The Raid: Day 3

  Bleary eyes darted across the parchment, a well manicured finger crusted with food and dried saliva acting as their guide. As she reached the end of the page, her finger began to slow to a standstill. Prithvi pushed her hand down onto the table and took a deep breath. She didn’t know how long she’d been reading through the reports sent in by all of the deployed teams, but she knew it had been hours. She pushed away a plate covered with a thin layer of dried food to reach for her cup of coffee.

  She winced as she imbibed the lukewarm fluid, letting the caffeine jolt her back awake. She’d read from Artyom’s report that this World only had tea, and made sure to bring her own supply. Coffee wasn’t hard to find across the multiverse, and one particularly tropical World hosted some of the best tasting brews she’d ever drank. Of course, what she had in her hands wasn’t that, it was only the most caffeinated. In an emergency mission such as these, she prioritized efficiency over comfort.

  With life returning back to her with that last gulp, she focused her mind back on the latest report. Alpha Squad described their findings at Crystal Kobold Crossing in painfully technical detail, and alongside it Mahmood gave his own account of the capabilities of the hero’s party members. Prithvi grimaced as she recollected the sordid details. The tech teams had already been given the data collected on the goddess’ energy signature, and Captain Michaels was probably coming up with countermeasures against the hero’s party in his own tent.

  When the report first arrived, she called back the conversation and interrogation specialists of Squad Bravo, “Speaks Loudly and Carries an Even Bigger Stick”, from the city of Brimhaven. Once Tommy was finished in the nearby dungeon, that would be where they would head to next, and she didn’t want to risk another confrontation against such powerful enemies. Of course, she didn’t plan to leave the Great Hero and his battle harem alone. She’d rerouted the scouts of Squad Echo, “Kings of the Wild Frontier”, to keep an eye on the Great Hero and his party at maximum range. She’d received another report from them several hours ago that they’d found and were currently trailing them, so that was one worry mitigated, onto the next.

  The thick, wool flap at the front of her tent parted, revealing the first rays of dawn and a young, clean shaven soldier. Prithvi instinctively shielded her eyes from the light as the man walked in holding a thick manilla folder.

  “Hey Prithvi, here’s the report from Squad Charlie,” said the soldier, handing the folder over to her. “They’ve just gotten back from their raid on the biggest central church of the kingdom, and you were right! They did have a lot of juicy info about the goddess and her prophecy.”

  “And why did it take so long for them to get this to me?” she asked with a grumble. “They should’ve been done hours ago! And who decided to turn on that floodlight outside? Do they want to announce to this goddess where exactly we are?!”

  “Apparently their phones malfunctioned as they were leaving the complex, so they had to get back here manually to deliver the report and get replacements. And there is no floodlight, it’s morning.”

  Prithvi gave the man in front of her an unfocused look before lowering her head onto her desk. “Woo hoo, another all-nighter,” she said in a soft, deflated voice muffled by the table. “I thought I would’ve been done with those after college. Do you at least have any good news? Please?”

  “Oh!” he exclaimed. “The tech team’s finally got the data from Alpha Squad integrated into their long-range scanners, and have already run it on the entire kingdom. Here,” he said, pointing to a map at the top of the folder.

  “You should’ve led with that,” said Prithvi, slowly raising her head so she could look at the document.

  The map was a rough geographical outline of the kingdom and its surrounding lands superimposed on a map they’d obtained earlier. There were several white dots of different sizes scattered across its surface, the largest ones coinciding with the known dungeons the hero had been through. But the largest hotspot of them all wasn’t even located within the kingdom; it was instead right outside of it, in the middle of the Dark Lord’s castle just across the border.

  “So it looks like this goddess is running things from over there, huh?” Prithvi asked out loud. “Wait, hold on.” She began to fish through the piles of paper scattered across her desk until she found a similar map. She laid it across from the first and studied the two together.

  “The tech team dropped this off earlier, it shows where our gear has been facing the most disruption, based on everyone’s diagnostic info.” She carefully studied the maps side by side, her eyes and smile beginning to widen. “It’s a match!”

  “Huh, what is?” asked the soldier, looking over from the other side of the desk.

  “The greatest points of disturbance line up with the goddess energy hotspots. The correlation is really strong, and it’s probably safe to assume that that’s the cause!” she exclaimed. “You also mentioned that Squad Charlie’s phones stopped working too, right?”

