[color=#166FC2][h3]Cloven Brevis[/h3][/color]
[@j8cob] | [@TheHangedMan] | [@Sanguine Rose][hr]
[indent][indent]Cloven was meticulous about keeping out of the way, unseen and unheard. It came from his many years of practice before this new chapter of his life. Of avoiding the hard punches, unsavory intentions, and often deadly aggressions of his ‘betters’. It came in handy now, even as he stood stark-still in the sudden rain, watching in something akin to horror at a butchering. Not the typical kind though, not the kind that caught your words or stifled your breath. But the vicarious kind; the type of horror that could only be empathized with dispassionately.

Sometime prior to the horror, Marduk’s words had been met with a bit of trepidation. Cloven wanted to lash out at the old man, outright tell him no. But he hadn’t, instead he responded. [color=#166FC2]"Alright, I'll get to her."[/color] The dangerous mission had done something to the sticky dread in his gut. It had unhinged it with the possibility that perhaps the plant-wizard wasn’t an imminent threat to his life, that maybe, hopefully, she was just like him. A bit awkward, a little quiet, but ultimately human. 

After escaping that gout of flame by ducking out behind one of the dragon's spines; Cloven had bound away to find the plant-wizard. He leapt from cover to cover, till he was on the shattered ground of Era.

He found her standing inside the dragon’s mouth a minute or two later, he assumed. [color=#166FC2][i]The dreads back,[/i][/color] he noticed. A preternatural stillness numbing him; darkening his golden eyes. [color=#166FC2][i]And in full force. It's hunkering down, latching on with ivory nails.[/i][/color]

What he saw next could have been any number of plausible things; a secondary magic, even a magic-tool would be less scary but it felt very natural. In no way did it seem magical to Cloven. The claws, the blood, the gore; it was sadistic and a part of him was perfectly okay with the icky parts. It was the fear of the plant-wizard that drove the horror-nail into the coffin. 

[color=#166FC2][i]Idiot dragon, why would you even want to fight that monster.[/i][/color]

He waited for the plant-wizard to join the others before shifting his weight. The blue light raising from the dragon, like shards of sky, was an afterthought. Cloven’s mind traveled now, partly to escape the dread, partly to let the fear numb over. The subject that he contemplated was a sodden song, sung in a cheerful voice beside a lazy river. 

Cloven sat on a medium-sized piece of rubble not too far away from the others. The wetness was seeping through his tattered cloak and sapping the heat from his body. He let out an exhale and the exhale sent a fresh wave of pain through his deadened body and bleeding arm. [color=#166FC2][i]I’ve had worst… much worst. This was sooo tough,[/i][/color] he admitted dully. [color=#166FC2][i]If this is the danger of staying in this guild, I’ll need to get stronger. Tougher than even you, Son. And the worst part is going back to the guild with her. That’s the real reason I need to get stronger. To beat my fears, cause I'm tired of being the joke.[/i][/color] 

He found the plant-wizard's back, glared at her shortly, then quickly rectified the killer-instinct buried deep inside; finding the cracked concrete below his boots.

[color=#166FC2]“Fuck,”[/color] he uttered.[/indent][/indent]