I showed the skull to Sergei and Xi.

Sergei's head injury turned out to be fine. It's still bandaged, but he's not concussed. He looks bad, though, with his head and hand bandaged, his arm in a sling. I told them I'd dug something up in The Sick Land that I wanted to show them. They looked at each other. A knowing look. I ignored it, and asked them to follow me to the lab.

When we got there, I opened the locker and took out the wrapped bundle. I put it on an examination table. I said they ought to brace themselves. Another knowing look. I unwrapped it and stepped back. Xi gasped, her hand to her mouth. Sergei came forward. He lifted the skull, ran his hands over it. Poked his fingers into the eye sockets. He said it was fascinating. I turned to Xi. She was pressed against the wall, staring at the skull. I asked her what was wrong. She said one word, a word I hadn't heard before.

Birdhead.