248 Undeath

Ti heard the word 'serpent', and her pointed ears pricked up. "Papa? Someone like me?"

"Perhaps," said Li. "But I suspect not quite as much as you would like."

"That is so," said the aarakowa. "The Dread Eye holds not the sacred fire of life in its heart, if a heart it even holds. It is death and dread manifested. Undeath."

"Have you seen this creature?" asked Li.

"No, but of it, I know well. Its presence has haunted this pit for years long before my life. In the third blowing of the Dark Winds two cycles past, the thrice crowned mountains fell to the Fog. With the Fog, a swell of death and terror, of desperation and suffering and all things harsh and cold passed through even to here, and that swell swirled into a maelstrom given form.

That is the Dread Eye. Its dark, slithering body lies still, and to all life that enters within its bounds, its eye passes judgement and curses."