My weight lurched down, and only barely did I manage to stay on my feet. The thorny vines had retreated to line the walls. I stood there bemused, rubbing the perforated skin of my cheek.

Blood. Slowly, a sense of embarrassment saturated my thoughts. Of course the chirurgeon could have a hidden door that required biometric sample to reveal the way.

I did have that dagger to cut a way, but then there would have been no door left. Besides, the blade had become distasteful, sullied in the blood of my kin as it was.

After I had passed through, the roots returned to block the passage. The corridor ahead was too narrow to walk save sideways. The route curved, and I found myself crushed by the pitch black void. Hadn't I been so tired with my life, I might have panicked. Instead, I yawned.

Azure glow lit around me. I glanced down to see my suit sporting dots of eerie bioluminescence.

"Ah, now you choose to help."

My imagination had been overstimulated by the recent events, but I was sure the suit shifted to embrace my torso in something of a hug.

A probing hand stopped at a slab of ceramic. It was a door, a narrow but massively sturdy barrier one might expect at the entrance of a bunker or a caustics magazine.

This could be a trap. In fact, with Vesija so reluctant to help me earlier, that was the most likely possibility. If he was the one to commit the inevitable, I wouldn't truly mind. At least he'd hold me once more for the last time.

In the pressing dark, the sound of my knocks thudded no louder than impassioned gasps. I waited, not daring to move lest I flee in the terror that built inside me.

Footsteps approached me with the tempo of the sluggish tugs that were my heartbeats. I had the pistol in my hand, pointed at the eye-slot on the door. My stomach churned ready to evict its intoxicating contents.

The slot opened to reveal a pair of eyes that blew open with surprise. "Neru?" Vesija slammed the slot shut. After sounds of sluggish machinery, the door slid open.

My gun remained between us on an indecisively limp hand. Disregarding the danger, the man grabbed me, pulled me inside and slammed the door shut. His arms remained around my frail frame, which could have snapped had he applied a little more pressure.

After he repeated my name, I managed to hug him back. Deep breaths touched my neck as gently as his hand raked my hair. With a gasp, I drew back and checked the room for others. The sight of my pistol found no one. We were alone.

Composite weave covered the walls, ceramic fibres glinting like polished copper. My lungs welcomed the refreshingly clean air that had only the faintest chemical aroma. For furniture, the circular room had no more than few benches and a table, but an open door lead to a short corridor with more sturdy doors.

"What is this place?" I said in that distinct voice used by drunks acting sober.

"A hideout." Vesija's voice was hoarse whisper. Though he had shaved off his beard, it had been some time ago, and now a shadow darkened his jaw. The shirt on him had seen better days both in terms of smoothness and lack of stains. He coughed and continued: "Built in the ages past by witches for quiet self-discovery without the influence of the Vad." He gestured at the walls. "These walls block the thoughts of the Vad. It's supposed to help reinforce one's own mental fortitude, but I think the witches of old just desired the privacy."

"Ah..." My suit wavered in the hues of a meadow in full bloom. Embarrassed, I forced back the calm ivory. Though the protection of a confused mind faded, no intrusion attacked my brain, and I could relax a little.

"I should have told you earlier", Vesija said. "But the thought of this place always felt unpleasant. Now that I'm here, I know why that was. The Vad detests letting me come here."

"Why are you here then?"

Vesija let go off me and took a few slow steps away. "I'm holding Teuna prisoner."

I hurried after him. "What?"

He turned to me with a poor attempt at a smile. "I placed her in enforced somastasis. Only in here, she can't contact anyone through dreams. That only stalls the inevitable, but I..." Vesija failed to keep his gaze on my eyes. "I don't know what else to do."

"So... Which of the sides is yours?"

He let out a sigh. "There are no sides, Neru. Only the malign compartmentalization of a tired god."

Semantics to circle around my question, said my throbbing brain. "You'll have to explain all that, later. First, I need to clean myself and preferably change clothes."

"Yes, better not get overly used to any assisting garments. Relying on them can leave muscles atrophied in unexpected places."

"Yes, yes, you are a physician. Getting out of this thing makes sense in any case, as apparently the suit helps the Vad to gain control of my nerves."

"I wouldn't worry about that. Your suit is clearly of a highly divergent stock. Speaking of that, where did you get the gown?"

"My employer gave this as a gift." I frowned. "Let's also speak of that later. Does this place have a bath?"

"Oh, it does. Here, follow me."

