Rebellion: Prince of Dawn

Chapter 10.2: The First Turning Point

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ILIAS VAN PAYNE

A village of stone in the middle of a big green meadow. Surrounding it were fields of wheat, potatoes, carrots, beets, and all known types of vegetables that can grow in a moderately warm climate. The village was encompassed by a protective stone wall seven feet high and two feet deep.

Its name was Gilead.

I never stepped foot outside of the village ever since I was reincarnated and was eager to head out. But as time passed, I came to long the quiet rural landscape. So when we finally came out of the woods and saw the village, all I could think was, we're home.

When we reached wheat fields, Tank took a moment to sniff the air before letting out a satisfied bellow.

Camaro patted his head. "I know, boy. We're back."

The closer we got to the village, the more farmers tending to the crops we ran into. They greeted us all with the same comments.

"Colonel! We thought you'd never return! Glad to have you back!"

"Ilias! Congratulations on passing the exam!"

"We have two State Jynxists in the village now? Very nice."

John sneered at them, the chains bound to his legs and hands clanked.

"Isn't this nice?" Camaro shouted to him. "The citizens of Rockbell could've admired you just like this."

John sighed, knowing that all he could do was keep his mouth shut and listen.

"If you protected Rockbell like you were supposed to, I'm sure you'd be somewhere nicer. All that gold you were hoarding for yourself is nothing compared to the generosity and kindness a town you hold can give back."

We made our way down the road and stopped just in front of my house. Out in the yard, Mother, Doria, and Jaime were hanging out by the garden.

The gate was wide open, so Camaro hopped off Tank and knocked on it. "May we come in?"

Jaime was the first to notice us. "They're here!" she yelled as she ran towards us. She hugged the colonel first before tackling me off my pony and giving me the same-on the ground. "Congratulations!"

"Woah," I said. "I could've done without the whole knocking me off the pony, but it's nice to see you too, Jaime."

She helped me back to my feet. "Nice hat. You look like a wizard."

"That sounds like you're making fun of me, but I'll be nice and think of it as a compliment."

Jaime scratched Tank's head while waving at the colonel's unit. "You guys took too long. It was kind of boring here."

"You three look like you had fun without us," Camaro said.

"Quite the opposite. Your guys' missing chaotic energy had actually made the last three months rather dull," Doria retorted. "It was nice to have peace of mind for a bit."

Camaro chuckled at the response. "It's nice to see you too, Lieutenant. Did anything of note happen while our chaotic energy was missing?"

"Colonel Fundin pointed out that Gilead was rather safe. A couple of drunken fights here and there, a few monster reports we took care of-but other than that, nothing."

Jaime had gone around high-fiving the colonel's unit, stopping at John and staring at him. "This man looks like a weird weasel. Who is he?"

"I'm the weird one?" he asked. "You're the one that has green hair."