The Zombie Knight

Chapter Two Hundred Twenty-Four: 'O, crusading champion...'

The trip to Lorent happened quickly. Hector had expected more pushback from both the Queen and the Rainlords when he told them about what the Lorentian Ambassador said, but they all seemed to understand. In the Queen's case, she actually sounded somewhat pleased about the idea, telling him that his victory would help to improve relations between Atreya and Lorent considerably.

Why she was assuming that he would succeed, Hector wasn't quite sure. He didn't want to dampen her spirits, though. Apparently, there had been some trade disputes with Lorent going on in the last few weeks, and it was hindering some kind of building project that the Queen was working on. She promised to tell him more about it when he returned.

The Rainlords were not quite so enthused by his departure--which, admittedly, warmed his heart a little bit--but they were still very supportive and of course insisted on sending strong warriors to help him.

In fact, if he hadn't said anything, half of their remaining forces might've ended up accompanying him. It was the Babbadelo-situation all over again.

However, who to actually bring along proved to be a difficult decision to make. Most of their strongest warriors were in Vantalay at the moment, so the most powerful servants in Warrenhold currently consisted of Zeff Elroy, Joana Cortes, Salvador Delaguna, Dimas Sebolt, Horatio Blackburn, and Nere Blackburn--in no particular order.

But all of those people were the heads of their respective families. They had the most responsibility and would therefore be the most sorely missed. Hector didn't want to bring any of them along.

For some reason, though, Salvador Delaguna wouldn't take no for an answer. All the other heads seemed to understand Hector's perspective, but not him.

"You think I'm too important?" the giant man had said. "Boy, you're more important than any of us. And I'll be damned if I let you go off and face some mysterious beastie all on your own."

It wasn't just Salvador accompanying him, though. Matteo Delaguna, Fidel Blackburn, and Carlos Sebolt had either volunteered or been selected to come along, too.

And much like the treasure hunting teams, they weren't taking their reapers with them. The fact that the so-called Beast of Lorent had already "killed" multiple other servants was an unsettling notion. Perhaps that bit of information was mistaken or exaggerated, but either way, caution seemed like the wisest course of action.

It would be weird to be away from Garovel for so long, and Hector wasn't looking forward to it, but at least he'd still be able to talk to him whenever he wanted.

Unlike the trip to Sair, however, word had gotten to the media about the Lord of Warrenhold's trip to Lorent, and now there was a crowd of reporters camping out at Warrenhold's main gate. Thankfully, the aboveground walls had already been repaired or completely rebuilt, so at least there weren't camera crews all over the castle grounds like there were last time, but it still made leaving more difficult.

He didn't want any of the Rainlords to be caught on camera, especially Lord Salvador, so Hector had to leave first on his own and draw the media away so that the Rainlords could meet up with him later.

Hector couldn't help thinking that this might not have been such a hassle if he'd managed to explore more of the cave network that Warrenhold was part of. He'd done it multiple times previously when searching for the location of the underground waterfall, but after finding it, the exploration effort had lost most of its fervor. Plus, he'd had about a million other things distracting him, lately.

Those caves, though, were something else. They were an absolute labyrinth, and Garovel even mentioned that there was a good chance that they extended beneath most of the city, perhaps even connecting to the subway system. And if that were true, then there were bound to be other routes back up to the surface elsewhere.

That sure would've made it easier to leave the city without drawing so much attention.

In this case, though, those caves alone probably wouldn't have been enough. There were more reporters waiting for him at the airport concourse. By then, the Rainlords had rejoined him, and he was faced with a difficult decision. Split up again? Or just encase all the cameras in iron? He'd done the latter before, and it certainly hadn't won him any points with the media.

He was more concerned about the reporters noticing the four Rainlords in his company. He doubted any normal person would recognize them, and if they acted casual, they could just pass as normal bodyguards, but it was still a risk that Hector preferred not to take.

Hmm. Maybe he could just armor the Rainlords up.

No, wait, that would freak the media out even more, wouldn't it? They might think there were suddenly five Darksteel Soldiers or some shit.

