The dilapidated room in the Ruined House was cloaked in an eerie stillness, broken only by the soft, erratic breaths of the terrified children huddled within. The moonlight, filtering through the half - collapsed roof, cast a ghostly glow, creating long, menacing shadows that seemed to dance with a life of their own. The air was thick with the stench of fear and despair, a palpable presence that clung to everything like a shroud.

  By the time Thales came back to his senses, he was already suspended in mid - air, Quaid's iron - like hand clamped around his throat. Panic surged through Thales like a wildfire, consuming his every thought. He thrashed about wildly, his small hands clawing at Quaid's vice - like grip, but it was as if he were trying to move a mountain. His efforts were met with nothing but the cold, unyielding pressure of Quaid's fingers.

  He strained his mouth open as wide as it would go, gasping for even the smallest breath, but the air seemed to elude him, as if the very atmosphere had turned against him. His feet kicked and flailed in a desperate, uncontrolled rhythm, a futile attempt to find some purchase, some way to break free. His head began to spin, a dizzying whirlwind of darkness and pain that threatened to engulf him.

  In his ears, the world around him sounded muffled, as if he were trapped in a bubble, separated from reality. Coria's heart - rending cries seemed to come from a great distance, a faint, pitiful wail that only added to the sense of horror. Ryan, cowering in the corner of the wall hole, shook uncontrollably, his eyes wide with terror, like a cornered animal. Kellett sat in front of the hole, muttering incoherently, her face blank, lost in a daze of fear.

  But Sinti and Ned, in a display of unexpected courage, charged at Quaid with all their might. Sinti, his eyes ablaze with anger, latched onto Quaid's thighs, his small body shaking with the effort. Ned, with a fierce determination on his young face, struck Quaid's stomach with his tiny hands, each blow a testament to his bravery.

  However, their efforts were in vain. Quaid, with a casual flick of his leg, sent Sinti flying across the yard. Sinti crashed into the water tank, which toppled over with a loud crash, sending water gushing out in all directions, turning the dirt floor into a muddy mess. Ned, too, was no match for Quaid's strength. A powerful kick from Quaid sent Ned sprawling to the ground, his small body hitting the hard earth with a sickening thud. He let out a scream of pain, but there was no strength left in him to get up.

  Thales, in the midst of his own struggle, didn't have the luxury of being surprised by Ned's bravery or disappointed by Kellett and Ryan's cowardice. His mind was focused solely on one thing: survival. With a cold, determined expression, he dug his fingernails into Quaid's hand, dragging them from the front of his neck to the back, leaving behind angry red marks. His only thought was to break free, to get a single, precious breath of air.

  Suddenly, his nails sank into the back of Quaid's right hand, and it was as if they had found a weak spot, a hollow wound. Thales didn't hesitate. His face was already suffocatingly red, his lungs burning for air. He dug his nails in deeper, using all the strength he had left.

  “Ah!” Quaid let out a scream of pain, his iron - banded grip loosening. Thales was sent hurtling through the air, crashing hard into the wall. The impact knocked the wind out of him, and he felt a searing pain in his throat. He clung to the broken wall, his body shaking, as he stifled a cough, the taste of blood in his mouth.

  Quaid, his face contorted with pain and anger, grabbed his palm. The wound that Yara had once nailed through with her knife had reopened, and blood began to seep out, staining his hand. “Damn you, Yara Sariton! Fucking brat!” he roared, his voice a mixture of pain and fury. The alcohol in his system only seemed to fuel his rage, making him even more dangerous.

  “Snap!” The hideous Quaid whipped his head around. In the corner of his eye, he saw Ensola from House Seventeen, rolling and crawling towards the door, his eyes wild with terror. The door panel, already weakened by Quaid's earlier kick, gave way under Ensola's weight, splintering into pieces.

  “Haha, you want to run?” Quaid sneered, his eyes glinting with malice. He pounced on Ensola in a single stride, grabbing his left leg.

  “No! No!” Ensola cried out, his voice filled with fear and despair. Quaid lifted him upside down, his body swinging like a ragdoll.

  “Have you ever struck iron, kid? No? Well, I'll teach you!” Quaid laughed sadistically.

  Thales, in agony, managed to rise to his feet. He had just enough time to see Quaid using both arms to swing Ensola's left leg, aiming his head straight for the wall behind Thales. Thales' eyes widened in horror, and he instinctively sidestepped, his heart pounding in his chest.

