“I think it is the creature those stories come from,” Vipin replied. “A Zata, an Old One, the kind of thing sometimes called a guardian spirit, although this one doesn’t seem interested in guarding humans.”
“So, now we are splitting a fairy tale as thin as a hair into two fairy tales,” another of the elders said. “And you, young man—aren’t you are ashamed of yourself? You’re a strong, healthy educated man—a brave one, too, if what the young lady from Thundermouth says is true—and yet you’re parroting old wives’ tales.”
The elder very pointedly did not look at Raki when he said this, but the woman stamped her cane and turned her face toward him.
“It is not a tale. I saw what I saw. And I remember what came before it.”
“What did come before it, ma’am?” Vipin asked.
Rina almost broke out
