Four quickly stowed her blade, pressing it back tip first into her chest. Oddly enough, she didn’t look remorseful in the slightest, her eyes like two little suns converged entirely on the Bloody, “I’m shocked, our little merry band is but 9 wayfarers. We should be far beneath your personal gaze.”

“Agree to disagree,” Five mumbled, his arms crossed, head tilted down.

Eight, still standing, stiffly bowed his head, fighting against a confusing mesh of feelings and emotions, “It’s an honor to finally-”

“Sit,” the Bloody commanded, dim eyes barely even glancing at Eight. “Honorifics are pointless. None of you are my subjects, and neither have you pledged loyalty to me. I could have you bend your knee, make a show of subservience, but I’d wager common sense is enough to keep you from making any foolish decisions.” as he spoke, he glared at each of them, icy eyes akin to bloody daggers.

“Of course. What interest have we in tomfoolery? We are your sworn allies, after all,” Nine said, pulling away from Ten and putting on an air of refined dignity.

“So I’ve heard,” the Bloody looked up at Two. “Continue the meeting. My point is made.”

Two swept his hand to the side. Instantly, the mass of viscera and blood staining the table cloth rose into the air, congealing together into one red mass and landing off in the corner of the room, where it sat patiently, “Right. It’s been quite some time since we last united under one banner, not since Three was inducted 10 years ago, so I’m glad to see you all alive. I trust that you’ve used your time wisely. You must understand that we ten veils do not exist, and we face an enemy that does not exist as well. Should this ever cease to be the case, we have failed,” Two said, rising to look over them all.

“They already know who we are, Two, Walibeld and Era. They’ve been around too long not to see the signs. Transparency isn’t a luxury we have anymore,” Five commented.

“Yes and no. The Guardians are the only ones with the proper knowledge to combat us, but they’re spread too thin, and unwilling to share their secrets,” Four pitched in.

“Have you been keeping an eye on them, Three?” Two asked.

“Them and more. The Conqueror is still gone from the capital, along with 3 generals, but all others remain within,” Three noted.

“And the barrier?”

Three shook his head, “Still nothing. It never goes down and never requires maintenance. The only sure fire method to remove it currently would be to kill Aylin herself. I’ll need more time.”

Two glanced over at the Bloody, gazing across the table to somewhat meet his eyes, “Time, how much do we have?”

“Little. The Conqueror has been quiet, but I’ve no doubt he knows of my involvement at this point. My informant, the girl I had in the Boulreguard household, never returned to me. And although he’s made no official move, the signs are there. Scouts tell me he’s started to spread rumors, excite the country into a frenzy to support the war. His soldiers are training double time, patrolling further and further out into the plains. And just recently he’s started to fortify the border posts between us. So although I can do little to deal with the boy directly, I’ll be able to hold the Conqueror’s attention, enough to buy you some time. Don’t tarry,” the Bloody stated, invisible maps and figures running through his mind.

“The Conqueror isn’t the one who worries me, at least not yet. Him and his men are formidable, but they aren’t mobile, not nearly enough to keep pace with us. And with the chaos we’ve sowed, his attention is split many ways already. No, the Bulwark is the one that truly worries me. Three, you said you’ve been watching them, haven’t you? Where is he?” Nine said.

“He, the 6th, and the 4th Guardian are the only ones I’ve yet to locate. All others are accounted for,” Three said.

“That’s the problem. He’s been missing for too long, and we don’t know what he’s up to. We don’t have enough information to make any concrete moves,” Nine said.

“But neither have we the luxury of waiting,” Seven said, perking up in his chair. “If you ask me, we’ve been too passive already. Enough of the master plan, Two, give us the streamlined version. One word and I’ll have the boys head on your desk by tomorrow morning. That’s the endgame, isn’t it? Kill him and it’s all over? So why don’t we?”

Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

“Because you’ll only get yourself killed,” the Bloody said, his brows furrowed. “Need I remind you that we already killed him? And look what happened, an entire city wiped off the map in a night. There’s no guarantee it can’t happen again, that it won’t happen again, and I won’t send any more of my soldiers after him unless I am given that guarantee.”

