"Hold on, my dear," the ancient woman said to the broken man. "All things come when they are due. So, too, your telling of this story. Why don't you start at the beginning?" The man looked up, confused. “The beginning?” "Start where you first felt that the way of things was broken. Then perhaps we can understand them, and, if the spirits will it, mend them." "It's in the nature of the soldier to kill and be killed. This is not wrong, nor is it broken. A curse even so; some fight with weapons made with more subtlety than iron and steel." "Koroska!" I called. "Péla!" Silence. "KOROSKA! PÉLA!" again.