“There was part of a student inside it. I almost lost my breakfast.”

"Can any of us use two large pieces of fireproof skin from a giant amphisbaena? Do we know any upperclassmen who work with mal parts?”

On their way up to the library, after stopping at Mari's room to dump the bundles of skin, Mari turns to Ellen.

“That was a mistake.”

Ellen nods.

“Yes. Nobody was doing anything, just talking; I was afraid it would eat someone else. They didn't tell us it was an amphisbaena and they aren't usually that big, so I didn’t know fire wouldn’t work.”