Authors note: (same as previous chapter!)

Trigger warnings for this chapter: Animals in distress

POV: Zak

I'm running as fast as my legs will carry me to reach the Kushtaka, but he doesn't seem the same as he was before. He doesn't trust us. Fear. Confusion. Panic. That's all I can sense, all his playful curiosity, and even his goal - find a new home - seems to be put on standby. He's terrified of something.

I watch him shoot into a narrow ice cavern in a blur of brown fur, Ila and I following in hot pursuit. When I get close enough, I use the claw as a vault and slide right in, following his shadow.

Once I'm inside, I stare up in awe at the size of the underground cave. There's icicles hanging from the ceiling of the structure, illuminated by the light that's barely pouring in through the opening. I see piles of foliage strewn about in the corners, and from what I know about animals, I can tell it's a nest for warmth. This must be the Kushtaka's den.

Ever so slightly, one of the nests jostles. I can tell he's in there, but I'm cautious as I approach. I can hear Ila climbing down the steep entrance of the cavern, so I try to make him feel safe before we corner him.

"It's okay. . . We're here to help, remember us?"

A moment passes, then the nest moves again. I can spot two black beady eyes staring at me. I take a few slow steps closer, making sure to watch those eyes for any signs of malice.

"Eaaasy-"

I startle when out of nowhere he jumps to let out a hiss, a warning for me to get back. I stop dead in my tracks. He's out in the open now, and his appearance makes me swallow hard. He's not in good shape at all, his skin in many places is tattered, fur bloodied, eyes tired and sunken. He's been attacked. His behavior isn't because he doesn't 'trust us', he's in fight-or-flight mode. I swallow once more, and against my better judgement, slowly raise my arm out for him, trying for a connection.

"It's okay. . . you're safe now."

I can hear footsteps, meaning Ila's finally found her way into the cavern. I keep my position but quickly shoot a look behind me.

"Careful!" I say, giving her a gesture to slow down. "He's pretty riled up."

"But-"

"Don't worry, I can calm him down."

The face she makes in response is strange. It reminds me of when Doyle was first getting adjusted to the family. When I told him I could handle something most 11 year old's couldn't, he'd always look as if he didn't believe me, but like he wanted me to try anyways. It was forceful trust in place of a lack of trust, something mom and dad didn't even seem comfortable giving me until I was a certain age. It was a silent permission to let me put myself in danger, but a promise they'd be right there to get me out of it.

My thoughts turn back to the task at hand while I try for a stronger connection.

"Please, let us help you. . . we're gonna get you somewhere safer. You just have to let us fix you up first."

His motives can be read as nearly the opposite of that expression. He doesn't want to trust me, he doesn't want to trust anyone, but he knows there's no one else who can help him. He caves, pompously lying down, much like a cat who's trying to act like it was his idea all along.

"This is Ila, she's a doctor. She can heal you."

He stares her down, before just as dramatically turning away and letting a wounded paw dangle close enough for her to access. I watch her as she gingerly starts dressing quite a large cut. Now, her face appears to be sour, and somewhat confused. It's kind of amusing.

"What's wrong?"

"This is. . . definitely the first time I've attempted this on an animal, let alone a legally unclassified one."

I hold back a laugh.

"Well, I'm sure he appreciates your effort."

For a moment she wears a grateful smile, before the Kushtaka abruptly squeals and pulls back, feeling the sting of an alcohol wipe.

"Maybe not all of it."

I let myself laugh this time. Some time passes before he feels comfortable easing back into his previous position so Ila can continue.

"Come ooon, don't whine so much, this was bound to happen you know. Look at all the trouble you've caused!"

He chitters. Finally, my smile crumbles under a harsh realization.

". . . I guess it's not his fault. It was probably my powers that drew him out, and the reason people got hurt, including him." I say as I gingerly place a hand on the Kushtaka's back. "Sorry buddy."

Ila stops what she's doing to look at me. She appears to be deep in thought before speaking up.

"Y'know, it's not all a bad thing. These creatures are coming to you for a reason right? Think of it as a chance to guide them."

