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Something squeezed through a narrow seam, slipped its cage, and crept out of the prison that had held it fast. The moment its feet touched the world, it shivered with delight.
Look, it thought. Look well, world. Your master has returned.
It set a single foot on the earth, and the earth began to rot. Pleased with the stain it left behind, it moved forward. Something dreadful started to show itself to the world.
***
Ketal and Bayern shared a bottle and traded light jokes. The talk moved easily, like a river sliding past round stones. Both were kings among barbarians, and both, in their own sharp ways, were deeply reasonable men. Both had been battered by the stupidity of their people. With so many points of sympathy, the gap between them closed quickly.
“Let us move to the real matter,” Bayern said at last.
His eyes settled. The man who had shaken while he pulled thorns from his memory was gone. In his place stood the master of the North, the King of the barbarians.
“You do not want my throne,” he said. “You do not even look as if you care for barbarians. The North is not your home. Why did you come here?”
Ketal weighed his answer. On the surface, he had come to oppose the tide of demons. He doubted Bayern would be satisfied with only that.
“I received word that something dangerous has taken root here,” he said.
“You mean the demons?” Bayern asked him.
“No....
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