  There was a muffled thud above his head, a sound that Thales would never forget. It was like the sound of a fruit and vegetable vendor smashing open an Aerlen melon, a sickeningly wet and dull noise. Thales' mind flashed back to the time they had stolen the idol of the White Moon from that very same vendor.

  Kolya's cries transformed into piercing screams, a sound that cut through the air like a knife. Thales froze, his eyes fixed in horror on the scene in front of him. He couldn't bring himself to close his eyes in time. Red and white liquid splattered across the ground, some of it landing on Thales' face. The liquid was warm, yet it sent a chill down his spine.

  Ned, who had managed to rise from the ground and witnessed this horror, broke down. His eyes filled with tears, and he let out a scream of pure terror. Then, he turned and ran towards the dog hole that led to the seventeen houses, his small body moving as fast as it could.

  Quaid, his face twisted into a grotesque mask of pleasure, opened his mouth and inhaled deeply, as if he were breathing in the sweetest of scents. He looked like a man possessed, a demon in human form. He dropped what was left of Ensola and turned his attention to Ned, laughing angrily in his direction.

  In that moment, Thales' mind raced. Ned was small and nimble, he thought. He could make it through the dog hole before Quaid reached him. If he could just drill through there, everything would be okay. He would be safe. Thales silently urged Ned on, his heart in his throat. Drill through there. Drill through. Drill...

  But before Ned could even get halfway through the hole, Quaid's hand shot out and grabbed his legs. “You're the brat who can't pay anything?” Quaid sneered, his voice dripping with contempt. “And what's the point of having you?”

  Ned cried out and screamed as Quaid dragged him out of the hole. “Scream, not enough screaming - shame, shame the tank is broken - well, can't play catch,” Quaid muttered, shaking his head as if to clear the alcohol - induced fog from his brain. He looked at Sinti, who was just waking up from the floor, and the broken tank beside him. “Easy then,” he said, a cruel smile spreading across his face.

  At Ned's cries and kicks, Quaid slammed him face - down onto the ground. Then, he lifted his right foot and stomped it down hard, towards the centre of the six - year - old beggar's back.

  “No -!” Thales let out a heartbreaking roar, his voice filled with pain and despair.

  “Thud! KALA!” The sound of Ned's bones breaking was like a thunderclap in the stillness of the night. Everything in front of Thales' eyes blurred, a mix of tears and horror.

  “Thunk!” Quaid's second kick landed, followed by a third.

  Sinti, filled with a rage that seemed to consume him, grabbed a shard of the water tank and charged at Quaid, yelling at the top of his lungs. But Quaid just laughed out loud, a maniacal laugh that echoed through the ruined house. He kicked the shard out of Sinti's hand with ease and then grabbed the collar of Sinti's coarse linen clothing, lifting him up off the ground.

  Thales felt a wave of despair wash over him. He lowered his head, his heart heavy with guilt. In the corner, Ensola's body still convulsed silently, a grotesque sight. Ned lay face - down on the floor, motionless. Thales had thought he could protect these children, but now he realised he was powerless. He couldn't do anything.

  Sinti kicked and punched, screaming in rage, but Quaid's laughter only grew louder and more high - pitched. “Scream, kids, keep screaming, I love to hear you scream. Maybe if I'm in a good mood, I'll leave you alone,” he taunted.

  Thales' eyes dimmed as a familiar scene from his previous life flashed through his mind. “Deviant behaviour, this is the name we give to human behaviour that goes against the norms of society, which people generally used to call crime. But we must know that crime is only a very small part of deviant behaviour - we are not concerned with the behaviour itself, but with the meaning and understanding of that behaviour on a social level, on a collective level - Turgot was one of the early scholars to propose the term social norms. Also looked at deviant behaviour from a functionalist perspective -”

  “There is the idea that the enforcement and punishment of deviant actors is one of the fundamental means by which subjects of power shape people and mould the fabric of society -”

  It was a fragment of memory that he had retrieved, a snippet from a past that now seemed so distant.

  “Demon! You demon!” Sinti's enraged screams brought Thales back to the present.

  “Right! I'm the demon!” Quaid laughed playfully, his eyes glinting with madness. “How do you think the demon would have concocted you?”

