Water pattered against the stone behind him as Sylph turned the shower on. Damien felt Henry stir within his mind.

“I never understood why mortals are so concerned about others seeing their bodies,” Henry said. “You’re hairless monkeys. There’s nothing precious hidden under those clothes.”

I’m not going to explain that to you. And I’m not checking a book out on it either, so you’ll just have to suffer.

“I don’t want an explanation,” Henry replied. “It was a rhetorical question. Humans are great at overstating their own worth. What I do want to know is how early you plan on waking up. You wanted to draw runes tomorrow morning, but you’re also meeting your professor an hour before sunrise.”

His training can’t take that long, right? I’ll be back In a few hours, and late morning is still the morning.

“You’re an idiot,” Henry replied promptly. “But, I doubt those fools will have much use for more light during the day, so they’ll survive. I’m going to head out and try to see if I can get a better grasp of where the other void creatures are – particularly the one next to us.”

Fine. When will you be back?

“In time to wake you up for your training. We can’t miss out on the chance to learn that man’s magic,” Henry said. “Enjoy yourself.”

Damien’s shadow stretched and rose up from the ground beside him. It tore away and launched out the cave entrance, disappearing into the night sky. Just like the last time Henry had left, Damien felt a profound sense of emptiness.

He knew that part of that was due to Henry leaving – his companion did have half of his soul. Even so, Damien was aware that Henry’s absence didn’t account for all of his feelings.

He extended his senses, forming a net of mental energy with his mind and casting it out. It wasn’t quite second nature yet, but the hours of practice had gotten him enough experience to reliably form the energy into roughly the right shape without too much difficulty. It wasn’t quite as nice as when Henry helped him, but it still got the job done.

The world lit up as the lines of Ether came into view. There were more lines in the cave than there had been before. The new lines headed past him and towards the shower, and he resisted the urge to check where they came from.

Damien coated his hand in mental energy and plucked a spark of ether from a strand of Ether and wrapped his hand around it. It zipped into his chest, sending tingles down his arm and spine.

It didn’t help. Damien chewed his lower lip. He could feel the Ether within him, waiting to be used. One part of him, the part that hadn’t changed since he was a child, longed desperately to use it. He already knew a spell, and he could cast it on his own.

Several years ago, he would have been jumping around the room, cheering and laughing without a care in the world. Instead, he sat there on the bed with an empty expression. He’d taken the first step towards his greatest goal, but it had been tarnished.

Five other people were roaming the world, each carrying around the end of times within them. One mistake – one tiny little slip up, and the Mortal Plane would cease to exist. It didn’t even have to be one of the other carriers. Damien was more than aware that his contract had to have at least one flaw in it.

It wasn’t supposed to be like this.

Damien raised his hand, channeling the spark of Ether through his arm and out his wrist. The orb of dark energy bubbled to life in his palm. He sighed, raising it into the light so he could get a better look at it.

How am I supposed to deal with this? I just wanted to learn magic. I don’t want to fight. I don’t want to have to be the hunter or the prey!

There was no answer. Damien’s brow lowered and the orb blinked out as he cut the flow of energy going to it. He wasn’t foolish enough to believe he had a choice. If Henry hadn’t lied to him, then his own feelings weren’t something he could worry about. This was bigger than him, and something had to be done, if only to investigate the other void creatures to make sure they were bound by good people.

That being said, Damien wasn’t about to turn himself in. He had no noble delusions or desires to die to save humanity. If he didn’t slip up, one of the other summoners easily could. A thought rose up to the front of his mind, unbidden.

Damien pressed his lips together, his decision already made. He reached into his travel bag and pulled out a quill, a vial of ink, and several sheets of paper. He tapped it on his chin, thinking, before he started to sketch.

By the time the water shut off, Damien had drawn four different rune circles on separate pieces of paper. He waved them through the air to dry them off, then slipped them under his bed.

“You can turn around now,” Sylph said before starting to brush her teeth.

Damien didn’t turn immediately. He sent another glance out the entrance to their room, then wiped the frown from his face and slipped off his bed.

He removed his jacket and scarf, just leaving on his pants and shirt, and waited until Sylph had left the bathroom before he took her place to wash himself and brush his teeth. Once he’d finished, he headed back to his bed and slipped under the covers. Sylph was already in her own bed, her clothes hung over its foot.

Damien removed his shirt and tossed it onto the ground at the head of his bed. The glow from the rune in the bathroom had already dimmed enough that it wasn’t much of a bother and didn’t interfere much with their sleep.

“Goodnight,” Sylph said.

“Goodnight,” Damien replied, although he had the feeling it would be anything but.