Hokum

Ex Nihilo

𝕵𝖆𝖈𝖐

Jack knew full well he was the intruder here. It would have been rude to try and influence the discussion, or be it the debate, taking place between these two friends. But as Cheryl left the premises he also realized that he needed this pact. He was fortunate to have found someone in this place who actually accepted the fact that he was from some other era and place in the universe, and he was more than certain it was going to be damn hard to find anyone else around these part who would accept him with such good graces. Besides, he liked Piper, and he had a feeling he would grow to like Cheryl as well if she would remove the broomstick from her ass. That, right there, was the most immediate problem. Piper was right. It wasn’t just that, of course, removing the broomstick would be a lot easier had Cheryl not been preoccupied with her own rather large problems at the present. That alone was probably the main factor in her decision making.

Still, there was a lot more to this situation than the surface dialogue. Jack couldn’t pretend to know about the unseen intricacies of the things taking place around him, but he would have been braindead not to have noticed the change in Piper when Cheryl had first entered the room. In a way, Piper had behaved like a frightened, cornered cat, and Jack wasn’t inclined to think that his behaviour was a response to Cheryl’s presence. There was more to his new little friend than met they eye.

He had to think. He had to be clever. He had to think of a way that would help everyone involved, and he couldn’t do that without knowing as much as he could about this damnable situation. The time had come to check his messages.

“One second, my friend.” He spoke calmly to Piper with a raise of one finger as his other hand reached back to remove the cell phone from his pocket. With a quick few strokes and taps of his thumb he opened up the content. His eyes narrowed with peculiarity in the glowing light of the screen, mouth twisting like he were reading some disturbing excerpt from a horror novel. He read the messages over several times before the glow of the screen faded and he lifting his eyes back to Piper with besieging intensity. One might say he had just seen a ghost.

“Tell me, Pipe. What just happened to you? Don’t lie to me. I saw that you were scared. You can tell me. I’ll keep it to myself if you need me to. But I think it’s best that I know everything that’s going on before we take any further action.”

---

𝔔𝔲𝔢𝔢𝔫'𝔰 𝔓𝔞𝔩𝔞𝔠𝔢
𝔗𝔥𝔢 ℜ𝔬𝔶𝔞𝔩 ℭ𝔦𝔱𝔶.

When the three moons of Beckon Season were high, the Queen attired herself in servant’s clothing - as not draw the guard’s attention - and descended to the Magus labyrinth beneath the castle. With three knocks, followed by a moment’s pause then another rap of her knuckles, she was granted entry to the living chambers of Magus Ashan, her personal mage.

From here in this dingy abode would Ashan rarely venture. This was his sanctuary, little more than a cave-like construct, the stone walls of which clustered with the various spectrum veins of ore, ore of mana, mana he had no use for. Indeed, it served as fine decoration. Ashan was seated in a solemn pose upon his self-ordained wooden throne at the far side of the room when the Queen entered. Shutting the door behind her, she removing the raiment from her head to confirm her identity. She was a young queen, neigh older than thirty, with sharp azurite eyes and striking appeal. Her milky-white skin and supple contours embellished by the flicker of candlelight. She stood, daring not venture farther as she awaited the news that drew her here this eve.

“Could you not refrain until morning, my Queen?” Ashan spoke, his words guarded by far away thoughts. Yet, respect for his queen raised him from his throne as he collected the chestnut fall of hair from his colourless eyes. His muscular torso was bare, his nakedness clothed only in a full-length skirt of Griffon leather that fell rigidly from waist to floor.

“I must know.” She exclaimed with all the virtue expected of royalty, yet her eyes regressed, caressing the form of his torso like a young princess tasting of forbidden fruits. “Tell me, has he arrived?”

Ashan was void of emotional portrayal, his response being nothing but a wave of is hand towards the table in the center of the room. There, responding to the command of his gesture, a clay bowl of herbs quivered and released a spectrum of hues that embodied all the colours of life, swirling and palpating to construct a feed like that of holographic image that displayed a view of the current interaction between Piper, Jack Cheryl.

