"Drinks down. Now," Radeon shouted.
The old men, their wives, even the children stared at him. What did drinking have to do with any of this?
Radeon did not keep it a secret. He rose on the bison's wings, hovered above one of the caches, and snatched it.
"Hold it," Radeon said. "I've got a plan."
Radeon pried a crate open and took a bottle. Cloth followed. Qi sparked, and fire woke hungry and bright.
He hurled the crude incendiary into the nearest moth.
Flame took it fast. The creature's dry hair fed the blaze, turning it into a writhing torch that screamed through every mouth on its body.
Other gu turned at once, their nature betraying them. They drifted closer, drawn by fire like prayer.
For a breath, it worked. Only a few tens, though. Wind rushed through and tore the flame away in strips.
The blaze thinned, then broke. The moths shook off what little heat remained and moved again, hunger returning as if it had never left.
Radeon watched the failure and frowned.
