Chapter 2
It was a relief to arrive back home, to their rocky abode decorated with furniture made of bone, with mattresses and cushions stuffed to luxurious proportions with human hair, and couches made from the tanned and treated skin of humans. It was comforting to have the familiar appliances, all of them powered by human souls—one soul equalling five days of power if used conservatively. Strange then how empty Charam felt as he gazed through the bedroom window at the barren landscape of red soil and scattered stones. Strange, too, how his thoughts turned to the world of blue skies and green grass, with its abundant smells and bright colours which he visited whenever it came time to collect another soul. It was at those times, when need dictated a journey into that alien realm, that Ch
