Eldrazi couldn't explain how desperately he'd missed it: the wind pulling through their hair, the feeling of grass beneath their boots as Gavin took off running after Talus, and for once, a light, yellow fog starting to fill the darkness of the boy's mind. He watched the emotion swirl before focusing on the window in front of him leading back to the real world. A laugh- not his own- pulled out of their chest as Gavin stumbled to try and grab at a shadow to snatch Talus before the boy darted to another with a giggle.

A smile filled Eldrazi's face. He was healing.

"All right!" Eldrazi announced, moving to place their hands on their hips to end the random game of chase that had begun. "That's enough o' that. Unlike some people 'ere, I 'ad to keep watch most o' the night, and frankly, I'm starved. So the sooner we start 'unting, the better."

"I kept watch!" Talus cried from the shaded, mossy patch he'd found to blend in with on the ground. It was odd, watching the shadow form into a small, black blob with teeth to speak, but given that Eldrazi hadn't seen him take a more Human shape from the moment they'd left the shade of the tree, he could only assume that he couldn't handle the sun.

Perhaps askin' 'im to take the final watch was a poor choice on my part.

Eldrazi raised their hands in a casual shrug. "That you did, but I'm eatin' for two now, and that clearly takes priority," he explained as much as it made Gavin roll their eyes. "Now, we can do this one of two ways. Either we work together and catch as much as we can, or..." He smirked at the Talus, letting the word hang for effect as he pulled out his knife, waving it about. "We make this into a game."

"What kind of game?" Gavin asked, Eldrazi's tongue going numb before he could move it to speak once again.

"The simple kind." Eldrazi raised the knife to the sky, squinting past the Dust's thin, powdery layer to line the sun with the edge of his blade. "We go left, Talus goes right, and whoever can catch the most– well– game before the sun hits the hour o' nine wins."

"Game? Like animals?" Talus asked, and Eldrazi could hear the hesitation in his voice. "Does it have to be that, or can I get other things?"

"I don't think it matters." Gavin shrugged. "Food is food. I'm just not going to be eating leaves."

"That makes two o' us," Eldrazi agreed, nodding. "And that settles it!" He crouched down, tail curling behind them as he prepped both himself and Gavin to run. "Three, two, one... go!"

Instantly, Talus disappeared, and Eldrazi could only assume he went left as he and Gavin sharply turned in the other direction. The forest spread out before them as a maze of trees, and Eldrazi knew that somewhere, within that maze, was food. So he pricked their ears, Gavin flicked their tongue from their mouth, and the scene fell into place. Colds grew dark, warms bright, both forming shapes easy to pick out. At their feet, rodents scurried about between knobbled roots, a deer stood mighty in the distance, and only a few feet away, a rabbit.

Their vision sharpened, a sense of thrill running down their spine, and Eldrazi burst forward. The rabbit caught sight of them quick enough, darting to escape around a blackened tree trunk, but they weren't fast enough. Gavin flung them to the other side, and before the animal could dart into their burrow, he lunged, the taste of dusty fur filling their senses as he sunk in their fangs. Furious kicking scratched at their chest, but couldn't hurt the pride sitting there, and moments later, the rabbit fell limp in their jaws.

"Got one!" Gavin announced, not bothering to speak with their mouth full, but Eldrazi could pick up his elation in the thought alone.

That ya did, but you know they're poisoned now, right? Eldrazi pointed out, and he slowly opened their mouth to drop the game into their hands. 'Ow we s'posed to share it now?

"Oh, that one's not for sharing." Gavin shook their head with the smallest of smiles. "They're for you."

"What? Really?" Eldrazi held the rabbit up to the clouded light of the sun. They'd sure been a fat little thing, and probably tasted just as good.

"Mhm! Consider it a thanks."

"I certainly will!" Eldrazi answered with a grin. And, with no further hesitation, he unhinged their jaw and proceeded to stuff the entire hare in their gullet. They got a bit stuck in their throat, lots of little bones getting all bent up and backwards, but that was hardly an issue, and Eldrazi clenched the muscle there until there was a loud snap so it was easier to swallow.

"Eldrazi! I didn't mean now! Carve off the fur and chew it, or—" A hacking motion started in their throat, mussing up the nice little process Eldrazi had just made for them. "Ugh. I can feel fur in my teeth. And dirt."

