It didn't take long to pick up Tachir's scent, though it was a bit farther of a walk than Eldrazi would've liked. The Wolf Demon had mostly left the edge of Ulnter they'd been bordering it seemed, heading out past the coast and close to the mountain range in the distance: the only thing separating Ulnter from Tercia.

'Ow ironic that this'll be the spot I'm takin' 'er on again.

But that was what Gavin had chosen, and for once, Eldrazi couldn't argue. Not that it would be the first time Tachir' had come back for him as a Dávoln- stubborn thing- but, it would at least hinder her another fifteen or so years while she found another soul to crawl out of Astren again. Whether he liked it or not, Gavin was right. This was the best course of action for them.

Finally the taste of fur and sweat they'd been following grew stronger, bringing Eldrazi to a stop. Granted, any animal could have those, but there was no mistaking it: light and familiar with its hazy hint of sour magik. He frowned, trying to tell how far off it was. The answer was little now, the rocky terrain being the only thing stopping them from spotting Tachir' directly. Still, once they closed their eye, the flash of red was hard to miss, shifting above them in a pit of purple until it stood on the mountain edge, forming the body of a man.

"You took your time."

Eldrazi glanced up, finding Tachir' staring down over the edge with yellow eyes, tail flicking impatiently behind her. Cynwrig's feet were bare, body and face frail under thin, ragged clothes and unkempt brown hair, but if the man was cold, Tachir' wasn't showing it.

He shot her a look. "Some o' us can't see the future and 'afta work things out for ourselves, you know."

"What a chore." Tachir' moved to sit on the ledge, leaving her feet to swing into the several feet of emptiness below.

Eldrazi watched her, unmoving while her spear lay untouched at her side. It was worrying, how little she seemed to care, but Eldrazi had seen time and time again how quickly she could leap into action.

So why didn't she do that in the first place?

Gavin bit at their lip, and their foot tapped as the tense feeling of his anxiety returned, but it was brushed aside as the boy tried to put on a brave face. "So you know we've come to kill you?"

"Correct."

"Why don't you come down and fight me then?" he demanded, and the bow was in their hands, an arrow drawn back so tightly Eldrazi could feel the feathers tickle their ear.

"Because the Goddess has already shown me how this ends."

Her deeper voice reached Eldrazi's ear right as Gavin let the arrow fly, and the string shot forth. It streaked towards her, until it was clear it was aimed too far right, soaring over her shoulder while she watched them, bored.

"There goes one," she mused, giving the shaft behind her a quick glance before turning back, expression dull. "Ten left to go. You want to try again?"

A cry left Eldrazi's throat as Gavin angrily reached for another arrow. This one he didn't shoot though. At least, not yet. Instead he kept it trained on her, as difficult as that was. Always. They'd always squinted with their left eye, aiming with their dominant right, and now that was gone. So Gavin shut off the world entirely as he flicked their tongue from their mouth. The red silhouette of Tachir' appeared again, drawing further up the cliff.

Still, Eldrazi could taste the magik around her, a vibrant citrus as she scrambled for a prediction, and as Gavin released the string, the girl lowered her stance, quickly jumping to the side. Dipping down, her hand wrapped around her spear, and she lunged to javelin it through their stomach. Instantly, Eldrazi drew them back, but she was too close now to hit with a bow, and frantically, he made the boy drop it, switching to his knives.

Unfortunately, the spear found their ribs first.

The sharpened Duststone tip wedged between their bones, and Eldrazi screamed, vision blurring as the pain consumed his mind. Normally, that was a blessed thing, but his eye was never going to regenerate. This? He could only assume the same.

Gritting his teeth, Eldrazi grabbed the wooden pole, tugging the edge out with a sharp yank. The bleeding spread so much faster that way, red seeping across their green shirt, but he couldn't continue to stand there. Already, the girl was retreating, practically dancing with how light she was on her feet. Eldrazi clutched a knife, ducking to slash along her hip, but that too, she dodged, eyes glowing blue.

Flashes of pink and green danced at the edges of their vision, but they needed to stop her, Eldrazi swiping the second knife at her neck. A clack sounded, and a shock jolted up their arm at how solidly it rebounded off the wooden shaft. Their elbow went numb, leaving no time to react before Tachir' pounced, snatching their wrist.

