"Fighting lions. I could easily see it." There's almost nothing that can stand against a trained onslaught of a pack of war dogs. He's grateful that the few he has ever had to fight were feral and not coordinated by human trainers or Ash Warriors.

He shudders visibly. "It's awful to think of that thing just...asleep all that time, or worse yet awake and frozen. How it must have hated us all if that's the case. They put costumes on it for festivals. My brother liked it. I always thought it a ghastly thing. She must have. I haven't been back to the village since I left for my training. It's hard to imagine the town square empty." He doesn't even know if they ever rebuilt or if the village stayed empty after the Blight. The thought pricks him with guilt.

"Interesting world we live in, isn't it? No shortage of wonders and horrors." He reaches up to rub at the bridge of his nose with steepled hands and pulls them slowly down and off the end of it. "What time is it? Do you have any idea?"