"So they're sorta like your world's version of zombies or something," Max replied wryly, shaking her head at all this information. "Wow, man. And I thought this place was messed up. Hell, I thought my world was messed up. But dealing with psychopathic snake cults and power-hungry humans seems like a walk in the part to shadow zombies and elven warfare and the Russians winning the cold war."

"No one," she said emphatically, motioning around her with her hand, "is going to believe me when I get home with stories of this place. No one. And I know a lot of gullible people who believe an awful lot of crap."