Chapter One
Konrad Savast’s habits might be considered odd even by the most open-minded of persons. Gentleman of the city of Ekamet he may be, and a wealthy one besides; nonetheless he found it necessary, from time to time, to shed the trappings of luxury and make his way out into the marshy Bone Forest, there to gently divest that dangerous woodland of its most virulently poisonous plants.
He also kept company with few living souls. His most regular companions were the shades of two long deceased serpents, Eetapi and Ootapi, and an apothecary as eccentric as he was.
And tonight, his other companion was a corpse.
Again.
Sitting alone in the dark in the house of a stranger, Konrad’s reflections were not of a pleasant cast. Fortunately for him, the more peculiar elements of his work wer
