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As Marcos deliberated over what his next question should be, he abruptly realized that he was outside again. And someone had put a cold sandwich and drink in his hands, along with his bag of chips--which didn’t contain chips at all, now that he was looking at it. It was actually a bag of dried seaweed. That sounded pretty gross to him, but he resolved to at least give it a try.

Everyone else was already eating, he saw, so he joined them. The sandwich’s bread and meat were nearly frozen, making the task more difficult, but he didn’t mind so terribly. A cool meal was quite welcome in this baking heat. Even with the sun going down, the temperature didn’t seem to care. This was definitely Sandlord territory.

And that sunset--a mural of blazing streaks above the mountainous horizon, deep yellows and oranges and reds, even a few purples burning around the edges of an occasional cloud. They sure didn’t get that back in Aguarey.

Before anyone could even finish eating, the refueling was done, and everyone returned to their respective limousine so that the entourage could get on the road again.

And as he polished off his sandwich, Marcos finally thought of another question for Shenado. ‘Do a lot of reapers believe like you do?’ he asked.

‘You mean are a lot of us doubting, cynical bastards?’ Shenado shrugged. ‘Yes. In fact, I would say the majority of us are.’

Marcos glanced at Dimas. ‘What about Iziol?’

‘Iziol is a freak of nature. I have no idea what he believes, but it is probably something ridiculous.’

‘That’s a little mean...’

‘Oh, Iziol is wonderful. Don’t get me wrong. I adore him. Being half-crazy is part of his charm.’

‘Ah...’ That made him curious about something else, and he looked toward his unconscious father and the equally unconscious reaper attached to the man’s arm. ‘What is Axiolis like? I still haven’t met him yet, but you and he are... uh...?’

‘Axiolis is also wonderful,’ Shenado said flatly.

Marcos just stared at her, waiting.

‘...But don’t listen to anything he tells you about Lhutwë.’

That almost made Marcos smile. ‘He still believes in the old water god?’

‘Yes,’ sighed Shenado. ‘He will probably try to teach you all about it, at some point. Preserving the old ways, he calls it.’

‘Really? I wouldn’t mind learning.’

‘Ugh.’

That actually did make him smile. ‘How much do YOU know about Lhutwë?’