After some thought, Kaelen said to Asher: [Take the two children back to the tribe, but don't let them interact with the other kids in the tribe right away.]
Asher replied happily, "Got it. I'll send them back to the tribe immediately. Don't worry, before they get rid of every last louse, I won't let them pass it on to the other brats."
Kaelen: [...] That's not the point at all!
Forget it. The kids in the tribe were probably even craftier than the adults; squeezing anything useful out of them would be harder than climbing to the heavens.
Asher drove a wooden stake into the ground within Kaelen's reach, hung a bamboo tube of water on it, and only then left. Kaelen leaned his head against Sane's serpentine body and drew several symbols across the snake's scales.
[You tell me—if you're going to sleep, then sleep. Why wrap yourself around me? What am I supposed to do if I need to relieve myself?]
