Gnaji

Trytheus managed to catch the waterskin out of the air, though his fingers still felt heavy and clumsy. Uncorking it with his teeth he jammed into his mouth and all but chocked on the flow of water, he would have preferred to have drunk from his own supply of water, but he had left it on the saddle and there hadn't been time to gather everything up and throw it onto Mavegen. Drinking his fill and nothing more, he recorked the half empty skin and dropped onto the bloody ground, only then noticing the blood on the skin itself, then the blood that was splattered on his armour. It was a frightening amount and he wasn't sure how much was his own, he just knew he had been very close to the end.

Struggling to his feet, he passed a plated hand over his face before taking a proper look at the ground around him. It could only be described as utter carnage, bodies lay crushed, where his hammer had shattered that bones and turned their organs to jelly. The ground was saturated a deep red where Amirs blade had cut them open. Yet it was nothing to be ashamed about, justice had been dealt this day. He looked back at Amir as the boy and his beast began to roll around in the sand, he shook his head at them but allowed them their fun, they deserved some reprieve at the very least.

Picking his way through the bodies, he found his dagger lodged in one mans shoulder, it took a fair bit of force to remove it. Stepping past a few more of the dead he found his hammer, blood and gore clung to its head, yet its steel was intact and undamaged. A small gust of wind told him the state of the cloak on his back as it fluttered past him on the breeze, a shredded mess. Reaching up he unclasped the remaining tatters from his shoulder and allowed it to fall to the ground before kneeling by the cloth. He undid the brooch before using what little of the cloak was left to clean his weapons. It did leave him with what to do with the golden brooch however, the piece was simple- a circle with an embossed spear and sword, a diamond and ruby respectively was used to create the image of their individual metal heads.

Before he could think of what to do with the piece he heard a chirrup behind him. Turning his head he saw Mavegen standing behind him, with her foreclaw she kicked his helm to him, though he didn't pick it up just yet. Instead he stood up and approached the griffon, giving her a weary smile, as he stood before her the two locked foreheads gently. To the outside observer perhaps it looked like some form of headbutt contest, but to those two it was a mark of friendship and compassion, as best as they could manage. Neither of them were the type to jump into a hug.

"So, when will you be ready to go?" The boy was in a surprisingly good mood, though he wondered if this was just another set up for the boy to try and jibe at him once more. Looking at Mavegen, he could see that she was outright exhausted, hardly managing to stand on her feet with swaying slightly.

"We need four hours to sleep, no more no less." He reached down to his helm and placed it back on his head, before he looked back at the golden brooch. The thing was a decorative piece, its only purpose had been to hold his cloak onto his his shoulders, he had considered attaching it via his pouldrons, but it had proven to be more effective when clasped across his neck. He weighed the golden piece slightly before tossing it over to Amir. "Here. I have no further use for it."

"We need four hours to sleep, no more no less." Amir eyed the man for a moment. Trytheus was so bizarre, and not in the good way that intrigued someone to want to know more, but in the way where he said stupid shit like that instead of saying, ‘A few hours of sleep and I should be fine.’ And what did that even mean, no more no less? Who slept in intervals of exact hours, how did he even know when to wake up at no more no less four hours? If Amir went to sleep he was out until he had slept for at least eight hours, nothing woke him except violence. Usually getting pushed out of bed or a punch to the stomach would do the job though.

Amir sighed, it felt as those he was just looking for reasons to hate the man now rather than their being actual reasons. The man was just so irritating, if he hadn’t been so hell bent on being a hero they probably could have made it to The Cape already and been done with this mission. He pushed himself to his feet, snagging the object thrown to him by Try. "Here, I have no further use for it."

“Gee, thanks..” He muttered while weighing the piece in his hand. It was heavier than he thought, definitely made of gold and his first thoughts went to how much he could sell it for. He tossed it gently, letting the ornament fall back into his hand with a soft thunk. It was worth a small fortune, not something he thought Try should be giving away on a whim. Unsure where to put it the boy pinned the brooch onto the cloth covering his left arm, it would be safe until he could figure out what to do with it exactly. He was about to ask what the emblem meant, but he was surprised when he turned to see the man had ditched his cape, and Amir couldn’t resist commenting.

“Thank god you finally ditched that ugly ass cape. Maybe if you cast off your armor for a robe and that helm for a scarf the desert will start being kinder to you.” He turned on his heels and began walking in the direction they came. He was stepping over and on bodies without much care, Hassan comfortably perched on his shoulder, though his eyes did dart around the deceased. He was looking for glints of valuables, things he could loot off the bodies, but it seemed that these bandits lived up to their brutal name. Attacking and killing without a reason more than it being for fun, it was tough to swallow, even for him.

It felt like the walk back to where they had left their things was a lot longer than the walk to the bandits. Maybe it had been because he had run the last portion of the journey, but the boy felt as if time was dragging as they walked. The good mood that had come from getting into a good fight had since dissipated and he didn’t even want to annoy Trytheus at this point. He wanted all the grime off his skin though, it was starting to itch and felt so thick that it could have been a whole other layer of skin on his body.

The mid river had been a welcome sight. And even though it had since become the dead of night the boy had charged to the water, throwing his entire body in. The feeling of the sand, and blood, and sweat peeling off his skin was a heavenly and welcome feeling after all of his had crusted onto him. He didn’t know if Trytheus was following his lead, but at that point he didn’t care much. He only left the river, shivering, once he was positive he had gotten rid of all the remnants of the fight. He trekked the rest of the way, where their stuff remained miraculously untouched and let Hassan sit in his lap as he plopped down on a blanket, the phoenix acting as a furnace for his cold body.

It was going so well, they had crushed a bandit clan, saved countless future lives and avenged the deaths of countless others. But then Amir had to ruin the spell by returning to being a smartass.

"Thank god you finally ditched that ugly ass cape. Maybe if you cast off your armor for a robe and that helm for a scarf the desert will start being kinder to you." It was with an exasperated sigh that he barely managed to keep himself from kicking the boy in the teeth, yet that didn't do much for the tiny voice in the back of his mind that seemed to mirror the boys own words, or near enough, the tiny echo of 'I'll fuck you up' was certainly a tempting idea but it went against his vows, not to mention his own exhaustion.

It was a long trek back, he kept a few steps behind Amir, the whole way. Though he could undoubtedly overtake the smaller stature of the Phoenix-Rider, he simply didn't want to deal with the boy right now. Besides, the dark had well and truly set in. The black unknown was like a blanket of dread for the knight, though not outrightly afraid, his senses were strained too far, as if he was expecting some creature to leap out of the shadows at any moment. Of course none ever did, but his body did not listen to reason.

It was with a small amount of relief when they returned to the river. He was hardly surprised that the boy decided to leap straight into the icy depths, no doubt he would leap from a cliff if the water bellow looked sufficiently damp enough. He however didn't stop, only to scoop up handfulls of water to wash away the grime that had splattered his suit. It wasn't a lengthy process and he was sure the metal wouldn't rust, it never did. He cared little for the touch of cold the water brought as it seeped into the joints of his armour, welcoming the familiar cold, it didn't stop him as he carried on through the other side of the river bank, leaving a trail of wet sand behind him as the water poured out of his boots, shaking his head at the clattering sound behind him that could only be the boys numerous golden baubles rattling as he shook from the cold.

He arrived at the camp to find Mavegen already arrived and laid next to her saddle, eyes already drooping. The two exchanged a quick greeting before Trytheus laid himself down on his bredspread. Had he still had his cloak, he would have slept under that with his armour beside him, instead for warmth he was forced to sleep in his armour. So he simply crossed his arms, closed his eyes and in a grand total of thirty four seconds was sleeping soundly under the open sky.

Amir titled his head back as he lay on his blanket to look at Trytheus. The man slept in such a manner that made him look like a huge dick. Arms crossed over his chest, armor still on, and expression that looked like he was concentrating on counting down the seconds until he woke up at ‘no more no less four hours’. There was no reason for Amir to be pissed off at a sleeping man, but by some grace of god the griffin rider couldn’t even exist without annoying the boy.

He was distracted by a shiver that ran down his spine and pulled his phoenix closer to his body. The bird cooed at him, having already been prepared to settle down for a nap, but didn’t resist getting closer to the damp rider. He let the warmth of the Phoenix envelope him, and closed his eyes trying to get some form of rest, but even with a personal heater Amir found that he didn’t crave sleep in the slightest. Maybe it was the thrill of his near-death experience still running through him, but he could not find it in him to sleep. He rolled over so that he lay on his back, Hassan sitting on his stomach, and the boy peered up at the expanse of stars.

Being a rider he was intimate with the legend of Huitzilopotchli, familiar with the ancient monsters decent to Mundus alter, and the creation of the Gemini Twins. The thought of the twins made a shiver run down his spine. Of all the creatures on the continent they were the only thing he truly and deeply feared. Not only was their true form terrifying and godly, but it was also lethal and unforgiving. He supposed Meg and May were already all those things though, but their appearances gave the riders a sense of security when in reality the time to be most on edge and cautious was around them. It also scared him how they knew everything, they knew when he had accidentally seen their true form months prior to this mission, they knew he had nightmares about them ripping apart people and animals and beasts for weeks after the incident, and they knew he wouldn’t oppose their orders because of that, no matter how casual he tried to seem around them.

He turned his attention towards the stars again and wondered if it would be foolish of him to try and count them, counting stars seemed to be a fools task, but he was suddenly desperate for a busy mind. He didn’t know how much time had passed when he suddenly realized that the sun was starting to breach the horizon, but he was 4,000 stars deep into his count at that point. The boy pushed himself up, startling Hassan awake, and he moved quietly away from where he had been laying passing Trytheus and moving a fair distance away before claiming a spot to sit on the sand. The sunrise and sunset in the desert were by far the most beautiful times of day. As dawn approached the sky would be painted with hues of pinks and lavender, and the reflection of a still rising sun would cause the sand to be dyed a golden rose color that glittered like millions of diamonds. It was peaceful to watch, and the boy tucked his knees to his chest as he watched the dawn progress, resting his chin atop his knees.

