Late update is late, but here it is!

As I mentioned, I despaired a little over mostly DYD magic system related things, so although the chapter's been more or less written already for a good while, the editing took longer than usual. Though mostly I just stared at the document, being like, "...do I do it like this. Do I".

Well, I did, and so here we are at last!

Thanks to everyone who left reviews, faved or followed the fic or asked after it! It makes me super happy to see people care so much.

Now the remaining review replies and then finally the chapter!

At Shouka: Eeep, thank you! I'm thrilled you have so many feelings about this fic, aha. I can totally understand your reaction to Cleydres, I think he's very good at making people's alarm bells ring (and definitely Ecy's). And yep, Ecy is so not looking forward to having to stand around observing as shitheads get killed - too bad for him indeed. Tiir meanwhile is at least looking forward to that part of things.

At Kuro-Mugi: Aha, thank you! Yes, Tiir views the dancing thing as very complicated. Poor him, whether or not he's right about any of it. Meanwhile, protective, freaked out Ecy is such fun to write. And here comes the chapter with those fighting scenes!

Small additional warning: things got a little gory. And yeah people get eaten.

Enjoy? Enjoy!

Chapter 18: Before Your Eyes

.

.

There was no sound except the rustling of grass as they walked through the open field that lay behind the gates of Valasea. In the distance Tiir could make out birds, crows or ravens, foraging the ground for seeds or insects, and above them, the sky was turning orange, the sun's light slowly dimming.

They hadn't spoken much since finishing negotiations with the assassin. Without a doubt, one reason for this was that there hadn't been much of an opportunity for idle chatter, let alone a meaningful conversation among themselves. First there had been the noble leading them out of the house, then a servant escorting them back to the carriage, and finally the half-Gastark magician, who had listened to the news of their success with an expression that would have betrayed nothing, if not for the coldness creeping into her eyes. Whatever Tiir and Ecylan might have to say to each other, none of it would be the sort of talk meant to be overheard by any of the other humans.

However, the lack of privacy aside, Tiir didn't think either of them was feeling much like speaking to the other, or anyone else available for the matter. Tiir himself was anxious to get to Stohl, worry about what he would find there eating away at him, and the prospect of stopping to discuss anything else was wholly unappealing. Ecylan, meanwhile, had an uncharacteristic air of gloom about him ever since they'd left the noble's estate and, for once, seemed averse to speaking so much as a single unnecessary word.

Whether Ecylan's bad mood stemmed from the assassin's earlier taunts or the knowledge that he would soon be taking part in the slaughter of his own kind or both, Tiir could only guess, though he was sure he would find out soon enough. The prince was not the most accomplished at keeping his mouth shut.

Tiir glanced at Ecylan, gaze lingering on the dark leather bag he was carrying across his shoulders. The man had taken it with him from the carriage when they had exited it at the edge of the city. Tiir didn't think Ecylan'd had it with him when they left the palace, so he assumed it had been brought out beforehand by a servant. Whatever was inside it, he hoped it meant they would be able to focus on their main objective and not get side-tracked by quests for basic necessities. Until his comrades were no longer in immediate danger, at least. So long as they succeeded in that, the trip back was bound to be much longer than getting there would be when it was just the two of them, and Tiir doubted whatever provisions Ecylan might be carrying would be enough for the man himself and however many other people they would be taking back with them. The bag wasn't small, but it wasn't enormous, either.

Tiir would have offered to take it from the man, seeing how being a human, his physical strength wasn't exactly impressive, even if so far he didn't appear to be having any problems. However, in case they got attacked, it would be inconvenient to have to worry about a bag containing vital items, and it would slow Tiir down, however marginally. It would do so regardless of whether he kept in on him during battles or took a moment to place it on the ground or return it to the prince.

While Tiir himself wasn't carrying anything, he was wearing a cloak again to decrease the chance of anyone who posed a threat recognizing him, which was also a little bothersome, but a precaution he couldn't afford to forgo. They were, after all, entering a country that was currently being taken over by Gastark, and would seek out a location that would be of high interest to their common enemies should they learn about it. Focused on his friends' precarious situation and the fact that time was not on their side, Tiir himself would not have stopped to consider this, but Ecylan or one of the other humans had, and the prince had taken the item of clothing out from below one of the carriage's seats along with the bag and then handed it to him.

This time the cloak was gray and had a hood attached to it. It was also made from a rougher material than its predecessor, perhaps a testament to the hurry in which it had been selected. Hopefully along with the killing of any direct witnesses to what they were about to do, it would be enough to not draw dangerous attention.

Somewhere towards the center of the field, Ecylan stopped and turned to him. "So how exactly is this going to work?"

Tiir considered him. "You just have to take my hand, and let me hold onto you."

"That's all?"

"Well, it'd be easier if you fired some magic at me first, but if that's going to be a problem, I can manage."

Ecylan snorted. "I don't think even Lymeia could blame me for shooting spells at you during this trip. When we run into trouble, I'd rather you weren't fighting at a fraction of your strength, thank you very much."

Ecylan's magic was exactly as he remembered it – satisfying to devour, but not extraordinary in any way. It took a second and third spell before Tiir decided it was enough to both travel most of the distance to Stohl easily and have enough energy in reserve that running into trouble along the way shouldn't be a concern.

Still, Tiir preferred the prince's magic to the half-Gastark woman's by far, since what good was even the most filling, most artfully prepared meal if it left you with an aftertaste like rotten fruit?

