By the time Kal reached Proctor’s house it was already mid afternoon. The house was in the out skirts of the kingdom in the middle of the forest. Proctor had a thing for trees… As Kal approached the old mansion, he realized Jayce was right about the house going to waste. It was rundown, dirty with twigs and branches covering the roof and sides. It was eerie to be around and anyone could tell no one had been living there for awhile.

Kal tip toed around the front windows and peeked inside just to make sure. He saw the furniture was covered with sheets and there was a layer of dirt on the wooden floor. Kal walked around to the back and broke into one of the doors leading to the kitchen. He slowly walked in to be amazed to how beautiful the house was even though it wasn’t being used. Kal shook his head wondering why none of his children ever cared to move in. He would have never let a mansion like this go to waste…

From the very spacious kitchen, he walked around into the dining area. The lights weren’t working, the only light Kal had was from the remaining daylight. He looked and found a long dark brown desk behind the dining room table. The table was pushed up against the desk on the wall. Kal walked around the table and started pushing it aside. The screeching of the table sliding on the floor made a very loud echo throughout the house. Kal stopped and looked around nervous like someone else was there. Once it was out of his way, he started opening up drawers and ransacking through the papers. He pulled out stacks of loose paper and pictures only to find nothing about Cashius. This is going to take some time, he thought.

Kal walked around the whole first floor looking around for any link to Cashius. He actually made quite a mess pulling out everything that was tucked away. He left the piles right where he found them. After a few hours of looking around searching, Kal was starting to believe he wasn’t going to have any luck. He looked in every room behind every picture. The master bedroom was the last place Kal checked. There was a walk in closet with a safe stashed away in the back. He didn’t have any tools to try to break the safe open. Whatever Proctor had to hide it would be in there.

He rubbed in his face in disappointment and frustration before throwing in the towel. “Maybe Jayce will have better luck then me.” Kal said aloud to himself. No one knew Kal was at Proctor’s old mansion beside Jayce. He didn’t intend on staying so late into the night. The house was getting so dark that not even the moonlight was enough to walk around. It was best Kal returned to home to his family before anyone started to worry.

As he made his way downstairs to the back door, Kal heard a loud thump. It made him stop mid way on the stairs, dropping down low to the rails. He slowly looked over the stair rail and didn’t see anything. Being on the safe side he tip-toed through the living room through the dining. Just before getting to the kitchen, he heard the thump again. Kal could feel he wasn’t alone… The thumps started to sound like footsteps and they were getting closer. He realized sneaking out wasn’t an option anymore. “Who’s there?! Show yourself!” He looked all around him to the best of his ability but it was too dark to see. Kal drew his knife from the side of his pants leg while turning the corner to the kitchen.

When he thought the coast was clear so he dashed around the corner. Just before getting to the back-door he heard a whistle from behind him. It was loud enough to make Kal stop in his tracks… He slowly lifted his head before turning around. Who ever it was they were hiding in the house waiting to make their move. When Kal turned around he saw it was Gerok. It shocked the hell out of him… Kal flipped his knife in his hands and started walking towards his enemy. Gerok held up his Electric Pulse shotgun high and pointed it towards Kals torso.

Seeing the pulse gun didn’t make Kal skip a beat, instead he picked up his pace. Gerok shot out a low shock, making him clinch his teeth and tighten his body. The shock was not enough to stop him from lounging at Gerok for a second time. Aiko came from behind Kal and screamed, “Hit him again dammit!” Kal lifted his knife above his head ready to strike when Gerok hit him again in the torso. Kal was inches away when he swung his knife close to Gerok’s face. He had to turn up the power to get the young captain down.

Gerok looked at Aiko nudging his head up towards the dining table, “Grab me one of those chairs. We’re going to need something strong to keep him down… What are the chances the person I came to Sage for just falls into my lap?” He threw his hands in the air, laughing at the coincidence.

Aiko huffed as she placed the thick wooden chair besides Kal’s unconscious smoking body. “It was fate Gerok… fate.”

The night turned into early morning and the next day was unfolding. Gerok grew impatient with Kal and decided to wake him up. He walked up to the captain and shook him by the shoulder. Kal began to slowly gain consciousness. “Wakey, wakey Captain. You’ve been asleep for more than seven hours and I’m tired of waiting. Wake your ass up!” Gerok slapped Kal a few times in the face, making him shake his head.

