Chp.3: Putting the pieces together

Marcus sat in his study, with Thornag beside him as always, and his gaze was fixed on the door. His hands were crossed and his eyes were as deep as an abyss. The king didn't move a single muscle, so much so that he looked like a statue; if Thornag had not known that this was the way the king behaved when he was tense and thinking, he would have worried for his health.

Suddenly someone knocked on the door. Marcus said nothing but beckoned Thornag with his eyes. The man understood what the king wanted to say to him and shouted aloud: "Enter, His Majesty is ready to receive you"

The door opened and a tall man with short brown hair and golden eyes entered. His physique was quite handsome, even if not too muscular, but what really caught the eye was his clothing: he had a completely black suit made up of iron plates sewn together and in every corner of his body one could glimpse the end of some weapon. Normally Thornag would have snapped at once if he had seen someone appearing armed before the king, but this one made no movement. That was because he knew the man very well: his name was Gerard Utohr, and he was the head of Marcus' spy ring. Basically, he was his intelligence director. "Your Majesty" he greeted with a deep bow.

"Get up" Marcus said, speaking for the first time that day. "I hope you brought me results"

Gerard got up and pulled out a bundle of papers hidden in his suit, placing it on the desk. "My investigation about the Rampant Dragon paid off. I was able to identify many interesting elements about it"

After the attack on the capital, despite the loss of Haku, the kingdom quickly recovered. As Marcus had predicted, within two weeks the event could already be considered forgotten. Of course, it had caused some problems (some merchants and adventurers had decided to leave the capital feeling unsafe, thus diminishing the economy, even if only partially), but otherwise everything had gone well. Jurao Kingdom's position in the alliance of nations also remained strong. In the end, Marcus' only gripe had been losing Haku before he could discover at least one of his secrets. However, about a month after the attack, he'd had to start worrying about something else.

Strange incidents had begun to occur throughout the kingdom, especially in the slave markets. Some individuals often appeared and kidnapped the slaves, and then disappeared into thin air, often causing great chaos. However, the worrying thing was not the theft, but its dynamics: in fact, these strange individuals had repeatedly demonstrated that they possessed the ability to take slaves away without creating any kind of disaster. But the fact that they acted so blatantly every time could only mean one thing: they wanted their actions noticed. And to demonstrate this each time they had left behind a sheet with the image of a rampant dragon, as if to demonstrate that it was always the same group that acted. Because of this, people dubbed this strange new organization 'the Rampant Dragon'.

No one knew who they were, what their motives or goals were or even if they were human; what was certain was that they were trying to send a message. Marcus certainly couldn't stand idly by, so he'd unleashed his network of spies to find them. But the Rampant Dragon looked like a ghost: after acting, they always disappeared into thin air. Marcus was sure there was a pattern behind their actions, but he couldn't decipher it; only after three months of investigation Gerard contacted him and informed him that he finally had a track. "What is it about?" he asked him.

"I think I have identified the boss behind all this... or rather, the boss and the mastermind" Gerard replied, opening the packet of papers and showing two images. These were 'immortalizations', images that perfectly imitated a person's face thanks to a special magic that captured every detail.

The two images that Marcus was shown showed a lizardman and another figure that the king knew very well, and which in fact caught his attention. "Haku..." he murmured as he looked at the image of the dragon.

Gerard nodded. "Your intuition was correct, Your Majesty. I have reason to believe he is the mastermind behind all these events"

Marcus nodded. He had suspected that Haku had something to do with it, since those strange events had started just one month after he had been released, but his was just an idea without any foundation. "Speak" he said to Gerard.

The man nodded and pointed to the image of the lizardman. "This is Zamor Adelia, a former citizen of the Baudonia City Alliance. He is a criminal who was incarcerated some time ago on charges of treason and attempted terrorist attack. He had been locked inside the arena and for a long time he and the dragon called Haku were, consequently, 'housemates'. Based on my investigations, Zamor is described as a charismatic and authority figure, capable of leading others very effectively. Although I have no way of verifying this, I believe that it was he who led the gladiatorial rebellion, while Haku only supported him by creating the occasion and using his extraordinary strength to his advantage"

"What makes you believe that?"

