"You shouldn't be moving yet," Lance cautioned, seeing Doevm lean on his spear for support.

"Do you understand the issues you are about to face?" Doevm insisted, ignoring the mage's comment.

Lance sat on the edge of Doevm's bed and sighed. "I understand. You will not regret your decision."

"This is odd," Doevm said. "I have heard that line more times than I can remember. I think this is the first time I have believed it." He shut the curtains and paused. Lance's proposition replayed itself over and over again. 'If only I had met a mage like you sooner. If you were Head Mage instead of Glenin, I wonder what the academy would look like today.' He turned around to face the medical wing. Dozens of prying eyes watched his every move. 'Then again, if you tried to teach dark magic a year ago the War Monks would have killed you.'

"Do you need help?" an older student asked upon seeing Doevm limp across the medical wing. The student hurried over and offered him a shoulder to lean on.

"No thank you," Doevm replied. He pointed to the curtained off area next to the pile of demon corpses. "I just need to make sure my friend is ok."

"I understand," the student replied. "My name's Jonathan. Just let me know if you need anything." Jonathan shook Doevm's hand and hurried off.

'That was odd.' Doevm thought. He limped three more paces when another student approached him.

"Is there something I can help you with?" the student asked. "I regained a sliver of mana back if you need a spell or two from me."

"I'm fine." Doevm insisted.

"I am free if you need me. I owe you at least that much. I'm Nathan by the way." The student hurried off just like the last.

'Are they implying something?' Doevm thought. 'I'm not that much worse off than the others. Is this a form of hazing? The students didn't seem to be doing anything, at least on the surface.'

"Are you a necromancer?" another annoyance asked as Doevm passed by the foot of her bed. "Can you bring people back like normal people?"

Doevm shook his head: "You'd want an experienced holy element user for that. Even then there's consequences of defying death."

The girl sighed. "Oh. I wouldn't want to do that to my friend. Thank you."

Doevm nodded: "If you will excuse me."

"Hey Cerlius, do you remember me from your class? By the goddess what is that smell? Let's talk later."

Doevm furrowed his brows. "What sm-" The stench of the dead hit the former Lich like a brick wall. A cacophony of horrid smells invaded his nostrils and wrestled with the fresh air in his lungs, causing him to cough and gag. Glancing down he found a trail of blood leading from the pile of demons and to the curtains hiding Thomas from the world. Doevm blinked back tears and walked through the curtains.

Broken, bloody remains lay scattered about the claw-marked ground. Two bat-like wings rested over a back covered with scales and red fur. A pair of horns grew between misshapen bunny ears. The rabbit feet were anything but lucky.

Thomas sat with his head against a window - watching the sunrise as fog reclaimed the frozen swamp. He tucked his knees against his chest in an effort to make himself smaller.

"Thomas?" Doevm asked. He knew who it was but asked anyway. The mental connection between himself and the hideous creature was certain: that thing was Thomas.

Thomas didn't move. 'Leave me alone,' he said through their mental link.

Doevm raised an eyebrow. 'Impressive. You've figured out how to communicate through the link.'

Thomas curled up tighter. 'Why does the sunlight bother me?'

"Because you're an Undead," Doevm spoke.

'I know I'm a monster. Can't you do something to fix me, permanently? You have magic, right?'

"I have no "fix" besides death. Look at me."

Thomas curled up tighter. 'I'm just going to attack you, aren't I? I already attacked Frey.'

"He looked fine to me," Doevm said. "Stand." The Shadox obeyed its master's order.

"Hate! (Wait)!" Doevm barely understood Thomas's plea. As he "spoke" for the first time, the array of teeth clacked together. Some poked out of his cheeks. "I shon' wan oo. (I don't want to)."

'You're a bit shorter than Frey like this. Turn around.'

The Shadox obeyed its master's order. Fangs, molars, buckteeth, and other bony protrusions jutted out of Thomas's gaping maw as if someone stuffed a bucket of teeth into his mouth. Doevm saw himself reflected in two black orbs, Thomas's eyes. Endless drool flowed down Thomas's shirt. 'I can't even close my mouth.'

Doevm inhaled sharply. "How much did you eat? What have you done to yourself?"

'I didn't want the others to leave me behind. I wanted to be stronger.'

Doevm shook his head. "You poor fool." He reached for Thomas's shoulder but the young noble stepped away.

'I'm too weak. If you can't help me, what am I supposed to do? I can't control this. I can't face the others like this.'

Doevm had to stare at his own reflection as he explained the situation to Thomas's inhuman, expressionless face. "You can not overpower your instincts through sheer force of will or you will destroy yourself. You can never control it, only manage it. Imagine this like a disease. Food is the only medicine. Come to me at times when you feel like you're losing your grip. Not if, when."

'What about if I don't tell you in time? Should I bite my tongue or stab my legs or-'

"If you can't get to me, get away from people as fast as you can. Don't think. Run."

Thomas's ears folded against his head, and he lowered his head. 'Can you turn me back, even if it's only temporary?'

Doevm looked the creature up and down. "Hold still."

Light blasted through the window and a reverberant blast shook the building. Doevm stumbled into the wall. "That wasn't me." The two looked to the window, through which was the knight's academy. The smoke had stopped rising. Golden and silver glints accompanied thunderous blasts as if the previous lightning storm was simply a warm up. Humanoid monsters swarmed around two glints.

"Looks like reinforcements finally arrived," Doevm said.

'What reinforcements?'

"General Finlish." Doevm said. "He returned to take out the trash that we couldn't be bothered to pick up."