本章概述：

????????????一個(gè)伊比里斯方舟世界的見習(xí)先知與家人爭論。

????????????In which a novice Seer of Craftworld Iybraesil argues with family.

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正文：

雖然看著這片丘陵的人意識不到這點(diǎn)，但安菲特里亞北部和東部的平原卻是片熱鬧的地方。

在過去的三十個(gè)太陽周期中，隱藏在普瑞萊克斯五號地表下的網(wǎng)道大門一直在像一只受到刺激的眼睛一樣開開合合，時(shí)不時(shí)地吐出一批伊比里斯的靈族，一個(gè)大本營逐漸被建立了起來。

“我們要在這里待多久，梅內(nèi)薩？”提問者的聲音夾雜著煩躁和緊張，我嘆了口氣，這已經(jīng)不是第一次了。

“我不知道，”我回答道。

又一次。

“我只知曉我所見的事物，”我指了指那座燃燒著的Mon-Keigh巢都?！霸谀且欢阉澜饘俸褪瘔K下的某處有一個(gè)嚴(yán)重的威脅。”

回應(yīng)我的是另一聲惱火的嘟噥。

瑞亞和我并沒有相處得多么融洽，盡管身為姐妹。她在被召喚至狂嚎女妖的戰(zhàn)士神殿之前已經(jīng)走過了不止十幾條道途，而鑒于她的秉性沒人會感到多么奇怪。我知道母親曾期望她的長女能跟隨她走上塑造之道，但戰(zhàn)士神殿的召喚是件榮耀之事，尤其是在伊比里斯。

自從我和帶領(lǐng)著一隊(duì)狂嚎女妖的瑞亞來到這迷霧重重的世界，為我們的前進(jìn)營地做準(zhǔn)備起，氣氛就一直很緊張。

她并不信任我，所有人都是。我還年輕，缺乏經(jīng)驗(yàn)，以及——哦對了——我剛剛才炸飛過一座塔。

所有的這一切最終導(dǎo)致了瑞亞在我的小工位里站在我面前，與此同時(shí)我盯著自己的符石，思索著要不要再一次尋找那個(gè)“巧合”并且冒著炸飛營地的風(fēng)險(xiǎn)。

我的姐姐十分美麗，就像所有的狂嚎女妖一樣，一頭墨黑色的發(fā)絲勾勒出一張蒼白得如靈骨般的面孔。她有著身為戰(zhàn)士的修長、緊致的身型，她的身體幾乎要在被壓制的暴力下嗡嗡作響起來，而我在這里看著她，想到她或許會在某一天戴上自己的戰(zhàn)爭面具，并永遠(yuǎn)也不會再摘下來。

“你確定你看到了什么東西？”她問道。

又一次。

“是的，我的姐姐，”我尖刻地回答道。“這都第十次了，我絕對確信。難道你真的認(rèn)為如果我沒有的話，歐瑞瓦先知會向戰(zhàn)隊(duì)提請行動(dòng)嗎？”

“我認(rèn)為歐瑞瓦先知太過縱容你了，”瑞亞回答道，我感覺嘴唇向下扭曲了下來。

我猛地在自己的姐姐面前起身，并把一根手指戳到了她的臉上。

“隨你怎么說我，瑞亞，先祖?zhèn)冎滥銖膩矶疾唤橐?strong>這么干，”我咆哮道，令她后退了一步?！暗悴坏迷g毀歐瑞瓦大師，他比我們中的所有人看得都要遠(yuǎn)，你很清楚這一點(diǎn)！”

“我——！”

“還有，”我繼續(xù)說道，向著她前進(jìn)，“無論你是否因我是你的血親而尊重我，我都已經(jīng)被授權(quán)負(fù)責(zé)這次遠(yuǎn)行，所以你必須尊我為上級，我說清楚沒有？！”

瑞亞蒼白的眼睛在驚訝中瞪大幾秒。我能看到怒火在她眼底燃燒，并幾乎能聽到在周圍積聚的靈能壓力的嗡嗡聲。然后又隨著她的一聲嘆息而逐漸退去，瑞亞低下了頭，小聲地道歉。

我嘆了口氣，揉了揉太陽穴。頭痛愈發(fā)嚴(yán)重了，可我無法解釋它的來源。

“這里有危險(xiǎn)，瑞亞，”我平靜地開口?！吧踔吝B我或歐瑞瓦大師都無法預(yù)見到，即便有符文石也是如此。”