  “Yeah, that’s what they told me. Just as soon as they were leaving, they said something about hearing screaming from inside the main cathedral and their phones immediately going on the fritz. They didn’t stick around to find out what was going on to do all of that, and came here straight away.”

  “Artyom’s report said something about going to a cathedral himself before he lost contact with us. We know he’s alive, so chances are the same thing happened to him, and he went into hiding.”

  “Now the question is, where is he?” posited the soldier.

  “Well, this map gives me a pretty good clue. Obviously, Artyom is the kind of guy who takes things into his own hands. This mission was supposed to be secret, after all, so he probably didn’t expect a rescue operation like this. Even I’m surprised Gus declassified everything related to his mission and mobilized so many of us, but I’ll take that over continued secrecy.”

  “Yeah,” the man sighed. “I feel the same. So how does this map show us where he is?”

  “Artyom probably went through his phone’s diagnostic info and found out where the source of the disturbance was. The things are pretty detailed and should show him how badly it’s jammed with a very specific number, with decimals and everything. With some basic trigonometry, he could find the biggest source of interference and try to destroy it, right here.” Prithvi placed a finger on the Dark Lord’s fortress.

  “From what I’ve heard, that place is heavily guarded. Even if it is Artyom, how will he get in with no time to prepare?”

  “He might not, so we’ll start our search in the next best spot, here,” she said, moving her finger to the closest settlement to the border on the kingdom’s side- Ironheart Fortress. “Now that we have a better place to search, I want you to recall all of the other squads except for Echo. It’s time to bring them into the hunt!”

  “Yes, ma’am!” shouted the soldier, raising his hand to his forehead in a military salute. “And there’s also one other thing I came here to say.”

  “And what’s that?”

  “A team of assassins attempted to assail basecamp last night, at around 8 pm.”

  “Alright, I take it back. That is what you should’ve led with!” exclaimed Prithvi with a frown. She pulled out a notepad and began jotting the information down on it.

  “The snipers took care of them before they could even get close, so I figured it wasn’t important enough to disturb your current work.”

  “Make sure to let me know of any attacks as soon as you find out next time, please.” She set down the notepad with a sigh. “The goddess began her attacks against Artyom similarly, starting with a pair of assassins, then upgrading to a team of them, before graduating to whatever she did that made him run into hiding. I’ll need to know when and how she decides to attack us to extrapolate when the really big attack comes, so I know how long we have to find Artyom and get us out of here.”

  “Oh! In that case, I’m sorry. So how long do you reckon we have?”

  “I’d say another 36 to 48 hours before they send an even larger group of assassins, and then another day or two after that before the real threat. But with how effortlessly you say we took their first wave out, they might just graduate to extreme measures with the next attack itself. Now that we have some really good leads, it’s time to wrap this up and find our lost puppy.”

  The soldier nodded and ran out of the tent, ready to bring the orders to the tech team to relay to the assault squads. It wouldn’t be long now before they found their captain and got out of this crazy place.

---

  About two hours later, sharply at the turn of the hour, a loud knocking echoed through Annabelle’s door.

  “Get up everyone, I need you down for breakfast today!” sounded the gruff voice of Sergeant Mike. He had a slightly urgent tone this time, but not enough to warrant alarm.

  Annabelle didn’t bother replying, as he’d already moved onto Ramirez’ room and repeated the same performance. She was too busy combing her hair and applying some basic makeup she’d picked up the day before. Excited for her date, she’d gotten up half an hour earlier than usual to clean herself up as best she could with the best medieval beauty products TOAL’s expeditionary budget could buy. It took her only fifteen minutes more to finish up and come down to join the others for breakfast.

  “Oh, look at you!” exclaimed Ramirez. “Do you have a date or something?”

  “As a matter of fact, I do!” she exclaimed. “It’s at 8, so I’ll probably eat something light and we’ll grab something from one of the local stalls.”

  “Well, you’ll have to change those plans,” said Sergeant Mike, coming down the stairs. “We’re being recalled back to basecamp. So fill yourselves up now, since it’ll be a long trip on foot.”

  “What?!” shouted Annabelle. “When did they say that?!”

  “Two hours ago. All of the other teams will be joining us there. Apparently they have some leads on where to find our friend, and want to send us to investigate them.”

  “Finally, a real mission!” exclaimed Ray. “Do you think we’ll find him?”