He slept a dreamless sleep. Lost only to the blackness of the void, there was nothing to tell him the time, and yet...

Three.

Two.

One.

Like clockwork, at exactly four hours after he had fallen asleep, Trytheus' eyes opened and he sat up. He shook his head to clear it and blinked the sleep from his eyes, before he rolled over and pushed himself up. The motions of breaking camp came naturally to him, the food was double checked and placed on the bedspread, which was then tightly rolled up and tied, and then it was tightly hitched to the back of the saddle. Looking over at Mavegen he saw she still dozed quietly, he allowed her her rest until she was needed, she had been flying for almost a full week.

Looking around he noticed the boy had vanished, though his bed roll remained, no doubt he had run off in the night and forgotten to come back. Peering out to the edged of his sight, he could just about make out a small blob a short distance away, which he presumed was Amir, though it was hard to tell what with the damned sand now deciding to glitter like a magicians toy. Just when he thought the desert couldn't get much more grating. Still he left the boy where he was, no doubt sulking at having to be a decent human being for once.

Instead he set about clearing the camp of signs of their presence, which for the most part meant scraping away at the sand where they had trodded. It was a tedious task, but one born out of habit, he didn't want an even larger band of brigands to stumble across their tracks and hunt them down, he could only imagine the damage that would cause to the larger population of the desert.

Amir didn’t move until he heard Trytheus shifting and looked towards where the griffin rider was. If he had to guess Amir assumed that they had hit the four hour mark. He let the man get his things together though, as he only had to fold a blanket, and turned his attention back to the morning. The sun was still low on the horizon, about three-fourths of the sphere was illuminating the morning. Hassan was sleeping his lap, keeping him warm, and he would have much preferred staying here than continuing on with the mission. Well, he mostly didn’t want to deal with Trytheus for a whole other day.

The boy finally got up from his spot and walked back to where the griffin rider was finishing clearing up any remnants of the camp. He didn’t say anything, but as Amir was picking up his blanket he happened to notice that Try was standing at the perfect angle downwind from him. He smirked as he lifted the blanket before giving it a hard shake, all the collected sand on the fabric lifted into the air and blew right into Trytheus’s face. He couldn’t stop himself from snickering as he went back to folding the blanket, utterly pleased with himself.

He looked up at the sky after, there were only hints remaining of dawn as the day set the tone of the sky to a brilliant blue, they were only a short distance past the mid river which would mean the travel time to Tempress Cape would take about a half a day. He shrugged his shoulder and Hassan took to the sky to scout their location, ensure he wasn’t walking blindly into any trouble. He turned to Try once Hassan had taken flight, “We have about twelve hours of travelling before we get to The Cape so I hope you rested well.”

He fixed the scarf around his neck, it wasn’t white anymore as it had been sprayed with both his blood and the blood of strangers, and pulled it up so it was covering his nose and mouth, but also shading the top of his head. He doubted the man was going to travel on foot with him, he seemed very comfortable with the aspect of flying blindly in any direction for hours, but he’d rather it be that way. He pushed past the man in the direction Hassan had started flying, patting the man’s armored arm as he walked. “Catch ya on the flip side Griffin Rider.”

It was one thing to endure the boys constant japes and jabs, it was something else entirely to have to endure a face full of sand because the idiot thought shaking his roll out into the wind was somehow hilarious. It took his full patience to not draw his dagger and do some damage to the boys damnable clattering golden trinkets, he held back a childish comment at how it give him the appearance of a high end whore, but he knew it would be utterly pointless to attempt to draw the boy into such stupidity. Besides, he didn't have the patience for it.

Mavegen had arisen by the point and was patiently waiting for Trytheus to finish up. Both of them were eager to be on their way, not to mention to be rid of the growing annoyance the boy was becoming. The pair went through the motions of reapplying Mavegens saddle, halting only to mark the flight of the phoenix as it went soaring up into the air. He ignored the boys attempt to be smug as likely as not and only managed an annoyed sigh as he felt the pressure on his arm. Once more his patience was being tested, he had to wonder how many times his past lives had to deal with people like this, surely they could only be once in a few thousand years.

Taking one last look around, he was happy to see the camp looked for the most part, pretty clear. It would be a hard to task for someone to judge who and what had taken the chance to sleep the night here. Finally satisfied he mounted once more for a days journey. He was a little bit surprised however when Mavegen didn't simply leap into the air, instead she ran after Amir and just ahead of him, there she lept into the air, kicking her feet perhaps a bit more deeply into the sand than was needed. He couldn't help but let out a deep and powerful laugh at the griffons attempt to one up Amirs sand based annoyance. What was a shaking bed roll compared to a miniature sand storm being blasted into ones face from a few meters away.

Unlike the day before, Mavegen didn't just begin to fly in circles. This time she headed roughly directly north east, straight towards The Cape it seemed. In fact they arrived at the outskirts in a quarter of the time it would have taken on foot. They landed a short distance away from the bustling settlement and settled down to wait. They still had the remaining three quarters of the day to watch The Cape, if he discovered nothing in that time and Amir had not arrived, he would take matters into his own hands and head into The Cape himself.

Amir was thankful he had covered his face before the Trytheus had left. Even though the griffin had sprayed a gust of sand on him, the scarf he had pulled around his face was effective in shielding most of the spray. He shook his head, ridding himself of most of the sand before continuing on. Without Hassan all he had was the sound of his golden accessories to accompany him. It didn’t bother him much, it allowed his mind to be blank, to let him walk without worrying over minute details.

He mind truly was blank as he walked, he couldn’t recall anything of significance that he had been thinking out except for clanking sound of his ankle bracelets, they let him know he was at least walking. It wasn’t until Hassan returned to him did he return to a more coherent thought process. The bird perched on his shoulder and situated itself before speaking. “Right now your journey appears clear, there is no sign of any obstructions or delays on the route we are currently taking. We should arrive by mid afternoon.”

He hummed in acknowledgement, but didn’t say anything further. The best thing about Hassan was the bird didn’t require or make him feel awkward about extended silences between them. They could go hours without saying a word to one another and neither ever felt pressured or obligated to speak. It was mid afternoon when Amir saw the first sign of Tempress Cape. The Cape was located on the coast, allowing pirate and smuggling ships to come in, dock, and bringing goods into the area. The rest was a conglomerate of buildings that each housed there own crime syndicates or pirate bases. He had wiped out countless crime rings, both by himself and with Alasahe’s aid, but a new organization always managed to root itself where the old one decayed.

As he got closer it hadn’t been hard to spot Trytheus, his hunk of excessively shining armor should have alerted anyone on the premise of a suspicious figure, yet somehow the man remained hidden. He approached him from behind saluting the griffin beast and lightly tapping the inside of the man’s knee that was not armored to allow Try to bend his knees with the point of the boy’s toe. “Yo, what’d I miss old man?”

Since he had first called Trytheus an old man yesterday before the bandit battle Amir had since found that the name really suited the man. Mostly because Amir knew Try wasn’t that old, his mid thirties at least, but he definitely had a solid ten years and then some on the phoenix rider. There was no way that Amir couldn’t call him an old man, it was practically a god given right.

Staring down at the distant town was rather peaceful, not to mention insightful of how the people here lived. The yellow buildings were rather different from Amstra and at a guess he had to assume that they were made of a mixture of mud and sand, though they were fairly simple designs it was the long flowing bolts of cloth that hung from the rooftops and stretched across the streets. It seemed these were supposed to shield those bellow from the heat of the sun, which for him in his armour was once again making itself known

He stood there for several hours, keeping his gaze locked on the town. It seemed to be a fairly busy port, men went about their business in the market or were hurrying through the streets with a purpose, he just wished he could have gotten a clearer look from his vantage point, the cloth sun covers were doing a fine job of blocking his view too. In the end he was glad to hear the boy walking up behind him, at least for something to break the monotony of simply waiting, had he been alone he would have long since entered the town and been on his way.

He felt a pressure on the inside of his knee, presumably the boy trying to knock his joint out from under him. He would have been sorely disappointed, rather than allowing himself to drop down, he walked forwards a few steps. With any luck the boy would over balance and fall off the hill.

"Yo, what’d I miss old man?" And once again the annoyance was starting up. Would there never be a moments peace? He was growing steadily more irritable the longer that he stayed in this accursed desert and having the boy calling him an 'old man' was hardly helping to negate it.

"If you had the sense to move with a bit of urgency, then you wouldn't need to ask, boy. Other than a handful of ships entering and two leaving port, nothing of importance has happened that I could tell. Now come, we have a mission to perform here." With that he turned and began to pick his way down the hillside, shortly followed by Mavegen.

"If you had the sense to move with a bit of urgency, then you wouldn't need to ask, boy. Other than a handful of ships entering and two leaving port, nothing of importance has happened that I could tell. Now come, we have a mission to perform here." Amir watched as Trytheus began his descent into Tempress Cape and the boy slide down the dune to get in front of him, holding out his arms as a symbol to tell the man to stop. Try was not a subtle man, everything he did stood out, he was not really suitable for this kind of work.

“Look, thanks for watching and all that, but do even have an Idea as to where the Unicorn rider is? Tempress Cape hosts thousands of people, all of them criminals one way or another, not even the Great and Mighty Trytheus could deal with that many people. Everyone here hates the riders, you waltz in all sparkle-armor-griffin-rider those people will slaughter you. Give me one hour, I know this place better than I know myself and I’ll get the information n her location and then come back to get you.” Desperation, this was definitely desperation because Amir could not deal with actually dying today. If this man went Hero in this place he would definitely die, and there’d be a huge chance that he’d somehow get Amir killed. The boy could already see it, the man being slain and in his dying moments he’d point a finger at the boy and say, “Phoenix Rider, avenge me!” The situation felt so real that a shudder actually ran down his spine at the thought. Suddenly fearing for his life Amir didn’t even let the man answer him as he started adjusting his head scarf to better conceal his identity.

