A storm of Blood and Ash fell over all of Jarkarr, and visibility had been cut down to nothing, through the gloom, a bird with flames for wings, and a body resembling larva flew over the silent, dead world.
Its movement left long trials of flames behind, and it opened eyes looked down with a hint of amusement before it made a deep sound that by all right should emerge from a throat of an animal thousand of times its size, it turned around and flew towards space where it settled on the shoulder of a chubby man.
The man had eyes that glowed like lit coal, and he had a wide smile that did not reach his eyes. The Third Prince had finally reached Rowan after these few months because he was distracted by other matters, and with the time frame the Third Prince operated on, these months were like seconds to him.
