"As I was saying," Róhain continued, clearing his throat. His hands ran smoothly over the map splayed out across the table until he was nearly on top of it. "We need to figure out who is going on which mission, and on top of that, the order that we will be carrying them out."

Selatan bent over his shoulder, a small, thoughtful frown on his face. "I say we check the stronghold in Durne first." As he spoke, Gavin could make out a striped, orange and white feline tail flicking behind him, calculating. "It's the closest, and most likely the least guarded out of the three."

"Yeah! After all, it's just Humans." Aoife cut in, her voice making Gavin jump. True, he'd already known she was in the room, catching just the hint of her ashen flavour on his tongue as he'd entered, but now that he actually saw her, it was as if she was an entirely new person.

Her ragged, grey tunic had been swapped for a crimson shirt, leather belts securing it around her torso. On top of that was a deep grey tailcoat, the sleeves cut short enough to leave the dark skin of her arms bare, not counting the light grey bracers there, all topped off with a scarlet cowl. But, what caught Gavin's attention the most was her hair. Her rich, brown locks had been brushed out of a curly tangle and into pure, mahogany waves that trailed down her back. That is, save for the three strands that refused to be pulled to the side with the rest, instead sticking straight up like the feathery crown of a bird.

Talus' voice cut through his thoughts with a snicker. "Says the Human."

Aoife only responded by putting a hand to her chest mockingly. "Talus, let's be honest with ourselves. None of them were born as naturally spectacular as I was, which means the only ones with magik will be us."

Up until that point, Gavin had allowed the others to carry the conversation. It was easier that way, letting them come up with the plan until it seemed like something far beyond his own creation. It offered several benefits, especially in the event of it failing. After all, Róhain had said that he was to listen to him as the knowledgeable Cearte, and as far as Gavin was concerned, that meant that if it went awry, there would only be Cearte to blame.

But, on the other end was Aoife with her blaring lack of knowledge, and as it was going now, that 'if' was quickly turning into a 'when'. He couldn't afford that.

"Actually," Gavin explained, twitching involuntarily as five pairs of eyes all landed on him. "The Cearte don't guard by sending each race into their own territory. The Cearte listen to the gods, and are above the war, so we'll most likely have to deal with all three races at once."

The logic on that still made very little sense to Gavin. He'd spent too long hearing how he started the war, how the peace had been broken, how it was Demons against Eunsis against Humans, to understand how the Cearte were simply above the governments and their rules. If that were true, and the different races clearly could work together, then why hadn't they used their connection to the gods to end the war already?

Why let so many die over my mistake when you all can clearly put aside your differences enough to try and take me down?

However, whether it made sense or not, it was how things were, and that much he couldn't change. Instead, it was better to let the others know and adjust accordingly before they were all caught making the exact mistake he had, none too long ago.

"Actually, that is what I was about to explain, but why do you know that?" Róhain's focus on him sharpened, his fingers drumming against the table as he awaited an answer.

Gavin's tongue grew numb again, a sense of panic filling him as Eldrazi went to answer, but he pushed the Demon back, feeling both the warm, outer coating and the cold, almost empty core of his energy as Gavin went to speak instead. "I spent a long time in Malin, guards and Cearte of all races coming in to carve me as they saw fit." The words should've been bitter, but Gavin couldn't conjure even a hint of emotion to go with them. Just emptiness.

So instead the unsteadiness in his tone had to be forced. "I mean, I could be making an incorrect assumption but... it just makes sense that if they had worked together to contain Aoife and I, wouldn't the Cearte be one overarching force, rather than each territory having their own like they claim?"

Selatan hummed to himself, giving Gavin a curt nod. "Smart boy."

"Aw come on, Selatan. 'Boy'? He's what? Maybe three years younger than you? Four? You sound so old." Aoife elbowed him with a grin before turning to Gavin. "Wait, how old are you again?"

Gavin froze, eyes darting to his shoes as Eldrazi's boisterous laughter began to overflow into his thoughts.

