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Taj reached out to his reaper. ‘Orolix? Where are you?’

‘I made it to the tunnel. I’m hiding. What’s your status?’

‘I’ve been captured by the locals. They’re talking to me, but I can’t understand their language.’

‘I see.’

And Taj waited, but the reaper said nothing more. ‘I sure could use a translator over here, Orolix...’

‘Hmm.’

‘Orolix...’

‘Taj.’

‘You’re not abandoning me, right?’

‘Of course not.’

And Taj waited again for elaboration which never arrived. ‘You’re abandoning me.’

‘I’m not. I’m tactically retreating in order to get help and rescue you later. So just hang in there until I return.’

Taj took a deep breath and sighed. The worm rider was still talking to him, and he was still not understanding a single word. He could see the other worm riders moving closer now, having apparently mopped up the Abolishers already.

Yep. He’d never learned the names of the Abolishers, but he could certainly recognize their faces, and now they were all stuck fast in moving prisons of worm flesh, just like him. They didn’t look too happy about it, either, with a couple of them shouting and yelling at their respective riders.

‘The locals have captured the Abolish servants, too,’ said Taj. ‘Orolix, if they can speak Hunese, they can lie to these guys and convince them that we’re in the wrong.’

‘Doubtful. I’m sure the Hun’Kui could tell who the aggressors were in that fight. You didn’t even attack anyone.’

The reaper was grasping at excuses now, Taj felt. ‘I don’t think these Hun’Kui will hurt you, Orolix.’

‘Better to not take the risk.’

The worst part was, he knew the reaper had a point. It wasn’t exactly pleasant, but this was the safest course of action for them.

But not necessarily for everyone else. ‘If they take Ivan’s head from me and free him, it won’t be good for anyone. I at least need someone who can tell them not to do that.’

‘Mrgh...’

The group started moving in unison. Taj strained to see if any of the other reapers had been captured, but he couldn’t tell for sure. There were even more worms present than he’d first thought, and their hulking bodies were blocking much of his view. They seemed to be heading toward the big plateau, though, so maybe this wasn’t the worst thing in the world.

‘Okay, I’ll teach you a simple Hunese phrase you can say,’ said Orolix.

Of course. Taj just sighed again.