looked me up and down, ¡° Drop the bag, I¡¯m going to need your help carrying him.¡± I did what I was asked immediately. ¡°Shan, do you still have the heart?¡± Vi said, looking over to Shan. ¡°Yeah right here,¡± she said, showing a large glowing purple gem a little smaller than the palm of her hand. They both looked at me and said nothing. ¡°Okay let us go, we do not have much time.¡± Vi said quickly. Together we lifted Charles between the two of us and began towards the town. A straight shot from the mountains was at least 12 miles to the southern part of time. Walking at a normal pace would get us there in about 4 hours. If walking the entire day was difficult, this was grueling. Carrying a fully grown man with some random pompous woman who was more than a head shorter than me. What was I even doing? Trudging through fields on this hot summer night with these crazy spelunking psychopaths that kill mountains. They¡¯re mountain murderers! I looked over at Shan who was grimacing with each step, but she said nothing. Vi and I were both panting already. This is going to be a long night And it was a long night. Two hours later when I thought I would pass out from exhaustion I found a new will, a fire, a deep determination within me. It came in the form of a chorus of howls. Voth dammit Chapter 8- Sentencing ¡°So what I¡¯m hearing is that you were complicit,¡± the silver haired justicar said with a dismissive hand. About halfway through my story I could tell that she had already made a decision about me just by the way she kept glancing around the room making eye contact with certain individuals. ¡°What I¡¯m really interested in,¡± The man said with steely eyes, ¡°Is what this business was about the ¡®heart¡¯ that your friends had mentioned.¡± He leaned in on his arm, his eye brow arched in an inquisitive manner. I messed up. Vi told me not to mention the heart. ¡°I mean,¡± I said nervously, ¡°Friends is a strong word. They were clients.¡± ¡°Clients that you were willing to drag through the forest in the dead of night and willing to bribe a guard with a gold coin for.¡± He shot back. ¡°If I didn¡¯t help them out, how was I going to get the 2 other gold they promised me. Besides they had given me so much already, I figured they would give me more if I helped them,¡± I lied back to him. ¡°And I only know that the ¡®heart¡¯ was a giant purple crystal that Shan had been carrying.¡± That had been truthful, I really didn¡¯t know anything else about the heart. We had been too busy trying to keep Charles alive. Even in the three days that I had known them, I had enjoyed being in their presence. Watching them interact and joke around with each other, there was a sense of longing that I felt when I was with them, I truly cared for them. ¡°You¡¯re lying.¡± A man in the back responded. The two turned behind them to the back right corner of the room. A small non imposing man in a cool blue uniform, no different than many of the others in the room, walked to the corner of the table and stood calmly. ¡°You¡¯ve told the truth the entire time up until this point.¡± He was probably only 5¡¯ 5¡¯¡¯ with black combed over hair, a nice well groomed mustache. There was a nast scar that ran from the corner of his eye down his chin and neck to the collar of his shirt and beyond. The more I looked over his uniform the more that I realized that it was pristine. There were no wrinkles and nothing was out of place, not even a stray hair on his well kept head. All eyes in the room landed back on me and I sat in silence.Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author''s preferred platform and support their work! ¡°Tell us the truth, boy, or else..¡± The dark haired inquisitor left the threat hanging. I gulped and tried to think of a good half truth, ¡°I didn¡¯t want anything to happen to them, they seemed like good people.¡± ¡°The heart boy, tell us about the heart,¡± the mustache responded. I furrowed my brow. ¡°I don¡¯t know anything else about the heart.¡± ¡°Impossible!¡± The male instructor shouted, slamming his fist into the table. ¡°You know where it is! Those traitors are the worst type of scum imaginable. They threaten to bring destruction to our kingdom and you were an accomplice to those actions.¡± I paused for a long time, ¡°Traitors?¡± The woman chimed in to respond, ¡°Yes, traitors to the kingdom. They threatened to destroy everything that we stand for: stability, peace, and honor!¡± These were the three tenants of our kingdom. Each represented by a head on the hydra insignia. Everybody knew this, because we were taught at a young age about the greatness of the land that we lived, and the lawlessness and chaos of the neighboring kingdoms. The small man raised his hand to calm the other two Justicars. They obliged immediately. ¡°I¡¯ve heard enough and I¡¯ve made my decision,¡± he said. ¡°He will be executed tomorrow at sunrise with the other two traitors.¡± Executed Fear pricked the back of my neck and I sat stunned. My throat went dry as the world around me seemed to darken on the fringes of my vision. How could that be? I didn¡¯t do anything, I just showed some people around town. All I did was my damn job! I looked up and opened my mouth but couldn¡¯t speak. Over thirty pairs of glaring eyes stared down on me. Angry bitter eyes. The duke, a tall blonde man who had remained silent for the entire afternoon finally spoke. ¡°Well if that is what you think is best, then it shall be done as you say.