She raised it far above their head, the heat of the wound spreading into their spine, and Eldrazi could feel her warm breath on their neck as she leaned in close. She said nothing though, only panting as the spear lifted one last time, the edge lying flat against their neck.

"Wait!"

A hot, sharp slice carved between Eldrazi's fingers, and he found the boy clutching the spear's head with a reddening hand. It stung, but it was better than being stabbed as Gavin struggled to push it away from their throat.

"What is the point of this?" he gasped out as the blade continued to tear through flesh like glass.

"Didn't I explain this two days ago?" Tachir' narrowed Cynwrig's thick brows, face shifting to a scowl, and a pang hit him as Eldrazi felt a second-hand flicker of familiarity. Of nostalgia, in a way. "I'm not killing you. I'm after your Demon."

Gavin shoved the feeling aside, replacing it with tightly wound rage as if that would make it all change. "But why? Why kill Talus then, and why-" His voice was raw, more filled with tears than words as he continued to push, their vision blurring. "Why did you kill our mother?"

That made Tachir' draw back, and Eldrazi was given one more sharp tear as she yanked the spear to her side, carting its bloody edge over their brother's shoulder. "Because I saw that that was where the Basilisk would be born next. I tried to prevent it, tried to take her out before you came along, because I thought maybe- maybe if I messed up the present enough, it would change the End."

She spat the last word with enough emphasis to make it seem like she was referencing more than the future. Or perhaps it was the lack thereof. Whatever she meant, it was making Gavin hesitate in a way that was starting to irk Eldrazi, and he gripped the knives in their hands til their knuckles were white. "Tachir', what are you on about now? Did Astren drive ya mad, because if you think I'm gonna bring about the end o' the world, you're sorely mistaken."

Then he shrugged, forgetting that the simple action was enough to course shocks of lightning through their bleeding torso. But, it was worth it to see the ticked off look crossing Cynwrig's twisted face. "Though I will say, sounds like a rather fun time. If I can't 'ost the party, at least be sure to invite me, wontcha?"

The Wolf Demon's ears pressed flat, and a growl escaped her as she gripped the spear in both hands, bare feet grinding into the ground. "I'm not going to let you continue spreading the Dust! Any amount of casualties is better than nothing alive at all!"

"The... Dust?" Gavin squinted at her, and a sense of dumbfoundedness spread through him thanks to the lunacy Tachir' wanted to keep spouting. "How would that be Eldrazi's fault?"

The question echoed in the back of Eldrazi's mind like a soft, gentle nudge, but all he could do was shrug again. "Woman's crazy, Gav. She's been goin' on about this for awhile now. Seems some people just can't 'andle death as well as I can."

Her chin raised, defiant. "Because you handle it just so well, don't you?"

It was as if he'd been stabbed through the heart, the way the words froze them in place, panic coursing through Eldrazi's veins. Of course, it had before, in the last fight, but there'd been more to focus on then, or perhaps they were distractions: the wounds, the fear, the repeated bashing on their head into the cliff... It had all kept Gavin so busy, and now that wasn't here to help him, and Tachir' was far, far too full of answers.

So instead Eldrazi had to ease their body back, lifting their hands as casually as ever, yet sauntering backwards to keep their distance. Smile, because it didn't matter. Nothing mattered. "Yes. Thank you for noticin'. Which is why nothin' you ever do will stop me, because we'll be back. Gavin and I both like the team we are."

"No!" she snapped. "This is the last life we are ever going to have. You either perish, or kill us all, and I will die a thousand times before I let you destroy the sun!"

Tears were streaking down their brother's cheeks, but the girl surged forth, bringing the spear up again. She was moving too fast now, impossible to track with only one eye, and there was no time to taste the air before the spearpoint drove into their stomach. It wormed beneath their skin, fast, yet impossibly slow as it strung through their organs in a hot flurry. His thoughts unwound, Eldrazi only able to scream as she forcefully whisked the weapon back and the world spun. There was a crack as their skull hit the rocky ground, reigniting the agony in the right side of their face, all dulled by an endless ringing and a heart beating too fast to compensate.

