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The answer ca her nostrils with knowledge and the pungent stink of roach innards She glanced up, peered out of the foliage and saw the roach’s corpse loosing its incense onto the sunbeah the canopy

And an idea caons and four, laid low by a stinking bug He had a weakness after all And, if one of the many curses about shicts was true, it was that they kneeaknesses could be exploited

Shicts, she thought with obscene pride, don’t fight fair

The sole obstacle to capitalising on this pride was the expanse between her and the dead insect, doer claws

But that suddenly did not seerievous an obstacle anymore He was only flesh and claws … and teeth, she ad, she was stealth, she was hunter These were things the Howling taught her, reminded her of in faint echoes as she fell to all fours and crept about the bush

‘What’s that?’

She froze

‘What?’ he growled again ‘No, I never said I couldn’t learn’ Gariath sighed, unaware as she pressed on through the brush around hi to teach nation’

He laughed blackly, a sound that made her skin crawl as it never had before

‘No, itsorowled ‘It’s as stupid as it sounds She pretends she’s avoiding round That is indignation, so else is taken from them

‘In this case,’ he continued, ‘it’s stupid of her to think she’s going to die with anything more than mud in her teeth and a rock in her skull That’s as invisible as victories get, I suppose Eh? No, itto you, she told herself, not the air …to herself Really, all we’re fighting over is killing rights, which is acceptable’ He snorted disdainfully ‘But she wants to kill the others, the stupid weaklings, to prove she’s less stupid and weak This is a lie … sorry, ato lure you out Keep going Don’t fall for it

‘And this is why they look at her with hatred, why Lenk feared to turn his back to her’

She froze

‘She is a liar, a schemer She tells herself they have to die for reasons she thinks will help, that she’ll stink less like a hu They know this They hate her What?’ He grunted ‘Yes, I’d kill them, but only because I don’t like them Honesty is an admirable trait’

She was not prepared for this Claws, fists, bellowing roars she had steeled herself against But when he spoke with confidence, not rage, when his words were laced with cunning rather than hatred, she was stunned into inaction

‘Ironic? Yes, I knohat the word h I don’t protect Lenk If he needed protection, I would laugh as he died I give hi her first He’s a stupid bug, all wings and stinger, that will leap into the jaws of a snapping flower because he can’t tell that the pollen stinks He knows there’s so foul about the stench, but he sniffs it, anyway She is the pollen I’ his nostrils’

Well? she demanded of her body What are you upset about? That’s what you wanted, isn’t it? Lenk’s hatred, his fear … if you’ve got that, it’s all so much easier, isn’t it?

It was supposed to be, anyway

‘No, no …’ Gariath’s voice drifted softly over the leaves like a breeze ‘That’s not the funny part The real hu her a favour she doesn’t deserve If she does fear, as you say she does, not being so pointy-eared, then hohat I’ here …’

She felt the shadow on her back, looked up into hard black eyes

‘Is a swift and fair death’

Move

She did, too late

His claws raked her, dug into the tender flesh of her back She felt blood weeping down her skin, shallow est a crippling blow She tried to ignore the pain and scrambled away She leapt to her feet, heard hirew large in her eyes, its stink brilliantly foul in her nose

He lunged; she ju claw; she seized a handful of pasty yellow innards

She twisted and saw his teeth loolistening, guts-laden fist at him and sh he didn’t let go, he did howl The roach’s juices vengefully filled his nostrils, seeped over his snout to sting his eyes He threw his head back enough that she could pull her ankle fro at her heel as she did

He sprang to his feet, swung his fists out, lashed his tail out, stoe

His roar filled her ears, as did the sound of his nostrils futilely searching the air for her Such sounds continued as she ran into the forest, leaping over the river’s shallows and leaving hi, she ducked branches, leapt over logs And through his howling and snarling she could hear his words, spoken with such venomous clarity She could feel them continue to seep into her, as she could feel her eyes brim with tears

She ran, and lied to herself that she wept because of the pain in her back

She flew past a roach, the rainbow-coloured insect’s antennae twitching curiously as she sped past it without so lance It chittered quietly, confused She did not look back at it

Perhaps if she had, sheout of the foliage Perhaps, if she had, she reen footsteps that set off after her

Thirteen

SCORN

Bralston, like ic’ as it pertained to his gifts