“不過是些獸人和Mon-Keigh，”瑞亞冷冰冰地說，“我并不過分擔(dān)心?！?/p>

“我說的不是它們，”我回答道，輕蔑地?fù)]揮手，然后坐回了我的符文石前。“你知道占卜（augury）是什么嗎？”

“對即將到來的危險(xiǎn)的預(yù)見的簡單操作，”瑞亞聳了聳肩回答說?！懊慨?dāng)我們松懈時(shí)都會為我們表演上一次?！?/p>

“你知道這個(gè)是怎么回事嗎？”我問道，她挑了挑眉?！拔視嬖V你，長老們準(zhǔn)許這次任務(wù)的原因的一大半都出自于此?！?/p>

“我……我不知道，”瑞亞承認(rèn)道，我指示她坐到我的對面。

“看好了?！?/p>

隨著我的姐姐就座，我集齊符文石，用我被教授的方法專注于它們，遵循著內(nèi)心對儀式流程的記憶，引導(dǎo)我進(jìn)入了激活占卜符文的合適心境。

靈能在我們身邊噼啪作響，我把符文石捧在手中，將之高高舉起，并在同一個(gè)動(dòng)作中將它們拋下，同時(shí)釋放了被壓抑的靈能壓力。

石塊咣當(dāng)一聲掉在靈骨地板上，其中一半嘎嘎作響著停了下來。

其他的以尖端落地，現(xiàn)在正像狂亂的重力場中的羅盤一樣在原地高速旋轉(zhuǎn)。

我越過旋轉(zhuǎn)的石塊緊盯著瑞亞。

“以防你意識不到，”我指著仍然躁動(dòng)著的石頭，“它們通常不會這樣做?！?/p>

她張開嘴，我搶先舉起一只手。

“以及是的，我做得準(zhǔn)確無誤，”我回答了她還沒問出口的問題。“歐瑞瓦大師這么做的時(shí)候也是這個(gè)結(jié)果，以及卡蘭瑟斯先知，還有伊瑪先知。”

瑞亞盯著符文石沉默良久。它們繼續(xù)旋轉(zhuǎn)著，發(fā)出了像賭盤上粗糙的指節(jié)骨一樣的聲音。我的姐姐看著它們，直到最后抬起頭來嚴(yán)肅地看著我。

“這可能意味著什么？”

我又嘆了口氣。

“意味著即便命運(yùn)本身也說不準(zhǔn)城市里有什么危險(xiǎn)，”我伸手指向那座巢都。

“這些石頭？”我指向平躺在地面上的那些，“顯然表明了來自獸人的危險(xiǎn)，還有來自Mon-Keigh的，而我們已經(jīng)知道這個(gè)了?！?/p>

“那這些呢？”她指向我略過的那幾個(gè)。

“壞天氣，”我回答道，“再過十個(gè)周期左右天氣會發(fā)生變化，在這座巢都里澆上半片海洋那么多的水?！?/p>

“進(jìn)城的好掩護(hù)，”瑞亞強(qiáng)調(diào)說，我微微一笑，點(diǎn)了點(diǎn)頭。

“那就是我的意圖?！?/p>

瑞亞緩緩地點(diǎn)頭，她的目光聚焦到了旋轉(zhuǎn)著的符文石上。

“它到底……有多壞？”她終于發(fā)問。

我搖了搖頭，把符文石從地上掃去，止住了永不停息的擾動(dòng)。

“無從得知，”我回復(fù)道?！八赡苁裁匆膊皇?，也可能扭轉(zhuǎn)未來的潮流，”我把符文石收進(jìn)口袋里，靠在手肘上盯著靈骨天花板的漩渦圖案。“它完全超脫于命運(yùn)……任何靈族先知或混沌巫師都未曾闡明過這種巧合，即便筑命者（Architect of Fate）也沒有為其編織出結(jié)局?！?/p>

“那么，這是命運(yùn)中的異常？”瑞亞提問道，我點(diǎn)點(diǎn)頭?！澳俏覀冎肋@是什么嗎？

我一直盯著在靈能活性塑料中回蕩著的層層螺線和鬼魅回響。到底是什么？我為此揣摩了許久，幾次向歐瑞瓦提出了我的看法，但到頭來，這一切也都是假象和猜測。

“我的直覺告訴我它是個(gè)活物，”我輕聲說道，費(fèi)力地牽扯起直覺的脈絡(luò)。“我沒有證據(jù)來證明這點(diǎn)，也不覺得會有。但如果一定要猜猜看的話？人類吧?！?/p>

