In case you were wondering: Dean wasn’t a real boy, nor was he a real man. The body he wore *was* very real though, and currently nearly broken in half thanks to a splintering board driven through his guts. Interestingly enough, the house’s subbasement – the one leading to their private dock and their tertiary escape route – was where he’d gone when the roof had collapsed, somehow *shoved* through the floor, along with a few of Methuseld’s soldiers. Most of them were unconscious, though one looked to be in rather sharp shape. Not that dusty either.<br/><br/>Dean’s rapidly darkening eyes – as in about to die, and not getting angry – took in Mr. Clean Soldier and he laughed harshly as he spat up about a gallon of black blood. “Fuck, she thought of that too? You were watching the docks the whole time?”<br/><br/>The man, a rat-faced guy with a slight build, nodded somewhat wryly. “Sure did, dead man,” he said, moving forward and beginning to clear the debris for his fellow men.<br/><br/>Seeing him work, Dean considered. Above, he could *feel* Donovan pulse as he tapped into his power, sense his Knight’s summons. Not that Dean could do shit about it. Dean didn’t have the ability to harden his skin or take on the strength of half a dozen men. He was a being of shadows, of illusion, and of death…<br/><br/>“Do me a favor?” Dean rasped, one lung having just collapsed. “Don’t take my gold when I die. It belongs to my mother.” He did his best to make it sound just as pitiful as he could.<br/><br/>Predictably, the rat faced man perked up. “You’ve got gold on you? Well, I’ll be fucked sideways from Tuesday. Sure. Sure. I won’t take it from you when you die, killer. I’ll jus do it right now.” So saying, the soldier ambled forward and reached out to tug at Dean’s armored, bloody body.<br/><br/>Then the man froze in place, limbs locked as if paralyzed and Dean gave a wicked, evil smile. As he did, he thought to Donovan, sent him a pulse of sensation so the Knight would know he was alive. Shifting one mostly-intact hand to his side, Dean allowed one of the gems that the duo had captured from Zozo’s place into his hand and squeezed, willing the power to function. The gem flashed once, bright amethyst, and then went dark. Immediately, Dean felt the bond that tied him to his Knight ease. It didn’t vanish, sadly enough, but it did ease. A lot.<br/><br/><em>Go</em>, Dean sent Donovan.<em>I’ll catch up</em>.<br/>