Tachir' bent down, crouching to watch Eldrazi lay there, gritting their teeth as it all closed in. Yet, with how wild her face looked, so wet and puffed from crying, she really did look like Cynwrig, a fact that sent nausea spiralling through Eldrazi no matter how much he tried to ignore Gavin's steadily building guilt.

She wiped at their face with the back of their wrist, sniffing. "Damn Human and his emotions, always making this such a pain." Even so, her voice still appeared broken of its own accord as she continued to survey the scene around them. "And I can't even end it here. I just have to pray this is enough." She paused, seeming to listen to a voice in her own mind before she spoke again. "Because I'm never going to know. I'll be long gone before I ever know if what I did made a difference."

Then she laughed, the sound pained and hollow. "But it's never the saviour's job to know, is it? Only the Goddess'."

"So you're just going to leave us here to bleed out and die? Not even kind enough to finish off the job?" Gavin spat.

She looked at them once more, with those yellow eyes so dangerously tainted blue. "That's the annoying part. You're not going to die. Not here, anyway."

"Why-" Gavin began, but it was cut off by a heavy, musky scent tainted ever so slightly with the taste of ash. It was familiar, but different in a way that Eldrazi couldn't quite place.

Not until it was broken in by the pounding of paws again sandy stone, followed by a single shout:

"Gavin!"

Their ears twitched, the world sharpening as Eldrazi tried to push themselves up off the ground to peer over the desert edge. "Aoife?"

It was hard to spot things far off with only one eye, especially when the adrenaline was starting to die down, replaced with hazy senses and dampening vision. But at the edge of it was Aoife, dark grey coattails flaring behind her and fingers clenched deep into the fur of a massive tiger.

The creature tore forth, large claws raking the ground as Selatan bounded forward, a blur of orange striped with white. His eyes scanned the area, catching them with ease, and they were there in seconds. Part of Eldrazi wondered if Tachir' couldn't have just driven the spear into their heart right then and there, before the Tiger Demon pounced onto the mountain ledge, but for some reason she only stood there, watching them come.

A shadow crossed their face, blotting out the sky with a white underbelly as Selatan careened above them, and a cry rang out. Tachir' staggered back, but it was futile as Selatan landed on her, and there was the sound of snapping bones, followed by a scream twisted with a second pitch, much lower than the others before.

Eldrazi felt himself flinch, and he was hit with a torrent of emotions, memories splaying across his vision as Gavin shouted. There were so many, too fast for Eldrazi to catch any logic out of them other than the fact that Gavin was in pain, and suddenly his hands were clawing at the ground, fingertips tearing on stone as the boy tumbled forward. "Cynwrig!"

He hoisted them up, but the second he went to move forward, Eldrazi dug a boot into the ground, forcing them in place.

"Eldrazi! Eldrazi we have to go! Selatan's going, he's going to-" Another lurch forward, and the world spun wildly, pain spiking and bile rising to their throat as Eldrazi tried his best to steady both them, and their stomach. They were too close to the edge to risk falling.

"What'd ya think was gonna 'appen, Gav?" he yelled, head twisting sharply in towards their shoulder. "You can't take out one without the other!"

"But-"

Whatever Gavin's answer was, it was cut off by a roar. Eldrazi's head snapped up only to find Selatan run through with the spear, the pale fur of his underside staining until it faded down to the red of a torn vest, his form shrinking to a teen with wide, bulged eyes. With a shout, Aoife tumbled off, hitting the ground. Instantly, she was back up, moving to save him, but it was too late for that. He was already clasping a hand over torn stitches, his chokes followed by a sharp, whistling noise, and blood dripping down to coat Cynwrig's face, angled up even from so far below.

In one, fluid moment, Tachir' swung both the spear, and him, to the ground, slamming a bare foot on the injury to tug the weapon free. Her head wrenched up, her glaring at Eldrazi broken only by heavy pants. Grinding her foot behind her, her grip on the spear tightened, and if the staggering in their own step meant anything, he didn't have the energy to dodge whatever came next.

