Erin dropped down hard next to Artur as her vines covered the knife-wielding man's body. Depending on how strong he was and considering her flames, she didn't have a lot of time. She knelt, her hands immediately going down to examine Artur's body. Reddish-pink skin shone in the moonlight as Artur lay on the ground, his sword and shield resting by his empty, charred hands.

"Shades," Erin whispered, embracing the twisting energy in her body and pushing it into her hands.

"Merely a flesh wound," Artur whispered through blackened lips. "A scar worthy of an angel's boon."

"Shut it and hold still," Erin said, shaking her head and biting her lip.

She held her hands over Artur's body, focusing the power of growth through every bit of him as she ran her hands over every bit of him. While his charred clothes wouldn't heal, his skin immediately began to change. Old skin cracked and peeled as new, fresh pink layers welled up from beneath. The charred and blackened remnants of the fire dissolved to dust and flitted away into the sky.

Erin forced more aether into her gate as she took a deep breath. "Healing Touch."

Green light flowed out from her hands like twisting vines, wrapping around Artur's body and covering it like a cocoon. She hadn't tried a technique for healing before. Mostly, her power operated perfectly fine without the focus of a technique. However, the second level of her curse gave her access to so much more energy and power. It gave her something that she could shape.

"Erin, do not delay." Artur smiled from where his face stuck out of the green light. "Behind you, the enemy rises to slay."

"Fire Breath!"

Click. Fwoosh.

Erin spun her head in time to see the man struggling with her vines suddenly light up orange as flames wrapped around his body. Erin's eyes widened as the man immolated himself to escape her vines. She couldn't believe it. What kind of madman would set himself on fire instead of cutting them away?

"Finally!" charred and blackened, the man rose from the ground, seemingly unfeeling of the burns that ran across his body.

His face blazed a red-hot color that told Erin he hadn't escaped the fire unscathed. How he was standing at all was a mystery to her. He had to have adrenaline running through his entire body or was somehow suppressing the pain. No man should be able to stand with those burns across his entire body.

"I'm not about to let you two go." A jagged smile crossed his burnt lips as he stretched out two hands carrying blackened knives. "You got away earlier, and I can't let that slide. The two of you are going to make a fine meal."

Erin held up her hand, unthinkingly calling plants across her skin. Sprouts stuck up beneath her sleeves, growing into long vines as she picked through her options. Finally, she settled on the most likely one to get him to back off. She split her aether between her offense and defense, calling vines to sprout out her sleeves even while healing Artur's burns.

"Vine Whip!"

Thwip.

Two long green vines shot out of her sleeves, rushing toward the man like bullets. The man's knives flashed as he clicked his teeth a second time. Erin didn't need to guess what was about to happen. She just prepared for the hit and hoped her self-healing would be enough.

"Fire Breath!"

Click. Fwoosh.

"I will not yield! Rise Shield!"

A blue bubble appeared as Erin flinched back, cutting past the disintegrating vines and intersecting between her and the flames. The heat was still there, and Erin's skin prickled with sweat as the humid jungle air steamed, but the flames were held at bay. Beside her, a glowing green figure stood, his hand outstretched as he broke free of her healing energy.

"Artur!" Erin tried to redirect the glowing green light to him, but Artur continued marching on, his hand outstretched as he forced back the flame.

"We will take him down together!" Artur turned back to her, his face a mix of blotched pink skin and the remnants of his old burns. "His attacks, I will weather!"

Erin understood, but she needed an attacking option. All of her vines would wilt and burn under the fire's heat. She needed a way around the fire, but Artur was barely well enough to stand. Most of his clothes were burned away, and every other step forward, he staggered. Even his shield flickered as the flames slammed into it.

She worked through her options. The man had a curse that allowed him to breathe fire. That much was clear. That presented the worst problem. Her power, growth, and plants were automatically at a significant disadvantage. The fight was over when his flames hit any seed she threw or the vine she lashed out with. Even with Artur's shield, she couldn't get to him without first going through the flame.

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A thought crossed her mind. She could run. She could sacrifice Artur a second time, assured he would die. It would make their journey back more difficult. It would take his trust and dash it against the cold realities of survival, but it was an option that settled into the back of her mind.

Erin shook her head, focusing on her gate and pushing the thoughts aside. Artur had stayed and fought to allow her to free Ikal. He had already stood up to that fire and, when given the chance, had thrown himself back into the flame without hesitation. To run from that would be despicable.

"Shades."

Artur continued to march forward, his hand held high to steady his shield. It flickered and dimmed every few seconds. Erin didn't have long to think the plan through. She needed to act. She needed an edge. Her hands reached down to the pockets inside her cloak. She had to have something she could use—her dagger, anything in the pouches, and the lashes she kept under her green cloak.

