Chapter Ninety-Four: ‘Kindred souls, be swift...’

It wasn’t long until Hector found himself aboard another airplane. He’d only arrived in Kuros a day ago--on his first ever plane ride no less--and yet now he was already leaving.

This second plane ride had a very different atmosphere, however. It did not provide quite the same level of comfort that the Prince’s private jet did. Rather, this one felt more like he’d somehow become involved in a smuggling operation. Lord Asad had chosen to use a cargo plane for their trip, and one of the doors was kept open at all times, making the whole affair rather windy and loud.

He supposed it only made sense, though. Asad hadn’t gained the approval of the other Sandlords for this venture, so a certain amount of discretion was to be expected. Moreover, the storage space allowed them to conceal military supplies among the normal cargo. The sight felt a bit surreal to Hector--piles of boxes belonging to the United Mail Service of Sair next to huge crates full of food rations and rocket-propelled grenades.

Apart from the pilots, only two other people had accompanied Hector and Asad. Both were female, though Hector hadn’t been able to tell until they pulled back the hoods of their black-and-gold robes. And they both had those distinct yellow eyes, too. The older woman was Imas Najir, Asad and Haqq’s sister. The younger woman was Jada Najir, Asad’s daughter. With all of the air rushing around the cabin, it was too noisy for anyone to speak without shouting, and the ladies seemed content with letting their reapers do the talking for them. Hector had no problem doing the same.

Garovel spoke at length, explaining his and Hector’s presence. Axiolis assisted. The other reapers welcomed the help but didn’t seem too concerned otherwise.

Hector could see the landscape changing dramatically through the windows. Barren desert and wastelands gave way to harsh, craggy rock formations, and soon enough, enormous mountains came into view, standing between them and Rheinhal. Some of the peaks were so tall that the plane had to navigate around them due to its low altitude flight.

Hector also noticed that meditating was more difficult. Garovel explained that it was a mild effect of hypoxia and could therefore be neutralized if needed, but the reaper told him that the extra burden could prove beneficial as practice.

He tried to meditate for a while, but intermittent bouts of turbulence kept shaking him out of it until he decided to just give up.

‘Fun fact for you,’ said Garovel, still privately. ‘Under normal atmospheric conditions, turbulence is usually exclusive to higher altitudes, but since we’re near a mountain range, the air currents are all wonky even at this altitude.’

‘How interesting...’

‘It IS interesting, you sarcastic fuck.’

Hector breathed a small laugh and looked down to avoid drawing attention to himself. The shield was right there in his lap. It seemed too valuable to not keep a solid grip on at all times, especially with that hole in the plane sitting right there. He really didn’t want his luck with shields to be the same as his luck with motorcycles.

After a while, Hector remembered a question he’d been meaning to ask. ‘By the way, uh... why did you lie to Sazandara about my age? Wouldn’t it be better if people think I’m weaker than I actually am?’

‘She DOES think you’re weaker than you actually are.’

‘W-what?’

‘I told her three years. Truthfully, factoring in all the times you’ve achieved emergence and your constant practice and meditation, your iron ability is more like six or seven years old.’

Hector squinted with one eye. ‘Wha? No way. That can’t be right...’

‘In terms of sheer volume and power, yes. It is. Trust me.’

‘But... that means I’m, like, uh... er... e-eight times stronger than normal...?’

‘Thereabouts, yeah.’

He thought back, trying to count. ‘But I’ve, um... I mean, I’ve only achieved emergence, like... four times, I think.’

Garovel snorted. ‘“Only four,” he says. That’s kind of a fuckload, y’know.’

‘Is it?’

‘Yes!’

‘Hmm... but still, I mean... EIGHT times as strong?’

‘I know it sounds ridiculous. That’s exactly why I had to lie about it to Sazandara. If I tell people you’re less than eight months old, and then they later see what you’re capable of, that could bite us in the ass. If you’re a bit stronger than average, no big deal. If you’re eight times stronger, BIG DEAL. Big smelly, hairy deal. That kind of information is not to be shared lightly, Hector. Understand? That’s how we end up with people like Gohvis knocking on our door, people who’ll see us as a problem that should be nipped in the bud.’

‘I understood that much. I just, uh... hmm.’

‘You just, what?’

‘I just feel like... eight times is still too much. I mean, that one guy I fought... uh... the guy with the yellow crystals.’