  “Knowing command, we’ll be assigned somewhere safe where he most likely isn’t,” replied Aidos. “Though knowing him, he might very well be smart enough to hide in the last place even we would think he’d be in!”

  “We’ll find out when we get there, but chances are it’ll be the hero’s hometown,” said Sergeant Mike. “It’s far away from where they actually think he’ll be, though.”

  As the men of the squad talked amongst themselves about their new mission, Annabelle looked at the floor agape, stupefied at her luck. She didn’t let it keep hold of her however, and steeled her nerves. “Hold on, Sergeant. I have a date today at 8.”

  “As I said, you’ll have to cancel,” he replied.

  “But we agreed to meet each other here at 8, and we have no way of reaching each other! Can we please stay until then just so I can reschedule, or get her contact info, or something?”

  Sergeant Mike considered her offer with a disgruntled look. After several seconds, he responded with a sigh. “Since we’re Delta Squad, and this is probably your first date in an incredibly long time, I’m willing to wait. But all of you will have to pick up the pace to get to basecamp on schedule. That means double time. Are the rest of you willing?”

  “Sure,” replied Ramirez. “I’m not a fan, but I’m willing to take one for the team, especially if some sweet action is on the line.”

  “Of course!” added Ray. “Annabelle really sounds like she’s in love, and I’m not about to get in the way of that!”

  “I’m fine with that arrangement,” concluded Aidos. “What kind of king would I be if I didn’t look after my peers? I’m willing to pick up the pace if it means she’ll be happy like this.”

  “Well, there you have it,” said Sergeant Mike. “We’ll wait until 8, but not any longer than that. Then we’ll head back to basecamp.”

  “Thank you, everyone!” exclaimed Annabelle with a short hop into the air, her hands clasped. “Thank you so much!”

  Time passed as the team filled themselves with the complimentary bowl of oatmeal and fruits provided by the inn. The oats were cooked in water, unlike what they served at the cafeteria back at TOAL headquarters, where they used milk. The fruits consisted of flavorless melon cubes, the kind found in cheap buffet fruit salads due to their high volume to cost ratio. Overall, it was an insipid meal, but Delta Squad had already learned the lesson of filling yourself with whatever was available before any long and strenuous physical activity. They’d each eaten a large bowl filled to the brim with the stuff, and they even went back for seconds, albeit at a limited quantity.

  As soon as the town’s clock tower struck 8, Lyseris entered the inn on its second chime. She was wearing the same blue satin dress from the day before, but with her hair done in a cute set of braids and a fresh coating of ruby red lipstick.

  Immediately Annabelle rose from her seat, bits of oatmeal still stuck to her chin, and scurried towards her would’ve-been date.

  “Hey Lyseris! Wow, uh, you look great!” she exclaimed, getting a better look at the beautiful woman with the daylight filtering through the inn’s windows. “How did you get your lips to look that good? Even the high end lip gloss they sell here doesn’t look that good!”

  “Hi Annabelle, it’s good to see you too! And thanks for the compliment! You look good yourself, but there’s a little bit of…” she trailed off, pointing at her chin. Annabelle quickly caught on and picked up a napkin to wipe away the food on her face.

  “Annabelle,” began Sergeant Mike, raising his eyebrows at her.

  “Oh, right!” she replied. “Hey Lyseria, I’m really sorry about this, but I’ll have to cancel our date today. Something’s come up and my friends and I have to leave town.”

  “What?!” said Lyseris, shocked at the sudden change in plans. She focused her full attention into Annabelle’s eyes. “Are you sure you have to go? Couldn’t you stay along for a bit and they go on without you or something? Is it really that important, more important than us?”

  “I feel really bad about it too, Lyseris,” she replied. “But this is really important. Another friend of mine is in trouble and we need to try and save him. I’m sure you understand, isn’t the goddess all about sharing her love? If I didn’t do the same for my friend who’s in trouble, how can I call myself a good person?”

  Lyseris closed her eyes and sighed, hiding a seething rage behind the expression. Her friend was obviously Artyom, and how dare she compare rescuing that heretic to serving the Goddess’ will?! She couldn’t outright voice her indignation, but she had to try and salvage the situation somehow. Before she could reply, Annabelle continued.

  “But that doesn’t mean we have to break up, or anything! This should take a few days at most, maybe a week! We can stay in touch by letter or something, and I’ll head back here as soon as I’m done with what I need to do!”

