"No," I said flatly.

"No?" Zog replied.

"No."

"You haven't heard what I wanted to say yet."

"Don't need too. Come on Khrem, let's run away."

"I don't think that's possible," Khrem said, pointing to the gathered men behind Zog. "Your friend's friends have blocked our path. I'd unleash a smoke explosive but that might be frowned upon."

Khrem you traitor. I peaked behind Zog's burly arms and saw the same guards from before clamoring behind him. The leader–and the only one wearing a house crest–was red in the face. His finger prodded Zog's back.

"We are not finished with you! You think you can walk away in the middle of our conversation?!" the guard yelled.

His prodding got increasingly harder, to the point it looked like a child ineffectively punching a man's back. Zog ignored him and crossed his arms while staring at me.

I sighed. "You going to take care of that? We'd like to leave."

"I have no need to listen to a gnat's buzzing. Instead, you should hear me out," Zog said.

Sir guard didn't take kindly to his words. His finger snapped into his fist and he slammed it against Zog's back. There was a wince from one of his companions but the other two reached for their weapons and tensed.

Zog turned neutral and he cracked his neck. "One moment."

The lead guard flinched as Zog turned around. His fist was still raised and he glanced toward it as if it betrayed him. He slapped his arms to his side and took a step back, never losing the bluster but even he sensed the danger he stepped in.

"Ehem. Maybe now you'll listen to me. I won't say it again, the house requests your presence! This is not something to ig-"

He was interrupted by Zog leaning down.

"Am I a part of your insignificant clan?" Zog asked.

"Nu-no. But this is a request from a crested house! The Mercentius is not one you ignore!"

Spit landed on Zog's cheek, but a wisp of flames sprouted from his mouth and dried the moisture away. He huffed like a lazy dragon and leaned closer to the guard.

"Is it a request or a demand?"

"A… Request. But-"

Zog's thick fingers snatched the man's jaw and squeezed down. The guard's eyes bulged and the three guards behind him yanked their blades from their waists.

"Release him at once." the second guard demanded.

Zog turned to him. "An annoying bug won't stop buzzing his wings in my ear. He hides his request in a demand and then is outraged as I brush him off. Tell me. Do you mourn the insect when you crush its wings?"

The guards shared an unsure look but before they could answer they dropped their weapons and caught the lead guard. Zog stood up and brushed his shirt free from invisible dirt. The guards scrambled to right their leader, managing to flop him onto the cobblestone like dead fish.

People around us had taken a few steps back, more than a few with their hands hovering near their own weapons. One look at Zog looking entirely unbothered by the third guard raising his sword, caused most to take another step back.

"It never ends, truly," I muttered under my breath.

"Are you sure you are not cursed?" Khrem asked. "There's a good chance you might be."

Someone behind us started calling out, telling people to make way. I glanced behind and saw men with arena garb pushing through the crowd.

Yeah, we're leaving before I get banned from proximity.

Except, a massive hand grabbed my wrist and yanked me forward. I dug my claws in reflex and held my tail back from spearing Zog.

"What are you doing?!"

"Escaping before there's more trouble," he replied.

Pierce his heart, cut his achilles tendon. He can't chase you if you blind him, Cyrus! Agh, damnit!

Another tug nearly launched me as Zog bulldozed through. Those too slow he pushed out of the way and apologized following a constant stream of yelps and gasps. I had enough time to see Khrem rushing to keep up, using the clear passage behind the living ram to follow along.

My feet barely touched the ground. We bounded away from the arena and deeper into the city down narrowing alleys and away from the main road. Nearly three minutes of being ragdolled along did he finally slow, allowing Khrem to catch up.

The sharkman was surprisingly un-winded by the brief flight from prying eyes.

I snapped a kick into Zog's wrist, forcing him to release me. As I landed, I crouched and rolled to my feet, summoning my spear.

"How is kidnapping me leaving me alone. I made it clear the last time, I don't want anything to do with you nor your damn god," I growled.

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"But I had to know."

"Know what?"

His face broke out into a wide grin. "Your thoughts on my round! Was it good enough? Did I show enough to tempt you into a fight?! Could you feel the same thing I felt?"

His outburst filled the walls. I pushed fingers into my ears and brandished my tail and spear. He didn't come closer but he looked ready to explode.

"Well?" he pressed. "Did you? Did it?"

Zog had the fire in his eyes. Subdued, but it was present, the smoldering of flames inside that burned as they stared expectantly. My mask hid my expression, thankfully. I ground my teeth and licked the points, debating how I wanted to answer the maniac.

On one hand, he wasn't entirely wrong. I did feel excitement toward the idea of potentially fighting him. Was I going to tell him that?

Hell no.

"The answer is still no," I said, lowering my spear. "If we fight we fight, I still want nothing to do with you and your god."

Zog's smile never stopped. He leaned away and stood straight while adjusting his robe. "I see. If that wasn't enough to excite your spirit, then I'll show you in the coming match. You'll fight me, you'll want to fight me soon enough."

