Chapter 7: A Mystery Partially Solved

Ragnar slowly walked down the main road of Izmit to the town's shops. The citizens, up several hours earlier, were bustling through the streets with activity. People from the seaside villages were rummaging through various wares while trying to sell or trade their own to the merchants. It was still early spring and foreign wares from Bonmalmo and Santeem weren't going to be available until the summer, so the streets weren't quite as busy as it would get later in the year.

Several people stopped by the Zenithian Temple as well. The Zenithians, according to legend, were a race of omnipotent beings that served the Master Dragon, a god of extraordinary power that looked down upon the world, guiding the human populace. It was said if you had followed the Zenithian ways, you were granted permission to live among the Zenithians when you died.

Although Ragnar didn't disbelieve in any of the religion, he viewed the dedicated sermons a waste of time compared to the important responsibilities of a royal soldier and never made it a habit to attend the temples unless duty required it. In the soldier's mind, whether there was a place to reside in the afterlife was irrelevant. Such concerns were for the future while his concerns remained in the present.

Ragnar made his way to one of the few weapon shops in Izmit after gaining some directions. He viewed the merchandise there and saw many fine weapons on display: a variety of whips, chain sickles, and even spears made of iron. However, he didn't need to waste his time with all of the fine weaponry. All he needed was a copper sword for Denuve.

"How much?" Ragnar asked the merchant, pointing at one on display.

"One hundred gold pieces," the merchant replied.

It was a little more than Ragnar had expected but a promise was a promise. "Here," he said, reaching into his money pouch. "That's one hundred fifty. Give it a good sharpening." The merchant nodded anxiously and hurried the sword into the back of the shop to sharpen it.

Ragnar leaned against the wall, taking in the gossip of some of the shoppers. Most of it was trivial stuff - what one husband did to their wife, or whom one woman met at the school.

He overheard a couple of women talking about their children. Maybe they knew something about the disappearances and Ragnar decided to question them while he waited.

"Excuse me, ladies," Ragnar said, giving them a gentlemanly bow, "but I couldn't help overhearing your conversations. Were you discussing about the children disappearing?"

"What if we were?" one of the woman asked, eyeing Ragnar up and down.

"I am Sir Ragnar Calgor, Captain of the Royal Soldiers of Burland," he said, again bowing. "By the King's command, I am here to investigate the disappearances."

"Really," the second woman said. "Well, what have you found out, Sir Ragnar?"

"Not much, actually," Ragnar shrugged. "It seems these disappearances have baffled the townsfolk just as much."

"Well, we weren't talking about the disappearances," the first woman said. She seemed to have an alluring edge to her voice now but the soldier ignored it. It was not in his nature to be attracted to women in such a manner.

"Yes," the second said. "I was just telling Angeline that I was glad they finally locked up that crazy nut who's been hanging around the children. I told my son not to go near him but I still caught him with the loon."

"He was locked up for stealing some bread," the woman named Angeline added, slowly approaching the soldier.

"Um, I see," Ragnar stuttered, backing up a bit. He really didn't want to have anything to do with this woman. Sure, she was attractive but his heart was set on Mary and Ragnar didn't want to be unfaithful to her in any way, including leering at other women. He decided it would be best to stall her by asking some pointless questions. "Uh, do you know what this guy's name is?"

"What did you say his name was, Paulina?" Angeline asked, her eyes steeled on Ragnar, "Alex, was it?"

The second woman nodded and said, "Yeah, it seems he lost his memory or something like that. Must have been through some ordeal."

Ragnar didn't really pay attention. This Angeline was getting closer and he didn't have much more room to back up. He noticed the one called Paulina was beginning to giggle. Where was that blasted merchant? It shouldn't take this long to sharpen a sword.

As if on cue, the merchant returned with a freshly sharpened sword. "And will there be anything else, kind sir?" he asked as he handed the sword over to Ragnar.

"No, nothing else," Ragnar replied quickly, grabbing the sword. "Thanks!" And he rushed off, thankful to be away from the temptress. He looked back to make sure he they weren't following him and noticed the two women were laughing with each other. Ragnar didn't know for sure but he had a suspicion he had just been played the fool.

"Here's your sword," Ragnar said to Denuve, dropping it un-ceremonially in front of the soldier.

"Uh, thanks," Denuve said, hesitantly picking up the sword.

"Is there something wrong?" Harald asked Ragnar.

"Just got to learn how to keep my mouth shut," Ragnar muttered as he sat down at the table. He still couldn't believe he had been humiliated in the public like that. So far, this trip to Izmit had not been going great.

Moments later, Garn entered the eatery and joined them at the table. "So," Harald asked, "what did you find?"

"Not a whole lot," Garn muttered. "Just a variation of what the innkeeper's wife told us. The kid said he saw his friend playing with some shoes they had found. When the mother looked away, he put the shoes on and the kid saw him fly into the sky."

"Now that is much different," Denuve said. "The mother said that he just disappeared but his friend said that he flew into the sky."

"You know how kids exaggerate things," Garn said to Denuve. "That's probably all he meant."

"Still," Denuve argued, "shouldn't we put it into consideration that-"

"You know what I think," Ragnar interrupted, finally looking up. The others looked at him. "I was talking to some townsfolk and they told me the children had been hanging around a crazy person lately. I think this guy probably kidnapped these kids."

"Do you happen to know where this lunatic is?" Harald asked.