The bathroom had everything I needed: clean water and peace of mind. I hesitated taking off the suit. Once I had gathered the courage to motion it to get off me, the garment retracted its probes from my flesh, split open and gathered down at my feet, leaving a moist residue on my hairless skin.

My flank was little more than a massive bruise, and my upper chest sported a similarly purple mark. There was no pain except soreness at touch, but I was sure I'd end up experiencing the results of my recklessness in good time.

The chilly shower did little to clear my head, but the pressure around my skull had eased to the point that my brain floated. Only a short dousing was already enough to make me feel clean. I had forgotten to ask for a towel, so I stood in the middle of the room enjoying the quiet inside my skull, until Vesija knocked on the door.

"Neru?"

"Come in. I need a physician to take a look."

After a moment, Vesija entered. His eyes blew wide, his gaze mostly pointed at my injuries. He gathered himself and asked: "What happened?"

"I got punched and then jumped from the Seven Corners."

The Iwunian stared at me incredulous and glanced at the suit folded on the floor. "So... These things are as spectacular as the legends claim?"

I nodded, finding myself undeservedly proud of the heirloom artefact.

"Right. Come to the main room, I'll get my instruments."

The stone floor was too cool for comfort, but the air emanated a dry warmth, which I found pleasant enough to continue prancing around naked. In the main room I took a seat. Vesija returned shortly with a bag and a pile of folded clothing.

"Unfortunately, I didn't think to bring any of your clothes. You'll have to make do with these." He placed the shirt, hose and trousers next to me and knelt. "Now, let me see to your bruises."

I lifted my arm up, and the physician began to prod at my ribs.

"Does it hurt?"

"No, but perhaps it should. The suit gave me sedatives."

"Well, none your bones are broken. How did you actually land?"

"I glided down into the lake and hit the canes."

"Ah. That explains it", he said in a tone which implied the opposite.

The physician used a horn attached to a long pipe that murmured into his ear to examine the insides of my torso.

"Your breathing is fine, and there is no sign of internal bleeding. I'll apply a salve to alleviate the swelling, and if you need something further for the pain, we can do that."

The salve tingled with odd cold heat, but the sensation was mellow.

"Thank you." I took the shirt and stood up to don it. The hem reached all the way to the middle of my thigh. The trousers were similarly oversized and completely unusable, and I didn't even bother with the hose.

"I think this shall be." I spun to let the man take a look at my 'tunic'.

"Right. As long as you are comfortable." He hurried to continue: "Are you hungry? Thirsty?"

"Horny? Angry?" I glared at him. "I'm furious. You left me to rot in that cell!"

Vesija jumped on his feet. "Left you? I brought you that dagger!"

"Did you expect me to stab the guard?"

"No!" His jaw wavered open, until he took a breath and lowered his voice. "However, you could have cut the lock with it."

"But..." I stared at the man. "But... How could have I risked that?"

"You couldn't." Vesija spoke with slow fragility, his anger again threatening to burst out. "That was why I brought the necklace so you'd now I'd come back for you, when the way was safe."

"Ah, a secret message! I must have been too uneducated to catch your meaning. Why didn't you just leave an actual written message?"

"Too much of a risk. A decorative dagger and jewellery were plausible enough, if I had been searched. I wasn't over reproach in... the cabal. It doesn't matter. You managed to escape without using either of them."

"Yes, I did––" The arrogance in my voice broke into a sob. In a fit of reflexive despair, I embraced the man with such force that he was tackled back on the bench.

The tangle of our bodies only lasted until the thick arms easily lifted me to sit on the man's lap. No matter how glad I wanted to be, I couldn't stop myself from wheezing at the brink of tears. His hold tightened, as I curled against his chest. With his bulk protecting me from all sides, the world didn't loom over me quite as overwhelming.

"Sorry..." I muttered.

"About what?"

About not trusting him. About not being able to kill Motsa, trying to kill Teuna, not killing Teuna; about ever coming to Hitunna. About my family heritage I couldn't shed, about the form I was born in. Yet though I knew that airing those regrets would take away their power to gnaw at my mind, I could only mutter: "Everything. I don't know. I'm just sorry."

"Right..." He lowered his head to rub his cheek against mine. The stubble felt heavenly on my smooth skin. "I'm also sorry. There must have been something I could have done, to avoid all this."

"Or not." I lifted my face to attempt to smile at him. This close his face was only a reassuring blur in my vision. "Pawns rarely jump from the board to bite the player."

He tried to laugh but seemed only weary.

I continued: "Do you still worship it? The Vad?"

