Ulnter had changed quite a bit from the time Eldrazi last laid eyes on it. Then again, that was hundreds of years ago, so maybe that was to be expected. Still, there was a nostalgic sort of ache in his heart to find the rocky, untamed paths now beaten down into a cobblestone road, houses standing on once proud mountains, and warm, village lights softening the edges of a bold and unforgiving sea.

It was cosy, he supposed, but for a place that had once been a home, it certainly no longer felt like it.

Gavin, on the other hand, let their shoulders relax at the comforting reminder of civilization, their eyes wandering over the town coming into view.

A second sense of longing reached Eldrazi, along with the gentle tug of a memory. It overlaid their vision, images of Lyra filling his thoughts, chasing after a much shorter version of themselves only for them to be snatched up by young Cynwrig with a laugh. Then, like the closing of a book, the memory faded, Gavin's thoughts wandering to other things while their heart lightened.

Soon, it seemed to say, although Gavin didn't fully think the word. Soon we'll have that again.

"A shame we can't spend the night in the town," the boy finally spoke, and Eldrazi was surprised he was attempting to make conversation at all. That had been mostly his job, to poke Aoife to ask for food, or to poke Selatan for the sake of poking Selatan, or point out a strange cloud or a neat mushroom or—

"Where did you think we were headed?" Selatan asked, turning to face him. "Right to the next Relic? We're too exhausted from walking for that."

"Really?" Talus asked, from somewhere over Eldrazi's shoulder. Once night fell, he'd come out of the backpack, hovering behind them like a ghost. A pointed grin broke out across his face. "I don't feel tired at all."

"That's because you rode around in a bag all day and have been floating ever since!" Selatan cried, hands spreading out in front of him. "That's cheating."

The grin only grew. "That's a strange way to say 'more efficient'."

Eldrazi snickered at that, but was cut off by Aoife whipping her head over her shoulder to give the Shar' Drak'na a withering glare. "Talus. We are going to a tavern, I am getting my leg some medical attention, and that is final."

"What?" Gavin and Eldrazi asked in unison before the boy continued, panic immediately seizing him. "We can't just walk into a tavern! It'll be crowded, the Cearte will find us and we'll all get caught!"

Selatan however, shook his head as he continued to follow the path to the town. "We're not going to get caught. Logically, if they're looking for a bunch of heathens, they'd expect us to be hiding out in forests, alleyways, abandoned houses and the like. It'd be a lot better to blend in with the crowds, if possible."

"Makes sense t' me," Eldrazi agreed with a shrug, although part of him didn't want to. It had been rather nice, sleeping outdoors again with nothing to bother him. Taverns were such superfluous things, with beds so soft they bent your back and– in anywhere but Ulnter– their strange demand for currency. But, if that was going to make sure they weren't caught, he'd manage. "So, 'ow we gettin' in?"

"The same way we did for the last," Selatan explained, removing the red cowl from his head. Aoife took it from him, doubling it up against her own as she draped it over her hair in an attempt to cover her Human ears. "If anything, this time it should be a lot easier."

"True, that." Eldrazi nodded, focusing the last half of his sentence on Gavin. Maybe you outta take a backseat for this one. After all, the less 'Uman we look 'ere, the better.

He was hesitant. "What about my hair?"

For the love of everythin' Gav, you're not the only blond in the world. We'll be fine.

"... all right."

Sound rushed in as the boy retreated, Eldrazi hit with the crashing of waves against the jetties, and crickets chirping into the night. It brought a smile to their face, and he shook the hood of their cloak off their head, reaching for the ribbon on their wrist to tie their hair back.

"You know, I think it's so cute that Gavin wears a ribbon all the time just for you," Talus pointed out, bending forward to give Eldrazi a smile. His form shimmered a light blue as he watched, no doubt from pulling at the illusion Lynette had given him once again. It coated his skin in pale flesh, dying his hair a sandy brown and forming his claws into hands which readjusted his eyepatch in place, finishing off the disguise. "It suits you."