"And right after 'e called ya a smart boy, too! 'Ow perfect is that?"

"Oh good point! How old are you, Gavin?" Talus also asked, tipping his head at him in curiosity. Because that was exactly what Gavin needed at the moment: More people to listen in on the answer he was going to give.

"I'm, um..." A fang poked out of his lip as he grimaced. "I think I'm five and ten? Something like that."

Everyone turned at that, even Lynette, and for once in his life, Gavin wished he was an Eunsi. At least then he would be able to ask Eór to borrow his Will long enough to disappear into nothingness. But as Eldrazi would say, he had been born with several misfortunes, most of which involved being Human, which meant no magik. His eyes landed on Aoife staring at him open-mouthed. Or at least in his case, no magik.

"You're an adult?" she shouted.

"You can't count?" Róhain was quick to follow. Aoife shot him a look. "What?" he asked, clearly offended. "He should know how by his age."

"Yeah, and Talus is technically old enough to read, and he can barely put his name on paper. That's not what's important here. What is important, is..."

She leaned over the table to inspect Gavin's wrist, which he drew back immediately. Years ago, he'd worn a short pair of brown, leather gloves to cover his hands, but those had been left behind the same day as everything else. Now there was only the long draping fabric of his white sleeves to hide him.

Not that they did that very well, Aoife's violet eyes landing on the black, winding mark that curled past the sleeve's edge.

"Ooh!" she exclaimed, and Gavin couldn't manage to duck again as she did a small, leaping jump to grab him. He flinched under her touch, but he couldn't do much to stop her as she went around the table to roll up his sleeve, revealing his Dávoln Mark. The Mark of Eldrazi.

It wasn't until she'd pushed the sleeves' fabric back up past his shoulder, right to where it was clumsily stitched into the tunic's green that the entire mark could be seen: a pitch black snake with each of its curves lined with a celestial body, the sleek head flicking out a forked tongue to taste the final symbol: The sun itself.

"Huh," she muttered to herself, slowly turning his arm over. There was the long, taunt line of scar tissue there, but that wasn't what she was looking for either, her gaze landing on the bare underside of his wrist. "I just wanted to look at your runes, but I guess you don't have any."

Gavin closed his eyes, giving a sharp sigh as he tugged his sleeve back down. "No. My family couldn't afford for me to get caught. Quite literally."

Perhaps they would've been able to, if he hadn't been born a Dávoln. After all, his father was a Cearte, and thus was paid according to the size of those he had to provide for. But Gavin had never felt the sting of a needle being driven into his wrist over and over, marking him as a citizen of Durne, nor had he felt the cool, yet supposedly tingling feeling of a Cearte temporarily painting those runes with a quill every year during tax season. The only mark he had was the mark of a heathen, and by the time he had enough control over himself to pass as a Human, his family had been in far too much debt from feeding another, unaccounted for mouth to claim him and pay the fines that would come with.

And now– if Aoife was right and being five and ten did make him an adult, halfway to a Human life's end– then he would never look it, his bare wrist never able to gain its last rune: The symbol of the last of the Goddess' three faces. The Crone.

"Well, you're still an adult, runes or no." Aoife shrugged. "Remind me to take you to a tavern sometime for a drink. My treat."

"You mean, my treat," Selatan cut in, brows raising, although Gavin could tell he was joking with the small smile resting on his lips. "Last I checked, it always seems to come from my coin pouch, not yours."

"Selatan, those are one and the same now, and you know it." Talus shot the Demon a smirk before he too, leaned to inspect the tail end of Gavin's Mark, wrapping around a star on the back of his hand. "Still, I have to say, Gavin, I've never seen a mark that big before."

"Bet ya 'aven't seen a Demon as big as myself either." Eldrazi's voice leapt out of Gavin's lips before he could stop him, a cocky sneer pulling at his cheeks. "Now just imagine my power in my full form. I was known as Eldrazi, Destroyer o' Cities, Bringer o' 'Avoc, Obliterator o' Innocent 'Ouses... Ahhh, people used to run from me in terror and fear my very name. Good times."

