“A caiman? A Reinard Caiman?” Dan asked.

“Bright red? Long snout? Short body?” Mallory had stretched his arms out and was mimicking the opening and closing of jaws.

“They hadn’t been around for years… that’s odd...I think...”

“It’s inconvenient is what it is!” Hector said, seemingly more angry than perturbed. “There’s been trouble on the forest path. People have been talking about it. They’re eating up cargo.”

“Those caiman can eat through a lot of things if you’re not careful,” Dan said. “Usually, they're too dumb to think about doing any real damage… but it’s been years…”

“Well, they’re on the path now!” Hector then directed his attention to Mercy.

“You see what happens?” He yelled.

“I didn’t do anything,” Mercy said through her gritted teeth.

“Caimans are native to the land,” Dan explained. “We farmers took care of them a while ago. They shouldn’t be showing up… although it could just be that nature decided to walk its way back to the old days.”

Jon saw that Mallory was quickly shaking his head left to right over and over.

“Mana and wildlife are interlinked at a subconscious level,” Mallory explained. “It’s also possible that someone is screwing around with the mana levels.”

“No way,” Mercy interjected, "That would take a lot of mana manipulation to do that.”

Mana… Jon knew about the existence of mana. He knew that it existed. That was about it.

“...I’m gonna go see Farmer Graves,” Dan said. “He’s a bit of an expert on this stuff. More than me, anyway.”

Dan turned to Jon. "Keep an eye on these guys for me, will ya, Jon? Help’ em out if you need to.”

Jon was worried he wouldn’t be ready for the job, but he nodded anyway.

“Alright then. Be back in a jiffy.” Dan made his way down the center road into town.

“What are we gonna do, Hect?” Mallory asked.

“We should get back as soon as possible,” Hector answered. “Before things get worse.”

Mallory frowned. “For us or for Jon?”

Hector scowled. “Let me call my sister.”

He looked at Mercy. “Stay, here.”

“I don’t plan on getting eaten,” Mercy explained. “But maybe you should watch your tone. I’m not a dog.”

“Yeah, you just bark like one.”

Jon quickly grabbed Mercy’s arm before she attacked Hector, who walked away.

Hector went into a small brown bag he held on his shoulder and pulled out a large red gem as he made his way into the inn.

“Where’s that asshole going?” Mercy asked Mallory.

“He’s gonna talk to Lana, his sister. She’s in charge of the King’s Guard in this area… technically.”

“His sister’s the leader?” Mercy was surprised.

“She’s… second in command, but the leader, Lauriel, has gone missing.” Mallory shrugged. “He always goes missing, but he usually tells Lana where he's going beforehand. Not this time.”

“And she just sent you here to find me.” Mercy didn't seem to approve of the explanation.

“...Not just… but yeah. Except that there’s no King’s Guard on this side of the mountain. So, me and Hect had to travel past the mountains just to get here. We’ve never been here before. So, if he’s sort of mad, it’s because he hasn’t been home in a while.”

“It’s not my fault he has a job,” Mercy said.

“...He wants a job, Mercy,” Mallory said. “What he doesn’t want is…”

Mallory quickly dropped his volume as Hector came back.

“Change of plans,” Hector said. “We’re meeting up with the others.”

“We’re waiting…” Mallory put his finger to his chin in thought. “That’s not good. That means that things are dangerous.”

“...My sister doesn’t think we should keep Mercy here,” Hector continued. “So, we should look for somewhere else to go.”

“I vote for waiting for Farmer Dan,” Mallory said. “Unless Jon has an idea.”

Jon quickly shook his head.

“Okay, so Jon doesn’t have an idea.” Mallory crosses his arms. “Let’s wait then.”

Jon couldn’t help but stare in the direction of Graves' house. What would the old man have to say about this?

The four of them decided to go back to the inn and wait.

“I’m telling you,” Hector said as he received his sandwich at the table. “We should barrage right though.”

“And what I’m telling you,” Mallory said. “Is that we shouldn’t go straight to the source of the problem. Not without back-up.”

“I’m sure the others will catch up while we’re fighting,” Hector said. “I bet they’ll call anytime soon.”

