Omrai sensed it long before they entered the city. A swirl of emotions. Anxiety, fear, desperation.

They had met several sentries who escorted them up the road into the city, which was in a small valley nestled deep in the mountains. Omrai knew it was one of the safest places in the world, incredibly difficult to access.

Why were the men so frightened?

He looked at the soldiers and townsfolk, many of whom smiled as he entered. He could sense their relief, but also their pain. Some were obviously disappointed at the small number of men he brought with him. He understood. They had expected many, many more. A mighty army at the least.

Mighty armies do us little good now, Omrai thought.

Children ran through the streets, laughing. Many soldiers stayed here long-term with their families. General Ebavo approached, his chin sporting a short beard which wasn’t there when they last met. A man and woman in brown clothing walked with him. The woman had a bow on her back, and the man had a long knife at his waist.

“High General Speartip!” General Ebavo said, smiling. “May my service lift you.” He bowed.

“And you also,” Omrai said, nodding.

General Ebavo looked up and frowned at the few people Omrai had brought with him.

“I know you were expecting more, but I am not here to fight.”

“How may I serve you?”

The woman with the bow cut in “Have we truly abandoned the war?”

Omrai frowned and shook his head. “No, we just have to learn new ways to fight.”

The other tracker nodded, “Which is why you are here, you seek the blue-eyed demon?”

Omrai nodded. “What can you tell us about it?”

“We’ve been watching it,” the woman said, “It wanders, striking at random plants and anything that moves near it.”

Omrai nodded. “Gather your best wranglers as soon as possible. We need to capture it immediately.”

General Ebavo nodded to the woman. She walked away, but the male tracker remained.

“Good,” Omrai said, he pointed to Shifra, Revin, and Kaiato, “these are my companions. They are to be treated as honored guests. This is my daughter, Shifra Abaddon.”

“May my service lift you,” General Ebavo said with a nod.

Shifra returned the gesture. “And you also.”

“This is Revin Henrir, a monk of the Hiriv and a beastspeaker.”

The man’s eyes widened as Revin’s archaeopteryx flew around in a showy loop and returned to Revin’s shoulder.

“And this is Kaiato Bakeh, he is here under my protection.”

Kaiato bowed low. His respectfulness and humility were a stark contrast to Revin’s ostentation.

“Pleased to serve,” Kaiato said as he rose from the bow.

General Ebavo eyed Kaiato with suspicion. “So, Kaiato Bakeh, any relation to Johuto Bakeh the carnofighter?”

Kaiato smiled, “Yes, she’s my sister.”

“And what does she think of you joining your nation’s mortal enemy?”

Kaiato frowned. “She encouraged me to come here, to seek out Omrai. Said he was a good man.”

General Ebavo nodded to Omrai, “He is. If you try to hurt him, I’ll kill you myself.”

“My nation might have a rough history with yours,” Kaiato said bruskly, “But I’ve sworn an oath to protect High General Speartip. He spared my life; I would sooner die than betray his trust. He is my liegelord now.”

The general’s eyes widened in surprise at the response

Omrai shook his head, “Koyeji still uses the term liegelord. We won’t report him to the priests for using a noble title.”

“It’s not a problem,” General Ebavo said with a wave of the hand. “The military priest left a while ago. Didn’t find our facilities sufficiently... accommodating . I’ve forgotten to request a new one.”

Omrai gave him a knowing look. “Be careful general.”

General Ebavo nodded with a hint of a wry smile. “Also, my spies arrived, just before you did, shall I have them report?”

“Make it quick, we need to leave as soon as possible.”

“Do you want to come inside?”

Omrai shook his head. “They can speak to me here; I’ve been riding all day. I can survive a minute longer.”

General Ebavo nodded. Then he motioned for some men to approach. They looked like average men, but Omrai knew they were spies, skilled in avoiding detection and in gathering information.

The first spoke. “Few ships fly northward, yet his armies seem to be growing regardless. Our information is vague at best and superstitious at worst. It’s hard to gather current information when the enemy moves so fast. One of us tried to follow on a ptero… but he was shot out of the sky.”

Omrai nodded solemnly, “His forces are increasing.”

He looked at Revin, who furrowed his brow in interest.

“What have they been doing?” Omrai said to the spy.

“Since your battle, they’ve only held what they have. The Sendevalians have been occupying the captured cities, with frequent checks from the Almerians and the metal warriors.”

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“Almerians?” Omrai said, “What do they have to do with this?”

The man looked confused, “You don’t know? The Almerians man Jebuthar’s ships.”

“Why would they come out of seclusion to ally with Jebuthar?”

“Omrai?” Revin said. Omrai turned. “Who are the Almerians?”

“A nation far east. They're small, secretive, and very intelligent.”

Kaiato spoke up, “Omrai, if I may.”

Omrai nodded.

“Koyeji has always had the most advanced weapons, but the Almerians are far ahead in every other way. Armor, medicine, mechanics. But even Jebuthar’s tech is far beyond what we know of them. Perhaps he employed the Almerians because they would have been the quickest to understand.”

Omrai turned to the spy and nodded, “What else?”

Another spy approached. “In my searches, I learned that Jebuthar is enforcing new laws that weaken the nobles’ power in the nations under his control.”