I give another laugh, a dry one this time.

"Sure, to world domination."

"Says who?" She scolds.

". . . Uh . . . . I'm not trying to be rude but. . . Literally everyone, in the whole world."

With a side frown, she places a hand on my shoulder.

"It's not really everyone else who matters, man. Nobody else has power like this. You do." She says, pointing at my chest. "It's yours. . . Prophecies aren't real. Power is just a tool, it's the owner that chooses what it's used for. And you don't seem like a world dominating type, do you? . . . But, I guess we've only known each other for a few days. So don't go pulling any surprises on me, you madman." She says, pointing with faux accusation and another glistening smile. I can't help but feel lost in the moment, reassurance has been a pretty finite resource for a while now.

". . . . . . . . . Why are you so nice to me? I mean, when everyone else isn't. . . Why did you decide to trust us?"

Her grip loosens, a somber look now on her face.

"Well, like I said, 'everyone else' doesn't matter to me. Never has. Besides, I was raised in a big family, so I guess I'm just used to welcoming newcomers. In general, kindness and understanding towards children is a pretty important thing around here. You'd be really surprised at how high my patience is."

Suddenly, we hear rustling come from the entrance to the cave. It's Doyle, with a tattered coat and he's covered in what looks like blood. The Kushtaka cowers, presumably at the scent.

"Okay YOU, on the other hand, are truly testing me."

"Are you okay?" I ask sheepishly.

"Yeah, don't worry, the blood's not mine." He quickly grimaces at his statement, realizing how bad it sounds.

"Look, as soon as you're done here, we gotta go."

I frown at him.

"Why? Who were those people, what did they want?"

". . . I don't know. . . When I caught up with him he just said something about 'Servant of Kur', whatever that means, it's probably best we stay as far away from them as possible."

"You mean you didn't. . .'Take care of him'?" I stress with air quotes.

"What? No-"

The kushtaka lets out another gentle hiss.

"I think he's nervous because he can smell the blood. . ."

Doyle rolls his eyes.

"All right, I can take a hint, I'll meet you outside." He says, climbing back through the mouth of the cave.

Ila, who's been working feverishly to keep up with our conversation, cleans her final scrape before rising to her feet and following him.

"I'll be back, stay with the Kushtaka if you could, since he's such a big baby." She states as she leaves, the Kushtaka giving her one final offended chirp.

{POV CHANGE; Doyle.}

As I pace outside the den, the words 'Take care of him' ring in my mind. Is that where we're at now? The concept of murder isn't shocking, just a little awkward to talk about? I'm a lot of things, but assassin is one thing I'm glad isn't on my resume. If he was still with his parents he'd be lecturing me, telling me that violence isn't the answer. Things couldn't have changed that much, could they?

I start grabbing handfuls of any loose snow I can find and letting it melt in my hands as I try to rinse the blood from my body. It creates red tinted puddles all around me, which doesn't make me feel much better. Kind of looks like a scene from a horror movie. I lower myself to my knees and keep trying, growing more and more irritated. It definitely doesn't help that Van Rook's standing 10 feet away and looking at me like a smug bastard.

"What?" I bark.

"Is just blood, dumbass. No need to act like an animal."

I heavily fight back the urge to form a snowball and chuck it right at his stupid soviet head.

"Is everything okay out here?" Ila says from the cave opening, taking us both off guard.

". . . Yeah, peachy."

"That didn't sound convincing."

She comes up next to me, obviously eyeballing my mess but deciding not to comment.

"So. . . what do you think those people were doing?"

"I don't know. . . That's the problem,-" I say, kicking some snow. "-I have no idea what they're doing, all I know is that they were watching us, which means it's not safe here anymore. We're back to square one." I say, before rubbing my temples and taking a deep breath in an attempt to gather my thoughts.

"It's just. . . I almost went back for him. He was this close to the cliff. I could have just. . . done it, and we wouldn't have to worry about them anymore. . . I mean, If I was asking a priest, I know what the answer would be, but person to person, honestly. . . Should I have gone back?"

