Obsidian Fires

Part 3

By Mieren

It had been more than a week since Mieren left to fight in the war in her home dimension.  Over the days, it became impossible to rouse Rowen when the sun was up and was extremely difficult to do so even after it had set.  On the ninth evening, Rowen had returned to his room after milling around the house for about ten minutes.  Sage frowned as he retreated to his room, the dark rings under his friend's eyes worrying him.

"I'll go talk to him," Sage murmured, rising slowly to follow Rowen to his room.

Not bothering to knock, Sage slipped silently into his room, immediately closing the door behind him and sitting by Rowen.

"How are you holding up?" he asked softly, gripping Rowen's shoulder gently.

Staring numbly for a moment, Rowen looked over to him, his eyes glazed and accented with dark circles.  He was sweating slightly in the cool night, lank blue hair falling stubbornly into his eyes.  He only groaned in response, letting his head droop limply to his chest.

Sage tensed, the muscles through his back going rigid.  Taking a deep breath, he undid the cuff on his right wrist and rolled his sleeve up to his elbow, closing his eyes and presenting his bared arm to his friend.  He opened his eyes when Rowen jerked back in surprise, his face tightening stubbornly for a moment before he locked his jaw and turned his head away.

"Now look," Sage began, trying to sound firm.  "For two months I thought you were dead and it nearly killed me.  Now that you're back, I sure as hell am not going to let you starve.  It's been nine days at least."

Rowen scowled murderously at him, his eyes tightening in partial defeat.  He shook his head slowly and turned away again, arms crossed resolutely across his chest.  Sage noticed his friend's trembling shoulders and pushed on.

"Come on, Rowen.  I don't mind," he said, trying not to choke on the lie.

Staring at the floor with a strained expression, Rowen glanced at him out of the corner of his eye.  Sage tried not to squirm under the cold gaze.  He held out his arm again.

Rowen shook his head jerkily.  Sage was about to start arguing again when he spoke up quietly.

"Not like that," Rowen said in a voice not even a whisper.

Sage had to struggle not to stiffen.  "Okay, then what?" he managed to ask in a partially steady voice.

Rowen sighed heavily.  "There are only certain places that…" he trailed off for a moment, turning to stare at the floor again.  "Take off your shirt."

Struggling to quell his trembling, Sage did as he was told, peeling off his dress shirt and undershirt.  "Now what?" he asked softly when Rowen didn't look up.

Glancing at the closed curtains and door, he sighed again.  "Stand up and turn around," he said weakly.

Obeying quickly lest he loose his nerve, he nearly jumped out of his skin when Rowen placed one hand on his shoulder.  He must have jerked, because Rowen withdrew his hand and stepped back.  Sage heard him moving away.

"Please, Rowen," he grated out between clenched teeth, unable to open his eyes.

"Are you sure?"  The whisper barely reached his ears, but he nodded resolutely.

He tried not to jump this time when Rowen moved up behind him.  Well-defined arms wrapped around his arms and chest, nearly causing him to wet himself.  He was not surprised when he felt Rowen trembling slightly, knowing that if the situation were reversed, he wouldn't be doing any better.  Sage squeezed his eyes shut and did the hardest thing he had ever done in his life.  He tilted his head sharply to the left.

Feeling a hot breath on his neck, Sage clenched his hands into fists, struggling fiercely with himself to keep from pulling away.  He vaguely heard Rowen take a deep breath to steady himself.  Gentle lips met his neck where it joined his shoulder.  Feeling his lower jaw begin to quiver in terror, he firmly reminded himself that this was his best friend and that he needed his help.

A stinging pain sank into his skin, nearly causing him to lose it on the spot.  The sharp burning was immediately replaced by a warm tingling sensation that slowly began to spread across his chest and through his body.  There was no pain, only the warm sensation that continued to grow, causing him to relax completely.  The muscles through his body loosened gradually until his arms and head hung limply, a slight smile twisting the corners of his mouth as the warmth intensified slightly.

Sage didn't know how long he stood like that before his knees buckled unsteadily, nearly depositing him to the floor.  Strong arms tightened around him, holding him upright as the world began to tilt wildly.  A soft stinging pain shot through his shoulder for a moment before fading again, leaving only the soft surging warmth.