"You soih!"

Eldrazi turned, expecting to find Aoife, fire at the ready, but instead her poi were unlit, the round, metal cages at the end of her chains swinging empty at her side. It didn't seem like she needed it though as her wrist flicked, and the right swung forward, arcing to knock Tachir' off her feet.

The Demon hopped over it, and she spun, aiming the spear at Aoife's face. The girl jumped in panic, and almost instinctively, she swung with the left, throwing it in the way. There was a clack, and the poi wrapped around the spear shaft, twisting tighter until it had a solid grip. Aoife's eyes flicked to it, realisation dawning, and quickly, she jerked the chain back. The spear shot out of Tachir's hands, a short exclamation leaving her lips as it clattered at their feet.

But Aoife wasn't done. She glared at Tachir', eyes glowing a fierce purple as violet flames began to lap between her fingers.

"You know, I was going to try to let you go. I didn't want to follow, or fight you, but you killed Talus," she continued, voice threateningly low. "And you hurt the only people I have left."

The blaze trickled down to alight the poi's spiked cages.

"And gods be damned if you think I'm not going to make you pay for it!" she screamed, and she darted forward, trails of fire winding around her. There were more than two now, balls of flame appearing from nothing to surround her. They flung at Tachir', streaking past Aoife like falling stars.

The Wolf Demon ducked, dodging the one, but it only left her vulnerable for the poi to swing towards her middle, sending blood to dirt and leaving both her flesh, and Cynwrig's shirt in ribbons. Gasping, she staggered forward, but Aoife threw the other poi into her spine, knocking her to the floor.

She was on fire now, giving that same, two-toned scream as the fire lapped at her skin, sending a pungent, sweet yet steak-like scent into the air. It curled Eldrazi's stomach, and he swayed in place, trying to stay upright. Normally, they would've healed by now, the hot feeling of his energy ruminating over each wound, but the Duststone had made its mark, leaving he and Gavin to clutch at their chest, trying their best to keep the blood from spewing. It was the only thing they could do as they watched Tachir' roll frantically to put out the flames.

With a growl, the last of the purple flickered out, and she returned to her spear, grabbing it with ferocity as she used the end to shove herself to her feet. Again, she was forced into a standstill, her eyes darting between Aoife and a slowly rising Selatan reaching for his broadsword as she considered her options. Finally she nodded, recognition flashing across her face.

"It's time."

Her arm whipped forward, and the spear careened towards Eldrazi.

Their eyes shot open, and Eldrazi gasped as they watched the black tip soar towards their heart, time almost seeming to slow. It shouldn't have surprised him. Tachir' had always had deadly accuracy. Maybe it was the suddenness, or maybe it was because somehow, he'd thought that they were going to survive this. That Tachir' would die and Gavin would smile again, now that they were finally safe. And now she was going to kill them both.

"That is it. We lost our time with him in this life, and if we ever meet again, it won't be remembered, or the same. If you both didn't come back from whatever ridiculous, reckless mission you left for on a whim... That would be it. Do you understand?"

Ah. Sorry Lyra, he thought as he looked at the spear one last time, unable to move, unable to dodge, only feel the tears returning, though they were fully his this time. Looks like I never learned after all.

A choked, wet cry filled the air.

Eldrazi's eye snapped open, expecting to feel the punching force of the javelin strike, followed by the sting of alleviated veins and the cold, unfeeling claws of Astren's touch. But it never came, because the only thing he found was Aoife in front of them, arms held out, the blackened tip of the spear stained crimson as it plunged through her spine.

"Aoife!"

It was hard to tell if the cry came from Gavin or Selatan. Maybe both, because both of them were rushing forward to Aoife's side as she plummeted to the ground. All he knew was that she was bleeding out, far too quickly as Gavin pressed their hands to her chest only for them to grow stickier with each passing beat. Her dark face was turning an ashen tone now, flailing in pain as she screamed again and again.

"Why did you do that?" Gavin screeched, and the adrenaline returned as the boy grew frantic, continuing to push into skin that was only sinking further, unnaturally so. "Why would you ever do that?"

