Deadlox lay there for several seconds, panting with shock and pinned to the ground by Sky's unconscious body. His wings were bent awkwardly under him, and he was faintly aware of the burned spot on his left wing. Through everything, though, one thought stood out beyond the pain.

  Oh my god, he almost killed me.

  Now the adrenaline was fading away, and the pain in his wings was becoming more and more aware to him. With a grunt of effort, he pushed Sky off of himself and sat up onto his knees, curling his tail neatly around himself simply out of habit. Unfolding his left wing, he stretched it around to examine it. He leaned awkwardly over the edge of his wing, wincing as he discovered a still-smoking burn in the perfect shape of Sky's hand.

  Standing shakily, he stumbled over to where his wristbands lay on the ground and pocketed them, then returning to Sky.

  The boy was unmoving, minus the very faint rise and fall of his chest. His amulet glowed very brightly, much more so than normal. The thing that made Deadlox particularly unhappy, though, were the long talon marks across his chest, not bleeding as heavily but bloody all the same. I did that to him.

  His heart was heavy as he picked Sky up, slowly carrying him bridal-style off of the field. He kept stumbling, already unusually exhausted from fighting (Sky's weight didn't help). He kept having to fling his wings out for balance, which made him hiss in pain.

  After what seemed like the whole day—oh, wait, it had been—the sun was setting in the sky, casting long shadows on the forest as Deadlox finally spotted the curtain of vines. His exhaustion consumed everything but the desire to continue. He had to get home, he had to tend to Sky, he had to rest...

  He didn't notice the fresh footprints in the soil. He didn't notice that the the vines were slightly scraggly. He didn't notice that the door wasn't closed and locked as he pushed it open.

  Deadlox's breath was ragged and deep as he limped the final few steps to the couch, where he deposited Sky onto the cushions. He then knelt by the couch, closing his eyes as he laid his head on an uninjured part of Sky's chest. He was about to drift into sleep when a sharp tapping sound caught his attention. Raising his head, he turned towards the sound and froze.

  He was standing in the doorway of the kitchen, tapping a small diamond tagger on the wall as he watched Deadlox with a cruel smirk.

  "How nice to see you again," Jason purred.

  Deadlox felt a sharp pain in his neck and reached up to take out the small feathered dart buried in his skin. With the last of his energy, he glanced desperately at Sky, and then fell to the floor and slept.

  There was nothing, and then there was him. Deadlox was suspended in the nothing, with no concept of time and nothing to do; not that it mattered. Sometimes he existed in this realm, where life was nothing but a faint memory, and sometimes he dreamed.

  When he dreamed, he almost preferred the nothing.

  His head was filled with fire, bright and burning. Glowing eyes chased him and every single time, the monster caught him. Its hand collided with his wing and he would feel the pain just as he had in the alternate place called reality. And every single time he had the dream, he looked up at his attacker, and it grinned cruelly back at him with Sky's face.

  Then he would return to the nothing.

  Suddenly, he was jerked out of his state and was met with the cold feeling of stone under him and the tight feeling of a metal band binding his wrists behind his back. Staring around, Deadlox was instantly hit with a bought of claustrophobia, struggling to breathe in the tiny stone room. It was obviously a cell, with an iron door being the only way out. Near the top of the back wall lay a tiny window, about the size of a cinder block.

  Images and memories flooded into his head, reminding him of the events that happened before he had woken up in the cell. Jason found us. An anxious feeling began in his chest, worrying about why Jason hadn't killed him until another problem made him almost panic.

  Where was Sky?

  As far as Deadlox knew, Sky's wounds had gone untreated, which was not good at all—not to mention that he was in Jason's custody as well. Deadlox also didn't know where Sky was, and that bothered him for some reason.

  As he collected his thoughts and worried about his friend, the iron door to the cell made a clicking noise. Deadlox looked up, alarmed, to see Jason enter the cell, followed by two guards. With a snarl of anger, Deadlox lunged for him—and was painfully wrenched back by the chains attached to the band around his wrists. He stared at Jason with complete and utter hatred.

  "Aw, look at you." Jason crossed his arms. "Powerless."

  Deadlox said nothing in reply.

  "I bet you're still wondering why you're alive," Jason drawled. "It's been very hard to resist the temptation of killing you both."

  Relief filled him. Sky is still alive.

  "You'd be dead now if you didn't know the location of Mitchell Hughes."

  That was a surprise.

  "Mitch?" Deadlox asked incredulously. "Why Mitch?"

  Jason scowled at him. "You may be aware that his friend protects a city that is currently under attack by one of my allies. If I can capture Mitchell and use him as leverage to get his friend to turn himself over, I'll get a reward. And, if you tell me where he is, maybe I'll make your death less painful."

  Deadlox returned Jason's glare. "Why don't you ask Sky, then?"

  "Ender poisoning." Seeing Deadlox's uncomprehending look, Jason laughed coldly. "You don't know? Even being an End demon? You poisoned him when you hurt him. He's in a coma. Dead, if he wasn't a brine."

  Horror placed itself firmly inside of him. His best friend was close to death—and it was his fault. He stared at Jason, unable to come up with a reply.

  Something changed in Jason's face as he comprehended what he was seeing. "Oh, this is perfect. You're worried about him." He crossed his arms, a triumphant look on his face. "Well then, let's make a deal. You tell me Mitchell's location, and I allow the brine to go unharmed."

  "And if I don't tell you?" Deadlox spat. "You can't kill him or you'll have no leverage against me."

  "Of course I wouldn't kill him," Jason replied. "But I couldn't promise that...he would not be unfortunate enough to gain some serious injuries."

  Deadlox did not reply, and Jason smirked. "I'll give you some time to think about it; I am a very patient man."

  One of the two guards gave a very small, sarcastic snort—and instantly froze, fear flooding his face. Jason slowly turned around, his eyes flashing dangerously.

  "Did you just...laugh at me?" he said quietly, stepping closer to the guard.

  The guard frantically shook his head, panic evident on his face. "No, sir-"

  "Oh, I think you're lying to me."

  "I didn't mean to," breathed the guard, and when he saw Jason's hand creep across to his own sword handle, he began yelling but did not move. "I swear it! I didn't mean to, I sw-"

  Deadlox watched as, fast as lightning, Jason drew the guard's sword and impaled the unfortunate man with it. The man's eyes widened and he let out a small gasp before collapsing to the floor. Jason stared disgustedly at the body before gesturing for the other guard to follow him out the door. The iron door slammed shut and a clicking noise indicated it being locked.

  Deadlox stared at the body on the floor as trickles of red crept across the stone floor from the guard's body. He watched the faint rise and fall of the man's chest until it finally stopped and the blood stopped coming.

  He tucked himself into the farthest corner from the door, laying uncomfortably down on the cold floor. On the ground, he stretched his arms down as far as possible and brought his legs between the loop that his arms made so that his wrists were now bound in front of him rather than behind his back. There he lay, unable to sleep, staring out of the tiny window in his cell wall.

  When the moon was just disappearing beyond the top of the window, the cell door opened and the guard's body was taken away.

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