He thought he heard his name being called, but wasn't sure.  He was vaguely aware that he was half being led, half being dragged, across the room to be deposited onto something soft.  Something gripped his face gently and he struggled to force his eyes to focus, failing miserably when he was unable to concentrate past the rolling of the world around him.

Sagging to the side, Sage encountered something warm, almost burning against his cool skin.  He closed his eyes as his head drooped, pressing his cheek contentedly against someone's chest, listing to the heartbeat for a few seconds before he was pushed gently into a sitting position.  A cool hand slid under his chin, raising his head slightly.  When released, he allowed his head to sink back to his chest lethargically.

Something soft was being draped around his shoulders.  Sighing, Sage numbly reached up to grasp the soft cloth that greeted his searching fingers.  Hearing his name called out softly, he tried to focus his eyes, failing again.  The heat surging through his veins fluctuated suddenly and vanished, causing him to flinch and gasp softly.

Blinking slowly, Sage brought his eyes into focus for what seemed like the first time in hours, glancing around in confusion.

"Are you okay?" Rowen's worried voice snapped him into full awareness.  Sage jerked his head up and stared at his friend blankly for a moment.

"Oh God, Sage, I'm sorry.  Are you okay?"

Flinching slightly, he lurched to his feet and staggered over to the nearest mirror, raising one disbelieving hand to his throat.  Running fingers jerkily over two half healed holes where his neck met his shoulder, he turned to face Rowen, still swaying slightly.

"Yea, I'm fine," he stammered.  "You feeling any better?"

Rowen made a face.  "Not enough to justify putting you through that."

"I'm okay," he said, a little more firmly this time.  "Just shocked.  That felt… incredible."  Rowen's head snapped up suddenly.

"What?" he asked a touch incredulously.

"It actually felt… nice," he murmured, grinning ruefully at Rowen's blank expression, understanding how strange that must have sounded.

Shrugging back into his shirt, he plopped down on the bed beside his friend, waiting for him to say something.  Rowen looked at him and grimaced.

"Mieren's never done that before," he muttered, staring at the floor again.

"Done what?"

"You were just sitting there blankly for about five minutes, not moving or responding to anything.  I thought that I had hurt you," Rowen whispered, closing his eyes slowly as his shoulders drooped.

"I'm really okay," Sage said reassuringly, squeezing his friend's shoulder as he stood up to leave, realizing that Rowen wanted to be alone.

He was almost to the door when Rowen cleared his throat softly.

"Thank you, Sage," he whispered to the floor, shoulders quivering.  Sage didn't respond, slipping out into the hall and towards the kitchen.

*     *     *

Ryo stumped up the stairs slowly, suddenly feeling a strong urge for a steaming shower.  Walking dejectedly down the hall, he was about to swing into the bathroom when he heard Sage's pleading voice.

"Please, Rowen."

He tensed immediately, never having heard Sage beg like that.  Slipping soundlessly towards the door to their room, he cracked the door silently, peeking in on the two, freezing at the horrifying sight that met his eyes.

Sage was standing trembling, Rowen holding his arms pinned to his sides from behind, his head at Sage's throat.  Sage began to sway slightly, sagging limply in Rowen's arms after a few seconds, the only thing keeping him off of the floor was the other boy's firm grip on him.

Ryo was about to charge in and beat Rowen into submission, but paused when he heard Rowen whisper Sage's name softly.  Shaking the limp form in his arms, he headed over to the bed, setting him down gently before promptly freaking.

Backing up silently before he was noticed, Ryo closed the door silently behind him and stumbled back to the living room mindlessly.  He wasn't aware that the others were around him until he was pushed onto the couch.  He blinked suddenly, forcing his mind to pay attention to what his friends were saying.

"Ryo?  You okay?" Kento asked.  "You're whiter than Rowen."

"What happened?" Cye asked gently, shaking his shoulder to get his attention.  Mia plopped down beside the two, watching him worriedly.  He was so shaken that it took him a few minutes to clear his mind enough to stammer out a few words.

"Rowen…" he murmured, eyes glazing again.  "He… bit Sage."

Kento was on his feet running for the stairs instantly, nearly running down Sage in his haste to get upstairs.  Sage only made a face at him before wandering into the kitchen, oblivious to his friends' incredulous stares.

Cye was the first to recover, darting into the kitchen after him.  Sage only looked up for a moment when he came in before proceeding to root through the fridge, pulling out several plates of leftovers and heading to the dining room, not bothering to heat his food.  Blinking numbly, Cye followed him.

