They had been in the jail cell for a couple of hours or so when Gabe first heard some rustling at the door. He sat up from where he had been leaning on the bars and opened his eyes to look over at the door as it opened. In walked a man wearing a suit of polished plate mail armor. The pauldrons had a design etched into them that appeared to be some kind of ivy lining the edge. He wore a tabard like all the other guards except the etching and embroidery was obviously much better than that of all the other guards. The sword at his side seemed to be much nicer as well and had gold filigree in the handle and cross guard that almost seemed to shine in the faint light of the room.  He had a dark almost Mediterranean complexion and bore a large brown handle bar mustache on his friendly face. Following closely behind him was the hunched form of an old wizened man. He had white curly hair over his dark skin and looked at them with two deep brown eyes under white bushy eyebrows. He had a long white beard and gnarled arthritic form. The man was wearing robes of the same teal and gold color worn by the guards, but he wore a crimson red shirt beneath. On His shoulder rode a large black and green tarantula that seemed to uncharacteristically study them with some intelligence in its beady eyes.

            The man with the mustache approached the bars of the cell. Sinclair and Kat both jumped up simultaneously and yelled, “We didn’t do it!” The man raised up one of his gauntleted hands to keep them from speaking further.

            “I believe you.” He said calmly and amicably. “I know you didn’t do it. I looked the body over and it appears to have the same wounds as all the other victims.”

            “The other victims?” Gabe had sat up at this. “There are more like this?”

“Unfortunately, yes there are more. They each have the same wounds. Bruising on the neck where they are being held by someone with immense strength and a hole torn in their stomach where someone or something has removed some of their organs.”

            “Well, if you know we are innocent then why are we still in this cell?” Kat was standing closer to the bars now staring the man defiantly right in his eyes.

            “Unfortunately, you are strangers here. That means the suspicion is going to be on you. If we didn’t arrest you, or if I was to let you go, the citizenship would assume that we were not doing our job and that would cause a whole new set of problems.”

            “So, we are going to get tried for a crime we didn’t commit just because we are foreigners.” This time it was Sinclair speaking he gestured desperately at the ridiculousness of it all.

            “Well, no I didn’t say that either, but where are my manners? I am captain Alterio. The captain of the King’s Guard. Who are you and how did you end up in our city?” The three friends went around introducing themselves and after they were done Gabe began to tell him the story. He told him all about the dream that they had the night before and how when they woke up, they were in this city. He told him how they had heard the scream and had rushed to try and help her but when they reached her it was too late. He noticed as he talked the old man that was standing behind the good captain took a particular interest in the old woman from the dream. As he finished, he heard Sinclair whisper.

            “Lost in a faraway land.” Was all he said. Hearing him say those words out loud made the situation sink in. They all stood there digesting this fact as Alterio was standing absent mindedly twirling one side of his mustache in thought.

            “Well,” he said “as outrageous as your story is, I believe you. So, here is what I propose. We are going to deputize you and send you out to investigate the murder. You must come back and check in here at night. If you can catch the real killer or provide us with evidence that proves beyond a shadow of doubt that you are innocent, we will set you free. The old man here will cast a scrying spell on you so that we can keep track of you and make sure you are not getting into any mischief. Do you agree to these terms?” Gabe looked at his companions, and they nodded their approval.

             With a resolute nod, Gabe turned back to the man, “We agree.”

###

             The next morning, they were brought breakfast in their cell with a strong pot of tea. They scarfed down their eggs and what looked and tasted like bacon. It was probably bacon, although Gabe had no way to know if they had all the same animals in this world that they had in their own. The door opened again, and the captain and the old man walked in. Gabe had his doubts as to if these people were on the level, but he didn’t have any better options. The night before, after the trio agreed to the deal a second time the old man walked up and spoke something in a strange guttural language, waving his hands in the air. Gabe didn’t believe in magic, but when he was chanting the air had shimmered around them and he felt a faint pressure in his sinuses. That seemed pretty convincing that he did something and try as he might Gabe couldn’t come up with a better explanation for it. It had to be magic, but the funny thing was, after he was done casting the spell the old man seemed tired. Along with the captain of the guard, he wished them goodnight and left the room.