"Having problems?" came a deep, yet oddly familiar voice.

Hector turned to see that it belonged to a uniformed pilot. Then he did a double take when he saw that it was Roman Fullister. "What're you doing here?"

"You didn't think I'd let you go to Lorent without me, did you?" The bass in his voice was so much heavier than usual.

"...Are you using vibrations to modulate your own voice now?" said Hector.

Roman chuckled. "Yeah. Pretty neat, right? I should've tried this out ages ago. Once I get the hang of it, I feel like I might be able to pull off some killer impressions."

Hector exhaled half a laugh. Roman had been staying at Warrenhold with everyone else, so him showing up at the airport like this was highly unnecessary.

Carlos Sebolt was the first to point that fact out. "If you wanted to come along, you could've just accompanied us when we left the castle."

"Where would be the fun in that?" said Roman, returning his voice to normal.

Salvador chortled and slapped a meaty hand on Roman's shoulder, making the man's whole body shake. "You are a strange one, Mr. Fullister!"

"Do you have some way around those reporters for us?" asked Carlos.

"It just so happens that I've got a spare plane that we can use. One that our media friends over there don't know about."

Hector was reminded of something. "That isn't the same plane that you stole from the Vanguard, is it?"

The Rainlords all snapped to attention in unison at that question.

"Oh, no, don't worry," said Roman. "I got rid of that thing a long time ago. Can't just leave a loose end like that hanging around. Even if it is worth millions of troa."

"So you bought a whole new plane, then?" said Hector.

"Nah, I only chartered this one," said Roman. "Less expensive this way. I do want to get another one eventually, though."

Roman guided them to the hangar where it was being kept. It was a handsome machine, painted white-and-silver and bearing the black insignia of a sword with wings--the logo of the Gray Rock International Airport.

"How long ago did you charter this thing?" said Hector.

"Oh, it's been a good while," said Roman. "Almost twenty-four whole hours."

Hector just shook his head and laughed as he boarded the plane.

It didn't take much longer for the small crew to finish preparations. Hector also discovered that Fidel Blackburn was a certified pilot, and with Roman's permission, he was allowed into the cockpit with the aircraft's otherwise lone airman.

Soon enough, they were in the air and leaving the country.

With Lorent being so close, Hector had at first thought that an airplane wouldn't be necessary, but after a quick geography lesson on the internet, he realized that Lorent was actually kind of huge--and their destination was the Imara Forest, deep in the heart of the country. This way, it would only take a few hours to reach instead of all night.

This was Hector's second time seeing Lorent from the air. The trip to Sair had afforded him the opportunity once before, but he'd been considerably more distracted by Lynn's presence during that flight.

He was able to get a better look now.

Ambassador Stoutamire hadn't been kidding when he'd said that Lorent had a lot of forests. That was all Hector could see across the entire horizon. Were there even any cities in this country?

Ah, yeah, he managed to spot an occasional building peeking up among the trees here and there. Wow, did they really just build their towns in the middle of the forest like that?

Suddenly, he felt a little bad. He probably should've known a lot more about this country, considering how close it was to Warrenhold.

Well, hopefully, this trip would help change that.

"Is Garovel complaining to you?" said Roman, who was sitting next to him.

"Hmm?" said Hector. "Ah. No? Complaining about what?"

"About not bringing him along," said Roman. "I just left, and Voreese already won't shut up."

"Ah... well, now that you mention it, I'm sure Garovel will get around to it, eventually."

"I'm tempted to tell her to go bother Garovel instead of me, but if he's not annoying you already, then I'm afraid she might infect him with her whining."

"Heh. Oh, uh, by the way, thanks again for your help with the Bank."

"Don't sweat it." After a beat, Roman bobbed his head to the side. "Well. Okay, maybe you can sweat it a little bit. That's ten million troa I've got riding on you."

Hector's laugh was a moderately nervous one. "I'm sweating it plenty, I promise..."

"Seems like it's going pretty well, though, yeah?"

"So far."

"Well, even if it all goes pear-shaped, don't worry. I'll bail your bank out for you."

