Between the white noise of his patron and the emotions that bleed into him from her influence, it’s a dissociative kind of feeling to process all that’s just happened in the past few moments, and harder still to separate it from his own stirring thoughts. Her murmuring is disjointed. Her fretful words are clearly audible to him: angry, anxious banter of abnormality and infernal bane which has no right to tamper with her web.

Do not do that again.

Caedes remains quiet, acting as a support while the fellblood regains his wits about him; he wants to ask if he’s alright, but the words just sit on his tongue in lieu of her presence.

What happened?

The acidic taste still lingers in the back of his throat; his question is met with silence; but the shadows at the corners of his peripheral tell him that she’s still present through the connection which binds him to her. Her hesitation sits heavy in his chest while he watches and waits for the vial to finish its job.

I do not know.

The shadows bleeding into his vision start to fade, inducing both a silent panic and a cold sense of dread following her exit. His throat tightens.

She doesn’t know?

… She doesn’t know.

Caedes’ clouded gaze clears when Zarius’ hold on his arm lessons, followed by a pat on the shoulder. He meets Zarius’ gaze briefly, before raising a hand to his mouth; he clears his throat and turns his head away, but the acidic burn still lingers there. He has a thousand different answers, but ultimately, this isn’t the time or place to cover any one of them. He wipes his mouth with the back of a hand, glancing at a smudge of crimson with unease. “I’m fine,” he answers, offering Zarius a lopsided smile as reassurance.

Physically, he is better than previously: most noticeably, the lash-induced cut on his shoulder has closed, leaving behind little evidence that it had ever really been there. He feels less exhausted, but not fully; sleep could help, but he’ll likely need to supplement it for another feeding when they return to Darkveil… but either way, he’s well enough to hold his own should a fight break out.

“I’m sorry to put you in that position, but thank you. I know it’s inconvenient.”

He looks back to Zarius, exhaling slowly while he scans the fellblood— noting that the wound has, in fact, disappeared. “But hey, that potion sure worked quickly." He remarks, but it’s just small talk; and gods, he hopes the awkward unease doesn’t bleed through his expression or body language, but… fuck, what does he say about this?

There’s no subtlety about it, but…

Caedes tosses a precautionary glance over his shoulder at their hostage to determine whether or not he could even speak of it, and ignores the cold dread that settles in his stomach; he had worried before when Zarius admitted that something might be wrong; but for her to get involved?

That’s something else; and dread doesn’t quite encapsulate the feeling that lingers.

Zarius is a bit skeptical of Caedes' answer, but after assessing if the changeling's wound is still there and finding it gone, he's lets the topic drop. His first concern was Caedes' condition, and from what he could tell without intruding on Caedes' personal space again, the blood he took had worked.

"Good," he gives an affirmative nod with a note of finality in his voice. What was done was done. They could move on.

Wiping his hand on the torn shred of Caedes' uniform, he sits back down in the chair. He can't help but rub his neck a bit. If there was any physical damage from the bite, he couldn't feel it. That was probably a good thing. It would be annoying if anyone back home noticed and asked unnecessary questions he did not want to have to answer. 

"Stop apologizing," he sighs exasperated. "It is no more inconvenient than anyone else's need to eat or sleep." His eyes meet the changeling's with a stern expression. "You are not a burden."

He sits back and fiddles with the vial between his fingers before he tucks the vial back into his jacket. "Yeah, seems so. I am relived that it our gamble paid off. It would have been complicated if it had not."

As Caedes' gaze drifts over to their captive, Zarius glances that way as well. The teenaged elf was still unconscious and breathing steadily. That was good. Given that there still was no noise from outside they could guess that the drake was still sleeping as well. 

Charlotte was still keeping a close eye on the rider, maybe a bit too much as she seems to have not noticed anything that had just transpired. That was probably for the best in the long run. There was no evidence that anything had even happened, if they wanted to pretend like everything was fine, they could. Couldn't they?

