It took Mooks and I slightly longer than expected to reach the town of Torchmire. The longer I practiced using my Gift on the raft, the better I got at using it more effectively, and the more tired I became when doing so. A Gift can only be used for so long before the body collapses. I was conditioned, but the aura that Alastor gave off made me feel weak, helpless.

I rarely used my gift. When I did, however, it wasn’t longer than seconds. Using a Gift on a multitude of enemies or physical space drained more energy, making certain tasks easier to handle.

After using my abilities for so long, hunger overwhelmed me, and those dried pieces of meat and pears were gone within the first hour on our trip; by the time we arrived, our stomachs were screaming for any sort of food. I could wait it out for another day or two, give or take the circumstances and weather. Mooks, on the other hand, was practically drooling just at the sight of dead crabs on the shoreline.

I made sure to avoid using my Gift too close to the dock, as to not get any unwanted attention. However, The sight of a wounded man, accompanied by a white wolf on a tiny raft missing a sail brought more eyes on us than I expected. I slowly reeled the raft to an open spot on the dock with the only paddle I had remaining, stepping on the large wooden planks like this was just another day on the job.

I took a moment to shift the energy from my arms to my legs, as I nearly fell over the first step I took on land after being on the sea for… I don’t even know at this point. When the sun was up it was day. When the moon was up it was night. That’s how my time worked. I didn’t go by hours, but if I had to say—it was roughly eight—based on the sun’s alignment on the horizon, it was close to nine in the morning at most.

I gulped, which notified how thirsty I was. There was an eerie feeling in my stomach too, one I was used to getting by now. I tied the raft to an open post and grabbed my stuff from underneath the wooden planks aligned horizontally on the raft.

A man approached me from not too far away, looking too clean to be a sailor. Based on the limp in his walk and his bushy brows, he was someone of a higher position.

“There’s a toll for—” He glanced over at the raft, “Small ships such as that one. M’fraid it’ll cost you three silver nucks per night if you want it to stay.”

Yes, he was most certainly the dock owner. “Don’t bother,” I said matter-of-factly, my voice as dry as my hair. “It’s all yours.” I tried to step past him, but he placed his hand on my chest to stop me.

He took his time observing my beaten raft, then he tossed me one silver nuck and let me go. “I’ll take a raft any day o’ the week.”

“Good to know,” I said, carelessly. I stuffed the nuck in my pocket and headed off into town.

I was usually used to carrying around loads of money, mainly due to errands and jobs I’d run throughout towns and neighborhoods. Some involved getting rid of coyotes and wolf packs that kept lurking on sheep herds, which was one of Mooks’ favorite. Some involved a simple sweep through the empty sewers to make sure there weren’t any unwanted creatures or funny business happening below the streets—those ones would pay the most. I even substituted as a house-cleaner for a day.

Well, what I’m saying is, this one silver nuck in my pocket felt more than any money I’ve ever earned before. I didn’t know if it was due to my hunger or not, but it definitely felt good to have even the slightest amount of cash on me.

My first order of business was to grab whatever I could with the little money I had. Now, a nuck is worth around twenty bronze pennies if my memory was correct. I could possibly buy a loaf of bread, water to last me for two days, and a few slices of freshly chopped ham. I asked Mooks if he would be okay with that, and according to the saliva drooling from his mouth, it was a guaranteed yes.

There seemed to be some sort of merchant market in the middle of the open streets, so I took this luck and bought exactly what I predicted. In fact, I was actually able to grab a little more ham than I reckoned I could. This made the bread-and-ham sandwiches slightly tastier. Unfortunately, Mooks and I were so thirsty we ended up drinking our water in one giant gulp. It felt good, but we were going to need to find another source of beverages by nightfall. Going to sleep thirsty was far worse than going to sleep hungry. I learned that the hard way.

We began walking through the streets after finishing our meals, and I took this time to observe the odd structure of not only the streets, but the houses as well.

