“Come, you two. You’re both going to be fine, but you need all the rest you can get,” she said, leading them up to two of the beds. “You won’t be bothered here. Just lie down and call out for Granny if you need anything.”

Damien and Sylph slipped into the beds and Granny pulled the covers over them, clicking her tongue the entire time. After one final inspection, she nodded.

“Good. Don’t get up until I come get you,” Granny instructed, turning and making her way over to the patient that she’d originally been helping, muttering under her breath the entire time.

Damien was in no mood to argue with her. The soft pillow welcomed him as he once again slipped into a deep sleep.

It was with little surprise that dreams did not come to him. Damien found himself sitting on a familiar grassy hill. He was, as usual, completely naked. However, his brain was functioning normally again.

With a thought, Damien’s usual clothes sprang back up around him. He stood up, brushing imaginary grass stains off himself, and turned. Henry stood behind him, shadowy fire licking up his dark features.

Several eyes blinked at Damien’s scrutiny, disappearing and popping back out at random places over Henry’s body. The void creature actually looked sheepish, if such a thing was possible for it.

“Thank you,” Damien said. “I would have asked you to do this once my brain stopped spinning, so I appreciate you beating me to it. Are you going to start talking, or do I have to ask the questions myself?”

“You already know the answer to your biggest question,” Henry replied. “The Corruption was too fast. I didn’t have time to wait for your permission to take over – you or Sylph would have been killed.”

“And I’m not going to complain about you saving our lives. I’m not that stupid. But… how long? Have you been able to take control yourself from the start?”

“No. It wasn’t until the portion of your soul started to meld together with mine.”

Damien ran a hand through his hair. “So, your goal really isn’t to destroy the world?”

“Not yet,” Henry said. “I wasn’t lying when I said there was too much I wanted to do. I am not Herald. But, after what we just saw with the Corruption, I fear that we might have to change our plans. If the Seeds are already emerging, then this cycle is farther along than I’d thought.”

“We can worry about that later,” Damien replied. “This might be selfish, but I’m more concerned about personal issues than the rest of the world at the moment. The contract I made with Herald doesn’t apply to you in the slightest, does it?”

“Not at all,” Henry confirmed.

“What have you done outside of my body?”

Henry’s face rippled into a grimace. “Housekeeping, mostly.”

“More specific, please.”

Henry paused for several seconds. He considered Damien’s words. Then he let out a sigh.

“The boy you fought – Jayce. He came to try and take revenge on you while you were unconscious. I took care of the problem before it could manifest itself.”

Damien drew in a sharp breath. “Ah. Killed him, then?”

Henry nodded.

“You know, I should probably be angry or horrified about that,” Damien said, scratching the back of his head. “But he was a raging asshole. If anything, the only concern I’ve got is you killing random people. I don’t think anybody is going to miss Jayce. Does that mean you’ve corrupted me or something?”

“I thought you would have been angrier. Your younger self would have been shocked.”

“My younger self hadn’t seen half the things I have,” Damien said. “And I’ve nearly died multiple times. It twists the perspective a little.”

“Not nearly,” Henry corrected. “You did die once – when you met Herald the first time.”

“Wonderful,” Damien said. “I’ll unpack that later. Look, I appreciate your honesty. I’m well aware you could just lie to me. But please don’t go killing anyone else unless it’s absolutely necessary.”

“You aren’t going to try to get me to agree to a new contract?” Henry asked.

“Why would I? You’ve got no reason to take one, and I trust you – as dumb as that is. If you were going to go against me, you would have done it by now.”

Henry tilted his head, observing Damien silently. The boy sighed and rubbed his nose. “We’ve got a bigger issue than this. Whisp knows that Jayce disappeared and has somehow linked it to me. Is there any possible way she could know what you are?”

“None,” Henry replied. “She was nowhere in the area when I took care of Jayce. She’s strong, but she’s just a mortal. There’s no way for her to have noticed me.”

“Then she somehow found out Jayce died or went missing. I suppose she didn’t specify anything about him being alive or not,” Damien mused. “It’s possible she’s hoping to get me to admit to something. I don’t know. We just can’t have her digging around in my head.”