"I don't know! Vaeloc! My body just moved!" A groan left her before she suddenly perked up. "Selatan?" she shouted, thrashing wildly to look around. "Where's Selatan?"

"I'm right here!" he answered, far too quickly as he grabbed her hands, and Eldrazi felt Gavin's chest clench with a sharp pang of deja vu. Selatan drew closer, the whisker-like Marks of black on his cheekbones pulled tight as he winced, eyes filling with tears. "I'm right here. What do you need?"

"I just wanna hold you. Gosh. Can't a girl hold her boyfriend?"

Selatan didn't answer. He only stared at her with that same, haunted look, and he collapsed onto her, forcing Gavin to yank their hands back. Not that they'd been doing much, only telling Eldrazi how little life she had left, because Humans couldn't survive a blow to the heart. They couldn't survive a lot of things, actually. It was a wonder that so many still went out and tried to make a difference with how little time they had. Maybe it was because it made those years short and sweet, just enough to experience living and make everything seem worth it. They didn't accomplish all there was to see until there was nothing left, only chose what they wanted and pour their heart and soul into it until the very end.

It was an amazing and wondrous thing, the likes of which Eldrazi would never get to experience.

No. He could only join Tachir' in watching Selatan sob around the spear in her chest, Aoife's shaking arm weakly wrapped around his back as she cried out in pain. Their lips twitched, Gavin threatening to break down entirely, but for some reason, Eldrazi couldn't bring himself to follow. There was only this sense of... failure, weighing at their heart and dropping their shoulders as the girl's slow stroking along Selatan's back came to a stop. Not the failure of messing up an order, but a disappointment in himself, because this was what always happened, every single time, and he was powerless to stop it. It didn't matter if he never left her side, pushed her buttons, or kept his distance. She was always going to die, and it was always going to be his fault.

Every. Single. Time.

A bellow tore him out of his thoughts, and he looked at Selatan crunched up next to her, his fist hitting the ground over and over. Blood cascaded from his knuckles, decorating the ground.

"Why?"

He stood, eyes glinting with fury. His sword was in his hand now, and he stalked towards Tachir', a growl echoing in his throat. "I helped you," he hissed, his grip on the blade tightening, and Tachir' quickly backed up, her own weapon abandoned in the body lying lifeless behind them.

"I gave up my job, my family, all to help you escape-" He swallowed. "And this is how you repay me?"

She held no answer, but still her chin was stuck out, defiant.

Tears ran down his face, mouth and nose screwed up as he went to say something, then dropped it with a violent shake of his head. He shot forward, swiping his broadsword with a cry, and it carved through Tachir' hip with ease, leaving her to crumple in on herself. Another flash of movement, and the sword was wedged in her shoulder, her arm, each hack echoed with agonised screams.

"Stop!" Gavin ran towards them, breathing frantic. Their eyes scoured each cut, each hit tearing through his brother's body, desecrating it, their voice barely comprehensible through the anguish as he cried again. "You're butchering him!" Their fingers met his shirt, Gavin clawing at the fabric. "Stop it!"

A pillar of fire burst behind them.

The force of it flung Eldrazi backwards in a wave of heat and wind. The air surged, a flaky dryness filling Eldrazi's mouth as the black flecks of Dust reared up, spiralling around the tower of violet flame reaching for the clouds. Frantically, Eldrazi looked around for Aoife, but the inferno had consumed her body, reducing it to nothing more than ash. It spiralled upwards, a wild, furious thing. Then, with a sharp, pulsing twist, the tower died down to just that, cutting off to purple embers that flickered out to nothing at all.

It was silent.

"W-what was that?" Gavin asked, but Eldrazi didn't have a clue. It had all started and stopped so suddenly, leaving the wind to violently whip about and them to choke on smoke.

"Aoife?" Selatan asked, and he turned, taking a step towards the ash when there came a screech, like the caw of a falcon.

With a flash, the ashes reignited, the grey pile shooting a bright amethyst, and it ruptured, a single form of pure light shooting to the sky. It rose on wings of flame: a bird of fire that left nothing but cinders in her wake. She flew above them, an unnatural, unmistakable beauty in her movements, one that could only come from endless, commanding power, and Eldrazi froze in place, stiffening as she bent a long, regal neck towards Tachir'. Her beak then opened, and flame spewed.

