"It will always be up to you, whether you heed my offer or not, I do not wish to force anything on you. But surely you agree, the Bane must be dealt with. And together is always better than alone."

Henry sat at Thanatos' side, a little offside, and watched Luxa as she stood in the middle of the ginormous cave, which served as the pincher's main camp. Much of it was taken up by water, but there was a beach around it so that none of them had to wet their feet. "Her speech is impressive", remarked his flier and Henry nodded. Luxa had always had a talent for diplomacy, well, when she wasn't having one of her stubborn days, at least.

"Heed her request, the king most likely will", sounded from his other side, and Henry nodded, gratefully. The pincher sitting next to him had saved them, and Henry himself even for the second time.

"Hey, I don't think I ever said thank you for when you and your friend fished me out of the lake, back then. I owe you guys my life", he gave the pincher a crooked smile. "Me as well", Thanatos agreed, and the six-foot-tall lobster scratched the floor with his claw. "We help when we can."

"Hey, don't undermine your own achievements – hadn't you told that other pincher you knew me and that I was friendly, they would surely have killed us."

Henry recalled in horror how dire their situation had been, only hours ago. Luxa attacking the pincher, him almost severing her leg in defense – hadn't this very specimen interrupted them, claiming he knew Henry, they would have started a fight and their diplomatic mission would have failed. They'd most likely never even found this cave.

Instead, it had turned out this guy was some sort of important advisor, or something along the lines, Henry hadn't entirely understood, to the king, and his comrades had listened to him. They had seized their hostility and heard Luxa out. After learning she was the queen of Regalia and came in search of help, they had taken them to their camp to speak to their king.

They had grown suspicious once more when they had realized she was traveling with Kismet, but listened when Luxa had, without looking at her, explained, their enemy was the Bane, not rats like her. Some of them still threw her suspicious glances, but she stayed in the background for the most part and remained passive, so they stopped paying her attention.

They had reached the camp shortly after and been welcomed with hospitality, even offered some food, though nobody except Howard enjoyed the strange shells they had provided them with. Henry had not been picky with food in a long time, but he thought he'd never understand the eating habits of the Fount-residents.

"So", Thanatos started talking again, "what are you going to do now? They will most likely return to Regalia, will you offer to help from out here again?" His bond nodded. "What else?"

A prolonged period of silence followed before Thanatos spoke again – "You have not even talked to her, have you?" Without his bond saying her name, Henry understood he meant Luxa and automatically searched the cave for her with his gaze. He spotted her on the side, sitting among a group of pincher-babies, talking to one of the adults. Gregor and Aurora were with them too, both visibly looking out for her, just like the one pincher who had sat next to them, a few minutes ago. He had started making his way towards her, presumably when he had realized Henry and Thanatos had started talking about personal things.

"I... I have to, don't I?" Henry felt a sting in his chest, watching her, watching them, and knowing he'd most likely never be a part of them anymore. At Thanatos' questioning look he realized he hadn't even told his bond any of the things Gregor had shared with him, and sighed before attempting to explain it, to the best of his abilities.

"Gregor says I... only I can get her out of it", he finally concluded, staring at his hands. "But how am I supposed to talk to someone, let along Luxa, who... who... thinks like that? Who'd rather erect a mental blockade than accept it is me...?"

Thanatos was now pressing into his side, he heard the flier sigh. "I... I have no answer. I wish I did, but I don't. I just...", he hesitated, "I'm sorry I haven't asked you how you were doing, these last days. I... I should have, but there was Nike and, and... you seemed to be well, and I...", but Henry interrupted him – "Hey, don't beat yourself up over that. I'm... you had other things to deal with, and I can handle myself."

"Other things? I don't think any of my "other things" justify leaving you to yourself with a problem like this", the flier argued, "I... we are bonds, it is my duty to be at your side and help you, in, in... in life, in death, in war, and in strife. I here and now promise I will never neglect you like this again."

Henry chuckled. "Oh come on, you're overthinking this. It's not like you were far away or anything, and again, I'm not helpless myself, you know? I could have always come to you when things would have gotten unbearable."

"Then why did you not?" Thanatos sounded almost offended, and Henry blinked a few times, not knowing what to reply.

"Because he had the decency to allow you time with others you care about... people you can't always see... or at least I think so." They both jerked around to the tunnel entrance on their right, as Kismet emerged from it. She had stayed away from the immediate camp for the most part, and Henry had already started asking himself when she would rejoin them.

