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'Quite an odd story, that one,' said Worwal. 'And rather long, as well.'

'I should like to hear it another time, then,' said Garovel.

'And I should like to tell it.'

"Regardless," said Abbas, "I only meant that it is familiar in its strangeness and intensity. I do not mean to imply that you are the same at heart as this Jara character. I did not even know the man."

That was a bit of a relief, Hector supposed. It sounded like Jara Hanseth wasn't someone he wanted to emulate, though he was admittedly still curious. Moreover, he figured he could offer some elaboration of his own now. "The Wrobels call it 'aura,'" he said.

Abbas' head reared back, and he blinked at him. "You are in contact with a nest of Wrobels?"

Hector had a hunch that Abbas would know of them. The dude was old as hell, after all, and the leader of the Golden Council besides. "I am. But I can't say more than that without betraying their confidence."

"That must be quite helpful, indeed," said Abbas. The surprise on his face was not going away. "Aura, you said? How did you come by this strange power?"

Even though he trusted Abbas Saqqaf and felt like they could gain a lot by swapping information, Hector didn't want to give too much away too quickly. Not to mention, there were more pressing questions on his mind. "That, too, might be best saved for a different conversation," he said. "Right now, I'm more interested in hearing what your current plans are."

"Ah." Abbas' expression returned to its more rigid state. "At the moment, making repairs to my armor is the priority. That battle would have gone much more smoothly if its functionality had not been so greatly compromised by those damnable abominations of the Mad Demon."