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By Root 276 0

She was still pregnant, but otherwise she looked terrible. Her cheeks were hollow, her eyes dark, her hair tangled. The dress she wore was in rags and her arms and legs were covered in angry red scratches. The scar on her cheek from the sword wound the marilith had inflicted was barely visible under the dried mud that smudged her face. A tear trickled down her cheek, eroding a furrow through the grime. Despite her condition and the desperate, exhausted look in her eye, she was beautiful. Arvin's breath caught in his throat. He ached to reach out and touch her, to hold her.

To save her.

Karrell glanced up, startled.

"Karrell," Arvin whispered in a choked voice. "It's me."

Her eyes widened. "Arvin?" she gasped. "You're alive?"

Arvin almost laughed. Six months in the Abyss, and she was worried about him. "It's me, kiichpan chu'al. I'm alive."

Karrell's image blurred as tears formed in his eyes. Suddenly, they blinked rapidly: Zelia, trying to clear them. Arvin tried to push her from his mind.

Don't, she cautioned, shoving back hard enough to make his eyes bulge. Talk to her, before the manifestation ends. Ask her what's happened to Sseth.

Karrell continued to stare at Arvin. "Where are you?"

"In Hlondeth." He shook his head, still not quite willing to believe his eyes. "How did you survive?" he asked. "It's been so long."

Karrell gave him a weary smile. "By Ubtao's will," she said, "and through my own resourcefulness." She laid a hand gently on her stomach. "Because I had to."

Zelia gave him a mental jab that made his mind ache.

"Where are you?" Arvin continued. "In Smaragd? With Sseth?"

Karrell didn't seem to find his question odd. "Yes. The serpent god is stuck fast. His jungle has bound him. I escaped from the marilith, and now it's searching for me. It still thinks our fates are linked. It's been protecting me, but when I start to give birth, and it doesn't feel my pain…" she shuddered. "I can't let it find me."

Ask her more about Sseth, Zelia interrupted. Is the god asleep? Awake?

Arvin ignored her. He stared at Karrell's stomach. "The children. Are they still…?"

Karrell smiled. "Alive? Yes. And kicking-at least one of them has feet, and not a tail." She bit her lip. A haunted look crept into her eyes. "It won't be long now. When my time comes, I won't be able to run any more. The marilith-"

"I'll get you out of there," Arvin promised. "I don't know how, but I will. I'll find a way."

"Find Ts'ikil," Karrell said. "She'll know what to do."

Sseth, Zelia insisted. Tell her to go to where Sseth is. Karrell looked warily around. "Arvin! Did you hear a hissing noise?"

"It's nothing," Arvin lied, mentally shoving Zelia back as he spoke. "Who is Ts'ikil? Where is she?" "She's-"

Their connection broke. Arvin found himself staring at Zelia across the rooftop garden. He leaped to his feet, furious. "What did you do that for?" he shouted.

Zelia gave him a long, unblinking stare. "You were supposed to make her go to where Sseth is."

Arvin almost laughed. "Karrell? I can't make her do anything." He sighed. "You got what you wanted-you heard Karrell. If she says Sseth is bound, he is."

Zelia thought about this for several moments, her eyes narrowed. Then she lounged back against the fountain, a lazy smile on her lips. She looked like a serpent that had just swallowed a juicy, squirming morsel.

"Karrell's pregnant?" she hissed. She gave him a withering look. "By you-a human?"

"You can hardly talk, given what you like to sleep with," Arvin shot back at her, "and Karrell's pregnancy is none of your business."

"Oh but it is," Zelia said, rising smoothly to her feet. "It makes you so much mere… motivated."

"To do what?" Arvin asked, his voice tense.

"To rescue her." She let the silence stretch out between them for several heartbeats, then added, "Wouldn't you like to know how? Or would you rather let your children be born in the Abyss? I don't think they'd last long. Karrell couldn't possibly protect them. They'd be no more than a soft, squishy mouthful for any passing-"

"Get on with it," Arvin snapped. "How