Steth tilted his head and glanced back, slowing a bit so she didn't have to run to keep up. "Well, I did visit every now and then, quite a while back." He admitted. "I usually came around when someone had a question relating to my race, what I was, or with help in hunting. They started to fear me after I became angry once, and brought down a tornado from the mountain. But that was when I witnessed two older boys attacking a younger one for no reason. It was unjust. So I reacted. After they began showing their fear, I decided to stay away and allow them to come to me when they needed." He looked up toward the sky, where the cloud cover was beginning to fade away.

He glanced around. "But I only anger to that point when I witness something like I did the day I saw those two boys attacking their younger peer. It wasn't right, that. I wouldn't hurt anyone if I didn't have to. Besides, I've never had a real reason to come back until now." He smiled a bit wistfully at Lyra, as though somewhat lost in thought but trying to keep focused.

Lyra went quiet, thinking about that for a bit. Of course, she didn't remember the incident he'd mentioned; it had happened long before she'd been born, even though the village still felt the effects from it. But she did understand what he was saying.

"I can't promise a positive reaction from the village when we arrive," she finally ventured. "Everyone still fears your temper. I'm not sure what will happen." She almost wanted to go back to the caves and find a cloak of some sort, so she wouldn't be immediately recognized by the villagers, but decided against it. She wanted them to see her and realize that she hadn't been killed or eaten or anything. Perhaps it would go a little ways towards making everyone realize that their god wasn't someone to fear.

Steth nodded slowly. As though he'd already known this. "I'm only prepared for the worst." He said with a slight hissing sigh. "I've marked myself an intolerant creature, and it seems stories pass with quite a bit of exaggeration among those who would rather fear something than see it as of equal mind." He looked behind him, at the green and brown and black of his scales. "Maybe it's my size. I'm much larger than others of my kind, after all."

He thought about it as they reached flat land. The grass was no longer dry and brown-yellow; it had been revived with the rain he sent, and reached Lyra's knees, the blades thick and powerful, waving in the breeze. The village was a little ways off, and when Steth squinted, he could see people moving. "Maybe they'll listen to reason now." He muttered. "Maybe I can tell them I'm not a wrathful creature... Do you think they'll believe me?" He glanced down to Lyra. She was in the same shape, if not better, than when she'd arrived in the shrine, meant to be a sacrifice in exchange for rain. If Steth considered it, the villagers were the bad ones, not him. He would never have sacrificed another living thing for a bit of water without asking first...

"I... I'm not sure," Lyra replied after a moment. She wasn't sure if the people in the village would have changed that quickly. She felt like a different person, but she had also learned more than she ever thought possible in the short time she'd been with Steth. She had no idea if anyone else had changed at all.

It didn't take long for the outskirts of the village to come into view. The village outskirts were mainly made of farms; most families had at least a small homestead, to keep themselves fed, although some kept larger plots of land to sell the extra crops. The village proper was still a little ways off. Still, though, Lyra could see a few people in the fields. They kept their distance, though; clearly wary enough of Steth to not want to investigate.

Steth slowed a bit more, falling into pace behind Lyra. Perhaps it was better she led the way. "Well then." He muttered. "Perhaps you should go to your parents, or whomever you lived with before having to come to me. They would be worried specifically, wouldn't they?" He laughed rather nervously. "Perhaps by them I'll regain a positive light in the eyes of the entire village. It wouldn't be quite as stressful afterward, that is." He hadn't noticed they had come to a wide path until they were already going down the middle. It was dirt, mostly, paved with flat stones here and there that made his scales rasp periodically. They were passing farmland now, going right through it, and when they passed houses, he tried to steal glances through the windows. Sometimes they were empty, other times blocked by curtains, and from time to time they gave access to young children and their parents staring at the two as they approached the village gates. He put himself low, taking a couple feet of height away from him.

"Perhaps," Lyra replied after a slight hesitation. The hesitation, however, hadn't been for what Steth had said. Now that they were coming up on the village proper, Lyra was starting to have second thoughts about the visit. She wasn't at all sure the village would accept her again, and it worried her enough that she slowed down a little bit. "It might be best to go see my uncle first... After all, he is the village priest." It seemed a bit better, to her. At least she wouldn't have to face her parents or her former friends right away, and she could hide behind her status as a sacrifice for a little while longer. By this point, they'd gotten to the main part of the village, and there was no way to avoid the people milling about. She could hear gasps and whispers from the people; familiar voices that she'd known since she was a child. Somehow, that made it worse.

