Bladen ran.

His teeth clamped firmly in the scruff of his headmate's best friend, he ran. Warriors cried out, knives slicing closer, flaying leaves with a single twip of sound. They eeked closer to him with every duck and weave. He closed his eyes, letting instinct guide him like he'd been taught.

Soft hands seem to guide him, stroking his cheeks like the winds he loved. Little hands, like the ones who pulled them back, back into the brush. Little Fish as Swift had so proclaimed the child. Her secret stash of their people, ones she'd tried to save.

He shivered, hating what had happened next. Spears slicing in around them, sinking into earth and flesh alike. Screams. So so many. Just like the night.... He shook his head, forcing his eyes open.

He hit the water, never slowing a step as ice leapt out in front of him. Thin and cracking with every step, Bladen held the ice bridge through sheer force of will. It was not his Focus, his innate ability, and with him at the helm, their body certainly didn't want to actually use it. Icy water slapped at him, threatening to send both him and D'vala spiralling off from their long winded flight from home. "Come on Swift." He silently begged, "I need you back here."

He leapt, sections crumbling under him as a wave crashed against it again. He staggered, his lungs heaving as he stared out at the pile of rocks, so so far away. The ice creaked and cracked, threatening to split apart under his feet again. He stared down at it, his gaze blank as he tried to focus on freezing the cracks, or the edges, or any of it. "I can't... Swift. Please."

Bladen stumbled, his nose dripping with blood as their body fully rebelled. Ice fragmented further, his tears misting his vision as his blood mixed with the D'vala's. Kiri's.

"I can't keep going." He whispered into her scruff. "I can't. I'm sorry."

Swift's mind reached out, her touch featherlight and cold. Absolutely frigid. He shivered, opening his mind to hers.

Her energy poured forth, flooding their senses, boosting his mind. His mind desperately reached for hers. "Swift." He forced his feet to move, no matter how hard it was, "I need you back here."

"Is D'vala ok? I have Kiri. He wants to come back, but he can't reach her." Her spirit strengthened, lending him energy he put to good use, forcing the water to freeze ahead of him straight to shore.

"I don't know, we had to run. It was too dangerous. They were after all of us." His thoughts paused as she vanished as fast as she appeared. "I have her though.... She's safe."

He sighed, every step dragging across rough ground. Soon. Soon he'd have a cave system. Something to hide in. Hide away. They rose above him, towering pieces of earth fighting their own silent war against the perils of the elements.

He leapt up, his paws hooking on roughened cracks. He stumbles, exhaustion pulling his feet out from under him as he tries to roll to the side. He releases, leaving D'vala to hit the rocks with a muted cry.

His breath heaved, barely catching the air as it thickened with waterfowl. He snapped out, crunching through one who was stupid enough to land on his face. He forced himself up, the scent making him sick as he gulped down every bite.

He pressed his head against the rock, kicking the bones out into the water. "Gods above and below...."

D'vala groaned, "Kiri...."

Bladen forced himself all the way up, "Soon. Swift has him."

He attempted to pick her up, his strength failing him as his legs curled under him. He dropped, resting his chin against her back. "He's coming back, I promise. Just hold on a bit longer D'vala."

"She wouldn't let me follow him..." She whined, looking at her body. "Pull them."

He raised his head, staring blankly at the knives. "But you'll bleed out, won't you?"

"It's getting worse with them in." She admits. "My body is trying to heal around them."

Bladen leaned forward, his lips closing over one. He gives a quick tug, pulling it free.

Swift slid into his mind, the joining abrupt, almost painful, their mind much fuller then expected.

Kiri hissed out, "Lracked Danocs." He slid his soul free from Swift's. He leans forward, pressing his nose to Bladen's, "Thank you."

Bladen stared blankly down at Kiri's body, "You need to go home Kir, and I need Swift."

He nodded, stepping into his body in a blaze of light. "I'm not leaving again. Swift swore an oath to follow me."

Bladen closed his eyes, unable or rather unwilling to deal with this. "You did what?"

She tilted her chin up, watching him with a gaze far older then she should have. "Swore an oath. Seemed a good way to get the fool to listen." Swift laid down with a heavy sigh, "Today has been a long, bad day. Can we just get everything sorted and sleep?"

Bladen shook himself, trying to choose his next words carefully. "You are aware that oaths hold us. More then most creatures. If you break that, you will be in agony for months, years even. Like splinters in your eyes, trying to drive you to madness."

That gaze turned right back on, a half smirk playing behind her lips. Swift huffs at him. "I don't plan to break it Bladen. I would not like to live a day past his."

Bladen swallowed hesitantly, his tongue tied as he tried to conceive how to word this. "Swift, do you not hear your own words? What if you fall in love in the future?"

She sneers, "Ew. Why would I want that?"

D'vala groaned, "I'd stop arguing Blade, you'll never win. Not until they get horny in the future."

"What?!" The pair exclaim, "Ew!" Kiri shivers. "Like what that guy was doing in that bed below?! No thanks!" Swift exclaims

"Do I even want to ask?" Bladen mutters.