As a sign of his faith, the red jewel was laid on the table right next to his plate.

“And besides,” Hector added. “If Mercy here is as good as a fighter as she claims, I’m sure she’ll have no problems defending herself.”

“Shut up, Hector,” Mercy said curtly.

“But I didn’t even-”

“Just shut up.” She had crossed her arms and laid her head on her hands.

Jon didn’t know what was bothering her. He could tell that it wasn’t just to spite Hector. Should he have asked her?

“...what's wrong?” Jon finally asked.

“...I’m worried about you,” Mercy answered sorrowfully. “Is that wrong?”

Worried? What was she worried about?

“Why?” Jon asked.

“What if the caiman attack your home?” she asked. “Will you be able to fight them off?”

Jon hadn't thought of that. This wasn’t his home technically, but now he had to wonder if they would reach the Farm..

“Jon’s gonna be fine,” Hector answered. He motioned to Jon’s blunderbuss. “He’s got a weapon. Look at him!”

“I’m sorry to burst your bubble, but not everyone’s a meathead like you!” Mercy’s fist slammed the table as she finished her words. Mallory had to catch his own plate before it fell onto the floor.

“Jon doesn’t need you to protect him. He’s got his own problems, and so do you.” Hector continued to eat his sandwich.

“What do you think, Jon?” Mallory asked.

Jon didn’t get it. Why did Mallory keep asking him what his point of view was? If the state of the farm was important…

“My father…”

“Is he a leader of the farm?” Hector suddenly asked, interested.

“Shut up, Hect,” Mallory said, ignoring Hector’s follow-up glare.

“...People like him…” Jon didn’t know what else to say.

Thankfully for Jon, Dan had shown back up at the table. He brought with him a tower of books on his bandwagon.

“Whoa!” Mallory stood up. “That’s a lot of books in one place.”

“I took what I could carry,” Dan said. “Apparently, Mr. Magic Robes has a point there about the mana fluctuations and whatnot.”

“Oh, I wish I was wrong.” Mallory was already wandering around the bandwagon, observing the books. He picked one up.

“I’m gonna need time to read through these books. Hector-”

“I hate reading,” Hector said. “Just tell me when you find the answer.”

Mallory turned to him and grinned. “So, we’re helping?”

Hector scowled, although, at this point, Jon didn’t find it scary anymore. It was normal.

“One sec.” He grabbed his jewel and walked outside.

“...Does he always have to leave when he talks to his sister?” Mercy asked.

“...He’s embarrassed,” Mallory explained. “It’s complicated.”

Hector immediately walked back through the door.

“Screw the bitch, I don’t care what she thinks,” Hector said casually. “I wanna help Jon.”

Mercy’s eyes widened. “So, we’re staying?”

“You would have just run away and tried to help him anyway,” Hector said. “So, it’s whatever.”

He crossed his arms and ignored Mercy's and Mallory’s giant smiles.

Jon wanted to smile too, but he was still unsure of what was happening.

Listening to Farmer Dan’s advice, it was decided that they would all go back to the farm and talk to Jassiter.

“If you need to tell your friends where you’re at,” Dan explained as all of them walked to the stable, “just tell them to follow the side road over the hills. There’s only one side road here.”

“It’ll be fine,” Hector said. “They can catch up if they need to.”

Jon followed Dan to the large horse wagon.

Mercy had stayed with Jon. Hector had stopped walking and glared, but then left without comment.

Once they had packed Dan’s stuff away, he, Jon, and Mercy took the wagon out to the front of the town.

Jon could see the forest up ahead of the path leading out of the city.

Caiman… Jon didn’t know what to expect. He was just glad that he was here and the forest was over there.

What about the other people? Jon suddenly felt shivers in his heart. He hadn’t thought about other people before. He felt a weight come down on his shoulders.

“Are you okay?” Mercy asked him.

Jon nodded. “Yeah.”

The answer was really no, but Jon wouldn’t be able to tell her why it was so.

Soon, Hector and Mallory arrived with their ride.

