SkekMal the Hunter was hot on Rian's trail. He would find that Gelfling and collect his trophy before he would plan to eat him. He would make his strength his own. He tracked him all the way to the Stonewood Swamp area.

Rian had a difficult time getting other Gelfling to believe him that the Skeksis were a threat to all Gelflings. He had even tried to warn his father and his clan's Maudra. But they had thought he was ill in the mind, as the Skeksis had told them. Rian defended his opinion and had to get away from them, even his own father.

Chamberlain's carriage arrived there soon after. He kept his distance, but he was confident he would find the Hunter. He had to keep the Hunter from killing Rian right away. And he was risking his own life too just dealing with the Hunter.

All the Skeksis had a good sense of smell, even though the Hunter's might have been more advanced since he lived out in the wilds of nature most of the time. He was rarely ever called back to the castle due to his wild behavior. At the moment, Chamberlain was also using his to track the Hunter down.

Sil was glad that his stomach problems were a thing of the past, but he had had no idea what had caused it then. And he had no idea of what he still had yet to find out.

….

The Hunter later caught up with Rian. His father had sacrificed himself to save his son and he showed his father the truth before, but it was too late for Ordon. Mal captured Rian and tied him up upside down while he had been unconscious. His hands were tied behind his back.

The young Gelfling was terrified and the Hunter was threatening to kill him and take his tongue. That was when the Chamberlain caught up with them.

"No! I need Gelfling alive! Must bring before Emperor." Sil interjected.

"I will have my trophy. I will have this Gelfling's tongue!" Mal snarled.

"No!" Rian cried out in terror.

"No!" Sil shouted. He ran quickly from behind Mal and came in front of him to stop him. "Must take him back to castle. After Emperor sees my triumph. After General is humiliated. I get my seat back." He tried to explain.

"Pathetic!" The Hunter declared. Sil gasped. "You hunt a chair!"

"No. I hunt power. My trophy. You have yours, I have mine." Sil said.

"I will honor your hunt. Take your trophy… but if you deny me." Mal threatened Sil with his sword.

Sil knew he meant it. "Yes! Yes! Hunter will never stop until hunt is done."

The Hunter then stormed off angrily that he had been denied his trophy this time. Chamberlain was just glad that he had honored the hunt. Now for his main prize. He went up to Rian and began searching Rian's clothes for the essence he had escaped with.

"No, Mira!" Rian screamed.

Sil was really wired up and knew he was intimidating the Gelfling. He sought some revenge against Rian too for the escape and what his friend had done to him when Gurjin had stabbed him in the leg. He drank Mira's essence, and he instantly felt some rejuvenation. His leg injury healed immediately! He couldn't have been more smugly proud of himself.

Rian's screams carried loud into the forest.

Chamberlain then got him down and untied his hands, but retied them in front of him. He dragged Rian back to his carriage to head back to the castle. If the Emperor wanted results, he would get it. He had it now.

….

The Ritual Master and General were up in the Gelfling capital of Ha'rar at this time. They were wanting seven volunteers to come with them to stand up and fight with them as their lords, and eventually, being brought in for their essence too.

…..

Rian struggled in the ropes. Sil saw he was.

"Struggle is pointless, but Gelfling is welcome to try if it helps pass time." Sil said.

"Don't play with your food, coward. Just kill me now." Rian exclaimed, making Sil back off a bit from him.

"Kill? Not kill. Dead Rian is no good to Chamberlain. No good to Skeksis. Need Rian alive." Sil replied.

"So you can drain my essence?" Rian questioned.

"So Rian can stand before Gelfling and say lied about Skeksis." Sil retorted.

"That'll never happen. I'll make sure that all of Thra knows what you truly are." Rian stated.

"And just what are Skeksis?" Sil asked. "Hm?"

"Evil."

It didn't faze Chamberlain. "Delightful. How are Skeksis evil?" He mocked the Gelfling. "Please, you tell." He pointed at Rian.

"You killed Mira." Rian exclaimed.

Chamberlain looked to the side for a moment and knew something else. "All things kill. Is z'nid bird evil because it eats crawling Nurloc?"

"Birds eat to live." Rian declared.

"So do Skeksis. All living things consume others to survive. Not evil. Natural." Sil explained to him.

"There was nothing natural what you did to Mira, or the other Gelflings, if you killed others too." Rian retorted.

"Death is unnatural. Death is cruel joke! Death mocks life, mocks Skeksis. But no more. Skeksis conquer death. And you, Gelfling, will do same in Skeksis' place." Sil snapped.

"We are nothing alike." Rian said.

"When friend being drained, what did Gelfling do? Stop us? Fight Skeksis?" Sil questioned him with some mockery in his voice.

"There was nothing I could do." Rian stated.

"You run. And when Drenchen friend is caught, what did Gelfling do?" Sil mocked him again.

"Gurjin told me to-"

"Run, yes? Save self. And father too. Gobbled up by gobbles, so son could run. Save self."

"I tried. I just couldn't save him." Rian admitted sadly.

Sil nodded. "Mm. Now Gelfling tells truth. You couldn't save any of them. But what if Rian could save all the rest?" he asked.

Rian didn't know what to think. He knew the Skeksis had made him admit his faults just now.

"All Gelfling are in danger. Rian must confess to murder of Mira. Stand with Skeksis and silence whispers of rebellion. Stop war before it starts." Sil tried to reason with him.

"You don't care about the Gelfling." Rian declared.