  Thales took a deep breath, his mind clearing. “Fucking arsehole,” he muttered under his breath. He knew what he had to do. He clenched his teeth and backpedalled to the corner of the room, his eyes fixed on a spot behind a rock.

  He knew. Thales grabbed the rock in the corner of the house, lifting it with all his might. His hands were shaking, but he was determined. He stuck his hand into the hidden hole behind it. Quickly. Hurry up and touch it.

  “Never mind, seeing as you've got such balls, I'll save you for last,” Quaid said, his lips twisted in a cruel smile. He pulled hard on Sinti's right leg, his strength overwhelming. Sinti's face turned pale, and his lips trembled with pain.

  “Ka - la!” The sound of Sinti's leg dislocating was like a gunshot in the quiet room. Quaid threw Sinti down and then stomped hard on his already dislocated leg. Sinti's suppressed but agonised howl of misery reached Thales' ears, spurring him on. He intensified his search, his heart pounding in his chest.

  Quaid left the yard and made his way towards the house. The half - collapsed roof bathed his smiling face in moonlight, making him look even more like a monster. Ryan clutched his arms, his eyes fixed on the floor, trying to make himself as small as possible in the wall hole. Kallit shakily crawled out of the hole, reaching for Coria, who was too hoarse to cry anymore. But Kolya seemed paralysed with fear, sobbing quietly and not moving.

  Kellett, too afraid to look at Sinti, just begged Kolya to move, pulling at her arm. But Kolya suddenly jerked her head up and let out a lamb - like wail. Kellett realised what was happening and turned around, coming face - to - face with Quaid's grinning face. In that instant, Kellett felt a wetness in his crotch, a sign of his utter fear.

  Caught! Thales' heart leapt in his chest as he felt what he had been searching for. He jerked his hand outward hard.

  And then. And then? Then, he felt a strong hand grab his right arm from behind. He turned to see Quaid, a look of delight on his face. “Did you think I'd miss you? Kid? I knew it, you're the slyest, most treacherous one of these little bastards! Haha!” Quaid's hand tightened around Thales' arm, his grip like a vice.

  NOT. Thales fought back, the pain in his right arm fueling his determination. He struggled to turn around, trying to stab Quaid with the object in his left hand.

  “Look!” Quaid exclaimed, as if he had discovered a hidden treasure. He dodged out of the way of Thales' jab with ease. Then, from Thales' left hand, he snatched something.

  “A - dagger! Haha! Kid, you actually want to use a dagger against me? Hahahahahahaha, what are you going to do? Stab me in the thigh?” Quaid laughed maniacally, lifting Thales off the ground.

  NO! NO! Thales thought desperately. The dagger, the unsheathed dagger he had stolen from the Sunset Bar. That was his last hope.

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  “Yo!” Quaid looked behind Thales in surprise. There, on the ground, was a coin that Thales had accidentally brought out when he pulled the dagger out of the hole.

  “See what I found?” Quaid said, his eyes lighting up. “A silver coin?”

  “A silver coin! Hahaha, it's really the damn brat! You hid a silver coin!”

  Thales tried to struggle with his left hand, but his strength was no match for Quaid's. His small fists pounded futilely against Quaid's iron - hard abdomen. The silver coin, a gift from that noblewoman in the Red Square district, Thales wanted to scream that he wasn't lying. Copper coins, that lady of goose down had given him only twelve. Silver coins, just one.

  Thales ruminated in despair. But it all seemed to be coming to an end. He had failed.

  “As the price for daring to lie -” Quaid ignored Thales' weak punches and kicks. He simply laughed, picking up the silver coin with his dagger. He flung it face - first into the air and then caught it with the other side of the dagger.

  This silver coin of the Kingdom's Mindis was a weighty one, rare even today. Its obverse was engraved with the head of King Mindith III - a wise king rarely seen in the history of the Star Kingdom, or even in the history of the Eastern and Western continents - and an inscription engraved in ancient floral script.

  A king is not honoured by his bloodline, but his bloodline is honoured by his king.

  This line of words, Thales couldn't read at all. As for its real meaning, Thales had once dared to ask that female noblewoman, and she had given him the answer.

  Oh, Thales thought silently in his heart. He still yearned to learn to recognize words, to learn to read, to acquire the knowledge and wisdom that this world held.

  But now, look at the result.

  Quaid held his dagger against the silver coin once more, and with a few flicks of the blade, he nodded, clearly pleased with his knife - handling skills, which didn't seem to have deteriorated at all.

