Page 841 -- XCVI.

Chapter Ninety-Six: ‘Thy strong hearts, be welcomed...’
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Hector had never seen so many servants and reapers. By Garovel’s count, there were about fifty pairings accompanying them to Luzo. The majority of them belonged to House Sebolt, apparently. The Sebolts distinguished themselves with bright blue bandanas worn over the left shoulder. The fabric had a distinctive white lightning bolt woven into it. The Delagunas, meanwhile, boasted white bandanas with dark blue squiggles. Hector wasn’t too sure what those were supposed to look like.

Come to think of it, there must have been many more at the encampment in Rheinhal, but they’d been so spread out that he never got the chance to see them all together.

He was glad that they weren’t flying this time, even if it was slower. Airplanes were neat and all, but he’d gotten his fill of them in the last couple days. Instead, the departing Rainlords were taking a huge convoy of automobiles all the way to Luzo. He rode in a limousine with the Najirs. Jada took the opportunity to pop her head up through the sunroof for a view of it all, and Hector had to join her.

It was a remarkable sight, seeing so many vehicles traveling together down one long road across the countryside. A lot of the reapers were flying up high around them, scouting no doubt, and there were a handful of servants who could fly as well. Hector spotted Dimas Sebolt among them, soaring through the sky with his gray raincoat billowing around him like a cape. At first, that raincoat seemed a bit superfluous, but Hector could see the dark clouds that they were all driving toward on the horizon. It wasn’t long before the rain began to fall, and he and Jada had to tuck their heads back inside the limousine.

He knew there would be rain, of course, but as the convoy drew onward, he still couldn’t help marveling at it. It just didn’t end. In fact, it only continued to grow heavier. Rolling green hills gave way to huge rivers and lakes. Occasionally, there would be almost no visible land, and it would briefly feel like the bridge they were on was taking them across an ocean.

And those were the most spectacular things, he felt. The bridges. He’d never seen so many in so short a time. In some parts, they were more common than normal roads. And some of them were fantastically elaborate in design.