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Tullian

 

“Who are you?” growled the man with white hair. They looked so similar…

 

Must be related.

 

The fire-haired man reeled; his knees began to buckle. The one with white hair stepped briskly over to him and caught him—none too gently—by the shoulder.

 

He could feel the injured man tense as his relative touched him. That wince would make the pain worse. I gritted my teeth.

 

“Listen to me, rat!” the white-haired man hissed. “Don’t get bitten again. If you do, you’ll die.”

 

That hurt. Almost worse than the snake bite. That tone, words like that—

 

Bet he’s used to it. That makes it worse. That would make the pain go almost unrecognized, by now. Harder to cure something you’re used to.

 

The red-haired man stammered, “Wh-why …do you … suddenly … care … ?”

 

“Because it’ll make me look bad if you do.” Snapped the relative.

 

Tullian was surprised: he didn’t usually feel like hitting people. He glanced at him out of the corner of his eye. Too big; used to fighting. It wouldn’t help anyway. The hurt man buckled again. His head must be spinning.

 

Tullian put his hand under the man’s arm, trying not to let the other’s attitude nettle him. That will only hurt him worse.

 

He glanced up. He didn’t even have to concentrate to feel the panic in the room. At least this man’s accident was keeping his mind busy.

 

The white-haired man was growling something to him. “I asked your name?”

 

What’s it to you?

 

“Tullian,” he grunted. The relative still had his hand on the redhead’s shoulder, but he wasn’t helping lift him. If anything he was making him more heavy. The redhead was getting heavier by the second. He’ll pass out soon.

 

“Yours?”

Tullian’s chest heaved, and he resisted the urge to back away. Master Irrelis says hatred is contagious. It certainly felt like a disease when it was standing so close to Tullian.

Just then the man sagged. Tullian caught him, but he was a giant of a man and his brother–

It must be a brother. There’s something that feels like it.

His brother could lift him more easily than Tullian could, and both of them together easier still.

“You gonna help move your brother, or will that make you look bad, too?”

That wasn’t going to make him any happier, but it was better than punching the man.