  Then he yanked Thales a few steps outside and tossed the silver coin into the fire in the courtyard.

  “As a price for lying - you'll be rewarded with this silver coin then.”

  Thales watched as the silver coin gradually turned black in the fire. Suddenly, he realized what Quaid was about to do, and he started kicking and punching even more frantically.

  Just then, Thales caught a glimpse out of the corner of his eye. Ryan, who was usually so timid and cowardly, and now also crippled, was trembling as he fumbled around behind Quaid and picked up a stone.

  No. Thales thought sadly. Ryan hadn't engaged in many fights. That rock... it was too small. Far too small.

  “Ta!” Ryan's strength was insufficient, and the rock merely hit the back of Quaid's neck.

  But it was enough to draw Quaid's attention.

  “Run! Ryan!”

  “Run!” Thales and Sinti, who was on the other side, clutching his right leg in pain, shouted out simultaneously!

  However, Ryan was a cripple. His leg had been broken by an ill - tempered thief while he was begging, and ever since then, this beggar, who couldn't afford a doctor, had been left with a limp.

  Ryan backed away in terror, turned around, and limped away as fast as he could.

  Thales was dragged by Quaid as he chased after Ryan.

  Before long, Ryan was caught by Quaid.

  Quaid laughed angrily.

  “Cripple!” Quaid opened his mouth wide and panted heavily, like an enraged boar. “That really hurt when you hit me.”

  “Flop!” Ryan was kicked to the ground by him, his eyes filled with fear and regret.

  “I - I...”

  Before Ryan, who was terrified to his very core, could finish his sentence, Quaid flung the dagger in his hand and ruthlessly stabbed Ryan's right wrist!

  “Ahhhhhhhh--” Ryan's scream was so ear - splitting that even Thales shuddered.

  “Aren't you a cripple? You already have a broken leg!” Quaid shouted frenziedly. “Then let's make it a bit more symmetrical, top and bottom!”

  Then Quaid pulled out his dagger, the grin on his face growing wider.

  He pushed Thales to the ground with one hand and turned to focus all his attention on Ryan.

  He saw a hard knee slam into Ryan's stomach, and then he raised the dagger to Ryan's already impaled wrist.

  It was like sawing wood. He started... cutting.

  Thales closed his eyes in pain.

  “No! No. Ahh! Ahh! Don't! That! Ahhhh!” Ryan's screams had turned into a continuous, rhythm - less wail.

  Sinti's roars were ringing in Thales' ears.

  Thales didn't even bother to look at Kolya, who was still sobbing, or Kellett, who was deathly silent.

  Please, let this end quickly. Make it end quickly.

  By the time Ryan's unceasing wails turned into moans of pain, Thales, who was already numb, felt himself being grabbed by Quaid's collar again.

  A searing heat hit him.

  Thales opened his eyes and saw the dagger in front of him, with the silver coin resting on it. The silver coin that had been blackened by the fire after being tossed in.

  The burning fire seemed to engulf him.

  “Open your mouth.” Quaid said harshly and coldly.

  On the side, Ryan was clutching his bloody right hand. There was no emotion left in his eyes; he just lay woodenly on his side, his body twitching every now and then. His right palm was barely hanging on to his wrist by a bit of skin.

  Thales averted his gaze and looked coldly at Quaid.

  “Won't you?” Quaid shook his head and sneered. “Then your eyes will do.”

  With that, he grabbed the dagger, along with the burnt - black silver coin on it, and held it close to Thales' eyes.

  The burnt, blackened image of King Mindith was getting closer and closer to his eyes. The line of inscription also became clearer.

  Kings are not honoured by their bloodlines.

  Bloodlines however are honoured by kings.

  Just a moment before it was about to be pressed against his eye.

  “Ah!” Thales roared in anger and with a violent struggle, he bit the little finger of Quaid's palm that was gripping the dagger!

  Quaid hissed in pain and leaned back, and the silver coin fell from the dagger and landed on Thales' bare chest.

  A searing heat came from his chest!

  “Ah... no!” A sharp burning sensation! It was so intense that it even caused a sharp pain!

  Thales couldn't endure the burning from the silver coin. He loosened his teeth that were biting Quaid and reached out to try and remove the silver coin from his chest.