Steth was a bit too occupied in looking around to notice Lyra slow down so quickly. He almost ran into her, but corrected himself well enough not to make a sudden movement and scare anyone nearby. He could definitely pick up the hushed whispers, the mutterings as he accompanied Lyra through the heart of the village, the sounds similar to hisses, almost like his scales as they flitted over the laid stone. "You know, word does travel quickly in a place so small. Your parents may catch on to our presence before you're ready." He bent down when he spoke to Lyra, to avoid raising his voice and startling anyone nearby. They definitely looked as if they were already on edge, possibly ready to fall off.

He looked around a bit harder. The place hadn't changed since the last time he'd been. The faces, however, had changed quite a bit. He could see a bit of previous generations in the young, traits passed down from their parents and grandparents. It was a reminder of more friendly times, and perhaps they would be able to be... something like friends again.

"I hadn't thought the village would be so different," Lyra admitted quietly after a moment. "It hasn't been all that long... I know most of these people, I grew up with many of them, and they still point and whisper as if... as if..." She trailed off, unable to finish the sentence. "I just don't understand." She couldn't even pretend that the people didn't recognize her; she could hear her name in the hushed whispers more than once.

Her walking brought her to the central square of the village. It was essentially cobblestone streets meeting at the large, community well, but it was unnaturally quiet. Their arrival seemed to have scared off the rest of the people from the square. With a small sigh, Lyra sat down on the low, wide stone edge of the open well.

Steth didn't quite know what to say until Lyra had taken a seat on the well wall. He curled his tail around him and took up as little space as possible, facing the girl but remaining at her side. "I'd say they don't understand, either." He told her. "Perhaps it's been pounded into their minds that I'd kill you or keep you away from your home, and my allowing you to come back, and accompany you, goes against what they've been told and what they've assumed throughout the years. I don't think it's you, but me. They may not think of this gesture as entirely friendly, which needs to be changed some time in the near future."

He lowered himself to the height of a normal human male. Some buildings had moved from the square since his last visit, and there were things around he didn't quite identify. Some were metal, and looked rather intricate. He wouldn't even try to think about what they were. Perhaps it would have been best if he stayed away, and let the villagers think what they wanted of him, as long as they generally left him alone.

Lyra didn't get the chance to reply; someone was walking towards them. She saw the person out of the corner of her eye and turned to see who had gathered the courage to approach. She blinked when she saw it was her uncle, the priest. He strode forward determinedly, his robe swirling around his feet. Something seemed to shimmer along the bottom hem of the robe, but it was moving too much for Lyra to see what it was.

"Uncle Pyren," she said, surprised all the same. Pyren stopped a few feet away from them and bowed.

"If it pleases my lord," he said formally, "I would like to borrow my niece for a short time. It seems we have much to catch up on, since my lord has seen fir to grant her the kindness of sparing her life."

Steth was looking around the immediate area as Lyra spoke. Slightly startled at the suddenness, he glanced around to find the priest, Pyren as Lyra called him, her uncle. When the human bowed, he followed suit, nodding notably. "Of course." He said. "My presence is simply to ensure a safe passage between the village and the mountain while Lyra learns of the area and simple ways to protect herself from the dangers therein."

He went around the well and settled himself to its left, curling his tail around himself to take up little room. All twelve feet of his scaly tail was not easily dwarfed by small, squat buildings and the small well, but it was better than stretching out all the way. Though he would have much preferred following Lyra and Pyren the entire way, he dared not try to exert much power over those who already wrongly feared him.

Pyren nodded and led Lyra away, towards the church. He kept their pace quick, enough so that Lyra almost stumbled once or twice trying to keep up. Once they got to the church, Pyren took her inside and shut the door tightly.

"Uncle Pyren, what's going on?" Lyra asked cautiously. She rubbed her arm a little where Pyren had grasped it a bit too tightly. It wouldn't bruise, as far as she could tell, but it still wasn't comfortable.

"I hadn't expected such good fortune," Pyren said vaguely as he glanced around. "I had honestly expected never to see you again, child. That you've returned is a phenomenal turn of fortune for us."