"We'll have to make several stops," Tiir said. "And my control over where we'll come down isn't perfect."

"Meaning...?"

"If I run low on energy while we're above a lake, that would be troublesome."

"Are you serious?"

Tiir shrugged. He should notice in time if he needed more magic, so as long as there was the opportunity to feed, it shouldn't come to that. But he'd rather have the human prepared for such an eventuality. A lake, of course, would still be better than a town, or some other place crawling with humans.

"I really hope you won't, then," Ecylan said. "Because I don't have much of a change of clothes on me."

"I doubt it'll be a problem." Tiir paused, then added, "But I also can't guarantee no one will take notice."

A look of unease appeared on Ecylan's face. After a moment, he ventured, "Please tell me heading right into a confrontation with Gastark is very unlikely?"

"It is," Tiir said, even as he wondered what the prince would do if he were to claim differently. Call this off? Go through with it anyway, regretting having asked?

And though he believed himself to be speaking the truth, there was a nagging sliver of doubt. When it came down to it, he didn't know how Gastark had found them last time. There were a number of possibilities, most of which didn't apply to this situation. Even so, there was no way to be sure. And then there was always a chance of Gastark already having heard of Stohl's experiments, and also being there searching for Tiir's comrades.

The only thing Gastark could be trusted with was showing up when he least expected it to kill those he cared about.

Ecylan exhaled. "Well, that's reassuring." He chuckled, a wry sound lacking humor. "At least them having practically won that war already means we won't be in much danger of getting crushed by a Rule Fragment."

Tiir shook off his own dark thoughts and held out his hand. Ecylan reached for it, then just before making contact hesitated. Tiir wasn't surprised he was apprehensive, only that he wasn't more so. At the very least, he would have expected him to ask what precisely was going to happen.

However, Ecylan didn't do that even now, perhaps conscious of the fact that their – the children's – time was still at risk of running out; or maybe he thought that the answer to such a question didn't matter, since there was no feasible alternative to this. Possibly he'd decided that he'd rather not know beforehand if this was going to be unpleasant in some way.

Or maybe, it crossed Tiir's mind as Ecylan finally grasped his hand, firm grip belying his previous trepidation, there was above all a considerable amount of trust involved.

Tiir intertwined his fingers with the human's, and together they left the field and the country of Salea behind.

x x x

Tiir required two more spells before they arrived in Stohl, and another one soon after that. They kept going until they were only about an hour's walk from their destination, then decided to wait out the night. Under normal circumstances, making their move before dawn would have been the preferred option, but knowing there was one human among their enemies they couldn't afford to let come to any harm and needed to be able to distinguish from the rest, Tiir doubted the dark would make things easier for them. It would also make it harder to ensure not a single one of their targets got away.

Besides, the magic Ecylan had cast at him combined with the unfamiliar manner of traveling had taken their toll on the man, and though he didn't complain, it was obvious he was tired. Since Tiir had no idea what they would find at the location the assassin had pointed them to, he would rather Ecylan was well capable of firing more spells at him during the battle almost sure to ensue, and of defending himself at least somewhat in case of an emergency.

Of course, if they later learned the couple of hours Tiir had been willing to sacrifice to prudence had to his comrades meant the difference between life and death, this would prove to have been an unforgivable mistake; but right then, the risk seemed lower than that of just waltzing in there right away, with Ecylan dead on his feet and Tiir himself worried about unwittingly doing something Salea's Guild would later have those he loved pay for, to the point where it would be difficult for him to concentrate on the situation at hand. And then there was the fact that once they had freed his comrades, they would do best to get as far away from there as quickly as possible, in which case Ecylan's exhaustion would be even more of a liability.

No, it was much better to wait.

Despite believing this and having been the one to suggest using what remained of the night to rest, Tiir was still bursting with the need to keep moving, unable to shake off the feeling that what he should be doing was helping his kin – the notion that even stopping to weigh his options was something not unlike betrayal.

Tiir had never been one for patience when his loved ones were being hurt.

He had also never been terribly successful at keeping them safe.

Tiir realized he had started pacing, and stopped. He turned to Ecylan, who was sitting a few feet from him on the ground, rummaging through his bag. "We should get moving as soon as the sun starts to come out. It's enough if you get some sleep. I'll keep watch."

Ecylan paused in what he'd been doing and looked up at him. "But-"

"Going without sleep, even if it was for a few days, is much less of a problem for me than it is for you." When he could see the prince wasn't convinced, he added, careful to make his tone less unkind than his words, "I'm more worried about you being tired and getting in the way than about missing an opportunity for rest."

As Tiir had hoped, Ecylan's expression turned contrite, and after a moment, he conceded. "All right," he said, if reluctantly. There was a pause. "Can we talk first, though?"

"About what?" Tiir asked, but thought he had a good idea of what the answer would be already.

"Earlier at the Fiyedra estate. What was it Cleydres wanted from you?"

Tiir had known this was coming. It would be a relief to get it out of the way.

"Nothing important," he said. And resigned himself to having to go into more detail than that when he saw the look Ecylan was giving him. "He-" Tiir began, then cut himself off. He felt silly having to say this, and resentful, because of course the assassin would have some reason for his odd demand, but Tiir could not yet see it, or even make meaningful speculations about it.

"He?" Ecylan prompted, seeming alarmed. Clearly, he had misunderstood Tiir's hesitance.