"They caught him stealing bread and threw him in the jail," Ragnar replied.

"It might be a good idea if we questioned him a bit," Garn said.

"Agreed," Harald said, "but only two of us should go. If he really is crazy, we don't want to alarm him." The others agreed and decided that Harald and Ragnar should go.

They headed over to the jail, which was located down a shabby path at the north end of Izmit. A single guard was stationed at the entrance, which lead to a few underground cells. Once the soldiers identified themselves, the guard eagerly let them pass.

There weren't many cells; apparently, crime wasn't a major problem in Izmit. The few cells they had were surprisingly tidy for an underground jail. Each had a single bed, a bowl of water, and a desk with a stool! Ragnar could almost go as far as to saying that a prisoner could be treated like a guest in cells like these. In Burland Castle, all cells were bare-floored with a couple of blankets, and a bowl of water was given to you every six hours.

"We should approach quietly," Harald said in a hushed voice. "We don't want to scare him." Ragnar nodded in agreement.

However, upon nearing the cell, they heard someone jump up and start screaming, "Help! Help! They're after me! They're all after me!" There was an eerie silence after that, then a timid voice asking, "Does anyone want to play with me? I'm so very lonely. I'm your friend! I won't hurt you."

"Looks like we found our lunatic," Ragnar whispered, and they went up to the cell.

Inside was a dirty man, probably in his late twenties, wearing tattered clothes. He was huddled up against the far corner of his bed in a fetal position. He seemed to be mumbling something but neither soldier could make it out.

Harald went up to the bars and said in a low voice, "Excuse me. May we speak with you for a moment?"

The man in the cell looked up and saw the two soldiers. He bolted up and rushed to the bars. Harald and Ragnar backed up, thinking the crazy man was going to ram into the bars. However, he stopped just short of the cell door.

"I was hungry!" he cried. "That was why I stole that bread! I was just so very hungry!"

Harald looked at Ragnar for a moment before he cautiously approached the crazy man. "Uh, that's not why we're here," he said.

"Oh," the crazy man said, somewhat cheerfully.

Ragnar approached the cell as well. "Um, we were just wondering if you could answer us a few questions?" he asked.

The crazy man sat down on the floor and started to toss rocks at the water bowl. After a moment, he turned to the soldiers and said, "Yeah, sure. What y'a wanna know?"

The soldiers looked at each other again, unsure as to how they should proceed. Ragnar started the questioning. "Exactly what kind of relationship do you have with the children here in Izmit?"

"They're my friends!" the crazy man smiled broadly. "We go and play together! It's lots of fun." Clang! "Yes! And it counts! Two points for the home team!"

"What do you exactly do?" Harald asked.

"We go and play at the..." His voice trailed off for a moment. He stopped his throwing rocks and looked around him, as if he were making sure they were alone. He stood up and motioned for the soldiers to come closer to the bars. Harald hesitated but Ragnar pulled him over with him.

The crazy man motioned for them to put their ears up against the bars. The soldiers did so and the man cupped his hands and whispered into their ears, "We go and play at the secret playground." He then suddenly spit into their ears!

Ragnar and Harald, caught by surprise by the disgusting action, jumped back. The man started to giggle like a little child and resumed his game with the rocks and water bowl.

"That's it!" Harald said angrily. "I'm not going to waste another minute here! He's obviously just some loony."

Ragnar regained his composure more quickly than Harald and said, "But this 'secret playground' might be where these missing children are. We should ask him further questions."

"You can," Harald said, jutting a finger in Ragnar's chest. "I'm going back to the inn." And with that, Harald stormed out of the jail.

Ragnar couldn't blame his friend. Trying to reason with this crazy person was like trying to reason with a four year old and Ragnar wasn't too fond of children who were as irresponsible as this man was. However, Ragnar figured if he was going to get anywhere with this mystery, he was going to have to push him further.

"Um," Ragnar began, trying to smile, "that was, um, really, a funny joke there. But do you think you could refrain from doing that, Mister...um..."

"Alex!" the crazy man finished. "My name is Alex, but the kids call me Al."

"Right," Ragnar said, not really paying attention. "Um, Al, I was wondering. Where is this secret playground?"

"Can't tell," he replied, shaking his head. "It's a secret!" Clang! "Yes! He scores! No one can stop him!"

Ragnar let a low growl of frustration escape from his chest. He wanted to break down the jail door and wring the truth out of this lunatic but he realized it wouldn't do any good. It would be like trying to beat up a child. He would probably begin to either cry or bite and kick him.

Ragnar figured there wasn't anything else he could accomplish here, so he said, "Well, thanks for your time, um, Al. I have to be going now."

He started to leave when the crazy man suddenly jumped up and grabbed onto Ragnar's shirt through the bars. Ragnar was about to brush him off but paused when he saw the crazy man's eyes. They were filled with absolute terror.

"Please don't go!" he pleaded. "They'll get me if you leave!"

"Who?" Ragnar asked, having finally gotten the filthy hands off of his shirt.

"Those mean little green things!" the crazy man cried. "They'll latch onto me, suck my guts out, and... and..."

"Whatever," Ragnar muttered, figuring it to be just another mad rambling. He walked away, still hearing the crazy man scream in terror as if something was attacking him. Ragnar ignored it as best as he could until he got outside again.

Still, there was a lingering feeling inside his head, as if he should know that name Alex from somewhere.