“I was thinking about that, actually,” Henry replied. “There’s a way to lock her out permanently.”

“Keep talking.”

“Runes,” Henry said, pointing at Damien’s chest. “Herald has the right idea. You might not be strong enough to resist her on your own, but runes are just gateways that guide the Ether through them. Your own strength is irrelevant. If we put a rune on you that deflects anything external that goes for your memories, it should stop her from seeing anything she shouldn’t.”

“Can’t she just break through it? Runes aren’t particularly powerful compared to normal magic.”

“If it was just a blunt wall, probably,” Henry said. “But if it was more like a slippery surface that made it hard for her thoughts to take purchase on you, it would be much more effective. She could probably break through it with enough effort, but it’s much better than nothing.”

“Works for me,” Damien said, nodding. “I assume you’ve already got something in mind?”

“I do,” Henry replied. “I’ve been musing over it for a while, but I didn’t want to mention it in case she managed to pick it up. I’ve already got a rune circle in mind. It uses a lot of old, obscure runes that are likely to have been forgotten over the last few thousand years.”

“Let’s do it, then,” Damien said. “We don’t have all that much time before Whisp shows up. I’ve got some of the healing water from the school in my waterskin. Does it matter where you put the circle?”

“No, but the larger it is the stronger it’ll be,” Henry said. “Granted, this doesn’t need to be very strong. It’s not meant to take a full force attack.”

“And I don’t think I want to have it cover too much of my body,” Damien said, tilting his head in thought. “Can we put it on my head, under my hair? Nobody could see it then.”

“That would work,” Henry said.

“Great. So that problem is solved – or at least delayed,” Damien said. “Now on to the next one. What did you do to Sylph to save her?”

“I patched her up with pieces of the Corruption Seed,” Henry replied. “Then I broke her artifact and tried to bind her to the dead Seed instead.”

“So she’s not going to turn evil or something?”

“Probably not, but I can’t say for sure,” Henry said. “This has never been done before. Ever. Millenia of existence, and I’ve done something completely unique. Isn’t that fascinating?”

“It would be more fascinating if my friend wasn’t at risk of turning into a rock monster that drools acid,” Damien said dryly. “But I’m glad you did it. I don’t want to imagine what would have happened if Sylph died.”

“She’s still got a chance to. If there’s somehow some spark of the Corruption’s control left, we’re going to have to kill her. I’m on your side, but the Mortal Plane cannot be allowed to leave the cycle,” Henry said, his tone turning grim. “Don’t worry. I’ll handle things if it comes to that.”

“…Thanks. Let’s hope it doesn’t come to that.”

“It’s not all bad, though,” Henry said. “Her core has gone through quite the traumatic experience. Stuffing the Corruption’s Ether into it likely expanded it significantly, and there’s a very good chance that she’ll be able to gain access to some abilities that nobody else can. If she can control her new body, she’ll be quite a powerful little mortal.”

“Well, that’s good at least,” Damien agreed. “If it makes her stronger, Sylph might even try to find another Corruption Seed.”

Henry scoffed. “You’ll be lucky if another one even arrives on this continent. There is more than one landmass, you know.”

“Somehow, that never even came to mind,” Damien said. “What if the Corruption Seeds are already there?”

“It’s incredibly unlikely. It takes time for them to arrive. The Corruption is not fast,” Henry said, but he didn’t sound particularly convinced. “There’s nothing we can do about it right now. It is very strange that not only did the Corruption arrive earlier than normal, but it arrived right next to us. That can’t be a coincidence.”

“The person that interfered with my summoning spell,” Damien said, his skin prickling. “They’re pulling strings again.”

“It’s a likely possibility,” Henry said. “But what are they working at? I can’t figure it out, and that irks me more than anything. I can’t tell if they’re on our side or the Corruption’s.”

“Or someone else’s entirely,” Damien said, pressing his lips together.

Henry shook his head. “Something we can worry about after we escape Whisp’s eyes. It’s going to take a minute for me to carve the runes into your scalp. You’ve already been sleeping for around an hour, so we don’t want to waste much more time.”

