Till next time

The iron glove hit me dead in the ribs, "Arrgh!" I muffle a scream, "I told you I don't know anything about that village!" I pleaded, "Liar" My interrogator shot back, We've been at this for close to 2 hours now! My left arm is broken, my ribs are a mess and I'm missing some molars too! Damn it!

The interrogator finally stopped the onslaught of beatings, seeing that I didn't change my answers, maybe he did believe or maybe he was just tired either way, either way he ordered his men to lead me back to my cell... Pork, that's the first thing that comes to my mind the moment I hit the ground of my cell. I lay down for a moment before getting up to inspect my surroundings, "Are you okay?" A tiny voice asks me, I look closely and see Cecelia chained to a wall in front of me.

I get up and move towards her, Pork.... Why do I smell Pork? The scent Gets stronger as I move closer to my sister, and then I see it.... "Those bastards, I swear I'll kill them!" Cecelia's skin, her right arm, they branded it with something all over, from the smell it was fresh too, how could they do this to a woman? To my own Sister!

"It looks worse than it is" Cece voiced, trying to calm me down, as if reading my thoughts, I'm surprised she's holding it together, she always had a high tolerance for pain but this was too much even for her. I embrace her and pat her had trying to comfort her, she sniffles but hugs me back.

"what do you think they'll do to us?" I ask her, "Nothing good, Molewood.... does not exist" "what?" "The village, the people don't exist" "That's impossible!" " They searched the place we described, there was nothing there, except our clothes, they confiscated them along with Veil Splitter"

The revelation shocks me to my core, "what exactly did they tell you? what are they going to do with us?" I asked, finally understanding the gravity of our situation, "They said, a cold Mummur would decide our fate, Three hours from now" I don't know what that is, but there's nothing we can do right now. I slump over next to Cece, she rests her head on my Shoulder, before we know it we drift off, exhausted from the whole ordeal.

We had the same dream, we were in a never-ending corridor with several doors, but there was one that stood out, a red door with black mold on it, I reach out to touch its handle but I'm woken up by a plash of water. We sping up immediately, we inspect our surroundings and find ourselves face to face with a Jester dressed I gold, wearing a cloak observing us with a creepy expression on her face. Next to her, the firey bearded bastard that knocked me out and tortured me for the last few hours.

"Leave us" the jester said, The interrogator frowned before bowing and leaving the room, after a few minutes of observing us, she spoke again "Might as well get this over with" she starts speaking in a language I don't recognize and after a few moments, the room glows and a serpent appears outta thing air, "Jesus!" "Holy shit!" Cece and I scream in unison! where did this thing come from? while we're panicking the creature bites both our arms, paralyzing us in the process.

The Jester steps forward and presses her fingers across our forehead, a blue line traces itself from our head to the Jester's, after a few moments the line disappears and we slump to the ground panting heavily, "Interesting" The Jester said, before leaving us in the room with the serpent, the creature eyed us hungrily but made no attempts to attack us. A few moments later, a pair of guards enter the room, they're startled at first, but they drag us out of the cell and lead us into the waiting room of the outpost. There the Jester is seated, arranging a deck of cards carefully on the table.

"Pick one" the Jester said, "what?" I ask, dumbfounded, "PICK ONE" she said, irritated. Hesitantly, we both pick a card each, Cece shows hers first, A laughing Jester juggling a dozen knives, the Guards around us curse, it seems that's a good thing? The Jester smiles at this "The Mummur's Gambit, Lucky girl" she said, before turning to me. "Your turn" she said coolly, I gulp audibly before showing mine out, A shackled devil drowning his sorrows in booze, This doesn't look good, this doesn't look good at all! As if to confirm my suspicion, the Guards are looking at me Pitifully, even the Firey bearded bastard is looking at me like that.

"Daemon's eternal chase, At least you'll have a long life child! hahaha!" She mocked, what the hell is this, what the hell does any of this mean? Before I could voice my feelings, she spoke again "Take the boy to the teleporter, he's to arrive at Gracefield by the hour" Teleporter? Gracefield? what does any of this mean? more importantly "What about my sister?" "Oh, you mean my new protégé? What about her? she's coming with me of course!"

"There is no-" I'm cut short by Cece, "how long will we be separated?" Cece asks, "Hmmm, if there's no issues with his service.... 5 years at most, if... no when he makes it out he'll be forced to serve 2 more years as support for the Red Right Hand, so 7 years In total" "That's too much! There's no way I'll-" "Please give me a moment with my Little brother" Cecelia interrupts me again! Damn it! why is she so calm? This is Bullshit!

The Jester eyes us for a moment before ordering the Guards to clear out. "Cecelia, you can't expect -" "It's just like book 3 huh? what was it called again? Lost in Wentworth" I pause for a moment, "This is different! we're not trained soldiers! we're not Colonel Fauzer or General Carver!" the tears start pouring, why is she so calm? Doesn't she care? Isn't she scared? "What if you die?" "I won't" "What if I die?" "No, you definitely won't, this isn't goodbye little brother, it's just till next" she wipes my face with a piece of her cloth "Next time?" "Yes, we just need to survive for 7 years and we'll leave this world forever, just.... endure it until Then" She kisses my cheek before walking towards the door "See yah later! Alligator!" she cheered, before exiting the room.

"We should have never come here" I mutter to myself, this entire adventure left a bitter taste in my mouth.