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At length, Asad simply gave up, instead choosing to add several more layers of glass to the pyramid around Sabas. Then he raised a platform beneath the prison and pushed it along behind him while he ventured over to collect Fidel’s severed head.

Hector annihilated his own work, revealing Silvia’s flattened corpse, splattered against the pavement in gruesome enough fashion that it actually made Hector grimace a little beneath his helm. He’d seen plenty of carnage before, of course, but it usually involved people who were still moving and regenerating. This brought back some of the more horrible things he’d witnessed. He had to remind himself that Silvia wasn’t actually dead.

Garovel floated up behind Hector. ‘Her reaper fled underground. We will be seeing Silvia Blackburn again, it seems.’

‘Oh well,’ said Qorvass. ‘Two out of three isn’t bad.’

‘I see you’ve decided to spare their reapers after all,’ said Garovel.

‘You disapprove?’ said Qorvass.

‘Quite the contrary, in fact. It’s nice to see a bit of mercy on the battlefield for a change, and I’m sure they’ll make valuable hostages.’

‘Indeed.’

They started back for the tunnel together with their captives in tow. Hector queried Garovel about Asad’s tattoos, but the reaper didn’t seem certain and so posed the question to Qorvass.

‘By the way, why were Asad’s tattoos flashing yellow?’

‘Trade secret, I’m afraid.’

‘Ah.’


Chapter Ninety-Nine: ‘The Siege of Rheinhal...’
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Dunstan Rofal was not enjoying his new position very much, even if it was technically a promotion. All in all, the Rainlords hadn’t pressed their assault very hard, but every time they did, he ended up directly in their line of fire thanks to his station in the southwestern tower. A week ago, Rhein’s Keep boasted four towers, but the two easterly ones had since been knocked down.

A host of Vanguardian servants protected his tower from the outside, but only Dunstan had the privilege of occupying the tiny Watcher’s Nest at its peak. There simply wasn’t space for another person, especially not with this beastly swivel-mounted .50 caliber HMG in the middle of the chamber. It had an ammo feed up through the floor, which one of Dunstan’s comrades attended to.

For the most part, though, he didn’t get to use the gun. His primary job was simply to keep watch, as per usual, and when enemies came within firing range, they were typically repelled by someone else--often Cpt. General Miles. And so, whenever Dunstan DID get to use the gun, it naturally meant that he was in imminent danger of being obliterated along with the entire watchtower.

And that was not a very pleasant working environment.