Jon couldn’t believe it. Hector sat majestically behind two large brown horses on a seat, holding the reins in his hands. Behind them was a large white carriage that looked to be shaped like a giant onion.

Hector’s posture had remained strong as it was while he was walking. In contrast, Mallory looked very comfortable in his seat next to Hector.

“We’re ready,” Mallory said, waiving.

“I think I wanna ride in that,” Dan said.

Still, Dan ended up driving his large wagon while the carriage followed behind on the road. Mercy was able to fit in the space between Jon and Dan, which Jon didn’t find surprising. Both Dan and Mercy were skinny.

Mercy didn’t seem to say much at all. Jon was glad. He didn’t know how much more to expect.

Still, due to circumstances, Jon would be able to spend more time with everyone. Did that matter to him?

Eventually, Jon recognized the river that marked the border of the Farm. From there, it was only a matter of minutes before they would end up at Jon’s house.

As they approached the large building, Jon began to notice the similarities to Graves home. All of the farms had their own fields, but Jassiter’s house was at the end of the Farm, and it was separated from other farms in the area.

Hmmm… Was that influence from Graves to Jassiter? What was Graves and Jassiter’s relationship?

Dan parked the wagon in front of Jon’s home. He didn’t even bother to bring it to the usual drop-off spot.

“This is… your home…” Mercy said quietly. Jon was still shaken by the broken silence.

“...It is,” Jon said.

All three of them climbed out of the carriage.

Dan had begun to knock on the door, but Jon had simply grabbed the knob and pushed forward.

His mother and father were both sitting at the kitchen table. Jassiter had already started making his way to the door.

“Jon?” Jassiter exclaimed. “Dan? You’re early!”

“Yeah, we got a problem.” Dan crossed his arms to add to a grim look on his face while Vel had made her way to Jon.

“Hey…” she hugged him. “I missed you…”

“It’s only… a day…” Jon said.

“Still missed you… and you brought a friend!”

A friend? Jon didn’t understand what she meant until he figured out it was Mercy.

Oh… friend… Jon watched as his mother went up to shake Mercy’s hand firmly.

Mercy had seemed embarrassed, but she held eye contact the whole time.

Once everyone was at the table, Dan had explained what happened with the caiman.

“What?” Jassiter cried. “Caiman? How? Impossible?”

Then he scratched his head in thought. “Is it?”

“It doesn’t matter hun, just sit down,” Vel said. “You’re making the kids nervous.”

Jasstier looked at Jon and Mercy, who were sitting next to each other at the table.

“They’re not kids!” Jassiter said. “Besides, I should probably go to the council-”

“You stay here with your family,” Dan said. “Let me talk to the council. I got two guys with me-”

“I’m coming!” Jassiter had already gone to get his straw hat which was hanging on its usual nail on the kitchen hall.

Vel frowned, but she didn’t say anything.

“I don’t care how much disdain they have for me,” Jassiter said. “They’re gonna listen.”

“To what?” Dan asked. “What would you say that would change anything they're gonna do?”

“I would tell them….” Jassiter became flustered. He wasn’t able to finish the sentence.

“That’s what I thought,” Dan responded when it was clear that Jassiter couldn’t come up with a good answer. “You’re just gonna rile them up.”

“Then what should I do?” Jassiter asked.

“...We don’t even know what’s happening yet,” Dan said, “but I’m glad you’re showing some concern about the farm.”

Jassiter’s glare darkened. “Of course I care. It’s my livelihood! I’m not gonna run away like… someone…”

Graves? Jon wondered.

“It’s too dangerous anyway,” Dan said. “Now, the kid outside is talking with his sister, and the other one has a book. They’re both gonna see what they can do to help the situation out. So, I suggest you help them. See if they can figure out the answer to what’s happening.”

Jassiter sighed. “We don’t even know if they’ve gotten in the farm yet.”

“We don’t,” Dan said, “but it’ll be okay, won’t it?”

“It’ll have to be,” Jassiter seemed sad, in a rare moment for Jon.

Dan put his hand on Jassiter’s shoulder. “It’ll be okay. Let me talk to these boneheads.”

