76

Your diminished and exhausted group races down the mountain ahead of the apes and the coming night. Therko, familiar with the mountain paths, takes the lead, the tatters of his administrator's robe flapping in the darkness ahead of you. His movements are swift and unerring. He has lost his previous fussiness, as if that anxious young man died with the rest of the Painted Guardians. You wonder if all Painted Guardians begin as administrators, as Therko's tattoos appear new and he has none on his face—though now that you look, you can see tattoos beneath his yellow hair.

You and Therko wait as your companions make their way single file across a narrow and windswept ledge. He adjusts his tattered clothing. His clothes cling to his tattoos, as if they have a rougher texture than the rest of his skin.

Though he hardly knows you, Therko says his path is fixed: he will avenge the Apostolic Mound, kill Keimia, and break the power of her master. And he will do all that with you, for he now has no one else. As he starts across the ledge, he looks back at you, his pale eyes bright and focused, as if to learn what sort of man you are.