Lodawg's golden slit eyes narrowed, reassessing his opponent with newfound interest.
"Oh," he said, his metallic voice carrying a note of genuine surprise. "You have a strodem? I thought only the deivruta possessed such gifts."
Jolthar remained silent, his face impassive. The ring on his right-hand middle finger—gold metal that had always seemed unremarkable—now gleamed with subtle power.
Then he said, "Don't have one yourself." Jolthar raised his middle finger, showing the ring.
"Quite perceptive, eh."
Lodawg raised his transformed hand, displaying a similar ring embedded in the bronze flesh of his elongated finger. "This one, I took from a deivruta after I killed him," he said casually, as though discussing the acquisition of a trinket at market.
Jolthar frowned deeply, an expression mirrored on Johamma's face.
