Warning: This chapter contains gore. If that is something that bothers you, I recommend skipping.

"Hold on a minute. I need a break."

Instead of turning around, Xoris continued to face forward, looking at Will from the back of his neck in acknowledgement. "All right." He took a step back from the thick green and purple brush, noting as Will flinched a bit behind him. "Are you also not feeling well?"

"No!" he shot back defensively, but Xoris could see him looking away once again. "I mean..." He sighed, realising that a yes or no answer didn't work well in the context. "I was just going to get some water. It's been..." He glanced at the empty sky above them, the light blue speckled only with a few clouds. "A while now."

"We can do that." It was a simple enough request. Xoris didn't think any sort of drink would clear up the constant ache settled in his throats, but he agreed that it had been a while now, at least three or four turns. Still, he couldn't help notice Will's standoffish demeanour as they headed towards the red stream they'd been following along the way. "Why did you flinch then? Are you cold?" He certainly felt shivery, perhaps Will did too. He reached his arm out a bit to the man, trying to inspect him better.

Will once again took a step away, giving Xoris a look. "No. How could I when it's so damn hot every day?" He wiped his one, untorn sleeve against his forehead, wiping away the sweat gathered there as if to prove his point. "No, I just really wish you'd... turn your head to look, or something if you're going to talk. No offence, but things are strange enough already, so when you don't do certain things, it's just..." He circled his hand again, trying to find a word, but eventually gave up. Xoris could see him swallowing hard as he finally stood at the river's edge, glancing down into the thick, crimson depths.

Is it important to turn my head? Luina had always raised him to know that it was rude to avoid eye contact, but he had done that. It felt like so much needless effort to focus out of his Human eyes. Why turn his head when he was already facing any direction he needed to? But Will only continued to stare off, offering no answer. Part of Xoris whispered of how none too long ago, he would have been afraid to even look out of any others in the first place, but he pushed the idea aside. Thoughts like that weren't healthy. They made it seem like he was changing, but that couldn't be right. He wasn't losing himself. He could be a Human and a Stained, if he wanted to. He just needed to figure out how.

All the same, if it made Will feel better, he figured he could do that much. Breaking away from the thickness of his stuffed mind, he made an effort to crane his head down, only to find Will about to dip his flask in the water. His hands jumped in response as a shout broke out of the mouth on his side. "What are you doing? You're going to get Stained!"

But Will already was filling up his flask, craning it towards his mouth with no hesitation. Panic surged through Xoris as he stood, watching in horror. He's going to die! I need to do something! Instantly, he yanked at the purple energy that lay sleepily within him, pushing it forward as he focused the eyes on his cheeks to the man's own warm brown. Stop! As Will's body froze up obediently in response, Xoris was already lunging to smack the flask out of his hand, sending it off to roll along the ground, its contents oozing out. Satisfied, he broke the connection, moving back with a sigh of relief.

It took a moment, but Will finally snapped back into his senses, blinking at him. "What... just happened?"

"You were about to drink the water, and I knocked it out of your hands to save you." Xoris beamed at him with a mouth full of fangs. "You're welcome."

His gaze only continued to shift between Xoris' face and the flask though, seemingly not content with the answer, but also not having a better one himself. All the same, he narrowed his eyes, shoving Xoris off him to go grab the flask once again. "I wanted to drink it. That was the entire point of coming over here."

"But... you didn't filter it. You'll get Stained," Xoris stated it like a fact. After all, it wasn't as though Will had any magik in him for there to be a bad enough reaction for him to die. He'd just become a Vampire, although Xoris wasn't sure many would consider that the better option. "I saved you."

"I haven't been filtering it in the first place." He took a quick swig out of the bottle before Xoris could stop him. "See? I'm fine. I've been doing this since I got here."

"But... but that's not how that works," Xoris stammered as he watched him continue to drink. His skin and hair should have been losing their colour as red blotches stretched across his face, or anywhere else it touched, but he seemed as fine as ever. Is it because his blood is naturally red? Xoris couldn't think of any other explanation, but he tried to calm his nerves as he sat by the river's edge. Finally, he sighed, dipping in his own hand into the warm depths if only to get a drink himself. "You're very lucky the world isn't out to get you. I'm not sure you would still be alive if that were the case."

