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.”

“So, while the army trains to the south, the north end lies open.” Hunter suggested.

Virgil responded, “Somewhat. Yes. Here.”

He held up the holographic device. The device projected an image of the arboreal base for them. They saw the buildings, the trees to the northwest, the fields to the south, and a creek to the northeast.

“Perfect. Trees cover the north end. If those trees connect to this forest, then we can approach the camp undetected from that side.” Hunter said.

Virgil smiled a bit as he replied, “They do connect and we can enter from that side.”

“So, what is our plan?” Tiyana asked. “We can’t just barge in and start shooting.”

“Correct. I have more reconnaissance to perform.” Virgil answered.

“What? You said one afternoon.” Hunter grumbled impulsively.

Virgil went on, “Right. I misspoke. We need to know their schedules. We need to know where we can expect Ghaelvord, Malacoda, and Shenouda to be at any given time of day. We attack when Ghaelvord and Malacoda are as far from each other as possible. We can take either of them alone, but together, we could be in trouble. If Shenouda joins them, it could be worse, but I think that we can deal with her. Above all, however, we must act quickly when we do act. If they have time to engage their army and rally the troops, then they will drive us out and we should consider ourselves lucky if we escape with our lives.”

Hunter blurted, “I, for one, am ready to do this. It’s hot here, and humid. I am being slowly eaten alive by the bugs. I’ve been beat twice now, but the third time’s the charm. I can’t lose.”

Tiyana responded, “We’ll wait and we’ll do this right. Also, dear, you didn’t lose to Shenouda, she ran away. I count that as a win.”

“I’m feeling good. Real good. Ghaelvord won’t know what hit him.”

“Ahem.” Hongo coughed loudly to interrupt the chattering couple. “Go on Virgil, how will we do this?”

Virgil went on, “Well, as I said, I need to do more reconnaissance, but I imagine that we will want Hongo in the trees or on the roof with his rifle, Hunter, of course, will lead the attack. I will support him and, finally, Tiyana will drive our getaway vehicle.”

“Sounds good.” Hunter said.

Hongo and Tiyana nodded.

“You said Ghaelvord is hard to kill. How exactly do we do that?” Tiyana asked.

“We do not do that, technically.” Virgil said with some hesitation. He went on, “Even if we could, we would not necessarily want to. Death is an end, but it is also a new beginning. Especially for Dahjaat. Killing Ghaelvord outright is risky.”

“Okay, that was about as clear as mud, as usual.” Tiyana said.

Virgil’s eyes wandered for a moment before he went on contemplatively, “When one Dahjaat dies, another awakens. Killing Ghaelvord would have unpredictable consequences. If we trap him, however, and take him prisoner, then we can use the stone to freeze him back into hibernation. We can set things back to the way they were. We can reinstate the status quo. And maybe, just maybe, we could take him back to Shambhala where he would awake with the Aempyreans, only to stand trial for his war crimes.”

Virgil’s eyes became wistful.

“We take him prisoner then?” Hongo asked.

Virgil replied, “Essentially, yes. If Hunter can subdue him and hold him still, then I can neutralize him by putting him back into hibernation. If we could get him into the vehicle and drive off with him, then the his whole operation will flounder helplessly. Malacoda can fight and he can lead troops, but he has no vision. He will fight, but only for the thrill. He can be beat, possibly even by today’s humans. Your race certainly has mettle. In the worst case scenario, Malacoda builds a small empire and declares a truce with the rest of the world. I do not, however, think that he can accomplish even that.”

They talked with Virgil long into the night about their plans. The next day, they slept in. When they awoke, Virgil had gone scouting again. They did not see him until that evening. They spent the day milling about the campsite uneasily. Hongo busied himself checking the guns, oiling them where they needed oil, and making sure their mechanisms did not jam in operation. Tiyana took a look at the Khan, checking the wheels and the engine. She hoped to ensure a quick getaway. She worried that the humidity of the jungle would affect the spark plugs or the battery connection, but they seemed fine. Hunter tried to read an archaeology journal, but his mind raced. The anticipation wreaked havoc on his nerves.

Late that evening, as they sat around the campfire, they heard Virgil’s voice again, “I am back.”

Hunter blurted, “Finally, what do you have?”

Tiyana interrupted, “Excuse him, he’s lost his manners. Hello Virgil. How are you? Are you okay?”

Virgil responded, “Thank you. I am fine. I went undetected. No need for manners though, not in the dire circumstances of the present.” Virgil collected his thoughts for a moment before going on, “In the morning, Malacoda trained the troops. He met Ghaelvord for lunch around noon. Ghaelvord spent the morning running between the foundry and the textiles building. He also spent time in the east wings off of the main hall. He spent the entire afternoon at a desk in a study or library of some sort that he has set up in the west wing of the main hall. He worked there late into the evening. I did not see Shenouda until the evening. She was with him then.”

Hunter’s eyes showed excitement, “Perfect. We can get him in his study.”

“Most likely, yes.” Virgil replied.

“Most likely?” Hunter asked. “What do you mean most likely?”

Virgil answered, “We only know what he did today. We must get a sense of the patterns of his behavior. We must know if he follows this routine daily.”

Hunter interrupted, “Oh no. Not again. We are here, Vee. We are ready. Every day you go in there we risk losing the element of surprise. Actually, we risk more than that. We risk losing any chance at all to get at him. Any day now, he could pack up and move out, either permanently or on business and that would ruin our plans. Plus, you said yourself that he is building momentum. The longer we wait, the more that momentum will build.”

Virgil argued, “but if we attack tomorrow and Ghaelvord is not in his study or Malacoda is nearby, then we could lose. We have the opportunity to gather more information. We can increase the probability of winning by increasing the probability that we will find him where we want him.”

Tiyana interjected, “I think I’m with Hunter on this one, Virgil. On the one hand we risk things not going according to our plan. On the other, we risk losing the chance at all. We can’t risk losing our shot, even if the chances of losing it aren’t strong.”

Virgil let out a sigh. He felt trapped. His gut told him to wait and gather information, but he saw the logic in the Price’s position.

He turned to Hongo, “Well, Hongo, what do you say?”

Hongo stared intently into the fireplace.

Without raising his eyes, he said, “I say we take the trash out tomorrow before it begins to stink.”