“Actually, not a choice, we already did the ‘Trytheus Way’ when we both nearly got killed in a dumb fight, now we are doing this mission my way.” As he turned Hassan took off from his shoulder and flew high enough into the sky where he wouldn’t be recognizable as a phoenix and Amir headed into the Cape. He relaxed himself and his pace as he got closer and blessed his luck as a group from the Dead Zone happened to be arriving at the same time. He managed to blend in with them seamlessly, his clothes covered in dirt and blood only served to help him. The bandits seemed tired, and none of them paid attention or even realized another had been added to their group as they walked into the Cape.

Amir only broke away only once they had gotten deep enough into the streets. He already had an aim in mind, the buildings in the Cape weren’t only headquarters for different crime syndicates , but places for the people there to blow off steam and relax. One of those places happened to be a tavern he was very familiar with called WHISKEY. He slipped into the building and it was lively despite it being mid-afternoon. Men of all sizes and shapes littered the bar, many with grimy looking whores at their sides and Amir couldn’t keep his lip from curling in distaste. The scanned the room for a moment before seeing a familiar hooded figure in the back corner by the bar. The boy moved to the bar and ordered a drink and dropped a few coins on the bar to pay. When he leaned back against the table behind him his palms rested against the flat top as his fingers curled over the edge.

The boy made friendly small talk with the barkeep while making sure to keep most of his features hidden and he felt a pressure by his left hand and felt himself smile as the hooded figure took the pieces of gold under his palm. He let go of the table as the barkeep passed him his drink, a full pitcher of beer, and when he dropped his hand back down there was a slip of paper waiting for him. He slid his hand off the table and pocketed, flipping another coin at the man. “I’ll take this one for the road.” He said as friendly as he could muster. He had spent a half hour in the Cape by the time he walked out of the pub, and it would take him fifteen minutes to get back to Trytheus. He was pleased with himself though, and he sipped on the beer with a smile on his face as he went.

A safe distance away he pulled out the slip on paper, Unicorn Rider? was scrawled on one side, Amir’s own writing, and a picture of a bent dagger was scrawled on the other. He knew the group who used a bent dagger as their symbol and he had used that informant on multiple different occasions and knew the information was valid. Amir continued on his way until he finally made it back to Trytheus, half the pitcher gone. He held out the beer as an offering upon his return, “I know where she is.”

It wasn't an easy thing to stop a man in full armour as he marched down a hill with purpose. The sudden stop almost caused him to over balance and fall forwards, had that happened no doubt he would have fallen onto the boy and broken some part of his slender frame. That boy was far too thin for his own good.

"Look, thanks for watching and all that, but do even have an Idea as to where the Unicorn rider is? Tempress Cape hosts thousands of people, all of them criminals one way or another, not even the Great and Mighty Trytheus could deal with that many people. Everyone here hates the riders, you waltz in all sparkle-armor-griffin-rider those people will slaughter you. Give me one hour, I know this place better than I know myself and I’ll get the information n her location and then come back to get you. Actually, not a choice, we already did the ‘Trytheus Way’ when we both nearly got killed in a dumb fight, now we are doing this mission my way."

It was a very difficult for Trytheus to conceive the point here, his armour and even the way he walked was a dead ringer for an outsider. From what little he had seen of this little sand plagued country an outsider in full plate armour asking questions would no doubt raise the wrong answers. Though he wished desperately to head down to the town bellow and show the criminals hiding there the true meaning of retribution, he knew it would only hinder them. Some part of him was glad Amir carried on down the hill without allowing him a chance to defend himself, knowing that he would have only ended up ignoring the boy and heading in anyway.

Instead he turned on his heel and struggled back up, the sand was worse going up hill it seemed. He slid back a few inches with every step and the tiny pieces of grit constantly poured from the joints and joins in his boots. As he climbed he saw Mavegen giving him an amused look. He shot her a questioning glance, which she only deflected with a flick of her mane before she took made her way back up to the summit.

It took a few minutes for Trytheus to join her. By that time Amir was pretty much lost to the hustle and bustle as a new group of travelers entered the town at the same time. Then he had vanished. Trytheus was reduced to simply standing and waiting once more, he was really beginning to hate the desert.

It took the better part of an hour for Amir to finally return. Most likely he had been busy robbing people or shouting at them for having the audacity of attempting to make an honest living when they tried to charge him to buy one of his ridiculous baubles. He saw as the boy made his way up the hill with significantly less difficulty than he had had, that he was carrying a pitcher. Of course he had decided to run off to some tavern, most likely half drunk and woman wondering where her coins had vanished off to.

He inclined his head in greeting and took the pitcher as he was offered it, taking a small sniff to make sure it actual was alcohol. Before he promptly chugged it down in a serious of large gulps as if it were the last drop of drink left on the entire planet. It wasn't bad beer per se, just not good enough. For him it tasted far too weak and watery and as far as he could tell was hardly even flavoured with anything significant, if the country couldn't even brew a good beer what hope was there for its people?

"I know where she is."

He nodded before kneeling down to bury the pitcher in the sand, as deep as his hands would allow before the hole quickly filled back up. A random pitcher on the side of a hill that provided a perfect outlook just screamed spies.

"And is that all you know? Or did you get any other information? Who took her? The whereabouts she was captured, or who else was there? What about the logistics of the group who took her and the details of their stronghold? Or is this going to be a repeat trip with you going back to the tavern a few times, getting scraps of information, and then bringing me back half full pitchers shit beer all day?" The beer had really been the final nail in the coffin for him. He despised this damned desert. It wouldn't have been so bad if after burying the beer he actually proper realised why the pitcher was half empty. He tried very very hard to block out the notion that he had also been forced the drink the backwash of the boys saliva. He only hoped that if the boy was carrying some pestilence that it wasn't transmitted via his mouth, or at the very least the phoenix tears got rid of the worst of that disgusting possibility.

"And is that all you know? Or did you get any other information? Who took her? The whereabouts she was captured, or who else was there? What about the logistics of the group who took her and the details of their stronghold? Or is this going to be a repeat trip with you going back to the tavern a few times, getting scraps of information, and then bringing me back half full pitchers shit beer all day?" Amir bit back a nasty retort in favor of actually answering the man’s question. Even though Trytheus had said them in a nasty tone they were all valid, omit the last one, and he was grateful that the man wasn’t thinking of attempting blind run into the Cape the way he had whilst attempting to ‘avenge’ or whatever. He answered the questions in the order they came at him once the man was done.

“No, that was all the information I need to get I already know the rest. I’m not sure if you missed the part where I said I know the Cape better than I know myself, but I wasn’t exaggerating. The group calls themselves Snake-Bite they are the only organization that uses a bent dagger as their symbol and they are a relatively young organization, probably about a year old now. I’ve been to their headquarters before, they moved in shortly after I took out a different group that had called the Snake-Bite headquarters their home. The building is deep in the Cape though, closer to the ports so we are going to have to do a lot of back alley travelling because…” He trailed off and ran his eyes up and down Trytheus’s sparkling body, and felt himself give an exasperated sigh.

“You are probably the most suspicious and non-inconspicuous person I’ve ever seen. The building is three-stories, but the group is still small and hasn’t gained a lot of momentum in the last year, but that is probably due in part to leadership. They have a lot of internal problems so they are not very united, it won’t be hard to fight them if it comes down to that.” He paused for a moment to look at the griffin rider, making sure he wasn’t throwing out too much information at once for his small mind.

“This doesn’t matter that much since all we are doing is killing her, but this group deals mostly in magical beast smuggling and slave trading, so it makes sense that they would have been in Languinre due to the countries high capacity of magical creatures. The unicorn rider was probably attempting to stop them when they got the upper hand. Most likely they were planning to sell her as a sex slave in Wolfbane.” The last bit had him speaking the words with repulsion, he had a huge problem with slave trading and most of his efforts in Tempress Cape had been taking down the big name slave trading groups, his efforts had greatly reduced the movement of human-trafficking throughout the continent because most of the business went through the Cape.

“Also a little gratitude would be nice. Like, ‘thanks Amir now our chances of getting killed are slim to none’, or ‘this beer is shitty, but I appreciate you sharing’, or even ‘Hot damn you are one sexy motherfucker I can never aspire to be as cool and awesome as you.’ Really, anything like that would be nice.” He spoke with a deadpan and a flat tone, not a hint of a smile as he started walking away from the main gates of the Cape. Tempress Cape was not bordered by stone walls or anything that sturdy, there were plenty of weaknesses in the wooden fencing that Amir could and would take advantage of to put them closer to the criminal stronghold rather than barging in the Cape’s front door.

Trytheus absorbed all the information that the boy spewed out. It was actually impressive to see him have a real use for once, if he hadn't constantly attempted to inject his own brand of backwards humour in, it would have been an almost perfect report. Though he would have preferred to work with a little bit more information about the enemy numbers, you couldn't know every variable before a battle. The plan came to his mind quickly, naturally it was the first one he thought of and generally the first idea is usually the best in his experience. And he had many years of command and strategy under his belt.

"We can use a lot of what you told me to our advantage. If they are as you say recently newly formed and with such a fractured leadership, it should be easy to exploit. Such a situation would mean people would break into factions, each backing the man they believe should be in command. We use that to our advantage. Before I arrive, you make your way inside, or send some form of inside man if you have one, to stir up trouble inside their base. The closer to blows they are before I get there the better, as soon as we are ready to strike we need to be in and out as soon as possible, so the less opposition we have to face the easier things will be. If they are embroiled in all out fighting upon my arrival it will give you perfect cover to search for the Rider, little else distracts a group of infighting slavers than an unexpected element."

"The fear factor will aid us too. None of them will know who to trust or who is about to attack them, you will be able to use that to your advantage if you try to make it seem like you are on their side, try to get them to tell you where to search before they realise who you are, or before I arrive and then its a simple matter of breaking the rest of the slaves that they may have there out and making good our escape."

And yet, once more the boy decided he was going to find yet another factor to complain about. He truly wondered how much fault that he could find in the world.