“為什么？”瑞亞頭一次聽起來不像在指責(zé)，我來回?fù)u晃了幾下以正對她的眼睛?！盀槭裁词侨祟?？為什么不是另一個(gè)靈族？”

“因?yàn)槲覀兠恳粋€(gè)靈族的靈魂都被計(jì)算在內(nèi)，”我指著我們的魂石?！澳呐率俏覀兊暮诎奠`族表親，巨蛇也知曉他們每一個(gè)人的靈魂的滋味?！?/p>

“那么獸人呢？”瑞亞提問道?！矮F人都是難以預(yù)測，混亂——”

“完全不是，”我又一次指向那座城市?！矮F人被單一的強(qiáng)烈需求所驅(qū)使，那種需求被編入了它們的整個(gè)野蠻種族們的血肉和靈魂中。它們不會質(zhì)疑這一點(diǎn)，它們都會跟從Waaagh的召喚所到之處?！蔽一叵肫鹪跉W瑞瓦的檔案中研究的一些更大規(guī)模的入侵的地圖，并不寒而栗。“它們?nèi)顼L(fēng)暴般移動(dòng)，破壞性很強(qiáng)，但終究是可預(yù)測的?！?/p>

“那Mon-Keigh？但他們是那么的……”瑞亞抿起嘴唇試著找出那個(gè)詞，“弱小?！?/p>

我放聲大笑，引得她怒容滿面。

“弱??？”我憤恨地問道。“看看我們周圍，姐姐……看看人類都在哪里安過家！冰雪世界，死寂衛(wèi)星，被亞空間污穢燒灼的世界，而且他們不止是存活了下來，還發(fā)展壯大了！”我難以置信地?fù)u頭?！斑@些弱不禁風(fēng)，吹彈可破的生物，幾無遠(yuǎn)見，更無力量，全憑著能擊敗最殘暴的獸人的堅(jiān)持和決心就已經(jīng)打遍了整個(gè)銀河。”

“你聽起來幾乎像是在欣賞他們似的，”瑞亞說到，她的嗓音帶上了更慣用的指責(zé)的語氣?！八麄兪谴蔚壬铩！?/p>

“那么我們正在被次等生物擊敗，”我厲聲說，瑞亞便因惱怒而漲紅了臉?！翱纯粗車?，瑞亞，我們的人民正在消亡，我們的文明也是如此！我們幾乎沒能堅(jiān)持下去，每過一個(gè)世紀(jì)，我們就有更多人消逝！”

“所以你會放棄我們的人民是嗎？”瑞亞怒吼道，“你難道會讓我們躺平等死嗎？”

“不，”我伸手安撫她?！暗覀儾荒苊半U(xiǎn)不重視人類所呈現(xiàn)的危險(xiǎn)，正如我們的諸多同族似乎在做的那樣，”我皺起眉頭，把手放到了裝著符文石的箱子上，“即便是歐瑞瓦大師也輕視他們，而在這件事上我確信他是錯(cuò)的。”

“為什么？”瑞亞的聲音聽起來幾乎像是乞求?！耙詣P恩的血手之名，妹妹，為什么？”

“因?yàn)殪`族想要生存……獸人想要戰(zhàn)斗……”我一一列舉，隨后笑了出來?！翱扇祟?？”我搖了搖頭，笑聲提高了些?！拔胰匀徊恢廊祟惖降?strong>想要什么?！?/p>

我曾見過人類出于純粹的怨恨和我暫時(shí)只能稱之為“進(jìn)取心”的東西將自己投入混沌尖嘯的巨口中。我曾見過他們啐在教士和惡魔們的臉上，然后不知何故地占據(jù)了上風(fēng)。我曾見過他們面帶微笑地輸?shù)魬?zhàn)斗，死在了他們?yōu)榱瞬还笆肿屓硕贇У氖澜缟稀?/p>

