"Everything I am," Aziz began, his voice softer now, "was planned, Mal. The Divine Snake, me finding the temple, the Lowly Serpent Breath manual. Someone created that pit to make me... whatever I am."
He slowed his pace slightly, his hand brushing against the bark of a tree as if to steady himself.
"Why?"
"They did not make me, Master," Mal replied firmly, her voice low and raspy.
Aziz frowned, glancing at her out of the corner of his eye.
"How do you know?" he asked, his tone tinged with frustration. "You could've been part of the plan. Everything could've been part of the plan. To stay with me, to guide me, to... manipulate me."
His voice wavered slightly, the weight of the thought pressing down on him.
Mal hissed softly, coiling tighter around his shoulders as though to shield him from his own doubts.