Xerihan backed his head up reflexively when Amaretto brought his sword to bear, but otherwise the griffon didn’t move. “Hello to you too, unicorn,” Xerihan replied bemusedly. Once Amaretto had sheathed his sword, the griffon turned his attention back to Thea. 

“I’ve come back from up north. The short of it is I’ve few places left to go, and I figured I should make good on my promise to help and provide information. Speaking of, the abilities you gave me - they were extraordinarily useful. Thank you.”

“I did not so much give you abilities as I allowed you to simply do better at hiding and sensing than usually,” Theá noted, lazily changing her posture. “But that aside, you have information? Of which kind, and who—or what—is it about?” 

As she spoke Amaretto walked over to the window, eyes trained on the horizon, and pretending to not care for the newcomer. Even then, his ears struggling to not turn towards Xerihan and Theá was enough to know that he was listening.

“Well, as I said, I went north, back to my family. I helped my father, one of the nobles and clan leaders in the Griffon Kingdoms, in exchange for protection from the Cult,” Xerihan replied crisply. “Ricket and I mostly spied on the other clans, but there were a few kidnappings and assassinations. All to help my father position himself for a political takeover. He had enough allies and followers to heavily influence the next assembly of nobles, which is in a few days. That was when he abandoned me; he gave me six hours to leave before the guards would attack me. He had no more use for me.”

“So your cock of a father threw you out after he got what he wanted. Is that what I’m hearing?” Amaretto asked, throwing a quick glance over his shoulder. “Doesn’t sound like much of a father, if you ask me.” He turned back to watching the horizon. “Parents should take care of their bloody children, not use them for their own gains.” 

Theá—having watched Amaretto speak with some interest—turned back to Xerihan. “I must agree with Amaretto on this. For what it’s worth, you have my sympathies. But from what you’re telling me, the one you call Father is taking over the Gryphon Government for himself, and have thrown you out now that he has what he wants.” She went silent for a time, then, eyes cast towards the ceiling as she thought. After about a minute’s silence she finally spoke up again. “You mentioned Ricket. I remember him. What happened?” 

“He’s dead,” Xerihan answered detachedly. “Killed by Snap Freeze. After which I killed Snap Freeze in turn. And now that I’ve broken both the mental link and killed one of the Cult’s best assassins, I doubt the Cult will spend many more resources trying to track me down. And if they do, it won’t be nearly as troublesome as Snap Freeze.”

Walking to one of the beds, Xerihan leaned against it and sighed deeply. He stared through the wall. “About the griffon kingdoms… it’s not all bad news.” His gaze returned to Thea. “If you’re unaware, nearly every clan has spies in all the other clans. It’s part and parcel of the culture. Before I left, I… killed my father’s last heir. And my father is old; I doubt he could sire another child. With no heirs, his power will be suspect at best. I’d wager it will be enough to destabilize his position.” The griffon shrugged. “I did what I could to stop him. Hopefully he won’t be able to bear the griffon kingdoms against Equestria, or whatever schemes he has in mind.”

“Even if he did,” Theá answered grimly, though with a smile almost audible in her voice, “he would find himself faced with a foe he could not possible match.” 

“I’m sure the Gryphons will be scared to death by a Cocker Spaniel threatening them with divine retribution… With luck they’ll laugh themselves to death.” 

Rather than honour him with a response, Theá settled for a baleful glare that didn’t really have the intended purpose of drilling a hole through Amaretto’s skull. She kept it up for all of three seconds before she decided that Xerihan was more worthy of her attention. “At any rate, if you say that the Gryphon Kingdoms are of no threat, then I will trust you. For now, however, I believe your wounds should be tended to. Amaretto, your bandages.”

Bandages were fetched, and water was carried in from the bathroom in a small basin, heated up by Amaretto’s cobalt flames. He offered no protest at any point, obviously respecting the alicorn a great deal, in spite of his sarcastic comments and jokes. “Show me your paw,” he demanded, a rag for cleaning held in his magic beside a fresh roll of bandages.

Cracking a small grin, Xerihan gladly complied, though not before snarking, “S’long as you promise not to stick me.” Then he remembered a relatively important fact: “Uh, wait. I think the bone was broken.” He paused, then grimaced “Just don’t be too rough.”

“Can’t promise that,” Amaretto replied, his tone even more grim than Theá’s from before. Not to mention as close to uncaring as possible. The dirty and torn bandages already wrapped around the wound were undone, careful as to not cause unnecessary pain, and promptly burned into nothingness by the same cobalt flames. 

Then the rag was applied, wiping away caked blood and washing the bound, undoubtedly causing quite a bit of pain. “You know, I could sterilize the wound if you want,” Amaretto said as he continued his work. “I’d burn the blood vessels and remove any dead flesh to avoid infections. It’ll hurt like hell, but at least you wouldn’t risk dying from infections.” He soaked the rag in the water, washing the blood off of it, and then returned it to the wound. “What do you say?” 