"Also a little gratitude would be nice. Like, ‘thanks Amir now our chances of getting killed are slim to none’, or ‘this beer is shitty, but I appreciate you sharing’, or even ‘Hot damn you are one sexy motherfucker I can never aspire to be as cool and awesome as you.’ Really, anything like that would be nice."

He snorted in derision. He had known men who saw themselves above the rest, even had to restrain a few in fact. But this boy really outshone them all. How could someone have such a mix of ego and irritation contained in such a small body?
"I thank my scouts no more than I do my kennel masters. You are here to do a job, not for your own self gratification. Neither of us are here because we desire it, were it not my duty to be here I would have long since flown for Amstra and left this sand blasted hellscape far behind. And I am not one for giving out false compliments for that matter either."

The man gasped as the woman he had originally tried to flirt with suddenly shoved him up against the wall and threatened him. Melgrove? She was The Melgrove? Oh shit. He shook against the wall and her body and raised his hands to try and protect his face. He knew that she would do exactly as she threatened and he wanted some measure of protection before she started pounding him into the wall. And then, the boy spoke up and stopped her from doing anything to him. He gave a sigh of relief. The coward had nearly pissed himself in his fright. He swallowed hard and looked over at the boy as he asked his questions.

The unicorn rider? They were here to help the queen? Now he really felt like shit for treating the Melgrove the way he had. He placed a shaky hand on the woman's wrist to try and gain some breathing room and hopefully a little distance now. He cleared his throat and gave a rigorous nod. "Y-yes. I know w-where. Regina Serafina and the unicorn had gone to the c-coast. The news was that s-she would be d-departing for Amstra. He swallowed hard then to try and wet his lips and his now parched throat. "The unicorn's body was found on the s-shore but the Regina.... Lady Serafina wasn't t-there. It's b-been rotting there for a w-week. No one k-knows what to do to g-get rid of it. Some of the p-priests set up scrolls to p-purify it and stop it from c-changing but its not working. P-Please, Lady M-Melgrove, f-forgive me for my slight."

---

Cold...darkness...pain and yet numbness...and still the fire burned.

Serifina groaned as her head rolled to the side. Her head felt like someone had stabbed her with a sword and was now jiggling it back and forth inside her brain. Her long pale hair was a mess around her face and body, tangled where the bandits had grabbed her repeatedly to yank her head back. Though much of her lean body was littered with bruises and cuts here and there, her face was pristine save for her dehydrated chapped lips and red puffy eyes. The bandits wanted to sell her; couldn't sell a sex slave if her face was mauled. Her body wounds would heal soon after all and she wouldn't have a single mark on her; save for the thin slash on her back from the right shoulder down to the left hip she had harbored for years.

The unicorn rider looked more pale than usual, almost like a porcelain doll from her days locked in his darkness and blood loss. All she had left on was the silky white under garments that had been ripped from the constant tugging and abuse she had endured. All of her rich clothing and equipment were out of her reach and the slave traders were currently examining her two rapiers, each constructed in Amstra. The hilts of both swords were black with gold trappings and each would sell for a small fortune. She would be making these bastards rich. At the time of capture, she had all her weapons, gold and silver, and her jewlery and clothing was nothing to sniff at either. Even her crown would make them rich enough to be kings themselves. But she couldn't give up. This couldn't end this way. She refused to let them win without a continuous fight. She had to get to Everglade before it was too late. Her precious companion didn't deserve this. She should have been stronger, more alert, fought harder.

Serafina opened her pale green eyes and stared up at the cave ceiling and tried to move her body, testing the bonds and her remaining physical strength. Every movement ached and she wanted to cry out but she wouldn't give them that satisfaction. Not even when they beat her or when they raped her had she given them a sound. It had earned her a harsher beating but she would not give in. She winced and looked up at her arms which were bond above her and her ankles were shackled on opposite sides of each other where she lay on the cold floor.

Serafina took in a few calming breaths before she slowly started to pull downward with her hands, trying to make as little sound as she could. She needed to get free and get to Everglade's body. There was a chance... a small one but there was a chance that Everglade would be okay. She closed her eyes again as she pretended to sleep as she worked her hand in the cuffs. Her wrists were raw at this point but she didn't stop trying to get her shaking hands free. She would teach these cretins that they should have never mess with her. She would not break no matter how they desecrated her. Then, she'd save Everglade and the two of them would be okay.

Amir cocked an eyebrow in surprise as he listened to Trytheus speak, it was actually a good plan. He didn’t even have anything sassy or derogatory to say about it, because as much as it was a pain to admit it, Try was right about the things he said. The chaos that would be caused by hurt feelings and inflated egos would be the perfect way to get to the Unicorn Rider. The boy began focusing on the map in his head of the Cape, deciding the best path for them to take and although he had heard Try’s return jab he only mustered a weak, “Flattery can win wars too.” Amir stopped at a weakness in the fence, the ocean had come into view, though they were still a decent distance away from it, and he pushed a loose piece of metal that revealed a hole large enough for Amir to fit through easily, and hopefully squeeze Trytheus through.

“You’re right, and I can do it, but your beast can’t come with us. Her appearance is too loud, and we’ve already way overstepped our boundaries with your apparel. Hassan has been circling for awhile, he’s watching me so if she wanted to join him he’ll be able to direct your beast to the Headquarters.

Once we finish the commotion will have drawn crowds of people, it will be impossible to escape unnoticed, but this building does have roof access, your griffin should be able to get you out of the Cape that way, and I’ll make my own escape.” He slipped through the breach in the fence easily, happy that the alley seemed deserted at the moment. He turned to Trytheus and motioned for the man to follow and put himself in stealth mode. Normally he’d be able to walk around the Cape freely, but at the moment even one person spotting Trytheus could compromise the entire plan. The boy had his weapon drawn at all times, peaking around bend corners to make sure the coast was clear. When it wasn’t he was disposing of bodies quickly and without hesitation. He was good at this kind of fighting, even with his jewelry people hardly ever noticed his presence.

He knew when killing in silence he had to be completely out of eyesight, and there couldn’t be any hesitation, he had to cover their mouth the same moment he cut their throat and he always had to let the body fall into him so that it didn’t make a thud and alert anyone else around to a disturbance. The hardest part was always dragging a body out of sight, tucked between dumpsters or in positions that resembled a passed out drunk. It gave the chances of being caught even slimmer, but dead weight was exhausting to move. Luck was on his side, and as he led Trytheus through the alleys in silence they only came across three enemies, a woman and two men.

Amir didn’t say a word as they moved, and he didn’t glance back at Trytheus even when he flicked his hand forward to indicate to continuing moving, the man’s noisy armor was confirmation enough he was following and the boy was putting all his concentration into not alerting the entire Cape to their presence. There was no time for jabbing at the man’s appearance or mannerisms when they were in the middle of thousands of people that definitely wanted to kill both of them. He only started speaking once they arrived and he held up his hand in a stopping motion.

“This is it. Just like you said I’ll go in and start some shit. You’ll hear the arguing once it has escalated and that’ll be your cue to jump in.” His head scarf was still adjusted to hide his identity, but he tugged at it once more for good measure, a nervous habit, before walking out towards the main street and in an attempt at looking casual veered towards the Snake-Bite entrance. There were no guards posted in front of the building, but that was a simple formality of the Cape. No one displayed visual hostilities, all shit that went down happened on the inside. He didn’t hesitated as he walked in, because to any that may have been watching hesitation was a telltale sign you didn’t belong and the boy was greeted to the first floor of the Snake-Bite group.

There couldn’t have been more than fifty people in the stronghold, their leader must has sent the large parts of the group on smuggling ventures or raids on the nomads. He felt himself straighten and walked in, attempting to remember what he knew of the fortress. Their leader was a man named Dorian, but apparently he was reckless and had been making a slew of wrong decisions in recent. The only thing that kept him in power was his strange amount of completely devote followers and the boy had to wonder where that came from. As far as he was aware two people were being backed by other members that saw them fit to usurp Dorian. There was a man named Cullen, strong with a god understanding of strategy and combat, and force to be reckoned with. One the other side of these splits was a women named Josephina, she was smart and supposedly an expert in blackmail, she had been growing her connections in both the underground and the regular world. Both were competent and Amir wanted neither of them getting any power. The last thing he needed were more crime groups good at what they did.

As he walked in deeper he picked up a conversation of what appeared to be Cullen lackeys discussing the fine leadership qualities of him and Amir felt himself snort. One of their heads shot up and looked at him. “Aye, you got a problem.”

“Fuck yeah, why would you follow a man that relies only on brute force? You must be dumber than you look, but then you should be proud of that cause I’m sure the government gives bonuses to the mentally disabled.” Amir wasn’t really sure if the man truly understood the finer points of the joke, especially because Gnaji definitely couldn’t afford offering its people things like welfare for those you were rendered unable to work, but it did the trick all the same. The man threw something, it smacked a guy on the other side of the room, he threw something back, and all of a sudden everyone was fighting.

Amir was impressed, generally it took a lot more prodding than that to get keep into a full on brawl, but he supposed there had already been so much underlying tension that way they needed was an excuse to start fighting. He slipped through the people as silently as possible, if he had to guess the unicorn rider would be in the basement, that was the easiest place to keep someone in check. It was easy to get past whomever had been guarding the door, the fighting had seemed to rally the entire place and it was already turning deadly without his or Try’s intervention. Hopefully they would just take care of themselves then.

The basement was cold and dark and Amir was suddenly wishing dearly for his fire bird. The scene reminded him all too much of the memories he liked to forget and the chills that raced his spine weren’t only from the cold. The only light that flickered in was through the cracks where the first floor overlapped the basement. It wasn’t much though, tiny tendrils of light barely telling him where it was safe to step, dust and sand falling as the people above stomped around. There were cages everywhere; strange beasts he had never seen lined the walls, valuables from raids stuffed in barrels and crates. As he moved the boy snagged a ruby encrusted bracelet and slipped it around his wrist, no point in not enjoying the spoils of a mission without any compensation.