"He wants me to dance with him," Tiir bit out, not wanting to drag this out any further.

The prince's reaction did not surprise him. After all, Tiir's own had not been very different.

"He what," the man said, in the tone of someone who thought he'd heard correctly, except surely he could not have, because then he might as well have been told there were three moons in the sky.

Tiir repeated his words, and added, "I don't know what he's planning, but it's hardly something to get upset about for now." He did not mention that he himself was, in fact, upset.

There was nothing more tiring, and little more dangerous, than the games of humans.

"Well, did he say anything about why he'd want that?" Ecylan asked when he recovered, and he didn't appear much less concerned than he'd been originally.

Tiir considered the question, and grimaced. Certainly the human in question had given him a reason for picking the terms he had, only it had been an obviously false one that was even more ridiculous than his demand itself.

"Tiir, what did he say?"

"Nothing."

"Clearly that's not-"

"He said that I'm 'interesting'."

"That's all?"

Tiir wrinkled his nose. "No."

"Then-"

"Ecylan, he wasn't being serious."

That made the man go silent, though only for a moment. "But it can't hurt to tell me, right?"

Tiir repressed a sigh. "Just go to sleep."

At first he though Ecylan would argue, but then the man's shoulders slumped, and he nodded. Tiir watched him resume going through his bag and pull out a small blanket, and hoped things in the morning would go just as smoothly as ending this conversation had.

x x x

The research facility was a low, brittle looking building located in a small clearing. From a distance, it could have been mistaken for a ruin, and for a breathless moment, Tiir considered the possibility that they had been tricked, merely led on a wild goose chase. However, this fear was quickly squashed as they got closer – Tiir had barely instructed Ecylan to walk some steps behind him when he passed through the first magic trap. Power coursed through him like a river rushing towards a cliff. There was no time to savor the sensation, but Tiir was at once aware of how much he had missed this – the excess of power, the knowledge that he would put it to good use.

A second magic trap, and a third. Each of them would have been lethal to a human, and Tiir was certain that if he just kept walking around the building, he would be treated to a feast, regardless of whether any of his enemies decided to confront him.

But of course he was not here for pleasure, and so he just kept walking towards the building's entrance. There were two more traps, and then when he started wondering whether that had been all the ones in his path, he saw people running towards him.

No, not people. Humans. He smiled – how long had it been, since he'd last snapped the vermin's necks and flung aside their lifeless bodies?

There were five of them, firing spells at him at the same time. Tiir stood for a moment absorbing them, and then before the humans could take a breath and begin the incantations anew or – if they were smarter – turn around and run from him in fear, started dispatching them one by one. The first one died without making a sound. The second made a noise that might have been the beginning of a scream, before Tiir tore out his throat with his hand. The third and fourth tried to flee back inside; Tiir caught them easily, first one, then the other. The last one did scream.

Just as Tiir dropped the corpse, lazily licking blood from his hand, a handful more humans rushed at him. To his surprise, and mild disappointment, these ones had learned better from their fellow soldiers' example and did not bother with spells. They came at him with swords and in one case a dagger, but they were no more successful in their attempts at killing him than their colleagues had been.

When only two were left, lying heavily injured on the ground because Tiir had carelessly thrown them aside, he paused in front of one of them. Small, with hair that was tied back in a braid. But there was no cloak, and hair and eye color did not match, either. This was not the human he needed to spare. So he broke the vermin's neck, and then that of the remaining one.

Tiir spotted another human at the entrance of the building, trying to rush back inside. He made to get rid of that one, too, but then after the first step stopped. He wanted to kill the filth, kill them all, for believing themselves above his kind. For having hurt his comrades.

But before he could do that, he had to make sure-

Quickly, Tiir turned around, his eyes immediately finding Ecylan. He looked unharmed. Of course. Tiir had been careful to not let get any enemies or spells past himself. It hadn't been wise to leave the prince standing there without so much as word, though, when there were still magic traps nearby. It was a good thing the man'd had the sense not to move.

Or perhaps, Tiir realized as he stepped closer to the young royal, it hadn't had anything to do with sense at all. Ecylan was staring at him, and the expression on his face was...

The expression on his face was one of horror.

Tiir halted when he realized this, and when he resumed walking, Ecylan shifted in what Tiir recognized instantly as an aborted step backwards.

Tiir's stomach twisted.

He moved a little closer, then stopped again. He couldn't deal with this right now, didn't want to deal with it. What had he been thinking? He should have left Ecylan further behind, should have asked him to let him do this alone. He would have been able to handle the Salean assassin they had yet to encounter on his own, somehow, and he should have gambled on there being enough magic in this place for him to consume even without Ecylan's assistance. Not that he would have even needed any, to fight off those pests.

There was no advantage to having the prince here with him, none at all, and now he had to fix this, because there was no time and because he did not want Ecylan to look at him like this. He needed to reassure him, to remind him that to Ecylan, he was not a threat. But that was a ludicrous notion, because he had just killed a dozen of the man's kind in a matter of seconds, filth he would after this never spare another thought. Their blood was still staining his clothes and hair, and if he'd met Ecylan under different circumstances, he would have seen no reason to not wipe out his existence just as offhandedly. Tiir knew this, and so did Ecylan.

Making a human not afraid of him was certainly not a part of Tiir's skill set.