"Sage," he began slowly, "are you okay?"

Sage blinked at him in confusion.  "Yea.  Why do you ask?"

Clearing his throat, Cye wondered how he should phrase his next sentence.  "Ryo said that Rowen bit you," he stammered.  Sage froze.

"Doesn't anyone know how to knock?" he grumbled, staring fiercely at the table before continuing with his meal.

"Well?" Cye prompted.

Swallowing nervously, Sage made a point of not looking at the younger boy.  "Well… I offered."

Cye nearly fell out of his chair, eyes bulging.  "You what?"

"He hasn't eaten in nine days, Cye.  It was slowly killing him," he mumbled in his friend's defense.  "I practically had to force him into it though."

Scrubbing one hand through his reddish brown hair, Cye stood up and backed out of the room slowly, eyes wild.  Tearing back into the living room, he had to pause for a moment to gather his jumbled thoughts.

"It's okay," he muttered in a quavering voice, trying to calm himself and failing miserably.  "Sage offered."

"WHAT?!" Ryo and Kento cried out in unison.

"I'm not deaf, you know," Sage called from the next room.

"Has he lost his mind?" Ryo hissed, eyes bulging.

Cye shook his head.  "He was worried about Rowen.  Said something to the effect that Rowen was slowly starving to death."  They sat in silence, Mia and the Ronins paling slowly, each wondering if they could have brought themselves to do the same thing, all four of them deciding that they couldn't.

When Sage finished his meal, he wandered into the living room only to be immediately tackled by Kento.  Ryo grabbed the collar of his shirt and pulled it back forcefully, inspecting his neck with quivering fingers.

"Let me up!" Sage wailed, bucking unsuccessfully.

"What's going on here?" an amused voice called from behind them.

"What are you doing to poor Sage?" another familiar voice wailed dramatically.

Craning his head at a wild angle to see behind him, Sage caught sight of Kayura and Cale hovering a little way back from the struggling boys.  Using the distraction in his favor, Sage slipped free of Kento and Ryo and hid behind the two visiting former Warlords for protection.

"Can we join in?" Dais called out cheerfully, lifting the startled boy over his head, earning himself an indignant yelp.

"Put me down!"

"Didn't you want to be up just a second ago?" Sehkmet smirked, poking him in the ribs from where he hung helplessly.

"How about this?  Leave me alone before I kill the whole lot of you!"

The commotion downstairs caught Rowen's attention.  Slipping down the stairs slowly, he blinked in surprise at the presence of the Warlords, remembering that Ryo had told him that they had found a place of their own.

Smiling deviously when he wasn't noticed, he slipped around the edge of the room on his toes, positioning himself behind the four visitors.  Sage saw him and winked merrily in his direction from his precarious perch above Dais, preparing to catch himself, knowing full well he was about to be dropped.

Sneaking up right behind the four Warlords, Rowen drew a deep breath.  "Hey guys!  How're you doing?"

The results were better than he had expected.  Dais dropped Sage face-first into the floor, who went into a smooth roll to escape the ensuing chaos.  Sehkmet and Cale jumped into the air before trying to climb each other to escape him.  Kayura took one look at him and fainted.

"Rowen, that wasn't nice," Mia tried to admonish, her attempted scowl quickly degenerating into helpless giggles.

"I thought you were dead!" Dais wailed, backing away a few paces.  Cale glared over at him from where he was supporting a half-conscious Kayura.

"You can't ever tell with these idiots," Sehkmet chortled, having already recovered from his shock.

"How did you manage that anyway?" Cale asked slowly as Kayura fully awakened, tottering slightly.

Rowen grimaced before deciding to have some fun with them since they were bound to find out sooner or later.  He grinned widely, flashing his elongated canines at the four Warlords who had just recovered.  Kayura fainted again, the others backing away with ever-paling faces.

"That's still not nice," Mia snickered.

Helping to pull Kayura to her feet, he grinned ruefully at the three men regarding him in utter horror, careful not to show his fangs this time.

"Have you spoken to Anubis recently?" Ryo asked before Rowen proceeded to terrorize them further.  Dais shook his head quickly.

"Why?"

"We were wondering if he had seen Mieren," Cye said hesitantly, proceeding to explain everything to the pale Warlords.