There's still an awkward tension between them, and if Zarius was being honest with himself, this had worsened it. Everything was not fine. Something had happened. And for the life of him, he could not shake that feeling of dread from that came with that other voice. That clear, poignant voice that was so different from the incoherent whispers that have plagued his mind for months. 

"While we have the chance, we should rest as much as we can." He folds his arms and looks back at the changeling. "I am sure Miss Charlotte will wake us if anything changes."

He curls his tail beneath the seat of the chair and crosses his legs at the ankles as he slumps down a bit to get about as comfortable as someone could sitting on a creaky wooden chair. Though his gaze drops to the floor, he does not close his eyes just yet. He keeps the tips of Caedes' shoes just in his line of sight and waits to see what the changeling does next. 

“Mm,” Caedes chuckles at the fellblood’s exasperation; but after what’s happened, he doesn’t have the energy or mindset to argue with him. Zarius’ tune might be different had everything not gone according to plan; or had the potion not worked as well as it had. Under normal circumstances, the fellblood would’ve probably been dazed and further exhausted, if not at risk for actually losing consciousness like he nearly had.

And then what?

He offers Zarius a lopsided smile in contrast to the stern expression the fellblood gives him “No? I must not be trying hard enough to be a pain in your neck if you still think that.” He jests, opening his arms in a dynamic gesture as he backs out of Zarius’ personal space. “Luckily, we don’t have to think about those consequences.”

He crosses his arms.

Actually, there’s an entirely different set of consequences to consider; maybe not for Zarius; but for him, who apparently cannot keep his god damned nose out of the fellblood’s business.

It bothers him.

Zarius has already told him what he wants to about whatever it is he’s dealing with; but with a fiend’s interjections… What does he even do with the knowledge he has?

“She’s certainly got all eight eyes on her; right, Char?” Caedes calls back to the spider, who looks up after a moment of pause.

How much leeway is Zarius actually going to give him if he keeps pushing?

“_Huh?”

The changeling breathes a puff of bemusement at Charlotte’s expense, waving her back to her duty as Zarius leans back in his chair. Caedes simply nods his agreement; but the moment the fellblood’s gaze leaves him, his demeanor changes slightly; his shoulders fall, his expression darkens, and his usual lopsided grin vanishes.

Why does he have to care so much?

His father lived by two rules; and he’s already screwed both up tremendously.

For a moment, he doesn’t move; the changeling lingers for a heartbeat longer, offering Zarius a last, thoughtful glance before turning and circling the table to where he’d been sitting before. The wood creaks under his boots as he walks away, and his chair across the way scratches the floor with its legs while he spins it around so that the back of it faces their captive.

Caedes takes a seat, straddling the back of the chair and crossing his arms across the top rail; he hooks one of his heels against the supporting spindle, and rests his head against his crossed arms. After a moment of staring into a knot in the wooden floor, he closes his eyes, and allows the heavy silence to fill what’s left of their conversation.

Zarius closes his eyes as Caedes moves. The sound of his footfalls and the creaking of wood are uncomfortably loud in the old farmhouse. But even those sounds eventually die down and the pair are left in relative stillness aside from the occasional breath of wind that creeps its way through the drafty building. 

Eventually, the fellblood does drift off to sleep, his head drooping forward as his breathing slows and deepens.

Getting a restful sleep in this situation was not likely to happen. But amount of sleep would hopefully at least help the pair recover a little before they made their way back to Darkveil where they could get proper sleep. 

Though getting restful sleep at home was starting to get harder these days as well.

It's that dream again. The persistent, repeating, strange dream. It used to be less frequent, but in the past few months it has occurred more often than not. 

It starts in the inky black darkness with silence. That silence slowly turns into the breathy echoes of those layered whispers and the darkness is pushed away by the increasing glimmering glow of a blue flame. Though it is just a dream, it feels like there is heat coming off that flame. A relentless, all consuming heat. It's sweltering, and accompanied by the acrid smell and taste of smoke and ash. 

Usually, that would be the extent of the dream. But this time is different. This time, it is not just one flame, but two, then three, then more, dozens and dozens more. The whispers turn into roars of pain, frustration, anger, fear, desperation, excitement, and so many emotions from every single source of burning blue light. 

