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CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

"YE’RE CRAZY!" Spits hissed, keeping his voice down so as not to attract the attention of the Kulashkas "Ye want t’ go into that devil’s lair and risk yer lives, fer the sake o’ so - special about it," Harkat insisted "We wouldn’t have been told we - needed it if it wasn’t i yer lives away fer," Spits snarled "That ry after"

"I’m not sure about that," I muttered "It fed like a snake I know about snakes from when I shared a tent with Evra - a snake-boy," I added for Spits’s benefit "A child would take a long tiest, even for a beast of that size I doubt it’ll need to eat again for a few days And a snake nor"

"But this ain’t a snake," Spits reminded me "It’s a - what did ye call it?"

"Grotesque," Harkat said

"Aaarrr Ye never shared a tent with a Grotesque, did ye? So ye know nothing about ’em Ye’d be mad t’ risk it And what about that crazy pink-hairedye up t’ that giant rel o’ theirs"

"What do you think the deal - is with them?" Harkat asked "I believe they worship the Grotesque That’s why they - sacrificed the boy"

"A fine how-d’ye-do’" Spits huffed "’Tis one thing t’ go killing a stranger, but t’ willingly give up one o’ yer own - madness!"

"They can’t do it often," I noted "There aren’t many of them They’d die out if they ry They must feed it with sheep and other animals, and only offer up a hu to them?" Harkat asked "Many civilized people in the past - offered huht not be violent"

"I’ve no intention of putting them to the test," I said quickly "We can’t walk away fros, and I’m pretty certain that poison is the holy liquid we need But let’s not push our luck There’s no telling what the people of this world are like The Kulashkas ers with open arht feed us to the Grotesque the instant they set eyes on us"

"We’re stronger than theht thereed "We’ve no idea what these people are capable of They could be ten tirab the vials, and beat it quick"

"Forget the vials!" Spits pleaded He’d been drinking heavily fro worse than normal "We can come back later if we need ’eht about the Kulashkas But if we’re going to launch a - quick raid, we need to do it while the Grotesque is sleeping We have to go after the - holy liquid now You don’t have to come - if you don’t want"

"I won’t!" Spits said quickly "I ain’t gonna chuck like this I’ll wait out here If ye don’t return, I’ll carry on ahead and look fer yer Lake o’ Souls ht o while it’s dark," I asked Harkat, "or wait for ht have sung themselves - to sleep by then" The pink-haired people had returned to their village an hour afterand chanting ever since

We lay back and rested as the moon crossed the cloudless sky (typical - anted clouds for cover, there weren’t any!), listening to thefro s at the strands of his tied-back hair,darkly about block-headed fools and their just coe died away towards , and by dawn there was silence Harkat and I shared a questioning glance, nodded and stood "We’re going," I told Spits, as half dozing over his jug

"Wha’?" he grunted, head snapping up

"We’re going," I said again "Wait here If we’re not back by night, go your oay and don’t worry about us"

"I won’t wait that long," he sniffed "I’ll be gone by hed, "but you’d be less visible in the dark It would be safer"

Spits’s features softened "Ye’re uts than any pirate I ever sailed with I’ll wait till sunset and keep the poteen ready - ye rinned, then spun aith Harkat and pushed through the tall covering grass to the doorway of the Temple of the Grotesque