The Man With The White Hair

A man sits in a dark cellar. He furiously jots down symbol after symbol onto various pages made from woven fibers. He pauses to scratch his white locks before visibility getting an idea and writes more.

Ink stains his pale fingers and darkens into the crevices of his scarred tips while a metal band sits on each pointer. Pages of ritual circles spread across the floor and hang pinned to the walls.

Against the walls sat bags of plucked grass and vibrant flowers used as materials to create more. Further down sat four decorated graves; a name was carved into each one, and the surrounding stone was adorned with unique floral arrangements.

A loud ringing emits nearby, drawing the man from work. He stands up and approaches the glowing page blaring the alarm. He touches it, and it burns away, silencing it.

“Looks like something big is on its way. I was hoping for a chance to restock the pantry.”

He grabs a nearby bag containing his ritual circles and slings it over his shoulder.

“I know I did a lot as a pastor, but hunting wasn’t a part of my itinerary.”

Sasaki stands up confidently and makes his way out of the cellar through the heavy hatchway.

He exits through the front door and steps out into the forest before him. He inhales the fresh air and takes a moment of peace before decisively walking forward. The forest was no longer a looming threat to Sasaki, for he was now equipped with weapons he designed specifically for it. He walks for about a minute before stopping in front of a tree.

He pulls a serrated wire from his bag and wraps it around the trunk, using it to scale upwards. After a few inches, Sasaki starts to breathe heavily. After making it halfway up, Sasaki needs a moment to rest.

“I’ve been doing way more physical exercise, but I just never seem to improve my stamina.”

After catching his breath, he continues, growing increasingly exhausted, until he reaches the treetops. He sits on a large branch with a huff and begins tracing his fingers on the trunk. He stops when he comes across a slightly charred bit of bark.

Sasaki had put a movement-based alarm spell on this tree, something he worked hard to perfect. The bigger the mass, the louder the sound. That way, Sasaki wouldn’t have to trek all the way out here for a meager mouse or squirrel.

He positions himself, aligning his sight with where the page was facing. He pulls out a ritual circle page from his bag and bites his pointer. Blood wells up on the tip, and he dabs it on the center of the circle. The design alights and burns away the page beneath it. A ring forms in front of Sasaki, and he peers through it. With it, he can see farther than the average eye.

“Now where is this thing…”

Sasaki has been using this combo of spells to hunt the critters of the forest for a while now, since the cultists' stockpile of food eventually ran out.

He scans the horizon, looking for something big enough to create such a blare. But just as he was thinking he lost his chance, he sees something moving; Some things moving.
Three human figures are marching through the forest, dressed in elaborate armor and wielding swords at their hips. 

Sasaki’s first instinct was to immediately greet them and tell them all about his kidnapping, torture, and subsequent murders of his friends, but if a group of people is this far out in the forest, it couldn’t be for an afternoon stroll.

Sasaki jumps out of the tree and activates another ritual, catching himself with a gust of air before landing on the ground below.
He sprints towards the cabin. Based on the direction they’re heading, he’s sure they’ll reach it soon. Sasaki bursts through the doors and begins hiding away any sign of life he’s left around. He’d been using the kitchen the most, but hopefully that won’t tip them towards any occupant.

Just as he shoves away the last cast iron skillet, he hears the door open. Sasaki darts into the corner and jumps into a basket he’d set up before.
The three men enter. Hopefully, they’ll just rest a bit and continue on their way. But once they start talking, he realizes that won’t be the case.

“Yeah, we haven’t heard from them for over two years. They must have killed themselves messing with that shit.”

“Then why are we here?”

“Secret hideout is a secret hideout. They want to set up another shop, so whatever is down there, we’ll need to clean it out.”

“Boo…”

The men immediately head towards the secret hatchway. They pull the carpet back and reach down towards the handle. But Sasaki had already prepared for this possibility. Once the man wraps his hand around the handle, he suddenly pulls back, wincing in pain.

“Ahg! What the hell?”

“What happened?”

“Those fuckers put needles on the handle! Dammit, I’m bleeding everywhere.”

The man’s blood drips from his hand and lands onto the hatch below. This is what Sasaki was waiting for. For a reason he couldn’t figure out, no matter how far away a ritual circle is, as long as you can see it, you can activate it.

As soon as he thinks “Activate!” a circle painted the same color as the hatch lights up.

“Whoa, hey, what did you do?”

One of the other men points at the hatch as it lights brighter.

“Did you activate a bomb?!”

With that possibility in mind, the three turn toward the door and begin a mad dash. But they weren’t fast enough.

