Ouroboros Spine alivâpuk ⩷

Sialuk did not think of him often, but she did think of him. The way he had prowled around in the beginning, bringing them gifts even when they did not ask it of him. Perhaps if his manners had been different, she would have cared deeply for him. Instead, she saw the snake that slithered under his skin. Sialuk was glad for his absence, whatever the cause.

I do not know him well, Sialuk admitted. Is he here to stay? she asked. "Will he take too much, as Raimo did?" she thought.