"'Worship' is the wrong word. My ancestors are with them in the spirit, and I revere them. I do know the Vad uses technology to act on the world ––technology even we ourselves could master––, yet there is divine influence in their work, I'm sure. Besides, what is spiritual awakening but claiming the tools of the gods?"

"I can understand that." In truth, I didn't share the sentiment. Not after the Lady had almost yanked my brain out of my skull to murder my cousin.

"So... Were you hungry?"

"Depends on what you have available."

"Old garrison rations and freshly filtered lukewarm water, I'm afraid."

"Yummy." I stood up from his lap. "Finally some authentic Jaan cooking."

The bunker did have a kitchenette with a small endothermic oven, so we didn't need to eat our fermented legumes and pickled scrap meat cold. The lacklustre culinary experience didn't bother me, as my eyes feasted even if my taste buds couldn't. Dishevelled hair and thickening stubble projected certain primal virility. The man's sleeves were rolled up, leaving only soft sparse hair to cover the thick veins, which fed the unwarranted muscles of his forearms. His features were fraught with fatigue, yet he smiled when our eyes met. Without noticing, I had finished my portion.

Vesija was quick to notice. "Do you want more?"

"No–– Actually, yes, please. Wearing the suit is hard work, apparently."

"I presumed so, and that is why I cooked more than required by your usual appetite." He took my bowl and brought more of the mush that presently served as our food. Along with the meal, he gave me another cup of water. "Just making sure you remain hydrated."

"Who I am to disobey the chirurgeon's orders?" I took a long gulp. "So... What are you going to do with your captive?"

"I don't know. Keeping her in stasis isn't a solution in the long term, but I can't just let her go."

"You could kill her."

"True." He smiled. "But I won't. You know that."

"Yes." I gave myself a moment to think by drinking more. "I couldn't. I couldn't even kill Motsa."

Vesija gave me a questioning look.

"I think I need to explain what happened today."

Vesija listened to me in ever grimmer silence. I left out the details of Motsa's plan for myself, but the rest of the news was dire enough to darken the mood of our already grim little sanctuary.

The ensuing silence thrummed at my temples. "Say something", I blurted.

Vesija lifted his gaze. "There was nothing you could have done."

"That's not true!"

"Do you want me to blame you? I wasn't there, to know how it was."

"But..." I had nothing I was willing to say.

With his ensuing silence, he forced me to simmer in my thoughts.

"For once, fulfilling my born purpose could have benefited others." My fist squeezed until the pale skin turned red. "Killing Motsa was the right thing to do. But I couldn't, because I'm a coward."

The man reached over the table to wrap his hand around one set of my overlong fingers. "It is a type courage to abstain from violence, when harming others would be the safer option to yourself."

"No. It's not virtue that stops me from pulling the trigger, but fear. Passivity is not valour."

"However, you did act."

He was trying to make me feel better, even though he purveyed alluring lies again. The fact that he tried that was in itself balm to my battered conscience. I turned my hand around to squeeze back.

"What shall we do now?" I asked with tones emphasising feminine gratitude.

"With both my cabal and your Jaan looking for us, we shouldn't try to leave this place for a few days at least."

He hadn't caught my hint. Inwardly, I sighed; might as well have this discussion now.

"Is this place safe? I mean, does anyone else know about it?"

"Nobody else knew its location. Teuna was aware of its existence, but no further. I used that to trick her into my trap."

"Did you try to talk to her? I mean, with the walls blocking the Vad."

Vesija shook his head. "She is fervent in her faith."

"You didn't try to talk to her."

"No..." He sighed. "No, I did not. It had to be a surprise. If it had come to fisticuffs, both of us would have ended up injured."

I squeezed his hand tighter. "If we told her that the Vad is using he––"

"She knows. And no, telling that the Vad also uses Jaan agents wouldn't change her mind."

"You seem awfully sure of her obstinacy."

"Trust me, I do know her."

"Do you love her?" The question fled free, before my reason could catch it.

Vesija frowned, but not with anger aimed at me. "I do. But it's love for a family member you wouldn't want to associate with, but are forced to out of a sense of obligation."

"Maybe we should just leave this all behind. Run, flee from whole Narshur."

"Yes... That'd be the wise thing to do. But any time the news came of the upcoming tragedy here, I'd blame myself."

My mouth drew taut with my reluctant sympathy for the sentiment. "Then we are stuck in here for a while at least."

Vesija nodded without further comment, so I continued with my meal, while he pretended to read an yellowed newspaper.