Eldrazi's chest heaved as Gavin's pathetic gag reflex kicked in, leaving the food somewhere lodged in the back of their mouth and making it hard to breathe.

Gav! Stop makin' everything so difficult. He coughed, hating the back and forth as tears sprung to their eyes. There was movement in their periphery, but Eldrazi was far more concerned with the boy not dying. Just swallow! What is the point o' givin' me a present and then not lettin' me eat the damn thing?

"I can't!"

Eldrazi threw a fist into their chest, trying to dislodge it to no avail. You 'ave to!

"... I need to speak to the Undying Serpent."

A second, deep voice rumbled in the back of their mind, causing them both to jump, and- much to Eldrazi's delight- startle Gavin out of choking enough to finally let the rabbit go down the right path. Now the only problem was their throat feeling all scratched as Eldrazi went to speak to... whatever that was.

"This-" Bits of hair tickled at their insides as he went to speak, breaking up his sentence with a bout of hacking. "This is we."

But, once he was able to unbend himself in half and glance around at the clearing they were in, he found no one there. It was just himself, a deer paused from grazing a few feet away, and trees all eaten away to burnt, blackened bits by the acidic rain. He furrowed their brows in confusion. "And you are?"

Much to his surprise, the deer came forward, giving them both a solid, unwavering gaze that exuded pure power. They weren't a Demon. That much, Eldrazi was sure about, given that the beast was an average size. But that too, was falling away as with each step, the form shifted, hooves changing to dark hands and bare feet, fur fading into rich brown clothes with a long, hoodless cloak. The only thing to remain was a set of antlers and a short, deer tail as the man stood with his hands on his hips, giving them an unamused look with dark green eyes.

"As chaotic as ever, I see."

Eldrazi only blinked at the man, or perhaps he shouldn't say man, considering he was clearly a god with the heavy aura he gave off, and as Eldrazi was a Demon, his god. His nose crinkled as he tried to put it together. "Uldyŋ?"

"Yes," he replied flatly, brushing shoulder-length, auburn hair up behind pointed ears. "I have a message for you."

"Wow? Little ol' me? Really?" Perhaps he ought to have taken a bow, but what was a god but a person in power, and Eldrazi considered themselves a decently powerful being to behold. That made him practically a god, then. Equals, if one thought about it enough. So he sauntered forward, moving to wrap an arm around the man's shoulders, which would've surprisingly been at their height level if Uldyŋ didn't immediately jump back out of reach. "Oi. Gav! Lookit that! This is just like that dream you told me about, no?"

Their mind was silent.

A surge of panic ran through him, and he reached into himself to feel for the warmth of their bond only to receive nothing in response. Gavin? Only then did he worriedly glance around, all to realise he was looking through lopsided bangs, the rest of his dark brown hair drawn back into an unruly ponytail.

His hair. Not Gavin's. His.

His heart pounded in his ears, and he lifted his hands, finding them a dark, brown colour instead of Gavin's usual pale tone. But he couldn't reach through them, like in Astren, or his usual resting place in the boy's mind. No. They felt warm, real. Alive.

A tight rage coursed through him, and he glowered at Uldyŋ. "What did you do to my 'Uman?"

The man drew in a deep breath, pinching at a nose freckled with white spots. "I didn't do anything to him. I just pulled you into a more private space for a minute. If you stopped messing about for even one second and let me tell you what I need to, then you would already know this."

"I 'ighly recommend ya start talkin' then," Eldrazi warned, easing his knives from his belt. God or not, no one touched Gavin, so unless the man had a rather good explanation, he would be prepping for a fight.

Strangely enough though, Uldyŋ hardly seemed bothered by the knives, more concerned with tipping his head and narrowing his eyes at him. "Why are you talking like that? With the accent? You know you don't need to pretend for me, right?"

"Pretend?" Eldrazi's arms dropped to his sides, making it his turn to give a confused look. "You do know not all your Demons sound the same, right? It's not fake, if that's what you're gettin' at. I spent a good number o' years on Malin and it just 'appened." He shrugged. "What's it to ya?"