The Queen tore her eyes from Ashan, now fixated on the muted interaction taking place in Blackgale Inn so many miles away. She watched as events unfolded, one hand to her breast in heartfelt observance until Cheryl departed the tavern, and at this point the image dissolved as the queen and Ashan returned attention to each other.

Her question had been answered.

Previously withheld by suspense, she now breathed with the sound of a gasp while provoked to take several steps closer to the royal mage.

“Is he everything I had hoped he would be?”

Ashan undressed the queen with his eyes, a shy-less audacity, while his thoughts performed the task of establishing an appropriate response to her true needs. He conformed, abiding his eyes to hers, and replied;

“Had it not been for ancient doctrine prophesying his coming, I would think of him as an imbecile. But there is little question, my Queen…” As though guided by the irony of disappointment, his eyes ventured for another undressing of his majesty, “He is the one, yes. The one that has been foretold.”

The Queen was now close enough. She extended one hand, allowing her fingertips to fondle the contours of Ashan’s chest.

“And does she know?”

“She does.” Ashan seized the wrist of his Queen, that they should take their lust no further this evening. “She has already made plans to acquire him for her own purpose. But she has grown more powerful these days…. I’m having difficulty keeping watch of her actions. We are all in danger.”

“No!” The Queen ripped her hand from his grasp. “She will not receive him – at first light you will send out a legion. You will prevent her from acquiring him! Terra as we know it depends on it. And be sure that other whore and her pipios are destroyed. We cannot have them abiding her. We must not delay!"

Ex Nihilo

“It’s…. just a photo, a still image caught by science magic. Has no detection powers besides using it as a reference like I’m doi….”

Jack’s sentence dwindled to silence as disappointment squeezed his heart. There wasn’t much point in explaining any further. Piper hadn't seen Hannah. Not like Jack didn’t expect that, honestly, but what shy hope he did have just became that little bit shyer. Still, it wasn't Piper's fault, and he refrained from appearing upset while slipping the photo away and giving Piper a small nod to thank him.

“It’s okay. I’ll find her somehow.” He elaborated on the sentiment while honouring Pipers wishes by slipping the watch back on his wrist. “I’m glad you enjoyed the meal.”

Jack’s last sentence may or may not have been heard by Piper, since as he was speaking Piper's attention would have been interrupted by an outside influence, and this time it was not the sound of Cheryl’s whistle. It would be a feeling that perhaps Piper wasn’t accustomed to. An immense foreboding presence watching him from nearby, like a tower looming over him, yet far away at the same time. Distance unknown. This dark, eerie sensation was part of a telepathic link; a deep audio reverberating through Pipers mind and trembling his little body like a rag of wild horses passing by. Such tremendous force, indicative of a mighty beast drunk on poisonous quantities of power:

“Little one, be sure she brings the outworlder, lest your days be numbered like the scales upon my bloodied crest.”

The link to Pipers mind was severed as Cheryl, like the telepathic message had been a prelude to her arrival, entered through the door to declare her persisting disdain for Jack - Jack, who turned in his seat at the sound of her voice, though not at all surprised to see her there.

“There you are.” He said, face distorted with a crooked grin. “Was kinda wondering when you’d show up again. Rush off to make your daily quota of kills, did ya?” His foot pushed back a chair to welcome her to the table. “Take a seat, why don’t ya, share the tale of your latest victory in battle.”

Though Jack’s words were obviously those of jest, he had a sneaking suspicion Cheryl wasn’t about to come lightly, especially when right at that moment his phone alerted him of yet another incoming text.

He sighed, then mumbled to himself; “I should really check my messages.”

Ex Nihilo

Sancho was standing in wait outside. Something had spooked him. Even in the moonlight his distraught condition would have been clear. An open abrasion was bleeding above his right eye. That same eye was heavily bloodshot, having had blood vessels burst. He was trembling, his skin gleaming with a film of thick sweat. His usual calm façade had been forsaken. Behind him, keeping their distance, were two lower ranking guards lacking any physical injuries of their own. But they were agitated, nervously surveying the area like soldiers awaiting the enemy on a battlefield. More than anywhere else, their attention went to the sky above where a large winged beast was circling, silhouetted against the cluster of the three moons.

