Book Eight: Chapter 141

“Why do you think he has everyone living in the village?” asked Mike. “There’s plenty of room up here. Seems strange that there aren’t any...normal people, for lack of a better term.” While Vincentius and the vassals had noble titles, they certainly didn’t seem to live like nobility. So why self-isolate?

“What. About. Gargoyles?” asked Cerberus.

He stopped in his tracks and looked at the hellhound. “Actually, what about them? They didn’t seem all...servant-y,” he said. “I wonder what they can tell us about this place. Good thinking.”

Cerberus wagged their tail, then blushed furiously when he scratched their heads. The hellhound skipped behind him as they searched the castle anew, pausing to pursue corridors that may lead them to one of the towers. Now that he had some kind of destination in mind, a pattern in the architecture emerged. The map they had already drawn led him to the outer perimeter, and he found his first tower in about twenty minutes. When he stepped