Eryn awakens to feeling like she's on fire. Her eyes fling open and pain overwhelms her. Her body feels like it's made of lead, and her arms feel like someone is scraping them with hot coals. She attempts to sit up but her core hurts too much and she just flops back into the blankets. She manages to lift her arms up to see they're wrapped in bandages. Clean ones at that. She tests moving her fingers, wincing in pain as she does, and is happy to see everything is still moveable, before sighing and placing them gently at her side.

She takes in her surroundings. She's in a tent that much is clear, and it seems like it's daytime as there's sunlight filtering through a small crack in the tent. Just outside she can hear voices, talking somewhat loudly, and recognizes them as Darius and Katarina.

"I'll make sure he holds up his end of the deal. Sorry that he did that."

"Mm. I probably woulda done the same to you if I'm honest. No hard feelings."

Darius chuckles. "Jericho always says you and I are too alike. Seems now even our taste in partners match."

Katarina laughs but it sounds somewhat pained. "Yeah. She reminds me of her too ya know. They're both annoying bratty mages."

"Is that why Draven says you were trying to scare her off?"

"I was not."

"Did you not tell her you would be happy to see all of our heads on spikes?"

"I mean, at the time that was just the truth."

"Kat."

"What? Your brother was blackmailing me! Of course I was angry!"

"Kat."

She groans. "What do you want me to say? That I'm pissed at more than just the blackmail thing? Because I am! I was packing to head to the Demacian capital for my own mission, to finally get to see her and make sure she's fine during this whole mage rebellion thing, only to get pulled aside by your brother and told 'nah you gotta help me find my dumbass brother who got himself captured by Demacians. Or else everyone's gonna know you're fucking a Crownguard.' And then the first lead we have just so happens to be a little Demacian mage who's smitten for you and oh so happy to join Noxus. A girl you've known for weeks is ready to fight for us when the girl I've known for years still is insistent on siding with our enemies. Wouldn't you be a little pissed?"

Something feels raw in Katarina's voice, as if Darius had been poking at a wound that just refuses to heal. Silence falls over the campsite as neither seem to know what to say. "I'm sorry." Darius finally musters and Katarina scoffs.

"That's all you got?"

"Well my only advice for you is to maybe try getting captured by her and her brother."

"Oh fuck off Darius." Her laugh betrays her amusement and then they're both chuckling.

Eryn feels awkward just lying there listening to the two have a genuine moment. She feels trapped in the tent, barely able to muster the strength to move her fingers. The laughter dies down and she hears one of them shift and walk towards the tent. "I'm going to check her bandages." It's Darius's voice getting closer to her.

"Draven checked them before he left to go hunting." Katarina calls after him.

"I know I know. Just double checking." Darius brushes her off and the flap to the tent opens. Light rims his bulky form like a halo as he steps in. She attempts to sit up again, excited to see him, and winces in pain. He's at her side in a moment, supporting her with his own form. "You're awake." He has a soft smile as he supports her back with his hand, letting her lean on him to sit up. He runs his other calloused hands along her jaw, almost like he can't believe it himself.

She hums, pleased with his presence pressing against her side. She wants to mimic the gesture, to run her fingers down his face, but her arms still are burning. Instead she lets him press their foreheads together and closes her eyes, just enjoying the moment of peace. "How long have I been out?" She asks and her voice sounds strange to her ear, hoarse from disuse.

"Almost three days." He murmurs. "You scared me."

She remembers the fear she saw in him when he was holding her in the dungeon. "What happened exactly?"

"What do you remember?"

"Grabbing Whitburn. Wanting him to die. Pain. You looking at me with fear." Her voice is cracking as she talks, and she can't tell if it's from the disuse or from her own anxiety.

He sighs deeply. His fingers idly trace patterns along her back. "At first it was fine, he was going down. Like you did to me when we met. But then you started screaming… it looked like he was decomposing underneath you. And your arms were just burning... Eryn I thought you were going to kill yourself." He's trying to hide it but his voice is straining, like the image of it pains him.