It's overwhelming. It fills the air like a thick black smoke and chokes the breath from his lungs.

The fellblood twitches in his sleep and his body starts to tense up in anticipation of needing to move, needing to do something, anything. 

A loud clattering noise startles the fellblood awake. He gets to his feet so fast that he knocks his chair over and he looks around in a slight panic with a cold sweat rolling off his skin. 

"Shit."

He looks across the room and sees that the dark elf has effectively tipped over her own chair and is now lying on her side on the floor. A failed escape attempt while the pair rested. His expression goes from startled to unimpressed in an instant. 

"Good morning." 

The sun isn't even up yet, but the contempt in his voice suggests he does not care about the inaccuracy of his statement.

"Shut up," she retorts as she struggles and ultimately fails to free herself. 

Zarius walks over and grabs the back of her chair and sets it back upright, checking the knots as he does just to be on the safe side. If Caedes ever retired from being an assassin, he had a solid future as a deckhand with his expert knot tying. 

The dark elf huffs, obviously irritated and anxious from the situation she's awoken to. Her face scrunches into a bit of disgust. 

"Ew, why are your hands sweaty?"

Zarius rolls his eyes and dries his hands on the hem of his coat and wipes the moisture from his brow as well. "You try wearing this many layers."

"No thanks. What the fuck do and your creepy ass girlfriend want anyway?" She looks around for Mei, but when she doesn't see the woman she raises an eyebrow. "Wait, where'd she go? Did she dump your ass?"

"Gods, you are making a lot of presumptions."

"What else am I supposed to do?? You kidnapped me!"

"That is not what this is."

"Oh, fuck off, you tied me to a fucking chair!"

"Okay! Alright! Calm. Down." Zarius looks over at Caedes with an exasperated expression that can only be interpreted as 'teenagers are the worst'.

He does not sleep; but he does close his eyes.

The sunset gradually disappears over the horizon; gradients of crimson and rust bleed away into navy galaxies, with specks and stars that glitter from afar. Now and then, Caedes opens his eyes to look past Zarius’ sleeping silhouette, through one of the shattered windows. Wind breathes through the opening; outside rustles silver-strewn blades of grass outside lit beneath a crescent moon in a sky that he so rarely sees in its entirety.

He considers going out if only to look at the sky; but the presence of the sleeping drake stays him from the idea. It’s the only time he can really stand beneath it nowadays, unburdened by the sun, to see the full expanse of what he had so often taken for granted when he was alive.

In the heavy silence of the farmhouse, under the cover of the shadows, he’s able to better compartmentalize what’s happened. Zarius’ condition— the Shadow Weaver’s interjection— and the uncertainty of all which comes with the implications that follows.

Despite wrestling with a maelstrom of feelings in regards to it, he deigns to try and speak with Zarius about it whenever they return to Darkveil; it sits heavy on his conscience until he hears a tiny pitter-patter heading towards him. He opens his eyes from where he’s been resting and lifts his head to see the dust on the floor shifting slightly with the approach of something invisible.

“_{She woke up.}” A tiny voice whispers; as if to accent Charlotte’s warning, there’s a sudden crash from where the dark elf had been left. The changeling’s shoulders jump, but he ultimately exhales a breath of a laugh after the sound of Zarius’ chair being knocked over joins the cacophony. He raises his brows, remaining where he is while Zarius speaks to the dark elf and moves to her; and she puffs back at him, as irritable as ever.

Good timing; he needs a reprieve from his spinning thoughts.

He moves to stand after Charlotte has crawled up onto one of his legs and heads over to join Zarius and their hostage. As he passes through the shadows, Mei steps out into the moonlight in his place. ^{(1. - Alter Self, 1.1 - Beads of They, 1.2 - Sound Throwing)}

“You called?” A weight pushes down on the dark elf’s shoulders from behind as if she’s being greeted by a close friend. Unfortunately, that is not the case; and the changeling seems to be up for causing a bit of mischief. Mei’s voice is jaunty and bemused as she steps around the chair; tracing the top rail before pulling away. She spins around to face the dark elf; but by the time the woman has done so, her appearance has seemingly changed again. Caedes stands next to Zarius, shoulders raising slightly when he shrugs, “Good morning,” he greets, repeating Zarius' incorrect sentiments while he offers a shrug to her.