That night had been long and uncomfortable Gabe had volunteered to sleep on the stone floor so that his two friends could sleep on the cots provided. He slept fitfully and in the middle of the night Sinclair had woken up and convinced Gabe to trade places with him. However, now that the sun was up and they were filling their bellies, it felt like this day was going to at least be a decent one. Much better than the one before and Gabe found hope that they would be able to find the evidence needed in one day.

            After they finished their breakfast, the guards had ushered them through the door into some kind of armory room. Captain Alterio was standing there waiting for them. He waved over to some leather breastplates and breeches with some short swords laid next to them in scabbards. “We are going to be sending you out there as official representatives of the King’s Guard. As such, it wouldn’t do to send you out there unprotected. Suit up and I’ll explain to you how this is going to work.” His voice was stern but Gabe could tell that the man had taken a liking to their little group. He watched as they started strapping the leather pieces around themselves then he continued. “As our representatives you will be allowed to question anyone in town. You will be going down into the textile district, where you were yesterday. Most of the people in that district are basically good, but it is a low-income area of the city. As such, there are some rough individuals and crime is prevalent. So, keep an eye out.” Gabe had gotten his armor on and was trying to buckle the belt that his sword hung from. Alterio watched him for a minute before moving over to help. “Even though we are giving you weapons, I need you to understand that we are not giving you permission to kill anyone. You are authorized to use deadly force only in cases of self-defense.” He added helping Gabe get the sword positioned correctly.

            Kat struggled to find where everything buckled and tied on her armor and she took a break to look at Alterio. “Is there a chance that people will attack us while we are looking around?” Gabe moved over to her so that he could help get her armor strapped into place.

            “Yeah, we aren’t fighters. I’ve never been in fight in my life. Kat here is athletic, but she never studied fencing to the best of my knowledge. Gabe here has studied some martial arts but to my knowledge all he ever did was competition sparing. And… and… and I can’t even get this stupid armor on.” Sinclair all but whined as he was trying to get his armor buckled into place. Gabe rolled his eyes and moved over to him. Alterio on the other hand was eyeing him, with interest.

            “You’ve studied the military arts.” Alterio asked with curiosity. Gabe was finishing helping Sinclair with his sword belt.

            “Not really, I was training in hand-to-hand self-defense techniques. Primarily to help defend myself without hurting other people. I’m no soldier captain. I avoid fights where I can.” With that he stood up facing Alterio. “Where should we start our search.”

            When they were ready Alterio led them through the guard house and out onto the cobblestone street. He was leading back the way they had come the day before. It looked like something out of a fantasy novel and occasionally Gabe had a hard time paying attention to what Alterio was telling them as he laid out the details of the case. “The woman you found murdered was named Grace. She was a street walker that works the textile district. The cause of death was the hole that was ripped into her stomach and some of her organs were removed. We know that she lives somewhere in the district and the scuttlebutt is that she had one rich customer that kept her from having to take other clients.” With that he stopped and looked at them. “Be careful, and do not start any fights. I can’t stress this enough. Goodluck, I hope you find the culprit.” He gave them a little nod and headed back to the guardhouse.

            The three of them, stood there looking down the street. They saw signs on some of the building faces. One of them was the general grocer, another was the butcher shop, and the third, well the third was the Prancing Unicorn. After a quick talk over their options the group decided to head to the Prancing Unicorn because, as Sinclair put it, you can always get information at a tavern in fantasy games. Gabe noted as they approached the tavern that most of the people on the street just seemed human. Occasionally they would pass a short squat man with a heavy beard or a man that was only waist high with hairy feet. Sinclair was drawing weird looks, not just because he looked particularly out of place, but because he was freaking out over each dwarf and halfling that they met.

Next Chapter: Chapter 4