With the beans consumed, I leaned forward with a smile. "Vesija..."

The man's attention perked up. "Yes?"

"There might be something that needs further attention from a physician."

This time, he understood enough to smile back. "Oh, what might be the problem?"

"A deficiency, of a physician's attention."

The man donned the gravest of expressions and circled the table. "I must take a look then."

I offered him a hand. He instead leaned down and picked my body up with a jolt.

After giggling, I said: "Aren't you strong."

"No, you are just petite."

I wrapped my arms around his neck and went for a kiss. The movement wrenched me from the manly grip, but with his help, I locked my legs around his waist. Our faces were now at proper docking distance, and as an additional benefit, he had an almost gentlemanly excuse to let me 'sit on his hands'.

His lips moved down my cheeks to my neck. "Your smell is intoxicating."

"How rude of you to comment a lady's scent right after she has bathed."

"I have missed you and your scent."

"Oh... You could have come to sniff me at any time."

"No. No, I couldn't have."

"Fair enough."

He smiled and pressed my frame against his torso. "Let's not talk about that."

"Oh, let us not, indeed."

The man carried me like a bag full of dry leaves straight to a bedroom. It was a barren and a bit dusty place, clearly waiting for someone to come and actually live in it. Once I was posited on the bed, Vesija locked the door tight. I felt oddly relieved, even though the only person besides us in the bunker was a woman safely comatose.

"Take off that shirt", he said with enough commanding timbre to make the skin of my back crawl in the most tantalising manner.

I hugged myself. "Oh, I just put it on, and it's so chilly in here."

The man proceeded with unlacing his own shirt. With his preening flair of clothing, one might assume his build was only the illusion of careful tailoring. He was large, obviously hefty for a man, yet the softness only lasted until the corded muscle shifted under the deceptively thin adipose layer. Had he been as leans as the steppe beasts tended to be, Vesija would have made for a terrifying sight; a hungry yet successful predator. That danger remained present, but behind a cushion to insulate the prey from true nature of the Iwunian.

As he moved on to his trousers, I eased myself out of the oversized shirt, gingerly as my flank still smarted. The man regarded me with such gentle desire, that the puppeteer of my inner strings pulled my nerves taut in a warm flash. Strangely it was a relief that I was so affected by the sight of a man. Shielded by the walls, I could be sure the contranatural inclination stemmed from inside myself and not from the imposed whims of a deranged god.

"Seems the swelling has already abated", said the man exposing his own swelling. Vesija walked past me, and with a touch guided me on the bed. We sheltered under the blanket, and the man made sure I wouldn't freeze by pressing me against his side.

"Tell me that we are safe here", I whispered, as I rubbed my head against his shoulder.

"Hounded by gods, trapped in a rebel hideout, captured by your enemy..." The arm on my hip pressed harder. "You are secure."

I smiled. "For now."

"That is still a window of opportunity, which must be utilised. Let's get on with that physician's inspection." He wrapped the fingers of his hand around my jaw. "The subject's mandible has experience noticeable if subtle diminution, without any apparent faults in occlusion or bone density. Never particularly robust, the lower jawbone remained perfectly proportional with rest of the skull to the highest aesthetic degree."

"Now you are just flattering me."

He shushed me silent. Like a huge arthropod, his hand slid down my neck and to the now familiar weight on my chest, where the hungry fingers caught their target. At the pressure, I could only gasp. The man used that distraction to lean his head and take a nub in his mouth. Suction drew tingling aching deep from my tissue, and I was sent gently bleating. My skin flared with the embarrassment of having been reduced into a set of engorged glands, like some production machine.

Though I let him indulge himself, once he was finished, I immediately asked: "Why did you do that?"

"Because you like it."

"Maybe. But I shouldn't." I wrapped my arms around his shoulders and pressed against him. "It's weird."

"Yes, the galactorrhea should already have abated. It's nevertheless harmless in all likelihood."

"You know I meant enjoying... whatever a physician might call that sensation."

He started to speak, before uneasy contemplation tinted his expression. "Let's continue with the examination." His hand returned to its place at the soft mound. "Here we may observe an anatomically perfect set of mammaries."

"'Perfect'?" I clutched the protrusion poking into my leg and jerked it erratically, to distract instead of pleasing. "That demands an explanation."

"They are perfect, of course, being part of you."

A smile pushed through my forced frown. I shoved the eager rod between my thighs and clung against the man. Though I tried to crush the member between my femurs, I had too much cushion for that, and the grasping male seemed well-pleased with the development.