“Let me wake up,” Damien said. “I’ll ask to use the restroom and you can do it there.”

“Already on it,” Henry said. The world started to fade with every word he spoke. “Keep an eye on yourself and Sylph around these mages. They seem friendly enough, but don’t forget they’re working with Whisp. I won’t be able to do much after the rune, since Whisp will likely be close.”

Shadows rose up from the ground and enveloped Damien. Something cold splashed against his skin and he drew in a sharp breath, jerking upright in the white bed. He was completely dry. His mind still felt a little fuzzy, but it had improved significantly since he’d fallen asleep.

I really hate that sensation.

Henry let out a small chuckle and faded into the background. Granny spotted Damien as he looked around the room and shuffled over towards him with the help of her cane.

“Can I use the bathroom?” Damien asked before Granny could say anything, his words only a little slurred.

“Of course,” Granny said. “Do you need help standing?”

Damien slowly swung his legs out of bed and shifted his weight onto them, leaning back over the bed in case they gave out from beneath him. Luckily, he felt mostly steady. Damien slowly rose to his feet, then gave her a nod.

“I’m fine.”

“That’s great to hear,” Granny said. She nodded towards a small wooden door at the other end of the room. “The bathroom is right over there”

“Thank you.” Damien made his way over to the bathroom, thankful that his travel pack was still slung over his shoulder. He slipped inside and closed the door behind him, locking it with a click.

A sharp pain erupted at the top of Damien’s head. He grimaced, digging through his bag as the uncomfortable sensation traced lines through his scalp. He pulled the flask of healing water free and uncapped it, standing over the chamber pot and upending the flask over his head.

Damien grimaced as the cool water trickled through his hair and down his face, fighting with the burning sensation of Henry’s handiwork. By the time he’d poured out about half of the water, the pain started to recede to a dull throb.

The water ran off his face tinted pink, which would probably make for an interesting discovery for whoever had to clean the chamber pot. It slowly started to turn clear again as flask emptied.

He shook the last few drops out of it, then capped the flask and put it back with a sigh. The pain had faded to a faint throbbing sensation that was almost unnoticeable unless he focused on it.

Damien shook himself off, rustling his hair to get as much of the water out of it as possible. Once he was satisfied that it didn’t look soaking wet, he opened the latch on the door and swung it open.

He found himself an inch away from Sylph. She stepped inside, yanking the door shut behind her and locking it.

“Sylph?” Damien whispered. “What are you doing?”

“My companion is gone, Damien,” Sylph hissed. “I need to speak with Henry.”

“It’s not safe right now,” Damien replied in the same hushed tone. “Whisp might be able to detect him.”

Sylph’s hands tightened at her sides, and she bit her lower lip. “Do you know what he did to me at least?”

“Kind of. He chopped the baddie up and used it like glue to fix you. He might have also smashed your companion to do so.”

Sylph’s eyes widened. “He what? How am I supposed to use Ether without my companion? I can’t cast magic! I can’t do–”

Damien put a hand on her shoulder. Sylph closed her mouth and drew in a deep breath.

“Henry said you’d be stronger,” Damien said. “Not weaker. The Ether is in a different form than what you’re used to if I understood him correctly. You just need to figure out how to use it again, but you’ll be at least a little more powerful than you were before.”

“Are you sure?” Sylph asked.

“He hasn’t lied to me,” Damien said. He paused for a moment. “Recently. I think.”

“That's reasurring,” Sylph said, but her face had relaxed. “Sorry. I was just scared that–”

“You don’t have to explain it. I know what you were thinking,” Damien said. “I would have been just as scared. Just… keep an eye on if you’re going nuts. There’s a tiny chance you turn evil from this.”

“Ah,” Sylph said. “Well, that’s great. Better than being dead, I suppose.”

Damien nodded empathetically. Sylph turned, nearly smacking Damien in the face with her long hair, and unlocked the door. She stepped outside and Damien followed after her absentmindedly.

Granny caught his eye as the two of them left. She gave him exaggerated wink and chuckled to herself, shaking her head and turning back to a patient. Damien flushed, pretending he couldn’t hear Henry’s distant laughter deep within his mind.