“在我看來，”我平靜地說，“在這日漸衰退的后期，只有人類會做出如此不合邏輯，以至于能不止一次而是兩次阻塞了命運(yùn)的舉動(dòng)?！?/p>

沉默降臨在我們身上，瑞亞低下了頭，在我認(rèn)識她這么久以來頭一次看上去平靜而若有所思。憤怒的張力不常離開她的臉，可現(xiàn)在，我能看到那個(gè)已經(jīng)被暴力和死亡埋葬了如此之久的，我曾經(jīng)熟識的姐姐。

我發(fā)覺自己是多么的想念她。

“你能確定嗎？”瑞亞問道。

“完全沒有，”我弱弱地笑著回答?！拔沂莻€(gè)新手……幾乎稱不上訓(xùn)練有素，可歐瑞瓦大師總是說我有著優(yōu)秀的直覺，他告訴我那是能最終成為偉大先知的原因。”

瑞亞對此點(diǎn)了點(diǎn)頭，然后她抬起眼眸與我四目相對。我已經(jīng)很久沒有凝視過那雙與我們的隕落的父親如此相像的深海般的眼睛了。我知道她為什么恨人類，恨Mon-Keigh?……很少有靈族不認(rèn)識另一個(gè)被人類“帝國”的重錘和他們仇外的狂熱者所埋葬的靈族。我們的父親也是其中之一，是其他的成千上萬中的一員…….最終，他的魂石甚至都沒能回到伊比里斯的無限回路里。

十之八九，它已經(jīng)被一個(gè)人類士兵的鞋跟碾碎了。

然而，不像我的姐姐，我無法憎恨人類。

也許是因?yàn)槲彝樗麄儼伞?/p>

只需瞥一眼紅月之眼的怒放——人類稱之為恐懼之眼——就能記住我族對銀河所做過的一切。沒有一支已知的種族沒有權(quán)利因我族的所作所為而憎恨我們。

事實(shí)上，因?yàn)檫@個(gè)，我族稱得上罪無可恕。

“那我們什么時(shí)候動(dòng)身？”瑞亞問道，打斷了我的遐想。

我收攏起四散的想法迎上她的目光。“這個(gè)世界的十二個(gè)太陽周期后，到那時(shí)降雨會接近最強(qiáng)的時(shí)候，我們會有最好的掩護(hù)?！?/p>

“然后我們就去狩獵，”瑞亞的表情緊繃成一個(gè)掠食者的冷酷微笑，我用自己的一個(gè)疲憊些的表情與之相對。

“對，”我贊同道，“我們也要看看一個(gè)巧合到底能有多危險(xiǎn)?！?/p>

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原文：

Though no one looking at the hills would know it, the stretch of terrain north and east of Amphitria was a hive of activity.

For the past thirty solar cycles the webway portal secreted away beneath the surface of Praelex V had been opening and closing like an irritated eye, disgorging small numbers of Iybraesil Aeldarii at a time, and slowly a base camp had been established.

“How long will we be here, Menesa?” The questioner’s voice was irritated and tight and, not for the first time, I sighed.

“I don’t know,” I replied.

Again.

“I only know what I saw,” I gestured out toward the burning Mon-Keigh Hive City. “Somewhere in that mass of dead metal and stone is a grave threat.”

The response was another annoyed grunt.

Rhea and I had never precisely gotten along, despite being sisters. She had walked better than a dozen paths before being called to the Shrine of the Howling Banshee, and with her temper no one had been particularly surprised. I know mother had been hoping her eldest would follow her Path of Shaping, but the Shrine call was an honorable one, especially in Iybraesil.

Ever since I had arrived on this miserable world, Rhea in tow with a unit of banshees to begin preparations for our forward camp, things had been tense.

She didn’t trust me, no one did. I was young, inexperienced, and, oh yes, I’d just blown up a tower.

All of that culminated in Rhea standing before me in my small workspace as I sat staring down at my runestones, wondering if I should give searching for the ‘coincidence’ another go and risk blowing up the camp too.

My sister was beautiful, like all Banshees, with a cascade of Ink-black hair framing a face as pale as wraithbone. She had the long, taut build of a warrior, her body practically hummed with restrained violence, and I had a notion, seeing her here, that Rhea might one day put on her war mask and never take it off.

“You’re certain you saw something?” She asked.

Again.

“Yes, sister mine,” I replied acidly. “For the tenth time, I am absolutely sure. Do you really think Farseer Oreval would have pressed for a movement of the warhost if I hadn’t?”

“I think Farseer Oreval is far too indulgent of you,” Rhea responded, and I felt my lip twist downward.