“Look kid, relax. It was either you deal with us, or you deal with the red riders.” He crosses his arms, offering Zarius a glance, before looking back at her. “All things considered, you ended up with the lesser of those two evils.”

The rider tenses under Mei's touch. Out of the two, she had more beef and more reason to be wary of the pale woman given their interactions thus far. 

But as Mei turns around and reveals themselves as someone else, she narrows her eyes then scoffs. "Wouldn't have had to deal with either of you creeps if you hadn't pulled that shit during the race."

"Apologies," Zarius starts. "It was nothing personal. It was just a job. Albeit one clearly more complicated than what was communicated to us prior."

The rider rotates her wrists in their bonds out of frustration. She glares at the pair accusingly. "Where is Indra? What did you do to her?"

"Outside," the fellblood answers simply, keeping calm despite the anger directed their way. "We have not harmed her."

She doesn't seem convinced, but she can't tell if it's a lie or not either. Having no power in this situation, she relents and drops her gaze to the dusty floor. 

"Let me go."

Zarius exchanges a look with Caedes. "Do you remember what you told us earlier?"

The rider looks off to the side, refusing to make eye contact and staying silent. 

"We cannot help you if you do not talk to us."

She lets out a huff. "Why the fuck would you want to help me after fucking everything up."

"That question answers itself." Zarius leans back a bit, balancing on his tail and tucking his hands into the pockets of his jacket. "We are not unreasonable. We got what needed, admittedly at your expense. Now that we are at no risk of being interrupted, we can talk about what you need."

"Own up to it then. Go turn yourselves in."

"No."

She rolls her eyes and there's a bitterness in her tone. "That's what I thought. You don't fucking care."

"Explain why we have not just killed you then."

That shuts her up. She can't answer that question. Hell, no one in this room could probably answer that question. It would have been easy and lot less hassle if they had just killed her and the drake while they were unable to defend themselves.

Zarius isn't unaware of the logic in that, but there's still a chance they can salvage something out of this unfortunate turn of events. If not, well, murder was never fully taken off the table. He shifts his weight a bit from one leg to the other. 

"Knowing the Red Riders, even if we did as you asked, that would not be enough, would it?"

She bites her lip. Ah, so his speculation was correct. Now they had some leverage to work with. 

"Put that line of thinking out of your mind. It is not going to happen."

"Asshole," she mutters.

"You told us that you have nowhere else to go if the Red Riders have it out for you. So, my offer is simple. You can go with us and you will provided with room, board, and a wage in exchange for helping with our work. You will be far away from the Red Riders and your drake will be cared for."

She frowns and seems to take a moment to think about what was just said. Looking at the pair again, the mistrust and suspicion clear on her face. There might even be a hint of uncertainty or fear glinting in her eyes. 

"Who the fuck are you guys anyway?"

"I need your answer before introductions."

"Why? That's stupid. I can't agree to any deal with people I don't even know the names of."

"Knowing our names changes nothing for your current situation," he insists.

"You're fucking annoying."

"I am fucking waiting."

She huffs again. After a moment of internal debate, she slumps down a bit in the chair. "Fine. What choice do I even have?"

That is satisfying enough for the fellblood with his waning patience. There's only so much childish attitude he's willing to put up with in a day. Ironic given his chosen company some days. He looks at Caedes to go ahead and properly introduce himself. 

Caedes chuckles, crossing his arms and one ankle behind the other, tip of his boot against the old wooden flooring; he displaces his weight on a tilted hip while Zarius speaks with the young woman. He doesn’t attempt to interject; Zarius is far more skilled at speaking than he is on multiple accounts; and despite the infinite mischievous commentary he could slip in at any point, he does not.