"Ecylan-" he began, but broke off. Trying to use his words to put the man at ease seemed more foolish by the second, because words could not erase this; could not erase what he was. Even when it came to his comrades, if he could help it and stopped to think about it, Tiir did not kill like this in front of them; unless it were other bearers of the Iino Doue who were with him, or if not then at least those who possessed the Will Heim. Not because he was worried about any of his friends considering him a danger to themselves – they all could see it, the difference between themselves and humans, though they may disagree about the meaning of it –, but because he knew he would make them sad, or cause them to have more nightmares, or disgust them.

In this case, though... there was a difference between Ecylan and other humans, but Tiir could not say what it was, and Ecylan himself would not acknowledge such a thing existed in the first place. And without a doubt, it was not the kind of difference that just months ago would have stopped Tiir from ending the prince's life just as quickly as he had those soldiers'.

"We-" Ecylan cleared his throat. "We shouldn't be just standing here."

"We shouldn't," Tiir said, but hesitated.

After a moment, Ecylan frowned. "You're not hurt, are you?"

The question startled a laugh out of Tiir. "From what? Their magic or their sluggish sword attacks?"

"Just making sure," Ecylan said, crossing his arms as he started walking.

Tiir resumed his position in front of the prince, but his steps were slow. "Perhaps you should wait here."

Ecylan snorted, the sound both surprised and amused. "I don't think so."

For some heartbeats, Tiir was quiet. "You don't want to see this."

It was the prince's turn to take his time to reply. "That's true," he said at last, "but hiding from it out here won't make it go away. Besides, what if you need help with anything?"

"Help," Tiir repeated.

"Don't be rude, I'm not totally useless, you know." Ecylan sounded very much miffed and not at all terrified.

Tiir felt like he'd not been able to get entirely enough air into his lungs the past few minutes and only now that he could breathe properly again was able to tell the difference.

"No, only about half. Or maybe three quarters?"

"I don't believe this," Ecylan said. His voice took on a faint quality at the end, and Tiir glanced over his shoulder to see the prince step over a corpse. His face had lost some color, but he gave no other indication that he was uneasy, and did not let his gaze wander to any of the other bodies lying around.

Tiir tactfully did not comment.

The entrance to the building had been left undefended. Even the door stood wide open. Tiir told Ecylan to wait a little before following him inside just in case, and stepped over the threshold.

The walls of the corridor he found himself in were made of stone, with torches attached to them here and there. There were no other sources of light, and had he not been making use of the Iino Doue, Tiir would barely have been able to see his own hand in front of his face for much of the way.

At the end of the corridor, there was a wooden door. This one had been locked, and secured in other ways. Tiir rested his hand against it, and with a flash, the spell that would easily have maimed a human upon coming into contact with it fizzled out of existence, its power absorbed by Tiir. The door itself, he simply ripped out of its angles.

As he tossed it aside, a voice coming from the room that lay behind it hissed, "What idiot put a spell on it?"

In retrospect, that comment should have cautioned him.

The first two of the more than a dozen humans he spotted scattered throughout the room died as easily as had the others , but when he went after a group of three huddled in a far corner like frightened rabbits, a sudden sharp pain in his shoulder gave him pause. He turned around just before he would have reached them, pulling out the knife as he scanned his surroundings for the offender.

There was a rustling of clothes behind him that Tiir attributed to the small group of humans that stood pressed against the wall there shaking in fear, or perhaps, if they managed to gather enough of their wits for it, shifting their weight as they prepared to bolt. As they were just a bunch of cowardly humans, he didn't spare them another thought

That was his first mistake.

Pain exploded in his back and gut. The swords easily slid back out of him as he half-stepped, half-stumbled forward, before quickly retreating to the center of the room.

He fell to his knees, coughing blood, but even though he could already feel the damage beginning to heal, he did not patiently wait where he was for however many seconds or minutes it might take for the process to finish. Instead, he jumped back to the humans who had caused the injuries, who'd had the audacity to lure him into a trap, and began to consume them.

That was his second mistake.

He could vaguely sense spells taking form around the room, but they didn't concern him. If the humans wanted to act foolish, as humans were prone to, that suited him just fine.

But no magic hit him, and the spells did not vanish. Finally, when he''d finished feeding, he turned around, not worried, but puzzled and impatient to finish this.

Another throwing knife came at him, but it was easily evaded. The same was true for the next two. Then things became strange. He was not as fast as he should have been. As he kept moving, avoiding more knives and a variety of other, more harmless objects that continued to come flying at him from different directions, he could feel his power depleting more rapidly than it was supposed to. His limbs felt heavy, and there was a burning sensation on his skin, in his organs and muscles. His wounds from the swords had healed, but the new, less serious ones caused by the knives he had become sloppy at dodging didn't, weren't even beginning to. It was as if there was no air for him to fill his lungs with – only there was air, and there was oxygen, but what was missing was...

"It's working!" someone yelled, relief and excitement equally obvious in the feminine voice.

"Can we kill it like this?" This human, too, sounded relieved, but worry dominated his tone.

"No, someone will have to go over there and cut its throat." The relief had vanished from the woman's tone, replaced by unhappy apprehension.

"But it can still attack us, right?"

It was just two of the humans talking.

"Yes, so whoever does it better not mess up. I'm not planning to die here."

"Well, why don't you do it, then?" a third voice piped up.

"Because I'm a scientist, not a soldier." The feminine voice again. "If you want me to take a blade to it, you better kill or sedate it first."

"In case you didn't notice, all the guards are dead."

"But not everyone who's had some weapon training. So which one of you wants to do the honors?"