When he saw the unicorn rider his heart dropped. She wasn’t caged, but she was tied up, a piece of wood hammered in place above the spot she sat bound that read in an ironic tone and poor penmanship ‘FRAGILE HANDLE WITH CAUTION’. The boy felt a surge of adrenaline twitch the muscles under his skin as the anger took hold, all thoughts of killing her forgotten. He didn’t even see the unicorn rider sitting there bound, he saw a younger version of himself, helpless and scared and beaten. He breathed out hard through his nose and he dropped down next to her, fingers shaking as his hormones drove his body through a multitude of states, and he began undoing her binds.

“I’m getting you out.” He whispered softly, her body was completely littered in wounds and bruising and it was such a familiar sight that his stomach lurched with a strong wave of nausea. Had Meg and May not sent them this girl’s fate would have been like his own, maybe even worse. Once he undid the binds the boy pushed himself to his feet and slammed his sword down in front of her so it stuck upright out the ground. The girl’s eyes still burned, she was not defeated and the experience had not broken her beyond repair despite what she had been subjected to. Amir had been the same way, and he had known what he had wanted to do if someone had freed him from his situation.

“Stand and fight, make these people pay for what they have done.”

"You’re right, and I can do it, but your beast can’t come with us. Her appearance is too loud, and we’ve already way overstepped our boundaries with your apparel. Hassan has been circling for awhile, he’s watching me so if she wanted to join him he’ll be able to direct your beast to the Headquarters.

Once we finish the commotion will have drawn crowds of people, it will be impossible to escape unnoticed, but this building does have roof access, your griffin should be able to get you out of the Cape that way, and I’ll make my own escape." Though he was loath to separate from Mavegen, he knew it was inevitable, the griffon was far too large for city fighting as it is. Not to mention the fact that the entire point of the mission was one of stealth and misdirection, the arrival of a griffon and a mounted knight would only serve to disrupt the entire plan.

He made his way through the wall, pulling his hammer closer to him so it would not snag on a loose piece of wood. As the boy ahead motioned for him to follow, he was glad to see he was at least taking it seriously, it made a pleasant change from the boy acting like an insecure moron who thought himself far more important than any of their tasks. He instinctively reached for the cloak behind him to help mask his presence, as well as to break up the outline of his body, before he grasped at open air. He was beginning to regret not having a spare cloak with him now.

He followed Amir from a short distance, painfully aware of every small noise his armour made, though it was well fitted and made from a good metal, it did not prevent every little clank of metal on metal. It could have been worse however, if his suit mad been made from poor materials he would have clattered loudly with every motion. As it was though, he managed to move without drawing undue attention as far as he was concerned. The ability to move quietly was not enough for Amir it seemed, as he felt the need for outright murder. It took every ounce of his being to resist the urge to simply take his hammer and crack open the back of the boys head as he passed the bodies that had been left behind, they could have been complete innocents for they knew. Because they had been in the wrong place at the wrong time did that mean they had to die? He resolved that Amir would answer for this transgression in the future, how far in the future he was unsure but it would be. He swore it.

They arrived at the apparent right place however with very little incident, which was also a surprise. Frankly he thought Amir would simply start running in and attempt to swear the bandits to death.
"This is it. Just like you said I’ll go in and start some shit. You’ll hear the arguing once it has escalated and that’ll be your cue to jump in." Trytheus nodded in reply, before closing his visor. He couldn't help but notice the boy was nervous, he had to wonder at that. What would cause the boy to be worried here? It was entirely possible the boy was working with these outlaws, it would explain why the Ladies Gemini knew to suggest to send Amir to this hellhole.

He waited until the boy had slipped inside the building. And he waited for a while longer, he was left wonder just how many of the outlaws were inside and what weapons they might have. It could be that as soon as he stepped foot past the threshold that he was cut down by a hail of crossbow bolts. Then he heard what could only be described as the entire building being suddenly rearranged from the inside and he knew it was his cue to enter.

Hurrying across the street he halted before the door and lifted his hammer up. He had found these things required a certain form of flair to prove an effective means of disorienting the enemy. With a swing he brought his hammer crashing into the door, kicking it from its hinges and throwing it into the room beyond, before he jumped in after. He saw a man directly to his right and lashed out with his hammer, catching the confused man square in the jaw, causing him to raise off of the floor a few inches before falling to the ground in a heap.

He took a moment to look around at the room he had just entered. It was devastation all around him. Men lay in pools of their own blood as they had fallen fighting one another, it seemed his plan to cause them to erupt into infighting had worked almost too well. Instead of breaking into factions as he had expected they had all turned on each other like savage beasts. It seemed though that the man he had just killed was trying to make a break for it and was simply luck with his timing.

Heading deeper inside Trytheus saw a few more scenes of the fighting that had broken out, it must have been very sudden for so many to have died so quickly. Yet he could still hear fighting on the floor above and it was echoing down the hall towards him, so he followed the sound in an attempt to find the stairwell it was echoing down. He eventually came out into another chamber, once again there were bodies strewn about the place, but the way they lay with wounds in their sides and backs and with broken bottles laying about the place, he assumed this was where the fighting had broken out.

He was about to move on when he heard a high pitched yell behind him. He spun around just in time to see a straggly man leap at him with a rusty sword. The downwards blow landed on his armoured shoulder and simply slid off with a clatter, the man must have been very weak because Trytheus hardly even felt the blow landing. The man on the other hand realised his mistake and dropped his sword, trying to turn tail and flee. Before he had a chance to simply duck and run however, Trytheus grabbed the man by the throat and lifted him up, with seemingly little effort.

"Where is the Rider?" each word was spoke as if it were the toll of the bells of dooms for the man, every word was spoken with a heavy pause before the next drummed out. The man squirmed in his grip, kicking ineffectively at Trytheus' legs. Trytheus had to add a bit more pressure to the mans neck before he finally manage to croak out a single word.
"Basement." What a pitiful creature this outlaw was. He got the mercy that justice bestowed upon the wicked creatures of the world. It was only a little more effort to increase his grip on the mans throat, he could feel the windpipe collapsing in his grasp before, with a creak of broken cartilage it finally broke in his hand. He dropped the man to leave him to chock to death on his own shattered windpipe before heading over to the stairs at the back of the room and descending.

It was a dark and cold descent. He welcomed the latter but resented the former, anything could be lurking in the dark depths and it only made him grasp his hammer all the tighter. He was not going to be ambushed in some back alley den of scum and villainy. It was thankfully only a short flight of stairs, yet it was an even larger basement. Had it not been for the thin streams of light he would have returned above to search for a torch and then made his way inside. As it was he didn't have time to look around, so instead he steeled himself and ventured inside the darkness. It was oppressive indeed, and every sound around him caused him to heft to his hammer ever so slightly and he was painfully aware of how loudly his armoured footsteps echoed into the dark around him as he strode across the stone flooring. Any element of surprise would have long since vanished with his footsteps.

Following the patterns of light he turned the corner to find something which actually surprised him. As he had hoped Amir had found the Rider, but something was not right here, he had freed her and he was even disarmed. Was he and the rider in some form of plot? What reason would Amir have to simply give his weapon away?
"You've found her." He observed, before fixing Amir in his steely gaze. "Why is she not dead?"

---

Serafina heard the chaos from above and opened her eyes. What was happening up there? There were so many battle cries and items crashing and breaking. Would the fighting extend to this basement? was she going to find herself face to face with an enemy she couldn't fight because she was tied? She yanked harder at her hands, desperate to get herself free. She couldn't die like this! She refused to die like she had so many times before! She'd die with a sword in her hand or not at all. She winced but her hands would not slide through their damn bindings. She wasn't afraid of anyone noticing at this point since she was sure the chaos from above would be grabbing their attentions far more urgently than her motions to try and escape.

Then there was someone beside her and she tensed. She looked up at the stranger dressed in the same garb as the rest of these people but with far more jingling items. She eyed him warily but there was something in his eyes that drew her. There was something similar...a fire perhaps. "I'm getting you out." the boy said as he undid her binds. Her eyes widened in surprise. Who was this kid? Why was he here saving her? He didn't look familiar. Serafina sat up quickly and ignored her pain and the desire to just lay there.

Then the unthinkable occurred. The boy handed her his weapon. She gapped at him for just a moment trying to understand what this boy was playing at. “Stand and fight, make these people pay for what they have done.” Serafina smiled at him as she finished getting to her feet and accepted the dagger. Already she could feel the adrenaline rushing through her. She desperately wanted to gut ever single one of the men that had dared touch her body... especially that one that had taken her innocence.

She rushed forward with a battle cry of her own, adrenaline pumping through her and masking the pain as she rushed into the fray. Her combat at the moment was much like Amir's in her frenzy. She slashed, dodged, cut, aiming for pain and leaving the men crumpled on the floor to bleed out as she searched for her main target. She found the bastard just as the man cut down one of his own men that had attacked him in the chaos and she gave an uncharacteristic grin as she lunged forward in her glee and twisted the blade in the man's back. The man cried out in surprised pain. Serafina shoved hard against him and the two toppled to the ground where Serafina continued to just stab the man. Over and over and over again even when the man was dead. Perhaps she was just getting her pain and frustration out, or maybe she was mimicking his violent act against her with a knife. When she was finally done with him, she realized her vision was blurred from the tears that fell from her eyes. She wouldn't let that stop her.

She pulled away from the man and continued to cut down people she passed on her way back to the basement. Once there, the unicorn rider was panting from her exertion and the adrenaline was beginning to subside. She was covered in blood and she bet she was quite the horrific sight to behold. She had wiped the dagger clean however as she walked back towards the boy that had unleashed her and allowed her to take her revenge on the bastards. Even with the horror of what had happened, she was smiling faintly. Tears of gratitude now slipped past her gaze. "Thank you... thank you so much, Stranger," she called out in a voice broken from her emotions as well as disuse. "I am in your debt." She extended her hand with the dagger to return it to him just as she heard the distinct clank of armor coming towards them.

"You've found her. Why is she not dead."

