It wasn't far from sunset now and the deep cold was encroaching. It always felt strange to Auddier how he could be simultaneously freezing from the altitude and hot from the exposed sunshine. He'd had spent the daylight hours at this same spot for the last eight days. He even overnighted on two occasions, to investigate the possibility that perdu fish were more active during nocturnal periods. And yet the results were recurrently negative.

  The secluded U valley offered a beautiful sweeping view from beyond the edge of the tarn, with greenery starting in patches and then developing into full bloom at the base. From here he could also see the tall, thin peaks that occupied the lands of the Ruskel Realm to the North, with their secretive, shaded clefts and abysses, and Qollardine, The Cathedral Mountain, Oros' highest peak, located at the heart of Ruskel. Although Qollardine could be seen from many spots all around Oros, such was its imperiousness, with its onyx-black hide contrasting the pristine white caps.

  Every now and again he'd feel a slight tug on the fishing rod, and his heart would flurry, snagging him from his horizon-gazing and back to the task at hand. But then the homemade catgut fishing line would remain loose, and disappointment would replace excitement. Auddier had seen The Bootshiner not once since the day he pursued him. Like the true scientist he was, he pondered why this might be, with the running theory being that the old man had made his usual unsteady journey up the mountain at some point, battered bucket at his side, seen Auddier sat peacefully at his secret spot, and decided to return in either defeat or outrage.

  However, on this day, as the sun was creeping further down and the sky was growing a beautiful metallic orange, Auddier suddenly heard the unmistakeable sound of trickling pebbles and footsteps. He turned suddenly, anticipating a lively exchange with a furious Bootshiner, but instead witnessed something far more unexpected: A squad of Haemonine soldiers heading his way.

  He stood from his stool, leaving the fishing rod locked securely in a wooden mount. The soldiers approached at their own pace, first down the slight decline of the basin, then carefully across the ice. When they stopped, Auddier noticed that the leader of the pack was none other than a Krig Warrior Colonel, as indicated by the iron feather wrought upon his helmet, which the Colonel promptly removed as he stopped in front of him.

  'I'm here to speak to Professor Auddier Hviske, might you be the man in question?' Asked the Colonel.

  Auddier didn't know quite how to play this. The Colonel's blank stare was giving nothing away as to the meaning for their visit. He settled on friendly. 'I am he.' He said.

  'One of your laboratory assistants, the brunette with the small spectacles, said you would be down here, otherwise I imagine it would've taken us a good long time to find you. I have a letter for you from Krig Marshall Sodorin.' The Colonel produced a rolled page of fine parchment sealed with burgundy wax and several tight ribbon-wrapped wires.

  Auddier took the letter and broke the seals. 'Quite the journey for a man of your station.' He said passively, as he unfurled the paper. 'One that a falcon could have made in a fraction of the time.'

  'The Krig Marshall wanted this message delivered securely. Furthermore, my presence here is intended as a formal introduction, as the letter will clarify.' The Colonel gestured at the letter with his big, gloved hand.

  Auddier donned his reading glasses and worked his way down the page, straining to see it at times in the dimming light, before closing it once more. He cleared his throat. 'It appears she wishes for me to return to Attekant, to continue my work with the beast warfare project.'

  Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

  'And do you accept?'

  'Of course.' Confirmed Auddier. It was practically a rhetorical question from the Colonel. There were only two people in the Haemonine Realm who could refuse an order from Krig Marshall Sodorin - The Chancellor and the Deputy Chancellor, and, having met the Deputy Chancellor Siilrava on one occasion, Auddier assumed he didn't have the moxie to stand up to much anyway. This was a letter of good tidings for Auddier though. The funding would be substantial, practically endless in fact, due to the influx of money from the trade of undara serum, and, based on the tone of the letter, there would be little restriction when it came to animal, and even human and humanoid, testing.

  'The Krig Marshall will be pleased. Said The Colonel. 'Allow me to introduce myself, although the letter has already revealed my name, I am Colonel Byorn Esketh, and I will be the conduit between yourself and Krig Marshall Sodorin. If there's anything you need, you are to contact me.'

  The two men eyed each other up for a second. Auddier found him to be a remarkably square man; stocky with long arms. He guessed the Colonel was a talented boxer in his youth. His hair was thick and ghostly white, and long for a military man, but still neatly combed back to the base of his neck where it lined the collar of his black coat.

  'Thank you Colonel.' Said Auddier. 'I'll make plans to move my test subjects and equipment immediately.'

  'Good. We are staying in the nearby village, send word when you're ready to begin the transition, but I must remind you that time is of the essence and the Krig Marshall is anything but patient.'

  'Something we both share.' Said Auddier, and he bid the Colonel and his men a safe trip back to Estabrook Town at the base of the Fledgling Peak.

  By the time the men reached the rockfall and began climbing, Auddier's mind was a mailstrom of ideas, varied and brutal alike. And, to make the day even grander, when he knelt to pick up his fishing rod, a sudden force took hold, and he began the fight to pull in the perdu fish.

  Auddier maintained a quicker pace than usual on his return to the lab from the secret tarn. He'd wrestled with the perdu fish for over half an hour before he finally snatched it from it's watery home. Most of the semi-anecdotal passages in his books turned out to accurate, particularly the fish's unique adapted trait: That, when submerged, it remained entirely invisible, and only displayed its footlong form and vivid, swirling pink and cream rippling scales when exposed to air.

  It was quite a sight watching it blink into reality as he lifted the line with his hand. He'd unhooked and deposited the fish into a lidded tank made of glass with copper edges, which he'd filled fresh with the tarn's water each morning. He kept glancing at the tank protectively, which he admitted to himself to be a rather futile act considering the fish's party trick. The wind had disappeared now and the only sounds he could make out were his panting breath and the crunch of the ground beneath his padded boots. A thin veneer of cloud had also formed about the ridgeline, shrouding the starlight, so he was walking half blind as well.

  After a couple of near-slips, Auddier decided to pull a gas torch from his bag. He'd been avoiding doing so thus far as his hands were already occupied with the auger and tank, but his vision was failing him. He lit the torch with a twist of its head and looked around. Concern struck him immediately, prickling his spine, for he did not recognise the surroundings one bit. The lands surround his laboratory had been explored extensively, for they contained a surprisingly varied range of natural habitats supporting a good variation of cryptids, hence his decision to build his lab in such a spot. However, there were no landmarks nearby that he could identify. Just sparse, moon-coloured ground. He'd also wandered from any type of path, for there were no lines of distinction in any direction.

  He took a few deep breaths to centre himself, to calm the competing thoughts running through his head. He started with the estimated time and elevation. His hike from the tarn had so far felt to be of more of an incline than usual, and he'd been travelling for two hours now. Next, he checked his compass and noted that he was facing south west. So, if he corrected to south east and headed down the slope, he should soon reach recognisable terrain. With the plan in place, Auddier took a refreshing drink of cold water and set back to the journey.