"So," said the girl, fixing her gaze at the sky, which made Merrin look up, too. She grinned crookedly. "Sounds like you've been getting into plenty of trouble recently, huh?"

"You don't know half of it," Merrin muttered, running out of energy to fight (and air in his lungs) and letting himself be dragged limply.

She stopped and pulled Merrin painfully until he was facing forwards next to her. "I believe that I do," she said quietly, studying him.

Merrin gulped, wincing at the sharp pain in his throat, and started walking, gasping slightly. Nervously he glanced sideways at the girl. He didn't dare run off; she was starting to really scare him.

"Talk."

So straightforward, Merrin thought bitterly. "Why should I tell you anything?"

She looked at him. "Do you really want to be asking that question?"

He talked, and somehow, he knew exactly what she wanted to hear. "Look here," he said, unable to resist the opportunity to brag. Merrin waved his left thumb in the girl's face, but unlike the other people he had showed it to, she showed no reaction whatsoever. "I had to saw off the end of DomDaniel's thumb to get this thing. And now it's all mine. The Two-Faced Ring!"

Much to his surprise, the girl sighed. "The ring..." She shook her head sadly. "Taking it was a very stupid thing to do indeed."

"Don't call me stupid!" Merrin snarled. He lunged at the girl in hopes of attaining freedom.

Suddenly she was behind him. Merrin's momentum carried him forward and he started to fall. "Ah- "

The girl grabbed his arm and, in a flash, twisted it behind his back, pushing his elbow up until he was whimpering in pain. It was definitely not one of Merrin's best days.

He noticed that the multitude of people passing by didn't even glance his way. He also noticed the scribes glancing frequently at him and snickering to themselves.

Just as Merrin thought that his shoulder would surely pop out of his socket and his arm would fall apart, she released her grip and let his arm fall back to his side. Merrin immediately grabbed his shoulder and groaned. Now his throat and his shoulder hurt.

"Good," said the girl who was, in Merrin's opinion, becoming scarier than even DomDaniel. "There won't be any more of that, will there?"

Merrin shook his head quickly, staring at the ground.

"Good," she repeated. "Now, keep talking."

Slowly and a bit awkwardly, Merrin told the girl his story, starting with his apprenticeship to DomDaniel. It felt unusually good to have someone want to talk to him. Even if that someone had nearly ripped off his arm.

The girl snorted. "He sounds more like a playground bully than a feared Necromancer."

Merrin smiled at this. It was the first time he had gotten sympathy from anyone.

When he got to the part about the Two-Faced Ring, she suddenly became serious. Up until then, she had been good company, making fun of all of the people who had ever been mean to him (and more annoyingly, him). But now, she slowed her pace so she could get a better look at him. This was a lot more interesting than she had expected.

"Smart of you to notice the lack of air, but I could question the wisdom of the fact that you continued on anyway. Especially after hearing what happened next." Merrin looked at the ground, embarrassed. He remembered what happened next very clearly.

"You blacked out and found yourself lying on the floor outside the Endless Cabinet." Merrin didn't feel like he needed to hear it again. "That probably means that the Things brought you there."

Merrin shuddered at the thought of the Things touching him with their slimy, peeling hands. He imagined them, carrying him all the way back through the cabinet, bringing his stuff, poking and prodding and breathing on him-

"Don't think about it!" the girl cut in, noticing that Merrin had gone alarmingly pale.

"Right," he said hoarsely, although he couldn't help but remember how all of the Things had been leaning over, staring at him for... he had no idea how long.

"It's a good thing you couldn't see them... You couldn't, right?" It sounded to Merrin like an important question, though he couldn't understand why.

"No... My eyes..." Merrin blinked. "Why, is it important?"

The girl looked at him with eyes full of pity. "Yes... If you had seen them clearly, you would be completely insane right now. Maybe worse."

"Stupid," he muttered to himself. Of course it was all his fault. But it would all pay off soon.

"Now, about the ring. We need to get it off as soon as possible."

"It'll only come off the Other Way."

"I know."

Merrin was starting to regain his color, but he lost it again at those words. "N- no way!"

"The day that ring comes off your thumb- and your thumb comes off with it- is coming sooner than you think." the girl muttered under her breath.

"Wh- what?"

"Nothing."