[IC] Causatum (Lucius Cypher and Ontos)

[Lucius Cypher]

Terra kept her narrow, intense glare on Adell as he began to speak demonic. "You're saying something as though I'm suppose to understand that..." Eventually he finally managed to say something she understood, in a sense that she knew he was saying words but what he said didn't make much sense at first. She clenched her teeth when he mentioned making her his sex slave, and obvious jest, but not one that she took lightly. Still, not like there was much she could do but mouth off at him. "So... What? You just saved me because... You... Didn't want me to die?" Only than did Terra break off her glare and turned towards the open window. She was trying so hard to make sense of this. Was he lying? Was he just stupid? A bit of both? Her body was starting to get sore sitting like this, so she eased herself back to resting position. "This is all just very tiresome. I'm going to back to sleep. And you, Adell..." Terra looked at Adell with an intense glare. But behind the tough, hostile stare, something inside of his was shaking. Something on the verge of crying. Adell wouldn't get to see it, because she closed her eyes to go to sleep.

"Thank you."

[Ontos]

"Rest well," he whispered under his breath. Her thanking him made Adell feel a little warm inside, though.

Plucking off all his armour and placing it on the side of one of the free beds, he collapsed on it. Dressed in a black shirt and shorts, sleep came quickly to the demon. For the first time in a while, he had soft, decently smelling sheets.

The rest was dreamless. It was said that dreams were the domains of souls, and his soul was probably too diminished by corruption. It was just as well. Everyone who he met had some sort of bad experience, and their restless sleep were the weak points of the cynical façades that they held. From the legendary Lord Xen who united the west under one banner 300 years ago to the hapless people that eked out a meagre living, there was a little saying amongst the civilised demon culture that epitomised this.

O̸nly demons ̸do͡n͢'̴t ͝s͢ęe̛ de̷mo͞nś iń ̕t҉heir ͠sl͜eep.

The morning of the next day began, though the demon prince was a late riser even before the world ended. Dalen entered the infirmary, smiled a little at the demon still snoozing peacefully in the bed. The proverbial bucket list of the old healer was improved by the addition of 'seeing a demon sleep like a baby'.

Dalen turned his gaze onto Terra, and took a seat down next to her bed.

"Are you feeling better?" he asked.

[Lucius Cypher]

Sleep was a bit harder for her to get than Terra realized. Getting so grievously injured wasn't an often occurrence, and the bed wasn't exactly all that comfortable for her. She did get a few hours of rest, but by the time the doctor had come in, she's been up for the last hour. Still, Terra was able to get up without too much main, but her formerly broken arm was still in no condition to do anything aside from being left stiff by her side. "Mostly. Still sore, but I can move. Give it to me strait doctor; how long will it take for me to recover?"

[Ontos]

Dalen held Terra's injured arm gently, lifting it up slowly and towards his eyes.

"Hmm...." murmured Dalen. The little noise Dalen made, though not loud enough to be heard outside the infirmary, elicited a weak, sleepy groan from Adell. The old man looked behind for a moment to smile at the demon, then turned back to face Terra with a straight face.

"A day or so will let you start using that arm again. But it'll probably only be able to do things like hold a cup of tea and such. Real combat might take almost a week of rest."

Dalen placed Terra's arm back in its original position. He frowned as he leaned forward on his chair, looking Terra in the eyes. "Healing you was a difficult thing to do. I'd have asked you for your assistance for a couple of... difficult things, except that I owed your guardian demon some favours."

His gaze softened, but his tone remained the same. "You don't get to my age without give and take, and you don't get to his age without some sort of cruel streak. I'm not sure what he—"

Adell groaned loudly, and rolled over in his bed to face Dalen and Terra. His blank eyes opened up, and he pouted at the two. "Don't gossip about me when I'm trying to sleep here, Dalen."

The demon's pout changed into a smile. "Besides, you still need some assistance in some things, right?"

Dalen nodded. "The issue that I talked to you about 2 years ago still hasn't improved. It has gotten worse, in fact."

"Damned Enders. Sp̷iĺl͠ ̷the͜ir̨ blood f̷or̕e̷v̕er̶.̨" The strange thing about demonhood was that they came with their own sayings. Adell had no context to how they formed, but they came to his mind naturally when he turned.

[Lucius Cypher]

Terra looked depressed at Dalen's summation of her health. A week of inactivity. She psent nearly all her money preparing for this mission, failed it, and now she owned the doctor. Worse yet, it seemed like the doctor wanted her to deal with the Enders. "God damn doc. I'd need a week to rest, but even at my best I wouldn't want to be near those guys. But... What is it that they've been doing the past two years?" Terra was going to regret having saved, but she tried to be a bit hopeful. If she can get the rest, and if she could swallow her pride enough to ask for Adell's help, maybe she could try to go back into the ruins before it's too late, get her bounty, and try to live as comfortable before she ends up dead like everyone else.

