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I tried to say, “For the moment,” but that’s not what I said.

What I said was, “Raooo.”

In the excitement of my tumble, I had forgotten all about the Catfall ring.

But, thank Cassa, goddess of second chances, it hadn’t forgotten about me.

Hooooooooooooooooo, the owl-thing said.

It was looking down in the crevasse at us. To be proper, it was looking, and hungrily, at the dead donkey hanging by its harness from the sharp spear of rock that had gutted it. The donkey dangled above us. We were balanced on the ridge below it, the tree still hanging on next to us. I’d found Galva’s fallen shield at the bottom and brought it up to her. The climb had been harder than usual, though, as I was a bit dizzy and my head hurt.

And still those feathered karks looked down at us.

Hoooooooooooooooooo-ooooo.

“Yeah, I know, you already said that,” I told it. “Now you’ll bob your head at me, won’t you, you bitch eejit?”

It bobbed its head. Two others joined it, silhouetted by the cloudy, headache-gray sky, and did the same thing.

Then they all started clicking.

“Well, that’s disappointing. I was hoping whatever one day killed me would be smarter.”

Hooooooo, one of them said at me again, and I said, “Hoooooo,” back, meaning, “Fuck your whore father.”

“I am sure your talk with the birds is very entertaining for you, but we need to do something,” Galva said.

“Like what?” said I.

“Anything but saying hoo at them again and again until I shake you to death.”

“Well, it doesn’t look good. I can’t even shoot at them, I dropped my bow up there. At least I hope it’s up there.”

“It is. I saw it.”

“I don’t remember what happened.”

“That’s because you hit your head. Hard.”

I put my hand into my shag of hair and felt blood, and a dull sting that promised to worsen.

“So I did. Tell me more about what happened. It’s really all a blur.”

She told me what I told you, right up until the part where I came to dangling over a big drop.

“It was good you woke when you did.”

“You think?” I said.

“This is sarcasm, I know you like to use this, but I was in earnest. I am glad you did not die yet.”

“Yet?”

“It seems premature to say otherwise.”

Hooooooooooooooooooooo!

“SHUT YOUR KARK-HOLE! Well, that’s touching, I suppose.”