  “Bastard!” Quaid looked at his bloodied pinky and seethed with rage.

  “That'll be a souvenir for you!”

  He knocked the boy down with a single punch, then lunged forward and overpowered Thales, pressing his dagger firmly against the hot, black silver coin on Thales' chest.

  “Hiss -” It was like the sound of a branding iron being rapidly cooled. Only this time, the material being cooled was flesh and blood.

  “Ahhhhhhhhhhhh--” Thales screamed angrily. Along with the heart - burning and bone - scorching temperature in his chest, there was also a burning smell. The muscles all over his body seemed to start burning with pain again.

  Quaid pressed down on the silver coin for a full five seconds, staring at Thales' face as it continued to contort in agony, before he finally felt a sense of relief and let go of Thales.

  As soon as Thales was free, he violently tugged at the silver coin that was already stuck to his chest, ignoring the still - hot temperature, and ripped it off along with his skin and blood.

  With bits of burnt flesh and blood, the silver coin tumbled to the ground, making a clinking sound.

  Thales' blood dripped to the ground and dried quickly.

  He, on the other hand, lay down on the ground, unable to stop his tears from flowing.

  Damn it, he was clearly an adult, wasn't he? Why, why couldn't he help but cry too?

  “Pity, it would have been nice if you'd swallowed it or pressed it to your eyelids.” Quaid carefully picked up the silver coin and was about to throw it back into the fire. “It's okay, we'll do it next round.”

  Thales closed his eyes tightly. The burning sensation in his chest didn't seem to fade; instead, it intensified, getting hotter and hotter.

  There seemed to be a surge of power building up inside him.

  Just let me, let me, let me slit Quaid's throat, just let me. He murmured in his mind.

  When Thales opened his eyes again, he just stared coldly at Quaid.

  Quaid looked into those lifeless eyes and suddenly felt a bit bored.

  “Hey, kiddo, don't you want to play anymore?” Quaid kicked Thales.

  Thales just looked at him coldly.

  Come on, he thought. This time, it'll be either your eyelids or your nose. As hot as you like. Anyway, you can't do anything even after being reborn, can you?

  Quaid looked into Thales' eyes and confirmed the coldness in them.

  Quaid hated that kind of indifference. It was debtors like this that had bothered him the most when he was collecting black debts in the past. It meant that no matter how much he tortured the other person, he couldn't get anything out of them.

  Boring. Quaid spat, thinking viciously that all the fun had been ruined. He had wasted too much time.

  But his eyes lit up again when he turned his head and saw the other two beggars in the hole in the wall.

  Amidst Kolya's wails and Kellett's fearful gaze, Quaid reached his hand towards one of the holes in the wall of the sixth house, towards the only, and smallest, girl.

  Thales' pupils instantly dilated. Sinti watched the scene in horror, and even Ryan, who had dropped his severed hand, looked up.

  No.

  No!

  That was Kolya.

  She was their youngest child.

  That poor child!

  The burning in Thales' chest grew hotter and hotter, and the muscles in his body felt like they were on fire.

  Kolya just wailed. She was only four years old.

  Bastard. How dare you!

  “Kolya!”

  “Demon! Come at me!”

  “Don't you dare! You can't!” Thales, Sinti, and even Ryan, clutching his broken arm, crawled frantically towards Quaid, only to be swept aside into the corner by one of Quaid's legs.

  “You're not allowed to hurt her!”

  Just then, a figure emerged right in front of the hole in the wall.

  That was Kellett, who had just been scared back into the broken hole. At this moment, he bravely jumped up, trying to protect Kolya.

  But Thales just shook his head painfully.

  No, you're not strong enough.

  Kellett's fist was easily caught by Quaid.

  “Don't interrupt the after - show.” Quaid gave a cruel grin, and without any hesitation, without any mercy, he slit Kellett's neck.

  Kellett's eyes widened in disbelief, as if he couldn't believe what was happening in front of him.

  Thales collapsed to the floor. Ryan began to cry and laugh as if he was having a nervous breakdown, and Sinti just pounded the ground hard.

  Quaid pushed Kellett, whose windpipe was slashed and blood was spurting from his arteries, unable to say a word, to the side.

  Kolya was crying even harder.

  “Don't! Don't grab me! I've been good! I don't have typhoid! I don't have it!”

  Quaid grabbed Kolya by the hair and carried the girl, who couldn't stop crying, out of the hole in the broken wall like she was a pet.