[Ontos]

Adell sat up cross-legged on his bed and looked at Terra. She certainly looked much better than she was in the catacombs, though a few descriptives words were all that were between her and sausage fillings.

"Well, they've been raiding the area around here last I heard. And what I last heard was 2 years ago. They—"

Dalen stepped forward, interrupting the demon both physically and verbally. "They abducted our mayor last week. They've been sending us his body parts every day since, starting with one of his testicles."

Adell grinned like a little boy as he popped his feet off the bed and onto the floor. Normally, hearing that sort of news brought alarm to any sane human's ears.

"Ooh, can I guess what parts they sent back?!" he chirped.

Dalen shook his head with his eyes closed, letting out an exasperated sigh. "I know you didn't like him, but it is serious. They demand all the shelter within town limits, and they basically want to chase us out of our homes."

Adell's smile gave way to a thoughtful frown. The Enders were definitely chasing out people living around them, though why they failed to launch any serious assaults to do so was a question that lingered on his mind. They certainly did not lack the power; Adell had trouble fighting a couple of Enders at once. They maintained that weird 'tribal' look Adell associated with the barbarians of the pre-apocalyptic times, but there was something strong about them.

"I hate to go alone against all them. But no one in the town trust a demon."

Dalen gave a knowing look towards Terra from the corner of his gaze, then looked back at Adell.

[Lucius Cypher]

Terra grimaced at the sound of what happened to the mayor. It certainly did sound like something they'd do, all the more reason why Terra wanted nothing to do with them. She'd be fortunate if she was killed if she ever had to get involved with them. But as rightful as her fear was, she wouldn't have made it far into her line of business if she scurried away from all the things she was scared of. She had a general idea of what the doctor wanted; he wanted her, and possibly Adell, to somehow stop the Ender's. easier said than done; even if they could somehow kill the nearest group, the Ender's could always just send more, or simply take over the town by force than whatever it was they did now. And that's assuming if Terra and Adell could defeat even one of their soldiers; they were just brutes with weapons. As barbaric as they looked and acted, they were also disciplined and trained fighters, with both weapons and magic. A group of Ender Warriors would be more indomitable than a wall made of solid steel. "Like I said, even if I was at my best, it'll take more than me and him to take on a group of Ender warriors. Entire clans and tribes face off against their war parties, and only a few remain to tell the tales of their defeat. So I hope this favor of yours doesn't involve us trying to fight off against their warriors." Terra hoped, but had to ready herself for whatever the favor was.

[Ontos]

Dalen let out a single hearty laugh, then the feeling of slight amusement disappeared. His gaze drooped to the floor, and he plopped himself down onto a spare bed and sighed.

"Well, no. But I reckon that this town isn't important to them, and they're busy with other things to bother attacking us. But I think..."

The old man paused. His hand went to his chin. Whatever he was thinking, he clearly was re-evaluating it. Adell cocked his head. Dalen was quite the strategist; at least, he was much better than a demon that couldn't protect his homeland.

Dalen looked up from his thoughts, his expression hardening. "They're a small group, I wager. Take them out, and send a fake message to any so-called chain-of-command they have that Widds is under control. We're too out of the way for them to check, and they won't ever need us."

Adell's eyes didn't change, but the silence from him showed his shock all the same. He stuttered as he tried to speak, the words coming out faster than his brain could wrap itself around Dalen's plans.

"I'm not fucking suicidal, and I'm not that good by myself!"

Dalen gave another knowing look towards Terra, and then looked back at the demon lad. A smile crept up his face, at the same time Adell imagined a serpent made of ice crawling up his spine.

"Don't go alone."

[Lucius Cypher]

Terra groaned. Of course the doctor wanted the two of them to try to kill some Ender warriors. She wouldn't want to face one of them, and this guy wanted her to face a "small group". sure, she'd have Adell, but Ender Warriors aren't like demons; they're not savage killers, they're trained, disciplined ones. It's because of that quality that they've been able to face off against all and any tribes despite being outnumbered twenty-to-one. That and cunning. However, Terra did not say no; as much as she'd like to, she owed the doctor, and if she did say no, he could just kill her. Not like she was in any position to put up a meaningful fight.

"Yeah, well... I'd need a lot of time to rest up first before I can even go back out to just explore, let alone fight. That being said... I do hope you have a better plan than just sending me and him to politely tell them to shove off." She didn't like the idea of facing against the Enders, but she will anyways. But as much as Terra would like to die on her feet, dying isn't the reason she lives in the first place. This guy better have a plan, and if he doesn't, she's going to have to gather all her wits to make one up.