"But you never sounded like that bef— You know what, it's not important." He brushed his hair back once again, reaffirming himself. "The point is, you seem to have forgotten your task."

"My task?" Eldrazi scoffed. "What in Astren are you talkin' about?" He waved the knife around, trying to get the man to speak. "What, is this some sort of godly game? You think I live my lives by your narrative?"

He reached up to rub at a crooked nose, broken once one way for him saying something smart, and once the other for saying something dumb. "If I'm bein' honest, I 'aven't taken orders from a 'igher power since I was a spy for Ulnter, back in one of the first wars. And ya know what I got for that?"

He paused, expecting for Uldyŋ to fill in the rest, as a good, all-knowing being should do. But he didn't, and Eldrazi wasn't one to leave what he started unfinished. "My own government sent an assassin after me, killed me, and 'as been 'unting me ever since! So why d' you think I'm suddenly going to do some kind of task for you?"

A heat rose behind the man's freckled face, the points of his ears flattening as he shouted, "Because if you could manage to shut up, I could explain that that is the only reason you're still here!"

Shock flitted through Eldrazi, and he stepped back a little, frowning. "What are you talking about?"

"You are the Undying Serpent. You live forever."

"Yes. I damn well know that, because it's been the biggest curse o' my existence ever since I had the soih luck of being born as one of your children," he cursed. After all, Gavin wasn't here, which meant he could openly swear. It meant he could openly do a lot of things, actually.

His posture drew back, eyes widening as an unsteady smile spread across his cheeks. "You know what? Since you're 'ere, I got a question for ya. Do you know 'ow terrible it is, being Immortal? All the 'Umans come and go, getting to experience life over and over again, but us? We get to see it all, until it becomes a pointless, monotonous haze."

He raised his hands, a sharp laugh leaving him. "And just when you think you're done with it, and can finally just die, you folks make Astren so we can live in yet another prison for all o' eternity. Why?"

Uldyŋ only stared at him wide-eyed, his silence long and heavy. "... just how much have you forgotten?"

Eldrazi gave him a wicked grin. "A little bit every life, because then I get to experience it all over again. Jealous that I outwitted your system?"

"No, I couldn't care less, but my approval isn't the one that matters anymore." The god scrubbed at his face. "Listen, whether you remember or not, I know you, and I know what you want." He straightened his posture, voice dropping. "We can kill you."

Eldrazi paused, raising a brow at him. "Numbskull. I'm already dead."

"I mean permanently. No more ruining other people's lives, no more forgetting, no more dull moments. Simply a cease of consciousness until it's like you were never there at all. Gone." His lips twitched into an almost remorseful frown. "Isn't that what you've sought after this entire time?"

Eldrazi hesitated, trying to imagine it. A death without bones, blood, just... truly nothing. As if he had died in the same way that he'd been before he was ever born.

He stood there, feeling the wind ripple through his hair, the way cold air gripped around his skin in this wretched place the god had made. His face grew dark, grip on the knife trembling.

Yes. Yes, he wanted that, more than he could put into words. To truly be disbanded, no more thinking. Just... peace in the fact that his time had come. He had no regrets, nothing more to do. He was content, and wasn't that enough? When did he finally get to say goodbye?

His heart clenched. "But that's not possible. The closest I ever had was coming back as a Dávoln to remember what death felt like. That's not how you gods made the world to be."

Uldyŋ's next words were heavy. "It's not, and perhaps one day I too, will be punished for this, but if you just do as we ask, as much against your nature that is, I can promise you an end. We can't let you die until you do the one thing that we ask. All right?"

Eldrazi bit his lip, considering. It sounded like a trap, if he went off words alone. And yet, he couldn't feel even a hint of dishonesty from the man, no matter how much Eldrazi searched for it. Still, he didn't need to be bound by anything with the little information he had, so he put the knives away, instead crossing his arms. "What would you be askin' me to do then?"

"The same thing as always." Uldyŋ sighed. "You already found the Child of Fire. You can't keep protecting her. It's time to finally turn her over."

"Turn her ove—" Something clicked in Eldrazi's mind, and somehow it made him far more angry than before. "When Gavin met Eór, that wasn't a dream, was it? You dragged him into your problems just because you want Aoife dead!"

