It was quite late in the day by the time Eldrazi was nudged out of sleep by the toe of a boot in their side. He could tell the second Gavin opened an eye to look up at Selatan, and then a sky still dark.

Or maybe it was just clouded. Eldrazi scooched them up into a more upright position, tongue flicking out to get a better hint of it all. Again their throat was coated in Dust, flaky and caustic in a way that made them both want to vomit, and the smell of the sky only made it worse. What had once been a blue blocked by a barrier of ashen grey was now much darker, a midnight black that nearly hid the rings orbiting Esternia.

Something about it made their stomach twist, and immediately, Eldrazi went to look at the sun, because they could do that now. It didn't even sting as he stared at it: a hazy ball of reddish pink through the veil of Dust. Yet, it certainly wasn't colder out. If anything, it was a terribly warm day for the nearing of Elder's Season, and Eldrazi removed their cloak as their blood grew uncomfortably warm.

"Selatan, is it just me, or..."

The teen shook his head, gathering up the last few camping supplies into his bag before hauling it over his shoulder. "No. It definitely got worse."

"Yeah. Drastically so." Eldrazi cast the Dust one final glance before turning to the other two, all set to go.

"The End is coming! Astren will blot out the sun; the fire will rise! The realms will collapse and all will die!"

The echo of Tachir's warning made him freeze, but as Aoife called for Gavin to follow, Eldrazi shook it off, trailing after them to follow down the mountainside, where the walk wasn't so steep. Because granted, it was ominous and all, but Tachir' had always been raving mad, constantly blabbering about things that made no sense, and beyond that, simply untrue. The last several lives she'd ranted about how he was the bringer of the Dust, and if him now trying to wipe off his tongue with ever-blackening hands wasn't an indication, he hated the stuff. Really, if she wanted to blame him for things, he felt he'd done plenty on his own to warrant that. Why not come after him for all the lovely crimes he had actually committed as opposed to a ridiculous one that he had no part in? That was no fun.

"So you're not worried about what she said?"

Hm?

Perhaps it was because Eldrazi had been caught up in his own thoughts, but he hadn't noticed Gavin's tense knot of worry until he'd spoken. That meant it was his job to relax more, calm down so that too, could be shared through the bond. O' course not. Why would I? Lassie said that Astren was gonna blot out the sun, and I shouldn't 'ave to point out that that's just the Dust. Same as ever, just worse.

Yet for as much as he was explaining that to the boy, apparently his answer wasn't good enough because he was still continuing to think, tongue running soundless circles in a mouth wet from tears he was choosing to swallow rather than shed. A wave hit Eldrazi's consciousness, a cold, wary, desperate feeling. "So everything Tachir' said about you spreading the Dust..."

Eldrazi's eyes shot open, enough to cause the other to ache with another throbbing reminder of its absence. She's a liar! I already said I 'ave no clue what she meant by that. Do you not trust me?

Gavin was quiet, lips pressing tight.

Eldrazi gave an exasperated sigh. You can't let 'er get into your head, Gav. She just wants to tear us apart.

It took a while, but finally Gavin nodded, the tense feeling relaxing, but only slightly as their chin ducked to their chest. "All right. I'm sorry. It's just been a very... rough week, and I still don't know what to feel, or how much."

'S quite all right. Eldrazi shrugged it off. And I'm still 'ere for ya if ya need it.

The thanks went unspoken, but that was good enough for Eldrazi as they passed underneath the shadows of the mountain range, the world dipping cooler. After that, there wouldn't be much left to their journey, especially since the Tercian Relic was the one Gavin would never forget the location of. But this time, it would be different. What was once a hope that the boy would wish for the right thing had become a confident fact now, Eldrazi had no doubt. That meant that when they grabbed the shining blade of a sword, the three pieces assembling to lend them the full Will of the Goddess Akasha, they would wish for rights, for freedom and respect, and they would spend the rest of their days happy, whatever that meant for each of them.

Until Gavin was gone.

