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Well.

This changed things.

Sermung knew something of the Prime Hunter. The Great Wolf. He knew that Koh's victims oftentimes did not die when he devoured them. Instead, they were imprisoned for centuries--or even longer. So there was a chance, at least, that Jonah yet lived.

But freeing him... now that was a whole other matter.

Any prison worth its salt would have to reside within a higher realm. Nothing less would be able to contain the Primordials. Which meant that time would be moving more slowly there, relatively speaking. So if Sermung went to go retrieve Jonah, he would be losing more time again. Much more time, potentially.

Plus, he'd have to find the place, first. Perhaps Koh could help with that, but he doubted it.

And even if he did manage to pull off such a feat, it would not be what Jonah wanted. In fact, it was entirely possible that Jonah had himself orchestrated the events that led to this outcome. Unlikely, perhaps, but possible.

Such a cruel fate for the boy.

Yet another example. Too many to count.

His thought processes faltered. Struggled. Hesitated. Did they even want to learn more? Of the endless misery permeating the world?

That was the problem with knowledge, wasn't it? As much as it empowered, so too did it open one's mind to the abyss.

Sermung didn't need that, right now. That was a foe that he was not prepared to face again. One he might never be.

It seemed to him that the older one got, the more vulnerable to it one became.

Madness. Despair. Two sides of the same coin, he'd come to believe. He wondered, at times, if it hadn't already been tossed. Flipping in the air. Perhaps it was just a matter of which way it landed now.

Foolishness, of course. Deadly, foolish, and an oversimplification.

Ah. He'd made Tenebrach mad again.

Stay on task. Keep looking. Pay attention.

The Hunter was close. Sermung could visit him. It might not resolve anything, but it would at least be informative. And he'd always been curious to see the ancient beast at full strength. He'd never had the privilege before.

Yes. Best not let this opportunity pass by. Theoretically, they were allies.

If it somehow turned into a fight, though... the resulting fallout could be...

Sermung weighed the option in his mind. Consulted Tenebrach's memories.

Perhaps they should attend to other matters first.

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And for him, there was yet another aspect to it. Over the course of his long life, traveling all over this realm, he'd seeded the lands of Eleg with crystals--and on top of that, learned to sense naturally occurring ones.

With a deep breath and strong concentration, he had access to a tidal wave of information. This was where the extra thought processes proved helpful. And Tenebrach, too, of course. Parsing through it all would have been significantly more difficult, otherwise.

Let's see now. What could the realm tell him from up here?

The flooded lands below were indeed troubled. Fear and anger running rampant. Agony. Pain. Bloodthirst, too.

But it was funneling into the northwest. Was that Abolish? The trail felt familiar enough. He'd sensed the like so many times before.

Hmm. Any major players in there?

Possibly. He sensed Chaos in there, masking specific presences. An unlikely coincidence. Had they developed a direct link to it? Irritating, if so. Fools playing with forces they could not possibly comprehend.

But that was nothing new, now was it? Standard behavior for Abolish.

Where was everyone? Who could he sense? Dozer? Morgunov? Sai-hee? Bah. Concealing themselves, no doubt. As per usual. They'd all learned long ago to despise his habit of dropping on them unannounced. Would've been nice to catch one of them off guard, though. He did love to surprise them.

Anyone else? Hmm. No Gohvis, Jercash, Gunther, Ivan, or Dunhouser, either. The Kubi, too, were all either hiding or too far away to sense.

And his own men?

Same story, apparently. Well, at least they were being diligent. Someone should have left signs for him, though. Something they knew that only he would be able to sense, in case he wanted to find them.

Yes. He sensed them now. Markers. Invitations. Ready to receive him at any mome--

What was that?

A presence of immense power. Not attempting to conceal itself in the slightest. All but daring anyone and everyone to approach it. And there was a whiff of familiarity to it, too. Something he'd sensed before, though perhaps not in quite the same way.

...Was that the Prime Hunter?

Oh no.

If he was loose, then Jonah...

Sermung searched. His senses stretched across the land. Farther, farther, farther. Where was he? Not on the continent?

He frowned, not wanting to acknowledge what was almost certain to be the truth. He shut his eyes and took a breath, still searching but not with much hope.

Next page on the 28th

Thanks for reading, everyone. In the meantime, here's another joke for you.

I once told my son I loved him. And he believed me. Haha.