Page 965

The Rainlords had stopped on one of the larger bridges Hector had seen for a brief refueling break. The two gas stations on either side of the road looked a bit overwhelmed by the dozen vehicles that had suddenly arrived. Hector and Dimas walked together as they made their way back to the head of the entourage.

Now that they were away from the aberration, Hector was more interested in talking. “Well, that was... different than I expected.”

“Indeed,” said Dimas.

“What do you think?” asked Hector.

Dimas nodded lightly. “I think he seems genuine. You?”

“I don’t know...” Hector frowned at being the cynical one. “Have you encountered many aberrations before?”

“Two,” said Dimas. “I doubt that qualifies as many.”

“What were they like?”

“They both tried to kill me within about ten seconds of meeting me.”

“Ah...”

“What about you? You seem strangely interested in them.”

“Me? Oh... I’ve only met one, but... but, ah...”

Dimas waited patiently.

A part of Hector still wasn’t ready to talk about it. A part of him would never be ready. But a different part urged him to. It wanted him to tell this person. Dimas would understand, Hector thought. Just about any Rainlord would, probably.

So he tried. “The aberration I met... he, uh... he killed my dad. And... many of my friends.”

Dimas was briefly quiet. “I am very sorry to hear that,” was all he said.

Hector hadn’t really been expecting anything more from the man. In fact, that was probably why he decided to tell him. He didn’t want to be asked a dozen questions and end up reliving that nightmare.

He tried to think of something else to talk about, but nothing came to mind, and soon enough, they were back with the Elroys. Zeff was still asleep, and now, so was Asad. Asad’s daughter Jada had since joined them as well, along with his sister Imas, and with Hector and Dimas added in, the limousine was nearly at maximum occupancy.

The conversation never reached higher than a low murmur. Most everyone seemed either too tired or just not in the mood to talk much, but through the relative quiet, it was clear enough to Hector that Jada knew the Elroys pretty well. She kept the topics light and infrequent, Hector noticed, bringing up things like pets and food and a bit about what Moaban would be like.