"I beg to differ." His words were slow, frustrated as he reached up to take hold of the scar on his forearm. That was all he said though before he refilled the flask one more time, tucking it away into his bag.

Xoris frowned. He hadn't meant it in that sense, more than aware of the nasty mark his Vilve encounter had left behind. I just don't know how he managed for this long. He didn't have time for any more questions though, as Will removed another item in place of the flask, and Xoris recognized the crystal's bright red glow.

"I don't know if that's going to be of any help," Xoris tried to explain as he pushed himself off the dirt, some of the stickier white parts on it remaining on his hands even after he tried to brush it away. "I might be too close for it to find much else." The glow was already harsh, and he didn't think it could handle much more.

"Well, I don't have many other options." Will crossed his arms, trying to hold the crystal out in front of him as if it could lead him directly to a Vilve. "The last thing I had for that died forever ago."

"It died? I'm sorry." Xoris didn't know if he meant a pet, or some other Beast, but all the same, he wanted to extend his respects.

"Not... that kind of death. It's hard to explain." Will reached up to scratch the tight curls of his hair. "But imagine something like this crystal. Every time I was close to a Vilve, specifically, it would react, and I could follow how strong it was. But... it had a very short lifespan, so to speak, and once it ran out I had no way to fix it. So I had to buy this instead, once I found a village."

A different kind of death? Aside from losing oneself to the Stain, and being sent to Lakhira, he couldn't think of much else. Yet, his aching mind did offer up a single memory. A lifeless life. "If it's something broken, I could always help you bring it to Merkos. He's the best maje I know, and builds artefakts that can do all kinds of things. If anyone would be able to bring it back to life, it would be him." He stopped, thinking about the last words he'd said. That was what Merkos had been doing, before he'd left. Giving life to things that should have never had any at all. But that's much different than what I did. There's... nothing wrong with what Merkos did. He's helping with the war.

"...Who's Merkos?" As Will titled a bit to the left, the red of the crystal darkened a bit, not in brightness, but shade. Xoris eyed it warily, but with no reason not to, he followed Will in the direction it pointed.

"He's... like a brother to me. We were raised together." His chest tightened a bit, but whether it was to cough, or because of the panic rising in him as the crystal darkened again, forcing Will to change directions, he wasn't sure.

"Does he also have way too many eyes?"

"N-no. That's just me."

A hum of acknowledgement left Will's lips as he nodded. "I have nothing against meeting him, but with any luck, I won't have to have it fixed anyway." He raised the crystal up to his eyes. It had become much darker, almost looking more black than red by that point. "I think we're getting close."

Xoris could only manage to nod, already hating the tingling, cracking sensation beginning to fill the air. All the same, a small wave of hope ran through him as he heard a voice, a conversation. Pomona? Did she find another Vilve? He would have been glad to meet her again, but as Will hacked away at the vegetation around them with his khopesh, his wishful thinking vanished as he could make out that it was a male voice, and an unmal's.

"All I'm saying is that you should be more thankful. We would never be able to travel this fast if it weren't for my magik," the man was saying.

"And all I'm saying is that you should be thankful I'm even working with you at all. I didn't have to track him down for you."

Track him down? With a start, Xoris recognized the unmal, not even needing to look as his hands flinched. Instantly, he was turning around, taking hold of Will's arm. "We need to go. The Vilve isn't this way."

"What?" Will whispered back fiercely. "It has to be close. Look at how dark it is." He glanced at the stone in his hands again. "And there's people here. We can ask them for directions, or to help us."

"No. No we can't. I know where we're going anyway, for sure." Xoris looked at him, pleading. "Please, let's just go."

"No. Why are you against getting help? Hey!" Will shouted out, tugging out of his grasp as he pushed through the bushes. "Have any of you seen the Vilve? I have something that says it should be close."

"Will no!" With that, he was running towards them, trying to stop him even as he knew it was too late. Xoris watched in horror as a blindfolded Fae and a short man with dark violet hair, tipped with blond, stared back at him. The crystal in Will's hand, pitch black now, shivered and shook as the man stepped forward, a sickening, crazed gleam in his indigo eyes. Every instinct was telling Xoris to leave, hide, anything but thrust himself in front of Will to block him. "He's a monster!"