When Cheryl emerged from the house, Sancho stepped up like a frightened child approaching his teacher after doing something terribly wrong. He didn’t give her a chance to react to his presence. Wiping a stream of blood from his brow with his forearm, his voice was shaken, but low, as not to let his men hear what he was saying.

“I didn’t know you were affiliate with….” He choked on the following word, too frightened to even utter the name in that moment. “…I’m sorry, Cheryl… I just didn’t know.” He cleared his throat, glanced back at his men, braved a shy glimpse at the circling beast above, and then continued to speak his piece; “You can take a couple of weeks to get your affairs in order. But you know I can’t allow you more time than that. I just can’t. Just uh… do me a favour and please keep your dogs off me and my men from now on. That’s all I ask. Enjoy your night.”

It was obvious that in his current condition, Sancho would have been willing to clear Cheryl’s name of all charges, but the decision wasn’t up to him anymore. Word of the two murders had already been sent by horse courier to the Royal City. A few weeks was all he could allow without the Queen herself having his own head on a platter. It was out of his hands. These were things that Cheryl would have already understood. She would have been aware of how the laws of the land worked.

In finishing what he had come to say, Sancho raised his hand as a gesture to stop her from replying, then swiftly turned away to head back to the Guard house with his men.

The winged beast followed Sancho’s direction, remaining directly above him, continuing to circle like an eagle stalking its prey.

---

“Good to meet you Pipe….” Jack’s words were stolen by an amused smile as he watched Piper attack his food like he hadn’t eaten in a year. It was downright amazing just how much the little critter managed to tuck away, like watching a cartoon of a small animal swallow copious amounts of food. Leaving him to continue feasting, Jack resumed eating as well. He was just about done when Piper projected again, yet still busy crunching his way through the bones that remained of his meal.

“Ah, yeah.” Jack replied, took a swallow of mead to wash the last of his food down. “Not to worry. I suppose I can limit myself to defending my friends.”

Jack dropped back the final mouthful of mead. The bottle touching down on the table as he reverted to the topic that had brought the two of them there in the first place.

“And about this watch, Pipe.” Jack already short-formed the name like he did with all his friends. “I’m just going to give it to ya. You obviously like it more than I do, and I doubt it will do me much good here.” Jack slid his plate and bottle to the center of the table and removed the watch, saying; “But I really need you to try and help me with my problem if you can.” He placed the watch neatly beside the empty plate for Piper to collect at his leisure.

“I lost my daughter. A year ago. She was ten years old. Far as I can tell she was stolen and taken to this world. One year to the day, today, I was taken away as well. Don’t know what brought me here, don’t know why…. All I know is that this just might be the same place she was taken to. I need to find her. She’s my baby, you understand?”

With that, Jack took his wallet form his pocket, opened up one of the flaps inside and withdrew a picture of Hannah. He held the photo loosely between his middle and index finger, extending his arm for Piper to take a close look. Of course, Jack didn't stop to think that people of this world wouldn't have known what a photograph was.

“Do you remember seeing her at all?” His voice lowered with refraining sorrow. “Maybe a year ago? Maybe last week. Any time at all? Anywhere…?”

The photo Piper would see is one of a girl roughly ten years of age. Shoulder length brown hair, fair skin, a broad, precious smile, blue eyes like her daddy, and wearing a soft pink summer dress.

“She wouldn’t have been wearing those clothes when she got here.” He added. “She would have been in a one piece swimsuit. Emerald green. Her favourite colour. Kinda hard to describe, though…. Like a stretchy skin-tight outfit without sleeves or leggings. Not something people in this world would have seen before. Hard to miss, you know….”

Ex Nihilo

As the creature pounced his way across the room to a table of his liking, Jack smiled with adoration like a man watching his new puppy familiarizing itself with the layout of its new home. He took a seat across the table from the Pygmy’s position, placed the meals down, and popped the cork of his mead to take a sip while Piper posed his curiosity.