He remains instead a lingering ghost while the two banter back and forth in negotiation of what happens next; only allowing his voice to break the silence that comes after the dark elf’s eventual agreement. “Oh, you have choices; but no one said the other choices would be better.” The changeling offers her a lopsided grin as he pulls an old, bejeweled knife from his belt beneath Zarius’ cloak— which he’s still not given back.

“Your other choices are a lot less forgiving than the one that you’ve chosen, though; so hey, congratulations on a good idea. Caedes; the lovely lady you met earlier was Mei. That’s all you really need to know about me right now.” He flips the hilt of the knife within his palm and gestures at his shoulder with the other hand; where Charlotte drops her invisibility. “But, this is Charlotte.”

Charlotte clicks her mandibles at the dark elf from where she’s perched and folds her legs to make herself a little smaller; honestly, Caedes isn’t actually sure if she noticed Charlotte watching her; or if the spider took a stealthier approach after they’d fallen asleep.

He steps forwards to circle around the dark elf’s chair.

The sight of him breezing around her freely with a knife may be a bit ominous; but as he passes by her shoulder, he offers Zarius a quizzical look and nods towards her tied ropes as a gesture of question.

“I’d say it’s nice to meet you, but I’m sure you've got different thoughts on that.”

He leaves the floor open for Zarius; but given the right gesture or permission, he would move to cut the binds holding the young woman to the chair at his direction.

The dark elf shrinks down a bit more at the sight of Caedes’ blade. Her confidence and attitude clearly shifts into anxiety and fear at the changeling’s intentions. She says nothing as the assassin circles around her and she withdraws even more when she loses sight of him, clearly anticipating the worst.

Zarius gives Caedes a nod but also keeps a very close eye on the dark elf. There was a chance that she would make a break for her drake the moment she’s free. He wouldn’t put it past her at all given the situation, but if she did try to run they would have to stop her.

Once the ropes are cut, she slowly pulls her hands in front of her, wincing at the stiffness in them from being bound for the past few hours. She rubs her wrists and eyes the two men again.

The fellblood watches her body language for a moment. “Not going to run?”

Her face goes back to being combative and obstinate. “What kind of question is that? You jerks can fuck with people’s minds, turn into other people, and gods know what else. I’m not an idiot. Why? Do you want me to run? Do you get some kind of sick kick out of the chase or something?”

Zarius rolls his eyes. “Alright, I get it.”

She rests her hands on her knees and stares him down.

He narrows his eyes at her in response. “What?”

“Don’t think I haven’t noticed that you still haven’t made good on giving your name. Just cause your buddy gave two names doesn’t mean you don’t have to give yours.”

This kid sure has some nerve to be so demanding.

“My name is Zarius,” he replies. “And yours?”

There's a moment of hesitation from the young dark elf. She seems to consider if she should lie or not which is pretty obvious to the pair of expert level liars in her presence. 

“It’s Shael,” she answers curtly. 

Zarius tilts his head to the side. “No last name?”

“Didn’t hear either of you give one,” she snaps a bit. 

“Fine," he shrugs. "It is a start.”

Shael glances towards the door then back at the fellblood. “If my drake is hurt, our deal is off and I’m leaving your asses stranded out here.”

Her threat genuinely surprises the fellblood. Had she put together that she was just being spared because of the threat the drake posed to them? If that's true, there was a bit of a risk that she would turn the creature on them as soon as she got close to it. On the other hand, the drake was clearly very important to her, perhaps even more so than her own life, so denying her access to her drake would likely go poorly for fostering any semblance of good will between them. 

Options were limited. He nods slowly. “Fair enough.”

Course if she did try to leave them, they would just take both her and her drake down. Hopefully they would not have to resort to such extreme measures.

Shael cautiously gets up from the chair and steps to the side of the chair. She was clearly trying to avoid being stuck between Zarius and Caedes, though that was easier said than done as either of them could easily reposition themselves to flank her while it’s dark.

Zarius holds his position and just watches her as she moves to the door. He gives a subtle nod to Caedes to keep close on her heels just to be safe.

