<strong>Eshalu in the Magna Sophia chapterhouse common room, ready to depart</strong><br/><br/>Though she tried not to show it, Eshalu was pleased by Aeryn's expression of confidence in her skills. She was certainly ready to depart - spear slung across her back and blades oiled and sharpened by her side.<br/><br/>Reliyian's encouragement was especially reassuring. Perhaps, she thought, the expedition would enable them to bridge the spiritual and cultural gap between their peoples, dispersed and separated millennia ago in the first great migrations. "<em>And I yours, Far-Seer,</em>" Eshalu replied softly in her native tongue, choosing, for lack of a better analogy, the title she would use to refer to a shaman in addressing Reliyian. She felt uncomfortable using human speech when she knew she could be understood in her own language. She feared the loss of nuance and her own unfamiliarity with a tool she considered somewhat unwieldy.<br/><br/>"But now we hunt," Eshalu said and joined Aeryn at her side.<br/><br/>It was time to face the island.<br/><br/>