There was a tense silence.

The attacks on Tiir had stopped, and as the humans were busy bickering, Tiir stated making his way towards the two enemies closest to him. They were standing next too each other, both holding a sword in a grip so tight as if their life depended on it. A laughable notion, considering their weapons were just that, and they remained only human.

Only Tiir was moving at the pace of a human himself – and not of a healthy one, either, but of one with a mortal wound. He was not dying, but he might as well be. That he felt like he was slowly suffocating was the least of his problems. He could not fight like this, might grow even weaker as time passed, and unless he consumed one of the humans surrounding him and did so soon, it wouldn't be hard for them to kill him at all.

Disbelief was the only thing he was able to feel right then.

"Watch out!" one of his enemies yelled. Tiir suspected it was a needless warning, since even as they were arguing, he doubted any of the humans could have not realized his intentions the moment he started walking. Though despite this, it had taken several precious seconds for any of them to call out – so perhaps they had not expected him to be able to move, or maybe they all had been rendered immobile by fear.

When Tiir arrived in front of his targets, both of them raised their swords defensively, but still the humans were little more than frightened livestock that had been backed into a corner and were now trying to thwart their predator in a near mindless panic. Their ingenuity and boldness could only go so far.

Incredulity and shock left Tiir as soon as they had come as he grabbed the first human's arm and ripped it out of its socket. The man fell to the ground and screamed, and Tiir enjoyed the sound even as the other human's sword buried itself in his shoulder.

The pain and impending loss of blood were bigger problems than they should have been.

How unexpected, how clever of the humans to do this, to find a way to drain life itself from the air. To design spells that took up so much energy that the very potential for magic was temporarily robbed from the area from which they manifested. Instead of casting spells at Tiir like the utter fools he had taken them for, they had used them to rob him of the most basic sustenance. Had he seen it coming, he could have used his reserves more wisely, could easily have come out ahead of this regardless, but even so...

This was the most dangerous kind of spell Tiir had ever encountered, the kind Gastark would easily kill hundreds of their own kind to get their hands on, because it would mean being able to slaughter Tiir's comrades so much more effortlessly. For making such a thing possible, for making it so that Tiir had one more human weapon to worry about, Tiir could not wait to make these humans pay. Even if they had done nothing else to harm his kin, even if the creation of this spell had been a fluke and he weren't bound to kill them all anyway, he would gladly have made this trip just to tear them all apart.

He consumed the arm, a pathetic morsel not able to do more than heal some of the damage to his shoulder, and switched his attention to the human whose blade was still piercing him. He gripped the man's wrist with one hand, but then stopped.

With a start, he realized he wouldn't be able to tear off another human limb. With the wound in his shoulder and the lack of any sustenance at all, even that much strength was now more than he possessed.

He hesitated, then with as much speed as he could muster – which wasn't much speed at all, but for this, it was enough – he leaned forward and buried his teeth in the human's jugular. The man screamed and struggled and Tiir paid him no heed.

"Shit," one of his remaining enemies said. "Shit."

"Do something!" The words were a shrill scream.

"Fuck, I'm not... I'm not getting anywhere near it."

"Don't stop casting the spells!"

"Shit. Vien, can't you use one of your knives to-"

"I've run out of them." This one's tone wasn't as frantic as that of the other humans.

"Are you shitting me?"

"What the fuck do we- wait, didn't Dieros keep a- give me a minute."

"I don't think we have a minute. Fuck, is it eating his throat or sucking his blood, I can't tell."

"I think it's both."

A moment after that observation had been made, there was the sound of someone retching.

Usually, Tiir would have been annoyed, both at the humans' pathetic conduct in general and the fact that eating did not become more enjoyable when someone in the vicinity was vomiting. It was one reason he preferred his food to put up a fight – the ones who froze or tried to flee were also the ones most likely to lose control over their bodily functions.

However, in this instance, Tiir hardly cared. His focus remained on his meal, which had stopped struggling a good while ago and lost consciousness not much later. The human would die any second now, after which he wouldn't be of anywhere near as much use anymore. Tiir intended to get as much out of this meal as possible before that happened.

Even feeding was more difficult in his current state than he was used to, though. Absorbing magic wouldn't have been a problem, he doubted the process would have been any different from normal, but with his strength almost reduced to that of a human, consuming his enemies' flesh suddenly cost time and effort.

Not long after the human stopped breathing, Tiir let what remained of his body slide to the ground and reached for the man whose arm he'd devoured before. Tiir hadn't paid him much attention, but apparently he'd passed out quickly after losing his limb, as it didn't look like he'd moved much from the spot where he'd fallen.

The arrow hit Tiir before his fingers made contact with the human's shoulder. The pain wasn't much compared to the last time his opponents had used bows against him, though the impact was more forceful than he remembered. He swayed.

"Ha! Take that, monster."

"You idiot, you need to shoot it in the spine or neck or something, not just wherever!"

Tiir attempted to grab the unconscious human again, but another arrow interrupted him. While the first one had landed just beneath his ribs, this one buried itself in his thigh.

"What did I just say!"

"Well, 'scuse me for not being a professional monster hunter! And Dieros's the crossbow nut, not me, 'cept he's dead, so I'm trying here, all right?"

"Well, try again and this time aim for the spine. It works with deer-"

"Does that thing look like a deer to you? 'cause if so I want for breakfast whatever you had."

"Just do it!"