“Relax,” Caedes chuckles as he disappears behind her; intimidating the young elf is a part of the plan to some degree. Not openly, of course; he’s not doing the speaking; and technically, he’s not even real muscle; but it never hurts to remind someone what they’ve gotten themselves into. Once Zarius gives him a nod of permission, he swoops down and pushes the blade between the empty space between her hands, and cut through the binds.

His eyes never leave her as he does so; and the elf’s moves are slow enough as she tries to adjust, for him to gauge that she’s (probably) not going to try anything quick on them. Still, he watches her from his peripheral vision as he walks back around her chair to join Zarius. He crosses his arms, keeping his knife in full view of the young woman while she and Zarius engage in another back and forth.

Shael.

It’s unfamiliar; he can’t pin her to being connected to anything in Darkveil or anything outside of it based on what knowledge he has of the Red Riders and other shadier groups. She’s most likely just a nobody roped into blackmail and subterfuge against her will, which is exactly what happens in their line of business. They make for easy targets; and her affection for the drake and willingness to protect it makes her an easier target. As far as he can tell, that’s exactly what had happened here.

“Your drake is fine,” Caedes remarks in return; but for someone in her position, she is ballsy. In all frankness, her drake has never ceased being a threat while they’re stuck in this little shack.

Should she be agreeing only so that she can get to her drake, that’s going to be a problem.

Caedes glances to Zarius briefly; and at his nod, he turns and heads after Shael while she tries to make her way to the door. Catching up to her is easy enough, but he leaves just enough room between them to ensure he has sufficient room to react, should Shael decide to make a quick move on him; and should she or her drake attempt to fight back, the clear night outside puts Caedes at a stronger advantage than their engagement earlier today.

“So, you have a name,” he remarks, trying to keep her talking enough to distract her at the least; the assassin all but disappears as he steps after Shael; nearly blending into the shadows as he moves out of the moonlight, and into the dark cast by the old walls. “Your drake have a name?” He reappears as they step through the threshhold out into the King's Valley's plains; up above, the crescent moon sits high in the sky.

Silver clouds glisten across the free expanse of the night, blocking portions of twinkling stars in an otherwise clear, marine sky.

Just as the young elf reaches the door, Caedes catches up and speaks. 

"Shit! Do you know what personal space is!?" She startles and shoots the man a sour look over her shoulder only to find him barely visible in the dark. "Gods, you two are total creeps. Yes. I have a name. Shocking."

Shael steps through the doorway and tries to get at least a little distance away from Caedes if only for her own comfort. She breathes a sigh of relief at seeing her drake resting in the grass just at the foot of the stairs. 

The creaking of floorboards behind the elf and changeling alert them that Zarius is not too far behind them. 

Glancing over her shoulder again, she gives Caedes a scoff. "Of course she does. Your spider has a name, so why would my drake not have a name?"

Gods, Zarius thinks, teenagers are the worst. He can't help but muse that Iryla would probably get along REALLY well with Shael. Askr on the other hand, would probably pick up some bad habits seeing how impressionable the young man was. Best to keep them far apart from one another. 

Shael cautiously approaches her drake, more worried about Caedes at her back than the slumbering drake. She kneels down near the creature's head and starts running her hand across its plated scales. 

The silver storm drake shifts a bit in its sleep, moving its head slightly over to nuzzle against her side. 

"Easy, girl. We're alright," she coos quietly, turning her face away from Caedes and Zarius at the door to hide her face from them. 

Zarius leans against the frame of the door and folds his arms, just watching but fully ready to spring into action if needed.

"Once your drake has recovered, we should head out and make as much distance as we can while the moon is up."

"Her name is Indra, and good fucking luck getting her up before she is good and ready. Asshat."

Zarius silently fumes, very much already regretting giving this kid the mercy and grace they have. 

“Oooh… sorry, I’m not very well versed in the space domain…” He jests back, chuckling at her expense as he vanishes within the shadows only to reappear again after they step through the doorway. Caedes allows her the luxury of getting a few steps ahead of him, purposefully slowing his steps so that the drake doesn’t consider him a threat should it awaken.