A cold shiver ran down Eldrazi's spine and into their tail despite the rising desert heat. That could be a good forty years from now, or the next fifteen if Tachir' got her way. They'd already almost died yesterday, and watched the Wolf Demon take out two others right in front of them. It wasn't impossible; all they'd done was delay the inevitable, and honestly, that should've been enough. After all, fifteen years in a Human body, where he couldn't even use an Eunsi illusion to look like himself and his magik stung to use? This had to be his most pathetic life yet, spent hiding and trapped and tortured and mourning. If it was any other, he would've tapped out long ago. There were plenty of souls in Astren, after all.

Or maybe it was because it'd been nothing but miserable that made him want to see it through to a happy end. And he was doing a solid job of ensuring that, given how close they were. So why was he clenching his hands to stop them from trembling? Why did the idea of Gavin finally closing his eyes in content bother him so intently until it was all he could see? Was something wrong with him?

Or do I just not want to leave him behind?

That is what would happen, after all. Eldrazi would leave, and he would forget. And it wouldn't be like death, final and absolute. He wasn't allowed that. He'd still be forced to exist, as would Gavin, eventually.

Eldrazi pulled out his knives, staring at the runes along its blade spelling out his name. That was no doubt written by someone he cared about too, lost to time, and it was going to happen again, with nothing to stop it.

But he didn't want to just find another body next time. Perhaps it was a silly, stupid thing, but if he truly wasn't allowed to die, if he had to come back, it should be with Gavin, because they were a team now, and no one– not Tachir', not a god, no one– should be allowed to take him away.

"So, about you dying..."

Eldrazi snapped up at Selatan's voice, hands tightening on the blade enough to press a warning into his fingertips, but he wasn't talking to them. Instead the Demon was awkwardly fumbling next to Aoife, feline tail twisting around his brown pants.

Aoife groaned, pressing her hands into her face. "Can't I stall a bit longer?"

"Aoife, this is serious!" he shouted, and the sound echoed, bouncing between the rising walls of stone around them as they headed further into the sand-filled valley. "There was a bird, and fire, and— People don't just spring back to life like that!"

Eldrazi cleared their throat.

Selatan whipped on him, almost talking more with his hands than his mouth. "All right, well, I mean Aoife. Humans don't do that. Aoife doesn't just do that!"

"Well I did. Ta-da, I am amazing, I saved all of your lives, and you're welcome." She rolled her eyes, crossing her arms as she continued to walk straight ahead.

"And I thank you for saving my life," Selatan clarified, very enunciated, and very slowly. "But I also want to know what in Astren that was, and..." His voice dropped with concerned worry. "Can you not die? Is that going to happen again?"

Her black boots came to a stop, her back to them. "I don't know."

When she did finally turn to meet their eyes, it was tearful and shaken, her shoulders trembling with her lip. "I don't know why I can do that, or if it's guaranteed to happen, all right? I just know that it did before, and when I went to save Gavin, it felt right."

"So, when was the last time?" Gavin pressed, tipping their head at her.

"It was..." She bit her lip. "Well, it was a long time ago, but—" She tentatively reached up to grab the red, hoodless cowl around her neck, undoing the silver clasp to loosen it until they could all see the low cut to her crimson shirt. Or, more specifically, the jagged claw marks carved out deep along the top of her breasts.

Eldrazi glanced at her chest– albeit not as thoroughly as Selatan– before looking up at her face. "What sorta Demon did that?"

"It wasn't a Demon," she whispered, clutching the cowl tighter in her hand. "It was Talus."

"He what?" Selatan shouted. "When? Why would he hurt you, and... you died?"

"That's the thing," Aoife said, and she slipped the cowl back on, adjusting the fabric so it lay over the dark collar of her coat better. "I didn't die."

She started walking again, but it seemed more so that there was something to occupy her mind than continue to stall, and as they trudged through thickening sand and mountain passes, she finally continued. "We grew up together, Talus and I. For a while, he was all I had when Róhain ran the bookshop or went out on missions. We got along about as well as any siblings would, I guess. I'd chase him around the house, trying to catch his shadow, or we'd stack blocks, or play with my dolls or-or just talk, you know?"