Our limbs and joints joined in a tangled embrace. If my 'phenotype' had been formed for a purpose, it was surely to fit easily inside of those sturdy arms. My composure boiled over with the need to claim the man and let him have me.

"I know it was you", I whispered in his ear.

He continued to kiss my neck.

"Ravaging me in that dreamplace."

The man stopped. "Oh."

"Don't worry. It was quite enjoyable. I want you to use me like that, in any way you want."

"I only want to attend to your pleasure."

"Poppycock, but a laudable attempt. This is exactly what I wish. I want to––" My voice cracked ever so slightly. "––to feel... useful. Needed."

His hands lingered on me, but he rose to his knees. A grin slipped on my face. However, I forced back a grim frown. "Now, don't hold back. I need to know, thoroughly, how strong my man is."

Vesija nodded and prepared his armament. My heart pounded with its full weight.

"Well, if it's indeed to be my choice", he said as he grabbed my hips. "I'll watch your cute face twist, while I force myself on you."

I let him pull my hips on his folded legs. Though I tried not to tense, the first intrusion hit into a barred entryway. I crushed my eyes close and covered my mouth with a wrist, lest the man ease up in fear of hurting me. My soul would never feel secure without a man showing me my place in his life. And perhaps I craved to be punished, a little.

The entrance did hurt, as I was forced open in one prolonged effort, in a delightful way that warmed all of my lower half. Even the break of half a dozen days or so had put me off practice. My own male vestige strove to fill with blood, but only managed to twitch in desperate need.

My stomach dropped with a sudden all-encompassing awareness that I had allowed myself to be rendered into an impotent receptacle. The despair was ephemeral, and instantly faded from the way of relief: a girl with a man could leave herself at his mercy, and still be safe and satisfied.

When fully hilted, the man paused, knowing the tender fullness took a moment a to register in my humour-saturated brain. From my raised toes all the way to my neck, every tendon stiffened. I couldn't breath more than in soft gasps.

Before I could adjust, the man moved my hips, manipulating my frame as easy as any pillow. He impaled me, repeatedly, faster than my flesh could accommodate. Instead of getting used to the continuos intrusions, instinctively my body struggled to bar entrance, to little avail.

It sent me dizzy with glee, to be so helpless, but to know that I was in no danger and, most importantly, that I was of value to someone. Of course, my conscious mind could process little more than the rhythmic hammering that forced my flesh to accommodate the powerful lusts of a male.

Like a frenzied pump, pressure built inside me. Having lost all pride in masculinity, my knob didn't resist, as the hot tension grew towards it from within. Only a soft tremble heralded the burst of that feeble geyser. My assailant heeded the signal and engulfed the part in one massive fist. Soon enough, the secondary eruption quivered from me.

As if making sure to extract all it could, involuntary muscle clutched the intrusion in me and coaxed out the man's own climax. Its warmth spread deep, and seeped out with his exit.

Though I had done nothing that lie in place, I felt spent. The man grabbed me, collapsed on the bed and wrench me into a hug on top of him. I kissed his deeply breathing mouth, with no heed to the soreness, which was only the mark of my man's passion and strength.

Our mutual shower stretched out, because in the tight space Vesija's fresh erection poked out too much to fit in many places. Once we returned, the bed had licked itself clean, and we could slip under the warm folds.

Few joys came close to being grappled with such fierce fondness, though I could think of one.

"Copulation..." I let the word hang in the air as I rubbed myself against the man. "With you is easily the best I've had."

"I've observed the same on my part."

"But–– I'm–– My––"

He rubbed my hip. "Don't misunderstand. The physical aspects are great, but what sublimates our congress is the mental connection. Every moment I can have you is a treasure."

Vesija must have prepared those words before hand, but they did have the effect he must have intended.

"So you love me, still." I sighed in relief and twisted myself to rest my head on his bicep. It was well enough large to function as a serviceable pillow. "Even in this place."

"Yes..." His hand moved to rub my scalp. "I do get the implication, but even though my feelings for you remain unchanged, it doesn't mean the Vad didn't condition my preference for the gemstone eyes of Jaan ladies. Nonetheless, that is a part of who I am now, so I don't consider the source important."

"Oh. So this might not be what I truly am?"

Vesija remained silent for too long. "It doesn't matter."

"It does. Yet there is little I can do, now that I prefer myself as a woman. Your woman."

