The sound of his boots sent shivers down Gavin's spine.

It didn't matter how many times the man had come, waved blade at his side. A marr had been left on him- not his skin, for that always healed without fail- but something far deeper.

Another thud echoed as the man finally came into the room, locking the heavy wooden door behind him. Slowly, he pulled the black scarf off his mouth, showing the scar over his stubbled chin. Brown eyes landed on him as he drew closer, body hunched down to meet Gavin's level.

Gavin's hands trembled at his sides, but Eldrazi forced him to look up and meet the man's gaze. "Don't panic. It's not going to 'appen again. I promise."

With the Demon's presence so mixed, he could sense the gruff demeanour of the man's Will, aloof, uncaring even after everything he'd done. "So, we feel like talking today, Snake?"

"You know I'd rather die than do that," Eldrazi spat out of their mouth, flicking their tail in annoyance.

"And that's exactly your problem. Well—" The man huffed as he went around the stall, disappearing from view before returning with a familiar wooden cart. A whimper escaped Gavin's throat, involuntarily forcing them to take a shaky step back as he looked at sides stained red from blood. His blood. "At least you're still being useful, one way or another. Knowledge or food. Either one helps towards the war you started. That's fair, right?"

Gavin's heart thudded in his ears as he brought his foot back again, cold sweat dripping down his neck. No, this is foolish. Mad. He's going to come in and carve me and cart me away piece by piece just to sell me off. I can't. I can't—

"Gav."

Breathing heavily, he pushed a small amount of focus toward the bond. Y-yes?

"Off the left side o' 'is belt. You see it?"

The door to his cell unlocked with a click, making him twitch, but he managed to tear his eyes away from the blade to the belt. Sure enough, there sat a black, stone key: a perfect match to Aoife's bracelet. I do.

"I'm going to use magik, all right? Get ready. Three..."

The man entered, his boot stamping on the chain wrapped around Gavin's ankle, cutting off the slack.

"Two."

A rough hand grabbed at his wrist, examining the flesh. It was the man's favourite. He always started there and worked his way down to the 'less tender parts.' Gavin trembled under his grasp. He couldn't move, couldn't breathe. The only thing he could do was tense his body and wait for it to come once more.

"Hey! Arsehole!"

"What? Can't wait your turn?" The man turned around to face Aoife, glaring at her cell.

"One!"

The magik curled in Gavin's chest like thorns laced around his heart, each beat sharp and tight as Eldrazi focused on pushing his own, fog-like energy towards the man. It would've hurt far less if Gavin had been in the dark, calm space of their mind, but they were only in their shared half-form, and that meant feeling part of every cut, every reminder of why Humans shouldn't have any contact with magik.

A hard, stern feeling brushed up against Gavin's consciousness, the heaviness leaking into their very core. He could feel his soul tremble as the feeling trailed around his Will, tracing cold, menacing fingers along it like a hand at his throat. Eldrazi had definitely tapped into the man's own, but he was stubborn, and that made him powerful.

Gavin choked, clutching at his chest. Something sat in it, curled up warmth waiting to strike. Their bond burned, making each breath laboured, and all he wanted was for it to stop, but it was working. The man froze in place, unable to move as Gavin's energy wavered, pushed along with Eldrazi's instructions.

"Kneel."

"W-what are you—" the man sputtered, his body starting to crumple to the floor, but as another tug slinked through Gavin's chest, Eldrazi cut him off with a smirk.

"Ew. I don't need you talkin' right now. Besides, it's pretty obvious, innit?" He leaned their face in closer. "I'm winning."

Their boots trod across the floor, Gavin crouching beside the man, tail curled up along his back for balance. He didn't have long. He knew that, the suffocating feeling of the man's own Will starting to fight back. If he wasn't quick, the connection would start to work against him, until it would be the man in charge of him. That was the danger with Eldrazi's magik, but luckily they were already kicking the dagger away from the man's outstretched hand. Gavin's head and stomach spun in nausea, but he only needed one more second, and with a tug, he snapped the black key off the ribbon at the man's hip.

"Good?"

Gavin nodded. Good.

With that, the energy retracted, the burning of his insides dying down slightly, although he knew it'd take much longer for it to fade entirely.

Instantly, the man kicked himself up, crimson eyes boring into Gavin's own. "You're going to pay dearly for whatever you just did."

Gavin's breath caught in his throat, but they were close. The girl had said as long as she could break from her chains, escape was guaranteed. The key sat cold and light in their hand. He just had to get it to her.