“In my world,” He replied in a sober tone; “We have similar types. There is prejudice, cruelty, all the things that make life more unpleasant than it needs to be. We even had a world war where millions of people from one race were executed in the most inhumane manner, just because of one mans’ personal grudge.”

Jack paused to pop a piece of potato in his mouth, chewed, swallowed. Honestly, the food wasn’t all that bad. He then gave the Pygmy a thoughtful stare as he continued;

Not all of us are like that. Many of us have learned from our mistakes, we strive for a better world. To accept one another, respect each other’s beliefs and ways of life even if they don’t conform to our own. It can only serve to make life better for everyone, right? But don’t get me wrong, little fella, I’m not perfect, not by any stretch of the imagination.”

Jack had to laugh as his thoughts diverged to judge himself for a moment. He took another sip of mead and continued;

“My own work back home involves hurting people from time to time, but I try my hardest to only do it to those I feel deserve it. Yeah, that might make me hypocritical, but I’m good at what I do – And I’m trying, I’m really trying to be a better man. As for you, my new little friend” Jack smiled, though it may have looked to be a smile spawned of pain “You’ve given me no reason to believe you are worth anything less than equal respect. So hey, here we are….”

He reached out across the table - not with any sudden movement - to feign a caress down the side of the Pygmy’s cheek. Making contact might not have been appreciated, even despised by the creature, but the affection was portrayed in the motion. He withdrew his hand and topped his spoon with a mouthful of meat from his plate.

”My name’s Jack. What is yours?”

---

The intruder still didn’t move, utterly motionless, only the aura around it would pulsate when talking. Regardless of this inactivity, their presence seemed to portray a great amount of consideration, remaining quiet for quite a while even after Cheryl had spoken, as though they were decisively deliberating on everything she had said. Or… maybe they were waiting.

Whatever the case, close to a minute must have transpired before they replied in the same randomized voices from around the room:

“My master understands your plight. Your mother. Do not be alarmed. You will be granted time to address your personal matters. But the patience of my master will not stand as stone. You have been chosen. You will deliver the outworlder. It will be wise of you to accept the terms of my master. …We will return soon.”

Without allowing further response from Cheryl, the ground once again trembled as the intruder faded to nothing. In their stead, a leather pouch appeared on the floor. If Cheryl were to look inside she would find it filled with coins of gold and silver. The count would equal greater than the annual earnings of a well-paying job.

Ex Nihilo

There were some things in life that Jack just couldn’t tolerate. Malicious prejudice was one of them. Jack had caught wind of the bigoted nature of these people before that point, and seeing the old man react to the Pygmy in such a manner only served to confirm his suspicions. Sure, he was willing to give mostly everyone the benefit of the doubt, so to speak, but when he saw fear being the only thing restraining this old bastard from showing his true colours, something turned sour in the pit of Jack’s stomach.

Nevertheless, he managed to keep his rage contained long enough to smile kindly at the cute little creature, before turning to the old prick to relay the message;

“And a cut of meat for my friend here….” Jack paused, his eyes narrowed, the sound of his grinding teeth could be heard across the room. Had his stare been steel it would have cut the old man in two. “You better make damn sure it is the best piece of meat you have ever served in this shithole you call an establishment. Do I make myself clear?”

By the time Jack had finished speaking, his voice had turned into a grated, raspy tone like that of a demon. The bartender failed twice to swallow hard, but finally managed to before scuttling off to retrieve food from the open kitchen - or be it just a bench with a fire stove, a kettle, and hotplate - situated along the wall beyond the bar. The man’s knees were literally knocking together as he shuffled and fumbled in haste to prepare the food on wooden plates, and while so doing, Jack took that moment to glance at his feathered friend with a wink.

There was limited time for further reaction before the bartender returned with the meals. One dish of stewed meat and potatoes, as Jack had ordered, and another plate of what looked like finely roasted lamb ribs. That serving was bigger than Piper himself.

