Damien knelt beside Sylph. He gently tapped her on the shoulder, but she didn’t budge.

“She’s unconscious, you idiot,” Henry said. “Leave her here or drag her into her bed.”

He knelt beside Sylph, carefully looping his arms under hers and dragging her back through the tunnel. When he reached her bed, he lifted her onto it with a grunt. It would have been a lot easier if his legs hadn’t been so worn out that they barely worked.

It looks like I just murdered her.

Damien glanced over his shoulder, half expecting Delph to be standing behind him. There was nothing but the afternoon sun. Damien grimaced and shifted the sheets around Sylph, covering her with them and turning the girl on her side so that the blood was a little less visible on her face.

Yep, I’m definitely hiding a body.

He would have been convinced the girl had died had she not been taking slow, shallow breaths. Damien stepped back, glancing out the cave again before hurrying into the bathroom. His hands were covered in blood.

Damien grimaced and rinsed his hands off in the sink before pulling the bathroom curtain shut behind him. His coat had somehow managed to remain completely clean, but his shirt and pants under it had gotten stained.

At least my coat is fine.

“Of course it is. It’s runed,” Henry said. “It’s got cleaning and self-repair runes on it.”

That’s good. I didn’t want to have to throw this away.

Damien quickly stripped out of his clothes and tossed them to the side of the bathroom as he stepped under the shower. The moment water started to fall from the holes in the ceiling, he let out a sigh of relief.

His painful bruises and aching muscles relaxed instantly. The water poured over Damien’s hair, matting it to his head. It was pleasantly warm and just felt… fresh.

He didn’t scrub himself. He just sat there, staring blankly at the wall as his mind slowly started to catch up with the day. After several minutes, Damien picked up his soap and started to clean himself.

Once his shower was over, he stepped out and wiped himself dry with a small towel. He put his pants back on, but his shirt was a lost cause. He nudged it into the corner with his foot.

Damien stepped out from behind the curtain, scurried over to grab his travel bag, and then retreated back into the bathroom. He pulled a new shirt out and pair of pants out, donning them before putting his cloak back on.

As he was getting dressed, Damien noticed that his bruises seemed to have faded. He peered closer at his arm. It was still a little tender, but the bluish circles from where Delph had hit him with the stick had already faded to a dull yellow.

Damien suddenly realized that his legs were only slightly uncomfortable rather than unbearably sore. He took a careful step, his eyebrows raising.

Something healed me? The shower?

“The water has magic in it,” Henry observed. “You would have noticed that if you were keeping your Ether sight active all the time.”

You could have told me. I’ve been suffering for no reason!

“If I tell you how to do everything, you won’t react fast enough in a fight. Little things like this are your problem,” Henry said.

Damien sighed, but his companion had a point. He dried his hair out as best as he could with the towel before heading back into the main room.

…should I try to get Sylph into the shower?

Henry just cackled.

She was still breathing, and her face didn’t look like it was in pain anymore. Damien decided that she would probably be fine. He was not going to get caught dragging Sylph’s unconscious body into the bathroom.

It was still only late afternoon, but the weight of the world was pressing down on Damien relentlessly. Now that his adrenaline was starting to fade, his mind was growing foggy. He yawned.

Too much happened today. I’m going to bed.

Henry remained silent. Damien climbed into bed, rolling over so that the small amount of light coming into the room from the cave entrance wouldn’t bother him, and laid against his pillow without even taking his clothes off. Within minutes, the embrace of sleep enveloped him.

Grass was in a multitude of spots that it was not meant to be. Damien blinked. His mind was hazy. A cool breeze rushed by him and he shivered. He didn’t have clothes on. Again. The sea of darkness surrounding the hill that he sat on seemed to stretch on into eternity.

Damien turned around just in time for a dot of darkness to touch his head. He drew a sharp breath as the fog vanished and he became fully aware. He grimaced and his clothes popped into being around him.

“Why do I always show up naked?” Damien asked.

“Don’t ask me. It’s your mind,” Henry replied. The eldritch creature sat across from Damien, his many eyes all looking at the boy.

“You’re going to be honest with me, then?” Damien asked, leaning forwards.

It was hard to read Henry’s expression, as each of his mouths seemed to be doing something different. In addition, Damien wasn’t particularly sure how to tell if the dripping fangs were snarling or smiling.

“For some reason, I’m considering it,” Henry said. “However, I need to impress on you how dangerous this is. You know what happened when you simply saw It Who – ah, my true form. This knowledge might not tear you apart, but it can draw the attention of beings with equal amounts of power and no reason to keep you alive.”

Damien noted Henry’s slip up, but he didn’t say anything. He frowned pensively. The memories of exactly what had happened when he’d seen the eldritch creature the first time were fuzzy, but he still had the distinct impression that he did not want it to happen again.