There was nothing to light ablaze on the flat top of the cliff, but it wasn't needed as the flames formed a circle around a trembling Tachir'. Even as the Wolf Demon ran from one side to the other, eyes wide with fear and face completely panicked, there was no escape. The air was so thick with Dust now, burning Eldrazi's eye and sparking tears, but even as he coughed, pulling the edge of their cloak over their mouth, it was nothing compared to the agony of Tachir' screaming as her clothes ignited once again, followed by skin and fur. She was little more than a silhouette now, and she toppled to the ground, only her head raised as she cried.

"She lied! The Goddess lied! This isn't the right future! She lied to me!"

Eldrazi jolted, limbs finally working enough for him to wrench their body around, facing Tachir'. Because hadn't she known what was going to happen? She always did, and she'd never been wrong before. It was what always gave her so much confidence, and in Eldrazi's opinion, so much annoying predictability.

But she wasn't done, blackened and red fingers clawing her way out of the fire, a face of dripping, uneven flesh pulling its way out to continue to shout. "It's coming! The End is coming! Astren will blot out the sun; the fire will rise! The realms will collapse and all will die! And she lied! She lied, she-"

Crackling echoed in Eldrazi's ears, and the fire heightened until it consumed Cynwrig's body, briskly cutting off Tachir's words. That left only the roar of fire, far too happy to eat away at all it touched until there was nothing left.

And it sent shivers down Eldrazi's spine, followed by phantom pricks of pain along their arms. It was familiar, all so similar to the Dragon that had pinned him down under a single, massive claw, opening its mouth to drip magma onto his skin. Heat sunk into their veins, the scene around them falling away until there was only that mountain cave, only the sensation of his scales melding together. His flesh was dripping, his skull on fire, all in sharp contrast to Astren's cold touch sinking into his soul. It'd been ages ago, and the fire wasn't even the right colour, so why did it have to be the same? Why was it the same?

"Eldrazi!"

Gavin's shout broke through the vision, and he found them dashing forward towards the bird in the sky. The purple, feathery creature had come to a stop, her glow seeping away and wings tucking in until she was plummeting: the body of a dark-skinned girl in a grey coat and red cowl hurtling towards them impossibly fast.

Immediately, Eldrazi went to catch her, but Selatan was faster, muscular arms outstretched and braced for the landing. Her body tumbled into his, the force enough to throw him forward, but he quickly regained his balance. Gavin drew to his side, and then all of them were watching her face, her lids perfectly closed as if in sleep.

The wind, so violent before, finally died off, leaving the world deathly silent. No more was Tachir' crying out, only a corpse to be had on the ground. No more was there the crackling of fire, or even the sound of footsteps. There was only the emptiness of a dead world around them. A world of Dust that settled in Aoife's unmoving face and decorated her short, dark hair in specks of lifeless grey.

Her eyes snapped open.

Gavin immediately went to open their mouth, but it was cut off by a sharp scream. They flinched as Aoife sat up straight, screaming again and again as she patted down her middle, her chest, but there was nothing. No blood, no hole, no sign that she'd ever been wounded at all.

"Oh gods! Oh gods, I didn't think that was going to happen again. I thought that was it for me. Oh thank the gods!" She pulled her hands through her shoulder-length hair before tugging them out and instead resting them on Selatan's face. "And you!"

She cut herself off, yanking the teen's jaw forward to plant a kiss on his lips. Still, even with Gavin sharply turning their head away, Eldrazi managed to catch Selatan's wide-eyed expression, the way his pointed ears started rapidly twitching as his face shot red.

Eventually, he pulled her back, gasping half out of relief, half in shock. "But... how? Aoife, what the vaeloc was that? There was a bird and fire and-"

"What do you mean, 'happen again'?" Gavin asked, and Eldrazi felt their face scrunch up in confusion as he gave her a once over. "Have you... died before?"

Aoife's lips grew tight, and she pushed herself out of Selatan's arms until she was standing beside them. "Well, maybe? I'm not sure."

