Another scorching-hot day in the Wastes had finally ended. The group was now finishing up the tents and setting up their nightly watches, still slightly disturbed by the purple worm carcass they'd found while escaping from Wakenreth.

Kay was preparing for rest, still keeping an eye out for possible dangers. Though tonight it didn't look like much more than small animals were going to disturb them, they still remained weary. Sitting at the far edge of the camp their nerves were frazzled ever since leaving the elven tower. Danger could reach them from anywhere. Even their teammates.

Nimako was heating up some tea with a few of the wild berries she'd found days earlier. It wasn't exactly the best she ever had, but the sweet flavour helped a lot in raising her spirits, it reminded her of a simpler time before the war reacher her... a time she could not quite remember. But thinking of back then, however long it had been, gave her a sense of security, despite the lack of faces and names.

She was starting to get used to it.

Nevertheless! She was planning on sharing the wild berry tea with the others... but she would do it tomorrow. First drink, then go to sleep.

Mallori would join her soon.

The kender in question had just approached Erei. "I want to talk to Caradoc."

She could see that the two were having some kind of mental conversation, with Erei often saying words out loud instead of in their mind. But quickly enough, Mal saw Erei's posture change.

It was easy to notice: usually playful, it now gained a certain tenseness and rigidity; they held their head higher with a look of superiority, much more noble than Erei had ever tried to look. He crossed his arms. "So, did you think about my offer?"

She did, and today added the straw that broke the camel's back, so she accepted the offer. Perhaps the ghost could help her contact her dead friends and in exchange she would do...whatever he wanted.

It didn't matter what the cost was.

Mal almost lost track of the conversation. "—once I find a body of someone not part of the group, I'd have more freedom of movement. Just food for thought." At least they caught the end of that conversation.

Thinking about her companions, most of them good—great people, dutiful in and out of the monastery, broken apart and lifeless, it made her feel just a bit dead too. That darkness consuming her soul became every day something more real.

How were they supposed to get out of this?

...

Mallori's thoughts were interrupted by a shake of her shoulder—she immediately slipped her smile back on, assuming that Erei had exchanged back with Caradoc, and were now in control of their own body. She didn't want the young noble to meddle in her thoughts.

She didn't want anyone inside her mind, actually, especially when some nights she wished that she wasn't there either. "Yes?"

But her assumption stood corrected when she still saw that serious, vaguely judgemental expression still on Erei.The intonation was all Caradoc too, distinctly dated in his accent and wording. "I don't mean to presume," presuming was all he did, but he did not need her to know, "but you look quite exhausted."

"So? With the day we've had..."

"So I can see how you completely missed it, and I live to help, so." He tugged at her tunic, the outer layer very well ripped and torn. "That disgusting beast you fought ripped your clothes. I'll mend them for you."

Mal blinked. Why was he offering...?

The large eyeroll was, once again, very uncharacteristic on Lord Endryss' face.

Had she said it out loud? Was she so tired?

"I find that clothes last longer when they are well-cared for, and although the rags you are wearing could surely need a vast improvement, I struggle to believe that you wish for these to fall apart in the midst of combat." After a second, he added. "Consider it a show of good will, and an apology for the chaos if it matters to you."

Then she saw Caradoc make a very funny scrunched-up expression and just barely heard him whisper under his breath, "It's not, you romance-obsessed boy—"

It made her snort, typical Erei. "Sure. You can mend it for me." She smiled sweetly while handing him the fabric, and maybe part of it was real. Maybe. "I trust you with it." Then she left, only calling out 'goodnight Caradoc' as she did.

Caradoc huffed in annoyance, telling the excitable Ereicros in his mind to shut up, it wasn't cute. But to no avail.

He sighed, a little amused despite his complaints, and got permission from them to work throughout the night (even though he wouldn't have needed to). He didn't like to leave projects incomplete.

Luckily for him, it didn't take Erei a long time to fall into a slumber.