Gavin hushed him for a moment as he felt Selatan's eyes bore into him, his tiger tail continuing to twitch. "That's not funny."

"I assure you, my feline friend, it most certainly is." Eldrazi bent Gavin's head down, his neck angling to shoot Selatan the same smug look from so far below the disgruntled man's height.

He growled. "It's people like you that give Demons a bad name. Acting like you've got no morals. Knock it off."

"The only knockin' I'm ever gonna do is knock you off your feet. Say, whad'ya prefer? Flowers or—"

The sharp rapping of knuckles against wood interrupted them, and they all turned to find Lynette knocking at the table's edge as hard as the look in her blue eyes. Her lips grew tight, and she waved her hand back over the map, an exasperated expression on her face.

"Thank you, Lynette." Róhain gave her a nod before continuing. "I think we've gotten off track. So, going back to Selatan's original point, I have to say I agree. While you all will no doubt be dealing with Cearte of all three races, Lorne's stronghold is closest, which leaves it as the perfect trial mission. If there is even a single problem obtaining the Relic there, you can all immediately return here with little repercussions so long as you escape fast enough."

"And we are absolutely, without a doubt, fully and completely sure that the Relics of the goddess are real?" Talus asked, leaning to peer into Róhain's brown eyes, which soon closed in a sigh.

"Yes, Talus. I held them in my own two hands once. Why do you think I snuck into the Cearte in the first place?" He opened them again to slowly glance at everyone in the room, expression filled with both hurt and regret. "I tried this before, long ago, and it fell through. Now, in a way, I'm putting you all at the same risk to try and gather that same power." He shook his head once more. "It feels foolish."

There came a rustle as Lynette leaned forward, putting a gentle hand over his own balled up ones. She was followed by Selatan moving to his side while Aoife continued to press. "But just imagine what we're going to do once we get that wish, Róhain. We won't have to all be cramped up in this old place. We can live where we want, be who we want, and never have to worry about this ridiculous war again!"

"Oh right! The war." Talus' eye widened with realisation. "How are we all supposed to get into Lorne then? Even if some of us can pass for one race, only Humans can be caught in Durne. Lynette..."

The Shar Drak'na waved a hand at her stunted white wings, speckled with brown, and Gavin could only assume that they were as permanent as his fangs were to him. Each Dávoln had to keep one trait from their other soul about them, no matter their form. It was just unfortunate that her's was something so large.

"Lynette won't be going," Róhain explained, his hands clasping together. He struggled to keep his voice even, his focus solely on the map in front of him as his shoulders trembled slightly. "It will just be Aoife, Selatan, and Gavin."

"Oh. And me."

He looked up at Talus eagerly waving a claw above his head to volunteer. "I'm going, aren't I?"

"No."

"What?" A pout formed on Talus' lips, and he gave Róhain a pleading look. "Why not? I'm as old as Gavin. Older even?"

Gavin turned to him. Before, he had agreed with Róhain's logic on going to Lorne first. But, as far as who looked the most Human, as far as Gavin could see, Talus pulled it off just about as terribly as the rest of them. Even without her magik, Aoife's eyes still shone with their own, unnatural, purple flames behind them, and Seletan's ears were far too pointed, not counting his own Mark: small, black curves on his cheekbones like whiskers.

Talus at least could put most of that out of sight, and with his eyepatch, the only non-Human part to him was the raspberry red shade of his hair. That was hardly enough to get him caught.

"It's not about age," Róhain continued. "You're just... you know how you get sometimes, Talus."

A hurt look flashed across his face. "You don't trust me to control it."

Now it was Selatan's turn to wince. "It's not that we don't trust you. We're just... trying to play it safe for the first Relic. That's all."

The room suddenly twitched, Gavin perking up as he saw the lighting of the room writhe and shift away from Talus. A flare hit Gavin's chest, not of warmth, like most energy, but a cold so empty that it burned all the same. It was still anger, but the anger of a shadow, sharp and bitter. "That sounds a lot like distrust."

