Chapter 4.

The willow tree was hard to miss, with its long arms drooping down, framing Aeiln's pale face as she tried to hide away in the fuzzy branches. Gavin came up and sat down besides her, trying not to be offended as she moved away from him. He sighed; it wasn't like it was the first time.

"What happened?" Gavin foolishly inquired. He knew exactly what, but he couldn't think of any better way to start a conversation. However, even as he moved closer to her, he could feel himself being pushed away by the wall of negative emotions swirling around her.

She turned and looked at him, her glittering violet eyes twitching to hold back tears. Her voice, however, was steady as she said: "Nothing happened. And I'm okay now. You didn't do anything by the way, I just..." she looked away again, leaning over to dip her hand in the clear stream that ran alongside the tree. "Never mind. It's nothing."

"No, it's not. Trust me, I can tell. I know exactly what you're feeling. It's the only magik I have." For as long as he could remember, Gavin had been able to sense other people's emotions. Every Devoln got one power from their inner Demon, and Gavin happened to get Eldrazi's Empathy. He could read every lie and pull apart every mask. It was a very useful ability that unfortunately didn't account for the fact that just because someone was genuine, meant that they could be trusted not to change sides later on. Not to mention that it constantly made Gavin feel the need to overreact, with his perception of others' feelings seemingly much stronger than his own. To experience some emotion, anything at all, negative or not, was better than the threat of becoming an empty husk of a being that threatened to swallow him at the heartstrings. Or at least, that was what he supposed must have happened, as his emotions had felt considerably dampened for the past three years. Pushing that all aside, he tried to be caring.

"Look, if we're supposed to be partners, then you have to tell me things too, right? So, could you tell me what happened... Please...?" He added, a higher pitch lilt wavering at the end of his please, that he knew would make it sound nicer. His now soft voice was completely different from his normally sarcastic backtalk, making Aeiln feel more than a little guilty for how she had treated him in the past day.

*{You're laying it on a little thick there, huh Gavin?}*

*What? She deserves to feel guilty for what she did. Besides... How else am I supposed to convince her to be on our side? Anyways, shouldn't you be quiet right now? She can hear thoughts, remember?*

*{As far as I know, she can only hear you, and you're the one who decided to think 'on our side', as if that isn't obvious. And I'm pretty sure she's too distracted to even pay attention to all that right now, even if she could hear me.}*

Aeiln refused to look away from the cool water, but showed she was listening by pricking up her ears. Gavin laid down, stretching himself out on the thick green crabgrass. The sun licked his dry skin, warming him up from the inside. Finally, she broke her gaze away from the stream. Clearing her throat in a futile attempt to remove the lump that had formed there, she spoke, her voice cracking a little. Gavin tried not to be envious of the overflowing emotion. "What I said to you was uncalled for, all of it. I shouldn't have treated you like I did last night, especially after you agreed to help me. Maybe Sera is right. That I only care about myself, and I'll do anything to get what I want." She lowered her head so she could look directly into his yellowish-green eyes. Gavin almost felt nervous under her piercing gaze.

He rolled back onto his stomach, pulling himself up with his arms in front of him. "It's fine. With my past, I would rather you throw me against a wall than spend every five minutes getting chased by Inquisitors and shot with arrows. I still owe you for bringing me here and giving me food and shelter. I may get angry, and be a little rude at times, but honestly, ignore me. It happens all the time, for my own reasons. It doesn't have anything to do with you, so don't go around feeling bad because of my problems." Not entirely true (of course he didn't want to be thrown to a wall or coerced into some ludicrous plan to change the world. Who did she think she was?) but if he allowed her to continue to wallow, how were they ever going to get anywhere?

"Well, I'm sorry for not telling you anything." She said it frankly while staring him right in the face. Like it was something she was used to from countless mistakes, to the point that she could admit her faults, which was more than Gavin could say for himself. "But enough about me. The past is the past. Quid poenitet deflux, right?"

*Why regret slipped sands?* Gavin's mind instantly translated for him into Common, even though it was an ancient Demonican saying. One perk of being a Devoln was the ability to understand and speak two languages without having to relate one to the other to translate.

"Let's head back to Rowan's study, Gavin," Aeiln suggested. "Gavin? Gavin!" Snapping out of his thoughts, he opened his eyes to find her giving him an odd look, most likely because he had been unable to answer her right away.

"Why is your name Gavin anyway? I've never heard of it before. Any reason in particular?"

He only turned to her in surprise. No one had ever asked him that, and for some reason, he was glad she had. "It... it's an ancient name from Human legend where Akasha sends down a Human who speaks every language and is created to bring peace to Esternia. It means a miracle from the gods, and my mother thought it was a miracle how she could keep me alive."

"Aw. That's such a beautiful story. It's almost like you were destined to go on this quest with me, to bring peace and equality."

"He dies by the end. He gets shot by a fireball right after he delivers his message. Everyone was fighting. Nobody wanted to hear of peace."

"... Oh."

By that point, they'd reached the house, closing the door quietly behind them. A short hallway led them to a tall brown door bearing a golden plaque simply labeled 'Office'. Entering nonchalantly, Aeiln strode over to the desk and sat down, picking up paper after paper and displaying them for him. "So, this is what Rowan told me about last night, after I... pushed you into the room... Anyway..." Her speech then began to speed up, as if she only had a short amount of time to fit in all the information she had. "He was saying that most of the Inquisitors were located in the southern part of Duine, due to a farmer rebellion, which is lucky for us. If we gather all the stuff we need on the way out of the city, we should be fine. So now we just need to figure out when we are leaving."

