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‘Shut up!’
Lenk’s swing bit nothing but air, its hter of the creatures above He swung his gaze up with his weapon, sweeping it cautiously across the branches, searching for his hidden opponent
Back and forth, back and forth …
‘It’s very bad forument when someone presents a counterpoint,’ Lenk snarled ‘Are you afraid to engage in further discourse?’ He shrieked, attacked a low-hanging branch and sent its leaves spilling to the earth ‘You’re too good to coht me, is that it?’
‘Now,’ a voice asked fro with violence, Lenk? It never works’
‘It see away defensively
‘That’s not a bad point, is it? After all, Gariath isn’t talking anyain, neither are Denaos, Dreadaeleon, Asper … Kataria …’
‘Don’t you talk about the hard and unyielding, felt a long and shadowy reach slink doard his neck He whirled around, his sword between hireat, e loose
‘Abysnition, showed nothing in its stare Its body – that towering, underfed ahtly over black bone – should have been exploding into action, Lenk knew Those long, webbed claws should be tight across his throat, excreting the fatal ooze that would kill hirowled
The Abysreat fishlike head to the side and uttered a question
‘Violence didn’t work, did it?’
‘We haven’t tried yet!’
The thing made no attempt to defend hi himself at the beast My sword can hurt it, he told hi else could, Lenk’s blade seemed to drink deeply of the creature’s blood as he hacked at it Its flesh calobs
‘Is the futility not crushing?’ the creature asked, its voice a rue ‘You shriek, squeal, strike – as though you could solve all the woes and agonies that plague yourself and your world with steel and hatred’
‘It tends to solve h a face spattered with blood ‘It solved the problerin was broad and maniacal ‘I killed her … it I took its head I killed one of your brothers’
‘I suppose I should be impressed’
‘You’re not?’
‘Not entirely, no The Deepshriek has three heads You took only one’
‘But--’
‘You killed one Abysmyth Are there not more?’
‘Then I’ll take the other two heads! I’ll kill every last one of you!’
‘To what end? There will always be more Kill one, more rise from the depths Kill the Deepshriek, another prophet will be found’
‘I’ll kill them, too!’ Lenk’s snarl was accompanied by a hollow sound as his sword sank into the beast’s chest and re ‘ALL OF THEM! ALL OF YOU!’
‘And then what? Wipe us from the earth, fill your ears with blood and blind yourself with steel You will find soh blood and steel, and you will go on wondering …’
‘Wondering … what?’
‘Wondering why What is the point of it all?’ The creature loosed a gurgle ‘Or,why she doesn’t feel the way you do … You’ll never understand why Kataria said what she did’
Lenk released his grip on his sword, his hands weak and dead as he backed away froh to roll out of his head The Abyshed at hiasped ‘How do you know that?’
‘That is a good question’
The Abysmyth’s face split into a broad smile
Abysurgled, ‘ a tree?’
‘No …’
Words could not deny it, nor could the sword quivering in its mossy flesh The tree stared back at hih its eyes
Trees don’t have eyes He knew that Trees don’t offer pity! Trees don’t talk!
‘Steady’ His breathing was laboured, searing in his throat and charring his lungs black inside hi It’s just you and the forest now Trees don’t talk … monkeys don’t talk … people talk You’re a people … a person’ He rubbed his eyes ‘Steady Things are hazy at night In thewill be clearer’
‘They will be’
Don’t turn around
But he knew the voice
It was her voice Not a monkey’s voice Not a tree’s voice Not a voice inside his head Her voice And it felt cool and gentle upon his skin, felt like a few scant droplets of water flicked upon his brow
And he had to havehe noticed was her ss, do we?’ Kataria asked, sliding a lock of hair behind her long ear ‘It’s always soht We never get to sit down at just the right tiet up’
‘We’re not normal people,’ he replied, distracted
It was difficult to concentrate with every step she took closer to hiing every line of her body left exposed by her short green tunic Her body was a battle of shadow and silver He felt his eyes slide in his sockets, running over everyevery shallow contour of her figure
His gaze followed the line that ran down her abdoered there, conte the translucent hairs that shi
And she did not sweat a single drop
When he returned froainst him
‘We aren’t,’ she replied softly ‘But that doesn’t , does it? Don’t we deserve to see the sun rise?’
His breath, previously stale with disease, drew in her scent on a cool and gentle inhale She smelled pleasant, of leaves on rivers and wind over the sea His eyelids twitched in ti within him spastically flailed out in an attempt to seize control of his face and turn it away from her
‘This doesn’t sound like you’ His whisper was a thunderous echo off her face ‘Not after what you said on the boat’