Gavin watched the shadows flicker with interest. If anything, the display of power was only further reason to bring him along. Whether as a distraction or as a powerful ally, he would make everything easier. And on top of that, part of Gavin had expected him to come along, to the point he was almost as disappointed as Talus to hear otherwise.

"Stop acting stoic and admit it. You just want your friend along for the ride."

No, he calmly explained to Eldrazi. What I want is to not die on this mission because Róhain feels the need to protect everyone here.

"Hey." Aoife's voice grew soft as she moved closer to Talus, pinching at his pale cheeks, and Gavin caught the smallest glance of the white runes on her own wrist, right above the grey leather of her bracer. "Don't be like that. Throwing a fit won't get you any more missions, and I'm sure this first one will be super boring, with it being a trial and all." She squeezed his face tighter, although Talus' eye looked dull in annoyance, him barely registering it. "So don't worry. We'll be back before you know it. Róhain?" She shot him a look.

"Yes?"

"Give me the map."

His brows drew together in confusion. "Right now?"

"Yes. Now." She gave him a confident smile, drawing back from Talus to put her hands on her hips. "There's no point in waiting. The only thing I have to do is grab my poi, and Selatan needs something to hide his ears. That's it. So!" She held a hand out to him, grin unwavering. "Where are we headed?"

☽◯☾

It was dark by the time they reached the outskirts of Lorne, the Child's Moon just starting to ease its way up towards the rings in Dusty, midnight sky. It was also the perfect temperature outside, one that didn't make Eldrazi's blood feel cold in the boy's veins as he pushed for a more equal share from their bond. After all, there was no one else about to see the yellow glint of their eyes, nor their tail. There was only Selatan pulling a dark red cowl that looked suspiciously close to Aoife's more securely over his ears, and Aoife absentmindedly swinging her poi at her side.

Eldrazi gave them a curious look. Gavin could carry out the more useless and boring tasks of walking and beating their heart at the ridiculously fast pace he was so partial to. For now, he wanted to inspect Aoife's weapons.

She had said they were poi, but Eldrazi almost wanted to call them flails. Even if the strange, cage-like centre was empty, the two halves only held together by a single, metal clasp, the outside of the balls were still fashioned with spikes. Then again, much like poi, he couldn't see what use they could hold for much more than dancing. They couldn't possibly be easy to control, nor could he see them doing much damage.

"An impractical weapon for an impractical girl. What did you expect?" Gavin's voice echoed in his thoughts, the sound rather blank, emotionless.

That was how he normally sounded now, either aloof or panicked, with very little in between. Once, the boy's Will had been colourful. Eldrazi would pull himself back into Gavin's mind to find not a world of darkness, but a misty land of cheerful yellows and aspiring indigos. It had been a beautiful place once. Peaceful.

But now that fog was gone, his emotions thin, wispy threads far too taunt to be felt. Maybe plucked, at most, like the string of a lyre, but much like a single note, it faded in time, and Eldrazi had let it happen.

Regret pulled at his chest, but he quickly shoved it away before the boy could feel it. Instead, he let a grin spread across his face. I expect nothing. Life's 'ardly fun if you go about predictin' things. It's why I like these people. They're very chaotic and fun, wouldn't you say?

Gavin didn't answer him at first, only continuing to trudge on through the night. The bookstore and its seaport town had fallen away awhile ago, leaving them to creep along the cobbled roads under the light of the three moons. Farm after farm passed them, meaning that soon, they'd find the tall, stone wall where Lorne's centre lay. Eldrazi was simply worried about how much more focus the boy was putting on that than anything, or anyone else.

"We don't need to like them."

Eldrazi tried not to let his sigh escape through their nose, lest Selatan hear it and give them yet another judgemental stare. Instead he let the air puff out their cheeks in frustration. It was ever so slightly infuriating when Gavin got like this, refusing to listen to others, and more importantly, his own self. But wouldn't it be great to all get along? Just an array of pals to go out on missions with? Didn't ya wanna do that as a child? Go out and 'ave adventures? Save the world?