As the man darted forward to grab him, Gavin whisked back, raising his arm above his head. "Aoife! Catch!"

The key flew from his fingertips, soaring above the man's head, across the cell, bouncing along the stone with a clink... only to settle directly at his cell's door, a solid ten and five feet from Aoife.

"Gavin! You and your weak, pathetic 'Uman arms!" Eldrazi's lament shot out of Gavin's lips, the telltale feeling of scales crawling along his cheekbones again, but he didn't have time to focus on that. A large fist was careening towards his face, colliding with his nose a moment later. Pain shot through the back of his skull as it cracked against the stone wall, and his vision spun, but even seeing wouldn't have stopped the sharp crunch of a steel toed boot to his ribs, or a knee to his stomach. He folded in half, gasping. Somewhere behind the man, Aoife was shouting, but he couldn't make it out against the agony.

A hand grabbed at their neck, a tightness filling his lungs as the man lifted their small body. The stone wall scraped at his skin, but no matter how much he thrashed his legs and tail, he couldn't stop the man from choking him, from whispering fiercely in their ear. "I felt that, you know. I don't even have magik, and I felt you touching my Will. So, let me ask you again, Serpent. What. Did. You. Do?"

A wetness trailed down Gavin's face as tears started to leak out of his eyes. Already, darkness was coating the ends of his vision, a haziness settling over his mind. This... is it, isn't it? This was beyond him fighting back against the blade searing through his skin, crying out in protest against the torture. He'd crossed the line, and now he would die. But... I don't want to start over. His thoughts trailed to Eldrazi as his anger coursed through their shared body. I don't want to lose him.

He was about to close his eyes when a sucking pressure formed in his mouth, cutting through Gavin's thoughts as an acidic taste filled his senses. The taste of venom. His heart leapt at the smooth feeling coating his tongue as Eldrazi continued to draw it out.

Eldrazi! You can't! That will kill him!

"And 'e's going to kill us! I'm makin' a choice, and that choice is leaving. Now!"

With that, Eldrazi spat at the man, violet drops of venom spattering across his countenance. He screamed, dropping Gavin to clutch at his face. Sharp shock shot up their ankles as Gavin plummeted to the floor, but he knew it was nothing compared to what he'd done. Even as he turned away, he had already seen the venom eating away at the man's features, exposed, pink flesh peeling back to show the white of his melting bones.

"Gav. I really need ya to focus right now." Shoving past the man, Eldrazi darted forward. The chains tugged at his wrists, but he managed to get the toe of his boot on the key, sliding it back only to shoot it forward across the stone.

"S-sorry. Aoife!" Gavin shouted to her, but already the girl was sweeping forward to grab it.

With a clink, the Duststone bracer around her wrist hit the floor, that wide grin of hers returning. She glanced at her hands, flexing them slightly as she focused on the man. "Eldrazi?"

"Um, it's Gavin, actually, but—"

"Don't care. Get down."

Gavin didn't know what type of magik he'd expected from the girl, but it hadn't been a bright, purple flame flaring up in the palm of her hand, illuminating her stocky frame in a violet glow. His eyes widened at the sight of it, Eldrazi's presence stiffening into a dead weight within his chest. Images filled their mind a second after: of scales melding into one, the feeling of melting, burning until there was nothing left but ash... Fear spiked along their bond until it was hard to tell where his feelings ended and Eldrazi's began.

Then the fire shot past them in a line, a flare of heat trailing along their back as he darted out of the way. The man's screaming cut off to a terrifying silence behind him a second after, but Gavin didn't turn to look. He only trembled as the flames trailed along the floor, amethyst ribbons flickering back past him until the fire settled beside her. He pulled in one deep breath, then another, trying to fill his lungs, but it felt useless as Eldrazi continued to squirm uncomfortably within him.

"What's the matter?" Aoife scoffed, her eyes glowing with their own sense of power. "Afraid of a little fire?"

"That was not a little," Gavin panted as a reply. "And I just don't like it, that's all."

"Why? Did you get burned as a kid or something?"

"I didn't." It wasn't a lie. Some memories and emotions just happened to be shared more than others, whether Gavin had a true reason to feel it or not. He shook his head, blond bangs tumbling into his face as he tried to clear his mind. "Don't worry about it. Shouldn't you be focusing on getting us out of here?"