When Kal started to fully open his eyes, he was still trying to grasp what happened. His head was slouched over and all he saw was his lap. Then it hit him… Kal noticed his was tied down to a wooden chair. There was rope wrapped around his torso and his hands were tied behind him. There was also rope tied around his feet, he wasn’t going anywhere. He started swarming, looking around to what was going on until he looked up at Gerok. Immediately Kal tried to loosen the ropes around his hands. He wanted blood… “Let me out of here. Let me OUT OF HERE!” Kal started shaking the chair back and forward trying to break his way free. “You fucking coward! Let me OUT!”

“Oh relax… if I wanted you dead, I wouldn’t have tied you to a chair. Believe it or not I snuck into Sage to find you, instead you came to me. I’m here to help you… I’m here to give you what you were looking for.”

“You can’t give me shit…” Kal spit on the floor next to Gerok’s feet.

“I’m guessing you’ve figured it out about your new Star Lord. He was the one that wants you dead. You won’t be able to find any evidence on him, he made sure of that. Proctor taught Cashius to never leave any evidence. He was the king at keeping secrets and never kept any of them laying around his house, it was too risky. I’ll tell you everything you’ll need to know and most importantly what’s coming.”

Kal readjusted in the chair trying to get semi comfortable considering his situation, “Why in the hell would I believe anything you have to say?” He still kept moving around trying to loosen the ropes.

Gerok huffed as he started pacing back and forth, “Because if you don’t, everyone will die! The queen my sister, her children, King Jaron including you. Everyone except Iya who he plans on turning her into his slave queen. You’ll wish you were dead after he’s done.”

“You’ve been the one helping him this whole time and now you want me to trust you?”

“Well yea… I’m risking everything to talk to you right now.” Gerok walked over to the window and peeked outside. “Just hear me out, he pretended to be Proctor when he reached out to me. At first, I didn’t know how to respond. I had gained control over the Blue Claw Clan after killing Zou their leader. Then I practically ran the Exotic Cities on Mortha. I had a name for myself in the underground world, my life was good. When Cashius came along, he offered me something I believed I couldn’t refuse.” Kal stopped struggling and stared at Gerok as he told his story. “A chance to make an alliance with the Star Lord himself. Someone who was groomed by the same mentor as me. I saw the alliance to be a great opportunity to fulfill my dream. Ruling Sage the way it should be…”

“Get to the point…” Kal was short. He didn’t need to hear all of this.

“My point is… it’s been Cashius along. He’s the one who sabotaged the terminals. He’s the one who’s been trying to kill you this whole time. Since you would not die… he’s going to frame you for the whole thing.”

Kal burst out laughing, “You’re so full of shit… Why would anyone believe I sabotaged the terminals? I’m a Fourth born, a soldier, a fucking captain for crying aloud! That doesn’t make any sense.”

“I’m telling you the truth!” Gerok grabbed a chair and turned it backwards. He sat down facing his hostage, hunched over the back. “You have to trust me. What I’m telling you is going to happen it’s just a matter of when. He mentioned making his moves during the Warrior’s Solstice.”

Kal blinked a few times, really trying to study Gerok. Everything he was saying was gold and exactly what Kal was looking for but he wasn’t expecting this… He needed more before he could think about trusting him. “It was all fun and games until you became Public Enemy to the Star Council. Now you’re trying to save your ass. After shit hit the fan, you realized you messed up. Everything you say is garage… I’ll find my own dirt on Cashius.”

Gerok huffed, “Public Enemy… I was supposed to stay in the shadows and turn your allies against you. It worked for awhile until Cashius grew impatient. At first all I wanted was my revenge against Sage. I was willing to do anything to achieve that and see King Jaron fall. It wasn’t until the Star Council deemed me Public Enemy is when I realized Cashius was the one in the shadows. He never had any intentions in making me king. The only intentions he had were his own. Everyone who plays a part in his plans are just pawns. I’ll be damned if my sister dies by his hands. I’m doing this for her, not for me.”

“Telling me this is not going to save you from the punishment that’s coming. I still don’t get your end game… you could disappear at any time but instead you hold me hostage.” Kal shook his head still confused, “Why me? Why do you think I will help you?”

Gerok stared at Kal cupping his chin, “You’re not going to find comfort in this but it has to be you… there is no one else who can convince the others. His plan is coming to an end soon. I know this because yesterday Cashius tried to kill me and Aiko. He turned my Barbarian army against me and now they’re in the kingdom. Whatever he plans on doing next, he’s going to frame me for it just like you. We have the upper the advantage right now because he doesn’t know I’m alive.”

Kal looked down at his ropes, “If you want me to trust you then cut me out of these ropes.” Kal looked up waiting for Gerok to follow through, “Explain to me why exactly he needs Iya for his plan to work?”

