Dawn of the Epoch

Chapter LVII - Reconnaissance

The next day, they hit the road at sunrise. They drove for several hours before Virgil stopped them. He had his geographic location device sitting in the palm of his hand and he read the holographic symbols that paraded in front of him.

“Stop here. This is it.” Virgil said suddenly.

Hongo slammed on the brakes. Hunter and Tiyana lurched forward.

“We do not need to stop in this exact location.” Virgil admonished.

“Sorry.” Hongo replied. “Where to?”

“Into the woods, Hongo, as deep into the woods as possible.” Virgil replied.

The car lurched into action. The ATV’s occupants rocked back and forth violently in their seats. Each tire gained traction on whatever rocks or dirt that it touched as the vehicle’s big eight cylinders applied independent torque to each wheel. The path was rocky, pot-hole ridden, and covered in rocks, tree roots, and shrubs, but their all-terrain vehicle crawled along with ease. After they reached a safe distance, they exited the vehicle.

“Lock and load.” Hunter said, looking at Virgil.

Virgil barely acknowledged him.

He arched his back, rose his chin, looked down his long, proud nose at Hunter and said, “I will return.”

With that, Virgil ran with surprising dexterity into the forest. In a minute, they could no longer see him. Hunter, Tiyana, and Hongo looked at each other. For a few moments no one knew what to say.

Hunter broke the silence, “Come on then, let’s set up camp.”

They went to work on the tents and cooking supplies. An eerie silence permeated their work. Their overwhelming curiosity about Virgil’s escapade made all conversation seem trite. Eventually, the sun set. The night grew late. They began to wonder if they would see their mysterious guide at all that evening. Then they heard footsteps.

While they looked around for the source, they heard an august voice, “Ah, you all waited up for me.”

Virgil seemed to materialize in the firelight. He sat down on a large tree root.

He continued, “They are amassing a horde of yzorak, forging armor, collecting weapons, and training.”

Hunter asked, “Weapons?”

Virgil nodded, “Aldenduenum weapons. Weapons that I was afraid he might have. They will make the horde unstoppable.”

Hunter raised an eyebrow and said, “It can’t be all that bad.”

His eyes demanded an affirmative answer.

Virgil conceded, “No. You are correct. It is not all that bad. The operation is growing like a snowball rolling down a hill, but it has not yet reached an unstoppable momentum. Wherever Ghaelvord goes, he will bring his pestilence with him. He will infect new recruits and they will infect others and the disease will spread. If we could kill him then we would stop the onslaught. Unfortunately, he dies hard. In the Great War we thought that we killed him more than once. He can play the possum.”

“Virgil dear. You are rambling, just a bit.” Tiyana chided.

“Yes, I digress. There are three buildings, one large main hall with numerous side chambers, one foundry, and one textiles building. A makeshift road go into a courtyard that lies in front of the three buildings. The road comes in from the southeast. Directly south, past the textiles building lies open fields. Malacoda trains the ghoul army in these fields. They primarily use energy weapons of a type that were popular around the time of the Aldenduenum’s demise.”