"I've been thinking about going after her," Rowen murmured, staring fiercely at the floor.  "She said she'd be back quickly."

Kento flinched at the pain in his friend's face.  "I agree with him, for once.  I say we go to Mieren's dimension and find her."

Ryo and Sage didn't hesitate before nodding agreement.  Cye made a face before giving in, looking up to the Warlords expectantly.

"Remind me not to visit you guys again," Kayura muttered before announcing that she would go too.  The other three only nodded slowly.

"When do we leave?" Cale asked slowly, taking charge of the group of Warlords.

Looking around the room, Rowen nodded slowly and grabbed his heavy cloak before spinning to face the others.  White Blaze trotted into the room at his mental summoning.  "Now."

*     *     *

It was decided that White Blaze would stay behind after a short discussion between the ten people in the room.  Mia wanted him to go with the guys, but they pointed out that with a war raging in the other dimension, some strange things might be coming across to their dimension and she needed protection of some sort.

The sea blue flames winked out behind them for the second time in so many minutes as they stepped into a grassy clearing.

Rowen immediately vanished into the darkness, calling to them to stay where they were as he left, the eight warriors squirming impatiently as the seconds ticked by.  Rowen's sudden reappearance nearly unhinged them.

"There are around three dozen dark elves and almost a score of demons milling around in the area.  I'm certain that these demons aren't any that we want to encounter," he murmured as he drew nearer, eyes still glowing crimson.

The other Ronins only looked at him for a moment before shifting their eyes and peering around worriedly.  The Warlords only drew in on themselves, alternately cursing and looking for somewhere to hide.

"This way, I think," Rowen whispered, starting out in a direction slowly.  Each of the Ronins snagged one of the virtually blind Warlords before they started forward after their friend.  Dais tried to start a conversation once, but Rowen's furious glare silenced him immediately, sending the older man ducking behind Sage for protection.

Cale tried not to snicker at the white-haired man as he followed Ryo awkwardly through the night.  Even his uncanny ability to see in the dark was compromised in the blackness.  To him, the surrounding area looked like it was etched in starlight on a mostly cloudy night, telling him that the other three wouldn't be able to make out shapes any further than a few feet from them.

Every now and then, a grunt rang out softly in the darkness as Kento and Sehkmet engaged a ribbing competition, leaving masses of bruises along each of their chests.  Cye grinned at them, grateful that Kayura wouldn't be giving him problems like that.

After traveling for most of the night, Rowen pulled them into a thick grove of trees, settling down for a short rest.  The others slumped to the ground gratefully, the Warlords panting softly and grumbling something about 'damn youths' and 'not respecting ancient bones' roughly in Rowen's direction.  He grinned at them, knowing perfectly well that whatever they were saying wasn't complimentary.  Sighing and leaning back, he glanced over to Sage.

"You must realize that once the sun rises, I'm going to be virtually helpless."

"You mean you're not now?" Sehkmet smirked.

Rowen glared at him.  "I may not be able to walk.  You might have to take turns carrying me."

Sehkmet blinked slowly.  "You're serious?" he murmured.

Starting slightly, Rowen looked at him in amazement.  "You don't know what happened to me?" he asked somewhat incredulously.

When he didn't answer, Dais spoke up for him.  "You're like the others now, aren't you?"

Scrubbing one hand through his hair, he shook his head slowly.  "That is not what the fangs signify," he muttered.

Cale was the first to catch on to what the younger boy was trying to say.  "Ah… you mean that they exist in this dimension?"  Rowen nodded.  Cale leaned over and whispered something to the others.  Four wary gazes were immediately leveled in his direction, much to his irritation.

No one was given a chance to ask him any questions.  A few rays of light peeked over the distant mountains, sending Rowen scrambling into his heavy cloak and gloves.  The Ronins looked at each other worriedly when he groaned softly and moved to the deeper shadows of the trees for a moment before starting out again.  The others had no choice but to scramble after him.

They continued at the same grueling pace that they had been maintaining through the night for around another two hours before Rowen began to stagger and slow.  Declining help, he continued forward, tripping often and cursing weakly.

Lips clamped between his teeth, Sage moved forward to walk beside his best friend for a moment before shucking his shoes and jeans to shift into a centaur.  Rowen made a face at him from under his hood, but allowed himself to be carried.  After a few minutes he slumped across Sage's back, panting hoarsely and occasionally groaning or twitching, urging Sage to keep moving whenever he slowed down.  He managed to hold on to consciousness for another five hours before passing out and nearly landing face first on the rocky ground below.