She breathes deeply. "I've never done that before. Usually even taking enough of someone's life force to knock them out will make me pass out. But I just… I hated him. I hated that he was a mageseeker. I hated that I was too weak to stop him from taking you." Her teeth are gritted as her chest bubbles with pure rage. Darius senses it and gently takes her hand in his and interlocks their fingers together. The feeling hurts but she doesn't care. She just wants to feel him. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to scare you. I couldn't control it. Becoming the monster mage seekers warn about, the uncontrollable magical murderers, that's the last thing I ever want to be."

He pauses, thinking over his next words carefully. His dark brown eyes focused on her own as he breathes deeply before speaking. "I took that deal with him so I wouldn't have to watch you die. I've seen too many people I care about killed in front of me, and I've been helpless to stop it." She can feel his hand that's supporting her back grip onto her tightly, like she could vanish at any moment if he let's go of her. "Eryn, your magic doesn't scare me. Watching you die in my arms, like Quil did, that's what scared me."

Eryn leans into him. "I'll try not to do that again then. As long as you don't ever leave me like that again. I didn't even have time to tell you my choice."

"Well, you still can."

"Is it not obvious at this point?"

"It is, but I'd like to hear you say it."

She laughs as she looks up at him. "I want to fight for you. For freedom. For Noxus."

He smiles and presses their lips together for a gentle kiss. He works his hands through her hair as she leans back into him, warmth blossoming in her chest as they're finally together again.

"Oy where's Darius? I wanna show him this big deer I killed, we're eating good tonight!" Draven's voice interrupts the calmness of the moment. It seems he's returned from his hunting expedition. Darius and Eryn both burst out in laughter, pulling away from each other and breaking the kiss as they do.

"Either he's lost his mind and he's been having a conversation with himself for the past 10 minutes, or Eryn's awake. I like to think the former, it's funnier." Katarina responds and Eryn's face flushes red with embarrassment. She had forgotten she was sitting outside.

Darius just laughs and stands up, scooping Eryn into his arms as he does. She makes a startled noise, not expecting the sudden motion as he carries her out of the tent into the afternoon light. Draven sure enough has a corpse of a large doe on his shoulders and is smiling triumphantly at the two of them. "Kat, don't go starting rumors." Darius warns as he steps out into the afternoon light.

"Me? Never." She's smiling wolfishly as she stokes their campfire.

"You used to tell girls at bars that I eat the guts of the people I killed in the arena!" Draven protests as he begins skinning the deer. Darius sits Eryn down on a log and she's finally starting to feel strong enough to sit up on her own. It's painful but she pushes past it, just happy to be able to sit with the three of them. Her stomach is growling, having not eaten in apparently three days.

"I was doing those women a favor. Besides if that's enough to spook them then they couldn't handle your ass anyway." Katarina says with a snicker. The mood is infectious. All of them are laughing, even Draven as he trades insults with Katarina. It's not like when she had first met them, where it was hostile. Now there's a familial rapport between the three and Eryn feels like for the first time in months she could relax. Darius sits beside her, an arm wrapped around her hip as the four swap tales over dinner.

Night falls and there's a lull in conversation. Katarina takes a swig from a flask before breaking the silence. "So what are you going to tell Jericho? And all of Noxus for that matter." She asks and the jovial tone is snuffed out.

Darius pauses, and Eryn can feel him tense at her side. "I can't hide anything from Jericho. But as for everyone else, we'll say it was all a planned excursion to execute a powerful Demacian tyrant and weaken their defenses." His gaze is cold now, calculating. "I trust you can keep to that story."

"And her?" Katarina nods at Eryn. "She's going to need to prove herself if you don't want a target painted on her back. They'll see her as a weakness to you."

Eryn holds her head high and meets Katarina's gaze. Her expression is hard to read as they stare each other down. She's analyzing her, judging her on her response. "Whatever Noxus throws at me, I can handle it."

Katarina grins and it's predatory. "I guess we'll see about that won't we."