"Wait, slow down. What about the Inquisitors? Where are we going? What are we even doing?" She was talking so fast that Gavin could scarcely keep up.

"Look," Aeiln started again, pointing at the map and now going overly slow, as if to make him feel idiotic. "According to Rowan, this is where the Inquisitors are." She placed her finger on a red circle marked low on the map. "We have to go to the capitol, which is only slightly South of here; that's the most populated area." She pointed to the center of the map, labeled Crossroads.

"But what are we doing? Simply traveling the country? I'm sorry but I can't do that, even at night. It's too dangerous for me."

"Why not? That's what I'm here for," she stared at him blankly, confused.

"Look, They would do anything to get me, and even with your help, it..it...it would be like what happened at the tavern, but everyday. Why would you even want to do that? I'm not even that strong. If we got into trouble..."

"You seem to forget that They are also after me because I'm a half-breed. You'll get stronger, I have a feeling. If not, I'll deal with the fighting. That is, if you come. I'm going on this trip whether you're with me or not. I would rather you come with me but it's your choice. And don't worry about being recognized. I can glamour you."

"I can't be glamoured. Trust me, I've tried. Thanks for the offer though."

"Very funny Gavin. Come on. We should head back and pack some food for the trip, cause we're leaving tomorrow."

"Wait? What? Tomorrow!"

"Hold my hand," she requested, extending her hand. Reaching out, he touched her hand, preparing himself to be teleported. As the very air around them parted, he found it strange that even though she was using Angel magik, it didn't hurt him much at all. A slight dizziness at most.

*{That's most likely because her magik has found a way to work with itself, otherwise her own magik would harm her, like you,}* Eldrazi posed.

*True,* Gavin thought back.

"So... what do you like to eat?" Aeiln asked, walking back and forth on the kitchen floorboards.

"Chicken," he answered, without even thinking.

"Is that it?" She sounded startled, making him wonder if that was an odd request.

"I mean, I'll eat anything that isn't a vegetable, so pack whatever you want."

"All right then." She clapped twice causing a chicken to appear in the middle of the table, already steaming.

"I am never going to get used to that. Clap. Food. Never," he spoke, but at least he didn't jump back this time as he wondered how in Esternia she planned on packing it. Then again, Angels could summon things…

But instead of placing the chicken in her personal portal that she'd use to summon it later, she turned to walk out. "Wait here. I'll be right back."

So the two of them were left there in the kitchen alone, awaiting her return. Gavin, with nothing else to do, stared at the chicken. Even though it had come seemingly from nowhere, he could tell it was perfectly cooked: moist on the inside, with crispy skin that he would later savor on his tongue long before swallowing.

*{You want to eat it.}*

*No. It's for later.*

*{She won't notice if a small piece is gone. And can summoned food even spoil? It'll be fine. Come on, give in to your desires.}*

*My desires? More like your own.*

*{You know, I can continue to ramble until you give me a piece. Think of the tenderness of young chicken... the juiciness, the way the flesh slightly sticks to your teeth as you chew, the…}*

And that was how Aeiln found Gavin completely engorged in chicken "to feed to Eldrazi".

"Wow. Someone's a messy eater," said Aeiln, coming up from behind him.

Crap! She's back! he thought, jumping at her sudden presence and a blush invading his skin at her comment. "Ssswry," he apologized, mouth full of food. Then he realized that that was rude as well. *Damn it! Why are these things so complicated?* He could hear Eldrazi snickering in the depths of his mind.

Swallowing his food, he apologized again, hoping she wasn't offended.

"It's okay. I don't mind you eating the chicken, but your table manners are atrocious," she explained as she sat down across from him.

"I wish I knew better," he replied. "That's what I get for living in the woods for so long, I guess."

"Don't worry about it. Just finish it off; you might as well at this point. I can always make more," she sighed with a smile.

*{Yes, eat Gavin! You got your permission! I'm starving in here and the only thing you can seem to do is ramble!}*

*Well all right. You don't have to yell at me!* Gavin retorted back mentally. Noticing Aeiln staring at him, he realized he had begun to seemingly stare off into space again. To throw her suspicions off, he grabbed another piece of chicken, trying to seem as ravenous as before.

"So, where did you go?" he asked mid-bite, hoping that was a normal thing to ask at the dinner table.

"I went to the basement. I was hoping that Rowan hadn't moved my old swords in another one of his cleaning sprees, and luckily, he hadn't," she answered. "Oh, and do try to keep it down."

"Is someone sleeping already?" He didn't know he had been loud, as they were only talking to each other.

"No. Rowan and Sera left to visit the market square. But you know I can hear thoughts even though I may not want to. Especially from him."

"Wait," Gavin gulped. "You can hear 'Drazi?" he asked, making sure to use his nickname, just in case.

"Yes, so could you two please keep it down? You're giving me a headache."

Even though he didn't say anything, Gavin knew that they were both thinking the same thing.

If Aeiln could hear them, they were really going to have to watch what they said from now on.