"How can you do it?"
       The Prince glanced up at him. "Do what?"
       The pair sat amongst piles of blood, limbs, and corpses, the stench of blackened flesh permeating the burning air. Knax sat close to Altan, licking her charred wounds. The bubbling wails of the soldier as his visor melted into his skin and his flesh sloughed off his skull lingered at the edges of Altan's consciousness. So came too the memory of the soldier he stabbed in Crags Fort, and the many Black Guard The Prince felled relentlessly in the assault.
       "How can you go on so-so easily after killing people? I mean, I can't imagine how many people you've killed but I've only killed two and..." Altan shuddered as his stomach churned restlessly. He groaned. "I feel sick."
       The Prince sighed. "Killing is not easy, Altan. While I may have slain many, and I will slay many more, each death weighs as heavily on me as the first. However, you must learn to cope. You must learn to do what it takes to survive. Now, sit still. You are making my work difficult."
       The sting of more healing salve being applied to his fingers and hand quickly reigned his wandering thoughts back in. Iron spread over his tongue as he fought the urge to jerk his hand back and under his shirt, never to be seen again. The Prince was covered in a layer of perspiration from the exhaustive amount of healing magic he was pouring into Altan's finger, trying to save it. Minutes passed and neither The Prince or his blackened, shrivelled digit were looking any better. After a-literally-agonizing eternity, The Prince leaned back with a sharp gasp, panting and wiping the sweat from his eyes.
        "I am truly sorry, Altan."
        Altan's heart sank. No.
        "The damage is... too extensive. Even with the aid of the healing salve. To completely regenerate your finger, while technically possible, would disable me for days if not weeks. We do not have that time." Pressing his fingers to his lips, The Prince hung his head. "In order to prevent infection or further harm, I must insist that-"
        "I know." Altan interrupted, the words floating hoarsely from this throat. With a shaky breath he turned his head and placed his mangled hand on the ground. "Just- just do it already."
         "..."After a beat of silence, Altan heard The Prince rise to his feet and he heard the scape of metal on stone as he retrieved his sword. "Spread your fingers."
       Altan obeyed. He squeezed his eyes shut as he sensed the tip of the sword poke beside his finger. "Tell me when."
        "...When ."

*    *    *

It was impossible to feel at ease with the low, ominous rumble of the volcano filling the silence. Although he longed to sit close to Knax's comforting presence, the air was sweltering, and he resigned himself to the darkest corner of the Caelfall ruin to escape her body heat. Instead, he kneaded the cauterized stump where his pinky used to be only three days prior. A deep pool of lava burbled lazily in the centre of the room, casting a menacing glow over the crumbling interior. He sighed as his stomach growled. As if the constant thirst the arid environment brought wasn't enough, they were low on rations from Guthram and the desolate landscape boasted very little animals for Knax to hunt. The odd ground-dwelling rodent. A lizard, perhaps. Not enough for long term survival.
      The Prince had gone off to scout their surroundings from the peak of the volcano, insisting that he go alone as the terrain was way too treacherous for Knax to navigate and Altan... well... he wasn't in the best 'headspace' as The Prince put it.
       Altan hadn't had the energy to argue.
       Bored and desperate to escape the gruesome thoughts circling in his skull Altan resigned himself to picking up pieces of rubble and rock and flicking them mindlessly into the pool of lava. Each piece sizzled as it impacted the surface of the lava, and Altan watched as it would linger momentarily on the viscous surface before slowly sinking under to inevitably join the mass of molten rock. He selected a larger piece and threw that one, too.
       Tssss.
As it sank a sequence of larger bubbles popped lazily around it. Knax's ear flicked. And then, much to his confusion, Altan watched as more bubbles, larger bubbles, began to drift to the surface of the lava. Knax was fixated on the sight too, her head lifting from the hot ground to stare intently at the pool.
"What the..."
Suddenly there was a low grumble and a rumble reverberating throughout the ruin and for a moment Altan feared that the volcano was erupting. Then, the disturbed surface of the lava began to shift and burble more violently as something large and stony began to emerge from its depths. A large humanoid figure, with lizard-like features and veins of bright lava snaking through its rock body bared its rocky teeth at Altan and roared in an awful grating bellow. Almost a cry of pain. The veins of black cracking through its chest and polluting the lines of lava told Altan in an instant that this terrifying creature had been infested by a morapede. Just like with the corrupted thunderbird they had encountered before. It clawed its way from the pool, shedding droplets of sizzling lava in its wake.
Knax was on her feet growling, snarling, lunging, before Altan could even react. Her sharp teeth scraped across the arm of the creature, and the creature, more annoyed than harmed, twisted and batted her aside with a roar. Altan scrambled to his feet, fumbling for his sword and swiping it in front of him in a sweaty grasp. The monster was looming in front of the only exit, lava dripping from its craggy maw. Knax was barking viciously from behind it, trying to draw its attention to her, but her teeth had done nothing and it's eyes were fixed on Altan.
"Engbem!"
A beam of brilliant energy cracked a sizzling hole through the skull of the creature. Without a sound, it slumped to the ground, the lava trailing through its body going dim. The Prince barrelled through the crumbling door, eyes frantically surveying the room before he spotted Altan.
       "Are you alright?"
        Altan took in his heaving chest, the sweat dripping from his brow, and said "I could ask you the same thing, Goldilocke."
       "I heard conflict, and the moment I saw the corrupted cherufe I did not hesitate to act." The Prince replied, gazing disdainfully at the pile of lifeless rock.
         Knax prodded around the pool of lava, nudging her snout under Altan's arm with a whine. He absentmindedly ran his fingers through her thick black fur as he too stared at the dead 'cherufe'. From its chest emerged a writhing morapede which The Prince swiftly diced with his sword.
        "Why didn't you save that one? Like the thunderbird?" Altan asked as he watched The Prince flick the remains of Xorvad's monstrosity into the lava.
          "Cherufe are malicious creatures. Self-serving and animalistic. Not all creatures deserve to be spared, Altan."
        "Right..."
        "..."
        For several moments, neither of them said a thing. The only sounds that filled the hot, desolate ruin were the soft pants of Knax and the persistent slow burble of lava. Then The Prince turned to Altan, clasping a hand over his shoulder and staring at him with sudden sincerity.
"I will not abandon you, Altan."
Altan blinked. "...Thanks?"
The Prince nodded, and with no further explanation, turn and strode out the door.