“On the house -” Was all the bartender said before Jack interrupted with a final word of warning:

“If I even hear so much as a whisper that you’ve mistreated any of my friends, ever again, I will use my fist to send your nose into your sorry excuse for a brain. And yeah… thanks for the food.”

The old man didn’t reply, just shaking in his boots as he backed away.

Jack took up both plates, one in hand, the second rested on his forearm, the mead in his other hand.

“Pick a table for us?” His tone to Piper was kind and smooth, so very far detached from the one he just used on the bartender.

---

“A gentle demonstration of my masters power.”

The intruder didn't move, though their shrouded aura began to pulsate as they spoke. The voice that emitted from them would have seemed very strange, as it didn't derive from them directly, instead it spoke from around the room, each word born of a different location and varying tones of gender and age. While the words were being spoken the knife in Cheryl’s hand would have become hot, red hot, too hot to handle by time the first sentence was fully delivered.

“I am an emissary with word from my master.” The many voices continued; “You will bring the outworlder. You will guide him to us. For this you will be well compensated with abundance of mana beyond your needs. It would be wise of you to accept my masters terms.”

Ex Nihilo

Jack was many things at that moment: Amazed by everything going on. Disturbed by the dark figure that had momentarily appeared on the road just beforehand. Cautious not to wake up Travius. Distracted by thoughta as to whether Cheryl actually did have a boyfriend. Realising he hadn’t had a bowel movement in two days. Remembering he had to check the messages on his phone. Enchanted by the little pygmy creature. Glad the pygmy accepted his offer. Hoping this alliance would shed light on his daughter’s whereabouts. But the one thing winning the moment for Jack was hunger. He really was feeling kind of peckish.

He also had to think fast as his mind pieced together the fragments of information thrown at him, rolling over every word that Piper projected. The word ‘Mana’ and its context helped a great deal, allowing Jack to fit numerous pieces of the puzzle together in one contained, glorious moment.

He grinned.

“Magic works a little different on my world.” He assured the Pygmy, giving the watch a good affirming squeeze in his fist. “We don’t need Mana to do magic. For us it’s…. more science based. But to be honest with you, little fella….” Jack glanced around at the night, “Here wouldn’t be the best place to discuss our agreement.” He gave Piper a raise of one brow with a clever nod, but not conceited at all. “How about we discuss this over some food? I haven’t eaten all day. My shout. What do ya say?”

Assuming Piper would agree to the extended proposal, Jack would slip the watch back on his wrist and started walking in direction of the Blackgale Inn across the street. Departing Travius’ porch, he would give Piper a little toss of his head to follow.

---

If Piper had agreed and were to follow Jack, they would soon enter the tavern once more. The place was a little on the empty side now, just a few stragglers staring with confusion at the pair. The old bartender was still looking a little worse for wear, but at least he had recovered after wetting his pants and passing out earlier; his mildly trembling lips and an expression of pending doom shading his face as he nervously stepped up to meet them.

“My little friend and I would like something to eat. Something well-cooked for me, maybe some meat and potatoes if you have it? Another bottle of mead.”

Jack would then turn his focus to the Pygmy with the intent to relay his order as well…..

---

Cheryl was drifting off to sleep on her strewn mattress back home when she may have been roused by the passing tremble of the mattress and floor beneath her. If she became aware of the slight quake and opened her eyes, she would see a dark figure looming over her from beside the mattress. The trespasser would stand eight feet in height, the hood of their garment almost touching the ceiling with an emerald glow shrouding their entire person. The identity of this person would be completely hidden in the depths of the dark cloak they were wearing.

Ex Nihilo

“What the fuck is wrong with you?” Jack spat, looking at the Pygmy like he was insane. “Did you even see what just happened – what, is seeing something like that normal for you?” As he was talking, Jack considered the Pygmies strain of thought, and ok, he was obviously of a simpler mind; devoted to things like superficial appeal, unconcerned with deeper thought. But it was that intuition that gave Jack an idea. He knew how life worked, after all; money talked, bullshit walked.

so what if…

Jack took the watch from his wrist and spoke to the creature straight: “Okay, how about I just give this to you, this, uhh, magical device? I’ll just hand it over to you. Hey, it’s only a watch made of gold capable of keeping tabs on the continuum of the universe, right? But there’s a catch, cutie. How about we make this interesting?” He attempted to provoke the creature, dangling the watch in Piper’s face. “You tell me what I want to know, and I give you my watch. That way you get the watch, but I get what I'm looking for in return, and yet you get to keep your coins as well. Deal?”

