'Vasagi and I, we flew off in different directions from Madmanse and Suckscar. Our arguments had been one too many, and our enmity seemed insurmountable. This was the only honourable way to settle it: man to man on Sunside. For weapons we had our gauntlets, nothing else. I saw Vasagi flying at a distance. We acknowledged each other, a nod of the head. And even at that range he sent a thought: I hope you've said your last farewells, Wran. If not, too late now. For only one of us can return. Alas, it won't be you.'
'I thought to make some derisory answer but the distance was increasing. Despite Vasagi's superior mentalism, he probably wouldn't hear me; my range was not so extensive. In that respect, who among us is - or was - equal to Vasagi? Having no speech as such, his telepathy supplemented his ridiculous miming! Still, his words had served as a warning. Not that I feared him, you understand, but he had reminded me of his skill as a thought-thief. From then on, I would keep my own thoughts very well guarded.
'I landed on Sunside east of the great pass, and manoeuvred my flyer back into a thicket of tall trees growing on the hillside. In front was a bluff. When all was done I could call my creature forward and launch without hindrance. And then I waited.' He paused.
'You ... waited?' said Gorvi. 'You didn't hunt for him?'
Wran shook his head. 'My thought was that he would hunt for me. If I moved about, changing my location, it would only make his task more difficult. And the sooner we came together the better. And so I waited ... well, for a little while. But this was Sunside and I could smell the smoke of a Szgany campfire not long extinguished; so that suddenly, the urge was on me! Oh, it's true I was here for different game this night of nights, but I saw no harm in mixing business with pleasure.
'I went to my flyer and cautioned him to be still, quiet, and wait for me. I forbade any sort of commotion, for whatever reason. Then I headed east on foot, through the foothills. The smoke stench came from that direction; it was faint due to distance and the dispersal of small winds; its source might be as much as seven or eight miles away. That was nothing, for I had an entire night at my disposal. Also, I made no effort to hide my tracks but left a strong spoor. That way, if the Suck should discover my flyer, he would be able to follow my trail without difficulty. But I kept my thoughts constantly guarded, for if he sensed my confidence, it might caution him to keep back.
'Well, eventually I found a small family group of Travellers where they sheltered in a cavelet. My first knowledge of them came when I stumbled across the male having a piss in the dead of night a little way from the cave. When I found him he was half asleep ... fully asleep when I had done! The sleep of the undead. By now, enthralled, doubtless he's following me through the pass. Later I'll find him making his way to Wrath-stack, wailing like a banshee and gnashing his teeth where he stumbles across the boulder plains. I hereby lay claim to him. But last night...
'... Having had his blood, a good deal of it, now I would enjoy his woman. But first I must deal with his children, lest there be crying and a deal of confusion. There were two Szgany whelps, a girl and boy. The girl was six or seven; I smothered her in her sleep. Her brother was a bairn; I crushed his head. And their mother was ... succulent!' Wran paused to glance at Wratha. 'But I won't be indelicate. You men can ask me later. For now I'll tell you only this: she lasted well...
'Later, I trekked back towards the place where I'd left my flyer. The boy child dangled from my belt, trailing blood, which made my spoor easier still to follow. And always I kept my mind shielded. But do you know, such had been my ... extravagance with the woman, that I actually felt weary! It was as if I had raged, though in truth I had not. My flesh had raged a little, perhaps, but ... such is the nature of lust. So that what with these excesses of mine, and all the trekking afoot - plus the fact that during the previous day I'd been excited by the prospect of the night ahead, and so had not slept as best I might - I felt depleted. Or perhaps I had supped too well on the blood of the man and what little I'd had from his wife - and the rest of what I had had from her - until I was replete in every sense and now must sleep it off.
'Except, somewhere out there in the night, Vasagi the Suck was likewise afoot. It gave me pause, but eventually I puzzled my way out of the dilemma.
'I hastened to my flyer and curled myself in a belly ridge where the thrusters are lodged. And before sleeping I commanded the beast that if someone approached, namely Vasagi the Suck, I was to be awakened at once. Or if not - if he came gliding and in great stealth or disguised in a mist, remaining hidden until the last moment - then that my creature must thrust me aside to safety, and roll or fall upon Vasagi and so crush him.
'But, no such incursion; I slept the best and possibly the longest sleep of my life! Then, awakening, I sensed sunup some hours away and knew that time was narrowing down. And still my business with the Suck remained unsettled. So ... I would try to lure him one last time, and if that failed then I must resort to hunting him.
'I left my flyer, proceeded some small distance on foot, and there built a fire in the lee of a rocky outcrop. I commenced roasting the boy child upon a spit, and before too long felt a presence. The feeling was momentary, but strong. In the night and the dark I fancied I felt eyes upon me, perhaps from on high. And of course I wondered: had Vasagi passed fleetingly overhead? It would seem the most likely explanation; certainly the sweet smell of roasting bairn would be a vast attraction. If so, then he had surely seen me.
'I continued to roast my breakfast, and waited. And in a little while someone came! Ah, but he was clumsy, perhaps too eager? Above me in a nest of rounded boulders, I heard a pebble slither. Did he intend to jump down on me? Possibly. But I was ready, fully rested and wide awake ... even eager! He came to his doom, be sure!