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Jonah was fascinated to no end by the Beast of Ardora. The ultimate enemy of all these false gods. Did that make the wolf a true god? Kehe. No. Jonah didn’t think so. Moreover, Koh would probably despise the very notion.

Strange to think that Koh and Ettol had both arrived in his life at the same time, due to the same event. Some forty-five years ago in Bellvine.

Though, perhaps there was some contention about that, too. With the benefit of hindsight, Jonah could now see whispers of Ettol’s influence from even before that time--from when it had been attempting to make contact with him.

Reaching out from beyond the Veil.

In so many subtle, quiet ways, Ettol had been there, probably since the very moment his and Germal’s power of mutation manifested. And even then, it had still taken Ettol another eighty years before it finally managed to connect to them.

Jonah understood why. For Ettol, suitable vessels were preciously rare. Throughout the entire world, there were only a handful of viable candidates at any given time; and since the incarnation process took so long, the difficulty was heightened even further, as suitable vessels expired naturally on their own. Or simply refused the offer. Or suddenly became unsuitable.

Kehe. Poor Ettol. Always wrestling with the world. With its own kin, even. It loved them all dearly, but they did not reciprocate those feelings, did they? Perhaps because it was such an incessantly lying snake.

Not that Jonah had much room to judge, of course. In that way, at least, they were alike. Hell, perhaps that was even a prerequisite for becoming a suitable vessel.

But still. It was no coincidence that Ettol had ended up trapped in that prison realm alongside Koh. That had been the work of Ettol’s own kin. At the last moment, they had betrayed it.

Thrown it to the wolf, quite literally.

And yet, Ettol did not hold that against them? Where was the sense in that? Where was your pride, Ettol?

Why continue on with this plan of Reemergence?

That was, perhaps, the single most baffling thing about Ettol, still. The thing that Jonah was struggling to find an answer for.

Because perhaps there simply wasn’t one. Perhaps Ettol didn’t have a good reason for continuing on, in spite of all the hatred and betrayal. The unreturned love and affection.

Perhaps, ultimately, Ettol was just a pathetic, crying child who was scared of being alone.

Enough, Jonah.