Light erupts from the hatch, reaching towards the men. As it approaches, the light subsides and reveals dozens of chains barreling towards them; as soon as they get close, they wrap around their limbs one by one. The men scramble in confusion at the sudden attack, but they can’t overpower metal. In seconds, all three men sit on the ground completely bound, unable to move an inch.

“Where the hell did these come from?” one of them argues.

“Hey! Are you guys still alive down there? I think we activated your security system.”

But instead of a companion ascending from the hatchway, Sasaki jumps out from the baskets nearby.

“What the- who the hell are you?” a man says, startled.

Sasaki doesn’t speak at first, creeping out the men in the process. It's been a while since he'd talked to another person, but he had more important things to do first. He approaches the men and begins pulling on the chains, checking their integrity.

“Hey man, care to help us out?”

Sasaki stood back, proud of his work. The three men were completely imprisoned. Now, the important part begins.

“Who are you guys and what are you doing here?” Sasaki asks.

The three men, still thinking they're talking to a fellow ne'er-do-well, plead again.

“Hey man, we haven’t heard from you guys in years, and you’re asking us?”

Sasaki stares at them with a dark scowl, something one of them picks up on.

“H… hey, Rick. I don’t think this is one of the cultists.”

Sasaki kneels to meet their level.

"So you do know the cultists.”

The men, sensing danger, start struggling in their bindings. Sasaki isn’t the intimidating type; in fact, he’s sweating bullets right now, but he tries to keep his face cool and mysterious.

“What do you know about the people who lived here?” Sasaki demands.

One of the men starts to shake violently in fear.

“We just came to check up on them!” The supposed leader, Rick, jabs him in the side.

“Shuttup! We don’t know if this guy is with the church.”

Sasaki perks up at this info.

“The church? So the church would shut down a place like this?”

“Of course they would! Why do you think we set up research centers in the middle of nowhere?” Rick yells.

All of them fall silent after he spills an obvious secret.

“Who are you with?” Sasaki continues.

The leader grumbles, knowing there’s not much else to hide.

“We’re mostly just hired hands. We do the heavy lifting; they do the brain… lifting. They tell us to set up a base of operations; we say where. The coin shines just the same as honest work, after all.

The men snicker. “So what, are you going to arrest us?”

Sasaki takes a moment to think, ignoring the captured men's persistent badgering. The biggest thing that held Sasaki back from leaving this place was the thought that the church was a part of the cultists’ operation. If not, then there must still be righteous souls, willing to listen to his plight.

“... hey… HEY!” Are you even listening to us?”

“Yeah! What are you gonna do to us?”

Sasaki looks at the men again.

“Will there be more of you?”

“Oh yeah, for sure! I’m sure we can strike up a deal with your commander. You let us walk, and I’ll tell you exactly when our backup gets here.”

The men's ignorance exasperates Sasaki.

“So then you’ll be fine being left here,” Sasaki concludes.

“Left? Here? Hey, what do you-”

Sasaki turns away from the men and makes his way towards the hatch. He sticks his hand in a side compartment, avoiding the trapped handle, and lifts. He barely hears the men's complaints as he descends.

Sasaki begins to gather the materials he’s acquired during his escapades and fills the bag he once tried to leave with two years ago, this time less hastily and more put together. He has a self-made binder full of ritual circles, each one different than the last. He gathers his research notes, bundles them up, and sets a ritual circle on top.

He fumbles with the metal ring on his pointer finger, and with a slight push, a needle pops out from the side. He presses his thumb on it, causing an abundance of blood to drip below, wetting the ritual circle. He turns toward the graves he’s tended all this time and clasps his hands for a quick prayer.

“My friends, the day has come. Please watch over me.”

Sasaki stands and gazes at the nightmare he turned into a home, slightly reminiscing about his time studying. He looks at the stacks of notes from those efforts. It’s too early for this info to get out. And in the wrong hands, no less.

Sasaki activates the ritual circle, causing a blue flame to alight on top. The flame grows stronger and hotter as it begins consuming the papers below, burning only where the spell was intended.

He exits back up the hatchway before the fire dies out, coming face to face with the three antsy men again. He steps around them, deliberately ignoring their bickering and threats, and exits the cabin. He looks up, feeling the sun beating down on him, but it can't deter the spark Sasaki feels as he begins his journey to the capital.

What could have guided him years ago were the tracks of the carriage that brought him here, but the forest's unchecked growth had long since erased them. Sasaki takes a step. The step he tried to take more than two years ago. He’ll reach the capital and tell the church what he has learned. Maybe then, his friends will rest in peace.