“Where do you want to search for them?” I asked Mooks as I took my final bite of the stale sourdough bread with a single slice of ham between it.

Mooks stuffed his nose to the ground and began to do his usual plan as to when he wants to look for something—sniff. Although I couldn't argue with him there, he did have the strongest nostrils I’ve ever seen. There was a time he rescued a sheep that got stranded and somehow managed to wander into a dark cave underground. I never would have found it if it wasn’t for Mooks’s sniffer, so, I let him do his thing.

I followed Mooks as he turned into a nearby alley after a few minutes of twisting and turning into different directions. He kept his nose close to the cobblestone below us, ears perked up toward the sky, and his eyes scouting the surroundings.

The alley we strangled into was dirty and greasy. It smelled like shit, and looked like shit. I took a look at myself, then sighed. I looked worse than the alley did.

Mooks came up to me with something clenched between his teeth, he spat it out and I picked it up. “What’s this.” I looked at it carefully, but it didn’t take a genius to figure out it was just some black toy frog. It had some scribbles written on it, perhaps a genius was indeed needed to figure out what the scribbles meant. All I could do was ignore it, for I didn’t speak the language of scribbles.

“This doesn’t smell good Cairo” Mooks held his expression firm and concrete. “Rina’s been here,” He added, “I can follow her trail if you’d like me to.”

I was hoping he’d just lead the way without asking me for permission, but something about that question tipped me off guard. It made me think of someone other than myself for once, “Ahhh.” I shook that thought away before it could plant more seeds inside me. “Yes, just follow the trail,” I said, spitting my words between my teeth.

Mooks did the honors of sniffing the frog again, beginning to follow a route only visible to him and his smell. We ended up going down a few dead-ends and wrong turns, multiple times I should add. However, Mooks’s nose found a hot trail that seemed to be leading us in the right direction. That is, until his head lifted off the ground and stopped in front of a broken, abandoned building on the western part of town.

“Mooks,” I sighed, “Where are we? This place looks like a place I would live in.” I meant it too, this building, if it’s even fair to call it one, seemed as if it just got hit by a tsunami, rotted on the bottom of the ocean floor, and sat in the sun for centuries.

Broken windows, shattered walls, and piles of dust and rubble scattered throughout the entrance. Perhaps this place was even too harsh for me.

“No!” Mooks barked, “I’m sure of it! Rina is definitely in there Cairo! I can smell her…”

“What about the others?”

Mooks stuck his nose into the air, gave two good sniffs, and concluded his speculations, “Just Rina. Can’t smell the others.”

I was about to turn around and think Mooks was playing some sort of joke on me, when a noise from inside the building stopped me dead in my tracks. I couldn’t quite put a finger on what it was, but I was sure it was a painful sound. A sound I’ve come to know and hate, the sound of someone being hit, hard too. Just like those damn wooden paddles from the—

“Rina!” Mooks howled and tore through my thoughts, “I’m coming!” He quickly jumped past the debris and leaped inside the darkness of the entrance.

I would’ve sighed, but a grunt escaped my breath this time. A forceful one too. A grunt that told me Mooks was right, and I needed to follow.

I dashed behind Mooks inside the building, nearly knocking myself out clean from the nails sticking out of the roof. I ducked and squatted to get past them, which disoriented my sense of direction for a split second, and Mooks was gone before I even had time to turn around.

I felt the sound of glass and dry floorboards break under my step. It was a stressful sound, nevertheless, I kept walking further and further into the darkness. The sun managed to squeeze between tiny cracks and broken logs, giving just enough light for maneuvering.

However, there was a limit on how far the light reached inside from the outdoors, and it didn’t take me long to reach that certain threshold of light between darkness.

I took another careful step. I felt the pressure below my foot sink and the floorboard snapped. Echoing through the building, a corrupted sound of cracking wood sent my body falling and all the floorboards below me engulfed me into the depths below.