Ex Nihilo

Like someone seeing a dentist brandish a drill, Jack winced when the creature replied in the way it had done so earlier, using some variety of telepathic connection to his mind. It may have been normal for these people to communicate with animals in such a way, but for Jack it was going to take some getting used to. He wasn’t sure if he would ever get used to something like this. So intrusive…. And, on top of that, this little creature, now referring to itself as a Pygmy, didn’t seem to know what sarcastic humour was. Figures, all his jokes were going to be wasted on these freaks. But the Pygmy had made a good point, Jack was talking way more than he usually would, truth was that he never usually said more than necessary, but these extenuating circumstances seemed to have done something to him. Maybe all this jabbering was a way to cope, keep himself sane.

It was nice, like a bad thought finally gone from his mind, when the Pygmy stopped instilling his message.

“It was a joke, Pygmy, relax would ya.” He replied then dropped his eyes to his watch, the item the Pygmy seemed to show intervals of interest in, that was, when he wasn’t grooming himself or scratching fleas. Leaving the watch on his wrist, Jack twisted his arm a few times for the creature to take a better look. “And what, you like this?” He asked. “This is a Rolex watch, one of the most expensive on the market, worth more than… actually, never mind, I won’t waste my breath explaining. Anyway, what, you want to trade that little coin for this?” Jack now held a humorous smile, the type of look one might give to a child that offered his candy in exchange for a mans Ferrari.

It was then, while having his arm extended, that Jack caught view of someone in his peripheral vision. He turned his head quickly to lay sight on a dark image of a humanoid form standing in the center of the road. The person must have been eight feet in height, clothed entirely in a dark hooded robe. In the glow of the ridiculous amount of moons, it was hard to tell if the robe was black or a dark shade of some colour. But their hands couldn’t be seen in the coupled sleeves, their feet were hidden beneath the fall of the hem that touched the cobblestone, and their face was completely unseen in the darkness of their hood. Still, what struck Jack the most peculiar, even haunting, was that their entire person was enveloped in an emerald aura, like a shroud of soft, luminous fog. Whoever or whatever it was, they were facing Jack and Piper as if to be watching them. Intimidating to say the least.

Oh great… the grim reaper arrives…. Jack thought to himself as a shiver ran his body and caused him to shutter. And why not? Like things weren’t weird enough

With a voice born of both fear and courage, Jack called out to the mysterious stranger; “Who are you? What to do you want?” But in the closing of his words, the entity vanished in a blink. The road was empty.

Jack was morbidly pale as he returned his attention back to Piper.

“Tell me you saw that….” He wheezed as though cheated of breath.

Ex Nihilo

The light fluttering of wings wasn’t enough to alert Jack. He didn’t see Piper coming. The sudden spark of breath and ignition of fire just feet from his head had Jack startled, jumping back as though the door he was about to knock at had electrocuted him.

It took a quick moment to realise what had just happened, wide eyes on Piper perched on the sconce as the information sunk in.

“You are actually a drag…?” The question expelled incomplete from his mouth, while he took a quick look around the area for Cheryl. She was nowhere to be seen. “I always imaged you’d be bigger….” He said, looking back at Piper, “You really shouldn’t sneak up on people, I almost shit myself.” Jack had never shat his pants in his life, it was just a figure of speech. In fact, Jack wasn’t the type to scare easily under most circumstances, but the events of the last few hours had him understandably on edge.

He took a moment to gather his thoughts, deciding to keep his voice lowered as not to wake anyone sleeping inside the house. It was one to knock with purpose on somebodies door in the middle of the night, another thing completely to wake someone up by standing on their porch having a conversation with a kitten-sized dragon. Not that he was yet certain Piper was an actual dragon. That question of itself seemed too bizarre for Jack to even consider at the moment.