  Lyseris opened her eyes and considered her for a second. “Uh, sure. I’ll be staying in town for the next month so you can send me letters here.” She fished out a charcoal pencil and scribbled an address on the napkin Annabelle used to wipe her face with earlier.

  “You’re paying for that before you leave!” shouted the innkeeper from the other side of the room. “That cloth isn’t cheap!”

  “Thank you, Lyseris, thank you so much! I’m so sorry that we have to cancel like this, but I’ll be back as soon as I can! And I’ll be the one to show up at your door next time.”

  “That’s alright, Annabelle. I’ll even check back at this inn every night for when you come back. I know we’ll see each other again soon,” said Lyseris with pangs of faux heartbreak as she turned around and slowly left the inn.

---

  Half an hour later, Delta Squad was well on their way back to basecamp. For some reason, Sergeant Mike had made everyone split up, run down several alleyways, and otherwise act like they were trying to lose a trail before they all met up outside of town for their journey. He hadn’t even let up after all that and got everyone to jog back to basecamp.

  “Seriously, don’t you think this might be a bit much?” asked Ramirez, doing his best to not lose his breath. “I mean, who’s going to want to follow us for three hours like this?”

  “You never know,” replied Sergeant Mike, ominously.

  “Yeah fine, but that’s what our snipers are for,” responded Ramirez, before changing the subject. “Say, that Lyseris looked really familiar, but I can’t seem to put my finger on where I’ve met her before.”

  “It was last night,” replied Annabelle, in between light pants. “She tried to hit on all of you before I approached and asked her out on a date.”

  “Oh yeah, her!” said Ramirez, snapping his finger. “I was pretty sure she was trying to con me yesterday. Are you sure you aren’t missing any money?”

  Annabell quickly pulled out her coin purse and rootled through its contents. She shook her head at Ramirez after confirming that everything was in place.

  “Hey, I remember her too!” exclaimed Aidos. “I tried to make friends with her yesterday, but she didn’t seem particularly interested. She seemed friendly starting out, but grew cold very quickly. I wonder what that was about?”

  “It’s because she was propositioning you,” replied Sergeant Mike, unable to stay silent at his obliviousness any longer.

  “Wait, she was courting me? Wait, Annabelle just said she tried to hit on all of us. Dammit, I knew I was missing something! But what about you, Ray? Why didn’t you accept?”

  “I’m married, remember?” he replied frustratedly.

  “Oh right, sorry! But congratulations on your date, Annabelle, even though it’s been delayed.”

  “Don’t be so quick to congratulate her just yet,” interjected Sergeant Mike. “Something about that Lyseris doesn’t sit well with me.”

  “What do you mean? We spent all night talking to each other about so much and she seems like a wonderful person!” replied Annabelle, indignantly.

  “Well, she specifically hit on all of us in a row, and then only you at the end. Why us instead of any of the other locals or inn patrons?”

  “Maybe it’s because we were talking about the hero, and his quest is supposed to be something under the purview of the church, which she’s a part of," posited Annabelle. “Also, maybe she’s bi?”

  “But then why were you the one who approached her?” asked Ramirez.

  “Maybe she didn’t know I was also into girls? Do bi people generally have gaydar?”

  “Does it matter?” interrupted Sergeant Mike. “The fact that she’s from the church makes her even more suspicious, if you ask me. That’s why I had us run around in circles and why we’re jogging now, so she won’t follow us back to basecamp. Once this mission is over and we no longer have any presence in this World, I don’t see any problem in having your date. I hope that’s fine with you.”

  Annabelle looked into his eyes for several seconds, trying to keep the mist forming on the surface of hers from pooling into tears. Beyond the gruff exterior, she could feel true sincerity emanate from deep within him. She blinked and sighed. “Alright, I’ll wait until the mission is over. I think you’re wrong about her, but I won’t risk any of your lives on this.”

  “Thank you, Annabelle,” replied Sergeant Mike. “But I really do hope I’m wrong about her.”

  “Yeah, I hope you’re wrong too.”

---

  The rest of Delta Squad’s trip went by silently, the previously jovial air turned much too dour to conduct any more good natured banter. Most of the soldiers jogged along lost in thought, using the unfamiliar silence to reflect on themselves and their situations. By the last half an hour, everyone had calmed down enough thanks to the fresh air and exercise for Ramirez to risk bringing back the previously lighthearted conversation.