"We are saving the world. We're going to get the Relics, find Cynwrig, and once we remove Tachir', the war will end. I don't need to make friends to do that."

Gavin paused at the defensive wall surrounding Lorne coming into view, at the bricks rising into the starry sky, and white and green flags of the Durnish Cearte waving on high. "Why 'Drazi? Do you want me to replace you? I don't need any friends. I've got you, remember?"

There it was, that nickname as a soft smile played on Gavin's lips, so gentle and different from Eldrazi's own. It was the smile of a young boy, one that had gone through far, far more than Eldrazi had ever expected when he'd been in Astren, walking towards the flicker of light promising a new life. It was the smile of someone who put far too much faith in him.

And here he was, continuing to refuse to trust anyone else. Eldrazi rolled his eyes. 'Ave I ever told ya that I'm lucky you're 'Uman? With how stubborn you are, do you know how 'ard it would be for my magik to control yours?

"As if you'd ever control me."

Their heart seized in their chest, Eldrazi unable to keep up its beat as the words froze him in place. But it was a joke, only a joke. Nothing more.

Immediately, he could feel Gavin's confusion, their steps slowing as he sensed Eldrazi's panic. "Are you all ri—"

He was cut off though by Selatan turning around, the Demon catching Gavin's put-off expression as he pulled his hood down, ears pricking. "You heard it too?"

"Heard what?" Aoife asked before Gavin could. They'd nearly reached the wall now, maintaining their distance to keep the watchful eyes of guards off their backs. From here, Eldrazi could make out torchfire parading back and forth along the wall's top from each guard's rounds. They'd have to be far more careful from hereon in.

Which was why Eldrazi was hating the way that Selatan wasn't even looking towards Lorne, but at the path they'd just left behind. He spun around, staring into the darkness. The road was seemingly empty, but as he flicked their forked tongue out into the air, he could feel it: a cold, dark energy drawing closer.

A tremor ran through Eldrazi as Gavin shivered, taking a step back. There was a line of trees behind them, the last of the farmland before the city, but Eldrazi doubted the cover would be all that useful against an enemy that couldn't be seen.

A stray pebble stirred along the road, moving as though it was kicked by an invisible boot, then another much closer, moving at a pace that wasn't possible. At least, not by a Human.

Aoife shot forward as a single, violet flame flared up in her palm. "Whoever's there, show yourself!"

"Aoife!" Selatan whispered fiercely, reaching at his side to draw his own weapon, a massive broadsword nearly half his size. "Don't shout, or the guards will hear us."

Then he pointed the weapon forward, aiming at nothing but air. "Now, like she said, come out now, before we are forced to attack."

Still the road lay silent. Normally, a battle was right up Eldrazi's alley. A quick clashing of steel, maybe a munch if he could get his fangs close enough... he felt it necessary to have a good tussle once in a while. It kept life interesting. But now he had Gavin to worry about, which meant watching and waiting.

At least until he felt their hand twitch, Gavin reaching to whip out his bow and grab wildly for the arrows at his side. Eldrazi went to stop him, but the boy moved too quickly in panic, the string drawn back and released before he could so much as register what was going on.

The arrow shot forward, perfectly aimed at where Eldrazi had last felt the energy until it hit the air itself. A cry echoed out, the arrow almost seeming to float before it plummeted towards a puddle of what almost seemed like black blood.

"Ow... ow ow ow ow ow."

The four of them stopped as the voice continued to groan, and the air glimmered with a blue light until it fell away to reveal the body of a young boy with raspberry red hair. He clutched at his upper arm, the only eye uncovered by a patch squeezed shut in pain.

Eldrazi felt their shoulders drop as Gavin's mouth fell open in shock, the thinnest flicker of regret running through him. Although, considering it came from Gavin, that was quite a lot as he bent towards the boy with a wince.

"T-talus?"