Ouroboros Spine My atonement lasts the best part of eternity.

So, that was it.

She was reminded of someone and that stayed her hand. Nuak could work with that — he saw the flighty expression upon her face and wondered how best to approach the opening that this connection presented to him.

He wanted to be calculating, like Merrick, or the red daughter. He wanted to be powerful like the bear, to command others beneath the guise of threat. But he could not be a threat. He could not conceive of the many ways to use his new-found knowledge for his own betterment.

And there was sivullik, whatever that was. Nuak wondered if that was the name of a henchman. Maybe a spell, or a spirit. Did they wait here for her chosen god upon the mountain? Would a boar present itself to Nuak next and make its judgement, as the bears of the valley made theirs?

No. Only more riddles.
"What will you trade for your life?"

What?

The boy bristles with frustration as his understanding dwindles, smokes like abandoned coals within a hearth.

What is trade? Nuak did not know the word; his world was not so transactional, but more visceral. There was only ever taking, and he often bore the brunt of it.