“The goddess was bathing, and so she carved a sandalwood boy to stand guard,” mutters Reaching the West Reaches. The cave is dark, and his broken sword will not light the way. “But he was curious, and looked upon his mother in the bath; and her husband arrived home to find them–”

See Me leaps out, sword whole and gleaming. Reaching the West Reaches parries and feints, strikes, strikes again.

See Me’s head rolls to a stop. His own lacquer eyes look up from it.

“So the god cursed the boy,” he pants, “with an elephant’s head, too heavy to bear…”