The first chum: the Koy
A whistle came, first thin and far off, as if a blizzard was playing an evil tune over the ragged skins with which the poor make their chums. The sound then grew to an intolerable and piercing volume, which caused Mebet to drop his spear, crouch down, and put his hands over his ears. The single whistling split into two, into three, and ultimately into a vast number. A dark cloud rose in the sky that dissolved into myriad individual dots which came flying towards the Gods’ Favorite.
These were the Koy, the spirits of illness, birds with the heads of snakes. Among the spirits they hated Mebet more vehemently than any others. They had gnashed their teeth and seethed with rage at the Gods’ Favorite, but they had never been able to get their claws on him. They hungered