  “So,” he began, raising his arms to support the back of his head in a casual gesture right out of a cartoon. “Once we ‘graduate’ from Delta Squad, where are each of you planning to go? Any particular squads in mind?”

  Nobody responded, still bogged down by the haze of the last conversation turned sour. Ramirez sighed and let his arms droop back down to his side.

  “Alright, I guess I’ll go first then. For me, it’s obviously ‘Kings of the Wild Frontier’. I mean, the Davy Crockett and wild west theme, a team full of other scouts? Squad Echo was made for me!” He let out a natural guffaw, finally snapping everyone out of the worst of their collective funk.

  “If we’re talking about Squads we have our eye on, then there’s only one place for me; Squad Bravo,” said Aidos, working up the nerve to chime in. “Though their callsign is much to be desired in terms of the subtlety their members boast, my people skills and natural leadership would make me a natural inclusion.”

  “Hold on, their callsign is ‘Speaks Loudly and Carries an Even Bigger Stick’, right?” asked Ramirez.

  “That’s right,” grumbled Sergeant Mike from the periphery of the conversation.

  “And it speaks of anything but subtlety!” exclaimed Aidos, crossing his arms.

  “...you do realize it’s supposed to be ironic, right?” asked Ramirez, looking right into his eyes with a scrunched brow, in search of even an iota of sarcasm from the once-king.

  “Well, that type of irony is anything but subtle!” he said back, turning his face away from Ramirez.

  “Too subtle for you, apparently,” whispered Ray, trying hard to hide the mischievous grin spreading along his face.

  He didn’t have to hide it alone however, as everyone else burst into a fit of laughter at the comment. Even Aidos, offended as he was, was forced to curl his lips upwards enough that all could see.

  “Alright then, Ray,” replied Aidos, directly to his face. “If you’re so clever, what team would be good enough for you?”

  “Honestly, I haven’t given it much thought,” said Ray, looking up towards the sky. “But if I had to say, Foxtrot looked the most interesting to me. They’re all about fighting off entire armies, and army-based combat is what I have the most experience in.”

  “Well, you don’t seem like much of a hulk to me. Way too skinny for that,” retorted Ramirez. “You know, with their name being ‘We have a Hulk’?”

  “Oh yeah, I loved that movie!” interjected Aidos.

  “Wait, you got that reference, but not the one with Bravo’s callsign?” asked Ray.

  “What reference? I thought it was just a play of irony?”

  “From Looney Tunes,” said Annabelle, finally making her way into the conversation. “And that line is itself a reference to Teddy Roosevelt, the American President?”

  “Well that explains a lot,” said Aidos. “I’m not American. Nor did I watch Looney Tunes growing up.”

  “Well it looks like we know what we’re doing once we get back!” exclaimed Ramirez. “Looney Tunes marathon! So Annabelle, how about you? Who do you want to join?”

  Annabelle looked down at the dirt road with a placid face, considering her options. Eventually, she decided upon one and looked back at the others. “Well, Squad Bravo sounds like it’d be a good fit for me as well. I interacted with a lot of people and learned to get along with them, or figure out if they were hiding something. I’m really good at telling what someone’s thinking when they show me their heart.”

  Annabelle quickly looked at Sergeant Mike to see if he would retort. She didn’t mean for her last few sentences to relate so much to the previous conversation, but it just slipped out.

  Sergeant Mike turned to meet her gaze, and Annabelle could feel what could only be described as a pang of careful regret in his eyes. He turned back to the road and replied. “In that case, you’ll have to practice your aura some more. Both of you, that is. The members there make heavy use of it to gather information from the people they talk to or interrogate.”

  Suddenly, the rest of the tension evaporated from the group, and everything seemed to be back to normal. With everyone speaking to each other normally again, the animosity from the last few hours was well-forgotten. Still, what Sergeant Mike had said about Lyseris remained on Annabelle’s mind, a seed of doubt waiting to germinate.

---

  “Alright everyone, we’re here,” said Sergeant Mike, slowing down to a stop in front of the entrance to basecamp. They’d finished the last leg of their journey at a casual pace and arrived at basecamp covered in a thin layer of sweat. “Just let them waive us in one at a time and head inside.”

