Norian’s head spun toward the town, then after a few seconds, she turned back with a broad smile, “You almost had me, there aren’t any town guards coming? Are there?” “Actually,” Dilo growled, her smile breaking across her lips, “That is the reason we are doing our utmost to prevent you all from leaving. Rex wanted to give you all an opportunity to leave, but I wanted to delay you until our companion returned with them.” “All of your companions are present and…” Norian trailed off, looking toward Grub and Kealy, then down to where Karinna had dragged a barely conscious Kiri to the campfire and had her propped up against a log, then back to Dilo and Rex. “Your intelligence would say one is missing?” Dilo growled, her smile widening as Norian’s smile faltered slightly and the muscle at the side of her eye twitched. “You know our praetorian is busy handling Rosie. But please, don’t rush to decide on your next move, I have all the time in the world.” Since she had stopped fighting, Dilo

“Well…” Rex said loudly, lowering his fork onto his plate and sitting it on his lap, doing his best to stifle a loud burp.“That was incredible!” Kealy said, letting the plate she was licking fall away to stare at Grub. “You have to let us know what it was.”“Grub told you, Grub know good meal,” Grub smiled warmly, patting his own full stomach. “Now food is done, Grub’s friends drink good Kuumakun spirit.” He rose from his place at the fire and walked to his lopsided tent at a brisk pace, leaving everyone at the fire staring at his back with mixed expressions.“Am I the only one that was impressed by how he simply threw mystery ingredients into a pot, before adding whatever that thing was he caught, the end result was giving us a meal so good it left us speechless?” Karinna asked, looking around the fire with a grin.“I must admit I may have to up my own cooking game,” Rex said, getting chuckles from his companions. “I half want to know what it was, but on the other hand, knowing what

“I don’t like this,” Dilo growled once Rex had arrived back to his companions and told what he and the crazak had conversed about.“A hive queen that wants to meet sounds…” Cassius said, trailing off as his mind started working.“Like an easier way to eat Grub,” Grub said, grabbing his elbows and shuddering as the thought of crazaks tearing his flesh from him entered his mind.“That did cross my mind,” Rex said, inhaling deeply and holding it for a few brief moments before expelling the air.“But you’re feeling something different, aren’t you?” Kiri asked, noticing Rex’s surprisingly relaxed posture, even with the imminent danger they could be putting themselves in.“It's hard to explain,” Rex started with a slow nod. “I get this strange tingling in the back of my head that has been quite effective at warning me of danger. During the conversation with the crazak, even though there was easily enough to overwhelm us, I had no tingling of danger, and none even showed hostility.”“Relying

“I sense something is off today visitor Rex,” Hussin said, his small black eyes focused on Rex and the two sleeping companions a short distance behind him. “We usually celebrate the coming of another sun as one, but I can see something bothers you.”“One of your smalls almost attacked us last night, so we just stayed prepared, just in case,” Rex said, standing to greet Hussin.“Ah,” Hussin sighed with a slow, knowing nod. “I should have foreseen this. I apologise,” he continued, clenching his two lower claws while keeping his upper two straight, placing them between his eyes.“Foreseen what?” a slightly bleary voice called from behind them.“A small has yet to receive the gift of shared consciousness from our queen, so they still have slight impulsiveness which sometimes leads to rash decisions,” Hussin said, looking at the small contingent of crazaks all lined up, kneeling all facing the mountain. “I must join them for welcoming the new sun, you may join us if you wish. Or not, the c

Taalook had only led the group a few hundred metres toward a large archway leading into a dimly lit tunnel when Rex stopped two paces from the doorway. “What’s this?” Rex asked, tracing his eyes over the archway, one eyebrow raised. “What’s what Rex?” Cassius asked, halting beside Rex and staring, confused at the arched doorway. “There is another film of magic over this doorway. Another shield?” Rex asked turning to face Taalook and Hussin. “You can see the zone magics?” Hussin asked, his small beady eyes growing a little larger in surprise. “Zone magics?” Cassius asked, snapping to look at the archway once more, squinting heavily before sighing and turning to Rex. “I don’t know how you do it. Is it something you can teach?” “The queen has the zetas set zones that allow certain types into certain zones, preventing those from going into places they shouldn’t be,” Taalook boomed. “Hussin can tell you about it once we meet the queen, and if you are allowed to continue living afterwa