Someone You Can Build a Nest In

Wracked with emotional pain after Homily reveals her family connection, Shesheshen retreats to her lair’s hot spring. She has a violent breakdown, physically dismantling her body to expel the parts of others she has absorbed over time, including Catharsis’s jaw. Shesheshen concludes that Homily’s kindness was just a trap and resolves to kill her.

She reassembles her body, embedding a bear trap in her chest. However, when she finds Homily asleep in the bedroom, Shesheshen hesitates before acting. Homily awakens and greets her with kindness, expressing concern over Shesheshen’s exhaustion and injuries. This causes Shesheshen’s murderous resolve to crumble. Instead of killing Homily, she ends up proposing that they hunt the monster together.

Shesheshen and Homily stake out a ditch near Underlook Forest, waiting for the monster to appear. Homily explains the Wulfyre family curse: After her mother killed a wyrm, its offspring cursed the family line, saying their power will wane and they will all die. The curse has already claimed Homily’s aunt and will soon come for the rest of them. She reveals that her mother is the Baroness Wulfyre, the local ruler.

Attempting to protect herself by controlling the