"I am! I took care of the guard, so now I need the cell key," she retorted, voice raising an octave defensively as she waved a hand toward the lock on her own barred door.

"I thought you said once you got the bracelet off, you swore we could escape?" Eldrazi hissed, shooting her a glare.

"Yeah, once I'm out of this cell. What do you expect me to do? Melt the bars?" She spread her hands, looking at them incredulously. "Forget possibly burning you, do you know how much smoke that would build up in here? You'd choke to death."

"N-no we don't need any more fire," Gavin quickly clarified. "But... you're a Halfbreed, right? So you have magik. Why not ask the gods' for some ability that can unlock the bars for you, now that there's nothing blocking your Will?"

"Your Demon has magik. Why doesn't he ask his own god to do it?"

"Because mine doesn't work like that," Eldrazi cut in.

Gavin bit at his lip. That was a dangerous thing to explain to someone who was practically a stranger, and yet, Aoife didn't seem to care as she shrugged. "Well then, there you are. Neither does mine. Taking him out is the best I can do right now without running the risk of accidentally burning you alive."

Gavin felt his hands starting to ball into fists at his side. "I thought you swore on your life," Eldrazi pointed out, one hand reaching for the dagger they'd kicked away from the man minutes before. "I guess it wasn't all that important t' you then, was it?"

"And I thought the guard had the cell key on him too!" she cried, a frazzled, panicked expression filling her face. "Don't threaten me! It's not like you would actually kill me."

A low grumble echoed in Gavin's throat, but he forced Eldrazi to turn away, kneeling beside the burnt corpse. Warm ashes coated his fingers, dying them an inky black, and whatever wasn't charcoal flaked away to show red organs oozing beneath. His stomach churned. Closing his eyes, he managed to finally find the remains of a satchel, a familiar silver key within, just not the one the girl wanted.

Still, Gavin took it, unlocking the chains off his own wrist as Eldrazi continued to argue. "And how d' you know I won't? I just melted someone's face. I'll send whoever I want to Astren. Lives don't mean much when they all get to come right back anyway."

Gavin flinched at that, rubbing at his aching wrists. It wasn't the first time he'd had to put up with the Demon's morals, and in most cases, he found himself agreeing, or at least unbothered by them. But when it came to death... It doesn't matter if they come back. They still lose everything they had.

"Look at yourself. Look at how shaken up you are over some random man dying. That's how I know. Besides..." She trailed, starting to pace around her cage, flickers of purple light curling around her protectively. "You really want to test my magik against yours?"

Gavin felt his mouth open in response, but he forced the bond down, feeling the scales retract, his ears becoming slightly less pointed. He cleared his throat. "Point taken. Still, you better help once I get you out."

There wasn't anything else on the man, and if he was being honest, he didn't want to touch the decrepit body anymore. Thankfully, the man hadn't shut the cell door behind him, and with a few shaky steps, Gavin was out of it, standing in the hallway between where he'd rotted away for the past several weeks... and Aoife.

He turned his head to the side, gaze trailing along the stone floor, up the short staircase, and the stone door out. He wasn't free- not yet- but once he got past that door, it wouldn't be long until he'd be able to taste the Dusty air of Malin's beaches.

I could go now. He took another step forward, almost not able to believe it. A soft smile filled his face as his cautious steps turned into a run, tail swaying behind him as he stomped up the stairs to finally rest a hand on the latch. Maybe a light feeling should've filled his chest, but the emotion felt thin. Weak. Perhaps because this too was a fleeting victory, a means to be chased endlessly before he was tossed back here once more. Still, he pushed that all away, focusing on the positive. We did it Eldrazi! We can leave and go back to the way things were.

"And what about 'er?"

He glanced back, meeting Aoife's violet gaze. "Well?" she asked. "Aren't you gonna go?"

"I will but..." He paused for a moment to think. "What's stopping me from running off? Nothing is forcing me to save you, after all. You didn't even help me get out. You just finished off a dying man." He bit at his lip again, feeling his fangs prick at the flesh.

She only shrugged. "Nothing is stopping you. You are your own person, and after everything I'm sure you've gone through, I could understand you leaving me behind. But..." She sat down, curling her knees to her chest as she stared at the fire in her hand. "Well- I suppose it's rather silly of me, but I trust you."

He frowned, mulling it over. "Yeah, it was silly of you, wasn't it?"

The latch felt cold in his hand as he yanked it open, and with that, he was gone.