"Well now, I find that quite rude, coming from something like you." Xoris glared at Kraim as he stood nonchalantly in front of him, in robes as purple as the blood he drank. "Honestly, between the two of us, I think it's clear who's the Stained here, but thank you for coming out in the open. Saved us a small bit of work, although we were bound to find you anyway." At his words, the Fae ruler stood, sword clenched tight in their hand in anger that rolled off them in dark waves.

"Xoris? What's going on?" Will took a step back behind him as a black crackling thread burst to life as Kraim's side. "I... thought you said you didn't do anything wrong. You just avoided people." Xoris didn't need to turn his head to see the scared, distrusting look on his face. His heart sank, wanting to provide Will some answer, but he could barely even move, his feet rooted to the ground as the two drew closer.

"Nothing wrong?" Now it was the ruler's turn to speak, with a harsh, callous laugh. "Killing off a third of our population isn't wrong? Killing my wife, isn't wrong?" The white tip of their sword rose to Xoris' throat, looking like a white blur to the emerald eye that sat there.

"I... You weren't helping! I just needed you to listen! I never wanted a fight!" His chest began to rise and fall rapidly as he stared into the blindfold on their face, as thick and black as their hair. No matter how hard he glared at it though, how much he wanted them to stop moving, their body remained flesh and blood as a vengeful smile tugged at their face. A hard swallow only served to edge his eye closer to the threatening tip of the blade.

"Well, now we're helping the Human side, if only to end you. Are you happy now? Was it worth it?" Shadows leapt to their command at each spoken word, twisting like dark and angry vines at their feet. Xoris trembled at the sight of them. He flicked his eyes up at them again, but there was nothing he could do, no sense of control he could muster, no way to stop them save for the blade in his hand, and he was sorely outmatched. He could only manage to shout in terror as the shadows lunged at him, sharpened like claws to tear him apart.

"Wait!" Xoris didn't know what he had expected after he closed his eyes, but it wasn't opening them to find Will struggling against the dark whips, wrapped tightly around his every limb. He looked as though he wanted to speak again, but his words were cut off as the darkness closed in around his mouth, silencing him.

"This doesn't concern you, Human." With that, the shadows lurched, sending Will's body careening into a tree, his head colliding into the trunk with a solid thud. "Stay out of it."

In an instant, Will was back on his feet, wiping a trickle of crimson body off his face. "Actually, it does. I need his help, so I'm going to need you to back off." He panted heavily as he glanced up, a tight scowl on his face.

"Help?" Kraim scoffed. "The last time that thing 'helped', a massacre happened, and I lost my job." The cracking shape of his magik rose up behind him, twisting and warping the air around him as it flashed in his quiet anger. He shoved Will aside with his one bare hand, barely paying him any mind as he refocused his gaze on Xoris. "And you're going to help me get it back, or die here."

Fangs sunk into the skin on his left hand as Xoris clenched his fist. I'm so tired of him, and his arrogance. To his own surprise, a low growl rumbled in his chest as he turned to face them. A deep guttural desire flared up in him, not an instinct, not an urge, not another presence telling what to do. No, this was his own personal need to watch Kraim's head topple to his blade, make him atone for the sins he committed. As blood surged to his face, Xoris darted forward, stretching out his sword to slash Kraim through his very core.

Instead, it sunk into an endless mass of speckled black as it enveloped Kraim as a whole, yanking him from the time and space he had struck.

"Too slow, or should I say, too late?" The words whispered, soft and menacing in his ear. With a cry, Xoris turned to strike at his side, but Kraim only appeared at his back, the violet eye nestled on his neck widening as the advisor reached forward with a black and indigo hand.

He tried to dodge, but the ruler only had to lift a hand for the silhouette of vines to creep into every crack in his armour, pinning him in place as they stuck into his skin like burning needles. "No!" he screamed as Kraim's hand continued to reach for him, the flesh on it splitting apart to reveal a hungry, endless void. "No please!" His voice rose in panic, a whimper escaping his trembling lips as realisation tightened his stomach. He tried to focus, diving into the energy in his chest, but just as the violet pupil would have made contact, another dark crack broke through Kraim's skin, separating his face in two, leaving him nothing to connect to. Xoris' pleas were ignored as he pushed forward, a sickeningly sweet smile on what was left on his face as he reached for the eye. Xoris could feel his touch, a bristling, twitching reality as his fingers sunk through his flesh.

