We arrived at Hugo’s quarters to find him sitting at his desk, head bowed, face lined in concentration as he studied the text before him. The frown on his face deepened, but he didn’t look up as we entered, covering his expensive rug in pools of raindrops.
“It took you long enough,” he snipped.
“We would have been here sooner, but someone decided to go for a swim at the cove,” Filip said, shooting me a pointed look.
“Why am I not surprised?” Hugo grumbled, not breaking eye contact with the text.
That’s right.I had been returning from the cove the day I crossed paths with Hugo, when he all but accused me of being the murderer. I never would have predicted we’d be working together now.
“Filip said you found something?” I asked, shivering in my rain-logged clothing, and eager to hurry this meeting along.
“Look at this,” Hugo commanded, pointing to the image he’d been poring over.
We approached the grand oak desk, earning a glare for the trail of water droplets we left in our wake. Taking seats in the chairs positioned before the desk, we pulled the book towards us and peered at the open page. My eyes were drawn to an image of a black dog the size of a bear with a protruding skull, hollows for a nose, jagged fangs and watery red eyes.
Hugo had found the monster.
Filip swore loudly. “That’s it alright,” he said.
“The maglocunos,” I read out loud, “is an enigmatic yet lethal predator that uses its acute eyesight, superior sense of smell, and unparalleled stamina to track and capture prey. This creature is an exceptional hunter; upon marking its target, it becomes unyielding in its pursuit. For these reasons, maglocuni were deployed by the Great Deceiver during The Rebellion. As with all creatures classified as monsters, the maglocunos is not native to Orradon; however, its world of origin is unknown. Its kind is believed to inhabit the island of Tharasys.”
For a moment, the only sound was the merry crackling of the fire as we all attempted to absorb the magnitude of what Hugo had discovered.
I was the first to speak. “I suspect someone summoned them and sent them after us,” I said, thinking of the murderer.
“Who, though?” Filip asked, crossing his arms and leaning back against his chair. A casual gesture, but the tension in his shoulders and the crease in his forehead told me he was more concerned than he let on.
“Not who, but why?” said Hugo, looking deeply unsettled.
“You don’t think—” Filip started, sitting up straight.
“It’s a theory,” said Hugo, meeting Filip’s gaze with unflinching resolve.
“An extremely far-fetched theory, even for you.”
“It’s entirely possible.”
It was clear I was missing something. “Will someone please tell me what’s going on?”
They shared a significant look. I felt a surge of annoyance at being left in the dark, but held my tongue as they continued their non-verbal communication.
“Hugo has a wild imagination,” Filip said eventually.
Hugo glared at him, then turned his focus towards me. “I can hazard a guess as to the summoner’s identity, but I genuinely hope I’m mistaken.”
My muscles tensed at the foreboding tone.
He raked a hand through his perfectly-styled hair. “According to that passage, these monsters were used by the Great Deceiver during The Rebellion, and they inhabit Tharasys. This leads me to believe that there’s a good chance they were sent by its ruler.”
My mouth went dry. He couldn’t be saying what I thought he was saying.
His voice was strained when he spoke again. “Lucan Malack.”
At his words, all the air left the room. Lucan Malack was a name I had been taught to fear my entire life, second only to the Great Deceiver’s. Lucan Malack was his son.
Shortly after the Great Deceiver fell, a body made up of the wisest and most powerful Velcarin—the Concilium—learned of his infant son. A seer had warned them that the child’s powers would grow to match those of his father’s. The Concilium was torn between disposing of the baby or allowing him to live, at the risk that he might continue in his father’s footsteps. In the end, not wanting an innocent’s blood on their hands, they decided to spare his life. They exiled him to Tharasys—an island of volcanoes and ash that was said to be riddled with the creatures they could not capture and send to the Forbidden Isles. Creatures from a person’s worst nightmares.
There, they placed an enchantment on him so he could never leave. Not only did he survive the horrors of the island, but he conquered them. He was as ruthless and feral as the monsters he ruled over.