The smallest of shrugs. "He was trying to contact you and had forgotten you lack a normal Will, landing in the boy's mind instead, yes. Although we care very little of who actually completes the task. You, or your new vessel."

Eldrazi's face grew hot, and he licked his lips angrily, forked tongue running along the scars there. Was that why he felt like Aoife needed to be protected then? He was supposed to find and kill her for some kind of reward? Uldyŋ had said he'd forgotten a few things over the years, but surely he couldn't have lost track of an entire purpose. An entire person.

No, he decided. She'd said herself that she was only seventeen, and that was the truth. He couldn't have known her when he was alive, and even if he had, he couldn't just kill another person. Not without good reason. She didn't deserve to be sent to Astren. Not now, and not ever when he could easily avoid it.

"Well lemme tell ya somethin'." Sucking at his cheeks, Eldrazi let the mixture of saliva and venom build in his mouth before forcefully spitting at the god's bare feet. "That's what my 'uman and I think about your so-called task. I'm not killin' the girl."

"If you don't, we'll still find a way. Can't you at least find it in your heart to make sure it's painless for her, or are you still missing one of those?" Uldyŋ shot back, his anger returning. "It's the least you could do for her considering this is all your fault."

"All my fault?" Eldrazi thundered, and suddenly the knives were back in his hand, a scowl on his face and death in his eyes. "All I've ever wanted to do was die! How does that affect you?"

The dagger shot out of his hand at the last word, soaring through the air at the god's face. His eyes shot open, but right before it hit, his form dissipated into a warm, beige light. His Will.

It slowly formed back into a deer, one that said nothing, but only gave him that same sad, disappointed look over his shoulder before taking off.

Then the world snapped.

It started as ringing in his ears, but then the dark, forest scene fell away until Eldrazi found himself back in the clearing they had camped in the night before, chest drawing in air as rapidly as he could, hand still outstretched, although this time, the skin was pale.

"Eldrazi?" he could hear Gavin asking, his mouth moving in time with the word. "Why'd you make my hand jump?"

He blinked a few times, but there was no change in his surroundings save for the others bending in closer, giving him worried looks. He drew their hands back, choosing to brush them both off on the white edge of Gavin's simple, green tunic. "Why not? Seemed like a fun thing to do."

"What about spilling my hard work is fun to you?" Aoife asked, and Eldrazi then caught sight of a wooden bowl lying sideways on the ground, soup dripping below her outstretched hands.

Eldrazi only smirked. "Many things. Particularly the face you're makin' right now. Glad t' see it."

The girl groaned, dragging her hands down her face before picking it up. "Fine. Only Gavin is getting a bowl then. Suit yourself." So saying, she leaned back over the fire, ladling out the contents of a bowl that Eldrazi could only assume Selatan had brought with them in that knapsack of his.

"That was incredibly unnecessary, you know that?" Gavin asked, and although the words were sharp, Eldrazi clung to the sound of them, giving the bond a harsh yank just to make sure it was really there. His vision shot forward with it, until he wasn't sitting in the back of the boy's mind, but among everyone with Gavin mentally at his side. A perfect balance, just as they were supposed to be.

"...hey. Why so sudden? Is everything all right?"

Gavin, he began, making sure his voice was serious, difficult as that was. I need you to be honest with me. That dream you 'ad, the one with Eór, what'd 'e tell you exactly?

There was a pause, and the fog in their shared mind dipped to an brash red and deep blue. Anger and sadness. A flicker of panic shot through Eldrazi at the sight of them, but with a yank, they quickly dwindled to the usual, muted grey. Not the nothingness that it had been only a few days before, just an apathetic curiosity as Gavin continued. "Why? I thought we discussed this already."

Aoife then handed them another bowl, eyes wide and lips tight in a way that said 'smack this again and I smack you', but Eldrazi could hardly match her joking energy as he accepted it from her, immediately focusing back on the conversation. Gavin. What did 'e say?

A long sigh drew out of their mouth. "He asked me if I could kill Aoife, and make it painless. It was just a really weird dream, that's all."

He frowned at the familiarity of it, eyes watching Aoife as she sat there, talking and laughing and none the wiser. And what did you say?

"I already told you. I said no. Besides, it's not like it matters anyway. What's the problem?"

