chapter 3

By the evening, the travellers had stopped and made a fire. Once their meal was complete, the two men lit their pipes. There was a lot to discuss. For Dómbruck, one matter was sitting heavily on his brow that needed to be addressed immediately. After all, he was going to sleep next to a cannibal from the northern tribelands.
"Are you from one of the man-eating tribes?"
"Ye'hir! This body eats its' enemies."
"And why do you eat the flesh of men?"
"I come from the North, where the spirits roam in the night. My spirit tells me that to defeat an enemy is to consume it. Otherwise the enemy might come back. Besides, human flesh has a powerful taste to it. Ever smelled the roasted heart of a ten-foot warrior? Those are the sweetest meals of my life."
Dómbruck watched the fire, frowning.
"Most people find such behavior vile, even demonlike. They claim it makes you bloodthirsty and mad for flesh."
"I eat no demon, for its' flesh is rotten and smoldering. Neither will I lose my sanity over it. To be a cannibal does not mean I can't be respected or trusted, does it?"
"I care not what you are or what people think of you, as long as you keep your appetite to our foes."
With the weight off his chest, Dómbruck and axeman Bielyn started to discuss their different motives and plans to assassinate their lord and commander, val Embethél Sterien.