Perhaps it was because of the memory, but the words sent an unexpected, sharp shudder through the both of them, and Eldrazi's eyes fell to the Shar Drak'na's boots as he finished forming the final knot. "It was our mother's."

His face fell. "Oh. Sorry."

Eldrazi just waved it off, flicking the short ponytail behind him for extra flair. "Don't be. I look great in it."

That was enough to make the boy chuckle. "Yeah, you do."

Then he dropped the subject, something that Eldrazi accepted gratefully. Granted, the woman had been Human, meaning she was out there somewhere, most likely already reincarnated and enjoying her life as a new young boy or girl without any recollection of what happened. Still, he doubted he'd ever find her again, and even if he did, it'd never be the same. In a way, it was still a loss he would have to carry with him for all of eternity until that too, slipped from his memory.

"... just how much have you forgotten?"

The god's words echoed in his mind as he slipped a knife from his belt, looking at his name etched there by someone.

He glanced up from it to Aoife, where she stumbled along after Selatan, using a hand to clutch at her knee. It looked swollen, honestly, and he was surprised she was still keeping pace with them after so many hours. For a Human with incredibly slow healing, she was certainly resilient enough to make up for it as she cracked some joke to Selatan like it was nothing. It was another thing that was aggravatingly familiar about her, but no matter how hard he pushed, his mind continued to draw a blank.

So he gave up, letting his gaze trail to the houses that had gone from being scattered around hither and thither to little rows of ducklings, following the mighty mother of a castle up the mountainside. After all, if he couldn't remember now, then he doubted he ever would. Besides, wouldn't remembering be exactly what Uldyŋ wanted? Disgusting. He'd much rather watch the people walking about, paying them very little mind as they headed to their homes.

"So ridiculous," Eldrazi muttered, mostly to himself, but it was clear the others heard him by the way they turned to look. "All these people, rushing to get 'ome like the night air is gonna kill them."

"... maybe because it tastes awful?" Selatan suggested. "Aoife spent the entire morning throwing up Dust, and I can still feel it in my lungs."

"It's 'Uman behaviour. The Dust won't be killin' us anytime soon. Demons are meant to be outside. Live off o' the land. Not this." He gestured frantically to the building Selatan had stopped at, one with enough stories to make Eldrazi wish it was as illiterate as Gavin.

Not that he hated houses per say. He could certainly go inside them from time to time, but the second he did, he couldn't feel the wind on his face, or the excitement of rain dotting his head, or the ocean in his ears. It was like temporarily locking yourself away, and Eldrazi had spent more than enough time this life in a jail cell to want for another. He glared at the white stone and dark wood making up the tavern's boxy walls. "This is blasphemy."

Selatan finally stopped walking, shooting them a bewildered look. "Eldrazi, what are you talking about? Most of us live in houses. We have towns, and we've had them for hundreds of years."

"Yes, well I spent very little of my life living in them." He offered up a casual shrug. "Most of my time was spent stealin', trespassin', and after I worked off that debt to the king, I was a spy. Never really 'ad a place of my own, which in turn made every place mine." He sauntered ahead of Selatan, grabbing the doorknob to the tavern and yanking it open. "Besides, houses are much better for snackin' on than sitting on perfectly good tree dirt."

"Snacking? You ate a house?" Talus asked before the grey collar of his shirt was grabbed by Aoife.

"I'm sure that's not what he said, and if he did, I do not care. I am sitting down, and he can regale us with his grand and wonderful tales later," she told him, dragging him by the shirt into the warm candlelight and hearty sounds of the tavern.

In response, Talus reached over, giving her hair a sharp yank.

"You—" She cut herself off to switch from holding his clothes to tugging sharply at the point of his ear.

