Alcingeria Chapter Forty Five: Search and Rescue

Hot on the heels of a mafia member, the group stumbles upon a witch being burned at the stake in the town square. Do they go after the mafia member, or do they free the witch?

Chapter Forty Five Search and Rescue:

Friday July 2^nd 1690

I was awoken by someone shaking me by the shoulder.

            “Wake up, sir.” Lawrence said quietly.

I nodded and got up, remembering my task of hunting down the vampire mafia.

            “I overheard some of Queen Yuka’s guards talking to your friends. There is a meeting in the throne room for all members of the search party in ten minutes.” Lawrence said.

            “Thanks.” I said tiredly.

I got up and grabbed my flintlock, the flask of gunpowder and my two remaining bullets. I then went over to where I kept my knife and dagger. I decided to take the knife with the inscription. It was cleaner, sharper and in better condition than my dagger. I turned for the door.

            “Sir?” Lawrence asked.

I stopped short, but didn’t turn around. I needed to be at that meeting. I needed to rescue my friends.

            “In case I don’t see you again…” Lawrence trailed off.

I turned around and looked him in his emerald green eyes.

            “Don’t get all sentimental on me, Lawrence. I’ll come back. That’s a promise.” I assured him with a grin.

I said it with so much finality and certainty that I saw him relax a little.

            “I have not a single doubt.” Lawrence said with renewed confidence.

            “I should hope not. Good bye, Lawrence.” I said.

            “Good bye.” He said, almost forlornly.

I walked out of the room and made my way to the throne room. I saw two guards positioned outside the door when I arrived. They both stepped aside and they each gave me a salute. I walked forward and pushed the door open. Inside I saw Queen Yuka and Princess Estaire both sitting on top of their thrones. Bowing before them were Stella, Robert, Don, Macalister and a few law enforcement officers. The law enforcement officers had swords in scabbards on their hips. On the far left side of the room was a pile of armor, weapons and other supplies. I went forward and bowed before the queen and princess. A few moments later, the queen spoke.

            “You may rise. Good morning to you all. You are gathered here today to form a search party, a task force if you will, to retrieve the people that the mafia stole from us.” She began.

We all rose and cheered and thrust our fists in the air. Queen Yuka’s slate grey eyes bore into us. After a few seconds, we stopped.

            “Your task is to find the mafia’s base of operations, infiltrate it, free everyone who was taken and destroy the base.” The queen said.

Everyone in the room except Queen Yuka and Estaire looked to each other. Some donned grins, others bore frowns of worry.

            “We are now at war with the mafia, people. Might I just say that you are all very brave to oppose such a force. Now everyone, look to your left, then look to your right.” Queen Yuka ordered.

We all did so. I saw my friends, as well as the law enforcement officers. I saw worry, doubt and even passion in all of their eyes.

            “Everyone you see here today may not survive this mission. Some of you may not see the day that you return here. The mafia is ruthless and will kill you without hesitation. I know not all of you are killers, but to remove any doubts it you may have; It’s you or them.” The queen said.

I heard a few growls of approval, some whimpers of fear.

            “To your left, you will see an array of supplies. Each and every item in that pile is available to you to take in this mission. Go now and arm yourselves. But to avoid attracting the mafia’s attention, you law enforcement officers must remove your uniforms.” The queen ordered.

The law enforcement officers obeyed and removed their armor. We all went to the pile and I examined the supplies. There were multiple red sticks with fuses on the ends. They were tied tightly together in bundles of three. The words; Extremely Explosive were printed in black block letters on the shaft of each stick. These must be for destroying the mafia’s base. I saw everyone taking a bundle of explosives each, so I took one myself. I also grabbed a package of matches. I also saw flasks of gunpowder and a box of bullets. I took a few handfuls of bullets and stuck them in my pocket. I filled up on gunpowder. I saw a few swords, axes, pikes and other weapons of the kind. I didn’t know how to use any of them so I stuck with my knife and flintlock. I walked over to Queen Yuka and Princess Estaire. Everyone else finished and walked over as well.