And then there was a snap. A wet, yanking feeling that shred through his head like fire. Tears leaked out of his eyes as the feeling of air in an empty socket blew through him, as if the coolness of it could take away the burning, but it was hot. Too hot. Vomit shot up his throat as a dizzying darkness enveloped him, only kept back by the webbing, sharp lines reaching throughout his skin, much farther than the bloody wound. No amount of screaming was enough. It consumed his every thought, a wretched sound that tore from every part of him, begging for it to stop.

"There we are. With this, that ashclaeve of a king will have no choice but to take me back. I can make him hire me." Xoris almost didn't want to turn his head to see Kraim standing there confidently, half standing there, half enveloped in a broken darkness as he greedily stared at the organ in his hand.

"You're not going to eat that, are you?" The Fae almost sounded nonchalant, but even with the blindfold, the look of disgust was plain from the twisted expression of their mouth.

"If consuming a Vilve could do all this, I'm sure it will work the same." With that, the man was tipping his mouth open, biting down on the soft white ball as if it were a spoonful of warm gelatin. A trickle of red dripped from his chin, and he wiped it off. "Besides, even if it doesn't, there are hundreds more to work with."

"You... you sick bastard!" In his agony, Xoris had forgotten about Will. He tried to tell him to run, save himself, but the words caught in his dry, ashen mouth. He could only blink at him with a face full of tears as the man swiped the curved end of the khopesh at Kraim.

The advisor only raised an eyebrow at him, before warping to a spot a few strides away in a flash of black. "This is tiring. Ilysi, you have my permission to end them."

"I don't need your sekhif permission," the Fae muttered bitterly. All the same, they twisted their foot in the ground, their green dress whipping around as the shadows rose again, sharpening into razor points. A sound like a low wind rustled the air as they shot towards Will, forcing him to twist and dodge. With a roll, he ducked another blow, coming to a stop right before a tree.

"Ha! Is that all you got? Having a hard time hitting someone who doesn't even understand magik?" For his cocky words, Will's face was serious as he raised the khopesh up to his face.

Ilysi only grit their teeth in response, before striking from overhead with their own sword. A clang rang out as the blades connected, once by Will's shoulder, a second near his leg. The Fae left him no chance to attack though, striking quickly in one direction before switching rapidly to another, making Will retreat back step by step. They don't even seem to want to hit him at all. Just... push him back. But why? The words slowly formed in Xoris' blurred mind, trying to fight against every part of him wanting to shut down. He couldn't afford to pass out now. Not when Will was in danger. He watched as he retreated another step, closer to the edge of the forest, with the intense shade of the leafy canopy.

Xoris' body jolted in realisation. The Fae wasn't looking to hit him. Taking a deep breath, he tried to scream. "Will don't! They control darkness!" Instantly, the man froze up, but that was all the ruler needed to shove him back, sending him tumbling into the shade. The dark patches eagerly jumped up, wrapping around him like a whip of thorns. The man's cries echoed through Xoris' mind as he was forced onto his knees, held in place as Ilysi clenched their fist, attempting to crush him.

Agony tore through him as Xoris ripped himself from the slowly slackening grip of the Fae's first attack. He raised his sword to collide into the side of the Fae's head, but it only sank into another abyss as Kraim shot out a bolt to protect them. "Sorry," the advisor cooed. "I can't allow that." Xoris watched as his flesh slowly pieced itself back together so he could stare at him menacingly. "I got what I came for, and we can't have this peasant getting in the way." But even as he stalked closer, and the Fae turned to face him with their sword once again, he couldn't get his mind off Will writhing on the ground. If he dies... he'll never get to go back... and that almost hurt worse than the dripping wound in his neck. I need to get him home. Now! The world tilted as dizziness swirled through him, but he pushed it away, focusing his eyes on the two in front of him. He had one shot. That was it.

Without warning, they dashed forward, shadows creeping to his feet and a bolt sent to his head. Xoris barely ducked in time to avoid the latter, tripping on the dark obstacles beneath him, but he needed them closer. He needed a better angle. Come on, underestimate me... It stung, the magik slinking through his armour, biting at his blood-soaked skin, but without eye contact there was nothing he could done about Ilysi right? Even so, an idea ran through his mind, or the slow, tedious process of turning the vines to stone, something that could never see in the first place. With that, he flicked his focus down to the ruler's black boots, trailing back and forth in an agile movement a half of so stride from the ground.