Tiir wondered if under the circumstances, it would truly be as easy for them to kill him as they thought, and decided that it really could be. Perhaps if he was willing to spend all his energy on it, he could evade the next arrow, but after that it would be over. Alternatively, he could move just enough to have the arrow hit another body part than intended, which would work better to draw this out, but still far from turn the battle around. Unless he came up with something soon, Tiir realized that he might already have lost.

If he was killed, he wondered what would happen to Ren and Karda.

He pushed the thought away. After having survived Gastark, it would be ludicrous to die like this. Surely there was a way out, if only he could find it.

He turned around, if for no other reason than to give his enemy pause as he would have to settle for a different target than Tiir's spine.

The man with the crossbow startled and quickly raised his weapon. As Tiir had hoped, however, he hesitated. "Where do I shoot it?"

"I don't know, try the heart? Just make sure it stays over there!"

The human holding the crossbow made to follow the advice. If his aim wasn't off, Tiir wasn't sure he'd be able to survive this, and even if he did, there would be nothing stopping the humans from finishing the job once he was incapacitated.

All because he'd stumbled right into their trap like a fool.

Suddenly, bright blue light shone into the room, and a sound like an explosion came from just outside the empty door frame. One of the humans surrounding Tiir yelped, and the man in front of him actually dropped the crossbow in shock.

"What the hell was that?"

"Maybe a rat triggered one of the traps again?" one of the humans volunteered, sounding more hopeful than convinced.

"Don't stop the spells, Vien and I will take a look. That was definitely magic, so if it brought a friend, it'd have to be an Alpha Stigma at the most. Everyone else just worry about killing this one."

The woman who'd spoken and the one who'd thrown the knives left, and Tiir couldn't even appreciate having two enemies less to worry about. For one, the human with the crossbow had of course remained behind and was already picking the weapon back up. Even more importantly, Tiir didn't know what Ecylan was trying to do, and he doubted the man himself did. The last thing Tiir needed was the prince getting himself killed in an ill-considered bid to aid him.

It was unlikely Ecylan would be able to achieve more than buy him a few seconds, and even if he somehow managed to take out some of their enemies, Tiir probably would already be dead by then, unless the aim of the human across from him turned out to be entirely terrible.

"Shit," the man in question said, not for the first time.

"What?"

"It broke."

Well, Tiir amended, or unless the humans' only effective way of killing him got compromised.

"Are you- can you repair it?"

"I don't think so. Shit, what do we- shit!"

Tiir did not need to glance at the man to know what his final forceful exclamation was about, and he didn't need to be sparing the rest of his enemies any particular attention to be certain they shared his sentiment, even though they kept silent. They all were transfixed as Tiir did what he had been waiting to do and devoured the man who had been lying passed out at his feet.

As he finished, feeling much better than expected after the meager meal, it occurred to Tiir that his enemies' magic might have weakened significantly over time. As they had said themselves, they weren't soldiers, and the spell they were using against him wasn't exactly a standard one, considering he'd never even heard of it. And then there was the fact that they were only humans. It wouldn't be surprising if they were tired already.

It only took him minutes to kill and consume half of them, causing the remaining ones to finally abandon their spell-casting and try something else. Their new tactics ranged from attempting to hide behind a bookshelf to running frantically towards the door frame their colleagues had disappeared through minutes earlier.

Two out of four attempted the latter. Tiir grabbed one of them by the shoulder, ready to snap his neck, but stopped.

Just past the doorless threshold to the room were the humans who'd stepped out to investigate. One of the women hung back behind the other, looking at Tiir and the blood on the floor with an expression that almost suggested disinterest. The other was holding a dagger to Ecylan's throat.

"If you even twitch, I'm going to kill your friend before you can get to me," the human with the dagger said. This one looked more anxious, and angry, than her companion.

Tiir didn't move.

This was bad. Their enemies knew he would kill them all the moment he was able to, so they had nothing to lose.

His hand still on the shoulder of the human he'd stopped from running, he fixed his gaze on Ecylan. Without a doubt the man was aware of the gravity of the situation. He kept himself very still, and even with the considerable distance between them Tiir couldn't have missed the fear in his expression. Ironically, it was probably the first time Tiir had ever seen the prince truly afraid for his life – for longer than a second or two, anyway.

Possibly even more obvious than Ecylan's fear, though, was his frustration – with himself for having gotten caught, or for not being able to escape now that he had been.

Tiir was glad the man wasn't frozen in terror, though he wasn't sure that'd help their situation any.

"Let him go," he said, voice low.

"So you can go back to slaughtering us?" the woman holding Ecylan hostage returned without missing a beat, though there was a tremor in the words. "Hardly."

"If you don't release him, I'll do more than slaughter you."

The human flinched, but made no move to lower her dagger. "If you don't want your friend to die, you'll leave."

Tiir laughed. "Do you think I'm a fool? All you're doing is put off the inevitable. Just die quietly."

"Remind me to make fun of your diplomatic skills later," Ecylan said, a hint of amusement in his his otherwise strained voice.

"Shut up," the woman with the dagger said, applying additional pressure to the weapon. Ecylan hissed as a thin trail of blood tickled down his throat.

Tiir was surprised at the extent of the fury the sight sparked within him. His grip tightened on the shoulder of the human he'd been about to devour, causing the man to jerk and emit a pained noise. "I'm done negotiating with livestock," Tiir said. "If you don't want me to rip this one apart inch by inch and then do the same to you, you'll let him go."

