Noctisardor Bypass through caverns measureless to man

her eyes widen as he speaks of his people, finding them--as he says--curiously similar to her own. a violent one, she answers simply, her smile at odds with her words. no room for kindness, nor any kind of nuance. bloody, brutal, relentless. sometimes i miss it, she admits, glancing ruefully away. other times, i am glad i left. killing gets boring after some time.

they speak for a while longer, and then tashkent departs. she is loath to stay too far away from her family. however pleasant tulimaq's company is, she still smarts from the insult. a slave! he knew nothing of slaves, if that is what conclusion he'd come to.

oh, well. world as big as this, she'd likely never see him again.