Back at the inn, Edwin closed the door to the side room and sighed, leaning against the wall. “He’s not talking,” he said. He rubbed his round belly, wincing in discomfort. He’d been interrogating their Hark’akuy captive for hours. Calvin hadn’t expected the cultist to simply answer their questions, though. The main point of having Edwin try was to make the cultist think Unichi had captured him instead of Tikray.

  Calvin gestured to Pelias. “You can show him how to use the negotiators.”

  Pelias nodded and pulled the box out of his pack. “It’s quite simple,” he said, then led Edwin back into the side room.

  Calvin went back to his notes, looking over the plans he’d made and writing down questions he’d need the cultist to answer when he was ready.

  After less than half an hour and only a few shouts of protest, Pelias and Edwin brought out the former cultist. No ropes, no gag, no restraints of any kind. He walked peacefully after them and came to a stop before Calvin’s table. He had serpentine yellow eyes and patches of black scales on his arms and face. He bowed his head to Calvin.

  “Allow me to present,” Edwin started, gesturing to the former cultist. He faltered and looked to Pelias, who shrugged and nodded. “Bob,” Edwin said. He clapped the former cultist on the shoulder. “You’re Bob now.”

  Bob nodded. “At your service.”

  Calvin smiled. “Fantastic. I’ve got some questions for you.”

  Bob answered each question with detail. He outlined Waska’s routine. He drew a map of the Hark’akuy base and wrote out directions on how to find it. He gave approximate numbers of how many cultists would be present in the base when they launched the attack and where they were likely to be gathered.

  Calvin was most concerned with the distance between the prison and Waska’s contact chamber. Unlike the Unichi, the Hark’akuy had two rooms in between. The first was a room that doubled as a storage room and a mundane sacrifice room, used mostly by the Binders and lesser Hark’akuy cultists. The second was an audience chamber that would fill with cultists whenever Waska performed a contact ritual. They hoped that being near him during the ritual would help their personal petitions reach Dolgil, the devil Hark’akuy worshipped.

  Calvin frowned. His plan would be much more difficult if they ran into large numbers of cultists between the prison and Waska.

  As he searched Waska’s routine for a different ritual they could take advantage of, Edwin groaned and bent over. Calvin paused, feeling a heavy twinge of sympathy. “Pelias, it’s time to give Edwin that bloating remedy. Not too much, remember.”

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  Pelias frowned, but he nodded and beckoned Edwin back into the side room. He’d made it clear to Calvin that he would have preferred to give Edwin more than one dose, but Calvin wasn’t worried. He knew Pelias would obey.

  “Are there any other rituals that Waska does by himself?” Calvin asked Bob.

  Bob shook his head. “Not that I know of, sir. He sometimes invites individual Binders to help him with some rituals, but those are rare and generally small.”

  Calvin nodded, frustrated. Then an idea struck him. “His sleeping quarters. How close is that to the prison?” Bob pointed to a room halfway across the map from the prison, and Calvin’s idea wilted. “Talkus curse it. How are we supposed to get to him without being demolished?”

  Bob furrowed his scaly brow. “Forgive me, sir, but why won’t the original plan work?”

  “Because of all the cultists that’ll be waiting in the audience room.” Calvin paused. “When do they usually get there?”

  “They root themselves there hours before Waska arrives. They leave shortly after he does.”

  “Wait. They root themselves? What does that mean?”

  “The earth snakes, sir. They activate the earth snakes and wade into them. The snakes seize them and hold them for the duration of the ritual. They do it as a symbol of being captivated by Dolgil. Waska makes the snakes release them when he’s finished.”

  Calvin smiled. “So you’re saying those guys won’t be a problem?”

  “Most of them won’t, sir. If there are Binders there, they won’t be bound by the snakes.”

  “Will they be able to fight?”

  “I expect so, sir.”

  A loud retching sound emitted from the side room, and Calvin winced in sympathy. His stomach twitched, so he shook himself and went back to the topic at hand. “So back to Plan A, then.”

  Bob nodded. “It’s a good plan, sir.”

  “It’s risky.”

  “Only the last part, sir. In some ways, the escape is the least important.”

  Calvin cocked his head. “What makes you say that?”

  “It’s not part of the mission, sir.”

  “Still, I’d prefer to live to tackle another.”

  Bob smiled. “Good point, sir.”

  “Are you going to keep calling me ‘sir’ every time you speak?”

  “Yes, sir.”

  Calvin shrugged. “Alright, then.”

  Pelias and Edwin came back out of the room. Edwin wiped his mouth, the roundness of his belly greatly reduced. Pelias went straight for his pack to replace the box of negotiators.

  “Feel better?” Calvin asked.

  “Much better,” Edwin said. “I feel like I could run five miles, or take on ten men. Or maybe a couple bears!”

  Calvin smiled. “Let’s hope that energy lasts. Here's the plan.”