Gavin's anxiety spiked through their chest at the sight of them, and suddenly Eldrazi found himself rushing forward to try and stop Talus from slapping Aoife's arm, although they were a bit too late for that.

"Guys! What are you doing?" Gavin fiercely whispered, and Eldrazi could feel their shoulders curl in as the weight of several strangers' eyes landed on them. "You're calling attention to us!"

Gav, you're just makin' it worse. If someone 'ears we 'ave two voices it doesn't matter 'ow much of a Demon we look like right now.

"... soih."

With a groan, Aoife shoved Talus away, crossing her arms. "He started it. And besides, no one is allowed to touch my hair."

That made Eldrazi snicker, and he leaned forward, stretching out a hand with a single finger.

She caught it, and suddenly a hot, sharp burn tore through their skin, making Eldrazi grit their teeth in seething pain. Only then did she let her magik drop along with their wrist. "I wasn't kidding. If your name isn't Selatan Averik I will roast you where you stand."

"What did you say? Selatan Averik? Like the traitorous guard?"

Everyone turned at the voice, finding a girl with fur running up the sides of her arms and a bushy, squirrel tail curled up behind her. She paused wiping the glass she was holding to point a hand towards a few posters racked up on the wall behind her, and Eldrazi could feel the teen stiffen behind them. Still, the closer he looked at the picture, it hardly looked like Selatan. The inked in image looked as scrawny as an unfed orphan, stripy hair laying over his eyes to the point they could hardly be seen, all shaped like it'd been pressed down by a bucket.

And yet, Aoife was frozen at the sound of the girl's voice, a look of confusion on her face. She turned to whisper to Selatan, who didn't look much better, and he stepped in front of her, giving the woman a nod.

"She was explaining how the area's changed a lot over the past three years, and what we'd do if we ever had the bounty," he explained.

"Oh yep!" Aoife squeaked out, taking a fist and smacking it against her palm as if that solved anything. "If I ever- If I was to have the... Selatan touch my hair, he was getting more than roasted. I would... cut him up. There would be pieces and I would feed him to the- the wolves. Yes."

Eldrazi just turned to stare at her. Maybe it was because the girl had used far too many, but for once, he had no words to respond to the jumble of nonsense he was listening to. What in Astren is she even sayin'?

"I... don't think she can speak Ulnte."

He paused at Gavin's voice. Were we speaking in Ulnte?

"You and Selatan were. She wasn't until now. I'm pretty sure that's why she hasn't said much since we got here, which could be a problem."

Huh. Granted, Eldrazi prided himself in learning a great many languages over the years, but he at least thought he'd know which one he was speaking by now. Well, no matter. Worst case scenario, he was sure he could do all the talking for them if needed.

"Ah. Bounty hunters." The Squirrel Demon seemed to brush off her confusion with Aoife's horrid sentence, nodding at Selatan with a shake of her honeyed curls. "That's nothing strange around these parts, though I've never seen you people around. Well come, have a seat."

It was a slow, awkward shuffle to the counter, but once there, Eldrazi couldn't help but stare at the wanted posters on the board, eventually nudging an elbow into Selatan's side. "Someone sure changed a lot over the years, didn't 'e?"

He gave a heartless laugh. "You're one to talk. What happened to you?" he whispered back, tilting his head at another of the posters, where the art of a tall, muscular, really rather handsome fellow leered down at the bar's patrons, along with very familiar text underneath.

Immediately, Eldrazi shot their eyes down to the table, paying Gavin hadn't seen it. He didn't need him asking about the knive's engraving, even if the runes on the poster had been shaped using Ulnte's formal alphabet as opposed to the casual, loving cut on the blade. Instead, he shook their head, pretending to be weary as he stared down at the bar top. "Kids. Never have them, S—"

He cut himself off before he could actually get them in trouble. The reservation only lasted a moment though before his curiosity spilled over. "Say, what kinda felonies do ya think this Selatan fellow committed to make 'im so 'ated round these parts anyway?"

