The next evening, Rex stirred himself awake at the desk when Skuggi kept pecking at him. The young skullbird was hungry and after feeding both the bird and himself he took a quick shower and set off to gather the hunter. The night before he'd prepared his magical cloak, one that was enchanted to avert the eyes of those who looked in it's direction. It was tricky work, though Rex knew the runework intimately and was able to complete it, flipping the cloak inside out and putting it in a bag when folded. He made his way to Jay's cottage, knocking at the door.

"Jay, it's Rex." He called, scanning the area to make sure no one was around. He'd done some careful planning to make sure the vampires loyal to the Council wouldn't find out what he was doing. The last thing he needed was for them to discover Jay. It would be catastrophic to their respective goals and missions.

[hr]

Elder Zion stumbled over to the hidden door in his study. He had expected the Regent to be angry with the turnout of the vote, but this was sheer madness. He opened the door with one hand while clutching at his bleeding side, eyes flicking to the body of a Hunter on the floor. Entering and grabbing the satchel inside he bandaged himself up. He didn't have much time, as Rex's new information had said something bigger was brewing in the underbelly of the Council. While they had suspected the Regent of being powerhungry, they never expected what lengths he'd go to in reality. Zion shook his head as he changed clothes, left a coded message for his assistant and vanished into the stormy weather outside. Let Marcos think he was dead. He would have justice served to him either way.

It was a simple affair to get to the forest outside the city. Out of all the vampire elders, Zion was the oldest and strongest of them. He chuckled as he thought back to when he would run out here with his lover, General Dryder Valorian,  in his youth. While the Regent controlled the people, their military might always stood with the Crown, a rule that not even the Regent could easily overrule, as they were devout Loyalists. And with all that had happened, they would no doubt fight any attempt of the Council to force their hand, especially since with the Law of War in place. Zion felt secure in Dryder's ability to maintain order. In the meantime, Zion would focus on helping the young King. He would outsmart any of Marcos' men who thought they could track the centuries old Ranger, taking them out silently before heading out to the last known location of the king, Verdant Falls.