“How is it that I know what you are saying?” she asked.
Oldblood...long ago, we made all the humans on the mountain Oldbloods, Shaipinob croaked. Not much of our power is in you. Just a little Oldblood.
“Why?” Rina demanded. Her heart was pounding so badly, she could barely speak.
Your fear...tastes better...when you are Oldblood, Shaipinob answered. We feasted on your fear. It was...delicious.
“Scum,” Vipin said abruptly.
It turned its head toward Vipin.
Why do you hunt us, cousin, instead of them? You know the Scriptures, the stories of how the first humans sinned. They allied themselves with the cruelest of the Old Ones, and altered time and space to turn all our kind into monsters. Why not be monsters, as they willed us to be?
Vipin’s skin glowed like molten bronze, and his eyes