Selatan only raised a brow. "Later. With less ears."

Eldrazi sighed. So secretive, these people. "Very well."

"Hey!" Aoife yelled, making them turn to the left. She lifted a cup in her hand with a brazen grin, and Eldrazi was surprised all the foam managed to stay within the brim. "We're at a tavern, aren't we? What do you want to drink?"

Selatan leaned forward, giving her a dumbfounded look. "How did you even order?"

"I pointed. Sheesh." She rolled her eyes. "You act like I can't even string a few words together."

"Aoife, I love you, but you can't."

Eldrazi zoned out of the rest of the argument, gaze moving down to the girl's wrist, at the symbol of the three moons there. He then glanced further down the row, where Selatan flipped his own over to show off the same mark to the barkeep, each rune filled in with white to show that not only was he a citizen, but one that had paid his taxes to have a Cearte paint them annually. Eldrazi supposed he shouldn't have been surprised. They lived with Róhain, after all. But he also knew that he was in a body that looked too short to be fifteen, with a barren wrist.

Which was a shame, all things considered, as the barkeep handed Talus a dark mead. He could've gone for that. Or rum. That tended to have a bite to it.

Unless...

"Don't." Gavin was immediately filling in. "We don't need to get caught, and besides that, if I never had my coming of age ceremony, then I'm not a man. It's as simple as that."

Malarky. Eldrazi rolled their eyes, a smile playing at their lips. Both he and the boy were old enough, and besides that, he wanted it for a reason he couldn't fully explain. It wasn't for the taste; he really was fine with most anything. Perhaps it was because there were rules in his way, making it alluring, a challenge that his chest itched to alleviate.

He leaned forward to catch the barkeep's hazel eyes with a smirk. "D' ya 'appen to sell grog 'ere, by chance?"

"Eldrazi!"

She gave a nod before scrutinising him from head to toe. "Of course, but... how old are you?"

"Six 'undred and a few other years I couldn't be bothered to remember." He waved a hand, although it was little more than a joke. Of course he'd counted the years. Every bloody one.

She frowned. "I hope you'll forgive me, but I'd like to see your ink, if that's all right."

That was when Aoife, Talus, and Selatan froze, the latter in particular giving him a warning look as he seemed to remember the exact problem with that.

Eldrazi simply ignored it, closing their eyes to reach not into his Will, but hers, feeling it, tasting it with his magik. Sure enough, there were wants there, desires that he could prick and prod at. "Sure, if you'd like." He gave a small shrug. "But I will say, I can 'andle my liquor quite well for my size."

Now her arms were crossed, fingers tapping impatiently. "I don't see how that makes a difference in the law's eyes."

"Ah, that's because you're looking at all the wrong laws, my dear." He leaned further, imagining the energy like a fog extending outwards until he felt a connection form, flavoured like candied almonds. There was a rubbery bitterness behind that though: the girl's own desperation and worry. "You see, if I were lying and you caught me, you give me a water, nothing more. But, if you were never the wiser and I buy a good fifteen drinks tonight, that's a lot of debt off your 'ands, no? And being in debt I'd argue is the very worst law of them all." He smirked. "All those coins enslaving you, forcing you to work day in, day out when our kind's meant to be out there, roamin' the land. Free."

He paused to momentarily glance about at the tavern. There were very few people in it besides them. Just a man sitting a couple feet away, clearly a wandering apothecary with his dark clothes and bird-like mask, three girls at another table, and a minstrel playing in the corner so terribly that it was an insult to fiddles everywhere. So he turned back to her, folding their hands as the hollow, empty core of his magik pushed further against her Will until he felt a flicker. A spark.

"Is your place not very popular? Maybe it's because no one travels out 'ere much with the war, but seems to me like you'd 'ave every little business tonight without us. And I am nothin' if not a gentleman who'd love to 'elp a lassie in need." He gave one last smile. "Just a few drinks. No one will 'ear otherwise."

