“Now, remind me again why you chose to leave the safety of your position at the mill and traipse around a village in the middle of a monster attack?”

  Serefina, the advisor to the king, spoke her antagonistic questions with a voice that was singsong and sweet. She had gone to each of the villagers, asking them for their account of the trifley attack in Cleftshire. Now she had circled back around to Jarod, and the last 10 minutes had consisted of her clarifying every detail of each of his story. Her questions had focused on minute details that seemed entirely irrelevant to Jarod, but which she asked about as if the entire story hinged upon their precision. The whole time she had been pacing around the group, forcing Jarod to crane his neck around to follow her, all while not wanting to look away from the king for fear it might be disrespectful. Every time she got close, he could smell her perfume, floral with a sweetness like honey. It was all very distracting.

  “Look, I already told you,” said Jarod. “We saw before that the tavern was under attack, and we knew if we could lure them out into the light then they’d be forced away. If we wanted to save anyone, we had to go out again.”

  “Yes, that’s right.” Serefina’s voice came from just behind him to the right, accompanied by that same perfumed scent. Just like her voice, the wonderful fragrance contrasted harshly with the venom in her words. “And the only justification you had for this belief was thanks to tales from a small girl. It seems to me like scarce little to go off of when you’re risking your own life, let alone the lives of a member of the gentry.”

  “Nikolao chose to accompany us, we didn’t force him into anything.” Jarod could feel the anger seeping into his voice as he fought to control himself.

  “Really? Because if I remember correctly, you testified earlier that you had all but forced the sight servant to accompany you in exchange for your testimony here today. The sight servant that, need I remind you, was acting as the sole protector of not just Nikolao here, but of many other gentry, who perished in battle thanks to your actions.”

  Willpower check (7)

  [10]

  Success

  “I-,” Jarod started to speak, but caught himself before he said something he would regret. He glanced at Nikolao, reminded of his earlier advice that the advisor might antagonize him, and that he should keep only to the truth of the matter. He was going to say something about how they deserved it, about how they’d groveled in fear when he came into the carriage they were hiding in, but he decided it would be smart to keep the opinionated commentary to himself.

  “I did make a deal with Tex’ana,” Jarod said. “That much is true, but Tex’ana made it clear that anyone else was free to accompany us since he wouldn’t be there to protect them anymore. It would have been far safer for everyone if they had, we’d have had a numbers advantage for most of it then.”

  Serefina had worked her way back in front of him now. She looked at him eye to eye, nose in the air, with an unreadable look on her face. Behind her, Jarod could see the king talking quietly with the other person who’d been standing on the dais when they arrived. He glanced down every now and then, but he hardly seemed to be paying attention to what his advisor was doing.

  “Yes, let’s circle around back to the sight servant, shall we?” Serefina said. “It seems you’ve developed quite the relationship with this envoy of the king’s. Even going so far as to refer to him by his name in casual conversation. It might even appear from an outside perspective, as though you’ve developed a close enough relationship to manipulate, or even control him. You are aware that doing so is a serious crime, aren’t you?”

  Intelligence (Excelsia customs) check (4, …)

  [1]

  Failure

  Jarod’s eyes went wide and he felt color rush to his cheeks. “I… wasn’t aware. Tex’ana… the sight servant was the first one I’ve ever seen, honest. I wasn’t trying to manipulate him or anything, we just needed help if we were going to make it out alive. Just ask Nikolao.”

  Serefina seemed to almost disregard his avowal, turning back instead to the point she had just raised. “In fact, it seems to me that this isn’t the only time you’ve attempted to manipulate him. When you came across the brigand camp, you were the one who convinced the sight servant to accompany you, weren’t you? It wouldn’t surprise me, even, to learn that you’ve attempted to build camaraderie with him. That you might have attempted to use that camaraderie to ask questions of his nature, that you might better-”

  “That will do for now, Serefina.” King Casimir spoke over the tail end of her question, apparently satisfied with the aside he’d been discussing with the robed man on the dais.

  Serefina gave a respectful bow, and returned to her initial position atop the lower platform, just below where the throne sat. Even standing as such, her head was nearly level with the king’s from his position in the throne.

  “It’s apparent that these trifleys have become a problem,” King Casimir said. “How much of a problem remains to be seen. It’s encouraging that your small group had as much success defending against them as you did, but I’m led to believe that future incursions from these monsters may be significantly more severe. Davrick, I believe you may be able to shed some light on the situation.”

  If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

  The robed man the king was speaking to earlier stepped down from his position alongside the king now. He wore glasses resting on his forehead, and a long blue robe tight at the waist by a gold cord with several colored rings of material encircling one end. Jarod was relieved to see that he took a more comfortable position off to the side so he could address their group and the king at the same time.

  “Pleased to meet you. I’m Davrick Temolere, professor of arcanozoology at Chath University, recipient of the Quinston Prize, and three-time Farsight Scholar.” Davrick paused, expecting some measure of recognition at the titles he rattled off. When none came, his face fell a little, but he continued without further comment.

  “Ahem, well, as luck would have it, I happen to have some measure of familiarity with these creatures you encountered in Chath. Of course, they’re quite rare specimens, but I daresay we have enough information from prior research to formulate a plan of action.”

  Davrick went to a bag he’d stashed behind a brazier on the dais and pulled out a book. He flipped through it, looking for a particular page. “Of course, we’ve already seen their initial brood and the first phase of their life cycle, so marked by their attack on Cleftshire. For now, they have returned underground, where they will grow stronger in preparation for the next phase of their cycle. If we’re to get an accurate estimation of their total number in this next phase, we’ll need to to determine which particular subspecies the ones you encountered are. Would you say the ones you saw looked more like this one, or this one?”

