Ari's arms shook as he picked himself up from the ground. He grabbed his throat and looked at Kaval with watery eyes. He could not be dead. He could not be. The thought caused his throat to become dry. Ari found it hard to swallow and his heart continued to beat out of his chest. Ari had to do something and do something quickly. He rose to his feet and made his way to Kaval, but he was stopped by the earth shaking under him. It made him lose his footing and fall to the ground again.

"I told you not to touch him," Auovin growled. The pressure he put on Inge's neck increased causing Inge to tape at his foot.

"I am sorry. Forgive me. Forgive me," Inge wheezed.

As soon as Inge tried to rise again Auovin slammed him back into the ground with his foot which made the earth around them rumble. Ari's eyes widened at the thought of that being the cause of the shaking. He knew Auovin possessed a lot of power but he had never seen it like this. Auovin let go after a few seconds passed, but he continued to glower at Inge.

"I would not have gone on and done this if you would not have become sidetracked," Inge said as he coughed and held his throat.

"I know what must be done. I have not lost my way," Auovin hissed.

"Then do it or I will do it for you!"

Auovin turned his attention to Kaval causing Ari's to grow wide with fear. Ari quickly rose on his two feet, disoriented but well enough to make his way to Kaval. He would not let Auovin hurt him. Kaval protected him, after all. He was responsible for this-- for him.

"Move away from him, Ari."

"Kaval h-he tried to protect me. He means me no harm. That thing over there does yet you insist on hurting Kaval. That is not right."

When Ari looked up at Auovin fear nestled in the pits of his stomach. The same kind of fear he felt when he first met him. It caused his arms to shake and grow unsteady, but Ari was resolute in protecting Kaval even if it was from Auovin. Kaval was his friend.

"Move," Auovin growled, sending a shudder down Ari's spine.

Ari shook his head no. He could feel Auovin's gaze on him burning holes into him.

"If you would have stayed and listened to my words, it would not have to be this way. If you would have--." Auovin shut his eyes angrily. "If you would have stayed with Cyrus and not with him things would be different, but you never listen. You never learn. All those who know of me would never think to do half the things you do. They are right. I am far too soft on you." Auovin tugged on Ari's arm, lurching him forward and away from Kaval as easy as lifting a pebble.

Ari grabbed a handful of dirt and crumbled it in his hands. He was just as weak as when he did not know what he was. Nothing had changed. If only he was stronger, he would not be taken so lightly and at the mercy and whims of others like him. Auovin would not listen to him. Not when he was like that. It made his eyes become blurry at the thought. Kaval was his friend, his only friend, and to lose him to a person he thought of as his lover was far too cruel. Ari's heart twisted and pulled in his chest as Auovin's foot rested on the rod Ari had nearly pulled out.

"If you hurt him--"

"I do not care," Auovin said matter-of-factly as he pressed the blue rod back further into Kaval's chest with uncaring eyes. "Hate me, I do not care. Forgiveness and love is not something I ever wanted from you in the first place. It is not what I need." His yellow eyes met Ari's gray ones as he said this. There was stabbing feeling in Ari's chest as he looked from Kaval to Auovin with angry tears flooding down his cheeks.

Ari crawled over to Kaval, hoping there was some chance that he was still alive, but there was no pulse and he was not breathing. Kaval's markings were not glowing any longer either. Even still Ari was convinced that he was not dead. He could not be. Kaval was a great, after all. They would not die so easily.

"This is my fault and I am sorry. I am sorry," Ari sobbed and tucked his face into his neck.

"Leave him be and let his kind collect him," Auovin said. As soon as he tried to reach for Ari's arm, Ari snatched it away from him.

"Do not touch me."

"Ari, you do not know what he was. What he truly was--"

"He was my friend and you killed him even when I begged you not to. I despise you. I do not want to go anywhere with you."

"He was taking you to a place you were better off not--"

"He was going to tell me the truth," Ari barked.

"A truth better left unknown. Go on and hate me. Do whatever pleases you in this moment." Auovin stalked back towards Inge's silent figure.

"Where is... Cyrus, for the matter."

Ari did not bother to answer him. He was far too upset to pay much attention to Auovin and his words.

"Ari."

Ari hugged Kaval tighter and sank his face deeper into Kaval's neck. When his lips pressed onto Kaval's skin, he noticed he was still warm. There was a chance. There had to be. Kaval just needed his blood. Yes, that was it.

Ari looked up at Auovin as he saw him approaching.

"Where is he?" Auovin said. "Do not tell me you do not know because you smell of him."

"I do not know. He was looking for you, I am sure." Ari wiped his eyes with his sleeves, but Auovin stopped him and wiped the rest away with his thumbs. Ari turned his face away from him, but Auovin brought it back.

"If he was looking for me, he would have found me," Auovin said.

"Kitten went and left the tiger for a panther instead," Inge said, smiling.

A look of panic swept across Auovin's face before it was quickly replaced with a glare.

"This is how you will force my hand?"

Inge shrugged his shoulders. "If this is how it must be. Koli and I gave you so many chances, but you threw them all away and for what? What is it about that weak thing over there that makes you waver? He is--! What is wrong with you?" Inge yelled.

"Nothing is wrong with me," Auovin growled.