Hector blinked and looked at him anew. "Really?"

"Hell no! Are you kidding? Do you have any idea how much money you're talking about?"

Hector's expression flattened, and he went back to looking out the window. "Suddenly, I'm starting to miss Voreese."

Roman snorted a laugh of his own.

A question occurred to Hector, and it made him smile, so he couldn't help asking it to Roman. "Does Voreese have any theories about what this monster might actually be?"

"Oh, sweet Cocora, does she ever," said Roman. "You don't actually wanna hear all of her crazy ramblings, do you?"

Hector returned a slight nod, as if to say that he kind of did want to hear them.

Roman groaned. "Did Garovel not bombard you with any wild theories of his own? He must've, surely."

"Oh yeah, he definitely did," said Hector, smile widening. "That's what gave me the idea to ask you about Voreese."

"Ah, I see. So you're amused by the thought of me suffering through the same sort of thing that you did, is that it?"

"Pretty much."

"Alright, well... I guess I can give you the abridged version. Heh, but only if you tell me some of the crazy shit that Garovel said, too."

"Deal."

Roman took a moment to think. "She mentioned something called a Ceese. Apparently, it's a type of 'evil spirit.'" He made air quotes with his fingers.

Hector asked the obvious question. "Evil spirit? What does that mean?"

"That's what I said. She couldn't provide details. Probably because it's a mythological creature and never actually existed. I asked some of the Rainlords' reapers, and they were a bit more forthcoming with the truth. She was just trying to scare me, I think. She's like a little kid sometimes, I swear."

"Ah." Hector was still curious, though. "...So what's so scary about a Ceese, then?"

Roman breathed a partial laugh. "Well, it's supposed to stalk you from the edges of your peripheral vision, always staying just outside of your view, somehow. And as it gets closer and closer, it begins to laugh at you--or at least, that's what it sounds like. Might just be its breathing, since it's not actually supposed to be human."

"Huh..."

"It's supposed to do all this because it feeds off of your fear or some shit," said Roman. "And it only tries to kill you when either your fear reaches a critical point or it becomes dissatisfied with the amount of fear you're exhibiting."

"Wait, so it tries to kill you no matter what you do?" said Hector.

"Guess so."

"Shouldn't there be, like, a special rule or something to help you stay alive? That's how these mythological stories usually go, isn't it?"

"I dunno, man. Like I said, Voreese didn't offer anything in the way of proof--even anecdotally. And the Rainlords said it wasn't real."

Hector spared a glance at the other passengers and lowered his voice. "The Rainlords didn't know about Sparrows, either."

Roman opened his mouth, then perhaps thought better of whatever he was about to say and closed it again.

"And besides... I've met two gods in the last six months--one of which, even Garovel thought never existed. So you'll have to excuse me if I try to keep an open mind about these things."

Roman scratched his forehead. "Well, when you put it like that..."

Hector let the silence linger for a moment longer before saying, "So did Voreese mention anything else?"

"Yeah. She said it could also be something called a Wamp--which is another mythological creature, by the way."

Hector's brow depressed a little. "A Wamp? Doesn't exactly sound scary..."

"Right? Apparently, it's an Old Mohssian term that doesn't really have an accurate translation."

"Hmm. So what does the Wamp do, then?"

"Sucks your soul out of your body and tortures you in a hellish nightmare of your own imaginings."

Hector's pressed his lips together flatly. "Oh."

"Yeah. Doesn't sound too fun."

"Does it have a particular reason for doing that to you? Or is it just an asshole?"

"Not sure," said Roman. "I think Voreese said it's supposed to eat you afterward."

"So it's like tenderizing your soul by torturing you?"

"Maybe." Roman shrugged. "But like I said. Mythological. Probably not real."

"Right... and I don't suppose you know if servants are immune to its soul-sucking powers, huh?"

"Why would we be immune?"

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"Because our souls don't even belong to us. They belong to our reapers."

"Mm. That's one way of putting it, I suppose. I don't see why that would make us immune, though."

