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‘There are ways to save a host beyond putting it down,’ Inqalle said ‘Poison can be used to cleanse, to shrivel tuh of her heart to know that it will hurt her,’ Naxiaw replied

‘The nature of poison is to harm The nature of disease to kill It is your choice, Naxiaw’

He sat silently for a moment His decision wasfull of his cold anger and hardened resolve

‘The humans die,’ he whispered ‘I will cure them’

‘I areed

‘And we,’ their thoughts became synonyour that coursed through Lenk’s body as he strode out of the cavern was one that he had not experienced in a lifetiht His hter than it had ever felt; his breath caulps of air too fresh to have ever existed on this stagnant island of death

Life surged through hiy that was nearly painful to feel racing through his veins His mind are of his wounds and his scars, but his body remained oblivious Still, that did not stop his brain fro to make his body aware of its liht Moony Days ago, I was …

‘Look back far enough,’ the voice replied to his thoughts ‘You will find only pain, a dark and agonising nightmare, until this moment You’re awake now’

How?

‘Don’t believe what the priests tell you Life is not sacred Life is simply a tool Purpose is sacred Without purpose, life is nothing but a long, pointless, e

‘Too long’

And our purpose …

‘We knohat it is’

To find the tohter the demons’

And from there?

‘You’ll know by then But for now …’

He glanced up and saw Kataria’s back The shict sat upon a rock, staring into the forest Lenk felt his hand tighten into a fist

‘Remember your purpose Remembers theirs’

‘I will,’ he whispered

Her ears twitched She glanced over her shoulder and frowned at him as he approached

‘You snuck up onThey stared for a aze was softer than he reranite beside her

‘Walk past,’ the voice urged his legs ‘Do not look Do not think of her Go forward’

She had abandoned him She had looked into his eyes His our carried hiht his He stopped Her fingers wrapped around his

His body remembered this It did not object as she pulled him down to sit beside her

Silence persisted between, but not within A voice raged at hio up He wasn’t sure why he stayed sitting He wasn’t sure why her hand rapped around his

‘Through the neck,’ she said, suddenly

‘Huh?’

‘I’ve got your sword arht now If I had pulled just a little harder, I could have brought my knife up into your neck’ She sniffed, scratched her rear end ‘It wouldn’t have to be instant, either I don’t think you could stop me if I ran away and waited for you to bleed to death’

‘See?’ the voice roared ‘Do you see? Do you see her purpose? Do you see why she is a threat? Kill her Strike her down! Strangle her now before she can kill us!’

She hasn’t killed us

‘Yet’

Yet

‘I don’t have my sword,’ he said

She reached down and plucked up a length of steel fro it to hiour inside hied, his

‘It washed up on shore just an hour ago The Owauku wanted to throw it back before you could use it on them I stopped them’

‘It has purpose,’ the voice whispered ‘It knohat it is used for That’s why it comes back to us It knohat it craves’

‘I could,’ he whispered, ‘kill you right now’

‘You won’t,’ she said, not even bothering to look up ‘And I haven’t killed you yet’ She sht of a hundred ways to do it: poison, arrows, shove you overboard when you’re doing your business …’

‘Kill her now!’

Right now?

‘If I was a true shict, I would have killed you when I first set eyes on you’ She sighed ‘But I didn’t I followed you out of the forest I followed you for a year I tracked you to a dark cave that you went into and I waited on this rock because I knew you’d be all right’ She bit her lip ‘You’re always all right’

She bowed her head for a moment, then rubbed the back of her neck

‘And that’s all I’ if I’ll dreaoing to be there when I wake up’ She blinked rapidly for a moment ‘And back on the ship, when I wasn’t sure, it … I …’

The silence did not sointo Lenk so deeply that even his lanced at her, but she was pointedly looking into the forest, staring deeply into the trees as though she would die if she looked anywhere else

Perhaps she would

‘How’s the shoulder?’ she asked

‘It’s fine,’ he replied ‘I’ve had worse’

‘You do see beaten up’