Someone You Can Build a Nest In

Shesheshen consumes Catharsis’s entire body, using his organs and bones to heal and restructure herself. Despite this nourishment, she remains unable to remove the barbed, rosemary-poisoned crossbow bolt lodged in her chest. The poison continues to weaken her, creating an urgent need for additional sustenance.

Venturing outside her lair, she observes Rourke and Malik fleeing the area in a wagon. A giant, blue-furred bear that she has named Blueberry gives chase until Shesheshen calls her off. She feeds Blueberry portions of Catharsis’s remains, and she cuddles Blueberry for warmth against the poison’s numbing chill. Recognizing that her current condition leaves her vulnerable, Shesheshen realizes she must risk traveling to the nearby town of Underlook to find more food.

That evening, Shesheshen ventures into Underlook, with Blueberry carrying her most of the way there. She is still disguised as Roislin in the red, hooded cloak. Shesheshen discovers the town celebrating her supposed death by burning wyrm effigies in the town square. The townspeople have protective shrines, and many of them profit by scavenging from caravans that Shesheshen attacks. A wealthy young man named Laurent approaches her, believing her to be from out of town. He flirts with her and reveals his belief that the Wyrm of Underlook is merely a hoax perpetuated by the locals so that they can sell protections to nervous travelers.

Shesheshen agrees to accompany Laurent to his home, planning to consume him for sustenance. However, their departure is interrupted when Rourke and Malik arrive in the town square. They announce that the wyrm remains alive and describe its distinctive red cloak. Malik spots Shesheshen in the crowd and identifies her to the gathering as the wyrm. Terrified by this revelation, Laurent rips off her hood, exposing her monstrous features to the assembled townspeople. The crowd erupts in panic, and Shesheshen flees through the streets.

Shesheshen runs through Underlook’s streets pursued by an armed mob wielding torches and burning logs. To escape the pursuit, she breaks into a stable and steals Laurent’s horse, knocking Laurent into a water trough as she rides away.

A mounted posse of townspeople, including Rourke and Malik, gives chase as she flees the town. Desperate to evade her pursuers, Shesheshen directs the stolen horse off the main road toward a deep ravine in the surrounding highlands. When the panicked horse reaches the ravine’s edge, it bucks violently, throwing Shesheshen into the chasm below.

Shesheshen awakens later by a small campfire in the ravine, and she finds herself wrapped in warm quilts. A stocky woman named Homily introduces herself and reveals that she found Shesheshen unconscious after her fall. Homily has carefully removed the poisoned crossbow bolt, sewn and bandaged the wound, and splinted Shesheshen’s injured arm.

When asked for her name, Shesheshen provides the alias Siobhan. Homily kindly feeds her nutritious broth to help her healing. However, Shesheshen notices that Homily’s cart contains various traps and bladed weapons. Mistaking her rescuer for a monster hunter, Shesheshen resolves to kill and consume Homily for sustenance once she has regained sufficient strength.

The following day, Homily loads a still-groggy Shesheshen into her wagon, dressing her in a spare gray dress and a large hat that looks like a witch’s hat. As they travel, Homily explains that she is a traveling researcher studying animal behavior and says she was testing scent-lures in the ravine when a blue bear appeared. Shesheshen’s fall from above frightened the bear away, saving Homily from potential danger.

Shesheshen realizes the bear was Blueberry and later spots the bear following the wagon from a distance. Convinced that Homily is not a monster hunter and charmed by her kindness, Shesheshen no longer wishes to attack or consume her. Also, she is concerned that by leading Homily to her lair, she runs the risk of potentially exposing her true nature. So Shesheshen reluctantly accepts Homily’s offer to stay with her at Underlook’s Red Dragon Inn.

As they enter Underlook, Shesheshen observes that the townspeople actively avoid Homily. At the Red Dragon Inn, they discover a letter from the innkeeper offering them free lodging. Homily is angered by this gesture, but the novel will later reveal that this is an act of sympathy following news that Catharsis, Homily’s brother, has been killed by the wyrm. The townspeople avoid Homily because they fear the Wulfyres. However, Homily remains unaware that Catharsis is dead, and Shesheshen does not yet know that Homily is a Wulfyre.

Homily refuses to explain the reason for the townspeople’s treatment to Shesheshen. Distressed, Homily leaves the room to clear her head, abandoning Shesheshen at the inn. Left without explanation, Shesheshen believes she is somehow responsible for causing Homily’s distress. However, she is too tired and weakened to pursue this thought and falls asleep.

That evening, Shesheshen wakes to find herself still alone. She explores the town, observing crude triangular drawings posted as warnings about the monster. Following the sound of music, she discovers a party for Underlook’s wealthy residents taking place in the town hall. Through a window, she observes Homily sitting by herself inside, isolated from the other guests by a deliberate barrier of empty tables.

Homily pretends to read a book while secretly watching the other partygoers dance and socialize. Understanding that the townspeople are deliberately ostracizing her rescuer, Shesheshen resolves to intervene on Homily’s behalf.

Shesheshen breaks into a butcher shop and eats the rats infesting the shop. She selects various animal bones to incorporate into her body. Using these materials, she constructs a new, more robust humanoid skeleton that is complete with feet suitable for dancing.

She then locates Laurent in an alley, captures him, and threatens to consume him. However, she offers him an alternative: He must gather a crew and thoroughly clean her lair in preparation for receiving a guest. Terrified by her threat, Laurent agrees to her demands and departs to fulfill his task.

Shesheshen returns to the town hall party and approaches the isolated Homily, asking her to dance. She admits she lacks knowledge of proper dancing technique and requests that Homily lead. As Shesheshen and Homily dance together, the other guests clear the floor to watch their performance, creating an intimate moment between the pair.

During their dance, Shesheshen experiences intense emotions and realizes her strong feelings for Homily stem from a biological desire to make Homily a nest for her future children. After the dance concludes, Shesheshen successfully convinces Homily to leave Underlook and accompany her to her home. Homily agrees, and they depart together in the wagon.

As they travel the highway outside Underlook at night, Shesheshen and Homily encounter three masked bandits: Aristocracy, Plutocracy, and Kleptocracy, who falsely claim to be collecting tolls for the Wulfyre family. The bandits search their wagon and become aggressive when they find nothing of value.

Homily attacks Aristocracy with a mace, and while Homily is distracted, Shesheshen uses bone spikes to kill Plutocracy and Kleptocracy. During the melee, Aristocracy manages to stab Homily in the shoulder before Shesheshen kills her as well. With Homily badly wounded and bleeding, Shesheshen rushes her toward the safety of her lair.

Shesheshen arrives at her lair to discover that Laurent’s crew has successfully cleaned and decorated the foyer as she instructed. After dismissing Laurent, she brings the bleeding Homily inside to tend to her wounds. When she sees that the shoulder wound refuses to close properly, Shesheshen grafts a piece of her own flesh onto it, miraculously healing the injury.

Homily is amazed by Shesheshen’s supernatural healing abilities. Then, Homily reveals her true identity, saying she is Homily Wulfyre. She explains that her entire family suffers from a deadly curse supposedly placed upon them by the Wyrm of Underlook; as a result of this curse, their family members are dying one by one. She confesses that she has been hunting the monster to obtain its heart, believing that will save her remaining relatives. Homily then asks Shesheshen to help her locate and kill the creature.