"Well, I know for a fact that we're immune to certain aberration abilities."

"You do? How do you know that?"

"Because the first time I fought Geoffrey Rofal, he tried to consume my soul. Didn't work."

"Oh, right. Him. I'd almost forgotten about that little bastard."

Hector made no response. He wished he could forget. He knew he never would.

Roman took the opportunity to change the subject. "So what were Garovel's theories about this monster, then?"

"Were those two the only ones that Voreese brought up?"

"No, but I'm tired of talking about them. It's your turn."

That was fair. "Ah... he told me about something called a Yigorosk."

"Scarier name than Wamp, at least. What's its deal?"

"Basically, it's a giant tentacle monster."

"...Is that it? Maybe I'm just jaded at this point, but if all it's got going for it is a bunch of tentacles, then I doubt it would stand much of a chance against six servants. Or even one, for that matter."

"Well, it can also camouflage itself. And it's supposed to be pretty durable. Kinda like the worms in the Undercrust, was what Garovel said."

"Hmm. Still not impressed."

"It stalks its prey while camouflaged and then springs on them when no one is looking and drags them back to its gooey lair--which it made from its own bodily juices, by the way."

"Okay, well, that's fuckin' gross."

"Mmhmm."

"So is this actually real?" said Roman. "Or is it mythological likes the ones Voreese was talking about?"

"Garovel said it really existed like two thousand years ago," said Hector.

"Hmm. Doesn't really sound like a forest-dwelling monster, though, so why does he think it might be this 'Beast of Lorent?'"

"Supposedly, it could goo-ify almost any kind of environment to suit its needs. And it was known to migrate to new regions when threatened by hunters."

"Did you look this Yigorosk up on the internet?"

Hector hesitated. "Y-yeah..."

Roman cocked an eyebrow "And? What'd you find?"

"Uh... not what I was looking for."

Roman seemed confused.

Hector considered how to explain. "...Tentacle monsters are really popular online."

Roman no longer looked confused. A smile flickered across his face as he attempted to maintain his composure, but it didn't take long for him to start laughing outright.

"It's not that funny," said Hector.

Roman settled himself. Mostly. "Sorry. Heh. So, I guess, the term Yigorosk didn't help to, heh, narrow your search?"

"No." Hector frowned. "It sure fucking didn't."

Roman snorted again. "That's still a little strange, though. If it really does exist to this day, then you should've been able to find some actual academic articles about it."

Hector scratched his chin. "Maybe I'm just bad at searching for stuff online."

"You think so? I thought all young people these days were well-versed in using the internet."

Hector smiled. "Hey, maybe you should look it up."

Roman just stared at him a moment. "I see where this is going, and I don't like it."

"I'm sure you'd be better at it than me."

"Alright, y'know what?" Roman pulled out his phone. "I'm willing to walk over this land mine if we do it together."

At that, Hector's enthusiasm waned a little. "Eh..."

"I'm not doing it by myself," said Roman. "You can back out, but so will I."

Hector's mouth scrunched up. "Fine."

And so, for the next several minutes, the two of them braved a world of pretty fucked up shit. Unfortunately, even Roman couldn't find any "academic" articles, per se, but at length, they did happen upon a website that was full of words instead of artwork.

Which was something of a relief, at least.

The site itself seemed quite primitive, though, so Hector impulsively figured that they would soon move on from it, but Roman actually started reading that giant wall of text on the front page.

Hector decided to give it a go as well.

The text did indeed mention the Yigorosk by name and even described it as a creature first mentioned in ancient Luughian mythology. The Yigorosk supposedly emerged from the depths of the Luthic Ocean and laid countless eggs, which then hatched and terrorized the western coast of the Luughian continent for a hundred years.

It also stated that most modern scientists believe the Yigorosk to be either fictional or extinct due to the fact that no fossilized remains of it have ever been found--and because the only "historical record" that even mentioned it belonged to Harundel the Elder, who was apparently a notoriously unreliable and eccentric figure in ancient history.

Then the author of the website said that modern scientists were fools and claimed to have not only personally seen a Yigorosk, but also killed it and used its remains to create a powerful aphrodisiac.