  The team did as instructed, and was let into the hastily constructed compound single file by a team of armed guards. Once all of them had completed their ingress, the assistant who’d delivered the recall request came out to greet them.

  “There you are, Delta Squad. Head over to Prithvi’s tent over there. She’s debriefing all of the teams at once, and you’re the last ones to arrive. But don’t worry, you’re still on time!”

  The five members hurried inside, where they found all of the other teams waiting for them surrounding a wooden desk.

  “Alright, Delta Squad’s here, so let’s get started,” said the Indian woman sitting on the other side of the table. “I’m going to be honest, this is less of a debrief and more of me using you all as a sounding board to fill in any gaps in my knowledge. Once we’re done talking here, I’ll deploy you all to your next objectives.”

  Everyone slowly nodded, eyes facing forward with anticipation. For most, this wasn’t their first rodeo, but it was a brand new experience for Delta Squad.

  “Alright, let’s begin,” said Prithvi. “Alpha Squad, you entered the dungeon ‘Crystal Kobold Crossing’ yesterday and were able to identify the goddess’ energy signature there. We’ve been able to integrate that into our long range scanners and have determined the most probable source of the disturbance we’ve all been facing to coincide with the largest concentration of her power.”

  The members of Alpha Squad nodded along, everything checking out so far.

  “And you also had a run in with our secondary objective- the hero, Tommy. While he reacted innocently enough to our presence, the rest of his entourage immediately opened up with hostilities, in the form of a high level fireball spell. After performing a tactical retreat, Echo was assigned to follow them while checking in regularly. Is there anything else?”

  “Yes,” replied Sergeant Natalie Murphy, stepping forward, arms crossed behind her back. “His entourage also discharges the same energy signature of this World’s goddess whenever they use their magic or Skills. The foreman boss monster of Crystal Kobold Crossing also glowed in our visors, albeit much less intensely. Also, we were only able to scan him once he was dead, so it could’ve more closely matched the hero’s party when he was alive.”

  Prithvi nodded along. “Thank you, Sergeant. We can’t say for sure how this ‘foreman’ compares to the others, but as per your report, the others were much more powerful.” She looked down to her notes for a short moment. “Next is Bravo, you were deployed to Brimhaven near the same dungeon to pick up any rumors or bits of information left by Artyom that could indicate any additional motivations he might have had while here, or even his whereabouts.”

  A man dressed in sweat-stained semi-formal attire stepped forward and curtly bowed before replying in a posh, British accent. “Thank you, Miss Prithvi. We were sent to the city of Brimhaven to do just that. Regrettably, we only had time to talk to the local lord and a particularly quirky map maker before we were recalled, and they revealed to us nothing we didn’t already know. This ‘Lord Cabbafor’ had our man to thank for bringing the hero to his soiree, probably used by Artyom as a means of making his acquaintance in a safer setting than in a dungeon or out on the road. The map maker on the other hand only revealed to us that he had purchased a map of the area surrounding Crystal Kobold Crossing.”

  “So nothing new, then,” lamented Prithvi. “Brimhaven was probably too early in his mission to get anything useful, then. I’ll probably send you all to Sandy Cove next, that’s where he was situated right before he disappeared.”

  “Of course,” replied the man, before nodding and stepping back.

  “Alright, Squad Charlie. You all conducted a raid on the head church and brought me back some very interesting documents. I didn’t have the time to read through it all yet, since you only got here this morning, but one thing I did notice is that the goddess has already listed all of the locations the hero is supposed to travel to to complete his little scavenger hunt of a quest. The only discrepancy I found was with the repeat of Crystal Kobold Crossing; it’s not listed in the documents but there he was anyway. If anything, that just shows this goddess isn’t exactly all-powerful enough to account for disturbances, much to our benefit. Or at least she’s not an expert at logistics like me.”

  Prithvi looked at the others expectantly, and they all let out a soft chuckle at her dry attempt at humor. Pleased at the response, she continued.

  “Which comes to my conclusion. The final entries on the list include a Dark Lord’s castle just across the border, and before that, a settlement named Ironheart Fortress, the ‘first bastion against Darkness’, as it reads here, the D in Darkness being capitalized. My working theory is that Artyom would’ve headed here to plan out his own attack on the Dark Lord in order to find the source of the disturbance and destroy it. If Gus just sent a small team or even just another scout instead of all of us to find him, it’d take a while for them to make contact. In that case, he’d probably have better luck removing the disturbance and getting himself back home instead.”