"Hey, there you are", he shot her a smile, "You...", Henry threw a glance back to Luxa, and his expression darkened. "You saved her, back then. Thank you." Kismet twitched her tail dismissively, "Don't mention it. I will not let any children die on my watch. Besides, it is a good way to earn trust. I do not care too much, but traveling with people who harbor hostility for you is not the best thing in the world. But – I'm sure I don't have to tell you."

She plopped down on Henry's other side and they watched the others gather for dinner silently. The exiled prince wasn't overly hungry and so he decided to use this time to catch a break from the group. Howard had taken to distributing the shells now, and both Gregor's and Luxa's disliking for the food was plainly obvious.

"So, I hear the student has become the teacher now", Kismet finally spoke again, her gaze on Gregor. "How's the experience so far?"

Henry shot her a glance, not bothering to conceal his pride. "Awesome, actually. Gregor's a good student, yeah he's been jaded by Ripred, but I'm sure I can fix that in no time."

Kismet gave a dry laugh – "Ripred? Ripred attempted to teach someone? Echolocation, even? He hadn't even mastered level two himself, last time I saw him. No wonder the Overland-pup is traumatized."

On Henry's somewhat accusing glance she continued, "Ripred is great at many things, but not because he is willing to put hard work and effort into self-improvement or studies, he just happens to be naturally talented in more ways than the average person. But as... attractive as that quality seems, it almost automatically makes him a bad teacher. Talent can help master a task, but it will not help explain it to someone else. Only true knowledge and understanding of what you are doing can."

Henry saw the truth in her words and was once more glad to call her his friend. Kismet always managed to bring clarity and objectively sort out the most complicated and emotional problems. Talking to her was... soothing, in a lot of ways.

"You are avoiding her, aren't you?" Then again, it was moments like these he wished she would be a little less observant. Henry bit his lip, following Kismet's gaze to Luxa. "I... I can't."

"Nonsense." Her tail hit the back of his head lightly and Henry cried out a little, rubbing it and staring at her from a narrowed eye. "Hey!" Kismet just chuckled. "Then stop being such a child. She needs you, can't you see it?"

Henry glanced over to Luxa, she was talking to his pincher-friend now. "As if", he snorted, "she has other people she cares about now. You said it yourself, she has erected a whole mental block to be able to continue pretending I am dead."

"Is that what the Overland-pup told you?" Kismet sighed, "Henry, you can not hold it against her. It was not an active choice. But sometimes, things happen that our brain can't process because it is overwhelmed. It can be trauma, or other earth-shattering revelations – like finding out your cousin, who you had grown up with, who you regarded as a brother, and who betrayed you, is alive and has made his way back into your life. You have to give her time, but you also have to talk to her."

Henry bit his lip. "How... how do you even know all this stuff? You're a hermit, how can you know so much about how people work?" Kismet sighed. "Because I dedicated a large portion of my time as Gorger's general, and even before that, to studies of behavior and mental processes. I believed it would help my own ambitious goals, as well as the people... the king I served. And, well, it did."

Henry pondered on that for a while. He tried to imagine Kismet when she had been young, an incredibly sharp, capable warrior, with command over Gorger's armies. The thought was intriguing and slightly scary at the same time. Maybe, he thought, maybe that's exactly what Ripred was into. He tried to imagine they had once been together, actually together, not bickering and cranky like they were now. Or maybe they had always been like that.

"Hey, how are you and Ripred doing, actually? It must have been... strange, to see him again, after such a long time", he finally asked and noticed Kismet retreat a little. "Things are... not easy. We both had our reasons to stay away from each other, this last decade, and they were good reasons." Henry wanted to ask more but had a feeling she wouldn't say anything else anyway. He inevitably asked himself how much affection they still harbored for each other.

Kismet remained silent for a second, "But hey – you are changing the subject, and I'm not having it." Henry rolled his eye, but Kismet wasn't done yet. "Oh for the love of everything, will you at least try? Only you can break this mental wall because she has built it specifically to keep you out." When Henry stared at her, confused, she rolled her eye. "Don't... ask why that is the case, but believe me... it is."

After the group had finished up their meal, it was Luxa who called them together. "The king of the pinchers has agreed to ally himself with Regalia against the Bane", she announced, and everyone spontaneously broke into applause. Henry, too, couldn't help but smile. Well done, he congratulated her in his head but dared not speak it out loud.

