Demadara´s wounds began to close and heal under Timae´s glowing hands. Healing the twisted and broken limbs however was far beyond her capacity. Instead she picked her up and walked away from the field of battle, away from the plains for now.

They found shelter in a little cave, out of sight and mind of the wild animals that had started to come out of their hiding places now that Kaya and her pets had left. The fox woman planted a small fire, and sat down at Demadara´s side.

"Put, put that out." Demadara muttered, her hands still clinging to the heart. It´s glow was spreading to her limbs, arranging them back into their proper place.

"But my lord, it can get quite cold here, even during summer. It would be very irresponsible to sleep without some form of warmth, and we have no blankets to speak of."

Demadara was gritting her teeth, she had already crawled away to the back of the cave. "If you need it that badly then fine, but keep it away from me."

She wrapped her mantle closer around herself and pulled her hood down as far as she could. The rustling of clothes, the tapping of feet. Finally she felt a touch on her shoulder, and she looked up.

Timae had sat down beside her, her tails were brushing up against her body.

"I apologise that we left the, remains of your friend behind in this way. I was too worried about you, my lord."

"He wasn't my friend." Her hands clung onto the heart "Just, some annoying stranger that roped me into this whole mess. I just saw some taurs kill a little girl and I wanted revenge, not to be hunted by a mad dog."

Timae turned her gaze to the fire, her head lowering. "I understand. I thank him, and will treasure his memory, for bringing you to me, my lord."

Demadara scoffed and stared down at the flawless, purple surface of the Heart. "I'm no lord, Timae. You heard her. I'm a fool who took something that should have been out of her reach. I just, did."

"And why does this not make you my lord?" Timae´s ears perked up. "Despite your stature, despite the likelihood, you reached out and took that which you wanted. That is the spirit of conquest."

A faint smile spread across her lips as she leaned back against the wall of the cave.

"A born king, a talented warrior, they take because they were taught and trained to conquer. The vanquished, their servants and slaves have any such thoughts beaten out of them. We, both know that, I am sure."

Their shoulders brushed up against each other.

"But they were not successful with you, were they. If they were, we would not be here now. And you would not be my lord."

Demadara tore her eyes from the Heart, and stared off into the dark.

"It belonged to my master. My teacher."

Timae´s ears twitched, but she remained silent, letting Demadara speak.

"Some local thugs broke me out of my cage when I was fifteen. One of them had seen the conductivity marks they burned into my skin, thought I'd be useful to them. Well, I was, for three years."

"Did they let you go then, my lord?"

Demadara let out a hoarse laugh and shook her head. "Someone who can poison a body from looking at them, who can move without sound, move faster than most can think? They never would've let me go. But they started trusting me, treating me like one of their own. They let me stand guard at night, without all my restraints they used to keep me under lock. The first night I slit their throats and left. Idiots."

She took a deep breath and closed her eyes. "Then I met her, on the road. Looked like any poor old lady, probably wealthy, easy target. But easy targets like that don't wander Zanaan cities at night. So I talked to her instead, she probably took pity on me, everyone who looks at me does if they're not just repulsed. Let me work for her."

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"She was a mage then, my lord?"

Demadara nodded and stretched her legs. "Sure was. She taught me how to read, write, let me organise her library, started teaching me magic that wasn't just body augmenting. Then she got banished for not renouncing the Scholar, and me with her. And all this time."

Her gaze finally returned to the Heart, the shine of it´s glow reflecting in her eyes. "All this time she had this thing just laying around in a stupid little box. Can you imagine." Her hands clung so tightly they started shaking. "She wanted to give it away, to the twin academies off east. I couldn't. I couldn't feel this, this power, these possibilities, and just give them up. Another trusted person. Another cut throat."

She pulled the Heart closer to her chest, little shivers rocking her body.

"You are very strong, my lord." Timae´s tails tightened their hold around Demadara´s waist, letting the fox woman scoot closer. "You never lost sight of your goal, and continued to pursue it, come what may."

Demadara shook her head and relaxed her body, letting herself lean into Timae´s embrace. "I know you're not human, but you're quite accepting here. Is betraying trust not a crime or evil thing for your people?"

The fox woman shook her head. "Among people, sure. But there are many ways to power, my lord. What meaning do the voices of the weak have in comparison? Only another lord can judge, another lord who is stronger."

Demadara began to close her eyes and let one of her hands go from the Heart to Timae´s shoulder. "So you just don't care at all?"

Timae reached up to Demadara´s hood, and tugged on it just lightly. When she did not react to it, the fox woman slowly pulled it back until they were face to face.

"When Kaya wanted for my people to no longer exist, she almost made it happen. Likewise, I only exist because you decided for it to be so. I can scream, cry for vengeance, but were I to try I would only share their fate. I do not want that. I want to mourn their deaths, and I will, I have. And I want to aid you, my lord, with everything that I have. For the life you gave me, for what you will do with the world."

Demadara sunk further into the fox woman, her head resting down on her chest. "I don't want to do anything with the world. But I will not let anyone tell me what to do any longer. I will be free, or I will be dead."

Timae nodded her head and brought her hand up to Demadara´s head. With her long clawlike nails she ran through her hair, putting some long-absent order back into it.

"Then you must surpass Kaya, my lord. She may be gone now, but she will hunt you until the ends of the earth, until one of you is defeated."

It was strange. Whenever Demadara stared into flame, her body remembered. But now, as she was looking at the little, flickering light, her body was calm, her ears did not ring with echoes.

"The academies. That is where we should go. If they know about how the Heart works, then I can wring that knowledge out of them. And send that mad dog into the ground."

Her eyelids began to flicker, it grew harder and harder to keep them open. "You can hide amongst us, right, so we can veer into imperial territory. Should be a lot safer than crossing the plains or the great hills, and the academy is deep in Atal anyway."

With Demadara´s hair at least partially tamed, Tiame instead rested her hand on her shoulder. "I can blend amongst your kind, yes my lord. It will not be a difficult task, I spent much time in human villages as part of my training and hunting. I had gathered many faces, but they were taken from me with my tails."

"There will be a lot of death in my future, I am sure you will find ample opportunity to steal new ones." Demadara´s voice began to trail off. "Timae?"

"Yes, my lord?"

"Do you know, why Kaya let me live?"

The fox woman froze. Her ears twitched, but all she could hear was the fire, Demadara´s breath and the distant howling of the wind, a rolling thunder that approached.

"I, do not. I heard a loud sound, saw her terrified for a moment, and then she left. My kind have no god to our own, but we often speak of fate regardless. That it was fate for you to become free, fate for me to be given life by you, my lord. Perhaps fate decided that it was not yet time for your path to end."

"Fate." Demadara muttered, as her body began to relax and go limp. "I wont let fate decide-"

Her last words were lost in a mumble, and ended in her relaxed, faint breathing. Timae closed her eyes as well and held on closely to Demadara, her head resting atop that of her lord.

"In time, my lord. In time it will be you who will decide fate."

As the fox woman descended into sleep, a sharp breeze raced past the entrance to the cave. It blew out the candle before passing, and made the fox woman´s ears chitter. It almost sounded like laughter.