"Gloria, that's a risky move. East is the way for sure, but I'm not positive he's even waiting for us."
"I'm telling you, he's vigurously spasing inside his little alley. He's there. No need to take a tougher road. Even still, he's wired to desire challenge."
"We split up then."
"Are you already tired of your wife?"
"Whether he expects us or not, I can't tell you why, but he's not counting on losing this one. I can't wait for all this to be over."
"I guarantee he's not making it. Not out of this one. But I'd stop at a bar first. Get something to eat, I'm starving."
The two of them stayed in a hotel, exhausted and marked for life. They were being seen from afar, a silent watcher, using his scope to surveil their every move. In one second he could have taken them down both. But those were not his orders.
"Mateni died, sir."
"Lead them to me, Theigon. Get rid of any and all potential threat. I want them in my castle."
"Will do, sir."
He kept watching. Watching over, like an guardian angel.
"We have to address the matter at hand, Ismael. I can't ever go back to Cressenie. Now that we're out of the country, different jurisdictions apply to us. If we go beyond even Renegald, then every step becomes an incredible danger. We stay low, we can't keep on killing. Now, if we use our weapons, it has to be on our friends. That and self-defense. Can't allow ourselves to become them." "Low profile is one thing, but lack of intel is another. Once we know who is after us, the way we're after them, we'll be able to move more freely."
One hour later they fell asleep, unbeknownst to them a lifeless shadow looming was staring at their bodies, two white eyes piercing their souls. It drags closer and closer.
"Quit this quest, never come back. If you go far enough you'll never live."
The night was peaceful, the sleep was general, there were no threats nor death of any kind. But the animal wildlife was inexistent and the pressure in the air extremely dense. Ismael woke up but couldn't budge, so his eyes were wide open and he knew an immense figure was moving just outside between the houses. One loud, heavy, condensed step after the other. Theigon reports on the situation.
"Basil, sir. There is a twenty feet tall monster of some sort in the town. Walking slowly. It's covered in a black cloak."
"An entity from the other side of the planet. The further you go the more horrid things become. This is one of the worst ones, but if you don't intend on hurting it, it won't hurt you. Take away your finger from the trigger. You won't be able to take it down anyway. Fly low."
"I'll go down, I can protect them from the ground."
"Low."
"Understood."
Ismael realized, Gloria wasn't here anymore, and he could finally move. Kicking the wooden door off the hinges, caught by one hand by Theigon.
"Calm down, Ismael. You should be resting. I was sent by Basil Morgan. Gloria is downstairs, taking a breakfast, she's doing just fine."
"No valuable reason for him to lower himself to this. Is everyone of those who are left going to just accept their death? Can we just go and drop them dead one by one?"
"Yes, actually. Basil isn't looking for death, though. He's looking for an understanding. The creatures outside were triggered by your will to go to the ends of the world to catch your old friends. This is what attracts them to your location. Focus on your mission, not topographically but merely on your targets. Otherwise they will come for you. You can leave Gloria here, physically she seems fine but something about her feels off. Basil wants to talk to you only."
"Basil Morgan? The Basil Morgan? The one who would skip class and come back with more knowledge than all of us combined on what we just learned in class?"
"I wasn't there, but that sounds like him."
"Yeah, it does, doesn't it." Ismael replied, chuckling, remembering the times.
"Name's Theigon, I'm an elite sniper for the Morgan family. I didn't mean to sound rude or intrusive. I apologize. I want this to go as my master commanded."
"Unecessary. But wait, Master?"
"I'm kind of a butler too. I have many qualifications."
"Can you fix this door, so we can sit and talk inside?
"Can do."
Twelve minutes later.
"You didn't seem to be particularly shocked by the idea of a bunch of creatures wandering around. I admit you look to be quite the fit for this task."
"The entities outside are the abominations I thought I was seeing at the Nara war. As I understand it, whenever you wish to go to a remote place, the further it is, the more likely it is they come to you. What, as a warning?"
"Pretty much. If you were at war you must have dreamed of an escape. If that escape was that tempting, then you must have thought of going far, too far for your own good."
"Theigon, tell me about Basil Morgan. What is he?"
"You'll witness his nature when you'll be there. For now, let me lift up a burden from your shoulders. He hasn't trafficked any weapon or anything else for the past five months. The signals you were getting came from the third one on the list."
"Raven? Seriously?"
"She's a technological hack and a weapon fanatic. She transgressed almost every rule you could think of. She lives in her own world, her own bubble. A bubble we have to pierce. Basil found solace in darkness and revels in isolation, he won't attack nor threaten. He's on your side. But you have to meet him first."
"I want to believe this, trust me."
Leaving, Gloria was eating downstairs where a few people were also sitting down, enjoying the evening, her table filled with food. She sees them and goes shy.
"I was starving, I..."
"Don't make any excuses. You worked hard recently and lost your high position work. Take it easy. Listen. Me and Theigon over here we have to go and see Basil Morgan. Apparently he wasn't the one doing this, it was Raven. I'm going for the night. Stay here and rest as you want, tomorrow morning I'll be here."
"Fine, as you wish. I'll tell you this, though. Raven's not our main issue", she says, pointing at the journal on her table.
"Genova spotted around the Ultimate Border by a local mercenary. That's just publicity, Genova exists in a different world."
"You sound like you idolize her."
"I do. She's the strongest of all of us, she has the freedom of an angel in heaven and governments change their entire sets of rules and laws just because of some rumor that she has been seen by some person somewhere. No picture, nothing. A rumor. And the entire world shakes. That's what Genova is."