"Beyond that, they have offered to send an ambassador with us to the city, and he here has volunteered." She pointed at the pincher beside her, whom Henry recognized as his friend. "I am called Iro", he spoke now, and stepped closer, "in the name of the king I will go to your city and speak for my people."

Luxa nodded at him, before looking back at the group, "He has further offered to help us negotiate with another potential ally, he claims the stingers, who live further north of here, are close to his people, so if he comes with us, they should receive us in friendship."

Howard and Gregor exchanged glances, but none of them tried to convince her to take the direct way back. Henry shot a thankful glance at Iro as well – only now he realized he'd never asked his name.

"When do we leave for the territory of the stingers, then?", Howard asked, and Luxa turned her attention back on him. "Immediately."

The first couple hours of their trip north remained fairly uneventful. Iro was big but fairly light, so Hera could easily carry him while Nike took over Howard. Thanatos with Henry always made sure to remain behind her, in case she should tire, but she pulled through remarkably well.

Henry once more couldn't help but marvel at the landscapes the Firelands painted. The further north they went, the more the view reminded him of the cave with the queen – countless smaller volcanos, some quietly bubbling or rumbling, some silently seeping lava. They didn't encounter the currents this time, though the fliers remained overly paranoid about it, not that Henry could really blame them, after what had happened last time.

Iro led them confidently further and further north, and while the air had gotten hot and hard to breathe, as soon as they had entered the volcanic area, it cleared again after a while. They passed the volcanos and soon flew through what seemed to be regular tunnels, even though Henry realized, when he looked closer, they consisted of the smooth, black, volcanic rock, that manifested when lava cooled down.

Thanatos had just approached Hera with Iro to inform him Nike would need a break soon, when his ears twitched. Henry instantly focused and froze when he realized what his bond had heard – battle cries... of rats.

"Arm yourselves!", he screamed, instantly drawing his own sword and fetching the firestone. Kismet on Ares' back had prepared for battle already, repeating his call now. Gregor, Howard, and Luxa could not hear anything yet, but they hesitantly drew their own weapons.

The bats passed through a long, winding, corridor, Thanatos was directly behind Hera now, and Henry saw the pinchers' antennas twitch nervously. "They are battling", he mumbled, and the exiled prince focused more, to make out what was going on. But only moments later he didn't need his hearing for that anymore.

"Defend them!", called Kismet from behind, and Henry's heart skipped a beat when he took in the scene before him. The bats had left the tunnel to enter a huge cave, with two silently bubbling, small volcanos on its right, that emitted enough light to see. There, in the middle, stood three stingers, they had positioned themselves in a circle, and all aggressively shook their tails at... "Rats!", Gregor called, and indeed, the stingers seemed to be surrounded. The floor of the cave was almost entirely covered in rats – some lying dead, most still very alive – seeking to break the defense of the stingers.

They seemed to be seeping in from a much larger exit on the other side of the cave, and they were still coming. Was Henry to estimate how many he saw, he'd say over a hundred, hacking and clawing away at the scorpions. Only now he saw the body of a fourth one, already lying motionless in the corner, rats crawling and jumping over him like he was part of the landscape.

Henry didn't need to wait for Luxa's call to arms. With one swift motion, he ignited his sword and was infinitely glad he was on Thanatos – and strapped into the saddle. He joined his bond's battle cry, fetching his boomerang with his left hand and throwing it at the rat who had just attempted to bite off the tail of the smallest stinger.

Thanatos whizzed through the air like a projectile and, with the help of his saddle, Henry tore through the rows of rats like a fiery arrow. He watched not for how many he slew, all he knew was, that as long as there were some remaining, it wasn't enough.

From the corner of his eye, he saw the leaping figure of Kismet, on the floor now, fighting multiple members of her own species at once – not one stood a chance. The fliers were still in the air, Ares who was carrying Gregor again, he swung his sword with both hands as the cave was illuminated. Nike with Howard and Aurora with Luxa, also closeby.

Henry was entirely absorbed in the battle, he watched not for the passage of time. Only when he suddenly heard someone scream, from somewhere on his left, he started thinking again. His gaze darted in the direction and from the corner of his eye, he saw Howard... on the floor? Nike, who must have nearly collapsed from exhaustion, was clinging to the wall, barely out of reach of the rats, but Howard, who had apparently fallen to the floor when she had lost control, seemed doomed. She couldn't dip down to pick him up again, or she would instantly be butchered.