I stood sharply up in front of my sister and jabbed a finger up into her face.

“Say what you want about me, Rhea, Ancestors know you’ve never had an issue with?that,” I snarled, setting her back a step. “But don’t you?daredisparage Master Oreval, he sees further than any of us, Rhea, and you know it!”

“I-!”

“And furthermore,” I continued, advancing on her, “whether you respect me as your blood or not, I was placed in charge of this excursion so you?willrespect that I am your superior,?is that clear?!”

Rhea’s pale eyes were wide with surprise for several seconds. I could see the fury burning behind her eyes, and practically taste the buzz of psychic pressure building around. Then it faded as she let out a quiet breath, dipped her head, and muttered an apology.

I sighed, rubbing at my temples as I did. The headache was getting worse, and I couldn’t account for it’s source.

“There is danger here, Rhea,” I started quietly. “More than I or Master Oreval can even begin to see, even with the runes.”

“They are Orks and?Mon-Keigh,” Rhea said dryly. “I am not overly worried.”

“I’m not talking about them,” I replied, waving my hand dismissively and moving back to my runes to sit before them. “Do you know what an augury is?”

“A simple working of the Sight for coming dangers,” Rhea answered with a shrug. “One is performed for us each time we are loosed.”

“Do you know what happened with this one?” I asked, and she raised an eyebrow. “I’ll tell you that it’s better than half the reason the Elders agreed to this mission.”

“I… I do not,” Rhea admitted, and I gestured for her to sit across from me.

“Watch.”

As my sister sat down, I gathered the runes, focusing on them the way I had been taught, following the ritual path of mental mnemonics to lead me into the proper mental state to tap the augur runes.

Psychic energy crackled around us as I cupped the stones in my hand, raised them high, then in a single motion dropped them and, at the same time, released the pent up psychic pressure.

The stones clattered to the wraithbone floor and half of them rattled to a stop.

The others had struck the ground on their tips and were now spinning rapidly in place like a compass in a wild gravity field.

I stared at Rhea flatly over the spinning stones.

“In case you’re unaware,” I gestured to the still-rattling stones, “they don’t usually do that.”

She opened her mouth and I held up a forestalling hand.

“And yes, I did it correctly,” I answered her question before it could come out. “It’s the same thing that happened when Master Oreval did it, and when Farseer Kalanthes did it,?and?when Farseer Yma did it.”

Rhea was silent for a long while as she stared at the stones. They continued to spin, making a sound like crude knucklebones on a gambling board as my sister watched them until finally, she looked up at me with a sober expression.

“What could it possibly mean?”

I sighed again.

“That even fate cannot say what dangers lay in that city,” I gestured out towards the Hive. “These stones?” I gestured to the ones laying flat on the ground, “indicate danger from Orks, obviously, and the?Mon-Kiegh,?which we knew.”

“And these?” She pointed to a few I’d passed over.

“Bad weather,” I replied, “in another ten cycles or so the weather will turn and dump half an ocean on the Hive.”

“Good cover to enter the city from,” Rhea remarked, and I smiled faintly before nodding.

“That was my intention.”

Rhea nodded slowly, her eyes still fixated on the spinning runestones.

“How… how bad is it?” She finally asked.

I shook my head and swept the runestones up from the ground, silencing the endless rattling.

“There’s no way to know,” I replied. “It could be nothing, or it could turn the tide of the future,” I pocketed the runes and leaned back on my elbows to stare up at the swirling patterns of the wraithbone ceiling. “It’s total freedom from fate… this coincidence hasn’t been accounted for by any Aeldari Farseer or Chaos Witch, not even the Architect of Fate has woven an outcome for this.”

“It’s an anomaly of fate, then,” Rhea offered, and I nodded. “Do we know what it is yet?”

I kept staring at the whorls and ghostly echoes of power rippling through the psychoactive plastic material. What indeed? I’d given it a great deal of thought, posed my ideas to Oreval multiple times, but in the end, it was all just supposition and guesswork.

“My instincts say it's a living being,” I spoke quietly, tugging on the fraying threads of my intuition. “I don’t have any proof of that, nor do I suspect that there is any, but if I were to hazard a guess? Human.”

“Why?” Rhea didn’t sound accusatory for once, and I rocked back forward so I was meeting her eyes. “Why human? Why not another Aeldari?”