Granted, it would probably find him a threat regardless of how far away he was from Shael; especially given the massive beast probably knows his scent after their encounters from earlier.

The luxury of looking like a different person may not work quite as well on the big lug.

“Well, I introduced Charlotte to you,” he answers, lightly pressing his fingertips against his collarbone as if offended. “Least you could do is tell us the name of your drake; I mean, we’re practically family now.” He probably shouldn’t be poking and prodding at Shael given the fact she has a massive drake at her beck and call, but he can’t help his damn self sometimes.

He lingers in the shadow of the old house as precaution, but watches Shael as she interacts with the drake; it’s easy to tell that they have a strong bond— that the drake isn’t just a pet— in the same way he doesn’t view Charlotte as one.

“Watch it,” he warns when Shael snaps back at Zarius. He narrows his eyes, taking a pace outside of the darker expanse of the shadows. “We’re not rushing you; and we’re not rushing Indra; but keep in mind that the Red Riders are probably going to be looking for you, and actually… probably have been for the past few hours while you were out. So…” He crosses his arms, looking at the sleeping drake as it nuzzles up against Shael.

“… The sooner she’s ready to leave, the safer you and she are going to be from whatever they’ve got planned when they find you and her.”

Shael wipes her face on the sleeve of her shirt quickly before shooting Caedes a glare. 

"Oh, I'm sooooo sorry. You're clearly saints for rescuing me."

"Enough," Zarius interjects. "You both are going to drive me mad if you bicker like this the whole way back to Darkveil."

The dark elf gives him an unimpressed look before turning her attention back to her drake. "You say that like it's a bad thing. You deserve it as far as I'm concerned."

Normally, the fellblood is a pretty level headed and patient individual. But he's still tired after the events of the last twenty four hours and waking up the way he did put him in a foul mood. He wasn't above criticizing a kid who refuses to stop talking smack and disrespecting him. 

"Maybe your attitude is the reason you are in trouble with the Red Riders. Did you consider that?"

There's a surprising amount of silence that follows his question. He narrows his eyes a bit at the young elf, trying to gauge her reaction. 

Shael doesn't provide an answer, nor does she look up at them. Her face is turned away from them again but they can make out that her hand trembles a bit against the silver scales of the drake. 

Ah. He hit the nail on the head then.

Zarius takes a deep breath and recomposes himself. "My apologies. Your past is none of our business if you do not care to share it."

"There's nothing to share," she replies quietly. 

He very much doubts that, but this was neither the time nor the place to interrogate her. Whether she was aware of it or not, she had the upper hand with her drake back at her side. The only things working in Zarius and Caedes' favor now was the night and the fact that they could work together to take the creature down if need be. 

"Alright," he relents and looks at Caedes. "How are you feeling?"

“You are welcome, by the way.” Caedes shoots back at her; but he does comply, and stops heckling her after Zarius interjects. The changeling leans back partially into the shade, offering Zarius a glance from his peripheral vision and a passing, “Fine, but she started it.” with a snide chuckle; but truthfully, after all that’s happened tonight, his childish behavior is one of the few ways he feels he can cope with everything else that borders this moment.

When he allows himself too much silence, he allows himself too much room to think; and too much room to think always threatens to shatter the fragile walls he continues to bury his emotions behind. A lot has been dropped on him in a short timespan; much of which is hard to process; and harder to think about the future of, or the consequences at hand.

It's overwhelming, and he simply can't deal with it if he can justify distracting himself from it... just for a minute.

Long enough to feel, just a little, normal.

He glances towards the young woman when Zarius finally fires back at her; and her silence is… uncharacteristic. Trembling fingers against the scales of her drake tell them all they need to know; and rather than offering anything useful, he offers a hushed, “Ooooh, yikes.” into the universe while Zarius apologizes for his remark.

Caedes looks between him and Shael when he's addressed, before turning on a heel and pacing the few steps back to join Zarius. “Me? I’m fine.” He muses, lowering his voice out of earshot of Shael; the last thing she really needs to know is that neither of them may not actually be in the fittest of forms to fight. He crosses his arms as he leans his back against the outer frame of the door; he looks out to Shael, eyes narrowing in the silver light of the crescent moon. After a moment of watching her, he looks back to the fellblood.