  Then he reached out his dagger and picked the silver coin out of the fire.

  “Bastard! Fucking bastard!” Thales closed his eyes and roared out with all his strength.

  He hated himself. He hated this damned world.

  And then...

  Then he watched as Quaid, in the midst of the girl's desperate, frantic struggle, took the silver coin, which had been blackened for the second time, and pressed it into Kolya's face with his dagger.

  In his ears were the sobs of the children. Kolya's sobs were so incoherent that they were barely intelligible.

  How could this happen?

  Thales lay on the ground as if he had given up all hope, motionless, with grey despair in his eyes.

  Only a searing heat came from his chest, from the place where he had been burned.

  Quaid pulled both the dagger and the silver coin away from the girl's face, eliciting a scream from her.

  He caught his breath and looked around the room, suddenly feeling a bit bored.

  Let's hurry up and finish this and go find the other brats. Wait, wasn't doing this to himself, to the Brotherhood, not such a good idea?

  Quaid's drunkenness was starting to wear off.

  What the hell, since Rick and his thugs hadn't shown up yet, it was probably okay.

  He closed his eyes and shook his head.

  Then he tried to use both hands to break the neck of the girl in his hand.

  Huh?

  As he raised his left hand, Quaid suddenly thought it was strange. Hadn't he just used the dagger to press the silver coin into the girl's face? A dagger?

  He didn't think much about it.

  Quaid continued to raise his left hand, moving it towards Kolya's neck.

  Just then, Thales, who was on the ground and already in despair, seemed to touch something in his right hand, causing him to tremble slightly.

  A dagger?

  He didn't think much about it either.

  Thales tremblingly climbed up and hid his hand behind his back.

  Everything happened in an instant.

  In Sinti's eyes, all that could be seen was Thales, who had been trembling on the ground just a moment before, lunging forward.

  “Die!”

  The seven - year - old traveller, driven by the madness of two worlds, two lives, stabbed and twisted the dagger towards Quaid's neck.

  “Boring!”

  Quaid had seen his movement and just casually backhanded him with an elbow.

  Thales was then elbowed off the ground by the impatient Quaid.

  “Bang!”

  Thales' head knocked against the side of a broken hole. His eyes widened, but he still tenaciously raised his head and looked at his hand.

  There, he was gripping the dagger stolen from the Sunset Bar. A dagger with a blood - stained blade.

  Everything seemed to stand still in that moment.

  Quaid froze for a moment and lowered his head in surprise, looking at Thales, who had been knocked down and was coughing uncontrollably on the ground.

  Quaid's surprised look didn't last long before he realized what was happening to him.

  He suddenly let go of Kolya, and then, in disbelief, reached out a trembling hand and touched the nape of his neck.

  His hand felt warm, wet, and sticky. The sensation, spreading down his collarbone, quickly reached his chest and stomach.

  In Quaid's eyes, that damned brat - Thales strained, but firmly, slowly rose from the ground. The dagger in his hand was trembling slightly in his right hand. But it was trembling with a steady frequency.

  In that moment, Quaid panicked a little.

  He flung his hands haphazardly up to his neck, fearfully trying to hold down the large hole in his neck that was gushing blood.

  But his trembling hands and jaw seemed to be rebelling against his will, and the arterial blood, so bright red that it looked like paint, gushed out, unstoppable.

  Quaid clenched his teeth and felt only a little weakness in his legs, so he took a step back.

  But that one step caused his entire body to fall limply to the ground, never to get up again.

  The searing pain on Thales' chest continued, but he lifted his head and looked coldly, but firmly, at Quaid under the fearful and shocked gazes of Kolya and Sinti, and at Ryan's deranged laughter.

  He spoke a single word.

  “Go to hell.”

  “Waste.” Quaid's teeth clenched tighter, his anger flaring up again.

  But unlike before, with the anger came the sight of everything in front of him darkening, blurring, growing distant, getting smaller, all falling apart.

  His eyes bulged out as if they were about to pop out of their sockets as he stared at Thales in death.

  Then, with a lurch, he thrust his slightly trembling hand, the one that had been pierced by Yara, in Thales' direction and hissed.

  “Damn - brat -”

  The blood - covered hand swept across Thales' icy face.

  This was “Blood Axe” Quaid? Rhoda's last words in the world of Errol.