And the minute Tor spoke the words the Beast, all pretense dropped for Joseph.

“So they did it,” he said.

“Apparently,” Tor replied, pushing from the wall. “Which states, as of now, the level of your guilt rises with the level of atrocities your cause wished to unleash on this land. Not to mention the fact pertinent to this moment. You are useless.”

“I didn’t know!” he cried, lifting a stump toward Apollo as Apollo also shifted as if to rise.

“You haven’t told us any of what you do know,” Apollo reminded him. “However, at this juncture, whatever it is you know…or knew, has no meaning.”

“What I mean to say is, they spoke of it. But I didn’t know they were going forward with it,” Joseph told them.

Apollo settled himself back in his chair and Tor again rested his shoulders against the wall as Apollo spoke.

“You didn’t know they were going forward with what?”

“Working with the Society. Bringing forth the Beast,” Joseph explained.

Apollo glanced at Tor.

Tor lifted his chin.

Apollo looked back to Joseph.

“What Society?” Apollo asked.

“I must have your assurances—” Joseph began.

“You have no assurances. You have nothing,” Apollo stated impatiently. “Outside convincing us you had nothing to do with raising a creature we’ve even heard across a vast ocean about his last reign of terror. And that happened before man had thought to put pen to paper to record history, because pen nor paper had been invented yet. For I can assure you, as King True will be on the battle lines in fighting this thing, when he wins, he will not have a great deal of tolerance for anyone involved in the rising of it. And the last man he had little tolerance for endured a very prolonged, very public death.”

Joseph’s face twisted. “Then what is the point of saying anything? For if the Beast is indeed risen, we are all going to die.”

“I don’t intend to die,” Tor said.

“I don’t either,” Apollo added.

“We have a friend who commands dragons and those dragons are here, on Triton,” Tor informed him.

“And I command the wolves. Not to mention, our wives are witches.” Apollo flung a hand Tor’s way. “The wives of all the rulers of this continent are witches. And the King of the Mer, which are the people, it’s my understanding, who defeated the creature the last time, has allied with all nations.”

Joseph seemed shocked at all this information, most specifically the last.

“I don’t know the ins and outs of the lore of this Beast, but I’d guess back then, this evil unknown, how to stop it most especially, the odds were stacked in his favor,” Tor reflected. “Now, they most decidedly are not.”