Swift promptly replies with a perfect image.

Bladen examines it fully, not hiding his eyes from any details in the naked image. "Yep, Prince of Hell. With a very well defined erection." He promptly blocked them from his corner of the mind, withdrawing completely. "Damn. Next time I should die instead. I'd hop in there in a heartbeat." He muttered to himself, appreciating the image for a moment longer.

D'vala dropped a dagger on his chest. "Come back Bladen." She winked.

He shook his head, hiding a blush. His walls dropped as he gives a light laugh. "Cave. We still need to manage to walk to it." He pulls another, licking away the blood after.

Swift steps up and takes control with him. "Well let's go. I want a nap."

"Don't we all." Kiri yawns.

Bladen starts. "Why are you back here again?"

"I'm in both places. Still untangling our souls. That was the only way to get me back up here and Swift wasn't willing to go up alone."

"Why are you both so.... Flippant?"

"Honestly I'm relieved not to be stuck in there." Kiri replied, pulling a long strand from their souls. "Ugh! They're perfectly fused. Is that bad Bladen?"

"I have no idea. Sorry." Bladen turn back to Swift as she taps him.

"We are also trying to drag your moods up too." Swift shoved him again. "Come on already. You wanted this body to move."

"Swift, there is no real dragging my mood up. You realize what just happened right?" He nipped her, soothing the sting with a lick.

"Yep, but I also know that we officially beat death. That is worth celebrating." She shoved him back to the front of the mind.

Bladen looked down at the damage the bipeds had wrought. "I don't know how one can celebrate when our path was paved with blood."

D'vala tried to pull herself up, her limbs weak. "Bladen. You need to let us help you too." She whispered, "You can't keep going with that."

He turned, his eyes drawn low. Ruby droplets raced one another to leap for the floor. He shook his head, his gaze unblinking. "I don't.... I don't feel it. It's numb."

Kiri bounced back to his proper mind to stare. "It's definitely not good. It's like something broke off beneath your skin and left it there."

"Can you get it out?" He asks, his tone cracking. "Please."

D'vala leaned forward, a shaky set of claws running over the slight bulge. She pressed down, trying to eek it back out towards the entrance.

Swift stepped back, her tail running over the soul cage. She focused on her body, the way the energy coursed through it.

She took a deep breath, remembering the words she'd been told. Calm. Focus. Expel. Little crystals formed around the spear tip, forcing it back on the same path.

Bladen gasped, pain ricocheting through his system. "Keep going." He insisted when D'vala hesitated.

Swift gritted her teeth, her head pounding with a pain she'd never felt before. The tip slid back, inch by inch, until teeth could pull it free from her skin.

She stepped back to the front, taking the helm as Bladen passed out on the floor. She shook her head. "We are pushing far too hard, aren't we."

She steadies D'vala and Kiri, helping them move towards a cave.  "Where do we go now?" She asks.

They turn to stare at her, watching through darkened amber eyes. "Away. Far away." Kiri remarked.

Their tone changed just slightly, "The bipeds decimated our whole family. We have nothing left for us there."

"Where else can we go?" Swift asks, curling onto the cold rock. "I've never been to another island other then the insane one."

"There is one." Kiri tilts his head to the west, "That way. The bipeds left it after they hunted us to extinction. It's... It should be safe."

Swift pulled him close, holding him as he shivers. "Shh. Just sleep."

He settles against her, his breath deepening in seconds as he drifts off.

Her gaze flicked over her friends, her smile faint. "Thank you, demon. Thank you for letting me use your energy today. I wouldn't have been able to keep my family safe if it weren't for you." She curls up with a sleepy yawn.

"I'm not a demon. Not like you've been told." She comments, "I am a friend."

Swift doesn't reply, already fast asleep.

~~~~

Morning slipped past to evening without a stir from the Dukari, each breath a chore. The demon watched over them, her energy humming deep.

The little ones, still so weak in both mind and body, they needed whatever sleep she could grant them from her little cell. Alas, they were pressed for time now.

She shook her head, sending small nudges through their mind. Enough to stir at least one of them.

Swift yawned, examining the demon who dared disturb her. "Yes?"

"The water rises. These caves will be covered soon. Look at the salt line in this cavern." She points to their sight.

Swift turns, regarding it with a frown. "Why help us?"

"If you die, I lose this body and I have to possess another. It's very annoying." She steps away, vanishing from conversation.

Swift stretches out, eyeing the line in the wall before shoving Kiri. "Alright. Up. Sadly we must go. Else we are going to get wet."

"What?" D'vala stared back. "Oh! Shit. I didn't even notice. Good catch. Can we get there?"

Swift shrugged, "We can because it's what we need to do." She set off, easily leaping between dry sections of the rock before bounding onto her own ice float. "Hop on. It'll get us there."

D'vala leapt down, letting their tail rest in the water as the ice slipped away from shore. The island approached quickly. Much faster then they'd expected.

Swift grinned at D'vala. "Told you. I've got this.

It bumped against the shore, the woods whistling in welcome. They shared a smile, heads tilted back as they embraced a fresh start with sand beneath their feet.