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He played again, and this time the liquid set, like concrete, and held his head dohile the Giant cut hian to eat while his ars quivered

He reappeared at the landslides and decided not to go on He even let the landslides cover hi and he felt cold, with his next life he went back up the hills till they turned into bread, and stood on the Giant's table as the shot glasses were set before him

He stared at the two liquids The one foauess what kind of death each one held Probably a fish will come out of the ocean one and eat ame It isn't fair It's stupid It's rotten

And instead of pushing his face into one of the liquids, he kicked one over, then the other, and dodged the Giant's huge hands as the Giant shouted, "Cheater, cheater!" He jumped at the Giant's face, cla in the Giant's eye The stuff cae cheese, and as the Giant screaht in, burrowed in and in

The Giant fell over backward The view shifted as he fell, and when the Giant caround, there were intricate, lacy trees all around A bat flew up and landed on the dead Giant's nose Ender brought his figure up out of the Giant's eye

"How did you get here?" the bat asked "Nobody ever comes here" Ender could not answer, of course So he reached down, took a handful of the Giant's eyestuff, and offered it to the bat

The bat took it and flew off, shouting as it went, "Welcoht to climb

down from the Giant's face and see what he had finally achieved

Instead he signed off, put his desk in his locker, stripped off his clothes and pulled his blanket over him He hadn't arisly death and an even worse murder I'm a murderer, even when I play Peter would be proud of me

7

SALAMANDER

"Isn't it nice to know that Ender can do the impossible?"

"The player's deaths have always been sickening, I've always thought the Giant's Drink was thefor the eye like that--this is the one ant to put in command of our fleet?"

"What ame that couldn't be won"

"I suppose you'll move him now"