Luckily, gravity was my specialty, so I landed softly onto what seemed like a pile of dirty clothes. I looked up, the fall must’ve been thirty feet or so. I only hoped Mooks didn’t make the same mistake as I did.

I felt a strange sensation stirring in my stomach. It was a little tension and hunger both combined into a bowl of empty thoughts. I didn’t like it in the slightest, nor did I care to challenge that feeling.

I turned around and saw a few candles in the distance. I also heard a voice, a strong one at that. It seemed muffled by something, so with silent steps, I made my ascent towards the flickering light in the distance.

A dark silhouette of a man came into view, followed by his completely naked body, and someone in a chair he was fixed on. I took a stride to the left, and my heart dropped to my stomach faster than an anchor. It was Rina, dazed and disoriented with a few drops of blood rolling down the edge of her lips. Her left cheek was blistering red, and blood crept down her shoulder from a possible head wound.

The man in the ghastly mask turned around and noticed my presence. “My lord, is that you?”

My lord? I thought.

Now I understood what was happening. Something clicked inside my good-for-nothing brain, and all the pieces of the puzzle united into one. I could feel my eyes blaze in the darkness like bonfires in the night. My heart pounded with feelings that were too distinct for me to recognize. I could feel…

As I approached, the man realized I wasn’t the lord he was expecting. He dashed at me with a broken bottle like a madman on drugs. Perhaps down here it looked more frightening, but to me, this man was on thin ice from life or death. It reminded me of the Gulag, and all those people coming at me, crazed, ready to die.

The man swung the glass with a haymaker, and I immediately stopped the motion of his wrist with my hand, easily. With a twist of my torso and a single snap, using the momentum of my body movement, I broke the bones that held his wrists together—a pitiful scream escaped through his pipes—and I slapped him against the neck, letting the force of gravity do the rest.

His body sank into the floor, melting under the severe pressure placid upon his fragile bones. He wasn’t dead, but he won’t be able to walk for a while. A long while. That is, if he escapes from the pit of despair.

I kneeled down to face Rina with my hands trembling. I didn’t know why they trembled, maybe it was the gentle “Cai...ro..” She let out before passing out. Maybe I didn’t know how to take this situation seriously. Maybe, I too was scared.

Fortunately, her clothes were still intact, so whatever the man prepared to do, didn’t go as planned. However, her face was clearly beaten, not to a horrid extent, but the left side of her blissful cheeks and lips would be numb for weeks, bruised for days.

I untied her, gently placing her into my arms. Her hair fell over my elbow, skin as soft as light. I stepped back towards the empty hole I fell through—letting loose the gravity within my body, and hers—and jumped back up, gliding to the surface.

For some reason, I didn’t feel heroic saving her. Was it even me who saved her? Without Mooks I would have never even found this place, and without her, I wouldn’t even be here. I honestly didn’t know what to feel. Did I do the right thing? Was this the feeling of doing something right?.. I think so. I hoped so.

I looked down again, Rina gently swaying in my arms. Her eyes shut, yet a tear managed to peak through. That’s odd, I thought. There were no signs of any tears or even dry ones when I first came. This tear was new, one that escaped only seconds ago. I tightened my grip around her and kept her close; yes, I do believe I did the right thing.

I ended up finding Mooks on the first floor again. He dragged up two other men I didn’t recognize, but he said they were, “bad guys.” I had no intention of arguing with him, and he nearly cried as he saw Rina in her current state. The howls that escaped his throat were longing and harmonious like an angel’s harp. I let him lick her a bit, and we headed off to the nearest bar.

I would’ve probably asked Mooks to scout for a doctor if the town wasn’t so big or if I had the money to afford one. This is where local bars came into play. They were easy to find, usually had a stock of medical supplies on hand due to bar fights, and they were cheap. I didn’t have any money left, but it's easier to pay for a drink than some top-shelf herbs that won’t do as much as drive a donkey crazy.

Mooks held the door open for me and we hustled into a very dark, ominous-looking bar. There were no tables, no stools except for the ones up front, and there were no signs of drinks.