"What do you mean?" Lyra asked. Pyren looked at her, as if trying to gauge how she might respond. He looked at her long enough for her to begin to fidget, and then turned towards a door in the far end of the main room. He gestured for her to follow. When it took her a moment to comply, he turned to her again.

"Are you coming, child?"

"Yes, Uncle Pyren," Lyra replied, hurrying to catch up. She was starting to feel a deep, pervasive sense of foreboding. Something wasn't right. Pyren led her down a set of stone stairs, down into the lowest level of the church. It was all made of stone, although the doors Lyra could see were still wooden. The long, narrow hall was lit every several yards by a torch, and the dim light flickered and sputtered occasionally. It took Lyra's eyes a moment to adjust.

"Come," Pyren said again, going to one of the doors. It was no different than the others, to Lyra; only Pyren seemed to know the difference between them, and moved with purpose. As Lyra got closer to the door, however, she could feel a difference: there was a faint residue of power on the door itself, and the power seemed to have been formed into a lock of some kind. Not enough to keep Lyra out if she had wanted to break in, certainly, but likely enough to keep regular people out. Or in, Lyra realized uneasily. Pyren stopped her before she could reach out and touch the door. "Leave it be, girl."

"What is this place?" Lyra asked, glancing around briefly.

"It used to be used as a prison for heretics," Pyren replied offhandedly. His expression took on a decidedly excited light. "Now, however, we use it for a much, much higher purpose."

"I don't understand," Lyra said. "What does any of this have to do with me coming back?"

"Look," Pyren replied. He touched the door, and the weak lock vanished. The door swung open a bit, and Pyren gestured for Lyra to open it the rest of the way. When she did, she couldn't hold back a gasp. In the room, the cell, chained against the opposite wall, was a naga. Not as large as Steth, Lyra could already see that, but a naga all the same. Patches of scales the size of her palm were missing from his tail, and Lyra could count his ribs even from where she was standing. The sight shocked her so much that some of her magic momentarily slipped her hold, rippling out from her before she reined it back in.

"Uncle Pyren, what--?"

"They are useful creatures, Lyra," Pyren explained. "Valuable. Their scales are magical, and sell for phenomenally high rates. A single patch could buy grain and meat for a family for months. But they are only useful, and therefore valuable, if taken while the creature is alive. The larger the specimen, the more powerful the scales." He looked at her, smiling brilliantly. "And you've brought the god to us. I always knew you were special, girl."

Steth hated seeing Lyra manhandled so roughly. He almost called out to Pyren, but he had to trust Lyra with her own uncle. However, the fact that he'd done well to give her over to him several months ago still ate away at the back of his mind. It put him off, most definitely, and the fact that as Lyra vanished, a strange feeling of a different, yet familiar, power revealed itself, kept him watching the church as if he could see through its walls.

Nervously he moved his tail around, pulling it in front of him and running one of his long nails over the hard, stone-tough exterior, he let out a hissing breath that almost whistled through his fangs. The silence was odd in his ears; usually he could hear the wind moaning through the cavern, water dripping or flowing above. He could hear birds, but rarely, they seemed to fall silent with the lack of life around him, even as Steth sat stock still. He looked around and raised his hands, summoning a breath of wind he began to manipulate, form into mist, and add water from the well, making it thicker, and creating a cloud about the size of his head. With another gust of wind, he let it float away, and eventually fade.

A pop and crackle sounded in his head, like electricity rushing through him. Over the time he'd been teaching Lyra, he recognized it as her power escaping her in moments of doubt, fear, or some other strong emotion. He uncoiled himself and raced to the door of the church, which he had to duck to get into. The interior was taller, luckily, but empty. Neither Lyra nor her uncle were near. But the quick burst of power was unmistakable. A door at the end of the nave and behind the altar. He went down the aisle, scales creating the sound of large-grain sand over flat stone, and moved behind the altar, through the door with a bit of difficulty, and found a set of stone stairs. He moved down them with ease, and into a stone hallway.

The first thing he saw was Lyra and Pyren standing in front of an open door that looked similar to the others he’d passed. “Lyra, what’s happened?” He asked, putting a hand to his head to stern what was left of the faint crackling in his ear. When he looked at Pyren, a worried expression crossed his face and his eyes darted into the room Steth couldn’t quite see into. “What are you hiding?” Steth asked, a hiss emanating from his fanged mouth.

