Greatwater Lake eighty-first

this time when they came she was not alone.

the mingled scent of zharille with kaxwaan and the blood of the meals they'd shared now lingered at the lakeside.

when the desert snake appeared zharille watched from among the trees; she saw the warriors, the servant thief-dogs, and a burly man who appeared to stand apart.

as she made herself visible to them she rumbled, deep and throaty and saurian, with her focus on the erpa-ha.