Kelden felt as if he'd just awakened from a dream that lingered like a phantom fog in his mind. A small, itchy bump protruded from the back of his neck, but otherwise he seemed intact. The shaman had placed the fire cable back in the giant egg, and the lights on the metal monstrosity had changed back to a blinking red. The greenish glow in the fleshy compartments was gone, leaving only shadow.
Kelden related his experience to Dameon, who translated it to the shaman. The shaman gathered his ten best warriors, but then a whispered warning passed throughout the village that worms had been spotted. The Galds extinguished the torches, and a foul incense was lit around the village to persuade the worms to hunt elsewhere. Kelden and his companions were ushered into an empty hut. After that, the village stood dark and silent. The Galds even had a concoction to prevent snoring.
Exhausted, Kelden's companions quickly fell asleep. But Kelden lay awake restlessly for hours pondering his fate. The realization that he now carried not just one--but possibly two--monsters inside him was almost more than he could bear. The Arnwolf was barely controllable for a seer, and Kelden was a mere infant in the art of blood lore. It seemed entirely possible he could permanently mutate into some nightmarish thing. His situation was so bizarre that even Dameon couldn't understand what he was going through. He felt like a pawn of much greater forces that were using his body for their own purposes.
Somehow, Kelden finally found sleep, but there was no peace--only a wave of nightmares, most of which he would mercifully forget when he awoke.