Her piteous cry rang in Henry's ears, and he didn't need to tell Thanatos what to do. His flier instantly zoomed in on Howard, and Henry rotated the saddle until he was sitting upside down. He gripped the still burning sword with the left hand now and when Thanatos had reached Howard, extended his right.

Luxa's cousin looked at him like he had lost his mind for a second, but realized he had no other option. He dropped his own sword, that he had been swinging around violently to keep the rats away from him, on the spot, and jumped up to grab Henry's arm.

The exiled prince cried out from the extra weight and prayed the saddle would hold, which, for the moment, it seemed to do. "Are you out OF YOUR MIND?!", Howard screamed, visibly scared, as they gained altitude. Henry, who felt like on a rack, screamed "A LITTLE" back, which earned him a more panicked than annoyed grunt from Howard.

They were soaring high above the rats now, as Henry was in no position to fight, and Howard had no weapon. He continued praying the saddle would hold when he suddenly had an idea. "GRAB THE SWORD!", he yelled at Howard, who's head jolted up at him. Before he could protest, Henry had tossed his still burning sword at him, Howard caught it in the last second. "You ARE CRAZY!", he yelled, trying to get a firm grip on the sword.

"And you need to lose some weight!", Henry countered as the straps of the saddle creaked. He felt like either the saddle would tear or his arm would dislocate, would he be forced to hold Howard for much longer, but there was nowhere to land. So they would have to work with what they had.

"DEATH!", Henry called at his flier, firmly grabbing onto the handle of the saddle with his now free left hand. His flier understood and darted down again. Howard screamed in fear at first, but when he realized the rats were scared of the flaming sword more than he was of fighting in this position, he even managed to land a few hits.

Just when Henry thought they would have cleared away enough of them to let Howard down, he felt a sharp pain tear through his right shoulder. He cried out and let go of Howard, who screamed as he fell, but luckily managed to drop the flaming sword before he landed. Thanatos had flown relatively close to the ground so Howard remained uninjured, and picked the sword back up instantly.

But Henry hadn't gotten off that well. Hadn't Thanatos realized he was injured and instantly gained altitude again, the remaining rats would have torn him to shreds. "You alright?", his flier asked, as he was flying circles near the ceiling. Henry gritted his teeth. "I'll live."

"THEY ARE RETREATING!", Kismet suddenly cried, and when Henry threw his next glance down, he realized she was right. The number of rats had shrunken significantly, and they were indeed fleeing, back into the tunnel where they had come from. "Finally", Henry sighed, and Thanatos slowly flew lower again. The exiled prince barely managed to pull the saddle into an upright position before he landed – in a cave entirely void of rats.

"They express their most sincere gratitude", Iro translated, Henry was almost certain he sounded happy. "They say the rats tried to take their camp, to come before humans. They do not like it that stingers now like humans."

"Then tell them they will not have to fear the rats anymore if they ally themselves with Regalia", replied Luxa, gazing up at the ginormous scorpion before her.

Only when the three they had rescued had thanked them and led the way into an adjacent cave, which was part of the main camp the stingers resided in, they had learned the stingers had no monarch. Instead, their society listened to something like a council of elders, the leader of which now stood before Luxa.

Iro translated and the ginormous scorpion seemed happy. "He says he will ally himself with you against the Bane. He says the Bane needs to be stopped and his species owes you their... I do not know exactly how to say", Iro hesitated, "existence, maybe." Luxa gave the stinger a respectful nod. "Your help and your friendship are very welcome."

"Hey Henry, are you alright?", Thanatos suddenly asked, and the exiled prince only fell forward until he was lying down on his back, still in the saddle. He heard Luxa further negotiating with the stingers, and from somewhere heard Howard call the group together for a health-checkup, but he was too tired to even untie the saddle.

"Henry!", Thanatos sounded worried now. "Mhm... I'm fine...", he grunted, painfully aware of the blood still seeping out of his shoulder. But he couldn't stand up, he was too weak.

Henry felt he was on the verge of blacking out when a voice suddenly called, from right next to him – "You are injured...?" He instantly jolted up, only to stare into the somewhat awkward but also weirdly genuine face of... Howard.