It was malicious of me to bring up the subject again, but his deep concern was too addictive to resist. Perhaps a sliver of the insecurity lingered on in me.

He kissed my forehead. "I am glad to hear that, because I share the sentiment."

"You have met people like me in your line of work, right?"

"I have met a few."

"Well, I don't think I have, but with these tonics, I can't say for sure. Those ones you've met, do you think that they were ––how might I say this–– like normal people?"

"In general, yes. One was what one might describe as a peculiar character, and another was after a rather strange business opportunity. The rest, they couldn't be told apart from any other reputable people, at least when habilimented."

"I wish my experience on the matter went beyond what amounts to sordid foreign brainrot. Though at least those Conglo yarns weren't altogether detached from reality."

His hand sifted towards my crotch. "In what manner?"

"Well, for one, in that men particular towards women aren't necessarily adverse to caressing male bits."

His fingers wrapped around the 'bit' in question. "I wouldn't describe myself without any appreciation to masculine form, but I understand your meaning."

He jerked firmly enough to at last pull down the protective skin off the soft glans, leaving me ––almost painfully–– exposed. For a moment or two, I could do little but moan. His lips roamed my neck sending shudders down my spine. He continued to plug at those sensitive nether nerves and said. "It helps that this thing is so dainty. I know too much of anatomy to mistake any part of you as andromorphic."

"Oh... Yes, I'm not exactly virile any more..."

His hand recoiled away. "A tonic should be able to fix your––"

"No, don't pretend that you'd desire that." I turned to face him with my expression set to stone. "You prefer me as unmanly as possible, impotent even. That was what you made me."

"Neru––"

"And I'm grateful no matter how much of it was for your own gratification. Professional or otherwise."

"When I helped you with these changes", the Iwunian said. "I didn't intend it as degrading."

"It isn't!" I paused. "Unless you did consider me a man..."

"No, of course. Forgive me if I implied such."

I sighed and kneaded myself into his bulk. "It's fine. I just need someone, with whom I don't have to be ashamed of myself."

"You have nothing to be ashamed of."

"Not true. I have plenty." Like being little use for anything, even what I excelled at.

"Sorry. I'll try harder not to demean you."

I sighed and swallowed the pride clogged tightly in my throat. "I like your teasing, Vesija. That's what I meant. This..." My hand made a vague gesture to compensate for the lack of the right words. "... should be humiliating, but with you, I don't feel more than a stimulating self-consciousness."

"Right..." was all he said, before his arm squished me against his side. We remained silent for long enough for me to hope that the subject had been dropped.

"I admit..." He began again in a ponderous tone. "That I find your current unusual, exotic state tantalising, yet it's what you want to change in yourself. That has burdened me with quite some guilt, especially after I began to work with trying to find the means for finishing your transformation."

"That's what I've assumed." I frowned to myself. "I shouldn't be bothered by you finding me attractive. That'd be crazy, yes?"

"Ri–– Maybe." He moved his other hand to my navel. "This doesn't mean I don't want us to succeed. Recently, especially due to the circumstances, I've thought about what I want from the future. And a major part of that is a family. With you."

I swallowed and made a heroic effort to act coy. "Is that also because of Vad influence?"

"It well might be, but again, I couldn't know." He rubbed my abdomen. "And I don't care, because the thought sends my heart racing in that peculiar way I'm sure is love."

A nervous laugh surprised me and sneaked past my composure. "Isn't it a bit too early to plan about the future? We might not have a week, let alone years."

"We'll make it through." With how firmly he held me, I was almost convinced.

The world rumbled at the edge of my drowsy awareness. The man remained around me, but behind the soft security he provided, the world shook with a terrible din above the layers of wood, alloy and earth.

"What is that?" I yelped.

A forearm smacked into my cheek, as Vesija jerked up and stood with a bewildered frenzy on his face. He glanced around, his fists ready to swing and legs primed to run.

He must have woken from some nightmare, but the pressing situation stopped me from asking about it. The chirurgeon needed only the time it took me to hurry to him to calm down. His arms welcomed me, and wordlessly we observed our reality shudder.

"An earthquake?" I asked, as the tremor abated into a steady shiver. "As I've said, I'm no geologist, but shouldn't that be rare in this region?"

"Yes. Almost unheard of, and nothing close to his magnitude and duration."

"Do you know what it is then?"

"Obviously aught to do with the matters above. What exactly, well, I have only the scraps of a few tales to base my conjecture on."

I tightened my hold of the bare muscular torso. "What do you think it is?"

"Eschaton."