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as yet about his feelings for Repana. But he had developed a paternal affection for her daughter; if—when—he wed Repana, Vesi would become his child. He could taste, as bitter as bile on his tongue, fury at the wanton damage that had been inflicted upon the lovely young woman.

    â€œIf no man is responsible, then the girl must have been mauled by a beast,” Caile was saying in an effort to regain his dignity. “That stench, that wild smell, could come from a bear or …”
    Repana uttered such an exclamation of disgust that the purtan backed away from her, fearing she might strike him. “Look around, what do you see?” she demanded to know, making a graceful gesture that included the entire house. “The fur rugs underfoot, the tusks of boar and horns of aurochs that hang on the walls … every one of those trophies was taken by my husband. He prided himself on his skill with the spear; it was an art form, he said.
    â€œUsually he killed his prey and made a sacrifice of propitiation to its spirit. But sometimes the beasts left their mark on him. I have tended and stitched many such wounds, including the one that ultimately proved fatal when a bear ripped off the top of his skull. I also saw the damage done by the pack of wild boar that killed my sons when they tried to follow in his footsteps as a matter of family pride. You might say I am an expert on hunting injuries,” she added, with a bitter twist of her mouth.
    Pointing toward the four terrible raking wounds on her daughter’s body, she concluded, “I tell you, priest, there is no wild animal in Etruria that leaves marks like these.”
    â€œIf it was neither man nor animal, it must have been some monster that strayed into our territory,” Caile suggested. “Perhaps a creature from the Darklands, one of those things with the head of a boar and the body of a lion and great leathery wings. We know such monsters live there.”
    â€œ We know?” Pepan called scornfully from the courtyard, not even deigning to look over his shoulder at the purtan. “Who is this ‘we,’ priest? You never venture outside the tular spural , the city boundaries. I have scouted the forests and mountains and found them inhabited by
debased tribes one could scarcely call human, yet they fear us more than we fear them. In all my travels I have seen no such monster as you describe. Nor have I seen anything like what has been done to this girl.”
    â€œBut if you eliminate man and beast and monster,” the purtan argued, throwing up his hands, “what does that leave? What else is there?”
    â€œ Hia ,” breathed Repana. Suddenly her courage failed her. “Hia!”
    To the terror of all, occasionally some corrupted hia would break through from the Otherworld or, more terribly, from the Netherworld. Ravening and uncontrollable, the thing might fasten upon a living person. Once it had selected a victim, it would use its malign influence to drive the unfortunate to commit the most appalling acts, even self-mutilation. But Vesi could not possibly have done this to herself … and Artile had seen another … if the old man had not disturbed her attacker, Vesi might have endured a fate beyond imagining. The thought sickened Repana.
    But as she shuddered with horror, a cracked whisper said, “No, this is not the deed of a mere hia. ”
    Repana whirled around as Caile dropped to his knees and pressed his forehead to the floor. In the courtyard, Pepan did the same. A slight, bent figure stood in the doorway of the house, ignoring the men who prostrated themselves in reverence.
    â€œNot hia? ” Repana asked hoarsely.
    â€œNo. Something worse, I suspect. Much worse.” The shape at the door moved and an old woman hobbled into the room. She was almost hairless with age, her skin taut across the bones of her face, giving the impression of a skull.
    â€œUni Ati,” Repana