Page 1428 -- CLIII.

Carver was still going. “--and then, we could go to an amusement park and get ice cream and go on a roller coaster ride. I’d probably vomit, but it’d be okay, because of the recently-eaten ice cream, see? That’s a trick my uncle taught me when I was a kid. Good god of fire, I miss processed sweets like that. I wonder if there’ve been any big technological breakthroughs with sweets and other foods from the surface. I feel like there must have been. The world is so full of--”

“I’m sorry.” Hector held up a gauntleted hand. “Could you, ah, go back to telling me about your expedition?”

“Oh, um. Certainly. What would you like to know about it?”

“Mainly... I’m curious about your companions. They must have been strong to make it all the way here, right?”

Carver’s expression tightened somewhat. “Yes, I suppose they were.”

Hector merely waited for elaboration, which was slow to arrive.

“...They were like yourself. Servants of reapers. Very reliable as bodyguards, certainly, but I’ve known them since I was just a sprightly Melmoorian lad. Ettol, in particular, has always been like an uncle to me. So strong, yet so persuasive, too. I swear, he could convince a pack of hungry wolves to play fetch with him, if he wanted. Why, there was this one time when I was twelve--”

‘Ettol?’ said Garovel.

‘You know of him?’

‘No. But that name is peculiar.’

‘How so?’

‘In Ancient Melmoorian folklore, Ettol is a kind of trickster deity. The God of Impulse. It’s not a normal name that someone would give their kid--or even a name that many people would recognize in this day and age.’

‘...So you’re saying this guy’s uncle is some kind of ancient god?’

‘No, Hector,’ the reaper laughed. ‘I’m saying it’s probably an alias. Or Carver is lying to us. That’s always a possibility.’

‘Or it’s an ancient god.’

‘I highly doubt that.’

‘Look, Garovel, I just found out that lava people exist. I’m open to the possibility of ancient gods existing, and I think you should be, too.’

‘Okay, Hector. Whatever you say.’


Chapter One Hundred Fifty-Three: ‘Countenance in greed and fury...’
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Two days transpired as the group tried in vain to work out their next move. According to the reapers, the titanic battle above Himmekel had not ceased, and according to the various Hun’Sho they spoke to, it would not be ceasing any time soon, either.

“Enkir and Dunikei have been locked in a stalemate for generations,” a Hun’Sho by the name of Torveis had told them.

Hector had been surprised that any of the Hun’Sho could speak Mohssian at all, much less modern Mohssian, but all was explained when Carver revealed that he had taught them several of the surface world’s languages.

“It may be many years before they decide to take another break,” Torveis had said. “The worms are a more recent threat, though I imagine they may prove an even bigger obstacle if you all wish to leave Himmekel soon.”