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~~((The National Puppy Day Special -- page 3 of 14))~~
Hector wondered briefly what the point of such subtle deception was, but it wasn't hard to think of a reason. This place would be a hellish maze for any normal person to navigate. For any invaders, in other words.

They walked for a long while, and Hector wanted to ask Hanton where they were going. Where were all the people that Garovel had sensed earlier? Had they been illusions, too? He supposed that wouldn't be surprising.

At length, he finally sensed something that wasn't just another empty room or corridor.

In a distant chamber at the limit of the Scarf's range, Hector sensed a hulking shape, something not immediately recognizable to his imagination. It was the size of a truck. And it was breathing. He could sense the flow of air in and out of its mouth.

No.

Its beak. Yeah. And the way the air moved around its body--those were feathers, weren't they?

A giant bird.

Hector didn't know what to think.

Hanton led him to the room that the bird was waiting in, and sure enough, the man showed him inside.

To his eyes, the enormous bird was invisible, but Hector knew exactly where it was. And this room. It looked like any other, but he could sense that the ceiling was fake. It was actually one big window, currently sitting half-open--perhaps in case the bird wanted to fly away.

"As a show of good faith," said Hanton, "I will now show you my true form."

Hector held his tongue.

The way in which the bird became suddenly visible to his eyes was as if a paper veil were being quickly burned away.

There arrived a briefly silent intermission.

"...You are not surprised?" said Hanton--or the human projection of him, rather.

"No, I am," said Hector. Sure, he'd sensed it coming at the last minute, but that didn't change the fact that he still had about a billion questions. "What are you, exactly?"