Serafina whirled to face the man and frowned. Why wasn't she dead? She looked at the boy then and her eyes narrowed. They were going to kill her? She dashed forward to her equipment and pulled free her own swords and got into a defensive position as she judged the two before her. The boy was agile and quick. He fought with a dagger so he liked close range battle just like her. The man in armor... that was armor made in Amstra. She'd have to find a weak spot to actually do him harm. The best bet would to get up close and yank that helmet off so she could get at his face and neck. That weapon of his did cause her concern. She wasn't wearing armor.

"Who are you two? Why do you want me dead? I may be a woman and battered but I will not go down without a fight. I'll make sure I drag you down with me," she growled. She eyed the boy then. If his aim was to kill her, why had he let her go? Given her a weapon? It didn't make sense. She had thought him a kindred spirit. Was it just the armored man then?

"Thank you... thank you so much, Stranger, I am in your debt." Amir had been lost in the past when the girl had run to exact her revenge. This was everything he had wanted to do when he had been eleven and in the same unfortunate circumstances. He had wanted to slaughter the people that had ruined him, and there was something deep inside that felt satisfied that even if he could not, the unicorn rider could carry his will through her actions. He took his sword back, examining the carnage that still dripped from it and then looked to her. She was barely wearing a thing, and now she was covered in blood. He unraveled his head scarf, and although she was taller than him, he reached up and draped it over her shoulders. He knew that she wasn’t eleven, that she wasn’t the past him, but when he looked at the rider all he could see was himself.

"You've found her. Why is she not dead?" Amir turned to face the armored man, it was dark yet even the tiniest bits of light sparkled off his ridiculous armor. It actually panged a bit of annoyance in him, but the boy held it down. He faced the man and planted his body between both riders even as the Unicorn rider drew her weapons and he met Trytheus’s cold gaze with distant eyes. His mind was reeling with self preservation, she wasn’t him, yet she held the will of his eleven year old self. There was the deep seeded need for revenge and the desperation for a hero, so the boy would appeal to Trytheus even if he didn’t believe a single word.

“This isn’t right Trytheus. This girl is innocent she committed no crimes, she doesn’t deserve to die. Aren’t you the one always going on about justice, and valor, and your vows to protect the innocent? Why throw away the morals you’ve lived your whole life by for one stupid mission? Why is it me protecting this innocent person and not you?” He turned to the girl and dropped his sword, disarming himself to show he would not harm her. He gave her a polite smile and instead offered her his hand. What if his past self had been given this opportunity? What if he had escaped the slave traders back then? She was older and taller than him, but he wondered if how she responded to this tragedy would have been like hid past self, and he wondered how different he would have been if it had only gone this far.

“My name is Amir Taheri, Phoenix Rider of Gnaji. This guy,” he jabbed his thumb towards the armored man behind him, “is Trytheus. He’s the Griffin Rider, don’t worry about him, he’s probably just irritated because all the sand in his armor is giving him sand rash.” He was speaking gently, she had been through a lot, this was what he always imagined it happening when he had been locked away. This was how the hero he envisioned always spoke once the boy realized that he wasn’t going to be able to escape on his own. He bent to pick up his sword again, grasping the hilt is a shaky grip, and managed to speak in a confident tone. “I’ll protect you even if that big hunk of metal behind me won’t.”

Now this was something most likely to have ever happened. Amir was upholding the ways of good and justice. Would that he had chosen to do so at a better time. As it was now he stood between him and the completion of their mission, such as it was. What should of been a good and proud thing, for someone like the boy to realise the folly of his ways was only tainted by the entirety of the whole situation. And then the boy spoke.

"This isn’t right Trytheus. This girl is innocent she committed no crimes, she doesn’t deserve to die. Aren’t you the one always going on about justice, and valor, and your vows to protect the innocent? Why throw away the morals you’ve lived your whole life by for one stupid mission? Why is it me protecting this innocent person and not you?" How dare that boy question him? Through doubts onto his own morals, on his vows, on his very existence. He took a step forwards, his gut lurching as the emotions boiled in him, his head was like a vice as the conflicting pulls of his duty were released in a great flood. The agony in his skull and heart was as if he was about to fall inwards on himself in the pain.

"You think me happy for being here Amir?" He barked out. "You think me glad that this mission counters the entirety of my vows? That I am commanded to throw away the last thirty years of my life and be forever branded a murderer? We have a duty. And this is it. To protect humanity, at any cost. I would give anything that this mission were not so, but we. Have. No. Choice! We are damned if we commit this act and damned if we refuse, and I will not bring harm to my people because I refused to do my duty!"

And yet he was lying to himself. How could he bring himself to even consider harming an innocent? To raise the hammer in defense of the pure and good way of life was a part of human nature, but to land the killing blow would turn him into the very being he was sworn to defend against, was sworn to destroy. And this conflict was tearing him apart. He could neither fail his knightly vows and so discard everything he and countless others had fought and died for for thousands of years. Yet nor could he simply turn away from the duty laid before him by his very nature, he had been set upon the path of immortality to protect the people, and to serve at the command of the Ladies Gemini. And the two were not aligned.

He could hear Amir talking as if from a far off place. The words were dull and distorted, as though he were heavily drunk, and he were listening through a thick wooden wall. They hardly made sense to him, yet one sentence echoed again and again and again through his pain soaked brain.
"I’ll protect you even if that big hunk of metal behind me won’t."

The pain and anger and frustration was like a swirling vortex in his head. Crushing his mind in the pain of a thousand heavy blades of white hot iron. He could not act one way without disregarding the other, he could neither be the good man of Amstra and the loyal Griffon-Rider. He could not be Trytheus Morrela on this path.

And with a roar all the conflicting, swirling pain and malcontent burst from him in a sea of raw emotion. Taking a strong grip on his hammer he lashed out beside him, catching one of the supporting beams for the roof above and utterly shattering it into a shower of splinters. He hardly even reacted to it however, turning on his heels he ran from the room, storming towards the stairs, bellowing like a mad and mindless beast as nothing but righteous wrath filled his every fiber. He would ascend and destroy every last ounce of the unjust in this corrupt city. And when there was nothing but fire and ruin remaining he would fall of the pyre he had created.

---

Serafina looked wildly between the two men who seemed on opposite sides of the issue at hand though it was obvious they had come here together. She was stunned to find out that they were both riders. Why had Meg and May sent them to kill her? It didn't make sense. She was a rider to. She wanted to uphold the peace of the regions. What was the purpose here? It was true that Everglade was dead but... but if he wasn't burned then maybe she had a chance to get a hold of her kindred spirit and calm the unicorn turned kelpie. She doubted that Meg and May would have just let the unicorn rot and then scavenge the land and sea, killing everything in its wake. That meant the other riders had been sent after the unicorn's carcass. The thought stabbed her straight through. She couldn't let them destroy her companion but she also couldn't let Everglade's grief and death insanity kill her people or the other riders.

"I’ll protect you even if that big hunk of metal behind me won’t."

Serafina's eyes widened. Amir, the phoenix rider, was on her side. He didn't want to kill her and in his eyes she could see there was some connection between them. There was a softness in his gaze that spoke of one who had endured something very similar as she. She offered him a small smile. She could at least trust him for now. There was no reason for him to lie to her this way. He could have easily killed her when she had been lying on the ground defenseless. Trytheus didn't seem to be happy about the situations either. Could Meg and May have counted on this? Is that why she sent them after her and not the other riders? There had to be something else.

The young woman watched as Trytheus walked away growling, shouting, and making an obscene amount of noise in his anger and frustration with the situation. At lease he wouldn't be bothering them at the moment and she could relax. Hopefully he didn't come back and think the best situation was to go ahead and kill them both. Serafina gave a sigh of relief as she let her hands droop with the rapiers still in hand. She stumbled back until she was leaning against the wall, her legs shaking beneath her. She didn't know how much longer her strength would carry her.

"Thank you, Amir. You've helped me once again. I hope to not make this a habit though." she said with a small hint of a smile. She didn't want to be a damsel in distress all the time. She had to become stronger and protect herself and Everglade. Her heart twisted painfully. Now it was her turn to save her beast. "Amir, the other riders were sent after my beast, right? We need to get there as fast as we can. I don't know how long I have been here but it has been a while. Everglade will turn into a kelpie soon if he hasn't already. I need to get there now. I... I can tame beasts and reach a balance with them. Maybe I can tame the kelpie before it does anything to harm the others. I do not wish for the other riders to harm him or for Everglade to harm them and the rest of my people. Only I would be able to tame him. And if I can't... all of you will be there and Everglade would have already managed to kill me so you won't have to do it either way," she reasoned. "Please help me have this small chance to save him. He doesn't deserve to die this way; especially not by his fellow riders and beasts after everything he has already been through."

Amir jumped when Trytheus suddenly roared, shielding his face as the debris of the wrecked support beam shattered around them. He spun to see that it looked like Trytheus had completely lost it, and was a little annoyed that the man decided now of all times to have the nervous breakdown over all of the justice and honor issues he seemed to possess. After Try had yelled at him about his inner turmoil Amir should have realized something like this was coming, the man didn’t seem to be good at dealing with complex issues. He was so simpleminded that the only direction he seemed to move in was justice, heaven forbid he hit a fork in that road he’d lose all his shit as he was doing now. He tensed his muscles, ready to fight the man off, but Trytheus turned to go back upstairs where Amir assumed the battle would be dying down at least.

“What the fuck…” He could hear as the man started rampaging upstairs, but turned his attention to the girl as she fell backwards. He listened to her speak, but helped her to her feet by throwing her arm over his shoulder and letting her lean on him. He listened as she spoke and felt a little hope as she went on. Meg and May would have slaughtered him if he hadn’t completed the mission, his actions in the basement had been on uncharacteristic impulse, but if what the Unicorn rider was saying ended up working then that might ebb the twin’s wrath. “Trytheus will be the fastest way to get you there, if I can stop whatever tantrum he’s throwing up there…”

He led the two of them up the stairs, he could hear the sounds of the rampage getting louder the closer they got and once they left the basement Amir saw Try blindly swinging around that big hammer of his and he leaned the girl against one of the support beams standing in the room. He rolled his neck as he approached the raging man. It was getting distinct flashes of a Boss Monster Ape that he had fought once, all brute force and no reason, and he tried to observe a pattern. With rage attacks like this you could always find a pattern and then strike the opening. If this kept going on, more attention from outside would be drawn and then they’d all be dead, something that could not happen.

