Rhenor had been getting a bit worried when Kaz hadn't come back in a while, though he had pushed those worries aside, thinking he was being overprotective and ridiculous. That opinion changed as soon as he heard the light tapping on the window behind him and turned around.

His eyes grew wide. Even in the dark, he could easily see Kaz, looking at him from the outside, shirtless, and with wings growing out of his back. But even those weren't what caught Rhen's attention the most was the pained expression on his face.

Rhenor was running to the window the next second, immediately opening it.

"Where are you hurt?" Rhen demanded as he helped pull Kaz into the room, noticing to his shock that Kaz's hands had been bound behind his back. He made quick work of the ropes with his newly bought hunting knife without asking Kaz what had happened.

"Wing," he said with a whine, looking down. Rhenor hadn't even known Kaz could change his body to this extent, but that was about the last thing he was thinking about when he noticed the wound. It didn't look too serious, and it didn't seem to be bleeding anymore, but it was no doubt painful.

"What in Andor's name happened to you, Kaz?" Elaya exclaimed, grabbing the dragon's shoulder and making him face her. Kaz grimaced, rubbing his arm nervously.

"I...had a run-in with someone from the Capital," Kaz replied, sighing in defeat. Rhenor frowned, having no idea what that could mean, but he ignored his questions as he helped Kaz sit down at the table. He couldn't help but stare at the way the spot where the wings connected to his back. It looked so strange to him, though he immediately had to kick himself for even thinking that. Kaz was hurt, and Rhenor was evaluating him.

"Did they hurt you?" Elaya asked, her previous look of concern now replaced with a glare as she sat down opposite Kaz.

Kaz shook his head, rubbing his eyes. Rhen sat down as well right next to him, allowing Kaz to stretch his unharmed wing out now that he wasn't standing in the way anymore.

"Who was it?"

"Eryn."

Rhenor was about to ask who that was, but judging by Elaya's unsure expression, she wasn't entirely certain who Eryn was either.

"The...guard?"

Kaz nodded quickly, his breathing quickening. Rhen could tell Kaz was going to say a lot next, and he was more than prepared to hear it all. "Yes, her. She tried to warn me about something bad happening soon. I wanted to ask her what she meant, but she ran. So I followed her."

Kaz waved with his uninjured wing then, probably to explain why he had them, though, with all the other questions Rhen had, that hadn't even occurred to him to think about. "She met up with others, and they talked about...." Kaz groaned in frustration. "I don't know what, exactly. But I...." He looked first at Elaya and then at Rhenor, his face utterly serious, his eyes full of fear. "I think something terrible is going to happen." Then he lowered his gaze to the table. "I think everyone here is going to die."

Kaz went on to explain that the people apparently working for a Dragon Lord had something about placing lures, most likely around the city, and about them attacking him and him managing to escape.

Rhenor had to admit that he was very impressed by Kaz, given that he'd managed with his hands tied up and one of his wings injured, but mostly he felt guilty for not being there to help him, even though Rhenor knew realistically he couldn't have taken part. Not when Kaz had once again dove right into danger without telling anyone.

Rhenor realized this was very inconsequential in comparison to a deadly attack on Embertide that might soon happen, but it bothered him anyway.

"You should have told us," Rhen said, only realizing how his words must have sounded when he saw Kaz grimace.

"I know."

Rhenor was about to clarify that he'd not meant to sound so berating, but Elaya spoke before he could say anything. "We have to tell someone about this."

"Adria?" Rhen suggested, but Kaz shook his head with alarm in his gaze.

"We can't. Not without telling her how I know Eryn. And if we tell her, then she'll know we lied about who we are."

"We could lie some more."

Kaz didn't need to say anything to make it clear he didn't like that idea—his sour expression did the job just fine. And Rhenor agreed with him. Creating a web of lies was rarely a good idea.

"We can investigate that cabin you found," Rhenor suggested. "Look for evidence. That should convince the mayor. And if she asks how we found it, we can say we stumbled across the place while hunting."

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Kaz gave a tentative nod, his eyebrows drawn together in an unhappy frown. "There might be nothing left by the time we go there. I did mess up and alert them."

Rhenor sighed. Did he think that if Kaz had come to them first, and they'd all gone to the cabin together, it would have ended differently? Yes. But that didn't mean that Kaz was right to blame himself like this. Especially not when it was habitual at this point.

"You learned things we might not have if we all went there. It would have taken too long," Elaya pointed out, her voice growing gentler. Rhenor nodded. She made a very good point.

"Still...."

"We'll see what we can find," Rhenor said before Kaz could argue further. "Tomorrow we will go to the cabin. If we find nothing, we will then discuss what to do next."

The dragon sighed, his wings lowering slightly, but nonetheless he nodded. Rhen studied him closely, noting his half-lidded eyes and the sheen of sweat on his face. Kaz must have been exhausted after his ordeal, not to mention his injured wing. Rhenor was about to suggest that he should get some sleep when Kaz did it for him.

"Okay," he said quietly, sighing. "Do you mind if I lie down now?"

"I think we should all get some rest," Rhenor replied, locking eyes with Elaya who gave him a nod. To be honest, Rhenor wasn't that tired, and Elaya didn't seem to be either, but it was late, and they had a stressful day ahead of them.