Dan then gave Jon a light punch in the shoulder. ”You two kids watch out for each other, ya hear?”

“Roger!” Mercy saluted Dan.

“...Okay,” Jon said. He didn’t know how that would be possible, but he didn’t want to disappoint anyone.

“See ya Jassiter… Vel…” Dan left the house.

Vel broke the long silence that followed after by making a large sigh. “So… Jon… your friend?”

“Yes!” Jassiter became very interested as well. “Tell us about your friend.”

“My friend?” Jon asked.

“Yes. Mercy. How's you guys meet?” Vel continued.

Jassiter’s expression had calmed down until his eyes fixed on Jon’s back.

“And where’d you get that blunderbuss from?” his fierce tone had returned.

Oh boy… How was Jon going to explain Graves to his father?

Thankfully, Jon was saved by some more knocking on the door.

“I’m sure you can go inside…” Hector said from behind the door.

“But that’s rude,” Mallory responded.

“But Jon just did it-”

“Jon lives here, you dolt."

Jon watched as Mercy’s eyes raised to the top of her head while she shook it side to side in disbelief.

Jassiter had made his way to the door while the conversation continued. He opened it to see the two mercenaries standing at the door.

“Hi, Mr. Jon, my name is Hector, and I’m a friend, er, an associate of your son, Jon, as well as a representative from the local King’s Guard.” Hector held his hand out for a handshake.

“...Did you just call him Mr. Jon?” Mallory asked.

“Of course I did, he’s Jon’s father,” Hector answered.

“Doesn’t mean he has the same name.”

“What am I supposed to call him, Mr. Farmer?”

“Your father’s name is Luther. So, that must make you Luther Jr.”

“Do you want to come inside?” Jassiter’s patience had clearly worn off.

“Be polite, Jasster,” Vel called from the kitchen, “you’re scaring them like you scare everyone.”

“Then why aren’t you ever scared of me?” Jassiter asked as he stepped aside, allowing the two to enter the house.

“One step at a time... “ Vel said. She waved Hector and Mallory to the table.

Later, everyone was eating dinner. Mallory was twinkling his fingers to flip pages in his open book as he ate his food.

“Don’t you have any manners about using mana at the dinner table?” Vel asked with her arms crossed.

“I’m sorry, Mrs. Vel,” Mallory explained. “but I can’t help it. Your food is so good I have to keep eating, but I also can’t help but be anxious and a little curious about this whole caiman thing. Your food is great by the way.”

“Yes, really,” Mercy added. “I thought that sandwich I had earlier was good, but I’d eat this any day, right Jon?”

“...I eat this every day,” Jon answered. Not that he was complaining.

Mercy noticed that Hector hadn’t touched his plate.

“What’s wrong, not fancy enough for you?” Mercy asked indignantly.

“...This is wrong,” Hector said. “You shouldn’t have had to cook extra for us. We should have provided our own rations.”

“Oh, please!” Vel waved the comment away as she chuckled in her chair. “We may not look like it, but we used to be a large family. I would always have to cook this amount of food. Besides, I kind of missed it.”

Vel was right. Jon noticed that his table was full again. It hadn’t been that way in years. There was a small warmth in his chest.

“If you don’t mind me asking,” Mercy said, “where are the rest of Jon’s siblings.”

“Susan went east to Philantroville,” Vel stared, counting on her fingers. “She works on gadgets.”

“That’s wicked,” Mallory said, his attention still seemingly fully into the book. “I stick to mana by nature.”

“And then there’s Jason… he and Ben-”

There was a sudden knock on the door. This one was rapid.

Jassiter went to the door and opened it.

“Farmer Lou?” Jassiter exclaimed curiously.

Lou nodded fast. “Hey, Jass, I got no time to explain. But-”

“Caiman?” Jassiter cut in.

“Caiman. Yes. One of them got into the barn. What the hell is going on?”

“We’re trying to figure it out,” Jassiter said. “Dan went to the council, and-”

“Jasster!” Jassiter looked up and saw another wagon coming his way.

He then noticed that Lou had parked his own wagon with his family in front of the house.

