The human didn’t enslave him despite his challenge. This Ichabod was weak. He frowned as he walked away, mind heavy with thought. He could follow the Gambler and wait for the Duke to send his lackeys to kill him. After they spilled out Ichabod’s life juices he would be free to use his powers and take revenge. It seemed like a swell idea and then the Tavern Owner had to ruin everything. He could hear the heart of the elderly man battering against his rib cage. Fear made people do stupid things. Ruin had no interest in slaying the human unless he actually dare to try and fight him. Instead he would stand his ground and refuse to turn his back to his challenger. Turning tail would be cowardly. So he stretched his fingers, listening to the bones crackle in suspense to see whether the man was prey of predator. He figured the old man would give sooner or later. This was a game of chicken.<br/><br/>But it seemed that Ichabod wasn’t a spineless fool after all. “STOP!” His voice was shaking but determined. Ruin jumped and turned his head towards the man. That was when his noose tightened. The familiar searing sensation of the runes etched on his throat brought him down to one knee and a strangled gasp escaped him. His claws tore into the floor, splinters penetrating his flesh and bringing back clarity to his mind. ‘<span style="font-style: italic"> Good. I knew you wouldn’t be able to resist. The protection bit is going to be a bother but he’ll die eventually and I’ll be free when the Duke comes.</span>’ His mouth twisted into a cocky smile then it faltered when he heard the man apologizing to the Tavern Owner. ‘<span style="font-style: italic"> He enslaved me to save the Elder?! Preposterous! The stupid fool, he thinks I’m so lowly I’d hunt the old man…</span>’ He spat and sat down with crossed arms waiting for the human to hurry the fuck up.<br/><br/>Soon heavy footsteps approached him and stopped angrily. “I hope you’re fucking proud of yourself,” Ichabod snarled down at him. Ruin lifted his head and growled lowly back in reply.  “You could have eaten a nice meal and I could have slept in a soft bed. Now we’ll be lucky if we find a suitable bush to rest under before dawn.” He heard the shifting of material, a pack maybe, and then Ichabod marched to the tavern door. The demon didn’t move until he heard the man grind out. “And for god’s sake, don’t make me go through the whole ‘Your master commands’ routine every time I need you to do something. It’s really annoying.” ‘<span style="font-style: italic"> Then this isn’t going to be a pleasant trip Ichabod.</span>Ruin thought cheerfully pushing himself off the floor and swiveling to follow the man.<br/><br/>The cold air felt good on his skin and he sniffed absently as they made their way down the road. Feet squishing into the hardening mud as the temperature continued to drop into late night’s embrace. Ruin tripped every now and then, huffing angrily but growled every time he thought the human was slowing down to check on him. He didn’t need any bloody pity! Eventually they turned off the main road and Ruin clumsily walked into a short tree. He stood there in stunned in embarrassment before tearing the damn thing apart. Roaring grumpily and smacking the thing with its own branches as if saying, ‘HA! HOW DO YOU LIKE IT?!’ It would have been a funny sight if not so terrifying that he could snap those thick branches with his bare hands. The tree was successfully sacrificed to create a walking stick. We shall say prayers for it.<br/>As the night began to turn to early, early morning Ichabod was beginning to slow. Looking for somewhere to sleep perhaps as that could be the reasoning to turning off the road. Steam curled off the demon as the temperature continued to fall and that was when the runes began to hurt. Was the human cold perhaps? Sighing Ruin reached forward, waving his hand through the air until he finally caught the human’s travel pack and yanked on it twice to stop him. ‘<span style="font-style: italic"> We should be fine to set up camp here. I don’t smell any human influence. He was probably afraid the human village would hunt us… Clever. That’s why we have traveled so far in one night. To escape danger but I can’t exactly tell him to sit down and sleep so I don’t have to feel pain that he can’t keep warm. Maybe, just maybe he’ll let me speak. </span>’ He was growing tired of this whole quiet routine anyway and gestured to his mouth, sticking out his runed tongue at Ichabod.