"What do you mean you're not sure?" Selatan cried, his arms flinging out in frustration as he gestured wildly about. "You don't know if you died?"

"I mean, I think I have? It's weird." She paused, frowning. "Obviously."

"You can say that again." Eldrazi scoffed, shooting the girl a look. And yet, he couldn't help but smile. "But look, if ya 'ave, you can be open with us. Visited Astren myself once, you know."

"It's not like that!" she shot back, arms flapping adamantly at her sides. "I don't want to talk about it right now, all right? I just died for you!"

"Allegedly." Eldrazi smirked as her face warmed yet again. Ah, how fun and easy it was.

"Ungrateful," she huffed, crossing her arms.

It grew quiet again, and Gavin finally turned to look at the scene around them, an array of ashes dotting the mountainscape separating them from Tercia, where the final Relic lay. A Relic that he'd been planning to use to stop the very Demon that now was nothing more than molten bones a few feet away.

"Why did you save me?"

"Huh?" Aoife turned, and her hands were on her hips. "Because you stubbornly ran off, you amdain! Because I knew you were going to get the both of you killed and I couldn't stand the idea of losing someone else." Her voice grew choked. "Because I care about you, that's why. I mean, I haven't known you as long as Talus and Selatan, and if Eldrazi had his own body, I'd still strangle him for cutting my hair but..."

Her shoulders deflated. "If I'd never met you, I'd still be trapped in that prison, torn to bits while they tried to figure out why I have magik. I wouldn't be here, kissing Selatan, out on my way to save the world. I'd be dead. Or I'd... I don't know." Her boot kicked the ground awkwardly. "So now we're even, I guess."

There came a sharp sniff, and Gavin was running forward, ignoring the sore, aching pain in their body to fling their arms around her, pulling her tight.

"Thank you."

Arms pressed against their back, returning the hug. "I'd say anytime, but that really, really hurt, so instead I'm gonna go with you're welcome. Hope you don't mind."

"Not at all." Gavin shook their head, and a thought struck him, bringing the tears back.

"...I only rescued her because I wanted her to steal the Relics for us."

That ya did, Eldrazi agreed. All to save Cynwrig.

The reminder hit the boy harder than Eldrazi had expected, and regret filled their stomach as his name made Gavin tremble further. "And now he's gone. There's nothing I can do. I tricked them for nothing."

Well... Eldrazi made them pull out of the hug, looking up at the girl's face giving them a soft smile. She said something to Gavin next, but Eldrazi wasn't paying attention to it. Something else was filling his mind as she talked with Selatan, making sure he was all right. That each one of them would be fine. I wouldn't say for nothing. Ya got t' meet these lovely people, after all.

"Yeah," he agreed dully. "But... I don't know what to tell them now. That I lied? What do we even do anymore? It's all gone."

Eldrazi took a deep breath, feeling the way it pulled at each throbbing rib in their chest. You know me, Gav. Answer's gonna be the same as ever. He shrugged, and he chose to retreat into the boy's mind, senses growing numb and the welcoming fog of the boy's mind surrounding him. What do you want to do?

Gavin remained silent, staring at his boots. Frowning, he glanced up, finding Aoife and Selatan walking down the ledge, away from the blackened body, towards a sky that looked a little bit blacker than they remembered. Or maybe it was because night was falling, and the dead, lifeless Child's moon had no light of its own to brighten it yet.

Then he was running after them, trying to catch up even though they hadn't moved that far. Just enough to be away from it all as Selatan set down his knapsack, opening up the brown fabric to prepare to set up camp.

"I'm sorry."

The two teens looked up at Gavin standing so awkwardly in front of them, and the boy raised a hand to chew at the white end of his sleeve. "I'm really, really sorry. I never should've done this."

Selatan only dragged a hand through his stripy hair, and his eyes squeezed tight as the action pulled at his torn skin once more. "It's fine. I guess... I can't blame you for wanting to take revenge. I think we all wanted to, deep down."

So that was what they thought Gavin meant then, and maybe that was for the better, Eldrazi supposed as the boy accepted it, moving his hands towards the bag of camping supplies to ask one final question:

"What can I do to help?"