"Why would you care?", he shot at him, gritting his teeth in pain. "Just... just leave me, I'm not in the mood for –", but Howard interrupted him. "Nonsense. Come down from there now, and let me take a look at that." Henry stared at him unbelievingly but was too weak to protest when Howard helped him climb down from Thanatos' back. "Hey... why are you so nice to me?", he mumbled, already almost passing out again.

Howard remained silent for a while, fetching his medical supplies. When he finally spoke, his voice was quiet. "You... I hate you for doing this, for forcing me through this, but... you saved my life out there."

Henry wanted to turn around to him, surprised, but cried in pain instead, when he felt the sting of the disinfectant. "Tha- AAAH, hey!" Howard remained silent, almost like he was enjoying this a little.

"You...", he hesitated, "I can not... not yet... forgive what you did, not if I wanted to, but...", he sighed, "I can... acknowledge what you were willing to do today. And...", he was visibly fighting himself to say this, "and over the last two years."

With that he fastened the last bandage and turned to face Henry, his gaze was dark and he was biting his lip, but he wasn't hostile. "I have your sword, by the way", he extended it to Henry and the exiled prince grabbed it, after a moment of hesitation.

"It's a nice trick, with the fire", Howard admitted, before averting his gaze again. "I, I was...", he gave a short laugh, "I always told you you were acting like a jerk, and now I realize I have done the same, the last couple weeks."

Henry stared at him, unbelieving. "Are you... apologizing to me?" Maybe he should pull crazy stunts like that with Howard more often, from now on, he thought, tugging at the bandage.

"I believe I... have to." Henry thought he had never had so much trouble saying anything. "Look, I still don't like you. I never did", Howard continued, packing up his medical kit now, "but you are... right, when you say we have more important things to fight than each other."

He wasn't looking at him, as he spoke on – "You are... a strong ally, who has saved many people I care about. I can no longer deny that, as much as I want to... so... I'm glad you... you found your way, and work to atone for your mistake. And I am glad you were here today, and whenever else we needed you... Henry." With that, he rose to his feet and moved away, in the direction of the others.

"Well, would you look at that?", Thanatos chuckled, "you should have done that way sooner." Henry tiredly leaned on his back, "I know." He stared in Howard's direction and saw him lining the rest of the group up to tend to their injuries. From what he saw, none of them were nearly as badly off as he though.

Henry closed his eye. Had that really just happened? He was glad he had been here... "Hey, I'll sleep now, okay? I'm tired." Thanatos only hummed approvingly while the exiled prince was already drifting away into unconsciousness.

When Henry awoke again, he found the group had moved to an adjacent cave from the camp of the stingers for some privacy and was about to have breakfast. With Thanatos' help, he managed to stand up and was eternally grateful Howard had taken to preparing the food this time.

"The stingers have promised alliance", Luxa announced, her voice sounded proud but her gaze was still misted. "Then we must return to Regalia", Howard responded, handing out the fish. "We have to tell Solovet and the council of our new allies." Luxa glanced at him and Henry already thought she was going to refuse again, but instead, she nodded. "We should... go back."

Suddenly, a clog of panic lumped his throat. If they went back now, now before he got the chance to talk to Luxa... But before he had the chance to raise his voice, she beat him to it. "Kismet?"

All heads turned in the direction of the rat, who had remained on the sideline, as always, even now that they had left the stingers' camp. Her gaze jolted up now and she fixated her attention on Luxa, who hesitated for a moment, but finally beckoned her closer.

"You invite me to your dining circle?", she asked as she approached, almost unbelievingly. Luxa held her gaze, before standing up. "You have saved my life, back in the lands of the pinchers." Kismet remained silent, but Luxa spoke on – "I have not properly thanked you for it yet, and I wish to do it now. I do not forget such an act of loyalty. From this moment on I will no longer treat you as though I mistrust you."

Her words hang in the air heavily, as everyone grasped their meaning instantly. Kismet remained silent for a moment, and Henry had the suspicion Luxa had actually managed to make her speechless.

When she finally sat down in their midst, she took a deep breath. "Ripred was right when he claimed you were not your father, girl. I will not forget this act of kindness either."

Luxa nodded in her direction. "Nothing is ever forgotten", she announced, and somewhere in the back of his head, Henry thought her words had been meant for him. He felt as though the last of his hope to ever make things right between them had just vanished into thin air, and had trouble focusing on his meal.

If nothing is ever forgotten, he thought, angrily clenching his jaw, then why can you not remember what I sacrificed for you, the last two years?