Page 1236

‘If this works,’ said Garovel, ‘what do you intend to do with it?’

Hector thought that should be obvious. ‘I’ll make shields for everyone here--or, y’know, as many as I can in the time we have left.’

‘Mm.’

‘...Something wrong with that?’

Garovel paused. ‘Not necessarily. But what about after we make it out of here?’

‘What do you mean?’

‘Well. I can see this power making our lives very complicated.’

Hector cocked an eyebrow. ‘Our lives aren’t exactly simple, right now.’

‘Ha. Even so, I think it’s best that we try to keep this ability secret as best we can. And if you’re gonna be handing these shields out to the Rainlords like it’s no big deal, then they need to understand how important this secret is, too. And YOU need to understand just how much trust you’re placing in them to keep that secret for us.’

‘Uh... would it really be so bad if people found out?’

‘Hector. I know you just want to protect people, but these shields are incredibly powerful. And, I mean, it took Haqq Najir months to craft just one of these shields. And now, potentially, you’d be able to make them in, what? An hour or two? Maybe even less? Hector, if you can start mass producing these things... Do you see what I’m getting at? Essentially, you’d be able to single-handedly turn the tide of... practically any war in the world.’

Hector stopped. He stared down the length of the empty hallway as he let Garovel’s words sink in.

‘That, my friend, is something that only a VERY small number of people on this planet can do,’ the reaper went on. ‘And don’t you think there are people out there who will want to take advantage of you? Especially if they find out how young you really are?’