For something that was clearly dead, the snake seemed more than alive. It had no insides, a bit of flesh stuck on to the skin, making the floor and walls of the cavern rather springy. Saras walked on, hoping that he wouldn't end up like the crocodiles.

"Mr Kanbu, how did you end up on the Horizon?" He asked as Saras tripped on a loose piece of flesh, and landed on his tail. It was a soft landing, naturally, but out of embarrassment the fox failed to answer. Chi instead kept on talking. "You know of course, that I was the one who brought the ship here? It kept on going astray at night, and there are lots of ways I could have done it, so I won't speculate." Saras had no doubt that Chi wouldn't have been this open if they weren't currently inside a giant snake's corpse. But nodded weakly anyways. Then the camel said something that made Saras shiver. "The corpses outside are all part of my plan."

They turned and reached a stop, where another fire was roasting a leg.

"May I tempt you?" He asked indicating the meat.

"No!" Saras replied quickly. His heart was hammering hard.

"Come off it! I assure you it was feral, besides you've already tried something similar. Don't lie, I can see the blood on your muzzle."

"I didn't eat anything!" Saras snapped. "I got some blood in my mouth and then went… Wild."

Chi searched him and threw him a chunk of bread. "How interesting." He said, gnawing at a leg of meat, his hooves clenched around the bone. "And has this ever happened before?"

Watching the herbivore munch away at the flesh was enough to put Saras off his dinner for good. "Um… No. But I keep forgetting my name. And walking on all fours and… Sniffing." He felt stupid and worried.

"Oh that's all natural. Mind you I haven't started sniffing yet, or walking on all fours. It's a symptom of the island. It causes people to loose their sanity and become their wildest selves."

"So it's not just me?" Saras blurted out.

Chi nodded and a great weight seemed to leave the fox's gut.

"These are called the Feral Islands. They were long ago cursed by the Mother of All to hold those that had wronged her and keep them wild. However, you are progressing quicker. That can be explained in two words. Blood Diamond."

Saras blinked. "Blood what?"

"It is a technique, passed down through blood. The tale goes that long ago the clever fox escaped the island and became almost civil. He passed the illness to his son who spread it to his five children. Five branches of it. You must be the descendant of one of these five branches."

Saras was an orphan, he knew that his family had died along with the Jit Kun, at the hands of the raider Temujin. Yet they had this technique… Perhaps he could find out more about them.

"No. You wouldn't be able to trace backwards. Your genes were only noticed now, unlocked by the power of this island. I'm sorry, but you wouldn't find your family."

"How did you know I was-"

"I too am an orphan. I know the way we think."

Yes… But you killed the people who gave you a home… I would die for them. He sat there, wondering.

"Anyways, I won't keep you. You're welcome to stay, but I will leave that to you."

Saras rose to his feet. "Well er-thanks for your help." Saras said, rising. His bread lay untouched.

Chi watched him leave. It was lucky he tripped on his way out, or the camel's hoof would have knocked him out. Saras rose again,turning and receiving a vicious uppercut that knocked him into the top of the cavern, Chi followed up with a chop to the gut that sent Saras flying backwards. He landed, dazed, on the soft flesh, Chi approaching menacingly.

"You might be wondering why I brought the Horizon here. Well I am hunting the first Nian, but I need bait. What better than a kit. All that young flesh would surely be appealing, and that's not even mentioning your chi."

Saras had understood about three words, but he had nevertheless gathered that Chi had just tried to kill him. This time he was ready, and rolled through the camel's legs, pivoting his hands and kocking out behind him. His feet landed hard on the back of his knee, and Chi buckled. Before he could recover Saras had ploughed into the back of his legs, and Chi collapsed, landing hard on his back. Saras wasted no time to see him recover and sprinted down the tent, inadvertedly on all fours. He slipped after taking a turn too sharply, and slid on his side. He could hear Chi pounding after him but knew that he was undoubtedly going to get away in time. He got to his feet and this time took his time to knock down the wooden poles holding up the snake. By the time he was out the mouth the tent had collapsed on Chi. Looking relieved and somewhat smug, Saras breathed in lungfuls of air. The camel, while far from friendly had been useful. He heard muffled yells as Chi struggled against the dead snake, which looked like it was still alive and had had an abnormally large meal.

Saras didn't wait and continued walking. So the island made him go wild… Feral. But it was doing it extra quick because someone had passed down the gene to him. But clearly the island wasn't unbeatable, so far Chi was not insane-or rather not as insane as he should be. Which meant that the island's magic could be fought. That was useful information-not to mention Saras liked having his jumper back.