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He wanted greatly to stay and show the beast what for, but he knew better. The battle that had taken place back at his workshop had illustrated that point for him.

It had not gone in his favor, to say the least. In fact, it had only gotten worse and worse as things drew out.

First, there was Rasalased’s supposed sister hassling him via the new tattoos. Then there was the blasted dog, hunting him down incessantly. Then there was Germal, to boot--that mind flaying bastard.

And to top it off?

Damian Lofar had showed up, too. That one, Morgunov had actually been quite pleased about.

At first.

He’d been hoping that Damian might’ve somehow been alive all these years, but clearly, the lad had not been harboring similar feelings for his beloved mentor. The first thing the old boy had done was free Parson Miles. Along with the other captive Vanguardians.

And that was really when things began to go south. Iceheart and all those angry little generals joining the fight, even in their debilitated states, was not something that Morgunov had a good time dealing with.

Or had he?

No, that was wrong. He’d been having fun, hadn’t he? A thrilling encounter with his life truly at risk for the first time in countless years.

Nibas had loved it.

Rgh. Morgunov shook his head as he ran. Tricks and confusion. Right now, he needed to focus. Maintain the link to the Roberts. Their numbers had been severely culled by now, but they were still one of the best remaining cards up his sleeve. How many could he sense? Twenty-three? Twenty-four.

Rough. Hopefully, more survived elsewhere, out of range.

He knew he’d have to be sneaky with them. The Vanguardians had grown wise enough to avoid them rather than fight, which was annoying, but it was the dog that was the biggest threat to his poor Roberts. That son of a bitch could just shrug off their attacks and bite through their tempered metal hulls as if they were made of meat.

In that respect, it was actually a good thing that the wolf was so obsessed with hunting him down. It meant that Morgunov didn’t have to go out of his way in order to keep the animal’s attention. He could more easily focus on having the Roberts harass the softer targets with guerrilla tactics.