Chapter Five Hundred and Ninety-Seven – Storm Trek Nemesis

"Well well, if it isn't Broccoli Bunch herself!" Rainnewt said.

My friends and I stood atop the windy docks of the Black Castle. Ahead of us were Guinivere and Percival and the two Black Avatars we hadn't been introduced to yet. All four of those were surrounding Rainnewt, and I couldn't decide if it was to protect him, or if they were acting more like prison guards.

"Hi, Rainnewt," I replied, because even if I didn't like him, that didn't mean that I'd forget all of my manners.

"Oh, you're still alive? Unfortunate," Amaryllis said.

Okay, so maybe Amaryllis wasn't quite so good with her manners.

"We can fix that!" Calamity said, smiling in a way that showed his very sharp fangs. "Just a short walk off the pier over yonder, and a long tumble down. His name's rain ain't it? It'd be... what's the word?"

"Ironic?" Caprica supplied.

"'At's the one!"

"We're not going to kill him," I said.

"Awa? But if he walked off, that wouldn't be us, right?" Awen asked.

I shook my head, my ears both drooping. Why were my friends being so violent?

"Ah, and aren't you that little tart that ruined my plans in Sylphfree?" Rainnewt remarked, his smirk cracking for a split second.

Oh, right, that was why.

Guinevere clapped a hand onto his shoulder with a hard smack, and judging by the wince that crossed his features, that impact hadn't felt nice. I shouldn't have felt good about that... but I still did, a little. "Watch your words, Mister Rainnewt. Our new friends here have come around telling tales."

"I may have done a few questionable things in my time on Dirt, but I'm hardly a villain. Miss Bunch here just has a... rigid... view of morality."

"We'll see about that," Guinevere said before turning her attention onto my friends and I. "There won't be any fighting here. And if there is, I'll be winning it. Understood?"

Rainnewt raised both hands in surrender. "I understand, of course," he replied.

I wasn't sure he did. Still, I nodded. "I get it," I said. "Are we going to talk out here?"

"No," Percival said. "Best to do this inside. Tristain will want to listen in on this, in any case."

"You're making it sound ominous," Rainnewt said.

Percival clamped a hand on his other shoulder, and I wasn't sure if the gesture was friendly or not. "Don't worry about it," he said, his voice gravelly and deep.

Rainnewt's eyes darted toward Percival, then back my way. There was a pause, and then it was like he commanded his face to relax, his smile becoming more genuine. He shook out his limbs, slipping free of the Avatars and confidently strutting past us, seemingly completely at ease with being surrounded by fourth-tiers.

One of the Black Avatars nodded to us, then moved back to their ship, the Stormpiercer. I glanced at my friends, then back at the Beaver. "Okay... so who's coming?"

I had an immediate chorus of 'I ams' from just about everyone, which... well, I supposed everyone had a few grievances. "Okay, so... Awen, Amaryllis, Caprica and Bastion, and you, Desiree?"

"Oi, me too!" Calamity said. "Don't have a reason to hate the guy like most of ny'all, but I wanna be there for the drama."

I sighed, but... yeah, I kinda understood that. Plus Calamity was pretty strong, and it wouldn't hurt to have him along. Also, he was good at getting a word in edgeways and his commentary would be a relief from Rainnewt's ... sliminess.

"Okay, so everyone's coming except for the sailors, then," I said.

There were nods all around, and we hurried to catch up with the Avatars. We didn't pause even when Bastion darted back to the ship to grab that weird clockwork device that Rainnewt had left behind.

We followed Guinevere and Percival down the stairs through the multilevel dock. The wind tugged at my ears and stung my cheeks, but once we stepped past the heavy doors leading into the castle, the storm became a muffled thing behind us.

"So," Rainnewt said over his shoulder, loud enough that his voice carried through the corridor. "Did you enjoy your stay in the castle, Miss Bunch? I do hope the hospitality was adequate. The Black Avatars are many things, but poor hosts they are not!"

"They've been nice," I said a little guardedly.