‘Sulfur.’

‘Yeah. He was obviously older than me as a servant, but... he probably wasn’t THAT much older, right? I mean, considering how you said he was weaker than Karkash, who probably wasn’t that old, either.’

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‘Yeah. What’s your point?’

‘Well, that guy could add velocity to his sulfur pretty well. And even now, I can barely do that with my iron. So, I mean... logic would dictate that I’m still not as strong as that guy was, right?’

‘Mm. That’s a reasonable assumption to make, but alas still incorrect. Adding velocity to your element is a skill that also requires practice. It’s something you have to actually understand “how” to do. Even if you’d achieved emergence a dozen times already, you wouldn’t be able to add velocity to your element until you learned the particulars of it.’

‘Oh...’

‘In terms of raw power, though, I think you’ve already surpassed that sulfur guy. He only had the edge on you because his soul synch was higher. You’ll get the velocity thing down soon enough.’

‘Hmm.’ Hector gave a sideways nod. It was true that he’d been thinking that he could still do more with the velocity than he’d so far managed. ‘Then... are there any other “skills” like that?’

‘Temperature manipulation. That’s a pretty high-level skill for materialization users, though. Weirdly enough, it’s easier for transfiguration users to do, perhaps because they don’t have to also be mindful of spatial coordination like you do.’

‘Spatial coordination?’

‘Depth perception. Where you want to create your element. That sort of thing. Transfiguration users also just have tighter control over their elements, even being able to manipulate how intensely they react to other elements. So I suppose it’s not too surprising.’

‘Hmm.’

-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-

Rheinhal was not as Asad remembered it. Even from the air, he could see the difference. Barricades had gone up all over the city, forming concentric circles around Rhein’s Keep. Vehicles were a rare sight as well. No doubt, the Rainlords had evacuated most, if not all, civilians by now.

Encouragingly, Asad did not see much in terms of property damage. He spotted a couple small craters near the castle, but nothing else. Yet the siege was still young, of course.

As they neared the airport, Asad moved to the front of the plane in order to radio the Rainlords on the ground and ensure a safe landing. A car was waiting for them on the tarmac, as was a group of reaperless workers who began unloading supplies as soon as Asad and the others were clear.

It was a quiet car ride, even between the reapers. Perhaps everyone was nervous, wondering what difference four more servants would make. After a spell, Asad’s daughter decided to break the silence.

“Where did you get that shield?” she asked. At twenty-two years, Jada was the oldest of Asad’s three children.

It seemed to take Hector a moment to realize that she was talking to him. “Oh, uh... from your... uncle, I think?”

Asad had thought he recognized it.

‘Less from Haqq and more from Sazandara,’ said Garovel.

That made more sense. Asad’s hand went to the ring in his pocket, rolling it absently between his fingers and wondering if he would need it. Haqq had given it to him just before leaving Kuros. Callous though he was, Haqq had always found other ways to demonstrate his concern for his big brother.

Soon, after passing a couple checkpoints, they arrived at a large hotel, around which stood a plethora of new reapers and servants. They all eyed Asad and his small entourage, but only one deigned to approach.

It was a very small person, Asad realized, fully grown certainly but no taller than a child. “Welcome to Rheinhal,” the little man said.

Asad couldn’t help hesitating, still unsure to whom he was speaking. “Thank you.”

“The Lion of the Desert, is it? I do not believe I have ever had the pleasure.” He certainly had a firm handshake, regardless of his stature. “I am Xuan Sebolt.”

“Ah! A pleasure, indeed! Though, at this rate, I fear they will start calling me the Black Sheep of the Desert, instead. I am sorry I could not procure any more aid from my kin.”

“You have nothing to apologize for,” said Xuan. “This is not their fight. Were we in their position, we probably would have done the same.”

Asad only frowned at that.

“Come inside, won’t you? I believe everyone has been expecting you.”

They followed.

The hotel lobby broadened into a casino floor, though all of the slot machines had been turned off. Lavish red-gold carpeting filled each walkway, lined with segmented lights.

‘The Seadevil is a dwarf,’ said Qorvass privately. ‘Was not expecting that.’

