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‘And his reaper, Engomat, is an old friend of mine,’ said Nerovoy.

‘Why didn’t you tell me any of this sooner?!’

‘See? I knew you were upset about that.’

‘Tell me!’

‘I didn’t want you panicking on me. But now that we’re so close, I felt I should allow you to prepare yourself. And you seemed like you were panicking a bit already. So now you can panic over two things at once! It’ll save us some time!’

Germal closed his eyes and rubbed his aching head another time. ‘Nero...’

‘Yeah, buddy?’

‘I hate everything about you...’

‘I’m sorry.’

‘No, you’re not. At all.’

‘You’re right. But I’m telling you, everything will be okay. You should be happy! You’re finally going to get the help that you need!’

Germal wanted to yell, but he knew it would be fruitless. Infiltrating Abolish had been Nerovoy’s plan from day one. And yes, while it was true that that plan had gone horrendously awry at just about every conceivable opportunity over the last six years, that was probably also why the reaper was trying to take him straight to the source this time.

There was little doubt in Germal’s mind that this, too, would go terribly wrong in some new and unexpected way, but what the hell did it matter anymore? He decided to just focus on climbing. Maybe if he went high enough, lightning would strike him down and give him a few minutes of respite before Nerovoy revived him.

When he reached the first crest in the path, a new gale arrived from the south and nearly sent him tumbling back down. He pressed onward, this time fighting the wind head on.

The view was nice from here, he supposed. Forested valleys and snowy peaks filled the horizon, and the path forward was at least clear, if still long and winding. Visible sheets of rain and hail flexed with the shifting winds. And of course, the frequent lightning was the icing on the cake.

At length, after his feet had begun to hurt nearly as much as the rest of him, the only thing on Germal’s mind was why Nerovoy was putting him through all of this, making him walk all this way.

‘...Can’t you just kill me and go search the area on your own?’ he finally asked.

‘No,’ the reaper said, having attached himself to Germal’s chest and hidden beneath the cloak.

‘Why not? The only thing in danger here is my sanity...’

‘You’re wrong. This whole place is full of ardor and soul power. If lightning strikes me, I’m toast. Even the hail could kill me, if I just sit out in the open and let it shred me.’

That information made him look around another time. The path crossed above a river full of rapids, and he could see a group of bears hanging around the water’s edge.