"We watched the demon," the hunter said, his voice still flat, as if (although he knew them to be true) he could not quite believe the words himself. "I was with Mela. We watched the demon go to the forest and rip out a standing tree by the roots. Then trembling, Mela stepped out to greet it with a friendship offering. And the demon turned on her and roared down on her and mashed her body lifeless under it, and the god-man who was astride the demon became so terrified that he seemed to laugh. I fled."
There was silence for a moment.
"The Old Gods," one hunter began, but he did not finish the sentence.
The hunters shuffled.
"I saw the demon kill Mela," the hunter said with finality. "We must kill the demon."
The young hunter cleared his throat again. "They are not Gods, but still I should not have harmed the god-man, last night, at the wall. We do not mean them any harm." He paused. "Only the demon."
The hunters nodded.
"They will thank us for destroying the demon."
"The god-men, themselves, have killed four of us," Neju said suddenly.
"They cannot help themselves," the young hunter insisted. "They must do the demon's will." He paused again. "They cannot be gods, to obey the demon, but we should not harm them."