Her pace started to slow, her words choking up. She paused, but only to wipe at her face before carrying on. "It was my fault, honestly. I knew light hurt him, but... I don't know. I was small and I guess I thought it was a prank? So I crept up to him while he was sleeping, and I summoned what must've been ten balls of fire. And he shot awake, but he just... had this look in his eye. Like he wasn't there." She stared blankly ahead of her, swallowing hard. "Like he was entirely consumed by Chaos."

Finally, she stopped, shaking, and Eldrazi watched Selatan warily reach for her, moving to her side. She was completely rattled now, but she kept going. "And he scratched me. It wasn't that deep, but it was poisoned, and the next thing I felt was being far too hot, and endlessly cold, all at the same time. Then the cold became way stronger, and it-it almost felt like it was grabbing me."

"Astren." Eldrazi nodded. "That's what passin' between the two realms feels like. Like it's made one part fire, one part the void."

"The void?" Selatan squinted at them. "Like space?"

"Like the Chaos star, or the Nothingness that's out there between all the twinklin' lights and the other planets. Dhia." Eldrazi waved it off casually.

The teens continued to stare at him. "What's Dhia?"

"The God Realm? The white temple where they watch over Esternia, the stars, and all the Nothing that lies between, depending on who's assigned what?" Eldrazi squinted at them. "In the void."

Selatan blinked. "That's not a thing, or if it is, there's no way anyone would know that. No one can just go to space, amdain."

"Pfft." A scoff left Eldrazi, and he shook their head with a smile. "D' they teach kids anythin' anymore? That's just a known fact. Old as time."

"Well, I don't know when you went to school, if you ever did at all, but if that's supposed to be a realm, it's not proven, so it doesn't exist."

"Excuse you?" Eldrazi tapped a foot. "I'm willin' to bet there's 'undreds o' things out there that are very real whether you've personally proven it or not."

"All right, well I'm not going to believe in something I can't see, especially not when the only time I'm hearing about it is from you. How old did you say you were again? Six hundred? Do you know how many legends and misconceptions existed six hundred years ago? People thought that eating eels could cure colds and clear up being bottle-ached, and they died to toxins!" He rolled his eyes. "Honestly, it's no wonder you do half the things you do. The Ancients knew nothing."

Eldrazi pricked their ears down in disdain. "No, we were busy figuring out 'ow the world worked the right way: by puttin' everything in our mouths or die tryin'."

Selatan immediately went to shoot a response back, but was cut off by the sound of chuckling, and they all glanced over to look at Aoife, at the soft smile on her face. It wasn't the brazen grin Eldrazi was used to seeing from her, but it was something, and she was working with it as she waved a hand over her shoulder, urging them onwards.

"All right, come on you three," she called. "I'm tired of waking up to Dust in my lungs. Let's try and at least see if we can make it to a cave or something before nightfall."

"Is there a cave?" Gavin asked, and their tongue flicked out into the air to taste the scene around them.

"There should be," Selatan muttered, and Eldrazi heard the crinkle of a map being opened. "Dragons used to live in these passages, way back when, so there should be plenty." Then he sighed. "It's just a shame, because I think we're going to have to climb a bit to get there." His head tipped back to the sky. "I'm so tired of walking."

"I mean, only if ya wanna go over the mountains," Eldrazi pointed out, and he moved to glance at the map in Selatan's hands, scanning the weathered, beige paper over until their eye caught sight of the skinniest part of the Dragon Mountains and familiarity sparked half of a memory within him. He thrust a finger into the paper like a man demandingly poking into another's chest. "I think there's a passage under the range 'ere or so."

"Really?" Selatan asked incredulously, flipping the paper first one way, then the other. "It's not marked on here."

Eldrazi only quirked a brow. "'Ave I ever been wrong?"