Grumbling softly, Sage led them off of the worn path into the trees, trying to get Rowen out of the sun as much as possible.  Not bothering to shift back, he dropped down beside his unconscious companion and healed him quickly, glancing at Cye worriedly.

"The sun isn't charring his skin, but it's still hurting him.  He said that it still burns almost as badly as before.  What he doesn't know is that it's slowly killing him," Sage murmured, glancing worriedly at his trembling friend.

"Tell me you're kidding," Cye muttered, dropping to the grass beside them.  "I thought that I had helped, some anyway."

"You did.  You increased the amount of time it takes for the sun to kill him."

Cye made a face and began thinking frantically, reviewing his huge inventory of spells carefully before sighing and shaking his head.  "I don't know anything else I can do for him."

They remained hidden in the trees until nightfall, Kento and Sehkmet glancing around hungrily and poking through the vegetation hopefully.  They managed to revive their unconscious friend once the sun had set entirely, the blue-haired youth immediately vanishing into the trees again.

Rowen returned after a few minutes, setting his cloak on the ground gently.  Tossing the thick fabric back, he revealed a large collection of various fruits and a dozen eggs over the size of baseballs.  Kento hugged him fiercely before attacking the food, he and Sehkmet disgusting the others by poking a hole in the end of their eggs and swallowing the contents raw.  The others made faces and handed their eggs over to Ryo, who held them in his hands for a moment before passing the things back, fried within the shells.  Even with the appetites of eight healthy warriors, a heap of fruit was left, Rowen having had gathered nearly thirty pounds of the stuff.

"Where did you find all that?" Kento burped happily as they started moving again, trotting beside the taller boy.

"I haven't been here two months without learning a few things."

"But there are no fruit trees," he argued.  Rowen only grinned.

Picking out a tree after a moment's study, he placed one hand on the trunk and concentrated for a moment.  One of the lowest limbs descended to within their reach, heavy fruit appearing on the proffered branch.  Rowen grinned and gathered the few pieces produced upon his request, holding them up triumphantly before adding them to the pile they hadn't eaten.  Incredulous glances passed around the group.

They followed the trails for the rest of that night, dropping to rest at the onset of dawn for almost an hour.  They started down the paths again with Rowen slumped across Sage, barely hanging onto consciousness, stopping to rest in the early afternoon.

Kento came up with an ingenious solution to their problem with the light on the second day when they stopped early in the afternoon, slamming out a hole in the ground with his mind to stuff Rowen into.  After a few minutes of questioning, Kento opened a huge cavern beneath them, sealing it protectively closed behind them only leaving a few tiny holes for ventilation.  Safely hidden and protected, they didn't bother to post sentries as they slept.

When the sun began to set, Rowen jerked awake, startling the Warlords horribly when he went from oblivion to total alertness in two seconds flat.

They followed this pattern for nearly a week, Rowen growing more desperate and run down by the day.

*     *     *

On the sixth day while they were resting comfortably in the cool shade provided by the ground, Sage moved over to Rowen, speaking to him softly.  Rowen shook his head forcefully and tried to go back to sleep, irritating Sage to no end.

Joining the others Sage slumped to the ground wearily.  He was almost asleep when he heard Ryo whispering softly to him.

"What was that all about?"

"Nothing.  Don't worry about it."

"Let me guess.  You're worried that Rowen hasn't eaten in about six days and were unable to get him to do anything about it.  Right?"

Sage's answering flinch was all Ryo needed to see to get his answer.

After the sun set, Ryo doggedly followed Rowen when he went out hunting for the proper types of trees to gather fruit, raiding strangely large nests on occasion.  After Rowen was well away from the others, Ryo made his presence known, clearing his throat softly.  Rowen jumped and spun to face him.

"Damn it, Ryo.  Don't sneak up on me like that.  You're lucky I turned to see who was there before attacking."

"Sorry.  We're just worried about you, Rowen.  You haven't been eating anything and it's freaking out Sehkmet and Dais horribly.  Kayura and Cale aren't responding much better.  The only reason that we're not eyeing you sideways is because we know you so well."

"Your point being?" Rowen drawled.

