Brothers Mark and Orin make a habit of attending Gatherings. This one begins like all the others. The healer claims unnatural powers and uses poor Latin. But there has never before been a snake-bearer. As the ceremony begins and the role of the snake-bearer becomes clear, Mark is scandalized. The prices the Healer demands are too high. And the outcomes, questionable. "He's just another fraud," Mark says. So then, why does Mark keep feeling the Healer rummaging around in his head? This stand-alone short story from the Helium Quest series follows the events in "A Land Overflowing."