Gerok walked behind Kal and took out his dagger. He slowly started cutting the ropes from the behind, “He doesn’t need Iya, he’s obsessed with her… Cashius didn’t bring my sister here from Stella to woo Iya, he brought her here to get her out of the way… There are still some high rollers or big influencers that are loyal to Proctor and his cause. Four of them are members of the Sagen Council, someone has to be helping him.”

Aiko became bored with all the conservation and decided walked around into the kitchen as Gerok finishing the rope from around the captain. She was starting to get famished so she looked in the cabins. There wasn’t too much in there, more dust than anything. The light from the morning sun shined through so she could see more then what she could last night. When she turned the last corner of the kitchen, she noticed the back door was open. She stopped immediately in shock because she knew she closed it. Aiko started turning her head from side to side looking around for the unexpected visitor.

She slowed peeked in the dining area she could hear Gerok and Kal talking still. Suddenly she felt a sharp pain in the back of her head. Aiko fell into the intruder’s arms unconscious then he dragged her into the shadows. A few minutes had passed when Gerok noticed Aiko hadn’t returned to the dining room. He heard footsteps but thought she was wondering around the vacant house.

Kal was not fully released from the ropes when the intruder decided to jump out of hiding. Both Gerok and Kal turned around in shock to see someone they were not expecting. Jayce lounged towards Gerok with a long dagger plunging it into the side of his chest. The same wound on the left side where Marcus nearly killed him on Nego.

Gerok immediately fell to the floor holding his side as blood poured out of his body. Aiko heard Gerok’s screams then woke up. She ran to Gerok trying to warn him but it was too late. Kal looked down at his wounded capturer and freaked out, “NO! Jayce no! Wait he’s not done telling me everything!” Kal dropped down to the floor to see if Gerok was still alive. He was barely… he didn’t have much time.

Jayce was surprised by Kal’s reaction and took a step back. “What do you mean wait?! He had you tied to a chair! He’s, our enemy! Everyone was questioning where you were and I knew something was wrong. Are you working with him or something?”

Kal ignored Jayce and looked down at his dying enemy, “Hurry! Tell me who the Council members are who are working with him! Hurry please!”

Gerok started coughing up blood when he took a deep breath, “There are only a few who are alive… The four in the Council are Benjamin and Derek from the First borns, Sean, the princess’s advisor from the Second borns and…” Gerok pulsed before saying the last name. He stared at Kal before speaking, “And… Artemis from the Third borns.”

Kal slowly sat up in shock to hear the last name, “My father? You’re you lying! You’re fucking lying you son of bitch!”

“You believe him? Let’s finish him off and arrest the girl! We don’t need him Kal!” Jayce screamed. He lounged down again to finish off his enemy.

“NO!” Kal jumped in front of Jayce, stopping him mid way, “I need to hear this…”

Gerok held his side and tried to control his last breathes. “He isn’t one of us anymore… your father is a good man.” He coughed again before finishing, “He was only apart of the rebellion because your grandfather made him join. Your grandfather was Proctor’s best friend. Artemis loves King Jaron as a brother, he will never betray him or hurt his family. Artemis saved me and my wife, he helped us to escape from Sage. He will help you stop this...” In his final moments Gerok looked up at his nephew and smiled. His mouth was filled with blood, his teeth painted red. “I’m proud it was you Jayce…” He coughed a few more times, “You all have to hurry, if Cashius gets to Iya before you do it’s too late. Once he isolates her, game over.”

Aiko started crying over her adopted father’s body, “Gerok please. Try to hold on… you can’t leave me alone. What am I going to tell your wife? Your children? Please.”

Gerok held Aiko’s hand tight then brought it to his face. He kissed the top of her hand gently, “Go with them… they will protect you. I’m so sorry about all of this.” The grip loosened as Gerok slowly let go of Aiko’s hand. His eyes slowly closed and that was the end of the former Sagen Commander. He redeemed himself in his final moments.

Kal, Jayce and Aiko took Gerok’s body and buried it the back near Proctor’s gazebo. There his body laid to rest, not as an enemy but as a redeemed man to his people. Aiko dropped down to her knees crying and sobbing. Kal looked over to Jayce and asked, “What do we do about her?”

Aiko turned her quickly in response, “What do you mean? We killed that son of bitch! We take out the Star Lord and his followers. No more fucking around!” Kal and Jayce nodded in agreement.

Kal broke the silence, “We need to make haste. The day is flying by and we need to get back to the kingdom before the Warrior’s Solstice starts tonight. I need to find Iya right away.”

Jayce placed his hand on Kal’s arm stopping him from jetting off, “There’s something I need to tell you. We may already be too late…”