Verdigris Ravine and the rest hope for a shoulder

in that dark face sat an absence; a bloodprice paid to the insatiable void. qiao wondered what it was zoug gained in return. 

the chipmunk skull’s spirit chattered wildly as the hunter rose. qiao turned to deerpelt and upended its contents upon the red floor. 

she did not wish to trade; her totem came at too high a price. but she could offer zoug one thing. 

my to’lang warn me of a fox. the roving of her olive gaze passed over the thinned bone, then to the totems strewn upon the floor. the antler that pierced stigmata’s throat had a single tine buried deep into the crimson sand. upon its face draped a broken conch, toothsome side to the earth. qiao read the implications there with solemness. 

but for you, they say beware of water. 

ironic, considering their proximity to very little.