Finally. His mind snaps back to the present moment, hammer and tongs.

  The sound around him stopped. Not a single nearby insect or a distant bird could be heard. Nothing, except his own breathing which now sounded almost cmorous. For a moment of perfect stillness, Max felt as though he was inside a painting, destined to forever be hidden by foliage with spears of clouded sunlight breaking through the shrinking purple lush of early autumn.

  There were two empyreans above him. One made by the murky, almost achromatic clouds and another, far less bnd, made of that retiring, darkening, vioceous, plum, lic, amethyst, and every other possible shade of that purple lush that his highly astute eyes could discern. This second sky was created by trees whose height rivaled some of the tallest structures his city had to offer. The forest floor had a luxuriant bnket composed of purple and garnet-colored ferns.

  Max was at the edge of the Armada. A sprawling forest southwest of Vantium.

  Everything was cat-silent, ck of sound matched the environment, since not even the faintest wind could be felt. Suddenly he could hear a distant noise of gentle thuds and a scraping sound as the Wraith slowly came into view. His prey seems to have caught something. The Wraith was dragging a giant short-faced bear to the cave to eat it. Max didn't understand why not just eat where you kill it, since when you are the top predator around it's not like anyone will disturb you. Well not unless a lone hunter wanted to try something foolish. Very foolish, he thought.

  Wraith hunts, he hunts. Perhaps he will become its new prey in the end. Or, they may end up killing each other. Max smiled. Perfect circle.

  Possible forms in which a Wraith might appear are without bounds. There are no two that are the same—miniature copies not included of course. In this particur case, the beast was squat and wide. Lizard-like with bck eyes, no whites, and pale gray scales. It used its long thick tail to drag the bear to the cave.

  Frontal assault meant certain death. He must wait for the thing to gorge itself. Only after it fell asleep, all content and rexed with a full belly, it should be easy to kill it.

  Come on...Max thought as the bck-cwed lizard slowly disappeared into the depths of its ir.

  Before getting up he turned the cape to its other side with a pale yellow color.

  There is no honor in this kill. No honor in what he is about to do. Such is life. Honor can be an expensive thing, indeed. Kali and Maeve could probably take it down easily, fair fight or not. In moments of endless boredom—during those twenty-five days—moments that demanded patience and some more patience yet, the mind tended to wander and he imagined countless scenarios of his kindred and him fighting in the arena; of him fighting together with Maker against the humans. Of course, since he was only sixty he never even saw a human, except in some old drawings. Stories said they were wild, brutish, and below even animals.

  As Max slowly approached the cave, hugging every shaded, crepuscur spot and every sizable rock or cover, he imagined Maeve and her perfect lips. Though in general, he tended to stave off such thoughts, it was a futile effort—cognate to trying to cut the wind or wrestle a mountain.

  Even in my mind, she distracts me.

  He suspected Maeve was only using him to learn everything that was said during Council meetings; however, considering her position it wouldn't be entirely surprising if she knew all the topics to be discussed before even Maker himself.

  Perhaps she truly likes me, the thought brought a grin to his face.

  Stop. There is only prey and me. There is only prey and me. Max kept repeating the same thought until his mind was sharper than the amarium stiletto dagger tied at his ankle.