“My lord, I---” Pyren’s voice caught as Steth approached and pushed him back, looking in himself. What felt like a freezing dagger impaled his heart, twisting with such ferocity his eyes became black as his iris’ overtook the color. As they expanded, the world around him began to glow in varying areas, depending on the presence of body heat and magic in the area. Pyren was glowing a bright yellow, and Lyra was a shade darker. He didn’t look to Lyra, though, the expression on her face told him all he needed to know: She was innocent of this barbaric act.

“You.” He pointed to Pyren. “Save your skin. Tell me: What is the meaning of this horrible treatment? My good man, you should do well to give me the truth.” He used his tail to put Lyra behind him, safe from what he might not be able to control. However, the rage at seeing another Naga, so starved, his scales stolen from him, on the brink of death, sent rippling rivers of magic through Steth’s arms. His fingertips warmed at the prospect of a death blow, and, perhaps instilling a lesson upon the village that would last far longer than his first bout of anger. Because no one could keep a naga in such a place, such a holy place, without quite a few people knowing about it.

Pyren just opened and closed his mouth, vaguely resembling a fish. Every time he thought he had a good excuse, he would realize exactly how gruesomely it would get him killed, and he had to fish around for another one. He was still coming up blank, even though he knew very well his life was on the line.

Lyra could see just how angry Steth was, and she remembered what he had told her about the last time he'd gotten angry. Softly, she laid a hand on his arm.

"Deal with him later," she said quietly to him. She glanced at Pyren and back. "There is always another time to deal with him. But I think there's something far more important at the moment." This time, she glanced back into the cell at the injured naga. To her, it was more important to get him out of that place and take him somewhere safe than it was to lash out at Pyren.

Steth jolted slightly when Lyra touched him. He'd been too focused on Pyren to notice her approach. He straightened up, head nearly brushing the ceiling, and put his tongue between two dull teeth, biting it slightly. "You're more than right." He said sternly. "We'll take care of this naga first, then later deal with... this." He noted Pyren as though he were no more than a pile of dust. Before he moved, however, he leaned down, grasping Pyren by the throat with one cool, slightly rough hand.

"I'll be back." He hissed, specifically emphasizing the S sound when he spoke. "I'll see to it that if you so much as near another one of my kind, I'll do more than simply kill you. I'll do much more. If you touch a single animal without the intent to kill it swiftly and necessarily, I'll be there. I'll know. Spread the word, Pyren. I'll return before sunset tonight, so I can speak to the villagers, and you. And if you're not there, I'll find you. Do you hear me?"

Pyren gulped, rather difficultly, and before he could speak, or at least try to do so, he was tossed back and onto the floor. Steth flipped around, going into the cell himself. The naga seemed rather dazed and, as he looked up to Steth, a strange smile showed his fangs. They were yellowed and looked dull, a sure sign of malnutrition and illness. With a swift tug, Steth released the chains from the walls, and as they came loose, the shackles disengaged from around the naga's wrists. Carefully, Steth lifted the naga with both arms and managed to get out of the cell. He looked to Lyra. "You can ride back on my tail." He said. "When we're outside. It'll save your energy and time getting back to the cove." He spared a worried glance to the naga in his arms, breaths rasping. he could practically feel every bone in the creature's body, and it continued to feed the embers of anger still glowing in his stomach.

Lyra was about to protest and say she would be alright walking, but she got the feeling that it wasn't a good time to be arguing with Steth over anything, no matter how trivial. So she nodded and followed him outside with one last, almost pitying look towards her uncle. Then she turned her attention back to Steth and the other naga.

"Is there any way I can help?" she asked cautiously once they were outside. She could hear gasps and whispers from the villagers nearby, and that almost comforted her; it meant that most people hadn't realized what was going on. She hazarded a glance at the people in the area, and her heart sank a little. She still didn't see her family. She had been hoping to see them again, but apparently it just wasn't meant to be. So she turned her attention once again to the situation at hand.

As they passed through the village, cool air falling on their skin, more natural than that of the musty dungeon of a basement beneath the church, the young naga shuddered a bit. Steth clenched his teeth; perhaps they were too late... But he could feel both hearts beating in the thin husk of a creature, the one in his chest and a second about halfway down the tail, where most humans forgot. It meant that, if a naga were stricken in the chest, in one heart, the other could keep it alive until the wound could be healed. But both hearts raced, weak in their working. Steth didn't even look up until they had made it to the farmland from where he and Lyra had come.