Then the text started getting weirdly sexual.

"Who wrote this shit?" said Roman.

They scrolled down and found a link to a credits page.

"'Harundel the Younger,' apparently," said Hector.

"I want the last few minutes of my life back," said Roman.

They spent the remainder of the flight discussing more hypothetical monsters that their reapers had mentioned. The only thing they knew definitively about the Beast of Lorent was that it had managed to avoid being identified despite Lorent's best efforts, so most of their proposed monsters were ones that could operate stealthily in one form or another.

At length, however, the conversation became more obviously about entertaining one another than it did about actually trying to discern what the creature might be. Among others, Hector brought up something called a jajarith, which was a kind of man-eating frog-beast that supposedly came from Qenghis, while Roman brought up something called a tomokooni, which was a freaky badger-like humanoid-creature that crept up on people while they slept and flayed them alive in order to wear their skin as its own.

They hadn't been competing, exactly, but after that, Hector decided that Roman had won. Maybe it wasn't such a good idea to be so open-minded about the possibility of all these things existing, after all.

"Apparently," Roman was still saying as they were getting off the plane, "the jury is still out on whether or not a tomokooni can pass for a human being. Voreese wasn't too sure on that part. But regardless, I have to imagine that the Lorentian authorities would've noticed a bunch of flayed corpses lying around and told us."

"Y'know," said Hector, "everyone likes to talk about how great the power of the imagination is, but sometimes, I think it might be the most horrific thing in the world."

"Could very well be."

A small group of people were waiting for them on the tarmac--which Hector found a little surprising, considering how they'd changed planes at the last minute, but he supposed the pilot must've radioed ahead.

It was a bit difficult to make out their faces in the darkness of the late evening, but as they got closer, Hector realized that the one on the right was Ambassador Stoutamire. The man was not first to step forward and speak, however. Instead, it was a middle-aged woman in a long red coat with feathers along the collar.

"Thank you for coming on such short notice, Lord Goffe," she said, holding up a rather archaic-looking lantern for illumination. "Welcome to the Imara Province. I am Larissa Karr, the Secretary of State for the Lorentian Federal Government." She offered him a gloved handshake, and Hector took it.

The Secretary of State? Didn't that make her super important? Or did it? Hector wasn't too familiar with the structure of foreign governments. Hell, he was still learning about Atreya's government.

Ambassador Stoutamire shuffled forward to shake hands with him as well. "Apologies for the lack of warning, Lord Goffe. Had I known, I would certainly have informed you that Secretary Karr would be here to meet you. Oh, you must think us terribly unorganized."

"It's no trouble," said Hector.

"Things have been especially hectic around here, you see," said Stoutamire. "Why, just yesterday, the power--"

The Secretary decided to interject. "That's enough, Ambassador. Lord Goffe didn't come all this way to hear us complain."

"Ah--yes. Forgive me." Stoutamire stepped backward with a stiff bow.

Secretary Karr regarded Hector again, this time lingering on his companions. "Who is this that you have brought with you?" she asked. "Your hunting party?"

"That's right," said Hector, figuring that was as good a term as any. With the Scarf, he could sense that Salvador Delaguna was fidgeting a bit more than the others.

Hmm, perhaps he was worried about being recognized. Hector had made iron masks for all the Rainlords, so that wouldn't be a problem, but Salvador was the head of House Delaguna, which made him quite an important political figure in Sair. Maybe that was making him uncomfortable unconsciously or something.

Hector had offered an iron mask to Roman as well, but the man refused--"on principle," he'd said. Apparently, he took his disguises even more seriously than Hector thought. Either way, it wouldn't be quite as big of a deal if someone recognized Roman, since he was at least Atreyan, so Hector didn't press the issue.

"I did not expect you to bring such a large group," said Secretary Karr, "but this is encouraging to see. If there is any way in which we can help, you need only to ask. You are doing this country a great service. Come, let us walk."