"Oh, yes there is. Something is very wrong, indeed. You are too old and prone to such useless lingering feelings of a past love that is doing nothing but hindering us now! Auovin, we had a deal!" Ari's heart sank into the pits of his stomach. "And now you regress on it? You cannot think to play on both sides and expect to come out unscathed. Look at him sobbing over a Great when you entrusted Cyrus to him. And you know how Cyrus can get when it comes to you... Always cleaning up the messes you leave behind. You may forgive him, but I cannot."

Auovin glanced over at Ari before his hands balled into fists. There was so much hurt in Auovin's eyes, but Ari was too consumed with his own bitter feelings of what Auovin had done to pay much mind to him. He just wanted them to go, so he could test his theory. Auovin's words to him scathed him to the bone as well. There was only so much Ari was willing to forgive Auovin for, but Ari was sure what he had done to Kaval was something he could never forgive him for.

"I would go after him if I were you," Inge sang. "Do not worry. Leave the little kitten to me."

Auovin furrowed his brows and closed his eyes.

"Go on and bring Ari to them. Go and see what happens. It will not be as you think. I swear this to you now. You will regret it."

Auovin gave Ari a final glance before he walked passed Inge. There was a bubbly queasy feeling festering in Ari's stomach. Although he thought that way about Auovin, his heart ached at the expression Auovin left him with. He should never have said those words to him. But what he did to Kaval-- Ari squeezed eyes shut as soon as he felt his eyes beginning to blur. As soon as Auovin left, the sounds of the lessers decreased as well, leaving him with Inge once more.

Inge rubbed his throat before he coughed and spat.

"You think you are the only one that can be tricky? Having Auovin at your every beck and call. I see you are not one to be trifled with. But, little kitten, I am not one to be trifled with either. Auovin may be stronger, but I am much much smarter." Inge tapped his index finger on the side of his head as he walked closer to Ari.

Ari tensed. He had to get the rod out of his chest. It was covered in Kaval's blood, but Ari pushed that thought away and grabbed it with both hands. He pulled it halfway through before he saw Inge's foot resting beside him.

"I would put that down if I were you."

Ari looked up at Inge before he pulled the rest of the blue rod out of his chest. Inge grabbed a handful of Ari's hair and threw him away from Kaval.

"I did not like you from the moment I met you. The moment I smelled you coming down the stairs. Now, that I know who you are and what you really are, I should have killed you from the start. I should not have saved that man's life. I should have done nothing for you," Inge hissed.

"You think you can fool me with that mask you wear? With your sweet words, and rosy disposition?"

Ari rose with blood oozing down his forehead to his lips. He wiped it away and narrowed his eyes at Inge. He did not have the slightest clue of what he was talking about.

"You may have forgotten everything you have done, but we have not!"

"What are you talking about? I have done nothing to you!" Inge grabbed Ari by the throat, but Ari quickly sank his teeth into Inge's hand, causing Inge to let go with a yelp. He grabbed Inge's leg making him fall to the ground. In no time, Ari had his hand wrapped around Inge's throat, squeezing tighter by the second.

"I should kill you for what you have done to my friend and watch your blood soak the soil as his is right now."

"You are weak, too soft," Inge rasped. Inge's hand latched onto Ari's wrist with a power that Ari thought would break his wrist at any moment. Ari held in the pain and pressed harder and harder until he heard a gasp come from nearby.

When he turned to look at Kaval, he could see his chest rising and lowering. His heart swelled with relief. He was alive and breathing.

Inge wrenched Ari's hand away from his neck and twisted it around his back. However, Ari backed his head up against Inges and rammed his elbow into his nose. Ari looked around for his daggers wanting to finish what he started, but he could not find a single one. Inge recovered fast, knocking Ari off balance.

"Was it worth it? Giving up all that power to retain such a form?" Inge whispered angrily into Ari's ear. A cold blade pressed onto Ari's skin in the next moment. His words sent a chill down Ari's spine. "You deserve a fate worse than death."

The blade pressed into his neck drawing blood but it stopped after a moment. When Ari turned himself around, Kaval snapped Inge's neck and drank from it. Ari's eyes were wide with both surprise and fear. Kaval drank hungrily like a starved animal. Inge's dead eyes continued to stare into Ari's even as Kaval finished. He tossed Inge's body aside leaving Ari with the image of blood coated around his lips and smeared across his cheeks.

"Kaval," Ari whispered.

When Kaval moved closer, Ari instinctively backed away. Kaval's eyes were alight with fire and hunger. They ate the lessers as well as blood demons. Ari knew he would make no exception for him if he was not in his right mind. But Kaval was his friend. He would not do a thing to hurt him. Ari believed that wholeheartedly. He should not be afraid of him. Kaval grabbed his chin and smelled his blood, causing Ari to close his eyes.

"Kaval, it is me. It is me, your friend, Ari."

Kaval looked at him then. It made Ari nervous, but he knew, almost instantaneously, he recognized him. Ari could not help but hug him and bury his face in his neck.

"So this is what it takes to get a hug from you?" Kaval said with a deep voice that reverberated on Ari's skin. Ari only smiled and hugged him tighter.

Ari wanted to become stronger. He did not want to rely on anyone else's strength any longer. He would pay any price for it. He had to. He must.