Sometime later…
Seventeen deaths.
Only seventeen people had died in three days. The number seemed strangely low given what Halo had seen before, multiple attacks with heavy casualties, including that one afternoon where fifty had been slain.
But as it turned out, this was perfectly normal. The Chaos Eaters could go days without killing anyone, then suddenly slay an unusual number in a short period.
Even so, Shadow of Death had his plate full to dwell much on those petty kills.
Ever since he'd encountered the humanoid Chaos Eaters, he'd realized his mental defenses weren't strong enough to withstand them at their current stage of evolution.
He'd condensed Fade's six brutal lessons into a more manageable routine. Less effective, certainly, but it provided benefits without the near-suicidal repetition the original demanded.
But beyond that, the day finally came for him to get himself in the open.
