I spent months experimenting on Profane specimens and their low-quality venom, and it smelled so familiar, but I couldn’t figure it out. Once again, the three were vanquished by the insurmountable wall of runes. I’m hoping you can help me whittle it down a little.”
Cyrilo gave a long, exasperated sigh. I’d say this is it.”
“Well done,” the elf giggled, looking at Alexis, who was touching her lips with eyes as wide as dinner plates. “Noah, the Wandering Spirit. Maybe you can convince him.”
“Welcome to the party,” Noah said. It made her feel like she couldn’t trust Noah, that he was an intruder in her life rather than a friend. “So, you kept the Profane venom,” he said as soon as it was shut. In Buddhist teachings, existence is suffering, and he knew that better than anyone. “Dude, I’m flattered, really, but—”
“Not that kind of show, but your reaction was definitely worth me being intentionally vague. I lived a good four hundred years or so in that body, probably the only body I ever felt truly comfortable in, that I felt was a worthy vehicle for my soul.”
“Were you ever beaten?” Shannon asked. They’d change their seats, pace back and forth, and make small, frustrated noises. He recalled the Profane prison and his tryst and battle with Carthace, reddening Sophia and Alexis’s cheeks.
