"I have flirted with death on occasion," Valyn admitted, lowering his eyes. Just how closely, he wasn't about to say. "My people are long lived, and tend to do everything they can to ensure they live all of their natural years. But that sort of life..." He shrugged. He certainly wanted to live his natural life, but not if the cost was the needless deaths of thousands.

"I'm not sure what's real anymore," he replied, honestly. "Other than myself. And sometimes I even wonder about that."