“Why are you here?” Jack asked in a lowered tone, but not quite a whisper. “Come to mock me? Poke a little fun at the new guy for saving your girlfriends life? That would be about right. I’ve been on this God forsaken planet less than a few hour and have been chased by some horse size vulture, been accused of being a pervert with a sword to my throat, been given water that smelled like it was dredged from someone’s toilet, and then got interrogated by a guy wearing a red skirt and smelling like he hasn’t wiped his ass in over a year – so go ahead, you cute little bastard, take your best sho –”

Jack’s rant came to an abrupt halt as his eyes narrowed, peering at Piper like he was now watching the neighbour’s dog take a dump on his lawn.

“Wait… he changed his tone to match his look, “Is Cheryl in trouble or something? Oh, maybe she started up a blue-light disco in a building down the street and wants me to be the main dancing attracting to scoff at? Or did she kill someone else already? That wouldn’t surprise me. Have you come to fetch me so I can go and try and save her life again with not so much as a thank you for my effort??”

As Jack’s rant finally came to an end, he realised just how silly he must have looked talking to a small animal. Had this thing really projected its thoughts to him earlier that night? Everything was becoming very surreal to him at this point. At the very least, he felt a little better to have gotten all that off his chest.

Ex Nihilo

It’s funny, not in a ‘haha’ kind of way, the memories dredged up by the emotion of years detached.

Jack recalled a time when he was a child in school. He had at that time a crush on a girl in the same grade. Amy was her name. Amy didn’t really know who Jack was, since he kept to himself, but one day he heard that Amy’s birthday was coming up, so Jack spent some time preparing a gift for her in hopes to win her heart. Three days he spent drawing an image of her. It was a portrait of Amy. No, he wasn’t the best artist in the world, far from it, but he put his heart into it nonetheless. When Amy’s birthday rolled around, Jack worked up the courage to give the drawing to her at the end of the school day. Alas, Amy took less than one look at the drawing and laughed mockingly before snapping at Jack with a scouring sneer, ‘That is so fucking stupid’, she had said, ‘get away from me, freak!’ And there it was, the same stabbing hurt caused by Amy’s rejection, stabbing Jacks heart in much the same way as it did when Cheryl turned and snapped at him with a similar look on her face and tone in her voice.

The fun-loving smile ran from Jack’s face as his best impression of CM Hammer died, and he lowered the phone to his side while watching on rather glumly as Cheryl started to glow a turquoise hue and made her stand with the guards. No doubt he would have felt more impressed by her own exhibit had he not been feeling sorry for himself at the time. He continued to watch her and Sancho exchanged words. Nope, Jack could admit it, she apparently didn’t need his help, but how was he to know? More than that, who the hell was this girl - this girl that had such power and authority over the local law? At the very least, Cheryl would have certainly come in handy on a dark night.

There was so much more to this world Jack had entered. He knew nothing….

Jack continued to watch on in silence while Cheryl walked away with not so much as a thank you for his efforts. He had stepped out onto the porch of the tavern, watching her and her feathery pet fade into the distance on their way back home when he felt the urge to call after her with something like, ‘You know it’s customary where I come from to show gratitude when someone tries to help. Sure, you didn’t need my damn help, but how was I to know you could make your ass all shiny? Not like I tried to save your life or anything, right!? Bitch….’ But he found these words only remained stuck in his throat and echoing through his mind. This girl, Cheryl, would never know how he felt. Still, it was all for the best, the death of her mother was enough to worry about, she didn’t need to be antagonized or guilt tripped by some stranger as well.

He’d been wrong about her. She wasn’t the one who could help him.

As Jack came to this conclusion he found himself surrounded by the town guard. The same men that come to take Cheryl away had now come for him instead. Sancho stood up close, doing a fair job of hiding his caution for Jack as he opened his mouth to say in an authorising voice;

“We don’t know you, friend. We don’t know your kind.” He glanced down at the phone in Jack’s hand. “But around these parts we do not take lightly to those abetting the criminal type. You will accompany us to the Imperial Guards Station. You will answer some questions we have for you.”

