Ah. What a wonderful day.

Severance looked up at the cloudless purple sky and wished he could fast forward to the part where he was sleeping dreamlessly in his own bed. He was too tired to deal with any of this nonsense.

"Severance," Jack Coyote pressed. He still gripped Severance's arm, refusing to let go.

"What?"

Severance lowered his gaze, feeling annoyed. Why did everyone have to do this now? Couldn't they leave him alone for two minutes?

Jack's fingers tightened, and Severance could practically feel the dagger-sharp warnings emanating from the other player's gaze.

Severance tugged against Jack's grip, but his level of strength was pitifully low against the tank's. He couldn't budge Jack at all.

"Let me go. I said I'd tell you later, okay?"

Severance glanced at Eusebius the Madi. The burly man in brown furs appeared to be rather entertained. He watched them with a smile upon his lips, and made no move to interfere. Not that Severance expected him to.

What did surprise him was the fact that Vast didn't interfere either. Normally the beast refused to let anyone get too close to Severance, but instead of growling at Jack, the vastlhidan was circling Eusebius, rumbling softly.

Jack's grip gained bruising force. "How much time do you really have, Severance?"

"Let go," Severance hissed, more in annoyance than pain.

"You were on before I logged in," Jack coolly went on. "You should have timed out by now. Tell me, how many hours do you spend in Eliona each day?"

"Does it matter?"

"It does if you're spending time with people like him," Jack Coyote nodded towards Eusebius.

Severance scoffed. "What's that supposed to mean? You don't even know him!"

"I do, actually. He's worse than your Veiled."

Eusebius chuckled. Then he stepped forward, spreading his hands in a harmless manner. "Come now. Don't ruin my reputation in front of the cibel."

Jack Coyote tugged Severance behind him. "What do you want with him?"

Severance gritted his teeth, his level of irritation rising to new levels. He wasn't some helpless puppy that needed protection.

Suppress!

The colorless wind blasted off of him in an instant. Without a Dance invoked, it was simply an intense gust of wind that did no damage. It still had the stun effect, though. Jack froze in place, and Severance was able to extricate himself from the tank's hold.

At the same time, Eusebius halted his advance, his brows lifting in intrigue.

Severance walked around to the front of Jack and met that frozen, golden gaze. "Sorry. But I know what I'm doing. Just log off, and don't worry about me. I'll text you tomorrow, okay?"

With that, Severance turned and went to Eusebius. "Let's go."

"Ayaa, doing such things to your friend. He will be upset." The Fang took hold of Severance's arm. Whether it was coincidence or not, it happened to be the exact place that Jack had held.

"He's always upset," Severance muttered. Though a part of him felt somewhat guilty. Hopefully Jack would have enough time to cool down between now and tomorrow.

Eusebius chuckled and teleported them away.

***

Severance huddled next to the fire, shivering fiercely. He was back in the little shelter in the Untold ruins, with Eusebius and Aeneas sitting nearby. He didn't speak to them. He couldn't; his teeth were chattering so hard.

He'd stupidly allowed Eusebius to teleport him without first putting on his furs. By the time he'd managed to get them on, he'd nearly lost his life, and that was with frantic Mends being used liberally.

Of course, Eusebius thought the whole thing was hilarious. He'd chuckled all the way to the little shelter, where the other two Fang were already waiting next to a roaring fire.

Now Severance sat sullenly, remembering Jack's grim statement that Eusebius was worse than the Veiled. He believed it. The Veiled would never let him freeze halfway to death for their own amusement. They'd just kill him and be done with it.

"Are you mad, little cibel?"

Severance lifted his head. In the pale glow of the fire, Eusebius' wild brown beard seemed to blend in with his furs, lending him a rather animalistic appearance.

"No," he curtly answered.

Eusebius scratched at his beard. "Heh."

The Fang said nothing else, but Severance got the feeling the wildman was laughing at him again. He could sense the faint mockery in the man's expression, and it left a sour taste in his mouth.

Jack was right. These guys were definitely worse than the Veiled. But there was nothing he could do; he'd agreed to help them.

The doorway darkened as a tall Fang entered. Lothaire the Worm was the leader of the three, and he was easily the most composed. Even though his white furs had been darkened with his own blood, he showed no reaction. He simply folded his legs and sat before the fire, his dark gray eyes almost black in the firelight.

He slowly held out a fist, drawing the attention of the other Fang. He uncurled his slender fingers, revealing a glittering blue stone in his palm. It was much darker than Amaurite, and seemed to be filled with a thousand twinkling stars.

Severance stared, both confused and intrigued.

Eusebius let out a loud chortle. "You did it! Well done!"

"Hm." Aeneas let out a soft grunt. With a rustle of furs, he stood and quietly walked outside. The icy fog soon swallowed him up.

As Lothaire put the strange stone away, Severance couldn't help but ask, "What is it?"

"A sign that he was successful," Eusebius readily answered. He seemed to be in a great mood. "Now the rest of us will have to put in extra effort to catch up."

Severance thought of the awful things he'd seen last time in the fog and his expression twisted. Extra effort? How was he supposed to do that? He wasn't even sure what exactly he was supposed to accomplish out there.

Dutifully, he sent a couple of Mends to Lothaire. The silent Fang wasn't as injured today, so it didn't take much to heal him.

As they waited for Aeneas to return, Severance stared into the fire and tried to ignore the increasing itch of his arm and shoulder. He didn't have to see the debuff icon flashing in the corner of his vision to know that it was the Afflicted disease. And it was slowly, but surely getting worse.

