Passing Time in the Livewoods

The chorus of tinny screams woke me. "What are you doing, Rikko?"

The mercenary glanced at me across the fire. "Eating the talking berries." He held up a handful. They sobbed pitifully and begged me to save them.

"Why are you upset?" I asked them. "You're supposed to be eaten. That's the point of berries."

Rikko plucked up a single berry, sucked away the sweet flesh, and carefully ground the seed to splinters between his fingernails. The berries in his other hand wailed. He grinned with red-stained teeth.

I stared for a moment, then rolled over and struggled to sleep.