N.B. Hello, readers. I apologize for the infrequent updates. Unfortunately, academia falls quite heavily on my shoulders, and deadlines draw on apace. This story is also massive, so forgive me for my wordiness.

Thank you all for being so loyal (no matter how many times I say it, I can't stress it enough). The next three chapters should be done in fairly rapid succession. I hope you enjoy them and, again - feel free to contact me with your feedback on the story, or things you'd wish to be added.

Erinae peeped out the window, carefully, to hide any traces of her glowing eyes. Jayce was sitting beside her, staring into the gloom of their room blankly. She admired how unafraid he seemed.

Well, he is the Defender of Tomorrow. I just hope there's more tomorrows to defend.

"They're gone."

Jayce stirred. He glanced at Soraka. Her eyes were still tightly shut, but her breathing was more regular now, coming and going in easy gusts. With his small knowledge of healing, Jayce guessed she was in some sort of recovery trance. Best not to disturb her.

"Who's gone?"

Erinae shrugged uneasily. "The trolls and the townspeople. And Kat. And Jarvan."

Jayce's shoulders slumped. "They took them, then."

"Yep." Erinae wet her lips. Her canines brushed the bottom one. She thought she could still taste a trace of the Defender on them. "So, what do we do?"

Jayce furrowed his brow in thought, leaving Erinae to study the curve of his jaw and the five o' clock shadow clinging to it. "We should move soon, before the townspeople realize we're still here."

"Or the other troops," Erinae added. "Though it doesn't look like they're coming back for us."

"They might not be." Jayce's small laugh turned into a cough. "In Lissandra's eyes, as much as it sucks to say it, we're probably not all that important."

"Why does that suck to say?"

Jayce scratched his head. "Everyone wants to be important."

"Not me." Erinae grinned.

"Well, yeah. You're pretty different." Jayce smiled, then ducked his head to hide it. "But we do have a problem. What -"

"What are we going to do about Soraka?" Erinae finished. "Yeah, no clue. Can you carry her? I'd make a joke about Summoner's Rift, but I don't think that's appropriate right now."

"Can I ask you a serious question?"

"As Zandred would say, 'You just did.'"

"What are you?"

Erinae shifted uncomfortably. "You asked that earlier. I told you I don't know."

Jayce leaned towards her. "I'm not Ryland, but I'm pretty sure you're lying. Listen – if you just tell me, maybe that knowledge can help us get out of here without getting roasted. Alright, kiddo?" Erinae hesitated. Jayce took her gently by the shoulders. "Not to call you a weirdo, but I don't know any full humans with eyes like Piltover's electricity and teeth like a piranha."

That got her to grin. There you go, kid. That makes you look much better. And less fucking terrifying, Jayce thought. When she was making no expression, Erinae's feral face took on a predatory look that spooked him just as much as the trolls did.

"I don't know. Like I said. It's – hereditary? Is that the right word?"

"Passed down from parent to child?"

"Yeah."

Something snapped outside their door. Erinae drew breath in in a large, cold gasp. It felt like the whole of the night air was filling her stomach. Jayce bit his knuckles.

Their door rattled. Jayce slowly crept towards his Mercury Hammer and froze when he heard voices.

"They must've barricaded the door before they left," Amanita, the owner of the inn, said irritably.

"Goddernit. We have to go in there." That voice must have belonged to one of the surviving townsmen. He had probably run away from the fight.

"Else what, Jo? We get killed?" Amanita cawed laughter. "Mebbe join the rest of our kin?"

The other voice sighed. "We should still go in there 'ventually."

"There's a good boy. My old bosom's going straight to sleep."

Jayce and Erinae exchanged terrified looks, which terrified Jayce even more because Erinae's shining eyes made her look like a jackal.

"They're leaving," she whispered. "I can hear them going."

"What are you?" he whispered hoarsely.

"I don't know!"

"Shhh!" Jayce clapped a large hand over her mouth, shuddering when he felt her exposed canines touch his palms.

They waited. Nothing save Soraka's steady breathing. The sound was comforting, somehow. Jayce idly reflected that the healer did her job, even when she was asleep.

Jayce released his breath in a gusty sigh. "So you were saying?"

"When we come of age in my family, we go through bodily changes like everyone else," Erinae began. Jayce knew she was reciting something. Probably the fucked up consolation her parents gave her. "Only on top of bigger boobs and all that crap, we get really good hearing and eyesight –"

"And fangs," Jayce reminded her.

"Fangs and balance." Her voice cracked slightly.

"And glowing eyes."

"Yeah, yeah." Erinae sniffled. "I know."

"I think it's werecat. Emphasis on the cat part." Jayce ran a tired, grimy hand through his hair and sighed again. "Ezreal would probably know. If his brain isn't fried by now."

"How come no one asks him what he is?" Erinae said suddenly. Jayce felt another sting of alarm when he saw that tears were rolling down her cheeks.

Great. Captors, comatose healers, enemy territory and a crying 15-year-old girl.

Jayce shook himself. His inner voice…it didn't sound much like him at all.

The Skelgarn. Oh, gods.

"Listen. Come here." Fighting his revulsion, he pulled Erinae against his chest and cradled her. He felt the hot tears soaking through his shirt. "I'm sorry. I'm just stressed."

"You're – you're scared of me."

"Not anymore." Jayce held her tighter. And it was true. He wondered fleetingly – with a mind that had too little sleep and too much stimulation – if his fear and nausea had been caused by Lissandra's corruption. He thought it was.

"We're gonna get through this," he murmured into her hair. "We gotta be brave."

"I'm sorry too." She pulled away and looked up at him with golden eyes. "For being a pussy."

"Was that – that was a pun." Jayce smacked his forehead. "Gods."

She dried her tears on her own sleeve and snickered. "So do we have a plan yet? I was just buying you time with my caterwauling."

"The first plan is to stop with the cat jokes –"

"Never."

"The second is to try and wake Soraka up." He looked at her. Now it was easy to meet those otherworldly eyes. "We've got this."

"Mhm." Erinae's eyes twinkled - half tears, half merriment. "I'm ready."