I locked eyes with the mustached bartender up front, not hesitating to drag myself and Rina inside. “Do you happen to have any medical supplies or fre-”

“We have everything.” The bartender cut me off, his spectacle reading me like an open book.

He said it with so much confidence I didn’t question him. “Great. Care to land me a hand?” I said calmly, gently placing Rina on the ginormous crescent table by the front. I slowly turned her head around, seeing tiny specks of glass and blood scattered around one giant wound on her scalp. This was far worse than I thought.

The bartender reached for a bottle of white wine behind him and shook it with his thumb over the top.

“I’m not here for a drink,” I started.

“I’m not giving you one.” He smirked, his mustache curling alongside his thin lips. He then tilted the wine glass and started pouring a strange yellow liquid out of it atop of Rina’s wound. I was about to stop him, but I noticed something my eyes didn’t want to believe; the blood was beginning to fade. The wound slowly began to close, and the glass fell out as if it was barely hanging on in the first place.

My face was expressionless as always, but it still caught him off guard. I could tell he’s most likely used to people freaking out, and I too would be taken back if it weren’t for my previous encounter with Alastor.

The bartender grabbed a soft white cloth and dapped a little of the yellow liquid on it, cautious as not to irritate her skin. After carefully reassuring its safety, he patted the sides of Rina’s face with it in a slow, professional manner, bringing it back to normal and reducing the swelling.

I gave the man a stern look I don’t usually give out so easily, “Who are you?” For the first time in my life, I was the one asking that question.

The man put the bottle behind him and stretched out his long fingers towards me, “Sylvester. Pleased to meet you.”

The liquid Sylvester poured onto Rina healed her wounds rather quickly. She was still unconscious, but she looked to be doing better than her previous state. Blood subsided, and her face became less puffy from the previous numbness.

Mooks jumped on the stool next to mine and stretched his paw out towards the mustached barkeep, “Good morning sir! My name is Mooks! Thank you very much for helping us!”

Sylvester smiled, “I do what I can; if I may ask, how did such injuries come about on this woman?”

“I’d rather not say,” I answered.

He nodded, understanding the circumstances. “Care for a drink?”

I sighed, “We don’t have any money… Anything we can do to pay the debt of your wine bottle?”

Sylvester grabbed a glass and filled it with water from the same wine bottle, “A man who is enemies with the king is another friend to me,” he slid me the glass, a few drops splashed against my wrist.

My head perked up a bit, as did Mooks’. What did he just say? I thought for a moment before giving my reply. How did he know I was enemies with the king? Did he guess? Was this town full of rebels? It didn’t seem like it at the docks, as there were plenty of capital flags hanging about on the streets.

“Deception,” Sylvester said while simultaneously fixing the spectacle on his eye. “A Gift I was born with, one look into anyone’s eyes and I’ll know more about them than they ever thought possible.”

Great, another Gifted. One that reads minds too. Gifted individuals were supposed to be as rare as finding gold in the sand. At Least that’s what I was told, my travels confirmed it as well, and it was fairly true before I met Rina’s friends. Now it seemed there was a Gifted around every corner.

“I can see you’re a man I can trust,” He added. “Though I Can’t say much for your friend here, yet,” He gestured towards Rina with his chin, pouring himself a glass of water from the wine bottle.

“You can trust her…” I sighed again. Mooks did the honors of yelling at Sylvester about Rina being the most trustworthy person he’s ever met. I had to settle him down, apologize, and wonder what he’s been doing with me for the past four years if I wasn’t trustworthy. I was positive he was just backing her up, besides, putting any trust in me was like telling lies to a fortune teller. Meaning it was risky, and possibly not the best course of action, so I kept my concerns tucked inside my bag.

There was a small door on the far end of the bar that was blackened by the shadows. I would’ve never noticed it if it wasn’t for the pale-faced man dragging himself out of it. He wore nothing but black woolen clothes with black-bordered linen, his skin as pale as snow.