            “I see you are all in possession of the explosives. These are a fairly new innovation. We call it dynamite. Each stick is extremely explosive, so handle them with caution. Last night’s horror has confirmed that the mafia is in possession of dynamite as well, so tread carefully.” The queen said.

            “In conclusion, I wish you all the best of luck. You are all very brave and show unmatched courage by doing this. You all have my blessing on this mission.” Princess Estaire said.

            “Yes, good luck to you all.” Queen Yuka told us.

The law enforcement officers all saluted the queen and the princess. My friends and I saluted as well. Then the officers walked to the door to the hallway. We all followed them silently. While we walked I noticed that Stella had a flintlock. I’d never seen her use one and she held it awkwardly. When we were in the hallway, one of the officers shut the door that led to the throne room. One of them, a man in his mid-twenties with black hair and brown/amber eyes stepped forward.

            “Hello to you all. I’m Captain Gerald Baldwin and I’m in charge of this task force. You are required to follow any order given by myself or by my second in command, Edwin Wayde, while on this mission. Never go off on your own and try to rescue everyone. I speak for all of us when I say that the mafia stole someone from us. We will get them back, but only by being smart and working together.” Gerald said.

When he was introduced, another man in his mid-twenties with blonde hair and mud colored eyes waved to us. We all nodded, acknowledging Gerald’s authority.

            “Glad we’re all on the same page. Now that we’re all armed, we’re going to go into the city and look for the mafia base. Conceal your weapons and use them with caution. Civilian casualties and/or friendly fire will not be tolerated on this mission. Understood?” Gerald asked.

All the officers shouted ‘yes sir!’ My friends and I said those two words just as the officers stopped saying it.

            “I see we have some newbies here. What are all your names?” Gerald asked.

My friends and I introduced ourselves briefly. Gerald nodded.

            “Okay, good. I’m glad we have some courageous people outside the law enforcement department. That’s what I like to see.” Gerald praised.

            “I’m Edward Finn. Nice to meet you all.” A man in his late teens with blue eyes and slicked back auburn hair said.

            “Darwin Brown.” Said a man in his early twenties with orange hair and brown eyes said flatly.

I nodded, taking in their names and faces.

            “Okay, now that introductions are out of the way, let’s make our way into the city.” Gerald said urgently, but still in control.

He led the way and we followed him out of the corridor, through the main entryway and out into the garden. We walked along the cobblestone path and passed the guards, who instantly opened the gate for us. They must have known that we were coming. The second gate opened just as fast. From our place I could see that the sun was just starting to rise over the horizon in the far distance. It was still dark out. We walked down the cobblestone pathway that gave way to the street.

            “Stay sharp.” Gerald commanded, flipping his black bangs out of his eyes with a shake of his head.

            “This is the financial district. Act natural.” Edwin said.

We made our way through town. There weren’t very many people out because it was so early. The streets were nearly deserted.

            “What exactly are we looking for?” Stella asked.

            “Keep your eye out for anything suspicious, anything out of the ordinary.” Darwin advised.

            “And make sure you point out anyone wearing a white fedora.” Edward reminded.

            “Got it.” Stella replied.

We walked passed various buildings like taverns, blacksmith shops, inns, weapon and armor shops, herbalist shops and medical supply stores. We found no place that could be used as the mafia’s base. We made it all the way to the other end of the financial district with no luck at all.

            “Do you think we should go outside the gates? Maybe they have a camp out there.” Macalister asked.

            “That’s unlikely. Even if they did, it’d take us ages to find. Let’s do another run of the city.” Edwin said.

Gerald nodded and led us to another part of the city.

            “We just came out of the financial district of the city. We’re heading to the residential district now.” Gerald explained.

            “Captain Baldwin?” Edward asked.

            “What is it, Finn?” Gerald asked.

            “Should we split up, cover more ground?” He asked.

            “No. We can’t risk being picked off. We stay together.” Gerald said with finality.

Without another word, Edward walked on. We began seeing less stores and more houses. There were apartments as well as smaller, detached dwellings. I also saw a law enforcement headquarters building. There were probably more throughout the city. The buildings around us were very close together, but there were small alleys in between them.