Instantly, fingers wrapped sharply around their arm, yoinking them to the side as Aoife whispered fiercely in their ear, "What are you asking her to do?"

He yanked himself back. "I'm barterin'. It's what Demons do best."

"You amdain! You're going to-"

Aoife was interrupted by the light tap of glass against a countertop, and a sly look filled Eldrazi's face as he turned to look at it. The girl topped the rich, brown liquid with a lime before sliding over three bronze coins marking the debt she gave away with it. "You better keep your word."

He sent the colleen a wink before picking up the glass. "I always do."

A blush shot across her fair face, and she turned to busy herself with grabbing a broom behind the counter, leaving him to his drink. Much like an apple, the liquor was crisp and sweet on their tongue, making it a worthy prize in his opinion. It was finished far too fast though, as he tipped it back to let it burn along their throat. So he placed the empty glass at the counter's edge, letting the girl know to replace it whenever she could. He was in no rush.

Aoife turned, staring at them. "Your magik is so weird."

"I know! Isn't it wonderful?"

"Wonderfully dangerous."

Ah, knock it off. I might 'ave to use it anyway to ask the apothecary over there to 'elp Aoife if things go South, Eldrazi told him, and he didn't need to glance at the masked man again for Gavin to take the hint.

"No, I mean it." Her eyes grew sharp, gaining a sense of maturity Eldrazi didn't tend to see from her. "When you do that, something happens with their Will. It becomes spastic. Chaotic."

A second glass was placed in front of them, and he grabbed for it. "Exactly, and you 'aven't even seen it make people's magik act up yet. Useful thing." He took another sip, tail twitching behind them, pleased. "I'm surprised you can feel it, but go on. Continue to praise me like the god I oughta be."

"I think you should stop."

"What?" Eldrazi drawled. "Why?"

"Because I don't like it!" she snapped, slamming her cup against the counter. "It bothers me!"

"Why?" Their brows furrowed at her. "What'd I ever do to you?"

She paused, long hair tumbling down her shoulders as she stared into her lap. "Nothing. I just... I don't know. I don't like it."

When she couldn't find an answer, she eased herself off the bar stool. "Whatever. I'm going to see if I can't get my leg fixed."

Eldrazi couldn't say he was surprised to see the girl hobbling over towards the man in the mask. Selatan had already said they were heading to the town to get her medical attention, and what better luck than to have a wandering apothecary to be in the very same tavern they'd chosen to stay at. Still, they were wanderers for a reason, loyal to nothing but coin. Combine that with a bunch of wanted criminals, and he doubted it made for anything pleasant.

"Then I'll come with," Eldrazi offered, and he hopped off his own seat, bringing his third glass with him. She glared at him in response, but he ignored it. She could barely talk to anyone outside the group, and besides, he didn't want to see the girl get hurt again. So, if all he had to do this time was simply follow her over to where a man was sitting in a large black coat and hat, it was the least he could do.

"Excuse?" Aoife began as they reached his table. "Sorry if I'm... if I was going to-" She circled a hand, looking for a word, but which one, Eldrazi was terrified to ask. "Bother, but—"

She was cut off as the long, hooked nose of a white leather mask was turned to face her, and she stiffened as well as any board.

"...Are you asking for service?" He had a lighter voice, his words strangely pointed despite his fluid accent, and Eldrazi had never been more grateful to hear someone speaking in Durnish.

Aoife let out a huge sigh, putting a hand on her chest in relief before continuing, "Yes. Trust me, I know it's not ideal but-" Aoife waved a hand around the bloodied, red mess of her otherwise dark grey pants. "Neither is this."

The man gave a brisk hum, his expression impossible to read with the mask. "And how did that happen?"

"'Ammer," Eldrazi explained, taking another sip. There was a heat in his lungs now, but he ignored it. How long was this man going to take to pull out his scalpels and leeches already? He'd promised the lass fifteen sales at the very least.

