News of the death of Ondo Lagan sent ripples of despair through the Being"s depths. Eb was inevitably destroyed too, and it was to blame for both events. Two of its main playing-pieces had been swept from the board. As clearly as it had dared, it had given Ondo a trail to follow and now the man was gone, his brief flicker of life snuffed out. There could be no doubt; for once the First Augurs had made sure information flowed down to the Being unfiltered and without delay.
The fact of that wasn"t lost on it. A warning? A punishment? Perhaps both. For the moment, the Being was too consumed with loss and grief to care.
The concept of death had once confused it hugely. Thirty million years ago, it had been baffled to learn that individuals among the Tok were one day simply no longer there.