“Tesla,” Sylvester called for him. “Meet our new guests.”

The man named Tesla yawned and limped his way to the empty stools, ignoring me and Mooks as if we weren’t even there.

“Gimme Rose Blood,” Tesla’s voice sounded more broken than mine.

Sylvester grabbed the bottle of red wine and poured him a drink that smelled worse than the vial Alastor gave me. Speaking of Alastor, it felt like him and Sylvester would get along nicely. They were both men of honor, and of course, quite the way with words.

“Alastor is a very good friend of mine,” Sylvester said, diving into my thoughts. “Me and him go way back, before the War even started.”

I averted my gaze, blocking his entry point. Sylvester is not a man to be meddled with. Beneath that silvery mustache he wore, he was a powerful monarch. Not physically, but mentally. A man I wouldn’t want to cross paths with. I also realized there was no point of thinking, considering he could just read my thoughts if I was looking at him.

“You’re friends were here yesterday,” Sylvester raised an eyebrow at me, “Are you not curious where they were headed?”

“They’re not my friends, nor do I care where they are. I’ll most likely lead Rina back to them,” I gestured towards the girl on the table, “Then be on my way.”

Sylvester chuckled, “You know, lying to me is as pointless as your wish.”

My wish? My eyes widened as I started thinking again. Was my wish the happiness I longed for so very much? It has to be, what else could I possibly want?

Tesla slid me his last sip of Rose blood and burped, “Take a sip kid, you’ll understand.”

I hesitated for a moment, but a little alcohol was needed in my system. Or so, I thought it was alcohol. As I picked up the glass and smelt it, something told me I would regret doing so. Maybe it was Mooks who howled at me not to drink, or the eerie sensation that Rina was about to wake. Either way, I swallowed any nerves remaining in my throat and gulped the sip down as fast as I could.

Nothing happened for a second, and there was a taste of dullness in my mouth. However, as the liquid traveled further down my neck, it started to burn hotter than any fire I’ve ever walked through. My esophagus felt like it was about to melt, and I urged for any cold beverage to calm myself. I snagged the glass of water Sylvester poured earlier and flung all the water down my mouth.

“HUHHGHG!” I wheezed. However, within seconds, all the pain and burning just vanished, leaving without a trace. My stomach acid boiled a little, but everything unpleasant lingering in my system escaped through my breaths. All the burning was gone, as if it wasn’t even there to start with.

“Rose Blood,” Tesla started, his breath as vile as a rotten corpse. “92% Rum, 7% goat’s blood, 1% lemon zest, and a pinch of Crimson Lotus. Hurt’s like a bitch, but damn does it feel good.”

I was about to argue, when a feeling of softness overwhelmed me. I got dizzy for a moment, and my body felt as free as a bird. I barely even noticed Rina slowly beginning to wake and slouch herself on an open stool. My mind was in a state of pure freedom, and it did feel good. Too good.

Rina moaned as her eyes began to adjust to her surroundings, nothing but empty stares and baffled looks pinned her down from Tesla and Sylvester. Mooks jumped atop her and began licking her cheeks, “Rina!” He squealed like a little pup.

I could see her muster a slow smile and hug Mooks’s luxurious fur like a blanket of softness. “Mooksy…” Her voice was dry and rusty.

As the Rose Blood took its route through my body, I felt something wrap itself around my bandaged arm, something warm, something delightful. It was Rina. She didn’t speak to me, nor did she look at me. She just sat there, her arm around mine, and her head on my shoulder.

Sylvester straightened his spectacle and glared into Rina’s eyes, “Hmm… He thought for a moment, “Yet another survivor… Very interesting… You’re friends must’ve believed the lies Leonidas spat.”

Mooks growled, “I hate that prick!”

If this was a few years ago, I would have agreed with Mooks. All I ever did back then was hate, hate, and hate. I hated everything and everyone. I even hated myself.