Jack sighed as he slid the phone back in his pocket:

“Fine, Mr. my-breath-stinks-like-roadkill, let’s just get this shit over with.”

---

A small time later, Jack was in the watchhouse of the guards’ station, seated across from Sancho, a sorry excuse for a wooden table separating them. Several armed guards in blue uniforms occupied the room as well, lining the wall, all of them nervous, looking like they were at any moment prepared to drive a blade through Jack’s torso.

Sancho made himself as comfortable as he could under the circumstances, attempting to seem at ease as he rested back in his seat to regard Jack with an intimidating look.

“Listen to me.” He Sancho said, tapping his index finger on the table. “I can find no immediate reason to detain you at this point. Since you are… obviously new to these parts, you may not be aware of how things work around here. Nevertheless, we cannot let you walk free if there is at all a chance you pose a threat to this town or any of the towns under the reign of our Queen. You Are here because we need to understand where it is you come from. We need to know what your intentions hold.”

Jack rolled his eyes and slumped; “Look, man, I don’t want any trouble, I just saw the girl needed help and acted accordingly. You can see with your own eyes that I’m not from around here, sure, good for you. But if I told you where exactly I was from you’d imprison me, even kill me for so much as saying it. Let’s just say it is better that some things remain unsaid. Let me go now and I’ll be on my way. I have no quarrel with you or the people of this town. I have more important business to attend to.”

Sancho’s face became stone. “Tell me why you are here!”

“Hmm…” Jack rolled his eyes in a thoughtful manner, and replied; “I’m looking for someone, someone dear to me. I need to find her. I need to know she is safe. That is all I can say. Imprison me if you need to. I just don’t feel right telling you more than that. Yeah, I thought maybe Cheryl could helped me, but I was wrong. She seems a little preoccupied at the moment, if you know what I mean?”

Sancho grimaced. “Are you in league with her?”

“For fuck sake….” Jack muttered. "What did I just say...?"

Sancho furrowed his brow like someone that had heard something vaguely amusing.

“You didn’t listen to a word I said.” Jack continued. “I don’t even know that woman and her freaky lizard. I only met her tonight. I just figured she might be able to help me, so I tried to spare her from being beheaded, or whatever it is you depraved people do when executing someone around here. Primitive bunch of fuckers.... But I was obviously mistaken, right? I’ll need to find someone else, another way, yeah? Chill out, man. I'm not here to cause a problem. End of story.”

Sancho stared thoughtfully at Jack for a time, attempting in his own primitive way to makes sense of what Jack was telling him. Finally he spoke up once more, giving a nod to his subordinate guards to set themselves at ease, which they did, as Sancho replied to Jack:

“Very well, outsider, but before I release you, I request your name.”

“Names Jack. That's all you get. That's all I have to give you.”

“Jack." Sancho reaffirmed. "Unusual name. I haven't heard a name such as this before. It will be remembered... Ah, You must be from a far, far away land….” He now spoke suspiciously. “Very well, you can go. A word of warning, though. Stay clear of Cheryl. She is not the type to mingle with. No good can come of her. May the gods guide you on your own quest and may the Queens’s speed be with you. However, be warned, Jack, I will be sending out word of you to our Queen. We will be watching. Keep your magic to yourself…. If you know what is good for you….”

Despite Sancho’s words, Jack knew that his freedom was provided of fear. Sancho was afraid. Still, Jack wasn’t about to press his luck; he stood promptly from his chair, gave all the guards an equal look of recognition, and exited the guard station.

---

Out on the cobblestone street, Jack stood for a time staring up at the three moons in the star-spangles sky wondering what in the hell he was about to do next. Lowering his attention after some time, he gave a nod to the two guards guarding the door of the station before he made his way up the street, utterly ignoring anyone who may have been watching. His next stop was the house of Travius, which was now in darkness, and stood for a moment wondering on how a knock on the door would be received at this late hour.

He raised his fist to knock....