He reached up and gently probed the area, trying to gauge how far it had spread. His upper arm had the worst of it, but the itch still covered his shoulder and even spread a small way down his chest. He couldn't really cut that all off, could he?

A furrow dug into into his brow. Healing was impossible. And if he died... only a small portion of his health was restored. It wouldn't clear the affliction away entirely. But perhaps it could restore a small bit. If he died enough times, would it eventually remove all of the affliction?

He wasn't sure if that would work.

Aeneas returned. He was in a horrific mess, missing an entire arm and leaking blood like a sieve. His face was pale and strained, and he all but collapsed on the ground the second he entered.

Severance stood in alarm. "Where's your arm?"

The quiet Fang just stared up at Severance, his bloodless lips pressed tightly together. Severance sucked in a breath and hurriedly went over, dropping to his knees. He shoved aside the torn furs and found the shredded stump of Aeneas' arm. It spurted blood steadily, though the frosted edges showed it had begun to freeze.

Severance felt a little green at the sight of it. He considered for a second, then looked at the silver beast lying just outside. "Vast, go find his arm. Hurry!"

Vast's ears pricked before he immediately got up. With a flick of his tail, he bounded into the fog.

In the meantime, Severance could only try to stem the bleeding. It was clear that the Fang had already lost a lot of blood. The man's lips were turning blue. He should have been unconscious, yet his dark gray eyes still held a clarity within them as they gazed up at Severance.

"Why aren't you healing him?" Eusebius crouched on the other side of Aeneas. His voice was low, dangerous, and when Severance looked up, he felt an inexplicable chill. The usual friendly, casual manner had vanished.

Severance swallowed. "If I try to heal him now, he'll never have an arm again. He's... he can wait for a minute."

"He can live without an arm," Eusebius said coolly. "Heal him, cibel."

Severance creased his brow. What was with the change in attitude? Everyone had taken terrible injuries yesterday and yet all of them had treated it so casually. Yet now, it was different. Aeneas right now was probably the closest to death any of them had gotten.

Severance took a slow breath, steadying himself. "He will live even better with an arm. Don't worry, I won't let him die."

A few tense seconds passed. Then Aeneas' eyes rolled back and he passed out. His breathing was incredibly faint. But Severance held firm. As long as there was even a sliver of breath, he could heal someone to full.

Eusebius said nothing further, but his gaze grew fiercer by the second. It was like being stared at by a wild animal. Severance had the sudden understanding that if he truly did let Aeneas die, the Fang before him would tear him apart with his bare hands.

Thankfully, Vast soon returned. The vastlhidan held a frozen arm in his jaws and he immediately dropped it just inside the entrance. He looked at Eusebius and bared his teeth, rumbling softly.

Eusebius showed his own teeth, looking every bit as savage as Vast.

Severance ignored both of them. He grabbed the arm, flipped it, and jammed the frozen, jagged end against Aeneas stump. It didn't have to be perfect. It just had to be close.

By now, the man appeared dead. On the slightest puffs of condensed air by his nose showed that he still hung on.

With both hands, Severance held the frozen arm in place. Then he thought, Mend.

Warm winds stirred the air, filling the shelter. For a short moment, the fire brightened and grew, giving off even more heat. Faint green wisps sank into Aeneas, thawing some of the frozen flesh of the arm.

Radiant Dome. Severance glanced up, mentally placing the Dome above them. It was big enough to encompass the entire shelter, so he didn't have to worry much about placement. When he lowered his head, he was relieved to see some of the bleeding slow.

With each subsequent Mend, Severance watched as flesh and bone regrew and knit together. Aeneas trembled and gave a low moan, his eyelids fluttering.

No doubt the nerves were coming alive now. It wasn't a pleasant experience, Severance knew. He kept Mending, until all the color returned to the Fang's face and his health was completely restored. Then Severance sat back, watching as Aeneas' eyes finally opened.

The Fang seemed a little dazed. He turned his head, flexing his hand and arm like he couldn't believe it was there.

"It might tingle for a bit, but that should fade," Severance said. He wiped his bloodied hands on his furs.

To his surprise, Aeneas actually gave a slight nod of acknowledgement. Stiffly, the Fang sat up and moved to his original spot without further fuss. He still looked slightly pale.

"Did you get it?" Eusebius asked. His tone was light, and he appeared to have sheathed his fangs. It was like he was back to his normal self.

Aeneas shook his head once.

"Then it is my turn." Eusebius left, his leg brushing past Severance.

At once, Vast snarled, tale lashing out. He lunged towards Eusebius.

"Vast," Severance snapped.

At once, Vast stopped. He lowered his head and huffed in displeasure. Severance reached out and Vast came to him, shoving his warm nose against Severance's hand. In the next instant, he started licking the traces of blood off of Severance's hand.

A little disgusted, Severance let him. The beast's tongue was warm and it felt rather comforting on his icy fingers. Plus, he preferred dog slobber to blood. It was slightly more sanitary.

As Vast cleaned his hands for him, Severance sensed a pair of eyes watching him. It was Aeneas the Vast, and as Severance realized the Fang was actually watching Vast rather than himself, he smiled slightly.

Eusebius returned in good spirits. He revealed an identical blue stone to the one Lothaire had gotten, and then slapped Severance's back.

"It's your turn, cibel. Go do us proud."

Severance gave the wildman a cold look. But he stood, adjusted his furs and pulled on his gloves. Then he went outside with Vast at his side.

Like before, he walked through the thick, icy fog until he found the pillar. This time, a shadowy figure waited for him. He put on a tight smile.

"Were you waiting for me?"