Kaz settled down on his bed while Rhenor and Elaya went around blowing out candles, leaving the only source of light in the room the fireplace in the corner. The room was fairly small, so the light reached a lot of it, but it was still dark enough to not be disruptive of their sleep.

By the time Rhenor was done with his half of the room and had sat down on his own bed, Elaya was softly snoring on the other side of the room. Rhen still had trouble accepting how easily the woman could fall asleep, but he had given up on trying to understand it.

He looked over at Kaz whose bed was opposite Rhenor's, some ten feet between them. The dragon was trying to untie his tunic, which was tied around his arm, using his other hand and his teeth, but he didn't seem to be making much progress. Rhen wasn't sure why he found the sight of Kaz failing to do something endearing, but he decided not to think about that as he got up and sat next to Kaz instead so he could help him remove the garment.

"Thank you," Kaz mumbled once it was done, playing with the fabric now in his hands. He was very visibly avoiding eye contact, and while Rhenor wasn't sure why, he knew it couldn't be good.

"How is your wing?"

If anything, Kaz ducked his head even more, pulling his wings closer to himself, and Rhen tried not to sigh. So that was the problem. Kaz thought Rhenor had an issue with him seeing him like this. Honestly, Rhen now felt stupid for not having figured that out already.

"It should be fine by tomorrow," Kaz replied, his voice flat. "I can't put the wing away until it heals. The wound would get transferred to my back, and that might reopen it."

Rhenor narrowed his eyes, his stomach twisting. He hated that Kaz was having these thoughts because of him, even if he'd not been the one to put them in the dragon's head originally.

But before he could voice any of this, Kaz spoke again, looking up at him with a look that couldn't be described as anything other than miserable.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to give myself away when I was spying on those people," he said, sighing. "I just fell because the branch I was standing on broke, and—"

"What are you talking about?" Rhenor interrupted him. He was so confused all of a sudden. What did this have to do with anything? "Do you think I blame you for what happened tonight?"

Kaz stared at Rhen for a moment until finally giving him a small, unsure nod. Rhen scoffed, shaking his head as he put his hands on Kaz's shoulders. "I don't care about that. You got away, that is all that matters."

Kaz still looked upset. "Still...."

"Well, all right, I do care that you put yourself in danger again. You could have died."

Kaz ducked his gaze. "Sorry." Then he looked up again, the usual spark in his eyes somewhat reignited. "But I had to. If I went here first, they could have left by the time we all got there, and then—"

Rhenor stopped him by gently squeezing his shoulders. "I know. I'm not blaming you."

Rhen had thought those words would bring Kaz some comfort, but instead, the dragon pouted, looking as unhappy as a wet kitten. Rhenor sighed, bringing Kaz into a gentle hug. When Kaz very quickly returned it, pushing his nose against Rhen's shoulder, Rhenor hugged him tighter, mindful of the wings. They seemed even larger from here, looking like they were at least as long as Kaz was tall each if they fully spread out.

Rhenor felt the unharmed wing brush against his back as if Kaz wanted to hug him with it, too, but almost immediately the dragon pulled back, scratching at the back of his head as he looked anywhere but at Rhenor.

"Uh, sorry. You wanted to go to sleep."

Rhenor took a deep breath to stop himself from telling Kaz to stop apologizing and let go of him, resting one hand on the dragon's forearm instead. "I could sleep here. If you wanted me to."

Kaz's eyes flew up to meet Rhen's, his face turning a shade darker, which was dramatic enough to notice even in the dark.

"Yes," he blurted out a second later, blushing even more as he began to fidget in place. Rhenor wasn't sure why Kaz was so nervous, but he couldn't deny that his heart was fluttering at the thought a little. It was ridiculous, though—they'd slept next to each other many times. There being a bed didn't change much. Honestly, what he should actually be worrying about was potentially falling off the bed at some point because it wasn't very wide. But he was sure they'd manage.

Deciding to just do it, Rhenor kicked off his boots and lay down, settling himself on the worn mattress with a content sigh. When Kaz did nothing for a few seconds too many, Rhenor was about to try to nudge him with his words, but then the dragon finally moved, laying down carefully next to Rhen, with the wall behind him. Rhenor hoped he wouldn't hurt his wings on that, but Kaz didn't seem very bothered as he relaxed, his face pressing up against Rhenor's shoulder.

It didn't look very comfortable, but Kaz didn't seem to care at all.

"G'night, Rhen," he mumbled, yawning as Rhenor pulled the covers over both of them.

A small smile tugged on Rhenor's lips. "Good night."

He tried to close his eyes, relax, and fall asleep, even as Kaz's breathing slowed, one wing drooping over Rhen's chest, but he couldn't stop thinking about everything they'd found out tonight. Whatever danger was coming, it didn't seem like they would have much of a chance at fighting it.

Rhen couldn't help but consider simply leaving before whatever was supposed to happen, just so he knew Kaz would be safe. But he knew the dragon would refuse. Maybe Rhenor himself would, too.

He just hoped that whatever they would find tomorrow was going to be useful. If not, then Rhenor had no idea what they were going to do.