“...Come inside,” Jasstier said. “Now.”

Before anyone knew what happened, there were 5 farmer families in the house, not including Jon’s own family.

The heads of the family had sat at the kitchen table. The spouses and kids were in the other room.

Mallory was the only one from dinner other than Jon’s dad who had kept his place at the table with the new arrangement.

“Thank goodness I had the foresight to bring chairs,” Farmer Gary said, congratulating himself.

“Sorry, Jass,” Famer Tuck said, regarding them gathering at Jassiter’s house. “Your house is the furthest away from the center of the farm. I figured if something happened-”

“It’s fine,” Jassiter said. “I only wish we were prepared more.”

“I brought food!” Farmer Larry explained, raising his hand.

“Who wouldn’t have brought food?” Lou asked. “What’s important is did you bring your blunderbuss?”

Larry frowned. “Oh… I must have left that.”

Lou sighed. “What are we dealing with, Jassiter?”

“I brought mine, pa!” Jerry had come into the kitchen and raised his blunderbuss in the air.

“Good job, Jerry!” Larry said. Suddenly, his wife, Lara, came and put his blunderbuss on the table.

“Really, Larry, you’re embarrassing us?” She shook her head and walked away while he watched her leave with a dumbfounded expression on his face.

“It’s good that we’re all accounted for,” Jassiter said. “But now what do we do?”

Lou shrugged. “I was hoping you would know.”

“I don’t know anything,” Jassiter said. He pointed to Mallory. “He’s reading one of Graves's books now.”

“Ooh… Graves…” Tuck shook his head. ‘I can’t imagine the council wanting to hear his name anytime soon.”

Jon was shocked that Jassiter had recognized the book.

“I know it because the fool uses his blunderbuss to keep his page when he doesn’t want to lose it. It makes the same impression every time…” Jassiter scrubbed his brow.

“Why couldn’t he have come down to help us?” he asked.

“Graves left the farm, Jassiter. It’s up to you. It’s a good thing he gave you the house when he did. It’s probably the toughest one here.”

“We all thought the old bastard was paranoid, remember?” Larry added. “And now, we’re the ones getting our toes chewed up by those damn Caiman. Where’d they come from anyway?”

“Nowhere…” Mallory said. “I’ve read this book 2 times already, and all I can get is that the caiman all seemed to live here naturally at one point. What happened?”

Jassiter made an obvious sigh, covering his head in what appeared to be shame.

Jon and Mercy had watched the conversation from a large couch in the main living room.

“You have a lot of rooms here,” Mercy said. “It’s amazing.”

“Yep.” Jon didn’t know if it was amazing. He wanted Mercy to know he was listening.

“...What do you think’s gonna happen?” Mercy asked.

“I don’t know,” Jon answered.

She looked at him with a worrying glance. “I shouldn’t have asked you that. Who would know what to do in this situation?”

Jon agreed with the sentiment, but he didn’t think that Mercy should have apologized for asking him his opinion. He had learned to like being asked what his opinion was, even if he didn’t think he had a good answer. Any reason to talk to Mercy was a good one.

He was thinking of how to express said thoughts when he noticed that the lights from the window had just dimmed immediately.

“I’ll take care of it…” Vel said before she left to turn on the lanterns hanging on the walls throughout the house.

Mallory looked up at the ceiling with interest. “Is it night time?”

“Sure,” Jassiter said. "Sunset should be just about finished now."

“Do you know about what this book says about Reinard caiman becoming more alarmed and aggressive at night?” Mallory continued. “Apparently, it’s because they do most of their eating at night or something?”

“Well, yeah, but nobody knows if that’s actually true,” Jassiter said. “That’s just something…”

He was interrupted by the sound of a snapping noise. Everyone in the house went silent, save for some kids the room over.

“...Was that…” Mallory didn’t get to finish his inquiry, as a whole wave of snapping noises began to fill the entire house. The syncopation made it so that there was a never-ending barrage of snapping sounds coming from all directions outside the house.

“Holy shit,” Jassiter said.

“Holy shit,” Mallory also said.

Aw, shit, Jon thought.