Omrai raised an eyebrow “He said he was chosen by God to rule the world. That he was the best man for the job. Maybe this is what he meant.”

“He’s also taking saurians from his vassals, gathering them in great ships. He takes them from every nation he conquers, and he’s already started in Ateya.”

Shifra sat up, “What could he be using saurians for? He’s got clockwork soldiers and flying ships.”

The spy shrugged “No clue.”

Omrai turned to Revin. “Revin? Could Jebuthar be using saurians to grow his army?”

“I don’t see how,” Revin said.

Shifra shook her head. “An army of saurians to go along with this metal monsters? That makes no sense. Saurians are affected by those weapons too.”

Omrai looked back to the spy. “Has he used them for any sort of attack?”

“No,” the spy said, “We’ve never seen them used in combat, in fact, we never see the saurians again after they’ve been picked up by the ships.”

“Maybe he’s using them to feed his armies?” Revin said, rubbing his chin in thought, “But those metal things don’t have mouths. I don’t know if they even have to eat.”

“I don’t know either,” Omrai said, “But it must be important.”

Revin nodded, “Ismander mentioned Narazoth had used some in combat before ...”

“He hasn’t used them here, yet,” Omrai said. “Besides, I’m sure an army of saurians would be easier to fight than metal monsters.”

Kaiato shook his head, “Depends on the saurian. Johuto spent her whole life learning to fight carnos. Even then, if their minds are enslaved? Cannons might be the bare minimum. Koyeji has learned that time and time again fighting Ateya.”

Omrai nodded. “We must be ready to fight, whatever he has, and Revin, that means learning what these metal monsters are made of, and what is happening to these saurians. It can’t be coincidence that a man with a beastspeaker at his disposal is capturing thousands of saurians.”

Revin’s eyes widened. “So, if we find these saurians, we find Narazoth! If we can find him, stop him… we won’t have to worry about a war at all! It’ll be over.”

“Who’s Narazoth?” one spy said.

Omrai sensed the man’s confusion, “Narazoth is a monk, of the same order as Revin. He serves as Jebuthar’s right-hand man, and we think Narazoth controls these metal monsters with his mind.”

The spies looked at each other. “We’ve never heard of Narazoth, but according to what we know Jebuthar’s right-hand man is actually an Almerian woman.”

“Regardless,” Revin said, “You need to know how his magic works. He touches an animal, wrestles with its mind, and then he can control it from afar, see what it sees, know what it thinks.”

“So, what does this have to do with the metal warriors?”

“Somehow, he uses this same magic to control them. Also, with Jebuthar magically linked with him and his Lord, Narazoth, Jebuthar, and the metal monsters can communicate instantly. Anything a metal monster sees, Jebuthar sees.”

The spies looked at Omrai for confirmation, he nodded.

“Revin is the same type of monk,” Omrai said, “he and I share a similar but temporary bond. He’s also not nearly as powerful.”

“Not yet,” Revin said quickly, “But I’m working on it.”

“So,” General Ebavo said, “If one of his monsters sees us, even if we destroy it before it escapes, he’ll know?”

Revin nodded.

“By the powers,” one of the spies said, “what can we do?”

“We’ll leave,” Omrai said, “capture a metal monster, see where they come from, and learn what he’s doing with those saurians. That’s our only hope of success.”

Omrai looked at Revin, “Revin, I want you and Shifra to stay behind. Kaiato, I’m going to need your keen eyes and ears.”

Kaiato nodded, “Yes, High General.”

“Wait a minute,” Revin said, “I can help! I used to go hunting with my wolf all the time!”

Omrai looked back at Revin. He thought of Revin’s failure to master the yutaraptors and his clumsiness in battle. He even had bags under his eyes.

“No, rest ,” Omrai said. “Besides, if this metal monster has broken Jebuthar’s control, then he won’t know we caught it. I don’t want any accidents.”

“I’ll take our gallimai to the pens,” she said, thankfully not in the mood to argue. She hopped off her mount and called for stable hands.

“Good,” he turned to general Ebavo, “we’ll get some fresh mounts and be on our way.”

“Actually, my lord,” the male tracker said, “the noise made by the gallimais on the mountainside will be too great, we’ll scare it off. We must go on foot.”

Omrai nodded. “Fine.” He hopped off his mount as the stable hands arrived. They took Shifra’s instruction for the beasts and lead them away. She went with them.

Revin still looked angry. Omrai ignored it. As he looked at Shifra, at the little mountain city, a pang of anxiety welled up. A father’s fear.

“Keep her safe, Revin, I’ll be back.”

“I’m sure the stable boys know how to care for your gallimai,” Revin said.

“I wasn’t talking about my gallimai,” Omrai said, nodding towards Shifra. Revin nodded in understanding.

“I saw a few crushjaws here,” Revin said, “I want to master one.”

Omrai cocked his head, “Sounds dangerous.”

Revin shrugged. “I have to figure it out, if Narazoth can master metal monsters, I have to at least master your big meat-eaters.”

“What if you can’t?” Omrai said, “What if he’s just that much more powerful?”

“I’ll find a way. I always do.”

Omrai sensed that overconfidence again but nodded. “Go, but be careful, make sure the men strap it down first.”

Revin nodded and marched off to the saurian pens. Hopefully he wouldn’t try anything stupid.