The Ivory Killer (DISCONTINUED)

-Chapter Two- Merhedith

Welcome back! Heads up, there may be a few grammar/punctuation mistakes here and there, so feel free to point out any that you would like fixed. Also, happy 4th of July!

"He did what?" I spoke terrifyingly calm, praying that my second in command, Jarad, was only playing a joke. Any second now, he would laugh and point out that it was a trick. Maybe it was a dare, knowing how immature he could be at times. When he remained silent, staring directly into my pale green eyes, I knew that I hadn't misheard.

We had lost another one.

His professional facade melted away when he ripped his hands through his brown hair, glinting with a few grey strands. He heaved a deep sigh, before repeating, "Karter hasn't been seen for two days, ma'am. He left for an expedition before breakfast yesterday and," he inserted another sigh into the sentence, "he hasn't come back."

My face quickly went from cool and collected, to utterly destroyed. Sure, Jarad was basically a child trapped in an adult body, but there was no way he would joke about this. Karter was his best friend, and we had just lost him.

"Give me any and all information you have," I demanded, while pulling out a piece of parchment and a quill. I dunked the end into a small bottle of ink.

I sat at the small table located in the general's tent, with Jarad across from me, nervously bouncing his knee. I had never seen Jarad so nervous before, and I could feel the fear blooming in my chest as if it was a physical being.

He dropped his head in his hands, while his elbows balanced on his quivering knees. "There's nothing except that he left and he's not here now." Again, he ruffled his hair and tugged on the edges, "All I know is he left for mapping." I jotted down the note on the parchment for later reference, and then frowned at the lack of facts.

Karter was our only cartographer, and he knew every inch of our small city like the back of his hand. When we first found our small corner of the world and called it our haven, he was the first to explore. He made the maps with special details only Karter could manage to cook up. His maps were extremely detailed, but practical, just like his personality. He and Jarad had been joined at the hips since they were kids, so I've been told. They were closest to each other, bar their wives.

I stood from my stationary position at the table and began pacing, abandoning the paper and feather quill. Light from the evening sun passed through the cloth of the tent, casting a slight glow on everything. It would have been beautiful, or even relaxing, if I hadn't been so caught up in panic.

"That's it?" I inquired, "Nothing else at all?" Tears lightly pricked my eyes, but I hid them with a few hard blinks.

'That's everything we have. It's been two days, Merhedith. There's nothing to tell," He shifted his position on the stool, but still continued to tap his feet furiously.

"What about before he left? Have we checked on that?" My gears began to turn, pumping out possible ideas and situations. Not all of them were good. "Stop that, please," I muttered, nodding towards his twitching feet.

He continued tapping because he probably hadn't heard me over his own thoughts, "I've asked around and there haven't been any fruitful answers. Even his wife didn't know anything more about his trip. 'He was out to draw maps,' she said."

I dragged my hands down my face, barely noticing the sting of my nails scratching my face. "Alright, well, have we sent anyone out? You know, to look for him?" My fingers found their way to my temples, where they attempted to massage away the oncoming headache. It wasn' working. "Stop that," I repeated. The tapping was making it hard to think.

"Yes," he said, sounding exhausted. He had probably been trying to gather information since he heard, and hadn't laid down to rest. His fingers joined in, rapping the table in an unsteady beat. His knee continued to bounce.