Learn to take a hint.

"We free to go now or are we being held hostage?"

"You're free to go, but I didn't pull you along just to ask if you wanted to fight."

Oh?

"If this is about the guard you manhandled, that's all you."

He shook his head. "No. I do not care for the petty demands of some minor clan. They wanted me to apologize for tossing their spoiled brat onto their own skill. If they wanted an apology they needed a better reason than their bruised ego."

"Who?"

"I think he means the man he impaled on the tree," Khrem offered.

Huh. So not Phyltomen then.

"Indeed, but that is not why I led you here," Zog said.

"Get on with it then," I said.

He glanced to Khrem. "Do you trust him?"

My eyes narrowed. "Enough. But he knows about my god, but nothing else."

Khrem looked at me curiously but said nothing.

"I see. Well this is information concerning the individual you were interested in. The one coming and going throughout the underground."

Damnit. Now I actually have to listen to him.

"What do you know?" I relented.

"Not much, but my god has informed me that something is happening. Soon, but he's not sure of the timeline. It could be days or weeks from now, but it is happening," Zog explained.

"And how exactly does your god know this?"

He cocked his head and looked at me with a confused expression. "By spreading his awareness through me? He did as most gods do with their scion and used me as a conduit. His domain includes battle and challenge. A challenge he sensed. His intuition told him to be suspicious and so he checked. What he learned was that the amount of blood-aspected mana has increased, and the folding of dimensional fabric in the area has strengthened. Whatever it is, the culprit is plotting something massive."

"That's… Not good," I sighed. "But that's something the royal guards should have caught onto. You telling me they don't know?"

"Maybe. However, from what my god tells me, it seems they have the means to hide the blood mana from their senses. If they know, it is uncertain."

"And your god can sense it but they can't?"

"What do you mean? Are you comparing mortals to gods?"

"I'm not," I said carefully. "Just… Nevermind. So to get this straight, the jerk behind is increasing activities, and the hand or whatever you call them can't sense it. Have you checked the validity of the claims yourself?"

"You compare mortals to gods and now you question their truth," Khrem said.

I winced but the brute didn't sound mad at me accidentally questioning his god's honor. If anything he looked more excited over the detail and his smile turned into a lopsided grin. I should still heed Khrem's warning.

"Well, have you?" I continued.

"No, I have not," he admitted. "With the royal guards taking interest in the underground, I am not as free as before. It was poking the grockler by opening myself to be a conduit, with the kingdom involved, the gods are sure to pay attention. I am not to risk myself any further."

That made an annoying amount of sense. Picturing Aurelion and his smug face certainly painted a picture of possessiveness. But the more I thought about it…

"Solunaria has nine gods. Knowing that smug bastard, there's no way he doesn't know what's up. Why isn't he helping the kingdom?" I said.

Zog shrugged. "I don't know."

"If they don't know, and that's a big if, then how? How is some random bad guy evading a pantheon?"

"I don't know."

"You're useless."

"Not in a fight," he countered.

I pinched the bridge of my nose. Some big bad evading gods meant terrible things to come. The opposite, the gods allowing a big bad to ruin a kingdom sounded just as horrible.

You're not religious Cyrus, you're not even a god. What the fuck do I know?

"If I may," Khrem coughed. "It's always been said that the god's view is like that of a monarch. You see your kingdom, you understand what's there, but you do not know the lives of every soul that resides inside its walls. Even Ysanna, known for her closeness to her people had tragedies happen to the isles. Not every storm dissipated, not every monster found and vanquished before it slaughtered. I do not know what truly draw's the attention of a god or goddess, but it could be less nefarious then neglect."

Khrem moved face to face, switching his beady eyes from mine to Zog.

I sighed and suppressed a mental spike behind my eyes. "I'm changing my mind, I'm going to take a nap."

I pushed past Zog and headed for the alley's exit.

"Cyrus. Shouldn't we bring this information to Teddy's parents?"

My foot paused along the stone. "I'll do that when I'm back at the house. Walter will relay any information we need."

Khrem coughed again. "Wouldn't they want to verify the information from Zog himself?"

Damnit Khrem.

"If they require me to submit myself to another truth skill I am willing," Zog offered.

For a moment–a split moment–I was tempted to summon Erebus and attempt to shadowwalk away. Instead I stopped my teeth from grinding together and turned to Zog.

"Against my better sanity, you might as well come back to the manor. You better behave yourself."

"Of course!" Zog bowed with one hand on his stomach. "I'm a brute, not an idiot. You have my word that I'll be on my best behavior."

I eyed the lick of flames trailing the corner of his mouth. It wisped off the tusk and turned into nearly-invisible smoke that trailed into the air.

The prick started again and I pushed it even further away. With a growing weight in my limbs, I trudged back to the manor, pointedly ignoring the beaming eyes drilling holes into the back of my hood.

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