"You're not even denying we're all going to die the moment I comply. Do you really think I'm going to sign my own death warrant?"

Pushing down his anger, Tiir managed a smirk. "All right, then: let him go and you can all just walk walk away." He didn't even try to be convincing, since no human with half their wits about them would ever have believed him.

"Do you think you're funny? You filthy abominations shouldn't exist in the first place. If I'm going to die, I'm at least going to take one of you with me. Leave now or I'll cut this one's throat."

As Tiir had half-suspected, the human was mistaking Ecylan for another bearer of the Divine Eyes. It was an odd idea, but the only one that from a human's standpoint would make sense. After all, what would possess one of theirs to work together with a monster killing his kind?

Tiir was almost amused picturing their enemies' reaction to learning the truth, but the flicker of humor faded quickly as his thoughts raced, attempting to figure out how to prevent this from ending with Ecylan bleeding out on the floor.

Clearing up the misconception would not get them anywhere, as the humans would never believe them, and even if they did, it wasn't as if they had compunctions about killing their own kind even under normal circumstances. Ecylan, too, seemed to be aware of this, as he didn't make an attempt to correct the woman himself.

Part of Tiir felt gratified by the prince's silence. As strategically useless as it would have been, it would have been easy, natural, for Ecylan to speak up. What human would want to be associated with Tiir's kind? Probably it would offend most of them more than being dismissed by Tiir as no better than cattle.

Was telling the truth strategically useless, though? Tiir paused. Perhaps it would be a way to stall, long enough for Tiir to regain some more of his power now that he could feed again from the air around him. With a bit of luck, he would manage to rip off the enemy's arm before she even had the time to blink, and once Ecylan was safe-

The expression on the woman's face shifted, and Tiir leaped forward, already knowing that he wouldn't make it in time to prevent the dagger slicing into Ecylan's flesh. The minuscule chance he'd had to find a way out of this vanished the moment he let his enemy make the first move. Blank terror seized him, and couldn't tell how much of it was because of what the prince's death would mean for Ren and Karda and what part of it was because he did not want Ecylan to die.

The woman about to slit Ecylan's throat jerked, dagger falling out of her hand. It clattered at her feet. Her face showed surprise and dawning horror, then she fell forward on the ground as Ecylan dodged out of the way.

For a moment, no one moved or made a sound.

Surprisingly, it was the human who until just an instant ago had been in Tiir's grasp who was the one to break the silence. "Why?"

The human who'd literally stabbed her colleague in the back looked down at the corpse thoughtfully, seemingly indifferent to her surroundings. Finally, she glanced up. "It was never you I worked for."

The man her reply had been directed at simply stared at her.

The woman retrieved her own dagger from the corpse and looked at Tiir. She was small, with dark hair that was tied back in a braid, and while she wasn't wearing a cloak, there was no doubt as to her identity.

The Salean spy turned away from Tiir and swept her gaze over Ecylan. "Are you uninjured aside from the shallow cut and scrapes?"

"Yes," Ecylan said after a moment, managing to not sound as overwhelmed as he'd looked until she'd addressed him.

The spy nodded. "What are your intentions?"

Ecylan hesitated for only an instant. "To kill them. And to s- secure the Magic Eye bearers."

Another nod, this one just a little slower. Then the woman tilted her head slightly in the direction of the very few of the humans actually working for Stohl that were still alive and largely unharmed, if petrified. "Should I kill them?"

"I- you've worked with them, haven't you?"

The spy shrugged. "It doesn't matter. I knew from the start I might be ordered to take their lives."

"Well," Ecylan said after a moment. "It's not like I have any objections... but it's not necessary. I..." He looked at Tiir. "I don't think Tiir would mind."

Now that was an understatement.

The woman followed Ecylan's gaze, but only briefly, then she returned her attention to the prince. She inclined her head. "I thank you for your concern." She strode past Ecylan and Tiir, towards the man Tiir had wanted to make a meal of.

"Vien-" the man said, eyes wide.

The woman he'd mistaken for an ally stabbed him in the heart before he could think to run, let alone defend himself.

When their remaining enemies exchanged looks and then collectively scrambled towards the still intact door on the other end of the room, Tiir decided to take the opportunity to break each of their necks – to speed things up, and because he had been looking forward to killing them. However, he forwent consuming them.

He walked back to Ecylan and the Guild woman with none of the speed with which he'd gone after the two humans he'd just killed. Before he'd entirely finished making his way back, Ecylan threw a spell at him. The feeling of power flowing into him was so stark a contrast to what it had been like to be caught in the magicians' trap that he couldn't help but halt his steps for a moment. The last of his wounds healed, but in comparison, he barely noticed; he was accustomed to physical injuries, but not to being cut off from his most elementary source of nourishment.

When he arrived at the prince's side, the man said, "Are you all right?"

Tiir could not help staring at him in disbelief. "Am I all right?"

Ecylan's lips curved, and while he appeared self-conscious, it was clear he disagreed with the notion that his concern couldn't have been more misplaced. "Well, I'm pretty sure you were in some trouble there too, and I don't just mean after I got caught."

The man winced a little at his own words towards the end of the sentence and paused, his smile vanishing for an instant; when it returned, it had become wry. "It's why I thought it might be good to try for a distraction, but I didn't think I'd do much good just charging in. So I, well. Just cast a random flashy spell from as far away as I could while still being sure it'd have the desired effect. I didn't know what was going on, but I hoped just them not paying attention for a moment would be enough for you to turn things around. If I'd known I'd get caught anyway, I would have gone for a more direct approach."

