From below, deep in the humming red silence of the ini, came the wet-tongue sound of something slithering.
Tak leaned farther over the funnel with its jagged crystal sides and murky reddish light. Now it could hear a sound, very faint—a kind of low, atonal humming. It was an idiot sound . . . but it was also wonderful, compelling. It closed its stolen eyes and breathed deeply, sucking at the force it felt, trying to get as much inside as it could, wanting to slow—at least temporarily—this body’s degeneration. It would need Ellen awhile longer. And besides, now it felt the ini’s peace. At last. “Tak,” it whispered into the darkness.
“Tak en tow ini, tak ah lah, tak ah wan.”
Then it was silent. From below, deep in the humming red silence of the ini, came the wet-tongue sound of something slithering.
