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I shake my head, then remember he can’t see ainst the wall of the hovel with his empty sockets turned to me ‘Welcome to the Pit Like it or not, you’ve just joined the initiations for the newly Fallen’

‘How long do the initiations go on?’

‘Until you beco equally horrible Or it’s possible the Pit lords ot status I’ve heard it only happens soins’

‘It gets worse after you’re pro thuds on the hatch outside I stay silent until whatever it was that hit the hatch goes away

‘What about those screa initiated too?’

‘They’re the Consuh initiation There’s a legendary feast that goes on with the Pit lords The Consumed are the ones ere sacrificed for the feast’ He shakes his head ‘We can grow back a lot of things, but not a whole body or even major parts’

He rubs his empty eye sockets ‘But when you’re in the Pit, there are infinite opportunities for more misery The Consumed cry out by the thousands to be included in a head whip for the chance to claim a new body’

I’ve never seen Beliel so chatty This earlier version of hiet their teeth into you, they’ll burrow before you can blink They’ll work their way up to your head where they gnaw until your head falls off Then they plant theht, and two or three of theht that ed out’

I look at hie in his expression

‘A Fallen body is a prize, but they’ll take anything with limbs They’ll even take rat bodies with the hope that they canas they can find the next victiainst it ‘Rumor has it that some of the most powerful Pit lords were once Consumed Of course, by the time they reach Pit-lord status, they’re beyond insane’

I like to think I can handle insanity, but this is taking it to a whole new level

‘So always be on guard,’ he says ‘You could lose ine’

Is Beliel really looking out for me? There ht now ‘Why are you telling me all this?’ Maybe he’s not Beliel but just someone who looks like him He sure doesn’t sound like hiood or bad Besides, I have a soft spot for Daughters of Men My wife used to be one’ His voice trails off, and I can barely hear his last sentence

‘You’re offering to protect h in irl, certainly not a newly Fallen whose eyes haven’t grown back yet Anyone who says they can protect you is lying It’s just a question of friend or foe That’s all’

‘And you’re telling me you’re my friend?’

‘I’m not your enemy’

‘What the hell kind of bizarro world am I in?’ I whisper to myself

I don’t expect Beliel to answer, but he does ‘You’re in the ruins of the hellion world’