Her hands ran across the insides and froze when she felt a sudden stutter in her gate. She had an option. The only question was if she could use it. From inside her cloak, she pulled out a pair of manacles made of a black iron with a single chain between them. Her eyes widened as Artur forced his way forward against the stream of fire.

"Keep going!" Erin yelled, rushing forward and putting her hands on Artur's shoulders.

Her gate gasped for aether in her chest as she held onto the metal. While in contact with it, she couldn't use her curse. The metal the manacles were made from interrupted the flow of aether. Much like the walls beneath the coliseum beneath Glory Plateau, the manacles would cut off the ability of a cursed person to use their power. The manacles she held had been used to keep Jean captive on the Robin many weeks before.

"Forward, forward, I say!" Artur yelled against the roar of the flame, his shield reinforcing itself as he pushed his hand against the force of the plume. "Together, we stand and win the day!"

Heat built as they forced their way forward against the flames together. Step by step until they were right on the man. Erin grimaced as the shield flickered ahead of her. She had to keep her eyes down to the ground. She could see only the man's feet. It was now or never.

"Grah!" She thrust her hands into the flames, throwing them through Artur's barrier.

She had one shot at it, and she didn't miss it. She forced her arm through to the elbow. She ignored the cracking sensation that ran across her skin. She didn't even have time to feel the pain before the nerves in her arm melted from the heat. All of that didn't matter. She forced the hot metal into the man's burning chest, throwing her body through the shield as the flames disappeared.

Thud.

They fell to the ground together, and Erin used her body to keep the cuffs touching the man's skin. Neither of them had access to their curse. Her arm was blackened and burned up to her to her elbows. His body was burned by his own flame, along with the seeping cuts caused by her vines.

"Artur!" Erin gasped, a stinging sensation erupting around her elbows as the nerves and skin there still survived.

She could barely think with the pain that shot through her mind like a white-hot fire. Even just yelling Artur's name had been like trying to break through a brick wall. Erin clenched her teeth. She knew pain. She had been through it plenty of times. She needed to focus. She needed to tell him what to do.

"Are you alright?" Artur started to pull her off, but Erin resisted. "Let us get you into the light!"

"No," Erin said, shaking her head. "Take the manacles. Put them on his wrists. Don't let—Don't let them stop touching him."

She grunted and slid so that he could reach around her. Her elbow screamed at her for putting pressure on it, but it had to be done. She didn't want to give him a chance to get back any drop of aether. She couldn't trust that the charred and bleeding man was unconscious until she knew he was bound.

"I understand." Artur nodded, taking hold of the manacles with his hands and shuddering at their touch. "I will have this man in bands."

Click. Click.

When Erin saw that he was bound, she fell to the ground beside the man, away from the manacles. Immediately, she took in a deep breath, and her body ate hungrily at the aether around her. She lay there for a moment, not daring to look down at her hands as she just embraced the feel of aether in her lungs.

"What about you?" Artur came up in her vision, blocking the moonlight from above. "What should I do?"

"Just give me a second," Erin whispered, closing her eyes and reopening her gate.

Ba-bump.

Her heart felt like it had beaten for the first time in the last few moments, though she knew it was fine. Erin closed her eyes, embracing the twining energy that ran out from her heart and down her limbs. Immediately, the skin on her arms began to itch as nerves grew from burnt stubs and the skin itself regrew. She resisted the urge to look at it or scratch at her arms with newly reforming nails.

"This is amazing," Artur whispered. "I might be praising."

"You grew back your skin already, idiot," Erin whispered, but she couldn't help but smile.

"That doesn't mean I can't be impressed," Artur said. "To be able to do this is the best."

Erin chuckled, finally looking down as she felt her healing continue. Where there had been blackened skin, there was now fresh, pink skin. It would take time to return to her normal pale skin, but just what she had now was more than enough. She reduced the flow of energy through her own body and eyed Artur.

He hadn't gotten any new cuts or burns from the push toward the man, but there were still a few blackened marks on his exposed skin. Much of his tunic had burned away, and some of his chains had melted into the skin on his shoulder. Erin gestured to that with one hand as she held up her glowing fingers.

"Rip that chain out of your skin," Erin said. "It'll hurt, but you don't want it to affect your healing."

"Are you certain?" Artur's newly pinkened face went considerably paler. "That sounds like it will cause much pain."

"You don't want metal in the middle of regrowing skin and bones," Erin said. "Maki learned that the hard way back on Glory Plateau."

Artur tilted his head, but Erin just shook her own.

"I'll tell you about it after we rip it out," Erin said. "Hold still and grit your teeth. You'll get over it."