Page 4200

"Mm," hummed Kristof. "That's the real question, isn't it?" He looked to Zeff again. "How confident are you in your ability to protect us from his influence?"

"As long as you remain near me, I can shield you," said the Water Dragon.

"How near?" said Daro.

"...Around ten meters, currently."

"Hmm." Daro bobbed his head. "That's quite limiting. Once a fight breaks out, I can't imagine us all being able to stay that close together. I'm sure Graves would find a way to force us apart."

"Assuming he knows that the distance matters," said Kristof.

"Of course he knows," said Daro. "And even if he doesn't, it won't take him long to work it out."

Now Linus felt compelled to speak up. "Why should our distance from you need to be so small? Is this not merely soul-infused fog that you can materialize anywhere you please?"

Zeff allowed a moment to pass, perhaps considering how much he wanted to reveal. "...No, it is not."

And when he did not elaborate, a weighty silence arrived as the same question was presumably occurring to everyone at once.

Kristof was the first to voice it. "So what is it, then?"

"...That is difficult to articulate. I'm still discovering it, myself."

"That does not fill me with confidence," said Daro.

Nor did it for Linus, but he supposed that might explain why the Water Dragon had not done this earlier. While he could still feel the lingering effects of the Pale Hawk's influence over his mind, Linus' memories actually didn't feel particularly muddy, the more he thought back. Maybe a couple spots, here or there, but overall, he felt like perhaps the influence hadn't been that extensive.

As he checked his phone for the date, he indeed confirmed that he was not missing entire days or anything like that. He felt like he'd still retained full faculties and control over himself the entire time.

Yeah.

The influence had been much quieter than that, he realized. Much subtler. Adjustments in his underlying motivations, maybe. Perhaps some implanted blind spots or suppressed worries.

But it was hard to really say for sure, he supposed.

And as he thought about, he didn't know if that made Graves more or less threatening.

The others kept talking while Linus stewed in these thoughts. He was still mostly listening, of course, but it wasn't until Zeff began speaking on the nature of Graves' power that Linus' full attention returned.

Page 4199

After a moment, Zeff took a breath but still didn't open his eyes. "It's alright," he said. "He knows we're here, but he can't sense what we're discussing."

"How can you know that for certain?" asked Daro.

Zeff looked at him steadily. "I know," was all he said.

Linus took a long breath now, too, feeling ironically clearer-headed in this thicker fog. He blinked a couple times as everything they'd been talking about was beginning to register more strongly in his mind.

Kristof was there to hold his shoulder. "That's it, old friend. I can see the light behind your eyes again."

After a moment, Linus pushed the hand away. "What does that mean?"

Kristof smirked. "Do you not remember? The last time we spoke, you didn't even recognize me. Talked to me like I was a stranger. Hurt my feelings, you know."

"Graves made me forget you? Perhaps I should thank him."

"Hah!" Krstof punched him in the arm. "But this also means I'm stronger than you, Linus."

"Oh yeah?"

"Yeah. I resisted the manipulation, while you fell for it hook, line, and sinker."

The Water Dragon chimed in again. "You weren't in a particularly good state, either, when I found you."

"Shut up, Zeff."

Daro stepped forward. "If anything, I was the one who proved the most resilient."

"Only because you were hiding," said Kristof.

"And it's a good thing I was, because I have far more precious secrets to protect than you two dullards do."

Linus paused on that thought. "Secrets, eh? How much did Graves learn from us?"

Everyone turned to Zeff for that answer, but the Water Dragon gave an uncertain tilt of his head.

"No telling, I'm afraid."

An uncomfortable silence arrived as each of the men mulled that over.

For his part, Linus supposed Daro had a point. He personally didn't have much that he was afraid would be discovered. Being so old, many secrets that he once coveted now seemed largely trivial.

But he doubted that was the case for everyone here.

Daro was the first to speak up again. "And we really intend to fight this monster?"

"Don't tell me you're getting cold feet now," said Kristof.

"Hmph. If he gets a hold of us again, will we even be able to do anything? The apparent range of his influence is absurd. If we're not careful, we'll have lost before the fight even starts."

Page 4198

Linus took a step back.

It was Kristof Raynor and Daro Bright standing there. The Jailer and the Black Artisan. His two peers in the protection of Ridgemark.

"Hey, Linus," said Kristof in that familiar tone as he slowly approached, as if trying not to spook a frightened animal.

Which was exactly what Linus was feeling like all of a sudden. How had they all appeared out of the mist like that? Had they been there all along and simply been concealed from his senses?

"It's alright," Daro was saying with similar intonations. "We're real. I promise you."

Linus didn't even know what to say to that.

"Graves was hiding us from one another." Kristof was a tall, slim man with an almost beak-like nose. His wavy brown hair was topped with a bowler hat, his pristine black longcoat looked as out-of-fashion as ever. The man hadn't changed his wardrobe in a hundred years, and knowing him, he probably never would again. "Though, in Daro's case, I'm sure that hadn't been very difficult."

"Hey," said Daro. "It's thanks to my seclusion that I was able to see through his tricks."

Kristof scoffed. "It's thanks to Zeff, not your paltry trinkets."

"Pah. Ever the downplayer. Perhaps I'll keep my paltry trinkets to myself the next time you ask to borrow them."

"And when that happens in fifty years, I doubt you'll remember that retort."

Yeah, that was them alright. Bickering, as usual.

"What are you doing here?" Linus heard himself say. He barely felt in control of his own body, at the moment. Like he was still on the verge of waking up after a long night's rest.

"It is as the Water Dragon said." Kristof crossed his arms. Up close, he was able to look down at Linus, which was not something that could be said for many. "We've come to get you. We're going to take Ridgemark back from Graves."

"And the rest of Vantalay while we're at it," added Daro.

Just then, the fog seemed to thicken, and a strange sound arrived--like the reverberating lash of a whip. Not quite a crack, exactly, but Linus didn't know how else to describe it.

The others looked to Zeff, who was standing there with his eyes closed, apparently concentrating quite hard, if the glistening on his brow was any indication. Perhaps that was just the fog sticking to him, though.