  Everyone stared intently, knowing what was about to come next.

  “Right, so the rest of the reassignments. Before I get to that, I see Delta Squad is also here. You’re being included in this meeting for your learning benefit, but that doesn’t mean you can’t contribute. We can learn a lot from local gossip, so have any of you found out anything interesting about the goddess or Artyom?”

  The members of Delta Squad were silent, unsure of how to respond. Sergeant Mike nudged Annabelle with his elbow, raising his eyebrows in an encouraging gesture when she looked over to him. Her eyes lit up with realization and she stepped forward.

  “Uh, Miss Prithvi, we did find something about Artyom,” said Annabelle, steeling herself despite all of the eyes on her.

  “Go ahead then, I’m all ears,” she replied.

  Annabelle took a deep breath, exhaled, and began. “While moving around Eastgate, I encountered an old lady, a refugee from a village near here that was burned down by the Dark Lord last week.”

  Prithvi’s eyes lit up, and she gestured for Annabelle to continue. She did so.

  “She said that she knew Artyom since he’d stayed with them for a day, and told me about how he helped rescue the surviving villagers and got them all to Eastgate safe and well provisioned. Sadly, he disappeared before they actually started moving so she doesn’t know anything else about his whereabouts, except that he was with the hero for some time. But that last part was from more travelling gossip.”

  Prithvi stared at Annabelle with cold, analytical eyes that made her reflexively shrink back. After a breath and a blink, the logistician’s softer expression returned and her lips began to curl into a smile. “Thank you Annabelle, and Delta Squad. That helps us tremendously.”

  “It does?” sputtered Annabelle. “I mean, uh, that’s great! You’re welcome!”

  “Let’s be honest, we’ve all been under the impression that Artyom doesn’t really care much for anyone who isn’t from Earth, but here he was helping out some unfortunate villagers. I think he’s spent enough time in this World to start growing more accustomed to its natives, and will probably go somewhere he can not only get back into contact with us, but help out as well. At Ironheart Fortress, he’ll be able to conduct raids on the source of the interference, as well as on the Dark Lord’s seat of power. It’d be the perfect position for him to achieve both of his supposed goals, and I’m certain that’s where he’s hiding! So, now for your new assignments.”

  Everyone in the tent perked up from both the knowledge that they were finally in the endgame of their mission, and the anticipation for what their role in it would be. Before Prithvi could begin again, the tent flap moved open and in came another soldier.

  “Sorry for the interruption, but Annabelle, you’re needed at the gate. Something’s come up that’s related to you and we need your input. Could be a source of intel.”

  “Wait, me?” she asked, more perplexed than surprised that she of all people was suddenly the most important person in the room. Well, the most important person in the context of this situation. “Is that fine?” she asked, turning towards Prithvi and the rest of her squad.

  “If it wasn’t, he wouldn’t be here,” replied Prithvi. “But don’t worry, I’ll fill your team in on the rest of the details. In the meantime, all you need to know is that you’ll be heading to the hero’s supposed birthplace in this World in case Artyom's actually hiding there. That’s literally the last place I’d think to search, so we can’t discount it.”

  “Alright then, thank you! I think…” shouted Annabelle as she made her way out of the tent with the soldier.

  The pair made their way across the grassy field towards the camp’s front entrance, a large gap in the barbed wire fence circumambulating the land they’d temporarily claimed. Behind the space were several armed guards, each equipped with rifles pointed at a single feminine figure.

  “She says you know her,” said Annabelle’s escort as they arrived at the scene.

  Annabelle was too stunned to reply. Instead, she stared intently at the woman standing at the entrance, wearing the same blue satin dress and heels she had on earlier that day. She threw her perfect amber hair to the side and smiled brightly when she saw Annabelle.

  “There you are, silly!” exclaimed Lyseris. “I didn’t know you had friends like these, can you convince them to let me in?”

  “Wha… Lyseris?” sputtered Annabelle. “What are you doing here?! I thought we agreed to wait until I was done with my work before we went out on our date? Did you just walk all the way here?”

  “Well Annabelle, I have to confess,” replied Lyseris, wrapping one of her arms around the other while turning a morose gaze downwards. “I think I love you.”

  “Love?” asked Annabelle, the surprise on her face unchanged from when she first saw the woman here. The other soldiers gave her strange looks. What was going on?!