‘I got us out of there because that was a trap.’ Silas said, his hands playing with the stray threads that had come undone on his sleeves. 

‘The Weavers were merely stalling for time. They had already casted a summoning spell for the Black Sigil. You might not have heard of them. They are a mystery even in Nimit, let alone Raia. We know however .. that they are Gods in their own right. Had they arrived, it would have been a very unfair fight. Not that you are not a God level fighter.. I mean..’ Silas fumbled. ‘You literally have a God circling over your ..your head.. But .. They are like more in number. So I did what I had to.’ 

Lennox’s expression remained blank and guarded. Silas didn’t even know how far he was even willing to believe him. 

‘You mean, you got us to Dales. But how exactly?’

‘Oh…oh… that!’ Silas stammered, scratching the back of his neck like the gesture might summon a better excuse. He had completely forgotten about that part. He could not tell him about the key or… Ruhan. Lennox had not killed him but he probably had enough reasons by now to kill many in Nimit, if he had access too. 

‘After you left the shop, I found a message and a key, dropped in an envelope by the door.’ Silas was meaning to keep the lie a little closer to the truth. It made it easier to come up with fresh ones on the go later. ‘I was told to find the inn, the one from the last time while they were buying me time by luring you away.’

Lennox’s brow rose slightly. 'And you chose to find me instead of running to the inn like you were told?'

Silas bit the inside of his cheek, avoiding eye contact. 'You just bought me new clothes,' he muttered. 'The least I could do was warn you before disappearing. That’s why I went there—to warn you. I was going to leave right after.'

There was a brief pause. Then, 'In my defense,' Lennox said, voice light with mock indignation, 'even my servants have better clothes. I had to do something before someone mistook you for a stray dog.'

Silas snapped his gaze to him, scandalized. 'You’re not serious.'

Lennox gave him a lazy, satisfied grin—the kind that said he knew exactly what buttons to press and had hit them on purpose. 'Perfectly serious,' he said. 'Though the stray part is negotiable.'

Silas opened his mouth to retort, then shut it. There was no winning with him.

'By the way, where is the key now?'

'Did you find it on me?' Silas asked, feeling a little smug. 'I must have dropped it. The flames were pretty brutal.'

'So, next time,' Lennox added, a little quieter now, “just go to the inn. I can handle a few Spell Weavers.'

Silas nodded slowly, though he wasn’t convinced. Not when he’d seen what had nearly happened.

‘You could handle the Weavers but not them. You must have felt that too. Their presence and the intensity of it. It was no joke.’ 

Silas’s expressions were sombre. 

‘Nimah had paid the price of peace with blood, Your Lordship. They would go to any lengths to protect it. They have raised Gods, raised Devils in Nimit to fight for them when the day finally arrives. The mindless and bloody hunts that Raian Royalty gladly partakes in, only causes their anger to shimmer beneath the surface. Do not take them lightly. They want you dead. They stole from you, believing it to make you weaker, perhaps hoping the Four Weaver could kill you easily then. However, when it did not work, they called upon the Sigil. That means something.’ 

There was a thread of urgency in his voice. Lennox needed to believe Silas to keep himself safe.

‘Why does this ‘Sigil’ want me dead?’ Lennox asked, his expressions again guarded.

Silas shrugged. 

‘You tell me, what did you do?’

Lennox gave him a long look that said clearly he despised the implication.

‘You hunt?’ He asked calmly.

‘I have better hobbies.’ He dead panned.

‘Are you part of Astral - that hunter organisation?’

“My uncle is,” Lennox replied without hesitation. “I don’t see them coming after him.”

There was something about the way he said it—flat, final—that made Silas believe him. And also, somehow, not.

Silas nodded, turning over a number of possibilities in his head when something suddenly occurred to him.

‘Maybe this is not about something you did, but about something you will do. Rarely in Nimit do we hear of the Sigil coming to Raia, except to enforce their own agenda.’

‘You mean, they also have seers, like our Asai.’

Silas shrugged, keeping his lips sealed. He need not betray either of them.

Lennox kept silent, staring straight ahead. Wheels turning in his head, probably weighing the substance in his assertions.

Silas waited.

Finally he spoke. 

‘I don’t care what they want. If they don’t return what is mine, Nimit soon would have no Gods.’