Jodin, with his two captives in tow, moved silently through the vast ruins of Oraton, making his way towards Origin. As he neared the dilapidated building, he caught the sound of two voices in the midst of an argument. Being sure to stay well out of sight, he paused for a moment and listened.
“{{And you left those two by themselves!? That seems a very foolish thing to have done, IndiEygo. They’ve probably destroyed half of Old Oraton by now!}}”
“{{Ris, don’t be so dramatic. I’m sure they’re fine,}}” Deygo said, but now he was beginning to doubt this was true.
“{{Ha! From the sound of their luck, I wouldn’t be surprised if Veymos had them!}}”
Deygo glared at Eris. “{{Don’t even joke about that! But I do think we should be going. Can you walk, now?}}”
Eris struggled defiantly to her feet. “{{Yeah, I can walk. I’m tougher than I look, IndiEygo.}}”
Jodin kept one ear tuned to the conversation and moved silently over to the broken window, which was hidden from Eris and Deygo’s view. Not wishing to enter the building himself, he levitated Mars and RK through the window and set them down in the middle of the decimated classroom. He mumbled something under his breath, casting a spell to bind the two women within a 5-foot radius on the floor. He then stood up and took a deep breath, smiling. {{This is going to be fun,}} he thought. Moving around the corner of the building, he leaned against the wall, arms folded cockily across his chest. He stood quietly, waiting to be noticed.
Eris was the first to see him. Upon recognition, her hand immediately went to the knife on her belt, and she almost growled, this expressing better than any words her thoughts on Jodin’s presence. Deygo, observing Eris, turned to see what had upset her so much. He tensed when he saw the figure leaning impudently against the brick wall.
“{{Jodin,}}” Deygo said, almost snarling the name. “{{What are you doing here?}}”
Jodin laughed, a malicious, hateful sound, and stepped away from the wall. He sauntered in Deygo’s direction, hands clasped arrogantly behind his back. “{{*tsk tsk,* I expected more from you, IndiEygo.}}” Jodin’s voice dripped with sarcasm as he said the name, looking pointedly in Eris’ direction. “{{Fraternizing with the target? Whatever happened to maintaining a standard of professionalism? Did those two humans beat it out of you?}}”
Deygo glared savagely at Jodin, but said nothing. He moved ever so slightly, repositioning himself between Jodin and Eris.
“{{Hmph. It’s no fun when you don’t say anything,}}” Jodin pouted. Then he cheered up as he made a decision. “{{But I can fix that.}}”
With that, Jodin brought his hands from behind his back and shot a blast of white electrical energy at Deygo. Deygo blocked the blast with a shield, but the force of it still nearly knocked him backwards. Jodin laughed again, and taunted Deygo. “{{Ah, c’mon, Deygo! Play a bit!}}” Jodin followed this up with a series of short, but powerful energy blasts. Deygo countered them all, but made no offensive move.
“{{You… cannot... have her!}}” Deygo shouted at Jodin between the attacks.
Suddenly the battle was punctuated with two simultaneous screams coming from within Origin. Jodin paused and listened to the voices as they continued their noise. He grinned as he turned to look back at Deygo.
“{{You recognize those voices, don’t you? I really must say, they were quite helpful in locating you. Now, I’ll make you a deal. I’ll let those two live, if you give me Eris.}}”
“{{You jerk!}}” Eris hollered at him. “{{How dare you involve them! They have no part in any of this!}}”
“{{Shh… pet. I’m talking to Deygo, not you. But you’ll have your turn, don’t worry, as soon as I bring you back to Veymos.}}” Jodin provoked her, knowing full well it would irritate Eris to no end and there was nothing she could currently do about it. He looked back to Deygo, who had an expression of barely contained rage on his face. “{{Well, Deygo? What’s it going to be? The foreigners or Eris?}}”
“{{And where do I fall in all this?}}” Deygo asked through gritted teeth.
“{{Oh, I’ll still kill you, of course. Veymos was very explicit on that point.}}”
“{{NO,}}” Deygo said firmly.
“{{No?}}” Jodin feigned surprise.
“{{I cannot allow that.}}”
Another series of screams cut through the air. Deygo flinched slightly at the sound.
“{{Hm. That’s too bad. I guess the foreigners will just have to die, then. And I’ll kill you and take Eris, anyway. That’s rather a pity. Those two humans might have been… entertaining.}}” Jodin said this last bit with a sinister grin that spoke volumes as to what he considered “entertaining”.
As another set of screams pierced the air, the emotions that had been building up inside Deygo finally burst forth. He roared in fury as he sent a gigantic wave of dark energy coursing at Jodin.
Jodin’s eyes widened in surprise at the suddenness and power of this attack. He only had time to form a rudimentary barrier before the blast hit him. He tried to stave off the full force of the blow by blocking it with his arms crossed in an “X” in front of his face. But Deygo’s force was too strong and sent Jodin flying into the air, smacking hard against the side of the brick building. His head hit with a sickening crack and his body went limp and lifeless. Deygo bellowed his fury and rage at the unresponsive form pinned to the wall, continuing to pound attacks into him. Slowly, he became aware of someone calling his name.
“{{IndiEygo! INDIEYGO!!}}” It was Eris. She was pulling desperately on his arm, trying to stop him. “{{That’s enough! He’s dead, IndiEygo! Now stop!}}”
Deygo ceased his assault, and looked at Eris with a somewhat stupefied expression. She was almost crying.
“{{Please, stop, IndiEygo. That’s enough…}}”
“{{Ris…}}”
Then there was a loud clatter from within the building, followed by panicked shouting. Deygo immediately regained a sense of the here and now.
“{{Mars and RK! We must get them out of there!}}” He dashed toward the broken window and was about to lower himself inside when a small hand stopped him.
“{{IndiEygo, let me go. They will not harm me.}}”
“{{But, Eris…}}”
“{{Deygo, just let me do it! Take these cuffs and this ‘thought-binder’ off of me and let me go!}}”
“{{But…}}” he said, hesitating. “{{But I don’t want to lose you.}}”
“{{IndiEygo,}}” Eris said softly. “{{You’ll never lose me. Now please, let me get them out of there.}}”
Deygo paused only a moment more before moving out of the way. Standing up, he removed the ‘thought-binder’ and freed Eris' hands.
“{{Thank you.}}” She stood up on her tiptoes and kissed Deygo on the cheek. “{{You really are a good soul, no matter what Veymos has told you,}}” she said. Smiling briefly, she quickly turned and disappeared into Origin.
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