Asad had to agree. He supposed the size of a servant made no real difference in the measurement of their worth, but it was still quite strange to discover that one of the most feared Rainlords of Sair could seem so unintimidating. And it wasn’t just Xuan’s height that was responsible for that false impression, Asad realized. His easy smile and big, sea green eyes had contributed something to it as well. And then there was the way he bobbed from side to side as he walked, as if stepping in tune with a song only he could hear.

Xuan led them to the back with his unintroduced reaper following closely behind. They ventured through a series of doors and offices until they arrived at a boardroom.

Asad recognized most of the faces present. Octavia Redwater, Rayen Merlo, Santos Zabat, Evangalina Stroud, as well as a handful of their family members. A map of Rheinhal lay across the center table.

“Glad you could make it,” said Octavia, already standing there by the door. The tiny old woman wasn’t much taller than Xuan. “Ah, and who is this that you have brought with you?”

“My sister Imas and my daughter Jada,” he said, gesturing. “And their reapers, Orjand and Atalim.”

Axiolis assumed the responsibility of answering for the remaining two. ‘This is Garovel and his servant, the young Lord Hector Goffe of Warrenhold. They have come all the way from Atreya, and as it happens, Garovel here is Chergoa’s brother.’

That sent a ripple through the chamber. Asad saw Octavia exchange looks with Xuan before responding.

“I see,” she said. “Then I suppose you are hoping to meet with her.”

Garovel spoke for himself now. ‘Yes, I am. I was not made aware of Chergoa’s ties to the Rainlords until just yesterday. Axiolis explained that she is a fairly new addition to your ranks.’

“Your timing is unfortunate,” said Octavia. “We’ll have to speak quickly. Chergoa and her servant are currently being held hostage.”

‘What?!’ said Axiolis. ‘Since when?!’

“Dimas Sebolt arrived here last night and informed us of an attack on Red Lake in which the Elroys were abducted. By Melchor Blackburn, no less.”

‘Melchor? Why would he do such a thing?’

“We don’t know yet,” said Octavia.

The Lady Rayen Merlo decided to chime in now. “We are sending the Sebolts and Delagunas to recover the children. Abel and Salvador are attending to the matter at this very moment and intend to leave Rheinhal before sundown.”

‘In that case, I hope they will not mind Hector and I tagging along,’ said Garovel.

“I’m sure they won’t,” said Xuan. “I’ll take you to them after this. They won’t be leaving without me, so just stay close.”

‘Appreciated, thank you.’

Asad had questions for Rayen and Octavia. “You are sending all of the Sebolts and Delagunas? That is nearly a third of your forces, no?”

“It is,” said Rayen. “They will need no less than that in order to breach Marshrock.”

“Even then, we may have trouble,” said Xuan. He eyed Asad another time. “Your assistance would be most welcome.”

Asad pursed his lips. “I came here in order to help free Zeff.”

‘Be that as it may, I think you should accompany Xuan,’ said Axiolis. ‘I know Zeff would tell you to prioritize his children over himself. And besides, this way, the Vanguard won’t become aware of Hahl Najir’s involvement. You’d be assisting us without doing anything that might cause reprisal against you and your family.’

‘Axiolis is right,’ said Qorvass.

“What about the fight here in Rheinhal?” said Asad. “If you send so many of your fighters to Marshrock, will you still be able to take the Keep?”

“Breaching Rhein’s Keep may not even be necessary,” said Octavia. “Thus far, we have only been testing their defenses, and while they have proven quite solid, it won’t make much difference as long as we continue to hold the city.”

“Our opponent has a time limit,” said Rayen. “Sanko is coming. When she arrives, she will settle the matter for us. All we need do is prevent the enemy from escaping.”

‘You make it sound so easy,’ said Qorvass.

“Simple, perhaps,” said Rayen. “Not easy. Our forces are going to be spread thin. But if Asad wants to put his skills to the best use, he should go to Marshrock.”

After a beat, Asad gave a reluctant nod. “Very well.”

Garovel posed another question now. ‘What more can you tell us about the children’s captors?’

“Xuan can fill you in on such details,” said Rayen. “However, do be aware that Melchor Blackburn is not a man to be trifled with. Do not attempt to fight him unless you have him absurdly outnumbered or Xuan is with you.”

Xuan laughed. “Stop, you’ll make me blush. I’m nothing special.” Then he wiped his mirth away and turned to Garovel. “She’s right, though. Don’t try to fight him without me unless you want your servant to be turned into a fleshy pudding.”