Page 1646 (Patreon)

It was an absolutely gargantuan chamber that awaited them. Even with the Scarf’s help, the ceiling and walls were too distant for Hector to sense them.

‘Which direction is Capaporo from here?’ said Axiolis.

Garovel floated forward, ahead of the group, and Hector moved to catch up with him. ‘...To be completely frank with you, I am not entirely sure.’

“What?” Zeff did not sound pleased.

Garovel sighed. ‘This was why I had Hector write that letter to Roman. His reaper knows the route better than I do. I only know that Capaporo is close.’

‘I see,’ said Axiolis. ‘And it would appear we have a branching pathway in front of us now.’

Indeed, the Lord Elroy’s lamplight was revealing as much in the distance, even though the Scarf wasn’t. There were tall divides in the rock, poking out from the ocean of blackness in front of them.

“What should we do?” said Hector.

‘First, let us have the others rejoin us here,’ said Axiolis.

Zeff didn’t wait for anyone else to volunteer. He shot back toward the tunnel on a stream of materialized water and burst through the open passageway, leaving an evaporating trail in his wake.

“...I hope he doesn’t break any of those support beams I put up,” said Hector.

‘I am sure he will be careful,’ said Axiolis.

Hector wished he had the reaper’s confidence.

‘Shall we brainstorm while we wait?’ said Garovel.

‘Yes. I am thinking that we may need to split up and check the various paths independently.’

‘I’d say that depends on how many paths there are. It’s hard to tell in all this darkness.’

Hector began to walk. The reapers were as clear as day against the black surrounding them, but of course, despite appearances, their ethereal glow emitted no actual light for him to rely upon. He only had the Scarfto go by, but the chamber was so ridiculously spacious that it wasn’t terrifically useful.

‘Hector,’ said Axiolis. ‘Will you please make some light for us?’

Uh.

Hector didn’t know what--

Oh. Wait. Of course.

He raised a tower of iron, adding enough heat to it to make it gloworange. He’d wanted to make it white hot, as that would’ve beenbrightest, but he supposed his application of heat had been too weak for sucha large volume of mass. It served well enough, though, and illuminatedthe room dimly but satisfactorily.

‘Four paths,’ said Garovel. ‘Five, if we’re counting the way we came from.’

‘One path for each servant, then.’

‘Looks that way.’

Soon enough, Zeff returned with the others, and they began to formulate their next move in more detail. The reapers would remain in this area while the servants scouted ahead and reported back. Then the reapers could act as a kind of a communication hub, sharing information with one another and relaying it all to their respective servants instantaneously.