"At this moment... no." He looked down, softening his gaze as much as he could. This wasn't the girl's fault. How could she know what was going on? And by that shocked expression she'd had before he even made his presence known in the church basement, she probably couldn't believe her uncle could do something like this. "But once we return to the cavern, you will be of great assistance." He stopped so Lyra could climb onto his tail. It'd save a lot of time in returning to the mountain. "I have to leave him, and you, there while I come back and get answers. Someone, somewhere, other than Pyren, has to have known something like this was happening. But while I'm gone, you can find out what you can about this one." He looked at the sunken face of the young naga again, but narrowed his eyes and turned away. "If he wants to eat, don't let him eat much. It'll do more harm than good. And if he tries to move, do your best to keep him still. At this point he's very weak, he couldn't hurt you even if he really wanted to. The best thing to do is keep him conscious, ask him questions, get what information you can out of him. Okay?" Steth gave a pleading look; Lyra would be of amazing help. Perhaps she could even keep the creature alive.

Lyra almost quailed for a moment in the face of so much responsibility, but nodded anyways. She'd never taken care of anyone before, much less anyone not human, and she wasn't at all sure she would be of much help, but if Steth thought she could, then she would try. At this point, she couldn't possibly do much more harm, anyways. But she would do her best to do what Steth said.

"Alright," she agreed as she got comfortable enough on Steth's tail for them to leave. She couldn't help but glance one last time towards the village. She could only hope that Steth took a bit of pity on the others, and didn't punish them as harshly as she knew he would punish Pyren and his associates. She felt a pang of regret that she couldn't bring herself to call Pyren 'uncle' anymore, even in her head, but what he had done... She couldn't call him family anymore.

Steth nodded once and watched her close as she settled herself. Steadying his upper body would be a bit more difficult, but it would let them cover much more ground in a small window of time. And time was something Steth wanted to save almost as much as the naga that looked far too close to death to survive another week, if that long. The end five feet of his tail worked hard to push the added weight and keep the scales beneath Lyra still enough not to chafe. His scales were similar to dragons, in which they were loosely plated and moved very easily, and would rub skin away quite easily if the rider didn't have something to protect themselves. Something like leather, thick and durable.

The climb up the mountainous path was nerve-wracking. Steth continuously looked back, but the village behind them was still and from this location, quiet. No one came or went, but he could tell there was movement from the farmland surrounding. Pushing himself up and into the safety of the cavern, he allowed Lyra to get off before moving along, past the room she called her own, and into a similar room. This one held a cool slab of marble-like stone, smooth to the touch. With a few altered words, the stone could easily be heated and cooled to temperature desirable to the inhabitant. Carefully, Steth laid the younger naga on the stone. The introduction of cold stone forced a shivering breath out of the parched mouth of the unnamed creature, and Steth's eyes flashed.

"I'll make sure not to leave harm behind me!" He called as he rushed from the cavern. "Pyren and all associated with what he's done will be my only target if necessary, I promise! Try to keep him well!" His scales hissed hard over the fallen grasses and leaves, kicking up loose dirt as Steth flew back down the mountain and to the village, leaving his trust in Lyra.

Lyra stepped down onto the floor of the cavern quickly, barely even noticing the slight chafing on the soles of her feet. She'd built up some callouses since the incident with the sharp rocks, so she would be fine. She followed Steth past her own room and into one nearby, and she recognized the stone slab inside. Steth had taught her how to use it not too long ago, so she would be able to manipulate the temperature now.

She nodded when Steth left again in a hurry, and set about warming up the stone. If nothing else, being so cold was definitely not good for the other naga, so that was the first thing she fixed. The second thing was getting some water, and Lyra did that as the stone was heating. She made sure the water was cool, rather than cold, and she gave it to the naga in little tiny sips. Hopefully, that would help enough for the moment, until she could get some food into him.

The sky was dark. It looked like it would rain soon. Steth was more concerned with getting to where he was going, and wouldn't allow the skies to clear until his visit was finished. Passing farm houses now empty, he could tell from lack of movement and no scent strong enough to indicate a human still present. At least they had gone about their business quickly. Moving through the now cluttered village, he came to the square, where now everyone was present. One hundred people, men, women, and children. Including Pyren, standing with a few other priests. Of course he was the head priest. The others had to know of his prisoner. As he appeared and stood high above the humans, they shrank back and huddled against one another, crowded around the public well.