“How are you feeling? Get any sleep?”

Zarius hesitates. He did get some rest, but the dream lingers in the back of his mind as well as memory of that chilling voice. 

"I am fine. Though wooden chairs are not the most comfortable."

Zarius also keeps an eye on Shael and the sleeping drake.

"Do you think I have made a mistake?" 

The question is asked absentmindedly. He didn't mean to ask it at all. It just came out and when he realizes he averts his gaze in case Caedes looks at him.

While he considers telling Caedes he does not need to answer that, it feels even more suspicious if he does. Perhaps the changeling would just ignore the question. Maybe he's so focused on the rider that he didn't hear it. Perhaps he wouldn't think too deeply about it. If he was lucky, Caedes would just assume that Zarius is only referring to the situation with Shael and not everything else. 

Self-doubt was not something Zarius was used to dealing with, but recently he has felt more and more of it creeping up on him. There were things going on even within himself he could not explain. He's done his best to manage it but-

What sort of misfortune has befallen you?

He shudders involuntarily.

It was no simple task to ignore that voice like he could the others. But he still didn't know what it meant. Misfortune? What did it mean by that? Did this voice know something the others didn't? How is he supposed to give it an answer?

The other voices have never spoken as if they were looking to have a conversation with him. He can only vaguely recall a few single words that were more like commands telling him to get up and fight after being knocked down, and even those instances were few and far between.

He's bothered, and it's starting to get harder to hide that fact from those who are familiar with him. 

Caedes chuckles in response to his passing comment of wooden chairs, “Fair enough.” He agrees; but his mood seems to take a slight dip when Zarius asks his following question:

“Do you think I have made a mistake?”

The question takes him by surprise.

He has not known Zarius as a particularly doubtful man, nor has he witnessed the fellblood on the verge of questioning his own decisions. For a moment, Caedes simply leans against the wall next to him in silence, watching the rider interact with the sleeping drake.

Sometimes it’s easy in their line of work to forget that everyone involved is, in some ways, a normal individual at the end of the day. Do they have unsavory habits and morally questionable careers? Sure, but they all still feel. He lowers his lashes, vividly recalling an encounter with Eameia that startled him in a similar way.

“Do you think you’ve made a mistake?” He counters, “She’s feisty; the girl will be a handful, but she and the drake will be useful assuming they’ve got enough mind to cooperate. I trust your judgement; but really, it’s just a matter of if she’s still feeling cooperative by the time her drake wakes up.” He looks back at Zarius, catching the fellblood’s shuddering in the pause that follows the question.

“…”

Though the night air holds a chill to it, something’s not right.

Something hasn’t been right, and it’s hard to pinpoint exactly what isn’t right given the awkwardness between them which still lingers. Caedes can’t be sure it has anything to do with the fellblood’s condition, or whether it’s something else that burdens him.

The changeling knows he’s a habit of taking a great deal onto his shoulders for his family; but the taste of ash still lingers on his tongue, and the thought that something darker is hanging over the fellblood has not left the forefront of his mind despite his attempts to push it aside until they can return; now's hardly the time for it.

He closes his eyes, moving his hands up to loosen the clasp of Zarius’ cloak around his neck. “Either way,” He sighs as he pulls the cloak off of his own shoulders; he steps over to Zarius and sweeps it around him with an air of wariness. “Most mistakes can be fixed; we live and learn, right?” He fixes the clasp and carefully adjusts the hood around the fellblood’s neck, cautious not to actually touch him given what happened earlier. “And even if they can’t, we just… accept that and adapt to whatever happens next; it's just how shit goes.”

In terms of mistakes, his fall in the latter category; but he doesn't bring it up.

When he's done, he takes a pace back to give the fellblood his space and offers him a single, reassuring pat on the shoulder. "Besides, the way she's going, you'll know if it's a mistake sooner rather than later; gods know if she's already got this much to say now, she'll have even more to say later."