Ay-ttho, Tori and Sevan were led out of the basement, across a courtyard and into a large hall. Sevan immediately recognised Llessur and Enyaw at the far end. They were led to the middle, where they were told to stop. Next to Llessur and Enyaw, Sevan could see a machine containing the same type of formless cloud of indeterminate substance with a yellow, orange light that he had witnessed outside the palace.
“Welcome to my humble abode,” a voice emanated from the machine. “You don’t recognise me. I have changed a great deal since our last meeting.”
“You will kneel when addressed by the great Akpom Chuba!” shouted a guard, hitting them in the back.
They fell to their knees.
“Yes, that’s right,” said the voice. “What you see is the remains of the great Akpom Chuba of the Cheng-Huang colon