"Ah, good!" He grinned back without slowing. "I would hate to think you were mistreated."

Amaryllis snorted.

Rainnewt glanced her way. "Lady Albatross, you wound me with your distrust."

She returned a glare. "Not enough, apparently. You're not even bleeding."

"How harsh," he said, chuckling.

"Your skin must be pretty thin. If you want harsh, I'll gladly demonstrate," Amaryllis muttered as she flexed her talons. I couldn't have been the only one that noticed a small spark of electricity bouncing between talon-tips.

"Amaryllis," I whispered.

She met my eyes, then sighed and lowered her talons.

Rainnewt's smile lingered for a moment longer, before he turned away from us. He kept walking with his shoulders easy and his hands loosely clasped behind him, but his head tilted just enough that he could see us from the corner of one eye.

That made him look less confident, somehow. Or maybe it made him look more honest. Not nicer, exactly, but closer to the kind of person he really was under all of that charm. Someone who was always checking exits. Someone who was always measuring the people around him.

Guinevere walked ahead with Percival, the two of them close enough to Rainnewt that he couldn't easily bolt without brushing past one of them. Her four tails moved in a slow, controlled wave behind her. That was a little comforting. I'd seen Desiree's tails react to her mood often enough to know that stillness usually meant tension, and Guinevere wasn't still.

Percival was harder to read. He had one hand near Rainnewt's shoulder, never quite touching him again, but always close enough that the threat remained obvious.

Rainnewt must have felt it too. He didn't say anything else as we walked. It was starting to feel like a procession leading to the gallows or something.

We reached the library a few minutes later. The doors had been left open, and warm light spilled out into the hall. Tristain was already waiting inside, seated at the table with a kettle before him and several cups already arranged. Someone had moved a second couch around the table, as well as a simple wooden chair that had its back to the hearth.

Viviane sat atop one of the shelves, legs dangling down, while Mathew stood by the hearth with his arms crossed.

They stared as we entered, then there were a few smiles and hugs as the Black Avatars greeted wach other. "Nick, about time," Mathew said.

The Black Avatar that I didn't know yet stepped up and clasped arms with Mathew, then they did that guy thing where they smacked each other on the back, like a hug, but cooler and manlier. "Keeping busy without me?" Nicholas, or Nick I supposed, asked.

"You know how it is," Mathew said with a shrug.

Standing next to each other, it was impossible to miss the resemblance. Nicholas was a bit broader at the shoulders, with more muscle on him, but they had equally acceptable chins, and both of them felt like they had a presence in the room. Actually, everyone here did. The Black Avatars were like... people trying to hide mountains under blankets.

Tristain grinned and hopped down from his seat to greet Nicholas as well. The taller human had to kneel down to shake his hand, but no one commented on the height difference. "Was the trip eventful?" he asked.

"A little, but not enough to cause trouble. We found three dungeons along the eastern shore. One of them was affected."

Tristain's face soured and his lips pinched. "I see. That is unfortunate. I'll make note of that right away."

It wasn't long that he unfurled a map on the table, somehow doing it so that the cups ended up moved to the side? A trick with magic? If so, I didn't feel it.

Amaryllis leaned forwards, eyes glued onto the rather large map, and I felt myself doing the same. I was a little curious too. It was a map of Pyrowalk and the continent my friends and I had just come from, all the way over to Sylphfree. On it were little Xs and Os, with tiny annotations next to each. I squinted at one of the Xs close to the southern shore of the Moonstruck Sea, not too far from Southerfell, and read 'Cloth monster dungeon, 3 levels, uninfected as of summer 758.'

The current year, if I remembered correctly, was 759, so that little note dated back a couple of seasons.

"Very well, then," Tristain said as he jotted down a few notes, adding two more Xs and an O. "Everyone, sit, please."

His words were polite, but the room moved as if it had been an order. Rainnewt was made to take the wooden chair with its back to the hearth. It placed him in the centre of everyone's attention, and also left him with the fewest easy paths to the door.

It looked like we were finally going to have a little chat.

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