He approached with his blade drawn, cautious of the hammer that would no doubt kill him in one blow. The man was roaring, much like an ape, and each time the hammer hit the ground it reminded him of the beast pounding the with its fists, the sound nearly the same except for the slight metal twang of the hammer. Most of Snake-Bite had fled already, so at least he wouldn’t have to worry about them for long. He judged the movements for a moment before throwing himself in, unfortunately Try was not exactly like the ape and even in his rage was able to understand an incoming attack. Amir barely got his sword up in time to block the blow of the hammer, the sound rung in his ears and the power sent him flying backwards into the hard mud wall of the building. The pop in his spine was definitely not desirable. He felt his eye twitch in irritation. The damn bastard probably didn’t even know it was him that he swung at and that was actually more annoying given their hostile relationship.

“You god damn stupid metal ape, you swing that god damn fucking hammer at me like that again I’ll shove it so far up your ass you’ll be walking with a fucking limp in your gait for months!” He charged this time, betting his next move all on timing. Every time that stupid hammer hit the ground there was hesitation before it could be lifted again, the sheer weight of it being a weakness in itself. The boy stepped on the hammer as the man attempted to lift it and sent a hard kick right into that helm covered head of his. His golden ankle bracelets rang out loudly as the connected, and although the man didn’t topple over the force sent him staggering back at least, and hopefully the man would actually listen to him now.

“We do not have time for a god damn temper tantrum Trytheus, so calm the fuck down and stop screaming like a fucking brat! Seriously, of the two of us I thought I’d be the one to act out in a violent rampage… You can have your nervous breakdown when we aren’t in a place where literally everyone wants to kill us. I don’t want to hear from you that we don’t have a choice, there is always a choice, even if the other option doesn’t seem plausible there is never a time where there is only one option, and before you try to fight me on this you should at least listen to the unicorn rider’s plan, cause it’s a good one.” He stood his ground against the man, muscles tensed in case he still hadn’t returned to his senses, but the foot he had kicked the metal helm with throbbed badly, it had to have rattled the man as well. In the war between metal and flesh it seemed metal always won as Amir definitely hurt himself more with that kick than he had Trytheus. Not to mention his back was throbbing, his spine may have popped, but the sharp pains in his ribs led him to believe that they could have broken while taking most of the impact against the wall.

There was only the agony and pain of the entire world bearing down on him. It felt as if thousands of tons of water were cascading down on him, crushing his very being. Outside of himself no longer mattered, his body was a distant connection. He could feel its thrashing and torment as though it were the ebbing breeze on his skin at the end of the day, all the weariness and weakness of his body little more than a disjointed idea at the back of the waves of pain in his head as his very being was split apart by his conflicting emotions, his breaking mind as the lines of his duty pulled him in too many directions.

Then he was dimly aware of the boy, Amir. It was his fault for this, had the girl been dead before he had arrived then the agony would never have broken. He would have been able to contain his growing anger and pain, yet the boy had the gall to not only grow a consequence, but to also question his! He would have killed men for less had he been a weaker man, a man more prone to giving in to the wills that the absence of law brought. He memories of the bandits in the desert, the slaughtered innocents at the river, only brought on more pain. Had he been faster he could of saved them, had the boy acted sooner they could of saved them. Had the boy been able to understand the concept of upholding what is right, countless lives could of been saved instead of the boy satiating his own vanity.

It wasn't until the crack of physical pain in his head that he actually saw that his body was fighting wildly. With Amir no less. Though he had no love of the boy or his self absorbed ways, this was not the right path. This was not Trytheus. He tried desperately to wrestle back his own body, to fight down the mindless rage that was bleeding out of it. He was vaguely aware of the boy talking, no doubt taunting him again, or else making yet another sarcastic comment as was his way.

And yet he couldn't stop his own body from acting against his will. With his head down and his shoulder forwards he charged directly at Amir, caring little if he got out of the way in time. The blankness took him over once more only to be suddenly lifted with a sharp and jarring jolt as he realised he had ran clear through the wall and into the open street beyond. Evidently it had been built far poorer than was needed to stop the advance of a six foot tall armoured knight. Before anyone could react to the sudden emergence of the armoured man, a dark shadow detached from the sky and like a bolt of lightning struck down and swept him up, carrying him away into the dark.

He was taken far away from the chaos and the madness of the town, it was a brief flight that eventually ended with him being placed on a grassy hillside in the wilderness, not roughly. He rolled to his feet to see Mavegen landing next to him. The Griffon was looking at him in the dying light with concern. He had never acted in such a manor before, indeed the griffon had not needed to ever pull him away from such a situation before. The two locked eyes.

"What do you want of me Mavegen? I have failed my vows and my duty that was laid before us with our immortality. I walked along the path of the murderer and outlaw willingly and I chose it, it was my mistake to make and I was ready to accept it, damned be the consequences of my actions. All in the name of the duty of the Ladies Gemini." He barely noticed that he was shouting even now. "I have an impossible choice laid before me. I act upon the wills of the Ladies Gemini and forever cast the Order into shame and throw down everything they have fought for in my name into ruin and darkness. Or I turn against their commands, they who enforce the will of the monster who granted to us our immortality and our eternal duties, but to do so would invite damnation to our people! We cannot choose one or the other, nor can we stand idly by and allow such a travesty to happen."

Mavegen slowly approached the stricken rider and calmly lifted her foreleg. With a single talon she tapped him on the brestplate just over his heart. She could not talk, but the meaning was clear.

Follow your heart, for it is the way of Trytheus Morrela, not the Order of the Forge, not his legacy. The first man of the name acted as he willed, caring little for the ways of others or their opinions. He was not bound by oath or law, vow or duty. He was a simple man in a darker time, and this Trytheus had become too bound by the twisting myriad of the vows of the Order to be able to act.

He fell to his knees, the sorrow and realisation of his failings weighing down on him. He had a choice to make before the sun rose once more, and a long time to think on it. But he was glad, as Mavegen sat opposite him, that he was not alone. And that no matter the choice he made she would stand alongside him, now and forever.

---

Serafina was a bit... appalled about the situation. She had been so relieved that she was getting out but now her rescuers were fighting and bickering among themselves and the King of Amstra just... just started a tantrum. There was no other word for it. What else could this be called? The man was screaming and going in a blood rage and just hammering anything in his way because he didn't get what he wanted. The world wasn't black and white! There was grey in every action, behavior, and situation! Why couldn't this man see that? And this was not the time to do this! They were still in enemy territory and they could be overrun by bandits and mercenaries or whatever else was outside these walls and he was just making so much noise! They wouldn't escape if this continued. And what was worse was that Amir and Trytheus were actually fighting now. How was this going to help them any? They'd all be injured and be no use to anyone! Sure Amir had the phoenix but again, this was wasting time!

Serafina sighed to herself and leaned against the wall and raised a hand up to rub her face and try and clear her instant annoyance. They didn't have time for this! While they fought and wasted energy, her precious companion could be changing and what if he killed or hurt one of the other riders and her people? They would be the first to suffer from the Kelpie. If her dearest had to die a second time, she wanted to at least make sure the others had a cure for the poison. She couldn't get there without assistance. She didn't have a boat and taking a boat would take forever anyway. Amir's phoenix wouldn't be able to help her so she had to seek assistance from this child masquerading as a man. Maybe the iron suit was compensation for something because this was all just beyond ridiculous.

The young woman had hoped that once the man had gotten his energy out, he'd listen to reason. Amir would tire him because he looked quick and nimble, but such was not the case. Trytheus instead blasted a hole in the wall and the great griffin swooped in and... carried the iron man away. Her jaw fell open unceremoniously in her shock. He just... up and left them here! Why did everything she planned have to go awry? How would they get out of this mess now that Trytheus was gone? "No! Where the hell do you think you are going? Come back!" she growled and stumbled forward. Unfortunately he was far into the sky and he would not be able to hear her. "Bastard!" she huffed.

Serafina turned to Amir then. The young man had been hit by that man's hammer and the wall and she could swear she heard something break or pop under the weight of impact. She frowned and pushed her hair behind her ear as her eyes scanned her companion. [color#551A8B]"Are you all right, Amir?"[/color] she asked. "Where is your phoenix? We need your creature to heal our wounds and we need to find a way to find Trytheus or another way off Gnaji and get to Languinre. We have already wasted much time. I worry for all of them."[/color]

---

Serafina sighed and nodded as she followed after Amir. Their bad situations had gotten much worse. She had thought that everything would be fine now that she wasn't bound but now they had to deal with the scum that Trytheus had attracted with his tantrum. Serafina was bruised and battered but she wasn't down for the count. She'd fight beside Amir and they would get out of this or die a glorious death amidst the enemies they had slain. They would always remember how many she and Amir took down before their deaths. She slid her rapiers out of their sheathes and twirled them in her hands, psyching herself up for the battle that would ensue. She rolled her head once to loosen before she headed after the younger male. Funny how Trytheus was the baby in this situation and not the younger Amir. Though he could improve his vocabulary, she had to agree with Amir's sentiment.

Once they were thrown into the fray, Serafina let out a battle cry as she followed the path that Amir cut for her and finished the straggles that tried to move in. She fought in a similar fashion as Amir, slashing her opponents in a chaotic flourish, but she did aim for weak points such as joints, necks, legs. She had a longer reach than Amir as well, and she used that to her advantage. She lunged forward and slit a man's throat and got the man behind him in the shoulder. As she withdrew her first rapier, she turned to bring the second down to slash the man down the front, spraying blood around them and all over her tattered clothing. The deep red was quite the contrast to her pale skin and clothing.