"Based on reports from the guards for the entire previous year, Haku did not have a good reputation among the gladiators. After inspecting and comparing them several times, I find it impossible that he could have convinced the gladiators to trust him and follow him. in battle. He may have been the mastermind... but the real boss was someone else"

"And you think it's this Zamor?"

"I'm absolutely sure of it"

"Why?"

"For several factors. First of all because apparently in the arena there didn't seem to be any other individuals capable of uniting the gladiators into a single front. Secondly because according to the reports of the guards Zamor seemed strangely closer to Haku the days before the attack. But above all, which made me realize that Zamor is the boss behind all this..." and having said that he turned the page and showed another image, of a female lizardman. "... it's her, Thora Elins, wife of Zamor Adelia and detained together with other lizardmen at the temple of the goddess Heloisa until a few months ago, when she escaped mysteriously and without leaving a trace. This incident could have gone unnoticed, or unrelated to everyone else... if it weren't for this". And he turned the page again, showing a picture of a boat. "Several witnesses have stated that they saw this same boat a few days before each event. And this same boat was sighted on the Tranaron River the day after Thora's escape, just the distance it could have traveled in one night if it were left near the temple. As a result, it seems obvious that this ship was used by Thora to escape... and coincidentally always appears when one of the events I'm investigating is about to occur. The coincidences start to become too many, don't you believe it, Your Majesty?"

Marcus rubbed his chin nervously. Yes, there were far too many coincidences. "So, do you think Zamor and Haku have joined forces?"

Gerard nodded. "I don't know what their goals are, but if they match, I have no doubt Haku would have agreed to cooperate. From what I've learned from studying guard reports and witness descriptions, as well as based on my knowledge of dragons, Haku would be willing to anything if it gave him an advantage. My theory is that Zamor had allies, who are the same ones who attacked the capital four months ago, and that he proposed an alliance to Haku. This is because Zamor, even before captured, has never shown such strategic ability; it is clear that someone else must be planning his moves, someone much more subtle and intelligent. Furthermore, one of the witnesses claimed to have seen one of the members of the Rampant Dragon use this"

Gerard turned the page and showed Marcus a drawing, which depicted a kind of circle with several connected lines. It wasn't hard to figure out what it was. "A rune..." Marcus murmured. That was overwhelming proof: only Haku could have taught those people how to use them. "So, the leaders behind these attacks would indeed be Zamor and Haku. Good. What else do we know?"

"A few things. After looking closely at the locations of the events, I realized that they are not random. In addition, I also discovered that there are other events taking place that we were not aware of and which appear to be unrelated, but which in fact serve to a specific purpose". Gerard's face darkened. "Your Majesty, the purpose of the Rampant Dragon isn't to challenge you, but to warn you. They are sending you messages"

The temperature in the room seemed to drop suddenly. "What do you mean… send me messages?" the king asked in such a cold tone that for an instant both Thornag and Gerard felt a shiver run up their spines.

The spy hurried to explain. "I began to suspect something was wrong when I noticed some... discrepancies in the organized crime of the kingdom" he said, showing the king numerous pages reporting the movements of the crime of the entire nation. "Until a few months ago, every city had its own group of criminal organizations, which rarely interacted with each other. But about four months ago, the organization known as 'The spider', which is based in the capital and whose members are currently unknown , has begun to expand rapidly. My spy network has confirmed to me that 'The spider' has wiped out. almost all other criminal organizations or taken them over. How they did it is still unknown. Also, my spies have warned me that 'The spider' has begun to show a strange behavior: the periodic purchase of beastmen slaves, which however then mysteriously disappear. Such purchases always occur in conjunction with the arrival of the mysterious boat... or rather , of the fleet, since several ships have joined it over time, even if officially they are not connected to each other. 'The spider' acquires all types of beastmen... except three: lizardmen, tigermen and lionmen. These three races they are never purchased, but on the contrary they are exactly the ones that the Rampant Dragon releases during its attacks. Many witnesses have stated that even though slaves of other races were present, the Rampant Dragon ignored them. Why this? Why focus on three breeds in particular, while all the others were ignored and were instead bought by 'The spider', and then mysteriously disappeared?"

Marcus understood what Gerard meant. "So, do you think 'The spider' is working with Haku and Zamor, and that the Rampant Dragon's purpose is to draw my attention to lizardmen, tigermen and lionmen?"

