‘Sings,’ she signed. ‘Always. It makes me feel … dirty. Vulnerable somehow. As if my body and my spirit know its singing, even if I don’t. If that makes sense? But it never does anything else. Not even when I feed it. Just watches me and sings until I can’t stand it any more. I can’t learn anything from it,’ she added with intense frustration.

‘Maybe I can,’ he signed. ‘Have you got me?’

‘Always.’ She took a spear in one hand and a club in the other, and when he raised an eyebrow, she tapped her knee with it. Tayan winced at her casual brutality, but couldn’t really blame her for it. Not after everything that had happened.

He wiped his hands on his kilt and then stepped down into the tunnel leading to the womb. He tugged at the rope around his chest fretfully, checking the knot, and when his feet slowed, Xessa gave him a gentle nudge. The torchlight grew and he could hear a splashing, abruptly stilled. It had heard him, too.

He paused before the turn into the womb. ‘Wait here, out of sight,’ he signed. ‘I want to see what it does when I’m alone.’ Xessa shook her head vehemently. ‘Send Ossa in with me. He’ll alert you if anything goes wrong.’

She licked her teeth and chewed at her lip, then gave him the club and waved him on. The dog, too. Tayan took a deep breath and turned the corner, pausing just inside the womb to blink in the light of the torches and candles. The cave was hot and smoky and the water at the far end was shallow and the Drowned … the Drowned was on its side in the water, gills flapping and lungs labouring. Suffering.

Ossa was growling, a constant low rumble of threat that didn’t seem to stop even for breath. Tayan leant the club against the wall and checked the rope again, then scratched the dog’s head to try and calm him. The rumble continued.

‘Hello,’ Tayan said, his voice cracking. He cleared his throat and tried again. ‘I know you have language. I know you can speak, in a way. Do you understand me? I’m not going to hurt you.’

The Drowned watched him, and when he took a step forward it thrashed backwards, huddling up against the wall. The movement triggered a snarl from Ossa, but Tayan spread his hands. ‘I’m not armed. I’m not going to hurt you. I just want to understand.’ Gingerly, he squatted down to be less of a threat, ready to throw himself backwards at any second. The rope was almost taut behind him; he couldn’t get much closer.