  The professor had turned the book towards the group and showed them two pictures. At first, it looked to Jarod as though they were identical pictures, but as he inspected closer, he noticed a subtle difference in the fur pattern between them. It was hard to say for certain which one they had seen. The main difference was how far the fur extended onto their hands and chest, but in the heat of battle, he hadn’t paid much attention to it.

  Thankfully, Basma had looked closer than he. “It’s this one,” she said, indicating the one with fur that covered almost all of their chest. “I remember because one of them got struck by an arrow there, and its fur got matted with blue blood.”

  “Very well,” said Davrick. “And these trifleys, did they have claws?”

  “Definitely.” Jarod could answer that one. “I saw too many people with nasty cuts from them. Filgrin here should still have his mark from them.”

  “I see. Just one last question: as you were fighting these creatures, did you notice any particular formations that they tended to follow? Maybe sending off smaller parties from the main group, or working in pairs?”

  Jarod scrunched his eyes, trying to think about how he’d seen them act. They’d certainly seen the trifleys work in pairs. It was harder to tell when there was a large group of them, but the few that they’d taken out on the bridge had clearly been working in twos. At the same time though, the other option seemed true as well. Most of the trifleys had focused their attack on the side of the bridge with the tavern and the mayor’s house, but a smaller group had gone off on their own to investigate the mill. And then there was the even smaller group that they’d run across on their way back across the bridge.

  “Is it possible that both are true?” he asked.

  Davrick frowned. “Not as far as we know. It could be some half-breed, or maybe a new subspecies that we haven’t encountered before, but then we’d have no historical precedent to base our response off of.”

  “I can help out there,” said Filgrin. “I’ve fought these monsters before, so I’ve got a point o’ reference. These buggers were all over the place when they attacked, but they always had a group of two workin’ together. I fought some more of ‘em years ago, and those ones definitely all acted as one big unit. Then they’d send individuals off ta check out buildings and such.”

  “Ah, I didn’t realize we had someone so experienced with these creatures already,” said Davrick. “Excellent work everyone, let me just consult the chart…”

  The chamber fell silent as he flipped through to another page, and then ran his finger down a table. He confirmed the number of creatures Nikolao had stated in his report, and then was ready to give his answer. “Based on my charts, with an expected margin of error of 5%, I would estimate that there are roughly 1100 trifleys below ground that will emerge in the next attack.”

  Jarod’s eyes went wide. “What, and they’re supposed to be even stronger now! You said 1100?!”

  “Give or take 5%. Assuming no significant changes to trifley breeding structure or habitat, of course.”

  Jarod looked around and saw that Filgrin and Basma were just as shocked as he was. Only Nikolao among their group seemed to be taking the news with any measure of equanimity. That was more than the population of Cleftshire and Blackpool Outlook combined. It was a good thing they had arrived in time to give their report before the king, there was no way they would be able to defend against that without help.

  It was the king who spoke next. “Serefina, how many troops are we able to spare from our campaign to the north?”

  “Not as many as we’d like, your majesty,” she said. “Based on the severity of this report, I’d estimate that a dispatch of 40 troops would be prudent.”

  “What?” Jarod interjected. “Sir, we’re not a village of fighters. The three of us here today fared among the best of the our people, and we only barely escaped with our lives when we had every advantage going for us. If you send us only 40 soldiers, we’ll stand no chance against them. All of my people, and all of your soldiers too, will be cut down against the horde. We need more support.”

  “Watch how you address his majesty, commoner,” Serefina said, contempt plainly coloring her voice.

  The king waved a hand, quieting his advisor, and spoke again. “40 does seem a bit low, but you must understand that yours is not the only crisis at hand. There is an even more serious campaign which we find ourselves embroiled in to the north, where I’ll be leaving for shortly. I understand you must care for your people in every way that you can, but remember that you’ve come to petition me for support. My resources are to do with as I please.”

  “Nevertheless,” he continued. “I think it’s best we give you as much of a fighting chance as we can. I think a contingent of 75 soldiers is in order, set to march the day after tomorrow. Davrick, you’ll spend the next 24 hours doing everything you can to train those troops on how to fight these creatures. Based on what you’ve said, it may even be wise to take the fight to them once you discover an entrance to their lair.”

  The scholar fought to contain a frown of displeasure from taking over his whole face at the prospect of having to work with soldiers. “Yes, your majesty.”

  King Casimir’s eyes lit up at another thought. “As I said, I’ll give you every chance possible to succeed in your defense, and what better resource than the man himself. Davrick, you’ll be accompanying the soldiers to Blackpool Outlook as well. Perhaps some field experience will be useful for your research.”

  “Umm, yes, your majesty… that is, but-” Davrick tried to stammer out a suitably respectful protest, but the king had already stood up.

  “His majesty has made his decision,” announced Serefina. “We thank you for your report, Nikolao Hawkbreaker, and wish all of you godspeed on your tasks ahead.”

  Without further delay, the royal guard stepped forward and began to escort their group, along with Davrick, out of the great hall and past the entry foyer. Jarod looked for an opportunity to make one final request, but the formality of the affair, and the intimidating presence of the royal guard nearby silenced him.

  Before they knew it, they were standing outside the palace, looking out over the gardens of the estate once again. It wasn’t as many as Jarod had hoped, but at least they’d gotten something.

  Everyone except Nikolao was looking a little shocked at the abrupt ending to their meeting, and none so more than Devrick. The scholar had a distant look on his face, as he seemed to realize the situation he’d been thrust into.

  “1100 of those creatures did I say? Oh dear.”