Pain wracked at his mind, his neck throbbing in time with the edges of black in his vision, but he continued to stare as the start of grey stone began to creep across the shoes. A cry rang out as Ilysi was tugged to the ground, a hand reaching down as they fought to pull them off, but it was finished. With a tobble, the ruler fell over, unable to catch themselves as they feet held fast. Despite the situation, Xoris couldn't help a small smile from stretching across his face. It wasn't much, but it was something.

"Insolent Beast!" With that, they were reaching their hand up, the dark lines webbing aross the ground as they advanced towards Xoris anyway, stabbing into the back of his calves between each belt of the greaves. A low hiss pushed past his teeth as the sharp pain continued to dance through his nerves, but he wasn't done. Pain wracked at his eyes, already irritated and sore, but he forced every one of them to widen as Kraim's own came into view, narrowed with his smile, confident and vengeful. Another black bolt leapt to life around him, barely contained around his body.

"Farewell, Thing of Eyes and Teeth." He brought his face close.

"No." His muscles burned as he forced himself to reach up, but he continued to reach, taking hold of Kraim's hair with a yank. As his eyes shot open in shock, Xoris stared into them, tugging at the violet energy, trying to push into his thoughts. The liquid hold flooded through him again, easing some of the ache as he felt the connection take hold. Kraim's body relaxed under his gaze as Xoris forced him to back off, standing up himself. Already, the jolting of the Vilve's magik in Kraim was fighting against him, demanding to be released. His own arms twitched as it crept towards him. He didn't have long.

Instantly, Ilysi seemed confused, reaching out with magik to try and see, but Xoris didn't have time to focus on them. Stay there! The command echoed endlessly in his thoughts even as he shoved the urge to Kraim, barely able to lift his sword to parry the blow the Fae sent at him. He flicked another eye over to Will, still shouting and trying to escape, but a clank of Ilysi's weapon against the armour of his leg brought his focus back. Will would have to wait. He twisted his head back to Kraim. The Vilve magik in his was not his own. It was barely controlled by him alone, much less by Xoris, but he demanded it be brought under his submission. As a dazed sensation grew over his own body and thoughts as he focused hard on Kraim. He forced the man's arm up. He could hear the crackling noise of the power leaping to his fingers, tingling as it built up, begging for an outlet. Them. The Vilve magik jumped back at him with a painful surge, causing Xoris to curse. Did I do it? He glanced up to see the dark, winding line shoot through the air towards Ilysi.

He barely had time to step away from the blast himself before their body jumped, the bolt causing them to twitch as the uncontrolled void sought to pull every bit of them apart. The endless black ate through them, broken, harsh sounds rising up with their screams until there was nothing left. Xoris' breathing quickened as he urged for Kraim to build it up again. I... I don't know how to use this... What if it does the same to Will? The magik felt so unfamiliar, slippery in his hold, but he couldn't afford to mess up. Anger flared through him as he pushed the last of his energy through the connection. He made it as concise as he could. Kraim, send Will back!

With that, he was shoved out of Kraim's mind, his own body twitching from the last of the Vilve's magik as he watched the advisor lift his hand, firing one last time. It weaved through the air, heading towards Will with one purpose.

"Xoris no! Wait!" The man scrambled to his feet as the shadows around him dropped their hold. "I don't know-"

"Goodbye Will." The words sounded hoarse, almost quiet, like they came from somewhere far beyond him. "It was nice meeting you." He tried to offer up a smile through the pain, before the world warped around Will, bending the air around him, pulling him in. And then he was gone. Was he back to his own time and place? Xoris would never know, but he felt confident even as his legs gave out beneath him. His face plummeted forward, unable to stop as he plunged into the dirt, rocks and dirt scratching his face. I did it. I saved him. He couldn't even move as he stared off into nothing, an empty smile on his face as footsteps approached. They stopped right in front of him.

That was the last thing he could register before the pain sank into his mind, pulling him to sleep.

~~~~~

Well that was fun. At least for me. To write. Ahem, anyways if for some reason you feel a strong passion to stab Kraim, here's a picture for target practice. As always, thanks for reading! ^v^