"Just beyond your grasp," Ryo countered, making a face at his friend.

Rowen snorted and hopped up into the branches of a rather large tree, returning after a moment with something that vaguely resembled a twenty-pound falcon hanging limply from his hands.

"You have to eat, Rowen," Ryo said doggedly, narrowly avoiding being landed on when Rowen leapt out of the upper branches with the bird in his hands.

"Sure, right," he muttered sarcastically, heading vaguely in the direction of camp.

Ryo stepped in his way, crossing his arms over his chest.  Rowen tried to sidestep him, but Ryo stayed determinedly in his way, eyeing his friend sharply.

"You're losing weight," he snapped softly, eyes flashing.

Rowen tensed.  "There's not much I can do about it," he hissed, matching Ryo glare for glare.  His eyes widened and he stepped back when Ryo shucked off his shirt.

"Well?" he prompted, grinding his teeth.  If Sage could do this, then so help him, so could he.

"No way," Rowen growled, trying to move around him again, succeeding this time when he tripped Ryo to get him out of the way.  He hadn't made it more than two paces past his friend when a huge black wolf in blue jeans jumped in his path, ruby eyes flashing.  Making a face, he started to lift into the air, freezing when Ryo brought out his wings and moved to follow.

Sighing, Rowen landed silently.  "I'm fine, Ryo.  Drop it."

Ryo shifted back and began looking around for his shirt and shoes.  "No way, Rowen.  You're not getting out of this.  You haven't eaten in six days."

He stiffened.  "Sage told you?"

"No, he didn't.  I walked in on you."

"Learn to knock," Rowen snarled, trying to push past him.

Sighing, he tried Sage's method.  "Please, Rowen."  He froze, shoulders tensing for a moment before he shook his head and started moving again.

Ryo snagged his friend's arm and forcefully lifted him off of the ground and moved a little ways further from camp with his captive cursing and kicking at him.  Setting down Rowen, he tossed his shirt to the ground and pried the filled cloak out of his friend's furious grip, crossing his arms and setting his jaw stubbornly.

"Just leave me alone, Ryo," Rowen whimpered, staring blankly into the night.  "You couldn't possibly understand how hard this is."

"What I understand is that one of my friends is dying because he's being to ornery to accept his friends' help."  He flinched at the murderous glare that Rowen threw him, but stood his ground.

Glaring angrily at the ground for a moment, Rowen moved forward with unnerving speed, slipping behind Ryo and pinning his arms to his side.  Ryo only had time to gasp before the world spun wildly and went black.

Ryo groaned and tried to push himself off of the ground, his head pounding painfully.  Sinking back to the ground after swaying unsteadily on his knees for a moment, he opened his eyes and tried to look around, groaning and closing his eyes again when the world spun wildly.

Gentle hands pulled him into a sitting position.  "Are you okay, Ryo?" Sage's worried voice came from directly behind him.

Forcing his eyes open, Ryo looked around uncertainly.  He was lying in the center of camp, seven worried faces regarding him carefully.  Running his hands through his hair, he groaned again.

"You pissed off Rowen, didn't you?"

Glaring angrily at Sage, he struggled to his feet and began looking around for his shirt, shivering in the cool night.

"What makes you say that?" he grumped, glaring around.

"Well, for starters," Sage murmured, tapping the side of his neck gently.  Ryo jumped and raised one hand jerkily to his throat, paling at the two half healed holes his fingers encountered.

"That and Rowen just dumped you here unconscious before disappearing," Cye added, looking around in the blackness with ruby eyes for a moment.

"How long has he been gone?" Ryo demanded, trying to get his bearings straight.

"Almost an hour," Kayura mumbled, squinting in the direction they had been heading for the last week.  Ryo swore loudly.

"He's not coming back.  We need to catch up with him."

Cale and Sehkmet jumped.  Dais only gaped in his direction.

"Why?" Sehkmet cried out in shock.  "After what he did to you…"

Ryo growled and stumped off in the direction they had been heading for the last six days, shifting his eyes to crimson as he stormed through the darkness, ignoring the burning hunger clawing insistently at his stomach and mind.  There was a mad scramble as the others grabbed the food and their few possessions to race after him, unwilling to lose another member of their group.

To Be Continued…

Sorry about the delay in posting time.  I'm a bonehead and I forgot that I was supposed to be fighting the format and reposting this.  Still, R&R!