The presence entered Finn's perception with the force of a physical impact. He was right there, next to Finn, traveling right alongside him, latched on by the inextricable logic of soul debt.
He was alive. He was well and he was following Finn back to the future.
The battle wasn't over. The gamble hadn't killed him.
But then Finn felt it. He pushed past the initial shock of Arros's survival and delved into the quality of the presence. Because he had burned those soul masses, because he had prolonged the nullification, he had stripped away Arros's primary defenses. The veil was thin enough for Finn to sense the state of this monster…
And what Finn sensed… was glee…
Arros was gleeful.