"A more direct approach?" Tiir repeated. "What you should have done is stayed away."

Another wince. "Sorry. I didn't mean to make things worse."

"You almost got killed."

Ecylan appeared startled by the vehemency in Tiir's voice. As Tiir was a little taken aback by it himself, he couldn't blame him.

"I... I'm sorry. I didn't mean to put you in that position."

"The position where I would have had to watch you bleed to death or the position where the same or something worse would almost certainly have been done to Karda and Ren?"

Ecylan stared at him, then repeated, more softly, "I'm sorry."

"Next time just leave me," Tiir said, unwilling to reveal to the man that his diversion might in fact have saved his life, as it might give him ideas. After all, humans always jumped at a chance to overestimate themselves.

"Tiir, I couldn't-"

"Ecylan, this isn't just about your life." Though even if that had been the case, Tiir thought it would have been bad enough. "Next time either leave me or make sure you're not there to begin with."

At being reminded again of the fact that Ren and Karda's lives had been hanging in the balance along with his own, the prince looked chagrined. Finally he said, "All right." He swallowed, and repeated, "All right, I will." His tone was subdued and Tiir didn't doubt he meant the words, but he wasn't sure he trusted him to stop and remember them if they found themselves in a similar situation again in the future.

Tiir had almost forgotten the Guild woman's presence until she walked past them. Only then did it occur to him that this might not have been the best time to have this conversation. He shifted uneasily, fists clenching, but it was too late to do anything about it. If she'd been of less importance, he would probably have killed her to make sure they wouldn't have to deal with any repercussions, provided Ecylan was willing to report to her organization that she'd been killed during battle; but given the value those in charge clearly placed on her, most likely they would investigate or simply not care about their explanation to begin with, and so Tiir didn't have any doubts getting rid of her would be by far the more damning course of action.

The spy stopped and looked over her shoulder. "Will you follow me?" She glanced at Tiir once, but the majority of her attention was focused on Ecylan.

"Yes, of course," the prince said and after a beat started walking. Tiir kept himself half a step behind him, though it took him a great deal of self-control.

From the spy's behavior, it seemed very likely the bearers of the Divine Eyes held prisoner in this place were still alive and not in danger of dying any moment; but that didn't necessarily make getting to them less urgent, and besides, Tiir did not trust this woman one bit. If it was up to him, he would simply rush past her and search for his comrades on his own.

Unfortunately, it wasn't up to him, and so he curled his fingers into his palms and silently followed after the humans.

"You have the Bard's permission to be here?" the spy said without turning her head or slowing her pace. From her tone, she could have been asking Ecylan about whether he'd enjoyed his breakfast this morning.

"Her representative's," Ecylan returned without missing a beat as they followed her down a steep set of stairs. "We only recently heard about this place and it wasn't possible to get a hold of the Bard herself so quickly."

The woman didn't reply to this, just kept walking, so it was impossible to tell what she thought of this explanation. Not that Tiir particularly cared.

The corridor awaiting them at the end of the stairs looked more inviting than the one at the entrance, with smooth dark wooden walls and a floor made of ornate stone in a lighter color. This part of the building appeared like an ordinary living space, which knowing what kind of facility it really was made it feel eerie. They passed several doors, but not a single living soul.

"Is there no one working here left?" Ecylan asked at last.

"Some of the head researchers are hiding in a barricaded room," the spy said. "They'll still be there when we're done. A few people are watching the cells, they probably don't know what's happened. Everyone else is dead."

"I see," Ecylan said after a moment. "How long have you been here? Working here, I mean."

The woman glanced over her shoulder, but didn't reply.

"Ah, I'm sorry, I just wondered..."

"A while," the spy said, uninformatively. She stopped in front of another set of stairs. "Down these are the cells. Should I deal with the remaining hostiles, or will you?"

She turned to Tiir.

Tiir stared back at her, not having expected the human to ask him this.

Then he shook himself. This was not the time to be surprised. It was also not the time to guess at the woman's motives, or attempt to play her games. "I will," he said simply.

The spy showed no signs of being dissatisfied with his choice or the decisiveness of his reply. Without another word, she handed him a key, which he took cautiously – then she simply stepped aside, literally getting out of his way.

It was all the permission Tiir needed – he hurried to find his comrades, barely sparing the woman and Ecylan another thought.

.

.

Author's Note: I will have you know that fighting scenes will be the death of me. Fighting scenes, and the DYD magic rules. But! I had way too much fun writing Tiir eating people and people freaking out about it. (Cleydres is very sad he missed it I'm sure.)

And look, Ecy wasn't totally useless! Only three quarters useless. (Sorry, Ecy.)

The next chapter will probably take a while because only a very small part of it is written so far (omg we've reached that point), though on the bright side with other things I feel I've gotten quicker at writing and editing recently... now if only that will translate to this fic. We'll see!

Chapter title this time comes from "The Animal" by Disturbed. This time the song was almost ridiculously easy to pick. Deciding on the lyrics was a little harder, but just a little (the alternative title was "The Hunt". I decided despite everything it didn't match the ultimate focus of the chapter though. ...And one day I will stop over-thinking chapter titles.).

Next time we'll see: more people getting killed, Tiir getting kids out of cells, and the results of shitty humans being shitty! Fun, fun.

Till then!