WARNING: because of the nature of the plot, this chapter deals exclusively with OCs. I realize what a bad move this is, but it's a calculated risk. It will be the only chapter without any canon characters in this fic. You're free to flame, of course, but you might as well not waste your time, because you really can't tell me something I already know :P

I must not panic. If I panic, neither of us stands a chance.

Do not panic.

Auraleous do not panic. Slow your heart.

No amount of talking to my own mind did anything to keep my thoughts from buzzing around like bees. No amount of consoling myself changed the fact that Laila could not help me with this greatest danger any more than she could help me raise our daughter these seven long seasons.

As I feverishly gouged symbols into the dusty soil of our cave's floor, I hissed a stream of pleas and curses between my teeth. My eyes were burning with tears that would not come. This could not work. But it had to. Or we would both be dead, dead, dead, like Laila and all the other Oath breakers like me.

If there is any benevolent deity out there, please. Let this work. I will do anything, I will give anything, just save us, save my daughter, please-

I realized that I had left out an entire inscription in my haste and growled as I rubbed it out. Fine grit bit into the already raw heels of my hands.

"Papa," I heard a small voice whisper. I glanced up into the shadowy corner of the cave and saw my daughter's eyes glinting in fear, partially visible behind a stalagmite. "Papa, someone's coming."

I got to my feet and checked the scroll once more, comparing what I had etched compared to what I had yet to do. I was almost done with the inscription, but I still had to complete the incantations, burnt offerings, and blood sacrifice. "I know love, I can hear them too."

She sunk out of sight as I returned to my work, keeping the scroll bunched tightly in one fist. As I finished the last phrase, a clatter of footsteps erupted at the mouth of our cave. I couldn't stop then, not when I was so close. I began the incantation.

"Haar lewe te bewaar. Hou haar veilig. Haar weg-"

"Auraleous! Auraleous, are you in here?"

"-te steek van alle kwaad." As the voice got closer, I began to read faster. "Laat niks haar raak. Laat niemand haar-"

"Auraleous! Ye fool, honestly!"

I finally looked up as a figure entered my periphery. "-siek te vind. Carsus! What are you doing here?"

"Have you gone mad?" Carsus barked, ears lowering against his head. "If you're going to break the Oath, you could at least be a bit less predictable! The other Chosen are coming for you right now! And the place you choose to hide is your own home?!"

I grunted and went back to chanting. I was sorry that I asked.

Carsus tossed his head and began to pace the room. "I can't believe that you kept this from me for so long. I'm supposed to be your friend, Auraleous! And you're an Oath breaker! How long ago did this happen?"

Instead of answering, I began to strike two firestones together while struggling to remember the sacred language.

"Draer is practically on your doorstep! What are you going to do? He is going to kill you you ignoramus! Has that gotten through your thick skull yet?!"

The herbs finally caught fire and were quickly engulfed in green flames. I carefully rose to face my old companion. "We are already slated for death. Or worse. If Draer finds you here, he will kill you too."

He stared me down for a moment more, his lips pulled away from his long teeth and the fur on his neck bristling. Then the expression melted into shock. His dark eyes were penetrating. "We. You said we."

My stomach dropped. Carsus looked at the altar behind me as if seeing it for the first time. His hand went to his belt and wrapped around the hilt of his obsidian dagger.

"Where is it." He posed it like a demand instead of a question. He slowly slid the sacrificial dagger out of its hilt, eyes never leaving mine.

"You will not touch her," I said steadily, wishing to paralyze him with willpower alone. I wanted to believe he wouldn't, but I knew better. He didn't understand what he was trying to do, and there was nothing I could do to change his mind.

"I said where is it, Auraleous." He began to move towards me. The dagger reflected the green fire and candlelight like black water.

"Leave now, before Draer arrives. Or before you force my hand," I warned him quietly. My shoulders were beginning to tense.

His eyes saddened, but he didn't stop advancing. "After everything, it's still alive. You would threaten me, for that… that… abomination. Give your life for it, even."

I snarled, swiping a wooden stake off a shelf next to me. "'That abomination' is my daughter you bastard!"

Carsus howled and charged at me, swinging his blade. The obsidian edge bit into the wooden stake a claw away from my ear. Both of our arms were shaking from trying to overpower the other. He growled deeply, hot rank breath blowing my whiskers uncomfortably. I built a growl of my own into a caterwaul, wanting to sink a blow into his stomach with my knee but unwilling to weaken my stance.

Finally, as I knew it would, the stake snapped in half and the obsidian dagger bit into my shoulder. Momentarily stunned by his own actions, Carsus stumbled away from me. Little did he know he had fed the smoldering ashes the blood sacrifice they needed anyway. I took advantage of his shock and kicked him in the chest.

I turned to the altar to pry out a stone low to the ground, fully aware of Carsus recovering behind me. At the moment that the stone came loose and I could finally see the dimly glowing Chaos Emerald within, I heard him gasp. I looked sharply at him, then the direction he was staring.

She was frozen, half out of the shadows, ears pricked and hazel eyes wide like saucers.

"Desdemona!" I yelled as Carsus lunged towards her. I barely caught him by the ankle. She scurried around the other side of the altar to cower behind me. He hit the ground hard. I winced at the strain in my injured shoulder. "No one has to die today, Carsus. I can save her, and if you leave now you can still get out of this alive."

He twisted to glower at me. He spat blood and snapped, "What about you?"

I hadn't thought that far yet. I just looked away and let him go.

"You're a traitor and a fool," he said.

"And you're a heartless coward."

He stood unsteadily. "I hope it was worth it, old friend."

I met his gaze evenly and put a hand on my shoulder and the aching arm around my violently shaking child. "You and the other Chosen know nothing of love, as Draer wills. I would give anything to save my own flesh and blood. Love is worth more than you could measure."