            “Watch those alleys. They could hold more than just trash and rats.” Gerald advised.

I cautiously peered down every alley we crossed until we exited the residential district. As the houses and apartments faded, I began to notice several larger buildings, as well as four smaller ones.

            “What is this place?” Stella asked.

            “The political district.” Edward replied.

            “The larger buildings you see are for managing foreign relations. The four smaller buildings are the embassies for the other four provinces.” Darwin said.

I looked around and saw a few museums. I wasn’t sure if they were political museums or not, and I didn’t care to find out. We walked through the political district.

            “Valgate is huge.” Don remarked, looking around in awe.

            “You all fresh into the city?” Darwin asked.

            “We just arrived several days ago.” Robert told him.

            “I see. Well, it’s a shame you’re not here to sightsee.” Gerald chuckled.

We continued on through the political district but still found nothing out of the ordinary.

            “Sir, should we retrace our steps back to where we began and search the other districts?” Edward asked.

            “Yes, that’d be a good idea.” Gerald said with a nod.

“Finding the mafia’s base will be like finding a needle in a haystack.” Stella groaned.

“We’ll find where they’re hiding. We’ll get everyone back.” Macalister said with certainty.

“That’s what I like to hear!” Praised Gerald.

Gerald started to lead us back to the castle. We walked up the same roads we used to get here. No wonder either, the city was huge! As we were entering the financial district, I saw a mass of people gathering. In the town square. They were all surrounding a wooden cross about seven feet tall. They were all shouting things, but we were too far away to hear. My mind dreaded what this might be. As we came closer, I heard what the people were saying.

            “Burn the witch!” One man said.

            “Make her suffer!” A woman screamed.

I struggled to peer through the mass of people.

            “You don’t need to do this!” A woman screamed.

The witch. This was a public execution. A witch was being burned at the stake.

            “Your kind doesn’t belong here! They don’t belong anywhere!” A man yelled.

There was a roar of approval from the crowd. I then heard the sound of breaking glass. I jumped up and just barely saw over the heads of the crowd. They were throwing bottles of alcohol at the foot of the cross. They would soon ignite it and the witch would be killed.

            “Please don’t kill me!” The witch begged.

            “We have to help her!” Stella hissed in a low whisper.

Just then I caught sight of a lone figure walking up the road in front of us about two hundred feet away. I then noticed something peculiar about the figure. It was wearing a white fedora!

            “Captain Baldwin! That person up there!” I said, pointing it out.

            “It’s wearing a white fedora!” Edwin exclaimed.

            “No! We can’t just let this witch die!” Stella objected.

This was a very difficult decision: Free an innocent witch at the expense of letting a guilty mafia member get away, or catch the mafia member at the expense of the young witch’s life.

            “We saved one, we can save another.” Don said.

            “We can’t afford to let this man get away!” Edwin said.

            “Edwin! There is a life on the line!” Darwin said.

As if on cue, the witch screamed again.

            “The life of a witch.” Edwin countered, regardless of the witch’s pleas for mercy.

            “Listen, I know you aren’t fond of witches after… Your parents… but you need to put your prejudice aside!” Darwin told him firmly.

            “If we let this witch die, we’ll catch the mafia member!” Edwin shouted.

            “If we save this witch, we’ll have saved an innocent life and we’ll be able to find the mafia another day!” Darwin yelled at him.

            “We can’t do both, and I vote that we catch the mafia member!” Edwin said.

            “Edwin! What’s more important here? Catching the mafia member, or saving the life of a witch?” Robert asked.

            “Catching the mafia member, now let’s go!” Edwin said coldly.

            “Edwin, saving the witch is the humane thing to do. And besides, didn’t we swear to protect the innocent and convict the guilty?” Edward asked.

A cold, blank look came into Edwin’s eye.

            “Fine. I’ll help you save that witch only because it would go against the code of honor otherwise. However if I find out that witch is guilty, she’ll wish she died on that pyre today.” He said viciously.

Author's Note

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