Now it was Eldrazi's turn to sigh. There was no point in lying to Gavin, and he deserved to know. He was just thankful he hadn't agreed to the gods' demands. It was as Selatan said: They hated when their promises were broken, and under the Goddess' watch, punishments always came threefold.

Then again, of course Gavin knew better. He'd raised him to be smarter than that, after all. When I disappeared before, I didn't just fall asleep or anything. Uldyŋ spoke to me.

"The Demon god?" Confusion flitted across their face as Gavin switched the spoon from Eldrazi's right hand to his own left before dipping it into the bowl, taking a bite. It tasted surprisingly creamy for a clear lack of milk, and Eldrazi could tell it was made from stale bread stirred in, the rest most likely spices and mushrooms from Talus' own 'hunt'.

Yes, and 'e asked me to do the exact same thing. The gods want us dead for some reason– me and Aoife– and they found you on accident so now we're all dragged in.

"Is it really 'for some reason'?" Gavin asked, and Eldrazi couldn't help but be miffed at his nonchalance. "We're a Dávoln, Eldrazi. It's the same as ever, and it's not going to change until we fix the system." He took another bite.

We? Eldrazi asked, surprised at the sudden use of the word. Are you actually gonna throw away the plan?

The silence stretched even longer that time, and the boy didn't answer once the food had been finished. In fact, he didn't answer until he passed the bowl back to Aoife with a smile, taking a seat at Talus' side while the two older ones moved to break down the camp.

"I'm considering it."

Well lookit that! Their mouth split into a wide grin. Maybe you aren't so stubborn after all! What madeja change your mind?

The last thing to be packed up was the bowl Gavin was holding, and then they all were standing up, preparing to leave. "I just... maybe, if we can fix the system, if everyone here doesn't have to worry about being found and killed, then maybe they can help me find another solution for Cynwrig. Then we could all live together sort of like the Eirímach." Eldrazi could feel them fidgeting, face warming as Gavin curled and uncurled their toes. "... I don't know. It's an idea."

It certainly is, Eldrazi agreed, moving to follow Selatan and Aoife out of the clearing, off in the direction of Ulnter, where the Demon Relic lay. They took a few steps towards the forest's edge, stepping out into the sunlight, when Eldrazi noticed they were missing someone.

He glanced over their shoulder to find Talus standing in the shade of the very last tree, clutching an arm burnt dark grey and peeling off in flakes. The Shar Drak'na shot them a sheepish smile. "Sorry. I tried to follow but umm..." His claws wrapped around the burn tighter. "I just can't. I'm sorry."

Selatan shook his head, doubling back to where he was. "I told you," he reprimanded, reaching to take off his backpack. "And it's not like I grabbed a cloak for you." He dug through the backpack, frowning as he pulled out the pot again. "So unless you want to wear this on your head, I'm not really sure how to bring you along."

"I can wear the pot!" he chirped, taking it out of Selatan's hands and dropping it over his hair until it sat on him from the neck up, making his next words echoey. "I'm not sure what to do about the rest of me though."

"I don't know! You weren't even supposed to come along!"

"Um, Bowlhead." Aoife tapped her foot. "There's shadows inside the backpack. Why don't you just go in there?"

He paused, taking the pot off his head to look at her before cracking a smile. "Oh right, I can do that!"

Moments later, he melted into a dark mass that leapt inside of Selatan's bag, bringing the pot along with it. A black hand reached up to pull the flap over the silhouette of a small head, and then all that could be made out was his white eye peering out from the tiniest crack. "That's perfect."

"Yes, I'm a genius. Whatever would you do without me?" Aoife asked with a roll of her eyes. Then she turned, focusing them on the sky ahead.

The forests of Durne would fall away shortly after this, Eldrazi knew, and soon they'd be taking a left to reach Ulnter: the Demon Empire. The grass would fade to rocks, mountains would fill the horizon and cliffs would line a pitch black sea. Maybe it was foolish to go waltzing into the very land of Uldyŋ to steal the gods' most prized possession immediately after the lovely little chat Eldrazi had just had with him, but if anything, the idea only fueled him as he fell in line with the others.

After all, what better way to spite the gods than to use this life to do everything they wouldn't want?