“Why?” Asked Aldor.
Willcome looked at him sadly. “I only kill when I have to. If you don’t, it’ll hunt you down and… Many have tried and failed to get an egg because they weren’t strong enough to finish off the creature.”
Turning to the others, Willcome said, “It’ll be dangerous. There’s only a slight chance that you’ll come back alive, let alone fix the Stone.”
“I think you’ve gotten that point across,” said Gregory. “Thanks for the encouragement.”
Aldor swallowed when he looked around at the others. He didn’t know what to do with them. Of course, he wouldn’t let them come. They were exhausted. He couldn’t ask them for anything else. They deserved to go home.
“Look, I need to do it,” murmured Aldor. All the oxygen squeezed from his body; the itch to do something reckless paralyzed h