¡± He gave a slight bow, and everyone in the room did the same. I stared in disbelief. Who was this man that even the duke lowers his head and justicars give heed to his command. Two of the guards that were behind me quickly approached and lifted me off the chair. In a matter of moments they had me cuffed and escorted out of the room. They took me to a prison cell, but not the same one that I had been in before. This one was in a lower part of the prison, a much much lower part. It was damp, dark, and worst of all smelled of rotting. I had to concentrate fiercely to keep from retching and adding to the pungent odor. They threw me an inconspicuous cell and walked off quickly, ready to be out of that horrid environment. I lied down in a fetal position and sobbed. Hot bitter tears streamed down my face and I cried until there was nothing left. Against the protest of my nose, fatigue finally overcame me and I fell asleep. Chapter 9- Reunion I slept fitfully that night and dreamed feverishly of being beheaded. My parents were there somehow staring up at me from the crowd. Their eye sockets were dark and hollow as was their mouth. It was eerily quiet as I turned to see the executioner, who for some reason was Vi. She looked down on me with smug satisfaction as she held up a large two handed sword. Without hesitation she swung it down on me and I awoke with a frightful start. ¡°I Said wake up vermin!¡± came a voice from outside the cell. ¡°Today is the day we give you a nice clean shave.¡± Both him and his companion gave a smug smile. I guess since the executions were public, they didn¡¯t want me smelling of feces. I was taken up to the ground floor to a tiled room and scrubbed down violently by two young guards with barely any facial hair. They used hard brushes and cold soapy water to perform their job. The thought of being naked in front of anyone would normally give me a heart attack, but right now my feelings and thoughts were being numbed. They gave me nondescript brown trousers and shirt and watched me as I dressed. I was taken into an empty cell, similar to the one I had been in for the month prior, it was simple but clean, and most importantly didn¡¯t smell of feces. I sat on the only thing in the cell, a small wooden stool. Mere moments after sitting down I heard a door down the hall open and one of the guards say, ¡°You only have 5 minutes!¡± and then slam lock it back. I tilted my head and squinted my brow. Jerry popped around the entrance of my cell a few moments later. ¡°Tom!¡± he shouted. ¡°Jerry!¡± I sprang over to the bars . ¡°What happened?¡± he asked quickly, ¡°Last time we talked things seemed like they were going to be fine, but now I hear you¡¯re going to be executed!¡± ¡°Nothing! Nothing happened!¡± I began to cry again, ¡°It was as I told you before, there is nothing different! I don¡¯t know why.¡± I paused and searched my memory of the interrogation, ¡°They mentioned something about the adventurers being traitors. But I still didn¡¯t do anything wrong!¡± ¡°Traitors?¡± he paused and looked furtive, ¡° But still that shouldn¡¯t matter. What did the duke say?¡± his eyes pleading. ¡°He just stood there and agreed with the justicars.¡± I responded.Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author. ¡°Justicars! Here?¡± His eyes widened and his jaw dropped, ¡° What in Voth¡¯s name did those 3 do exactly?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know, Jerry, I don¡¯t know?¡± I began to sob once again. The realization of the impending doom began to hit me and I looked up at him with a crazed look. ¡°Jerry, I need you to do something for me!¡± I said quickly, realizing that our time was growing short. ¡°Anything!¡± he shot back. ¡°I need you to go to the ocean for me. I need you to go and see it for me. To look out on the expanse and see the infiniteness. To touch the salty waters and see the beasts that lie beneath its surface.¡± Jerry grabbed my shoulder and began to cry himself. Ever since we had been kids, I had told him at least a hundred times about my dream to become a sailor and travel the oceans. To explore the world and see new kingdoms. ¡°Of course mate, anything for you.¡± he looked me in the eye as the tears continued to flow. This was my best friend, from childhood until the end of my life. ¡°I need to tell you about my stash.¡± I said, wiping my eyes. ¡° In my clothing chest by the foot of my bed there is a pin right underneath the latch at the top.¡± I made a gesture with my hands showing the position. ¡°Take all the clothes out and poke that pin in the small hole in the back corner, it will reveal the false bottom. There should be the equivalent of about 22 gold, mostly in silver and copper pieces. I''ve calculated that getting to the coast should cost about 40 gold pieces, but I¡¯m not sure about how you would get back home.¡± I chuckled trying to lighten the mood. ¡°I only planned on getting there.¡± I smiled softly. He looked at me with sincerity in his eyes. The outer door to the prison opened up and the guard shouted, ¡°Times up!¡± I panicked and reached out to Jerry and he grabbed my arm tighter. ¡°Will you be there?¡± I pleaded. His face darkened, ¡°They won¡¯t let anyone go.¡± ¡°What? All executions are public. That makes no sense!¡± I responded. But before he could respond, strong arms removed him from the bars and began dragging him. ¡°I said times up!¡± the guard yelled as he dragged Jerry. I reached out to through the bars, my face pressed against them straining to take one last look at my friend. Knowing that this would be the last time that I ever saw him I choked out the words, ¡°You were the best friend a guy could ask for! Live a great life Jerry! Live a great life!¡± The door slammed shut, and Jerry was gone from my life. Despair and sadness sat on me as I shrank lower and lower into the cell. Why wouldn¡¯t Jerry be allowed to be there? All executions are public. I wanted to cry, but instead I sat shaking with anger in my cell. What the Voth is going on