Xerihan groaned, but he agreed. “Just be quick about it,” he added. “And don’t heat up the metal if possible”. To distract himself, he turned back to Thea. “I’ll admit Thea, I was skeptical when the hare led me here. What have you been doing that you’re in this small town?”

[i]I should probably warn him that it’s hellfire, hot enough to burn through a Changeling’s chitin… Bah. He’ll survive.[/i] Amaretto lit his horn, starting to summon a small which he concentrated on making as hot as he could. 

Meanwhile, Theá had turned to Xerihan, looking thoughtful as she thought over his question. “I cannot answer you in any way but this: I do what I am. As of now, only Amaretto,” she nodded towards the stallion who was in the process of hovering the coin-sized—and incredibly hot— flame closer to the wound, “knows of my doings here. On a side note, you may want me to hold you down.” A green shimmer of magic surrounded Xerihan, holding him down as well as casting a filter across him, muting almost all sounding within a small area around him. She knew he would scream. For his part, Xerihan stared at her dumbfoundedly.

The flame touched the Gryphon’s flesh, instantly bringing forth the smell of burnt flesh as blood boiled at its touch and vaporized, blood vessels closing, and infections annihilated. He kept it up for another few seconds, making sure that all of it was cleanly burnt away before he extinguished it. “And now for setting the bone… Sorry mate.” He grabbed hold of the two parts of the broken bone with his magic and, with a powerful yank, set it straight. He figured it probably caused another small fraction seeing as it had partially grown together already, but breaking that up was a necessary evil.

He then went about bandaging the wound and applying a splint to keep the leg straight, Theá dispelling the sound bubble and releasing her grip on Xerihan. 

Xerihan had managed to not scream during the disinfection, but when Amaretto set the bone he couldn’t help himself. “GrrrraaAAAAHHHHH!!!”. A second passed where Xerihan simply lay there. Then he looked up, and his mood had turned acidic. 

“That’s one of the things I miss about being a noble’s son,” he growled. Once he was bandaged, the griffon hastily pulled away from Amaretto and nursed his paw. “Proper medical care. And I’d appreciate it if you gave me prior warning, for future reference!” he snapped. Forcibly calming himself, Xerihan sat down on the bed opposite Thea. “Well then… it sounds like you’re keeping things close to your chest. Do you need help? Or rather, do you even [i]want[/i] it? I have little else to do, you know.”

Amaretto seemed uncaring at best in regards to the acidic tone, a raised eyebrow being the only reaction. “Warning you would not have eased the pain,” he said. “If anything it would just have made you tense up and made the pain worse. I did what I was asked, and I did it quickly and efficiently. Your leg will heal and be good to walk on in a few months’ time.” He stood up and went about cleaning up whatever blood there was, and discarding the, now dirty, water.

Theá stood up on the bed, stretching like any dog would before laying down again. “What I need right now is not help, but rather information. In your state, however, I doubt you would be of much use. You may, however, be able to tell me something. Tell me, did you ever encounter a unicorn doctor by the name of Silver Scalpel?” 

“Silver Scalpel?” Xerihan perked an eyebrow. “I don’t believe I’ve heard that name before. Why do you ask?”

“For reasons that are my own. As I mentioned before, I do what I am.” 

“Anything else?” Amaretto asked, closing the door to the bathroom behind him. “Chick’s cleaned up, dirty bandages thrown out and what not.” 

Theá shook her head, ears flapping about. “That’ll be all for now.” 

“I’ll go down to get a pint, then. Send a bug after me if you need me.” 

“I will. Now,” Theá turned back to Xerihan. “You said you know nothing of him? Hmm… Is there anything else you discovered in the past two weeks that might be worth mentioning?” 

Xerihan shrugged, unsure as to what would be useful. “Well, there were miscellaneous things I learned about the nobles up north. Griffon politics, nothing you’d be terribly interested in, I suspect. I managed to find a zebra in the Everfree that brewed me a potion to permanently sever my mental connection to the Laughing Mare, as well as the psychological addiction she had me bound under. I reconnected with a colleague, a young stallion that specializes in disguises. You know about the family of travelling ponies I encountered a few weeks back, as unfortunate as that was. Doctor Charred passed Ricket and myself as we left Trottingham, and before that was when I fell out with the Cult and ran.” Xerihan tapped a claw against his chin, his head tilted in thought. “Nothing else springs to mind, I’m afraid.”

Sighing, Theá rested her head on her paws, contemplative. “You are right that the squabbles of nobility are of no concern to an Immortal. As for the rest of it, I’m glad you are rid of your addictions and whatever else ailed your mind… If nothing else, I suggest you sleep. You’ll need your strength.”

Tenderly moving his paw, Xerihan nodded in agreement. “As good a plan as any. Good night, Thea.” Nothing else needed to be said. Picking up his bag, Xerihan opened the door and turned into the hallway, then closed the door behind him. 

Fifteen minutes later, he had paid for a room in the same inn, and had tucked away his few meager possessions. Settling into the bed and trying to ignore the pain in his right paw, Xerihan could only wonder at what his next step would be.