There was a pause. "And how did said hammer find its way into her knee?"

If it was possible for the girl to stiffen any further, then that was exactly what she did. "Ah well... you know how war is. We were travelling, and um... stumbled upon a camp by accident! And they accidentally took us for bandits and attacked us. Again, all on accident, but it still hurts and—"

Gavin's Will hardened like a rock in Eldrazi's chest. "She can't lie either?" It came as a scrambling, panicked shout. "Aoife, for the love of everything, please stop talking. Please?"

The man tapped an unnaturally long, gloved finger against the table's edge, beating out an uneven, yet steady rhythm. "And you... aren't bandits? And the camp's apothecary couldn't care for you there? And you couldn't heal yourself despite being a Demon? All accidents, surely."

And, that was his cue. "Listen 'ere." Eldrazi hunkered down on the table, staring up at the man as he delved for his magik. "I'm gonna ask you nicely t—"

The man cut him off with a brisk laugh, dusting himself off to stand at a height even above Aoife's own. "Do you people have rooms yet? I'm assuming you're staying the night."

"Um..." Aoife glanced over her shoulder as Selatan was handed more bronze coins from the barkeep, even more debt for them to have to give away at some point. "Yes, in a bit."

"All right. Then in the meantime, follow me to mine. You two and your strange, eyepatched friend in the corner."

Instantly, Eldrazi's gaze darted to where Talus was sitting, legs swinging beneath his chair, but the illusion was still in place, nothing strange about him. The feeling in their lungs was building up to a brash anger now that was becoming a struggle to restrain. "What do you want 'im for?" Eldrazi crossed their arms at the man. "You leadin' us to somewhere secluded t' trap us?"

"Are you insinuating that you're not powerful enough to take me out on your own?"

Eldrazi hated the way he could hear the thin-lipped smile beneath the man's mask, heat rising to his cheeks. "Oh I assure you I could 'andle your scrawny self."

"Eldrazi," Aoife whispered. "We need him to help us, remember? You want to learn to shut up?"

Already, Eldrazi was turning to her, a response on the tip of his tongue, but by then Aoife had caught Talus' attention, and, waving to Selatan that it was fine, they fell in line with the man slowly climbing the tavern's stairs.

Once there, he strode into the door on the left, as if he owned the place. Still, they had no choice but to follow him into the warmly lit room, candle wax dripping from its plate to coat a desk plastered with documents and potion vials.

"Now close the door behind you, won't you, Mr. Snake?" the man cooed.

Their tail flicked behind them. "What's it to ya if I don't?"

"Well, for someone stuck in a child's body, you certainly adopted the tantrum-throwing mannerisms of one easily enough, didn't you?"

This time Eldrazi froze, Gavin's lump of anxiety only growing further as the man continued. "Does that answer your question? Close the door."

Eldrazi did so. Something felt stupid about locking themselves in with someone who'd seen through them so easily, but perhaps it wasn't a terrible idea. After all, was it really being locked in a room with the man, or more the man being locked in here with them? The door clicked shut, and Eldrazi turned to face him. "Done. Now tell me exactly 'ow you knew I was a Dávoln."

"Simple." The apothecary removed his mask, shaking off the hat and cowl hood to reveal a head of neatly combed, black hair. The next to go was the coat as his silver eyes focused on undoing its long row of buttons, leaving him down to a ruffled white shirt. But by far, the most interesting thing about him was the raven-black wings unfurling from his back.

"Perhaps everyone here is not as they seem."

~~~~

Hello. Awgy here with an important PSA.

Look at him. Weiss my beloved. The man who sassed Eldrazi so hard in the only two lines of dialogue he was supposed to get, that he un-NPCzoned himself into the plot.

So I hope you enjoy him because he's about to be here a lot longer than the two chapters he was originally planned for.

And as always, thanks for reading.