When the sunset was over, the pain diminished, but it did not go away. Then came the thirst. The hunger. Oh, yes. I was hungry. My body was demanding blood to fix the problems it was having, and demanding it now. But I laid there and waited, breathing deeply—I didn’t need to, but it’s a calming thing—and tried to keep the upper hand on my hunger. It wasn’t as bad as I’d felt in the magicians’ circle. That had been starvation. This was intense, moreso than I’d ever felt as a mortal, but not beyond my strength to endure. At least, for a while. It was distracting, though, and made the minutes crawl by. Where was Utai? Why hadn’t she come yet? Come to that, where was everyone else? Why was I waiting here? I could be out in the dark, hunting rabbits, foxes, deer, those big cats—what were they called?… tuva, that’s right… The door opened and Utai came in.
