>>106314May as well continue more of the story...
The clouds eclipsing the moon pass, restoring the light. For much of the past several minutes, the evening star has looked strangely like a dead whale in an open blue and black ocean, set upon by a frenzy of circling white sharks, and bathing the water in its blood - as the celestial body, surrounded by nearby glowing white stars cast a reddish glow upon the whole night. Now, it appears that the Evening Star - which for so long bejeweled the night with its especially yellowish glow, now appears to have bled white and lost its color.
Below the stars the dim white light illuminates a land turned upside-down in a bizarre Saturnalia of weather. The wind continues in quick gusts, and the sound of rustling leaves replaces the former symphony of insect and animal noises of the jungle. All sounds of life have ceased. The dark wind blows from beyond the horizon and from above the thickening clouds, sending a chill wind that strips away the jungle heat that was so stifling just minutes before.
It starts to snow. This is not the light snow of first winter, sending large, fluffy snowflakes children try to catch in their mouths. This is not the dense snow of middle winter that covers the land in a thick blanket. Nor is it like a blizard that whites out the sky in an intense bombardment. It is a light snow. The snow flakes are tiny, the size of the tip of a pen, and the snowfall almost resembles a light drizzle. This snow did not come from any cloud, but from the air itself. The humidity of the jungle itself has frozen as it hung in the air. It now falls upon the palm trees, the bananas, the vines, and other tropical foliage.
All of this takes place around Iron and Cauldron as the grasp each other. Though Iron pays attention to none of it, some of it is felt, seen, or intuited regardless. But for all of that, the most interesting thing to take place unbeknownst to Iron over the past several minutes has taken place on the ground.
When Iron had Cauldron tie Pear, she tied her forelegs together. The reas legs were not tied down, nor her forelegs to her chest. When Iron moved Pear, she struggled to the greater extent When Iron locked his eyes on Cauldron, he abandoned his watch over the unsecured prisoner. Even as the quadruped was not able to right herself, she slinked away, inch by inch. She new that in the short grass on the rocky outcropping, not far off, lay the sharped obsidian. She dropped the piece of the Macuahuitl when she went to taught Dr. Grant. She knew approximately where it was. When she reached the still blood soaked glass shard, she rubbed the tie against it. Obsidian breaks along neat fissures, but it does not break as cleanly as polished steel. Along those sharp edges are tiny inconsistencies that give the glass blade an almost serrated quality. All the better for Pear, as it cuts rope nearly as well as it does throats. Soon enough, Pear is free. She does not hide her tail any longer