Alright, people, this is going to be my last post for The Caretaker! It’s been quite the journey and I’m so thankful for y’all’s support. 🙂 I plan on completing TC and possibly publishing it someday. Anyway, after this week, I’ll spend the next three publishing the stories of the winners for my short story contest. And then it’s back to random short stories! 😉
That aside, let’s get started on this final post. 🙂
Recap
Lasha meets the other Commanders, finding out that Kain Bennett isn’t just terrorizing her own Realm, but that of the others as well.
The Caretaker – Part 1.19
Lasha dropped her fork. Corn and potatoes spewed onto the table like a neat dust pile that was attacked with a leaf blower. “Kain Bennett,” she repeated, not caring about the mess she’d just made. “Are you certain that was his name, Commander?”
Enexor’s eyes showed no sign of doubt as he met her gaze evenly. “Positive. I checked the records, though, and–”
“Bennett doesn’t exist,” muttered Lasha.
The Spring Commander’s eyebrows raised. “You knew?”
“Yes. Kamit Rune reported a murder on Moekino that was distantly tied to Bennett – and brought to my attention the fact that we have a Leaper deserter from several years ago that is not being tracked, as far as I know.”
Commander Avith broke in. “The name Kain Bennet has also come up in my reports,” he said, his mild tone rivaling the excited dread bubbling in Lasha’s stomach and turning her meal into a steak/potato/corn smoothie. “Caretaker Salu reported an incident where an unknown person vanished through a portal she couldn’t see. Caretaker Serah Achor reported seeing a similar person on Rendar for about thirty seconds before they vanished.”
“Into another portal?” Commander Dor asked.
“No,” Avith replied, his voice slow as he thought. “Serah thinks they’re still on Rendar, somewhere.”
“Have you investigated much?” Dor seemed interested in the story – very interested.
Commander Avith eyed Dor for a moment before nodding. “I have Leapers tracking the Stone as we speak. No trail has turned up as of yet.”
The High Commander glanced at the RALs, who began clearing away supper – including the corn and potatoes all over the table from Lasha’s spill. “This Bennett character has been on my radar for a few weeks,” he said, watching the shock Lasha was sure was on all of the Commanders’ faces. “He’s much more involved in Leaper business than we know – and he’s partly why I’ve called this meeting.”
He hesitated, then motioned for the Commanders to follow him to another room. “This shouldn’t be discussed where other ears might hear,” he said, nodding in the direction of the door. “Not to mention the RALs.”
Lasha rose and filed out of the dining room on Commander Avith’s heels. Her mind was racing to tie all of the random Bennett threads together in a way that made sense. What did this mean for the Leapers? Was he dangerous? Or just messing around? Who was he, since “Kain Bennett” didn’t actually exist? Or did he, and the Leaper records just weren’t complete?
InterWorld… That’s what Kenaz had told her the scale of her mission was. InterWorld. Throughout all the Realms, all the worlds, all the Season universes. That’s how drastic it was. And it turned out she wasn’t the only one investigating this “military threat”. The other Commanders appeared to be on it, too.
She wasn’t alone.
But was that a good thing?
Until next time,
Thank you for the journey. *bows*
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