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‘You sound disappointed,’ he grunted through a full htly Things certainly didn’t get less co reptile still alive She was certainly surprised to see hi the last time she saw him
Still, she took some satisfaction in his appearance It merely confirmed her previous suspicions: If Gariath was alive, Lenk would be, too
And if Lenk is alive …
Gariath’s neck suddenly stiffened He looked up, ear-frills fanning out She started, unsure whether to run He , as though hearing so the differences between their ears, she found disconcerting
‘Angry?’ He glanced to the air at his side ‘Maybe Probably I don’t care’
‘Are … you talking to ry’ He cast a sidelong glare to the emptiness ‘As it is, I’m only mildly irritated’
While there were many oddities one could accuse Gariath of, madness was not one of theht have sounded like lunacy, and she wasn’t ready to discount that it was, but it was uttered with such clarity that he was not possessed of even in his more lucid moments He was serene He was coherent He was calm
That unnerved her
‘You look upset,’ he observed
She said nothing ‘Concerned’ and ‘observant’ were two other qualities one never accused Gariath of having
‘Understandable, isn’t it?’ she asked ‘I’o, I thought dead and was pleased for it, because, as of a few days ago, said lizard tried to kill iant snake on my head’ She sneered ‘Maybe a little upset, yeah’
‘What?’
‘I just said--’
‘Not you, stupid’ He held a hand up and looked to the side again, shaking his head ‘No, she always sounds like this Stupid huhed morbidly ‘No, no They call it "attempted murder"’ He snorted ‘Babies’
She stared at the nothingness beside hi to see what he saw It beca to see what crack had split his skull from which this sudden lunacy leaked out
She took a step back warily
‘Going sorowl ‘Back to tracking’
‘Tracking what? The other humans?’
‘The humans, yes’
‘Pointless I can’t smell them They’re probably dead’
‘Given that you tried your damnedest to kill them, that’s definitely possible’
‘They’re always snide like this, too,’ he growled to the air once more ‘Hets uppity about the other ones, too Or at least, the other one’
She felt the stab in his words surely as she felt the ire rise in her glare, seeking to leap out and impale him The ichor on his unpleasant smile and the lunatic calm in his stare, however, convinced her to instead turn around, walk toward the opposite bank and hope he did nothing more than continue to stare
‘Never seen you run before,’ he grunted after her
‘I’ve never seen you talk to invisible people before, so I suppose we’re even,’ she called over her shoulder ‘And for the thousandth ti full well you don’t care or can’t understand, I’m a shict’
The question came just as she set foot back onto damp soil, voiced without accusation, without enuine curiosity
‘Are you?’
And she froze, turned around so slowly she heard her vertebrae creak
‘What … what did you say?’
‘You’re not going about this the right way, you know,’ he replied with a shrug
‘You can’t possibly--’
‘I do,’ he replied, ‘and I can tell you that more dead bodies, theirs or yours, won’t make your ears any pointier’
‘And I’m supposed to listen to that?’ It was unwise to snarl at hily, but she didn’t care It was likewise unwise to allow the tears to form in the corners of her eyes, but she could not help it ‘You expect me to believe that you, of all people, think violence isn’t a solution?’
‘I don’t expect you to dohiful way’ He blinked, then looked to the air with incredulousness ‘Really? How do you figure that?’
‘Who--?’
‘Right’ He nodded once, then turned to her ‘But this isn’t it, we agree No matter who dies, you’re still what you are’
Walk away, she told herself Run, if you have to He’s a long way gone and he was rather far away to begin with Go Run
Sound advice She should have cursed her frozen feet, her eyes set against his She should have done anything, she knew, besides open her mouth to hienuine curiosity in her voice
‘What am I?’
‘Well, I don’t care,’ he replied sharply ‘But whatever you are, whatever you’re planning, it won’t work’
‘You know nothing of what I’, of what I have to do’
‘You don’t knohat you have to do Isn’t that why you’re being such a whiny ht of his stare became oppressive, drove her back a step ‘What happens when you do it? When you kill Lenk? Your thoughts won’t get any more quiet’
‘What do I do then?’ She was far past concern for how he see her tears ‘What does your lunacy tell you? Because I’ve been thinking with sanity and logic, and I can’t come to any other conclusion This has to happen He has to die’
His expression didn’t change The stone of his stare became one of body His tail ceased to sway, his claws ceased to twitch He stared without words, for he had no ht be a serene madness, but it was still madness And she still knehat she must do