"In general? Many, many times, but about directions..." He frowned. "No. Which is funny, because it's not something I honestly expected from you."

He gave Selatan a shrug. "What can I say? I got around a lot in my other life, 'specially 'round these parts."

Something about saying that made Eldrazi pause, and he licked their lips as he cast another look over the jagged silhouettes around them, slowly turning into dark, pointed shadows as the sun began to dip behind them for the night. It really was always these parts. Course, he'd died in many places, and would die at many more, but this had once been the home of Dragons, and Eldrazi doubted even after thousands of lives that that was one he would ever forget.

"Well, come on then. Cave time." Eldrazi waved an arm over their head, moving ahead to take the lead. Soft crunching echoed behind him as the other two trudged along, and after that, the group fell silent.

It took several hours more to reach the dip in the mountain stone, and a while longer to find where the rock fell away entirely, but finally Eldrazi spotted the large cave, trailing back for what he knew was miles underneath. It'd been a helpful place, way back when, truly the easiest path to get from Ulnter to Tercia if you happened to need to spy on a certain race. Eldrazi couldn't count the amount of times he traversed under the range to pass messages back and forth.

Even so, it still sent shivers down their spine every time.

The entrance loomed before them, a tall, gaping chasm of black, but Eldrazi's gaze remained trained on the deep scratches made within the stone, formed from large, scaled claws that could rake through both rock and bone. He reached a hand out as the group headed inside, fingers trailing along the jagged marks, heart beating frantically with each second. And it was ridiculous, because the Dragons were long since gone, and he certainly didn't fear death even if they were. Their fingers clenched, and he took a deep breath to clear away the image of raging fire and bubbling flesh that came to mind. No, it wasn't that they had killed him. It was how.

He never wanted to experience something like that again.

"Hey, are you all right?"

Instantly, he rightened himself, arm jumping back and him giving the scene ahead a sharp nod. Course. Never been better.

Still, a small frown pulled at their lips as Gavin continued to think. "It's because of the Dragons, isn't it? When they burned you?"

Well, can't say it's my favourite memory o' this place, no, he answered, continuing to glance around them. It was less dark in here than he remembered, walls seeming to twitch with the low, low light of what almost seemed like lanterns in the distance, but perhaps it was simply his eye compensating as he trained it on the path ahead. He'd always been able to see in the dark, after all. Still, that was a few 'undred years ago, and I completely showed that Dragon what for! If I can take down one, I could always take down another, so there's nothin' t' fear!

"Then can you please slow down our heart?"

Right. The heart. Quickly, Eldrazi released his hold over it, letting it return to that forever drumming pace Gavin was fond of. Instead, he focused on other things, like Aoife spawning a small blaze at her shoulder to peer further into the cave, with Selatan close behind. Or the shadows on the wall seemed to shift and flicker beneath the fire's glow, almost unnaturally so. Then a sound hit Eldrazi's ears, like fast and panicked whispering.

He stopped, tongue flicking out of their mouth, but aside from the sharp flavour of Aoife's magik and tinge of Selatan's sweat, there didn't seem to be anything about them. Still, he refused to move, heart speeding up again as he turned to the others. "Do you hear that?"

"Hear what?" Aoife asked, and she turned, firelight shifting to cast along the wall behind her.

A screech like wind through trees rang out, and the shadow there darted beneath the light, a formless shape streaking to the other end of the wall.

Aoife screamed, and the fire at her side burst out, growing larger and wilder, enough to make Eldrazi launch himself back all the while the inhumane cry grew louder.

It whirled around the room, echoing again and again, and the shadows along the wall peeled off, slowly forming into the shape of a dark-skinned woman on the floor, clutching at her head. Pointed ears tipped in black poked between her clawed fingers, twitching down in pain. Her long, black hair, done up in a high ponytail, was completely ragged, strands blocking the light from her face as a black, spiked tail curled around her.

Then her face tore up, glaring at them all with entirely black eyes, save for pure white irises that glowed fiercely in the low light.

"What are you doing here?"