The warrior twirled, slashing those that managed to get between her and Amir and she effectively cut off most of the enemies that tried to get behind Amir and back-stab him. Unfortunately she couldn't help when the arrow pierced him. That man was too far away for her to reach, but she slashed the thug with an ax that had aimed for Amir's head. Upon realizing that Amir wasn't the only threat, some of the villains turned towards her as well and tried to bring her down. She was a whirlwind, using her twists and turns to confuse the enemy and prevent them from knowing which way she was going and who she was attacking before it was too late. She gave out another cry after killing three that surrounded her and ran forward at the fourth that tried to stand in her way. She stabbed the man through the chest with both rapiers and used the man's momentum to volt over him. It took her a moment to get her swords out of the man which earned her a slash down her right shoulder. She growled at the woman that had gotten close and gripped the woman's retreating hand to pull her close and stab her through the gut and twisted before pulling her sword free and hurried after Amir.

Unfortunately she was too late to stop the man that cut Amir's arm off, but the two of them were leaving quite the trail nonetheless and she was sure the phoenix would heal that right up for the man. Serafina would just have to make sure no one tried to take advantage of Amir's weak side. And it didn't seem entirely necessary considering the man called down the phoenix at that moment and burned the rest of the men that had come for them. She panted as she moved to Amir's side and whipped her swords at her side to get most of the blood off of them before she sheathed her weapons. They were quite the tattered duo. She couldn't help the smirk and the relieved laugh that bubbled up. They made it! They made it against the odds! Oh what a day. She couldn't wait to tell Everglade... her smile instantly fell. Everglade might not be there to tell. Serafina sighed and crawled out of the Cape with Amir behind her.

When the young man said he needed his companion, he hurried to his side to lift his good arm and tried to help him continue to walk. Within seconds the bird was there healing the wounds and she watched as Amir yanked the arrow away. She watched fascinated as Amir's hand began to slowly regenerate. It was fascinating... she was mesmerized by it for a moment. What if... what if the phoenix could use those tears to heal her unicorn? The unicorn was dead though... perhaps it would not work on the Kelpie that rose.

“Unfortunately for us, the fastest way to get you back to that unicorn is the griffon. We’ve gotta find that child before it’s too late for your beast.”

Serafina sighed and gave a nod. "Unfortunately, you are right. You have any idea which way he went?" she asked as she started to walk in the direction Amir pointed.

“You know… You can talk to me if you need too… about what happened while you were prisoner. You might think I won’t understand, but I will, I promise. I was in nearly the same situation as you, but I was eleven when it happen… And, ah, no one saved me from that hell.”

Serafina's eyes widened and she stopped her trekking to turn and look at the young man. Amir had been in a similar situation as her? And so young to... her heart went out to him. Tears filled her eyes suddenly and the tough warrior visage seemed to crumble as she moved forward and hugged Amir to her tightly. She wanted to hug him till all of their pain just washed away. No one should go through what they had been forced to endure. And Amir had been just a baby! Why hadn't anyone saved him? That was unfair! "Oh, Amir, I am so sorry that you had to go through that!" she said. She squeezed him a little more than was probably wise for the both of them before she pulled back and wiped at her eyes. She turned away, not wanting him to see her cry right now. "Thank you, Amir. Your kindness and mercy to me will be remembered. I don't really want to talk about it right now. And if you ever wish to talk to me about your experience, I will be an open ear and arms for you," she returned.

Serafina sniffled and scrubbed her face a little harder and put a smile on her face. "We should think about this another time. Let's go find the shiny baby," she answered to try and make Amir smile as she started walking.

Amir was more than embarrassed at even bringing up anything that had to do with his slave life. It had him reaching uncomfortably for the back of his neck and looking away from the girl. Talking about how he really felt was not something Amir generally participated in. He didn’t even notice when the girl had stopped walking next to him. He was more than caught off guard by the hug the girl initiated. He felt himself freeze in shock and stare down at her in disbelief. Could this have been the reason he never told anyone the details of his slavery? Was she… crying? Amir could not handle tears, or hugs, or generally anything that wasn’t unbridled hostility. The spectrum of human emotion he could handle went from rage to neutrality. Soft things, like this girl’s pity, were not things he could deal with.

He moved his his right arm awkwardly to attempt at giving her a comforting pat on the back before she finally released him. "Thank you, Amir. Your kindness and mercy to me will be remembered. I don't really want to talk about it right now. And if you ever wish to talk to me about your experience, I will be an open ear and arms for you," Amir was surprised by the unicorn rider’s words. He had set out to try and comfort her in some way, keep her from falling to despair, but instead she was offering him support. His wounds had long since closed, though the deep and present scars still remained as constant reminder, her wounds were still fresh. Actually, she literally had a wound that Amir hadn’t noticed until she had moved in to hug him.

“I told you about myself in hopes to give you support, not for you to pity me…” He sighed in frustration, it had come off more rude than he had intended, but he wasn’t really sure the right thing to say in situations like this. Talking honestly wasn’t something that came easy. He turned his attention to Hassan motioning for the bird to aid Sera’s injury. Honestly, he was surprised his phoenix hadn’t healed her when they had first left the Cape. Hassan had always proven to be much more charitable than his rider. The phoenix opened its wings to make the short distance between the two, dropping a single tear before returning to Amir’s side. She was still wiping tears from her eyes when she spoke again though, reminding Amir that they still had a task at hand. "We should think about this another time. Let's go find the shiny baby,"

He felt his eye twitch and his single hand clench. He had forgotten that he still had an ass to beat. The excruciating pain of the regeneration was nearly forgotten as a new wave a rage rolled over him, and it took all of Amir’s willpower not to go on yet another tirade over the armor clad bastard. Sure, it had been Amir’s fault for ditching the mission, he shouldn’t have done that, but Trytheus had way over reacted. Another eye twitch, he was going to kill him, he was going to kill that son of bitch so hard the man wouldn’t even know grammar anymore. Hassan left his shoulder as his body tensed, though the boy was grateful his beast already knew the objective as it flew off in search of Trytheus. However that now left Sera and him alone in silence, a silence that now felt incredibly awkward as the rage ebbed slightly.

With nothing to talk about Amir was suddenly hyper-focused on his regenerating arm. The rapid growth left an itch under his newly formed skin and pieces of what could only be described as mush fell from the stump every few seconds as unneeded flesh was purged from him. It hurt, imagine the growing pains you felt as a child amplified ten fold as his forearm reformed the lost skeletal structure. The white of the bone was already well past the reformed flesh. His nerves sparked angrily with every movement of his arm as the exposed nervous system was overloaded with direct contact to the world around it. It formed tears at the corners of his eyes and the boy brought the stump to his chest in an effort to shield it from some of the elements. The pain brought about a new wave of courage and insight to the boy, and he decided that telling Sera the truth about his thought process and motives. Anything to get his mind off the regrowth.

“As nice as it would be to be thought a hero, I’m really not. I didn’t save you because it was the right thing to do, or because we have been in similar circumstances. I saved you because when we were in that basement and you were tied up, all I could see was myself. When I looked at you my eleven-year-old self was staring back at me and all I could think was: ‘This was what I always wanted.’ I was using you as a means to give my past self what he had always wanted for the years I spent as a sex slave, revenge.” He dipped his head down and didn’t look at the girl. He wasn’t sure if the speech made everything more awkward or not, but he spent most of his time being selfish and cowardly like Trytheus had often shoved in his face, right now, with his arm regrowing and a deep sense of abandonment, all the boy wanted to do was feel slightly less shitty.

Hassan returned quickly, thank the gods, and it appeared that Mavegen had not taken Trytheus too far from the Cape. The red bird turned its beak in the direction to go and Amir turned so they were walking the correct way. As they scaled the next sand dune Amir froze at the top. A canyon laid out before them, the sand gave away to dirt and grass, but it wasn't the canyon that had him stopped, it was the slight glint of a shined metal that made fury bubble inside the boy. He didn’t even speak a word to Sera and he bolted down the sand dune. Hassan was knocked off kilter and forced to fly beside the boy as he dashed across the landscape. Sand gave way to dirt, which in turn gave way to a sparse grass. He could see the man now.

Trytheus was on his knees, Mavegen sat directly in front on him. The griffon realized his approach before Try even noticed, but it didn’t stop the boy. He rammed his body full force into the man, sending them both toppling over with his momentum. It hurt, a lot, to hit an armored man wearing nothing but rags. At one point they had been his clothing, but had taken such a beating they couldn’t even be called that anymore. “You motherfucking fucking fuck ton son of a bitch. I should fucking kill you! You are a fucking prick a damn piece of shit that should go rot in hell for at least eight years! You left me for dead back there! You abandoned me! You're a god damn shitty ass shit stick and you can go eat a cum filled cunt!”

By running at the man and them both falling Amir had been lucky to end up above Trytheus as he screamed at the top of his lungs. And- ugh, what the fuck, his eyes stung. No, that was so lame, the boy was crying too. What the fuck, this was awful. He was actually crying. Real tears. No doubt the man wouldn’t even take him seriously now, not that Trytheus had never taken him seriously, or respected him. Amir couldn't handle other people's tears and he definitely couldn't handle his own. They boy didn’t understand why he had even been surprised that Trytheus would leave. The man and him did not get along, they were not friends, they hardly knew each other. It must have been all that justice toting that had created an illusion, had lulled the boy into forming even the slightest sliver of trust in the man even if he hadn’t realized it himself. He rubbed his eyes violently with this back of his right arm before continuing.

“Look at my fucking arm! This is your fucking fault you dumb ass twat sack. You see the bone? It’s regrowing! My arm got fucking cut off and all I want to do right now is shank your dumbass face with my bone stub! I can’t believe you just fucking left! I cannot fucking believe you had a mental breakdown or that I even considered the dumb ass fucking idea that your cunt ass shitty ass could ever be mother fucking reliable ever! I can't believe you fucking left me there like that!” Was he having a mental breakdown now? The answer was a strong yes.