Danny Rupert smiled as he and Rachel finished up with exchanging reports. "Well done, Rachel. Oh, one more thing. Mirabel found this under the sofa, at the manor house." he said, putting down his steaming hot pizza to hand her the medallion.
"That explains it! He's probably a part of the Pizza Initiative." said Rachel, looking especially pleased with herself.
"Who? Have you met the owner of this medallion?" he asked, confused. Rachel had never held back even the smallest detail in her reports.
"Remember the baron's meeting? I told you Mark Carver argued strongly for peace. It was one of several reasons that I didn't eliminate every last one of them." she reminded him.
"Of course. Anyone holding this emblem will be on the side of peace." he said thoughtfully.
"We should reach out to him, but carefully. It could have been someone else, and merely that Carver is more intelligent than the bloodthirsty lot." Cautioned Rachel.
"I'll send a carefully worded letter off to our Grain Baron soon. Meanwhile, after you are satisfied that the new prisoner is secure, please inform Barry that Henry has been found. I would like to have him here for the Pizza Feast Charlie and I are preparing for my brother, and his people." said Danny.
"Yes, Danny. It will also give me some much needed time with Bucephalus." said Rachel.
"Wonderful. There's no rush, it will take at least two days to prepare." said Danny.
Rachel laughed. "I suspect that Barry would disagree with you about not rushing. He is probably more than ready to come home. If I know him, he's camped out in the stables, one of his least favorite places." she said, smiling.
"Ah... Right, Henry works with horses. That makes sense." said Danny, remembering how thrilled Barry had been when he had been given permission to use a car whenever necessary.
In the main hall in Grove:
"NOOOOOOO!!!!" screamed Barry, as he convulsed in pain. He then went limp, his body attempting to shut down, to protect its owner from further pain.
"Is it my turn?" asked Sheila eagerly.
"No, there has been a change of plans. We are going to take our time after all." replied Dionor in a whisper.
Before Sheila could protest, her superior transferred the full tendril over to her. "Delicious!" reveled Sheila, drinking in Barry's suffering.
"Yes, isn't it? I'm almost full, but I do enjoy a good slow feed. Keep him alive, and you can play for a bit. I need to get things ready, the servants will be back soon. We mustn't scare them, unfortunately."
"Yes Dionor, thank you." said Sheila gratefully.
After Dionor left, Sheila had to use all of her self control not to feed too quickly. "I'm starving! I would gladly play with my food too, if I got more of it." she thought resentfully.
"HELPPPP!" screamed Barry, as Sheila inserted a false memory of him being beheaded on a chopping block. Not quite satisfied with the result, she carefully cut the back of his neck, barely enough to break the skin.
On the road to Grove:
"Bucephalus, why couldn't you talk to me about that thing in front of it?" asked Rachel, as the two were leisurely making their way to Grove.
"It would have made it stronger if I had acknowledged it. And it was already giving me some hard kicks." Bucephalus replied.
"Exactly what is it? I never knew such evil actually existed, until recently..." she said, in wonder.
"I think you have already guessed. But I will fill you in. It's a demon. A particularly powerful one, but not nearly as much as the one in Slickville." the magnificent black horse said telepathically.
"I hope I'm up for the task of fighting these... Demons." Rachel said aloud, officially admitting to herself that she was in fact fighting something far more powerful than any baron.
"I have faith that you are more than up for it." Bucephalus assured her. Again, she radiated a sort of infectious confidence.
"Now that we've had time for a chat, shall we go get my brother? The sooner we get back, the sooner we can party! I'll be sure to have a place set up so you can watch the action - and of course, you'll get loads of sugar cubes." said, Rachel, smiling at the idea of attending her second Pizza Feast, this one for family and friends.
"That sounds like fun!" replied Bucephalus, as she happily kicked up her heels, then sprinted towards Grove, faster than any Thoroughbred that ever graced a racetrack.
Before coming into view of Grove, Bucephalus came to a sudden halt.
"What's wrong?" asked Rachel.
"The same thing that was wrong in Slickville. I felt it last time too. It was weaker, there were only two of them. Now there are three. I can go on though, none of them are strong enough to sense me, unless I choose to reveal myself. I just wanted to let you know what you're getting into." said the horse, as she began a sedate walk towards the little town of Grove.
"Let me off before we get there. I want to scout around, without making myself known. Maybe I can find Barry, and we can get out without being noticed." suggested the master spy.
"A wise plan." replied Bucephalus approvingly.
Rachel carefully made her way to the stables. "Where is everyone? It was busier last time, and that was at night. This place should be bustling..." she thought, suddenly on high alert.
"Barry?" she whispered several times, after a thorough search of the stables revealed nothing except the expected. Straw, riding tack, feed, and several horses, including a magnificent stallion.
"Maybe he's up at the main house..." she thought to herself. There was no reason why she should be recognized, or shouldn't be there. Still, she was quiet as she confidently walked down the main path.
"Nobody seems to have noticed me..." she thought, as she stood boldly before the front door. One final look around, and she ducked into the bushes.
"That worked out well." Rachel thought, happy at not having to reveal herself. She crept along silently, until she reached a window.
"Oh, Barry! Could that really be you?!?!" she gasped, as she saw her brother screaming and writhing, his face unrecognizable.
Cover image made in Canva using their gallery