I don’t know what made me stop hating. Perhaps my ever longing quest to find the one thing hate fears the most. Maybe it was my peaceful life of chores and duties Mooks and I embarked on. I honestly didn’t know, but there was nothing left for me to hate. Hate was a strong word, a word that leads a man to kill for nothing but his drive for vengeance to satisfy that hatred. Even I used to be like that, and perhaps I still was, with the King still breathing, I don’t know where I stood. But I have to learn that vengeance shouldn’t be solved with hate. It should be solved with—

“How did the war happen?” I asked him. I didn’t know if I was ready for the answer, I just needed something to distract me from my thoughts.

Both Sylvester and Tesla let out a small chuckle. Rina and Mooks however, stayed as silent as two crows in a field. They wanted the answers as well, I could smell it.

“The war!” Tesla slapped me on the back and got up from his stool, “Good luck pal, I’d prepare a rack of beast fur if I were you!” He laughed even louder, then headed back into the small door on the other side of the bar.

Beast fur was used to calm tears; he mocked me.

Sylvester picked up a glass and started polishing it with a tablecloth, “I’m not really sure where to start if I’m to be completely honest.”

I gave him a wry look, picking my eyes off the table. “Anywhere… If there’s ever a time where I’m prepared to hear what happend, now’s the time. This-” I hiccuped, “Rose Blood is calming. I can take it.”

“I want to hear too..” Rina added.

Sylvester slid her a glass of water after hearing her voice. “Very well, are any of you familiar with the Black Legion?”

I shook my head, Mooks and Rina followed.

“The Black Legion was an organization specifically created to overthrow Harvoria and remodel the laws of this country. King Richard II was the opposing force, who also had thousands of soldiers guarding him and protecting the main capital. He was nothing but a mischievous Tyrant who only seeked power and hierarchy.”

“Other than the obvious, why did the Black Legion try to overpower the King?” Mooks asked on my behalf.

Sylvester pulled up a stool, for this wasn’t going to be a soft-hearted chat. “The King already had plans to seize any village with Gifted children or adults. He hoped to make them soldiers for his army. The Black Legion was created out of pure Gifted individuals who wanted to fight back. Not a single member was an ordinary human.”

“As word spread, the King didn’t hesitate to start an early march onto villages and innocent townsfolk. He plotted to capture any child and turn them into weapons of war inside a secret chamber beneath his royal castle.”

“The Gulag..” I whispered, knowing the answer.

“Correct. Since the Black Legion only had about fifty or so recruits at the time, we were overpowered by the sheer numbers the King had upon us. Even though Gifted are strong, overpowering an army, which also contains a few trump cards, was next to impossible. So, he set his plan into action, killing any witnesses to keep his plans a secret from the rest of the public. It was smart, too smart for him to have come up with such a plan alone.”

Mooks’s head twitched, a burst of confusion corrupting his thought process, “Wait!” He yelped, “You said we! Were you a part of the Black Legion?”

Sylvester smiled, “Apart? That would be a derogatory term. I was the leader.”

The bar fell into silence for a moment. All of us were struck with a weird sensation we couldn’t grasp onto. Maybe it was the knowledge he spilled upon us. Maybe it was the truth punching us in the face. I closed my eyes, gritted my teeth, and told him to continue.

“Most of our men died, Tesla and I were lucky to survive with the way things turned out. What haunts me the most are the lies the king spat at his own people. He claimed our country was stomped by enemies of his throne, who took and stole lives from his beloved kingdom. He covered up any traces of his doings and blamed it on us. And, due to his overwhelming reign, the citizens left untouched by his slaughter believed him. That’s when he created the Bureau, which is now a group of individuals that are just below him on the power scale of rule and law. The Bureau sent out reports to any towns left untouched by the king’s destruction, and notified the remaining Gifted they could create Guilds to earn money from doing dangerous missions no ordinary human could accomplish. These missions varied anywhere from killing orcs to recovering lost relics from dangerous territory.”