"False. I am friend. I am only reason Gelfling is still alive." Chamberlain replied.

"So we can live as your slaves?" Rian stated.

"Is Gelfling slave if it does not know it is slave? Now Gelfling happy. Eating, dancing, drinking… running like Fizzgig." Sil had brought up a point. None of the Gelflings had thought they were official slaves, but soldiers to protect their lords.

"We're not your pets." Rian retorted.

"False. You live only a few trine. Skeksis are immortal. We are to you as you are to crawlies. The choice is pets, or enemies. Choose wisely." Sil explained the choices.

Rian thought for a moment. "And if I say what you want… will you stop draining Gelfling?" he asked.

"Cannot promise." Sil looked away.

Things used to be much simpler before essence was ever found out about, what it could do for Skeksis.

"Then I refuse." Rian bravely stated.

That made Sil snap at him, "All Gelfling lose, or few Gelfling lose all! War is end!"

"Unless we win." Rian snapped back firmly.

Sil was really upset at that remark. "Halt!" He pulled a lever and the brakes were put on the Armalings. He then picked up a sword on the carriage seat next to him.

At first, Rian thought Chamberlain was going to kill him, but he just cut the ropes off his wrists instead. "Go then! Run, have your war!" Sil declared angrily. "But, it will be on Rian's head when all Gelfling die, because you chose to run!"

The two of them looked out into the woods for a few moments. Rian had to decide if he was going to run again, or stay, if regrettably. He sat back in the seat.

"Hm. Finally. A Gelfling with sense." Sil stated. He pulled the lever and it electrified the Armalings to tell them to move again. They bellowed and curled up again, on their way.

Chamberlain sighed. "Hm. Is tough being voice of reason in such crazed world."

Rian really didn't want to go along with this, but he hoped there would be a way out of it. It was still a long way back to the castle.

They sat for awhile not talking. Rian looked out the window sometimes while warily keeping an eye on the Skeksis.

Sil was watching him too, a bit too smugly. It made Rian uncomfortable. Sil chuckled to himself. He thought he had the Gelfling right where he wanted him. He knew how to manipulate and blackmail.

But soon, they both heard some thuds on the roof of the carriage, and footsteps.

"What's that?" Sil asked.

Then a Gelfling appeared upside down to Sil's right. He yelped in surprise. It was Gurjin! He had escaped the castle, with the help of his sister, Naia. Sil tried to go after Gurjin first.

Then, Naia came down on the other side. "Rian, time to go!" she said.

"See ya!" Rian said in a joking manner on his way out. He ran to Naia and she pulled him out.

"No! Gelfling, come back!" Sil ordered. This wasn't going the way he was planning it. He had to get rid of the other two and reclaim Rian.

He grabbed his sword and started stabbing through the roof in anger. Rian was thrown onto the back Armaling wheel. Naia and Gurjin also landed on the two front ones trying to avoid Sil's sword.

Sil looked outside to see if he had killed any of them and knew this wasn't good. Now they could all jump off or get run over by the Armalings. He didn't care about the other two, but he needed Rian alive. He had to get him back in there. But how was he to do that?

The three Gelflings began to think of a way to destroy the carriage. They began to try to unlock the Armalings from the carriage. It was a struggle for Naia. She just wasn't strong enough.

"No. Not good!" Sil said to himself several times. "Stop!" He knew the possibility of getting hurt or killed if the Armalings were unhooked from the carriage. He would never see his lover again.

The Gelflings got the Armalings unhooked and they all escaped while the carriage went on rolling down the hill. Chamberlain screamed in fear. Luckily, the carriage had been well padded on the inside of it that he wasn't hurt badly at all. He was pretty shaken though.

Sil stood up and he heard Rian shouting behind him, "So long, Chamberlain!" He got his bearings and shouted angrily, "Gelfling!" He had been humiliated once again.

It was still a long way back to the castle. The Gelflings were gone and he wasn't in the mood to go after them. They would have gotten far away on the Armalings. He got out of the carriage, and immediately, he felt dizzy. He held his head.

"Treacherous Gelfling!" he stated furiously. He also felt a pang of nausea too. Sil swallowed, trying to keep his food down. If he got the chance, he would get payback on those Gelflings later. Right now, he just couldn't take much more humiliation.

It was getting late. He knew he would be out here all night. For now, it was better to stay with the carriage. It would be warmer inside it, and perhaps safer too. It would have to make a bed for the night. In the morning, he would start back for the castle. Maybe another Skeksis carriage would pick him up on the way home. Doubtful, but a possibility since this one was totaled.

Chamberlain began to settle down for the night. That crazy tumbling about had upset his stomach immensely. He hoped his sickness wouldn't come back. He did push the carriage back over with what strength he had in him to have a more slightly comfortable, substitute bed. It was just wise to stay with the carriage for now.

…..

Back at the castle, the Illustrator wondered how her mate was doing out there with the Gelflings. She hoped this matter would be cleared up soon. How could just one Gelfling stir things up so much in only a few days?

The Gelflings were also secretly plotting to take over now that more had heard the story and were believing it. Word had gotten around.

Later that night, there was a Gelfling uprising. The Skeksis easily overtook the soldiers and servants. They were all either killed or put in cages in the Scientist's lab. They were to be drained later.

La had even had to defend herself from some of them too. She had never wanted to harm them personally. It had just been self defense. All Gelfling, whether they were part of the uprising or not, were taken prisoner. The Gruenacks even enforced it too. They would do as told if they could be granted their freedom soon, as promised.