"Exactly. But not only" Gerard turned the page further, and showed a map of the kingdom with marked all the places where the events had taken place. "Studying the attacks, I realized that something was wrong. The movements of the Rampant Dragon seemed illogical: sometimes they deliberately ignored cities and then returned to them after some time, even if it would have been more convenient to act immediately. But then, I tried to putting the pieces together, and what I found was not pleasant. The cities where the Rampant Dragon struck are, in chronological order, the following: Turmal, Ratan, Estoli, Amillaka, Sormali, Ostea, Numal. Take the initials of these seven cities and put them together, and they form the word..."

"Treason" the king anticipated him narrowing his eyes.

Gerard nodded. "Yes. Initially I thought it could be just a coincidence, although it seemed very unlikely, but then I realized that this pattern was also present in another series of events. You see, your majesty, we have focused about the action of the Dragon Rampant, but other strange events have been happening for four months". He turned the page and showed a second map. "Many areas that recently were full of animals have suddenly emptied, as if a predator had appeared inside them and hunted indiscriminately. Adventurers and merchants have reported these events several times. And even in these cases there are elements recurrences: for example, the fact that such places are never too far from the rivers on which the suspicious boat passes, and always occur when it is nearby. These places are the Charun Wood, the Almania Plain, the Restort Lake, the Rosanbi Peak, the Ilisia Plain, the Obalania Wood and the Nhatar Lake. Following the same principle as before, the initials of these places also form a word"

Marcus' fists clenched. Carrion: this was what the initials of those words formed. First the word 'treason', now the name of one of his top generals; the situation was too obvious to be just a coincidence. By now he had the absolute certainty that the mind behind all those events was Haku: only that dragon could have studied such a scheme to communicate with him without anyone noticing. He didn't know what he was trying to tell him, but it was clear that Carrion had something to do with it, and that it had something to do with the lizardmen, tigermen, and lionmen races. "Did you investigate about it?"

Gerard sighed. "I have examined all the reports from the Baudonia City Alliance, and none of them present any differences. All of them report that these three peoples are currently living in harmony and that there have been no incidents. So there are two cases: either I was completely wrong and the sequence of these attacks is just an accident..."

"… or someone is falsifying reports and covering up leads" Marcus muttered as a bead of sweat trickled down his forehead. "You said this boat is clearly connected to the events. Were you able to trace who's driving it?"

Gerard nodded. "Yes" he replied, turning the page and showing pictures of several people. "It's the party of adventurers 'One day'. They are the ones who drive the boat, according to them because they want to roam the kingdom in search of adventures. Their build and their way of fighting seem to correspond to those of the Dragon Rampant. However, there are some details that don't match. To begin with, the events often took place in locations too distant for the party 'One day' to be involved. Many witnesses claim to have seen them only a few minutes earlier from the other side of the city, so it seems impossible that they moved so quickly and without anyone noticing. Furthermore, my spies inspected the boat, but found it empty; and even after questioning them, none of them showed signs of lying, like a increased heart rate or accelerated sweating. They look clean... except for the fact that they appear exactly when the events are about to occur"

Marcus took a deep breath and closed his eyes, as if reflecting, then he said: "I want you to track down these individuals and question them personally, using any means necessary, including revealing what we already know. And if even this doesn't bear fruit, then head to the Baudonia City Alliance yourself and find out what's going on there. If the reports are falsified and Carrion is preparing something shady, then I need to know immediately"

"Your Majesty, aren't you jumping to conclusions too much? It's possible that that dragon and that lizardman are trying to trick us into turning us against Carrion on purpose" Thornag said.

But Marcus shook his head. "If that had been their intent, it would have been enough for them to bribe or threaten a noble and create false evidence to exhibit in front of the court. It would have made no sense to do all this. No... Haku created this pattern precisely because he didn't want to get noticed. He set the pieces in motion so that only one person with the necessary resources, my spy network, could see the big picture. No, Thornag, I don't think Haku's intent is to sow tares"

Thornag realized he didn't know how to retort. Indeed, the king was right.

Gerard bowed. "I will leave immediately. Luck has it that both my goals are in the same direction"

"What do you mean?"

"That the party 'One day' recently headed to the Baudonia City Alliance"