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"Can you at least tell us how s raised his hands as if to scratch his scalp, but the manacles held them down "Five, six, or so," he replied

"You are sure?"

Biggs nodded eagerly, as if encouraging his captors to believe he’d been helpful

"Enforcer," Silk said

The hten to attention It was an oddly human response

"Enforcer," Silk said once uilty of unsanctioned artifact hunting and possibly grave robbing"

Biggs’ eyes widened, and his mouth dropped open "But--but I’ up the dead I’d--"

"Then just the artifact hunting That’s stealing fros"

The man fell to his knees "Please, sir, s"

Silk did not listen Instead, he said, "Enforcer, this uilt Render justice"

The s away to a polite distance, the Inspector trailing behind Biggs babbled and begged for mercy all the way, but Silk was as indifferent as the

The Enforcer halted with a puff of steas and retracted it Silk watched in fascination as the arcing energies concentrated around the leg Then, without warning, the Enforcer punched its leg through Biggs’s chest, penetrating his back

It was not out of perversity that Silk watched the Dreg’s death No, he watched to observe the life energy that surrounded Biggs’s form, in this case, the color of rusted iron or old blood It flickered, then faded out He saw no separation of body and spirit, no lifting of the soul to the heavens as in the old theology the euished

Some of his more philosophical friends debated what came after death It was difficult to conceive of a life, of a consciousness full of experience and learning, not continuing on, but Silk knew the depressing truth, courtesy of his peculiar vision He’d watched his mother slowly expire on her deathbed, as well as the results of countless executions Just as the gods of old were a co beyond death There was nothing The life energy went out like a phosphorene lamp peraze fros as the Enforcer yanked its blood-sest Biggs’s life energy had athered a couple of slaves to carry the body to a nearby cart It would be donated to the university’s College of Mending, as were all executed criminals, no ure out how to prolong life, Silk thought, since it is all we have This one life

It made him all the more determined to become a favorite of the emperor, to enter his inner circle and be rewarded with that rare gift of an endless life Destroying the opposition, and finding the dragonfly device, and any other treasures the royal toht contain, were keys to his success<ins class="adsbygoogle" style="display:block" data-ad-client="ca-pub-7451196230453695" data-ad-slot="9930101810" data-ad-format="auto" data-full-width-responsive="true"></ins>