“Because each and every one of our souls is accounted for,” I gestured to our Spirit Stones. “Even our Drukhari cousins, the Great Serpent knows the taste of each of their souls.”

“Then Orks?” Rhea posed. “Orks are unpredictable, chaotic-”

“Not at all,” I gestured out to the city again. “Orks are driven by a single mighty need, and that need is woven through the flesh and psyche of their entire brutish kind. They do not question it, they follow the siren call of their migratory Waaagh’s wherever they lead.” I recalled studying maps of some of the greater invasions in Oreval’s archives and shuddered. “They move like the path of a storm, destructive, but ultimately predictable.”

“The?Mon-Keigh??But they’re so…” Rhea twisted her lip as she tried to find the word before settling on, “weak.”

I laughed openly, drawing a dark scowl from her.

“Weak?” I asked bitterly. “Look around us, sister… look where humans have made their homes! Ice worlds, dead satellites, worlds scorched by warptaint, and they not only live there they?thrive!” I shook my head in disbelief. “These weak, fragile creatures, with little foresight and less power, have beaten and hammered the greater breadth of the galaxy into submission by sheer persistence and dogged determination that would beggar the surliest Ork.”

“You sound almost as if you admire them,” Rhea spoke, her voice now taking its more customary accusatory tone with me. “They are lesser beings.”

“Then we are being beaten by lesser beings,” I snapped, and Rhea’s face flushed with anger. “Look around us, Rhea, our people are?dying,?our civilisation is as good as! We’re barely clinging on, and more of us fade with every passing century!”

“So you will just give up on our people?!” Rhea snarled, “you would have us just lay down and die?!”

“No,” I held out a placating hand. “But we cannot risk failing to respect the danger that humanity presents like so many of our kind seem to,” I grimaced, moving my hands down to my case of runestones, “even Master Oreval discounts them, and in this one instance I truly believe he is wrong.”

“Why?” Rhea’s voice was almost pleading. “By Khaine’s bloody hand, sister,?why?”

“Because Aeldari want to live… and Orks want to fight…” I listed off, then laughed. “But humans?” I shook my head, my laughter rising. “I still have no idea what humans actually?want.”

I had seen humans pitch themselves into the shrieking maw of Chaos out of sheer spite and something I could only tentatively call ‘gumption’. I’d seen them spit in the faces of Exarchs and Daemons alike, and then, somehow, win the day. I’d seen them lose battles with smiles on their faces as they died on a world they burned just so someone else couldn’t have it.

“In my mind,” I said evenly, “in this latter and fading era, only a human could make a decision so irrational that it would balk fate not once but?twice.”

Silence descended on us as Rhea lowered her head, looking thoughtful and calm for the first time I could remember in a very long time. It was not often that the tension of anger left her face, but now I could see the sister I once knew so well beneath all the violence and death that had buried her for so long.

I found that I missed her very much.

“You’re certain?” Rhea asked.

“Not at all,” I replied with a weak laugh. “I’m a novice… barely trained, but Master Oreval always said I had good instincts, and he told me that was what made a great Farseer in the end.”

Rhea nodded at that, then raised her eyes to meet mine. It had been a long time since I’d stared into those sea-dark eyes, so much like our fallen father’s. I knew why she hated humans, the?Mon-Keigh…?it was rare to know an Aeldarii who did not know someone who had been buried under the hammer of the human ‘Imperium’ and their xenophobic zealots. Our father was one of them, one of thousands of others… not even his Spirit Stone made it back to Iybraesil’s Infinity Circuit in the end.

In all likelihood, it had been crushed under the bootheel of a human soldier.

And yet, unlike my sister, I could not hate the humans.

Perhaps because I pitied them.

One only had to glance at the furious bloom of the red moon’s eye, what the humans called the Eye of Terror, to remember what our kind had wrought upon the galaxy. There was no race in all the known systems that did not bear the right to hate our kind for what we had done.

Our kind was, in all truth, unforgivable in that regard.

“When do we move then?” Rhea asked, breaking me out of my reverie.

I collected my scattered thoughts and met her gaze. “Twelve cycles of this world’s sun, by then the downpour will be nearing its worst, and we will have the greatest cover.”

“And then we hunt,” Rhea’s face tensed into a cold, predatory smile, and I matched it a weary one of my own.

“Yes,” I agreed, “and we also discover just how dangerous a coincidence truly is.”