The two parties became one as they moved toward the airport terminal together. Normally, it might not have been so easy to chat on the open tarmac like this, but there were no other airplanes either coming or going. It didn't escape Hector's notice how empty the place looked.

"Have you already evacuated this area?" said Hector.

"For the most part, yes," she said. "There have been a number of anomalous events in this area that suggest the Beast may be closer than we first thought."

Hector kind of wanted someone else to take the lead in this conversation, but that obviously wasn't going to fly, since he was the only person in their group who wasn't trying to keep a low profile in one way or another. "Events like what?" he asked.

"Frequent changes in weather, for one thing. This place was covered in snow three days ago, but you wouldn't know it now. Then it was blisteringly hot, and just yesterday, there was an electrical storm that knocked out most of our electronics."

"Oh," said Hector. "That would explain your lantern, then."

"Hmm? Oh, yes. We found a few of these in storage. Thankfully, we at least managed to get some of the radios back up and running."

Hector found that concerning. "Sounds like this area is pretty dangerous, then. Should you even be here, right now?"

"Frankly," said Secretary Karr, her voice suddenly wavering, "ah... no, I probably should not be here at all. I only meant to greet you upon your arrival. I did not think that once I came here, I would be trapped."

Hector blinked. "Trapped?" And he noticed her gaze as well, going back and forth, as if watching for something.

"As I said, the storm yesterday knocked out most of our electronics. We lost all ability to communicate with the outside world until only a few hours ago. It was quite a frightening ordeal, I must say."

Stoutamire chimed in again. "Oh, indeed! We were worried that the Beast would attack at any moment! So you can be sure that I am not exaggerating or merely being polite when I say that we are quite pleased to see you now!"

Damn. Hector eyed the distant treeline in the darkness. The airport was fairly large, but it still seemed to be surrounded by forest. The monster could literally appear from any direction, in that case.

So far, these people didn't sound that scared, but maybe they were just trying to remain professional and not panic their subordinates.

If he were in their shoes, he would probably be pretty fucking terrified. He could only imagine what they must have gone through in the last day.

"Is someone coming to pick you up?" said Hector.

"Yes, we received word that a Special Operations team was being deployed here over two hours ago," said the Secretary. "They have... yet to arrive."

Hmm. Hector eyed their small group another time. It was just the Secretary, the Ambassador, and three apparent attendants. "Did you not have a security team escort you here?" he asked.

"We did," she said. "However, they went missing about ten hours ago. We have no idea where they are."

Holy shit.

Hector stopped walking, which made everyone else do the same. "Well, we have an airplane and a spare pilot," he said, very calmly. "Why don't you take them both and go somewhere a bit safer?"

Secretary Karr was visibly taken aback. "That is an incredibly generous offer, Lord Goffe! You would be leaving yourself with no means of escaping this place. Are you sure that would be wise?"

Before answering, Hector glanced toward Roman. He was the one actually paying for that plane, after all.

Roman merely returned a slight nod, apparently not feeling the need to actually interject into the conversation personally.

"We'll be fine," said Hector. "Please, take it and go."

The Secretary of State looked around at her people for a moment, then gave Hector a nod. "Thank you. We will do as you ask. But before we go, do you have any other questions for us concerning the Beast? Or anything else?"

Hector mulled it over. If this was really going to be the last chance he got to talk to any of the Lorentians before the hunt was on, then he probably shouldn't waste the opportunity. But what should he ask about?

"...Have you learned anything new about the creature since I last spoke to Ambassador Stoutamire?" said Hector.

It was her turn to think. "I already mentioned the abnormal weather. We were not previously aware that the Beast possessed any such capabilities. I suppose it could be unrelated. We have no actual proof that it is causing these strange disturbances in the environment."

It was good to be skeptical, Hector supposed, but he highly doubted that it was just some freak coincidence.

The masked Carlos Sebolt leaned in to whisper something into Hector's ear. "Lord, ask her where she last saw her security team."

"Your security escort," said Hector. "You said they went missing ten hours ago?"

"That's right."

"Where was the last place you saw them?"