"I am not here to harm all of you." He said evenly. His anger was definitely present, but it would be out of line to take it out on the innocent. "In fact, I would much rather be seeking peace with you. I have no reason to harm you. Or, shall I say, I had no reason to harm you." He hissed the words out, causing a shiver to move through the crowd. "Today, I brought your peer for a visit to her family. Lyra is alive and well, so you've discovered. She simply wanted to see her family, her parents or siblings, her aunts or uncles again. After all, it's been a while, has it not?" He narrowed his eyes and looked around to Pyren. He looked as pale as a ghost. "But when we arrived, I had the displeasure of discovering the victim of intense, disgusting abuse beneath the very place you worship the gods of this plane in!"

His voice became harsh, and among the fear, words of confusion and questioning were raised. Steth continued: "Your priest, and possibly his associates, seized and imprisoned one of my own. A young naga man, barely within his sixth century. I want the truth! Did anyone, anyone at all, know of this?" He stared hard at even the young ones. They grabbed onto their mothers and fathers and older siblings.

None of the priests wanted to say anything. They all stayed behind Pyren, as if to make themselves a little less noticeable as gasps rippled through the assembled villagers. Finally, a boy who couldn't have been more than twelve tentatively stepped forward. He wore the simple garb of an altar boy; likely in training to be one of the priests. One of the older men made a move to grab him, but the boy was quick and ducked the swing. The boy was visibly trembling and his skin was pale, but he took another determined step forward.

"My sister..." he said cautiously. "Lyra. She's okay, right?"

"Cadir!" Pyren hissed.

"No, Uncle!" Cadir retorted, looking back at Pyren and the other priests. "This is your fault! So just stop already!"

Steth leaned backward as the boy moved forward. He was usefully swift, though all young ones tended to be. "So it's only your uncle and his priests, is it?" Steth asked, lowering himself to the boy's level. He nodded, and Steth straightened up again. "Yes, Lyra is perfectly well. In fact, one would say she's grown considerably since leaving the confining bonds of this village's stiff beliefs." He put his gaze back on everyone else, and finally rested them on Pyren and his priests. "Everyone. I want you all to leave. Pyren. Keep yourself here, and don't even think about taking off with the rest." He indicated the four others who had shrunk back like small children, shy in the face of a stranger.

The villagers did so, some rather reluctantly, others flying away without a second to spare. It was clear to see those were very unsteady on their quick feet. As he was able to, Steth moved forward, scales crunching over loose stone. He bent down and came face to face with Pyren. He was obviously the leader. "Do you have any words to save your skin, or that of the priests you so foolishly, blindly led to their death?" He asked lowly. His eyes bored into Pyren's.

Pyren opened and closed his mouth a few times, vaguely reminiscent of a fish. Every time he thought to say something to save his skin, he stopped again. Finally, he came upon a phrase that seemed (of all of the phrases that crossed his mind) least likely to make the naga angrier.

"It was to help the village," he finally said. The excuse seemed hollow, somehow, even to his own ears, but it was the best he could come up with. He could barely meet Steth's eyes for more than a moment before he looked away. In fact, he tried to look everywhere but at Steth, and it wasn't exactly working.

Steth bared his teeth in a loud growl; using his tail, he whisked the other priests away and corralled them at his right. "To help the village!?" He repeated, loud enough to send a tremor through Pyren's chest. "The village needs no help! Did you not think of the innocent life you were taking away, torturing, slowly sucking the life and energy from while you so selfishly took his scales for yourself!? Did you not think to come to me if you needed anything, rather than sacrifice your own flesh and blood for a bit of rain? It's you, not the rest of the village, you think about. You need self-assurance, you need things to go right, you need power and you don't want to share. That's why you do what you do. With your wing sheltering everyone, they'll be led astray far too easily."

He released the other priests. "Go now!" He barked. "Your master has no power over you anymore. Find for yourselves a priest that will uphold the law of the Sun God: Harm none for one's own gain."

The others nodded quickly, and with a few scattered, nervous bows, stumbled away. Steth grabbed Pyren by the neck, pulling him up and to his eye level. "You have disobeyed the law of the first God, Pyren. Did you really think you could get away with it entirely?" He rearranged his jaw. It would eventually completely disengage from its socket to help open his mouth wider. "Do you have any last words?"