I sighed, “I’m guessing he’s going to use the Guilds to single out the Gifted, then kill each and every one when the time comes.”

Sylvester’s eyebrows, along with his mustache, drew a thin line across his scowl, “Precisely. When, however? I don’t know. It is also uncertain that every Gifted is currently a part of a Guild. Take you for example. Now, from what I learned out of Leonidas, and one glare in his eyes, it’s going to be pretty soon. Maybe a year at tops… All I know is—if he goes through with this—his success in completing such a task is very likely. He carries secrets I was not able to decipher. Anything is to be expected, especially after the war.” He paused for a moment, taking a sip of his water. “That is, until a bounty was sent out not too long ago, to a Guild in a small town named Worcester.”

Rina’s eyes bounced up from my shoulder onto Sylvester’s, “Hold on, we were the only Guild to receive that bounty?”

Sylvester made an innocent gesture with his mouth, then let out a few chuckling breaths of air. “I didn’t believe it either. However, apparently Leonidas met Kalvin on the streets one day. He informed the king there are much more survivors than he originally thought, so the bounty was sent out to lure you all in and capture you. Do you seriously believe that if an item that is said to grant a wish would go past the king and straight to the hands of some explorers? Don’t make me laugh.”

Rina’s face fell dull, “So it doesn’t exist then, does it…”

“Oh no, it exists alright. In fact, everything is true about how it lies in the catacombs beneath Nirvana. The problem is, no one has found it yet. The king has most likely sent search parties down there, but no one has returned. Even now, it is usually under strict surveillance. Tesla and I would not succeed.”

“If no one has found it, how can one be sure it exists?”

Sylvester set down the glass he was polishing and picked up another. “Quite amusing you speak so nonchalantly. One of your comrades knows exactly where to find it. Well, if I should even call him a comrade...”

“What do you mean one of my comrades?” Rina mumbled her words, her tone residing.

“The fella with the glasses,” Sylvester smiled brightly, “How did you meet him?”

Rina yawned, slightly taken back by such an obligatory question, “Well… He stumbled into our Guild about six months ago—”

She stopped mid sentence. I glanced over and caught her eye trembling with a frightful realization. I gulped, because I also stumbled into the tavern six months ago. Although I’d be there for only an hour at most, I always had a feeling of being watched by some ominous force. A force I could never notice, like a whisper in the night.

Rina buried her face on my shoulder; I knew this was bad.

My eyes shut again, “You sure know a lot more than you look.”

“One look,” said Sylvester, “One look into a pair of eyes, and I know more than you would ever hope to tell.”

“Then why are you here? Doing nothing but pouring drinks out of wine bottles?” I asked him, a slight hint of mystery in my voice.

“Well, there’s really nothing me and Tesla could do,” He swayed his hand in a wavy motion, catching a glimpse of his mustache with the tip of his thumb. “However, now that you’re here, along with your companion,” He glanced at Mooks, “There could be a possibility of something happening. I can’t say for certain, but I have been working on something behind the covers of the public eye. Something I’m afraid I can’t share with you just yet… For now, your focus should be on helping those other companions of yours who are being led into a trap.”

“That’s right!” Rina shot up from the stool, but nearly fell over as her balance was still unsteady. I helped her up, she thanked me and took another look around the bar. “You wouldn’t happen to have any money you can spare for a couple of horses? And if they were being led into a trap, why did you—”

“You think they’d believe me?” Sylvester put down the glass he was polishing, setting the tablecloth aside.

I got up from my stool, my eyes on his, “I believe you.”

Sylvester bowed, then called out to Tesla again. “Tesla!”

The sleepless man came back, irritated and grumpy. “Whadyawant old man?”

“Grab your bags, looks like we found our next step in this puzzle!” He shot a smile at me that was quite disturbing. Even the sheer thrill in his voice sent a chill down Mooks’s spine like no other.

So, I sighed, got up, and asked for another drink.