"Ah... they were not all in one place together," she said. "They went missing around the same time, but I remember seeing them surveying the area in pairs. The most alarming moment was when my two personal bodyguards disappeared. Unlike the others, they were not supposed to leave my side at all."

Carlos whispered to him again. "Lord, that is highly alarming. Please ask her for more details."

Hector didn't need to be told either of those things. "How exactly did your two bodyguards disappear?"

"Ah--well, one moment they were there, and the next they were not," she said. "We looked all over the airport, but we were unable to find them."

"Okay, but--" Hector hesitated. He wanted to be careful with what he said, but he needed better clarification. Was she actually talking about people vanishing before her eyes? Probably not, right? And broaching the subject of invisibility was more likely to alarm everyone in the group. He decided to rephrase his question. "...So let me make sure I understand. One moment, they were there, then you turned away? And then when you looked back, your bodyguards weren't there anymore?"

"Yes, that is correct." The Secretary sounded mildly confused, perhaps wondering why he was asking for clarification on something so simple.

Okay, so probably not invisibility, then. For a second there, he'd gotten flashbacks to both Dunehall and the Gaolanets' Estate. In a background thought process, he wondered if the Scarf would work as well on detecting invisible aberrations as it did on invisible Sparrows.

"Lord," came Carlos' voice again, "ask her how well she knew her bodyguards."

Hmm. Hector could see where he was going with that question. "How well did you know these two bodyguards of yours?"

The Secretary looked suddenly even more confused. "I... not very well, I suppose." And she blinked. "You're not suggesting that they..." For whatever reason, she left that sentence unfinished.

Hector, however, had another question for her that she might not like very much. "Is it possible that the Beast didn't get them? That they just left on their own?"

Her posture stiffened somewhat. "What are you implying, Lord Goffe?"

Hmm? Was he approaching a sore spot? "I'm just trying to understand the situation here."

The Secretary did not look pleased. "You think they may have betrayed me."

Hector cocked an eyebrow. Was she getting upset at him? "Do you think that they may have betrayed you?"

She looked like she wanted to say no, but she only frowned, instead.

"...Can you think of a reason why they might leave you here?" said Hector.

She glanced at Stoutamire, then at the three attendants. "I... have my enemies. As any public figure does."

"...But is there something more specific?" said Hector.

She exhaled. "Ah... you're looking for what you would call a 'credible threat,' no?"

Was he? It just seemed like a sensible thing to ask about, Hector thought.

"There was an incident a few months ago," she went on, "wherein three members of Congress were convicted of treason."

That was certainly news to Hector.

"I was... tangentially involved, you might say," she said.

"How so?" said Hector.

"I bankrolled the lead prosecutor when all of his other funding had mysteriously dried up. I tried to keep my name out of it, but I suspect my efforts only went so far."

Hector couldn't help feeling like he'd just heard a secret that he might've been safer not knowing. It was quite a familiar feeling, actually.

"It is unlikely that those three were the only conspirators," she said. "If they wanted me dead, then I suppose it would be quite convenient if the Beast of Lorent took care of it for them. No need to risk an assassination attempt. My death would not look suspicious at all this way, would it? How could I have been so blind?"

Hector held up a hand. "Alright, well, let's not jump to too many conclusions yet. It was just a thought. We don't actually have any proof that your bodyguards betrayed you. It really might've just been the Beast that got them."

The Secretary's frown remained exactly where it was. "But if it was the monster, then why did it not come for us as well? I was wondering that previously, yet now I feel foolish for not having realized it sooner."

Stoutamire chimed in again. "Sadly, I think you may be right, ma'am. And if that's so, then might it not be safer to remain here? With Lord Goffe?" He addressed Hector directly. "Your offer to give us your plane is incredibly kind of you, but now I can't help worrying that the real danger for the Madame Secretary may not come from this mysterious Beast at all."

Hector cocked an eyebrow. "Just like that, you think the monster isn't real?"

"Oh, no, it may well be," said the Ambassador, "but so may the threat on the Secretary's life be. I cannot speak for the rest of us, of course, but I feel much safer now that you are here, and to be quite blunt, I would rather not leave your side just yet. What if the Beast is somehow able to bring down the aircraft?"