For the first time, Six looked up at them, his meal concluded, nothing left, “Ravage his bones. Stake his corpse. Bleed his heart.”

“We already tried that, buddy. Good ideas, though,” Eight said, patting Six on the back as he slumped back into his chair, defeated.

“And regardless, a frontal assault is too difficult with so many powerful allies guarding him. Even if we did know how to kill him, Walibeld isn’t someone to be trifled with. And if he manages to get to Era, that’ll only make it worse,” Five said, bitter.

“So we find a way to separate him from his allies long enough to fight him once we’ve the guarantee we can kill him,” Ten said.

“Easier said than done,” Four replied.

“He is without allies currently,” Three said, completely calm.

“What do you mean?” Seven said, leaning forward towards Three.

“Walibeld left to some end very recently. Trenton is somewhere within Avar currently, unprotected so far as I can tell,” Three responded.

“So then-” Seven started.

“Don’t even think about it. It’ll just be the desert situation all over again. Even if you did manage to find him quickly, attacking him in the open is beyond stupid. Even if you were confident you could take the duke, and whatever fighters happen to be dormant in Avar, the time it would take you would be more than enough for the boy to escape. Not to mention the first problem of we don’t even know how to kill him,” Five spat out.

“The duke is gone. No one knows where he is right now,” Four said.

“The duke is gone?” the Bloody said, folds disappearing from his face.

“I had a nice little chat with Zylor, the duke of Wyrm’s Perch, about some domestic affairs a couple months ago. It took a bit of convincing, but I got some interesting information out of him,” Four said, almost sounding bored.

“Why didn’t you mention this sooner?” Nine said.

“You didn’t ask. But since I’ve got your attention, I can share a little. Dukes out of town, Conqueror’s on some sort of manhunt, and they’ve got a new general traveling with a pack that should be on their way to Baspheler as we speak. If I had to take a guess, those would be the missing three generals, Three.”

“Manhunt…” Bloody murmured to himself, lost within the confines of his own mind.

“That’s certainly valuable information. Do you know who he’s hunting?” Two asked.

“No clue,” Four shrugged. “That was all the duke had to say.”

“If he’s hunting someone, then I imagine it’s an old enemy from the war. Most of the records were destroyed from that time, but I’ll do some digging. I’d like to know who he’s after. And if you learn anything, you’ll tell me,” the Bloody said, staring straight through Four’s soul.

“Walibeld gone…duke gone…Conqueror busy…Guardians missing…what of the chosen? Lumiculus?” Nine asked.

“The chosen are focused on concluding their fight with Baspheler, they’ll be busy for quite some time. They’ve contacted the gods at my behest, but they’re unwilling to send much help. I’d heard they sent some demons through the mountains to intercept, but nothing came of it. As for Lumiculus…” Two trailed off, looking over at Ten.

“They wouldn’t let me see the Watcher, but supposedly they’re amassing soldiers to use, religious zealots, paladins, clerics, the whole lot. I had to leave before I could finish negotiations, however, so I can’t say much beyond that,” Ten said, remembering the sudden emergency call he’d received.

“...then we have everything we need. Ten, return to Lumiculus and rally the soldiers. Three, focus your efforts on Dasellium, forget about the Guardians for the time being. Four and Five, you’re to find Walibeld. His absence must be understood. All others will look for the remaining guardians, find them, stall them. When such time comes, new orders will be given. Until then, I expect you to devote your very lives to these missions,” Two finished.

“Hold on, Two. Wouldn’t a full scale assault only draw more attention?” Five said, practically bursting from his seat.

“Yes, it would, and I think that’s exactly what we need. The more chaos befalls Verulik, the more strained they will be, the longer it will take for them to rebuild, the longer it will take for them to focus on Trenton. They know he’s our target, but they don’t know the extent to our resources. A full assault with a new army would only confuse them further as to what threat to focus on. And while all this is happening, we finish preparations,” Two said, looking at the Bloody.

“But that doesn’t change the fact we still don’t know how to kill him. We’ll lose a lot of soldiers for this,” Nine noted.

“Yes, you’re correct, which is why I’m making a decision I was hoping I could avoid. Although few are alive from that era, some still remain. I’m going to speak with One."