I catch her concerned glance and sigh out a mood lightening laugh, feeling a bit bad for putting so much on someone that's only been dealing with our situation for a few days.

"Sorry. . . I'm not trying to put you on the spot. I just. . . can't stop thinking about this stupid thing Argost once said. 'A mother will kill another mother's baby to save her own.' I mean. . . what would I tell Zak if I had to kill for him?"

Her expression changes to a much milder one, that of sympathy.

"Believe me, I know it's hard to know right from wrong these days but. . . it sounds like you've done your best."

I smile, trying to show a gratitude for her attempts at slowing my racing mind, though it doesn't help.

"Thanks, but trust me, I know from trial and error, my best usually isn't enough."

". . . Can I get all deep and philosophical on you for a sec?"

"I'm terrified. But go on."

"Fear is. . . a bitch, it's a weird symbiotic thing where without allowing yourself to feel a certain amount you'd be killed, but if you have too much you'll do anything to survive, and in a way it kinda kills your humanity off. The hardest part is keeping a balance. Whenever fear gets the best of you, think of what you'd have to say, what you'd have to do to resolve the aftermath of your decision. If the grief really is worth it, I have no doubt you'd do what needs to be done. You're already taking initiative by being out here for Zak's sake, your intentions are already clear. Try to listen to them."

I'm unsure of how to respond, mostly because while I've spent all this time being cautious of her, this is the most trust someone's shown towards me in a long time, and Much more than I'd ever grant myself. Still, I try to harden my exterior to reassure her that I believe her.

"Sorry, am I interrupting?" Van Rook says, casually walking up behind us.

"Uh, yeah, dick."

I'd say he shot daggers at me, but it's not quite that harsh. Butter knives, maybe.

"Can we please just get the cryptid to wherever it needs to be and get inside somewhere, it's freezing."

Ila quietly goes to retrieve Zak and the cryptid while I fight back another snowball urge. Even in times like this, he still always finds the most basic thing to complain about. It's almost as if I'm taking care of two kids now.

As we prepare for our journey back, I think more on Ila's words. I've spent a lot of time, mostly cold late nights, wondering if I actually know enough right from wrong to keep Zak safe. It wasn't all that long ago that I was throwing concussion grenades at his parents for a stolen cryptid artifact, so I often wonder where would I be now if we had never reunited, or the more concerning question, what side of this mess I would be on. Frankly, I'm not sure if I should take his assumption of what I'd do for our safety as a sign that I need to ease up, or a sign that because I didn't go through with it, I'm still not doing enough.

The bright side to thoughts like these is that they make our travels go by much faster. We've arrived at the basin ahead of schedule, and thank god. Our options were pretty much drive for hours to get to the other side of Alaska, or drop it off somewhere safe and let it figure itself out, hopefully as low radar as possible now that it's injured. I think with our combined exhaustion, the latter is an obvious win.

"Just follow the basin that way out to sea, there's plenty of places to live out there. If you ever need us, you know where to find us." Zak states, guiding the Kushtaka to the edge.

With a splash and a thankful chitter, it seems like an adventure finally comes to it's end. We still have to figure out what attacked it, amongst many other unanswered questions, but a moment of relief is still shared before Zak finally asks what we're all thinking.

"So. . . what do we do about the stuff we saw back at Mary's Igloo?"

I sigh a melodramatic sigh, seasoning what I'm about to say with faux disdain.

"I guess we do what Drew would do if she was here, research it."

Ila of course is quick to disregard my complaints in favor of actual help.

"Well, there's a library back in Teller, but there's a much bigger and older one over in Nome. I'm sure they'd have sections on ancient languages and history."

"Might as well start there, If the runes really were Sumerian, then it's not something you see everyday."

As we head towards where we parked our snowmobiles, I'm quick to remember a rather important fact;;; I kind of look like an actual serial killer.

"Maybe we should find a rest stop on the way."

"Good call. Besides, the child needs their sleep."

"I'm not tired!" Zak retorts.

"Yeah, I was talking about Van Rook."

I can't help myself, I give her a high five, reveling in a moment that is so much more satisfying than a snowball.