That pulled a couple of disquieted whispers out of the man's unnamed associates.

Hector made no response, though. He supposed the guy had a point. They didn't actually know what the monster was capable of. It wasn't outside the realm of possibility that it could attack the airplane, especially if it could alter the weather.

But Hector still couldn't help mistrusting Stoutamire's words a little. There was something in his mannerisms that Hector found slightly unsettling. Perhaps it was the lack of genuine fear in the man's eyes. The Ambassador somehow looked happy about having an excuse to stay.

Hector tried not to rush to judgment, though. He probably shouldn't base his decisions off of things like "the look in someone's eyes," eh? The fuck did that even mean, anyway? He may've been a lord now, but it wasn't like he'd suddenly gained lie-detecting powers or anything.

A suddenly cold gust of wind interjected in their conversation, causing everyone to brace themselves against its biting touch. Then in the distance, a bolt of lightning flashed across the night sky, followed very soon afterward by its accompanying boom.

The others all looked briefly in the direction the bolt had been in, and Hector did the same, but his mind was simultaneously elsewhere.

Because that gust of wind had showed him something through the Scarf.

Quite far away from the group, on one of the grounded airplanes, Hector had briefly sensed the foggy outline of a figure. And a large one--familiarly large. It had only been for a fleeting moment, but he was pretty sure of what he'd just sensed.

A Sparrow.

Impulsively, Hector wanted to look over in that direction immediately, but he resisted. He was pretty sure that they would just be invisible, anyway, and they might suspect that he was onto them if they saw him looking right at them.

Was it Hanton? Hector doubted it. The Lord Gaolanet would've known better than to try to hide from him.

Whoever it was, this was a problem. Before anything else, Hector needed to know if they were hostile. Because if they were, then he couldn't trust anything that his eyes were telling him, right now. Everything was potentially an illusion.

"Excuse me," said Hector, drawing everyone's attention. "I know this may seem odd, but could you all wait here one minute? There's something I have to take care of. I won't be long."

Understandably, they were all confused, and it took him a little while to "explain" without actually explaining. He told that he knew he was being a little weird but that everything was fine. And even after he'd convinced the Lorentians, the Rainlords tried to come along, too, so he had to tell them to stay and guard the Secretary.

They didn't say much, but he knew they weren't very pleased by that.

Roman seemed curious as well, but even though he already knew about the existence of Sparrows, Hector still couldn't explain the circumstances without alerting the Sparrow who was probably listening to their conversation at this very moment.

He would have to be quick. Now that the wind had died down again, he couldn't actually sense the bird anymore. It was almost definitely still there, but Hector was sure that it would fly away as soon as he got close. He would've liked to be more diplomatic in his approach, but he highly doubted that an unknown Sparrow would stick around and talk to him, even if he asked nicely.

So he did it all in an instant. Simultaneous materializations. He domed everyone in with soul-infused iron and also launched himself straight in the direction in which he'd sensed the bird.

And yes, it was definitely still there.

He bolted across the tarmac in the span of a single breath. The Sparrow barely had time flap its wings once before he'd clapped its entire invisible body in iron, save only the beak.

Immediately, he could feel the psychic assault on his mind, the same oppressive sensation as when he'd first met Hanton Gaolanet.

"That won't work on me," said Hector. "Just calm down. This doesn't have to turn into a fight. I only want to know who you are and what you're doing here."

'Then why did you attack me first?!' The telepathic voice was somehow feminine. Hector didn't know how he could tell that. He just could.

"Only to prevent you from fleeing. Here." And he annihilated the Sparrow's iron coating to demonstrate that he was telling the truth.

The Sparrow remained invisible to his eyes but not the Scarf. She flapped her wings with seeming disorientation and kicked up a few new gusts of wind on her own, but she didn't start trying to fly, and after a few more moments, she settled back down.

There was tense silence, but given her body language, Hector was hopeful.

"...Tell me who you are," he tried.

'My name is Pauline Gaolanet.'

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