Khollo dressed quickly and headed for the keep, shivering in the cold morning air. The other cadets were hard at work still, sparring with each other while Wilkes gave pointers. Khollo kept his head down and trotted up the stairs to the keep, across the main hall, and up to the council chamber.
The same two guards were posted there as when Khollo had most recently visited Janis. The guard on the left frowned suspiciously as Khollo approached.
“Lord Kurkan is not here. If you need access to the council room, you’ll have to get it from the temporary commander, Sergeant Wilkes.”
“Janis left an assignment for me,” Khollo replied. “Pertaining to his current mission.”
The guards exchanged glances. “He didn’t tell us,” the spokesman said slowly.
Khollo narrowed his gaze and gave an exasperated sigh. “Look, I’m hardly a security threat. I am Janis’ squire and a trusted advisor.”
“You? An advisor?” the guard snorted. “Get back downstairs. Don’t you have drill or something right now?”
Khollo shook his head. “Enough. I have work to do.”
The guard on the right reached out to grab Khollo, but he darted past and into the council room. “I’ll let you know if I have need of anything,” Khollo called over his shoulder. Then he slammed the door in the faces of the two dumbfounded guards.
Khollo released a pent-up breath he had not realized he was holding and looked around. The council chamber was the same as it had been on his previous visit, except for the fact that the reports on the central table had been cleaned up, stacked neatly to one side. Khollo sat down at the head of the table, and was immediately drawn to a stack of papers on his right side. They were hidden beneath a scrap of parchment, on which had been scrawled ‘Hunting Project’.
Khollo lifted the parchment away and saw that the top page was the sketch from Lord Horam of Ishkabur. The vertag was no less terrifying now than it had been before, leering up at Khollo from the page.
The young cadet shuddered and set the sheet to one side. Beneath it was a battered roll of parchment, still curling at the top and bottom. This must be the original message from Lord Horam to Janis, Khollo realized as he began reading.
To Lord Kurkan of the West Bank
I hope this message finds you and your men well, enjoying the wondrous peace of our time. Unfortunately, I fear this peace may soon be shattered.
This is no idle letter to an old comrade, but a report of worrisome events. I remember you from the war many years ago, an intelligent man, willing to do what had to be done within and beyond the bounds of the rules. You saw plainly what was happening and how to stop it, and acted, though I know it cost you much grief. You are the only man in the South I can trust with what you are about to read.
A trade caravan rode into the city on the eighteenth day before the change of season and came straight to me. They had met with some misfortune on the road, for the two traders I spoke with were both wounded and disheveled. Their trade goods were gone, and they had barely managed to escape with their lives.
The traders informed me that they had met with vertaga in the pass east of Ishkabur, twenty-two days before the change in season. The beasts attacked, killed off most of the caravan and captured the traders’ wagons and everything in them.
I cannot vouch for the accuracy of their tale, but the traders were most distressed and scared. They drew the image enclosed for me at my request, and it bears a striking resemblance to the brutes we once fought. I do not know where else they could have obtained such information.
If the vertaga are returning, we must know. For now, we are proceeding with normal life in Ishkabur, but I have my best scouts looking into the situation.
Lord Kurkan, you stopped them once. But this time, the kingdom is not prepared for war. If the monsters of the last war are returning, we must stop them before they become too powerful for us to handle on our own. I would suggest that we begin hunting for the truth of the matter immediately.
In the meantime, the forces of Ishkabur stand ready. We will defend the South, even if no one else will.
Fanlere Horam,
Lord of Ishkabur and all its Holdings
“Nothing new there,” Khollo murmured to himself. “Looks like Janis has already told me everything there is to know.”
Out of curiosity, Khollo drew the large map of the Sthan Kingdom closer, squinting at Ishkabur and the eastern pass, trying to get a feel for where exactly the attack had taken place. Based on what Khollo knew about the southern mountain ranges, the pass cut through some of the wildest, most unexplored areas of the South. If there were vertaga there, they would have their choice of places to hide.
Khollo shifted his focus to other areas of the southern mountains, looking for more areas the vertaga might inhabit. The easternmost of the three predominant ranges was an obvious choice. The tallest mountains were there and the country was so rugged it was considered impassable by most. The northwestern range consisted of smaller mountains, and was easy to cross. There were numerous passes from the Renlor Basin to the coastal villages and cities, from Narne to Ishkabur.
Khollo frowned down at the map, tracing passes through the mountains with one finger. Too many passes for them to be here, he realized. The Ishkabur pass where they were sighted is the only one for miles. All
