Dagger lodged in the soft tissue of the eye, held there by the press of the closed lids, Levani kept her grip as the creature tossed its head, thrashing with anger and agony. The black crawled along its flesh beneath her, living, wretched, feeding and forming the beast that she once knew, staining what exposed skin existed. Its presence sickened her, enraged her, but there was little she could do, at the mercy of the beast’s writhing, at the mercy of Kallo’s speed. Just as a behemoth claw had risen, in attempts to scrape her from its face, it faltered, screaming, voice boring pain into her soul. By the way that it recoiled, that its tone was painted with anguish, she knew that her companion’s blade had struck true in the soft underbelly. The pale, thin skin that she remembered from her times past, of the ancient beast of rock that stalked the outskirts and gullies. That victory aside, she looked for her moment to depart from the dying thing, taking note of the tallest trees and their perceived distances.<br/><br/>Only during her search did Levani glimpse a figure beyond the beast’s head, thrown far and hard against the cliff face some distance away. Immediately, she recognized the glimmer of metal, the plates of armor glinting at her beneath the touch of a cold morning sun. Her shout was caught in her throat, for the second’s distraction was enough for her to nearly fall to her death, dagger sliding out from the gorey sheath during a toss of the head. Furious distress inside, she had to act immediately, clinging on by one arm. Quickly, she scrambled to the flat of its head, body low, moving fast before she lost balance and slipped. Aided by the jerk of its neck, its legs giving out beneath it, she leapt far, breeze chilling on her cheeks, figure free from its squirming, and she latched to the proffered branch of a nearby tree. Though it snapped and gave from her weight, the thing previously injured by the movement of the beast, she fell to the next beneath it, which maintained a sturdier demeanor and held true. She did not waste time with it, crawling along its reach, jumping and finding purchase on the next tree over and the next, until she was safely away from the ancient thing, its tail whipping and cleaving the forest in death twitches.<br/><br/>When it finally stilled, the earth trembling beneath its collapse, its heated breath heavy and quiet until it chest moved its last, Levani paused too, perched upon a branch, golden eyes wide. After a moment, she could hear only her heartbeat again, slamming in her chest, river of blood roaring in her ears. The forest was silent on the skin of it, but she could hear its grief beneath, could feel it through the body of the tree. Asdenni was mourning, screaming, sullen and resentful. Its hatred had grown, and for it, so had her own. A shaking head clenched hard, teeth grit, keeping the burning enmity down in her chest. She glanced at the form unmoving by her golem, which had ambled towards it. Swiftly, she moved, a ghost in the shadows, crawling down the tree, and she hit the ground running.<br/><br/>When Levani reached Kallo, she pushed him to his back and leaned down, decorated ear pressed by his lips. As heated breath stirred the sensitive hairs, she sighed with relief, pressing her forehead to his shoulder for a moment’s reprieve. “<i>Esuli,</i>” she cursed, voice rough with any number of unspent emotions. “We can’t keep doing this,<i>sul’ima,</i>” she told him, though she knew he would probably not hear it in such a state, and she smoothed the hair from his forehead. Briefly, she checked over his body, noting the wounds on his thigh, the nicks on his armor. There was no doubt he would be black and blue before his body healed, for the toss should have killed him - should have killed any man, but it didn’t. It wouldn’t have, thanks to the gifts of his goddess. She felt grateful for it, she realized. “Watch him,” she commanded quietly, needlessly, before rising and finding her way to the motionless body.<br/><br/>Levani crossed the vestiges of Kallo’s battle as she went, the ground slick with the dark sickness, with tainted, crimson blood. The remnants of bodies were strewn about, his blade’s precision and the golem’s brunt force apparent with every corpse. It was impressive, to say the least - a masterpiece of violence, though she couldn’t pause to give it its due attention. The ancient beast held her gaze, its head facing her, one eye open, the other bloodied and shut. To her dismay, the color had returned to normal, a cold hazel, but the pupil barely registered her presence. The black was peeling from it, in slick rivers, in chunks, exposing flesh that was raw, skin that had been hidden since it was first changed. Its guts were spilled beneath it, coating the forest floor, but it still held to its last breath, its unusual creation extending its suffering.<br/><br/>“You<i>were</i>fighting it, weren’t you?” Levani acknowledged, standing before its great head, without fear, one hand placed on the bridge of its nose. She had fought and killed the others before, the ones that were and were not like her, but she had not seen herself in them before. Not like this one. She wanted to not, so that she did not feel remorse, so that she did not feel loss, but she couldn’t. She had to force herself not to lament the loss of herself, as though this beast’s death was her own. Still, she seated herself, and waited for it to pass, for that last, held breath to be expelled.<br/><br/>When it happened, Levani shuddered, eyes pressed shut, hard, for a moment, before she took her leave. She searched through the filth, feeling along the threads of her heart, of her symbols, until she found her staff beneath the muck. The runes shone violently against her touch, searing away the black that would stain it. She found the rigid shard of Kallo’s blade, painting the picture of his throw, and she labored to drag it from its grave. It was heavy, despite only being a piece of it, but she worked as she could to move it. She returned to the cliff face, gave the sword piece to her risen, and faced the desecrated battlefield, raising her staff and lowering it. She summoned the forest, the trees, and she offered strength and power until the earth cracked and swallowed the great carcass and the many that had come with it. There was a scar in the ground when it had finished, but the roots wove together tightly, stitching it to heal the wound. There was an ache in her bones, too, but she’d enough energy to last her for the day.<br/><br/>The golem delicately lifted Kallo and Levani led it away from the injured place, where the birds had slowly returned to watch them leave, and the insects had resumed their incessant chirping. They walked for some time, until they came upon one of her old, abandoned hovels. It was primitive, simple, hewn into a hillock, embraced by trees and ravenous berry bushes. Its entrance was a small, wood-carved door, just tall enough for her passage, and she was humored at the thought of Kallo attempting to enter. Moss and plants had overgrown much of it, and she had to force her weight against the door to open it. Within, things were bare, with only essentials having been left behind for her use. She pilfered what she needed and returned outside, weaving together a fast camp. She made a fire, found an old pot that she cleaned the webbing and dust from, filled it with water from the clear brook behind the home. From the surrounding bushes and plants, she collected leaves and berries and the like, then placed them in the water and put it over the fire.<br/><br/>Kallo was lowered gingerly to the grass, and Levani placed his head upon her thigh. She leaned back against the hill, wincing once due to the pain in her ribs. Her hand rested on his chest, fingers splayed across the cold metal plate, and she felt it raised slowly, steadily. Golden eyes were on the pot before she glimpsed down to him, smiling wryly. “I don’t think I’ll be the only one sore tomorrow,<i>sul’ima</i>,” she noted, before looking back to the forest.